Chapter 246: Encrid Refused
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 246: Encrid Refused
“Damn it.”
He wasn't in a hurry, nor was he running. He stepped through the castle gates with the casual air of a spectator watching an oncoming storm of demonic beasts.
Behind him, the brothers Luchi and Rich followed close at his heels. Luchi, the elder, was prone to spitting out a "damn it" at every possible turn. He was doing it now.
“Damn it, you’d better be careful. Those bastards are pulling some strange tricks.”
Luchi wore studded leather armor reinforced with chainmail over his midsection. It clattered rhythmically with every step he took to keep pace with Encrid. The brothers were formidable warriors, but they weren't the intellectual type—not even if their lives depended on it.
“Damn it. I only came here to buy a composite bow, and now it’s a colony?”
Some habits were simply ingrained. Not that anyone was trying to fix his foul mouth; there were plenty of crude soldiers in the ranks. If his worst word was just "damn it," he was practically a saint.
“Whenever we try to engage those human-faced dogs, those horse bastards charge in out of nowhere!” Rich chimed in as he pulled up beside them. Luchi muttered a creative curse in response about "dog-like horse bastards."
“It seems so.”
Encrid had seen the movement from atop the castle wall, and Torres had been chattering excitedly behind him the whole time. Even now, he could see Torres hurriedly catching up from the rear.
They’re using their heads.
Centaurs were demonic beasts that could easily be called natural cavalry. To make matters worse, their numbers had swelled, and they were led by a "general-type" colony leader. The previous gnoll colony leader had merely been a "normal" type; while its individual strength was outstanding, it possessed absolutely no leadership skills.
A general-type was different. To be honest, this was the first time Encrid had seen one in person. Dangerous bastards like that were rarely encountered unless one ventured close to the Demon Realm. Regardless, it was right in front of him now, so he simply had to observe and experience it.
They’ve split into three.
One group consisted of human-faced dogs and ghouls, another was the main force of centaurs, and the third was a pack of horse demonic beasts. Just as the human-faced dogs and ghouls charged, Encrid looked to the left and saw the horse demonic beasts stampeding in unison. Their intention was clear: widen the charging distance and strike the flank of the human army while they were occupied with the front line.
A few centaurs led them, looking exactly like commanders leading soldiers into the fray. Was it a highly tactical maneuver? Not really. It was plain as day.
Then why was it so difficult to counter?
Dealing with the charge of the horse demonic beasts wouldn't be too difficult on its own. The real problem was the centaur leader standing idly at the front, not even joining the fight yet.
Ending his train of thought, Encrid spoke.
“Rem.”
“Got it. But, uh, are we drawing that guy in?” Rem asked, gesturing with his chin toward the front. He was asking if he needed to hold back.
“No need,” Encrid replied.
He had considered it while descending from the wall. Hadn't Krais said they could just fight? Force against force—this was, above all, the kind of battle the demonic beasts wanted.
Watching Rem dash forward, Encrid took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. Then, he roared.
“Tor-res! Do not close the gate!”
“...Scared the hell out of me. Damn it,” Luchi muttered, startled into a halt.
“I thought my eardrums were going to burst,” Sachsen added, approaching unnoticed.
“From just that?” Encrid joked. He turned his gaze back to the front, watching Rem swing his axes.
Rem's footwork was light, and his axes were merciless.
*
So, these bastards are the ones who thrashed my pet beastman, huh?
If anyone asked if he actually cherished Dunchabel, Rem would likely bash their head in. Even if someone cornered the beastman right in front of him, he would probably just watch. If she got beaten up, he would nag her, asking if that was the best she could do. Only after the lecture was over would he turn to the one who did it.
“How about you play with me too? Huh?”
That was exactly how he felt right now.
The charging human-faced dogs seemed half-mad, but Rem didn't care. They were a pack of monsters with pupil-less red eyes, screeching “Kaaaa!” with their mouths wide open and drooling.
Watching them close the distance, Rem crossed his arms in front of his chest. Then, channeling explosive strength into his muscles, he swung. As his crossed arms unraveled, the axes whipped out like lashes, their blades carving a relentless arc.
Everything in the trajectory of the crossing axes was obliterated.
Kraaaak!
Heads and bodies of ghouls and human-faced dogs were torn asunder. The axes cleaved through the charging beasts as if snapping rotten twigs. With that single strike, black blood erupted around Rem like a shattered inkwell, splattering everywhere.
Red eyeballs popped out; sharp teeth shattered. He crushed skulls, cleaved torsos, and severed limbs. Black blood sprayed in all directions like rain swept by a gale.
“Let's have some fun,” Rem muttered, beginning to swing his axes vertically.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The axes rained down in rapid succession. Up and down, up and down. As he spun on his right foot, the severed heads of human-faced dogs and the arms of ghouls flew over the heads of his allies.
Needless to say, Rem was Rem.
“Fuck.”
Watching from behind, a soldier originally belonging to Martai spat out a curse. Were we really planning to fight something like that? It was a continuous sequence of unbelievable feats. At some point, the movement of the axes became a blur; only the dying demonic beasts were visible.
In an instant, over twenty beasts were torn, sliced, and blown away. It was as if the man named Rem had eight arms. Meanwhile, his feet never stopped moving. Before anyone realized it, he had separated from his allies, plunging deep into the pack to wreak absolute havoc.
Kaaat! Kaaaa!
Screams erupted continuously from the monsters. To put it simply:
“He fights like a fucking beast.”
A nearby comrade voiced the exact thought in his mind.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch?!” Zimmer shouted from behind.
He was just as shocked. While he knew Encrid was a monster, nobody had expected the axe-wielder to be this much of a freak.
Kyaaaaak!
A harpy shrieked, circling in the air. They had arrived alongside the human-faced dogs. Over the past four days, several soldiers had died because of those harpies. Zimmer glared at the sky, limping, and shouted:
“Shoot!”
A few soldiers confident in their archery loosed arrows, but it was futile. Few hit, and even when they did, they couldn't pierce the harpy's tough hide. Meanwhile, one of them swooped down. Zimmer's eyes tracked its dynamic descent as it plunged with a lethal whoosh.
It was targeting Rem, who was rampaging among the human-faced dogs.
“Watch out!”
Just as Zimmer was about to throw a spear to help, his jaw dropped.
As the harpy swooped, Rem—who was in the middle of fighting off beasts from all sides—suddenly planted one hand on the ground, crossed his legs, and kicked upward. His foot caught the harpy square in the head.
Splat!
It exploded. Black blood sprayed once more, and the harpy's carcass rolled away, crushing several human-faced dogs in its path.
Kaat!
When one of the beasts pinned under the carcass shrieked, Rem immediately corrected his posture and kicked its head.
Crack!
It was a terrifying display of strength and skill. How could anyone pull off such a move in the heat of a melee? Zimmer felt profoundly glad he wasn't fighting that man.
Soon, however, he didn't even have the luxury of watching.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The ground began to tremble. It was the start of the tactic they had fallen victim to multiple times before: using the human-faced dogs as meat shields while the pack of horse demonic beasts charged the flank.
Three centaurs led the charge, each wielding a thick wooden club. They weren't properly crafted weapons, but rather thick branches torn from the forest—yet they were no less threatening. If hit by one of those, an ordinary soldier's head would be smashed to pieces.
“Hold the line!” Zimmer shouted.
It was a battle started on a whim, but now that it had begun, they had to see it through. He didn't think they would lose. That madman, Encrid, must have stepped out because he had confidence. Above all, having witnessed their skills again, it was impossible to imagine a man like Rem being killed by mere human-faced dogs.
Now, the rest of the unit just had to hold their ground, stabbing and killing the ghouls and wolf demonic beasts that reached them.
It went exactly as Zimmer expected. Just before the pack led by the three centaurs could crash into the left flank, Encrid sent his heavy hitters.
“Go block them, Audin, Teresa.”
“Yes, brother. I should go give their backsides a good thrashing,” Audin said. Teresa followed him silently.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
A cavalry charge was terrifying, but a charge of demonic beasts was a nightmare. The Border Guard and the Martai standing army on the left flank gritted their teeth.
Fuck, here they come again.
They braced to block the impact, but then two massive figures stepped into the path. One of the guards recognized Audin.
“The religious fanatic?”
“I've said before that not everything that comes out of a mouth is proper speech, but is that really the right way to address me, brother?” Audin spoke without even looking back. The guard was surprised the man had such sharp ears amidst the chaos.
Regardless, as the two of them stood in front, a strange sense of security washed over the line. Their massive builds alone were enough to inspire confidence.
But what's with that mask?
The woman was like a giant; even standing beside Audin, she was no shorter than him.
“Push them to the right,” Audin commanded.
“Understood,” Teresa replied.
Her equipment was as striking as her size. Holding a massive kite shield that covered her entire body, the masked giant took her stance.
Blocking a horse's charge with a shield? Alone?
Rumble!
The sound of hooves now roared like thunder. The charge was terrifyingly fast; the moment the beasts entered their field of vision, they were already upon them. There was no time to worry about the giant. One of the guards threw a spear with everything he had. The weapon struck a horse demonic beast square in the head.
Thud!
He hoped the falling carcass would trip the ones behind it, but even at full speed, the rest of the pack lightly leaped over their fallen kin. Their reaction speed was monstrous.
Then, the club of the leading centaur slammed into the masked giant's shield.
Crash!
The guard couldn't tell exactly what happened in that split second. He only saw the centaur that struck the shield lose its balance, tilting sideways as if it had hit a mountain. At the same time, the masked giant brought her sword down, impaling the head of the demonic beast charging right behind it.
She didn't stop there. Pulling out her blade, she tucked her shield close and shoved the next charging beast aside. It was a systematic, repetitive motion. She was funneling them to her right, forcing the horse demonic beasts to be swept away.
What on earth is she?
It was the martial prowess of at least an associate knight. Even without 'Will', this was how someone carrying the blood of a half-giant fought when they went all out. In truth, even Encrid hadn't drawn out Teresa's full potential yet. Since meeting him, she had discovered the joy of the blade.
The original Teresa was a being truly worthy of the giant's moniker: "Red-Blooded Demonic Beast."
“Khah!”
With a husky shout, the horse demonic beast that crashed into her shield was deflected and thrown aside. As she stood her ground, angling her shield to absorb the impact, her feet dug deep furrows into the earth. Yet her arm did not break, and her posture never faltered. She was absorbing the momentum of a demonic charge with pure, raw strength.
“The gates of heaven have opened!”
Her performance was astonishing, but the massive religious fanatic was even more spectacular. His seemingly sluggish body soared through the air. Leaping high, he landed squarely on the back of a charging beast and swung his club at its head.
Thud! Neigh!
The beast let out a brief death rattle and collapsed. Dismounting from the falling carcass, Audin thrust his club forward in a stabbing motion toward the head of the next beast.
Thud! Crackle!
With that single blow, the horse demonic beast's skull was crushed, and its spine was ripped clean out. It flew backward, spraying a rain of blood. Moving between the charging beasts, Audin swung his club relentlessly. He wasn't just blocking the charge; he was beating them to death.
He clearly intended to push the charge from the center to the left. In the process, a few demonic beasts managed to slip through and strike the allied unit, but compared to the battles of the past three days, it was barely a tickle.
“Do you have time to just stand there and watch?”
A voice cut through the chaos. A soldier with reddish-brown hair and a low-pulled round helmet stood nearby. He was a member of the mad independent platoon. At his feet, a centaur already lay collapsed, bleeding profusely. It was the one that had been deflected sideways earlier; it had tried to stand, but a blade had already pierced its neck.
“Fight. That is your duty,” Sachsen said.
“Counterattack!”
Right on cue, Torres's shout echoed from the rear. Thanks to the two massive figures splitting the charge, the pack of horse demonic beasts was scattered. This was no time to spectate.
“Shoot!”
The beasts were dangerous in a tight formation, but once their flanks were exposed, they were easy prey. Those armed with bows, crossbows, and slingshots unleashed their projectiles. Arrows flew and stones soared. By sheer luck, a crossbow bolt pierced a beast's eye.
*
Encrid assessed the situation on his left and right, utilizing all five senses.
When is he coming?
He strained his eyes, glaring at the figure standing directly in front. The battle would only truly end once that leader joined the fray. They had never been caught off guard like this before, but now that the gates were wide open and they were thrust into a chaotic brawl, there was no way the leader of the demonic beasts would retreat.
Above all, that bastard had not yet unleashed the "killing intent" it had used to toy with them so far. Encrid's expectation soon became reality.
“Kiyoyoooot!”
The centaur pack—the enemy's main force—charged as the third wave. The tactic the demonic beasts employed was the Three-Wave Formation: draw attention with the first, inflict damage with the second, and crush them with the third. It was simple, but highly effective if one possessed a clear advantage in strength.
That third wave was now charging headlong. Encrid drew his sword and stepped forward. From the beginning, his place was at the center of the line, right where they would clash with the enemy's heart.
Ragna pulled up beside him.
“A demonic beast's killing intent is like intimidation. Did you know that?”
Unlike the soldiers whose courage had shriveled at the sight of the charging horde, Ragna's tone remained unchanged. It was calm. Even though the thunderous sound of hooves was deafening, his voice pierced clearly through the noise.
“Yeah,” Encrid replied.
The approaching centaur leader, holding a glaive it had scavenged, raised the weapon high and let out a deafening roar.
“Kiaaaa!”
Soon, a powerful sensation washed over Encrid. It was like the gaze of a predator paralyzing a mouse. A dizzying wave of killing intent consumed his entire body, overwhelming the surrounding soldiers and the entire area. It sowed the terror of death through sheer momentum and bloodlust.
And Encrid refused it all.