1079. Why something like that, why that kind of thing, why that kind of thing
Who is he talking to? The Pee Armor frowned. They had called him a madman, and it really seemed like he was only picking out crazy things to do.
Just as he was about to order them all killed, a fellow named Encred vanished. No, his dynamic vision caught his movement.
Even though he spoke incoherently and acted like an idiot, he was still a knight. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he possessed the strength of a knight.
His gaze captured the movements of Encred and the others.
It began with Encred’s arms snapping out to the left and right before returning. He was throwing two squeaking daggers left and right and leaping forward.
The cloak he wore narrowed and stretched back, transforming into a long scarf. A dark green line was drawn.
The remaining men did the same. In the midst of this, one wizard’s entire eyes turned pitch black, and he spread his arms to the left and right, lifting his head toward the sky.
Rumble.
It is at the same time as the sound of thunder is heard.
“Kill them all!”
The Urine Armor shouted, twisted its body at an angle, and with its right hand, drew the Gladius from the scabbard at its waist and threw it.
As its back muscles tightened and relaxed, the force of its angled waist springing back was transferred to the forearm-length blade.
It was a blade aimed at Encred, who had just charged at it from the front.
It was a sword that flew like a disc, carried with as much force as the one Rem had thrown.
Rumble!
It was an absolute commotion. Thunder rumbled in succession, sending the upper body of an ogre wielding a staff flying and a troll’s head exploding.
Amidst the chaos, accompanied by a whirring sound, the barbarian scattered round spheres in all directions, with one sphere piercing through four monsters.
Still, there was ample opportunity to kill half of the hostages.
Meanwhile, Encred vanished to the side, leaving behind an afterimage, only to reappear. Using this, he dodged the disc-shaped Gladius aimed at him, and immediately beheaded the ogre and two Gremlins targeting the child from behind. His
skill in drawing a precise line to sever only the heads made him look like a born executioner. He had cut down the two Gremlins because they were blocking his path, and the ogre because he was the one holding the hostage.
No matter what, a few of them die. It is an unchanging truth. If a hostage has lost their value, isn’t it right to turn them into corpses?
The Urine Armor had been hoping for the blood of the dead, but such a thing never happened.
“……What is that dagger?”
When did he appear? He is a man with reddish-brown hair who was not visible from the first time I saw him. He was wearing a mask that covered his lower face, halfway over his mouth, but judging by his visible eyes alone, he was quite handsome.
What did I do?
Urine Armor swung his head back and forth to check what he had done. Without a sound or aura, the bastard hurled dozens of silent daggers. And he did it all at once in an instant.
With that, the cross tipped over backwards. As the pillar collapsed with a thud, some of the bound men groaned while unconscious. Some
were unlucky enough to have broken arms or legs, but it was obvious to everyone, without anyone having to tell them, that having broken limbs was far better than dying. Besides,
seeing that they hadn’t woken up even in this state, it was clear that those bastards—whether they were monsters or whatever—had pulled some kind of stunt.
“Ah, I got a new one made this time.”
Encred answered calmly.
Why would you do that?
Saxony was genuinely shocked. Of course, he had done everything he was supposed to do even in the midst of that, but he was clearly the one who had taught and instructed them.
Why that kind of thing?
I was afraid they might call it the Thunderclap Dagger.
It is a projectile that has absolutely no intention of concealing its presence in exchange for increasing its power. Saxony disliked it just as much as a projectile thrown by some barbarian with a loud buzzing sound.
“……Why would you do something like that?”
Shocked, Saxon muttered similar words several times. At that, Rem suddenly snapped in anger for no reason.
“Hey, you bastard, what’s wrong with making a little noise? You’re just a sly, wild cat-like piece of shit.”
Esther quietly withdrew her hand. The spell she cast was Demüller’s Wind Hand, which left several poles suspended in the air. An ogre dangling from one of them let out a groan before falling to the ground.
bang.
The guy who fell didn’t use any breakfall techniques, but he didn’t have any broken bones either.
Whoa!
Unable to suppress the murderous intent boiling within him, he spat it out through his mouth. Letting out a monstrous scream, he pounded his chest. Then, his head was split open, and he died.
“Quiet.”
Ragnar saved two of them; he threw a Sunrise at one and threw himself at the other to use his fists.
Although it might have looked clumsy to Audin, he, too, knew how to use his fists and feet. Of course, he was not as good as someone wielding a sword, so he had just picked up a dagger that a Gremlin had been using.
Ragnar, having split the head of a screaming ogre vertically, walked through the monsters as if nothing had happened.
Come out.
Even without any great momentum or intimidation, a few monsters stepped aside. Ragnar reached out his hand as he saw his Sunrise, having flown deep inside, embedded in the ground. As if targeting that moment, a giant wolf standing right next to him—one with a head as big as Ragnar’s upper body—opened its mouth wide and pounced.
It bit him abruptly without a sound, yet before he knew it, Ragnar had brushed past the wolf and turned away.
After he turned, the wolf bit into the air with a sharp “thwack,” lifted its head, and tilted it.
No, to be precise, a red hairline crack ran along its neck before it slipped to the side and fell with a thud.
Believing it was still alive with its neck severed, the wolf nibbled at the air a few times before stopping.
“You bastards!”
The Urine Armor realized the situation unfolding and shouted. Flesh suddenly bulged out through the gaps in his armor. Like floodwaters overflowing a dam, the surging flesh spilled out of the suit. It
hadn’t looked human from the start, but now it had completely transformed into a monster of yellow flesh.
As the pus-filled flesh burst open, scattering invisible spores around it, Sinar signaled upon sensing the commotion.
The elf, who had just stepped forward to rescue the hostage, had already summoned the power of the salamander.
Instead of throwing her sword, she infused the blade with her spirit and hurled it, borrowing the strength of the fire lizard.
Just as she had summoned it, she scattered the spores spewing from the pus monster. What had been spreading in the air like a yellow mist burst into flames.
“dog-“
The guy who was talking about serving or whatever suddenly burst out in anger.
At this point, Encreed wondered if this bastard had been tricked by someone into coming here.
Or maybe everything Crys hoped for went awry.
Anyway, as he readjusted his grip on the sword, Rem spoke.
“Since we’ve already trained, let’s put it to good use.”
“With what?”
“How to hunt giant monsters.”
I didn’t give names to every strategy and tactic. I just made them up on the fly.
This was no exception. I heard you killed a sea serpent in the Beastman City this time?
This tactic was devised to take down any troublesome one that appeared among those huge creatures.
Right now, the yellow pus human was turning into a yellow pus giant. Its body kept growing.
With a gurgling sound, the lumps of pus swelled up; its thighs thickened, and before long, its height rose as high as a castle wall.
“Okay, sure.”
Encred spoke as he walked forward. The creature, now a pus monster, struck down the hand that had turned into a pillar of pus.
It looked like a being born from some massive mistake, yet its movement was terrifyingly fast. Its power was also tremendous.
Encred dodged to the side, but as the creature’s fist struck the ground, an earthquake occurred.
Ddddddd.
It didn’t seem like the ground was weak, and with those punches right now, most monsters would be crushed like meatballs.
whiz.
Rem spun the sling again and fired a bullet at the creature’s head. Saxen disappeared from view, and Sinar drew his Nydler and swung it at one of its legs, but Ragnar, appearing out of nowhere from the opposite side, struck with Ilchul.
The blades of both sliced through the monster’s leg.
Ack!
The pus monster let out a terrifying scream and slammed the hands that had blocked the bullets down on both sides. Its legs were half-severed, and black blood and yellow pus gushed out ceaselessly.
Meanwhile, Rem had already moved right up to the ground.
This was thanks to him throwing his sling and moving immediately. Encred, who had stepped aside and was behind Rem, sprang forward, stepped on the monster’s leg, and soared upward.
While the monster was distracted by Encred, Rem’s throwing axe struck its head.
Bang!
The axe, thrown with just the right amount of force, replaced the hair of the creature that had transformed and vanished without a trace.
Encred climbed straight up the creature’s chest, brushed past his neck, and then swooped down.
His cloak spread out, helping his body land almost as if flying.
Dunbakel was about to step forward but stopped. There was no need to, nor was there the time.
Crack.
The pus monster’s neck split open, and black blood gushed out.
It was a futile end considering they had gathered all the hostages to show up, but this was only natural.
It was a force of six, including Encred. It was time to kill the bastard, gather the group of hostages, and roughly clean things up.
If this is all.
Had Crys failed?
It was at that moment that even Encred was thinking so.
In front of the forest, near a rock, someone was sitting with their buttocks firmly on the ground, legs spread slightly, and knees bent, looking in this direction. Magnificent horns adorned their head, and their entire body was adorned in gold.
Their fur, eyes, and clothes were all golden. Yet, it was a being filled with a golden hue that wasn’t blindingly bright. The
crouching golden monster raised a hand and scratched its head. It had three fingers, but the tips of its fingernails were sharp.
Its bowed neck looked as if it were barely holding on because its head was too heavy.
After scratching its head vigorously, it quietly watched the party move.
Encred stared intently at the creature that had appeared out of nowhere, while Dunbakel moved frantically to gather the hostages to one side.
Esther closed her eyes and muttered something; she was telling the Legion members waiting nearby to take the hostages with them.
The welcoming ceremony was a bit sloppy, wasn’t it?
The golden monster asked. “It is a creature with a snout sticking out forward, a beard, and horns bent in a spiral.”
Before Encred could answer, the seated monster spoke again.
“I need a sort of test, you know, since I don’t meet just anyone. I also need to see if it’s worth me to step forward.”
Encred stared at him blankly. Had the hostage he brought earlier, or the pus monster, been just a formality he had sent?
It seemed so. That is how it sounded when he listened to him speak.
“It’s probably me you’ve come looking for. The Burning Crow.”
Encred listened quietly and then spoke. He rested his hand on the sword grip with an indifferent attitude, not particularly in a fighting stance.
“It’s not on fire, and it’s not a crow.”
“It used to breathe fire and have a crow’s face.”
“And now?”
“It has returned to its original form. The time it was a burning crow was when it was attempting to fly high into the sky and reach up.”
“Half of it is incomprehensible, but does that matter?” said the golden monster and demon who called himself the Burning Crow, brushing his hands.
“This is the end. Fearless mortal. I grant you unparalleled delicacies, safety, happiness, and strength. Kneel and serve.”
Delicacies, safety, happiness, power. They didn’t seem related at all, but coming out of his mouth, they sounded plausible.
It felt like everything would come true just by listening to the devil.
“……If I serve, will I become like that pus monster from earlier?”
Although the surroundings are filled with the corpses of monsters, the one that stands out the most is by far the Pus Monster. Along with its foul odor, wasn’t its appearance truly hideous?
Its face had become grotesquely disfigured and bumpy.
“If you don’t like that, I’ll make you a face as beautiful as ever, before and after.”
“Then do I become a pretty pus monster?”
Now, it was practically a teasing tone. It was a serious tone, but even a twelve-year-old kid would know that Encred wasn’t taking it seriously right now.
Yeah, I figured they wouldn’t listen to the offer anyway.
The devil speaks.
“Trying to take me on alone? It would have been fine if the two of you had attacked.”
Encred replies, “
We’re talking about completely different things, so how could we possibly understand each other?
Besides, we don’t even need to talk to each other.”
“I am a goat from the East. I was a divine beast that called out to the light that would one day fly through the sky.”
The Lord of the Demon Realm spoke. “The Burning Crow is an alias.
Once, he roamed the mountains and fields as a goat, and later he became the Demon King, the predator of predators. He is a being who became a demon by devouring a demon.
That is the monster that has now appeared before Encred.”
“Mortal, this is the end of your life.”
“Because there are many who would not agree with that.”
No matter what the devil said, Encred was as usual.
* * *
When Crys started all of this, he anticipated three outcomes.
The first is when the enemy is not deceived.
Still, it serves as a warning.
By challenging the Demonic Realm, he aroused the demons’ wariness. Why do that if he intends to fight?
This was a somewhat complex matter.
Crys believed it was a good idea to force the enemy—the Demonic Realm, the demons—to stockpile power and prepare.
That way, they wouldn’t recklessly send monsters out, nor would they project their strength externally under the guise of divine power.
If Encred guarded the rear with his sword, Crys’s goal was to prevent them from even thinking about attacking the city and its people.
What if they weren’t fooled and seized this opportunity to attack the city in return?
This is nothing special, either.
I thought it was a good idea.
Of course, it would be best not to make them attack the city, but I have finished preparing to fight in case that doesn’t work out.
We just need to fight while occupying the high ground in a battlefield where we have the advantage.
Those damn demons never leave the vicinity of the Demon Realm, so if they make it this far, we just need to fight by deploying our full strength, having completed all sorts of preparations.
That was the second prediction, and the last and third one is…
Even if you don’t get properly fooled.
Regardless of the process, the sole goal was for the Devil to ultimately step forward himself.
It did not matter if he was deceived or not. There was only one thing: to gently provoke him into taking action.
Wasn’t that why the elite of the elite, the very center of the Knights, stepped forward together?
In reality, what Crys desired most was for Encred and the Knights to fight the Devil. To make them face off.
Audin had already proven the odds of victory himself. They certainly wouldn’t lose.
If there is one more thing he is aiming for here…
We have to get back from here without anyone dying.
It was possible to wage war against the Demon Realm.
Crys had foreseen this far into the future.
If even one of them—Rem, Ragnar, Saxen, Sinar, Esther, or Dunbakel—were to die,
this war could not even begin. One could not fight a battle that was bound to be lost. That was Crys’s thinking.
Did you say you wanted to erase the demonic realm?
Kreis asked inwardly. Before he knew it, the dawn wind had cooled and chilled his skin.
In that case, you must kill the devil and return without anyone dying.
Crys prayed with all his heart. He earnestly prayed that his captain would prove the time he had spent and achieve what he had so desperately wished for.
