The Prelude to Battle (5)
"I think it would be best to hold off on the signal flare for now," I said after a brief moment of deliberation.
Roy, the knight, nodded calmly and tucked the flare back into his coat.
Though I had previously told them to fire it without hesitation, now was not the time to blindly shoot a flare into the sky. Even if we were pinned down here, we couldn't afford to drag the Grand Duke to our location when he needed to rescue the other patrol units.
Besides, the Grand Duke would undoubtedly prioritize saving me, the Hero, over anyone else.
I absolutely did not want my comrades to be put in danger because of me.
In times like this, the Holy Sword's support was always my greatest pillar.
I glared at the wolves slowly closing the distance toward us.
The lead wolf, the one who had spoken to us earlier, opened its maw once more.
"I am the right hand of the Commander, the ruler of all wolves."
Beastly saliva dripped from the wolf's lower jaw.
The wolf tilted its head and slowly took a step toward me.
"Since ancient times, I have chewed and swallowed countless knights of your kind in this forest until I grew sick of them."
A few of the Evernode knights seemed to recognize the massive white wolf, their faces twisting in grim realization.
Roy spoke to me in a stiff, tense voice.
"...Lobo. That cunning son of a bitch has slaughtered so many of our knights. He is likely one of the oldest monsters dwelling in this forest."
The white wolf, Lobo, let out a raspy, mocking chuckle.
"Indeed. It would be far better for you to die in blissful ignorance. For while that Great One is our hope and our god, to you, He promises nothing but death and destruction."
I recalled my battle against Aracreed in the Ant Hill.
Named monsters were incredibly powerful.
Perhaps the original Elroy could have managed, but for a clueless transmigrator like me—especially back when I hadn't even unlocked the Holy Sword—no amount of struggling would have brought victory.
The centuries these beasts had accumulated granted them wisdom that triumphed over human trickery, and strength that crushed human insignificance.
Can I defeat him now?
"I will take on their leader alone," I told the knights behind me.
If I fought him, how long would it take to bring him down?
And while I was occupied, could the knights hold out against such a massive pack of wolves?
"This might turn into a battle of attrition. Conserve your mana as much as possible."
The white wolf leader stepped forward, confronting me.
His maw was still parted in a mocking sneer.
"Are you finished whispering? The knights I killed said the very same things before they died. How to defeat me, how to escape this place... such utterly meaningless chatter."
"You talk too much for a monster. Did you really want a chat that badly?"
Cutting Lobo off, I raised the Holy Sword and aimed it straight at his head.
The Holy Sword began to draw upon my mana, and I poured it in without holding back.
I've been training all this time just to withstand your power. If I can't handle it, it means I have neither the talent nor the right to wield you.
Well, even if I haven't unlocked the second stage yet.
Crackle!
The immense, crushing power of the Holy Sword began to weigh down on my body.
True to her warning, she poured her energy into me without a shred of restraint.
I quickly regained control of my strained body. I could endure this much easily.
A pure white light of destruction erupted from the hilt of the Holy Sword.
"...!"
Confronted by the light, the wolf bared its fangs and snarled viciously.
I channeled the mana I had gathered into my legs and lunged straight at Lobo.
Undeterred, the wolf lunged forward, slamming his massive jaws directly against the descending blade of the Holy Sword.
Clang—!!
What were his teeth made of, mithril?
The power of the Holy Sword, which usually sliced through monsters like tofu, clashed against the beast's fangs, throwing off sparks as its path was blocked.
When the blade struck him, it felt like hitting solid stone with a hammer.
I wrenched the Holy Sword free from Lobo's snapping jaws and unleashed another slash.
The wolf leaped aside, evading the blow.
A single strike was never the end of an assault.
However, he wasn't merely dodging.
Through scent, sight, and sound, Lobo was reading my every movement.
As if he knew exactly where my blade would strike next, he effortlessly deflected and evaded my slashes.
I couldn't reach him.
I twisted the tip of the Holy Sword.
My unrefined body creaked and strained, dragged along by the sword's trajectory.
Lobo leaped backward, parrying the Holy Sword's edge with his sharp fangs.
I couldn't cut him.
If I could just land a clean hit on his hide, I was certain I could pierce it. But he refused to give me an opening to slash or thrust, mocking me as I swung my sword through empty air.
"Clumsy and weak. You are no different from all the other knights I have devoured."
Boom—!!
Impatience began to creep in. The beast used his inhuman tongue to needle at my composure.
The Holy Sword traced a sharper, more lethal arc than ever before.
Yet, Lobo shifted his paws with effortless grace.
It was difficult to read his eyes.
His twitching nose and ears, reacting to my every movement, conveyed far more information to him than mere sight ever could.
The experience he had accumulated from fighting countless Evernode knights allowed him to easily see through the flaws in my swordsmanship, which I had only practiced for a few months.
"Yes, they all wore that exact expression. Even the knights who were far stronger than you."
A horizontal slash.
Lobo crouched low, his eyes gleaming.
Those yellow, predatory eyes locked onto me.
Pierced by his gaze, my body momentarily froze.
"Do you know how long they lasted after making that face? Can you even imagine the look on their faces when they were finally torn to shreds by my fangs?"
With those words, Lobo uncoiled his crouched body and lunged upward.
I barely managed to block his headbutt with the flat of the Holy Sword.
I was thrown into the air.
Ignoring the dull pain throbbing through my chest and back, I strained every nerve in my body to maintain my balance.
If I fell, his fangs would pierce my throat in an instant.
I glared at Lobo as I stumbled to my feet.
"All you possess right now is that bizarre, ominous white light."
Lobo mocked me.
As he lunged with his jaws wide open, I rolled unsightly to the side to dodge him.
The wolf leaped, pursuing me.
To the right.
I planted my foot, feinted, and threw myself to the right once more.
The wolf tracked me, relying on his sharp instincts.
As he lunged, I kept my eyes wide open, watching his movements until the very last second.
Slipping past his gaping jaws by tilting my head, I threw my entire weight into a tackle against Lobo.
The foul stench of a wild beast filled my nose.
Grappling with him as we tumbled across the ground, I tried to aim the tip of the Holy Sword at his heart.
But of course, Lobo was not a monster to be defeated so easily.
Roar—!!
He thrashed his massive body violently.
Losing my grip in an instant, I was flung off the wolf and went rolling across the dirt.
My back and stomach slammed into trees and rocks.
Fortunately, I didn't lose my grip on the Holy Sword.
As I rolled on the ground, the subordinate white wolves rushed at me.
I swung the Holy Sword in a wide arc, slicing them all in half.
I had been just a hair's breadth away.
That had been my chance. A chance to pierce his heart completely.
And a beast like him wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
Even if my arms had broken, I should have held on and clung to him until the end.
I grit my teeth in frustration.
I turned my gaze to the other knights and soldiers.
They were no longer holding a tight formation.
It seemed a few white wolves had thrown themselves into their ranks to break their line.
Although the knights wielding Aura fought desperately, cutting down wolves left and right, there were simply too many of them.
"I do not understand what you hope to achieve by resisting so desperately," Lobo said, stepping closer.
"The other humans scattered throughout this forest are likely facing the same fate. They may already be rolling on the ground as cold, mangled corpses."
My breath rasped hoarsely in my throat.
This wasn't a feeling I was unfamiliar with.
Back then, when I fought the spider in the Ant Hill, it had been just like this.
The only difference was that now, I couldn't afford to just wait and hope for a miracle.
I had to find a way. I had to think.
Boom—!!
Finally, as if to put an end to this, Lobo rammed into me.
I was sent flying backward, crashing hard onto the ground.
As I lay sprawled, staring at the dirt, Lobo's paws slowly entered my field of vision.
With trembling hands, I pushed myself up from the ground and rose to my knees.
Lobo peeled back his lips in a beastly grin.
"Yes, that is the look that suits your kind. Helplessly trembling, spilling your blood onto the dirt—"
Just then, my eyes caught sight of an ordinary iron sword, stabbed into the ground, waiting for its master.
"Salvation will not come. Even that black-haired swordsman you boast of must have his feet bound elsewhere."
The wolf was telling me that salvation wouldn't come.
No. I had to be the salvation.
With unsteady steps, I walked over and gripped the hilt of the iron sword with my left hand.
Hey, Holy Sword.
It's an emergency. Can you let this slide just once?
Instead of answering, I pulled the iron sword from the ground.
I was going to have to push myself past my limits, regardless of the toll on my body.
The Holy Sword spoke to me, her voice laced with sheer disbelief.
If I don't, I'll just drag this out until I'm ripped apart by his fangs anyway.
I had been naive. I was in no position to coddle my own life.
Whether helping Daphne grow or attempting to unlock the Holy Sword, I had always kept my own survival at the forefront of my mind.
No. With that kind of mindset—
Did I really think I could wield the Holy Sword and play the part of the Hero, the protagonist?
My heart, which had been continuously exchanging mana with the Holy Sword, thudded violently.
An excruciating pain flared. Blood surged backward, leaking from my lips.
It felt as if my very heart was being split in two.
I seized one half of that fractured heart and channeled mana down my left arm.
As for the right side—well, the Holy Sword would manage that.
Her voice echoed faintly in my mind.
I bit my lip hard to keep from losing consciousness.
Capillaries in my eyes burst, and blood began to trickle down my face.
My body was on the verge of undergoing another awakening.
I didn't try to suppress the vortex of power raging inside me.
Just like back then, when I first held power in my hands.
"What in the world...?" Lobo muttered.
A vortex of mana swirled beneath my feet.
The sword took root in my hand, and I willingly poured my mana into it.
From the hilt, a silver Aura began to bloom.
Using the two wild, rampaging forces as my pillars, I stood completely upright.
Her voice carried an exasperated sigh.
Her words pushed me forward.
I lunged ahead, slicing through the wolves blocking my path.
Flustered, Lobo took a step back for the first time.
I poured out my mana.
Swinging both swords freely without favoring either hand, I carved a path toward him.
"An exercise in futility!!"
The wolf stopped retreating and opened his maw.
With a twist of my wrist, I angled the iron sword in my left hand and thrust it straight into Lobo's open jaws.
Of course, my ordinary sword couldn't pierce through his fangs and got caught in his teeth, but this created one crucial difference.
He didn't have a second mouth.
The blade of the Holy Sword tore through the air, driving straight toward Lobo's body.
With his jaws clamped shut around my iron sword out of habit, Lobo's body was left completely defenseless as the Holy Sword struck him cleanly for the first time.
Slash—!!
The blade pierced cleanly through his tough hide.
Lobo roared, letting out an agonizing shriek.
Beastly blood sprayed into the air.
As he reeled from the pain, I freed my left hand's sword and continued my assault.
Upper arm, left paw, chest, neck.
With every slash that carved into the wolf's flesh, more blood erupted.
It felt as though my brain was split in two, operating independently.
My right hand followed the guidance of the Holy Sword, while my left hand moved exactly as I had trained.
The myth of terror, once breached, began to crumble with every swing of my arms.
"You bastard—!!"
As Lobo opened his maw wide in a desperate struggle, I brought my sword down in a frontal slash.
He made the mistake of biting down on the sword in my left hand once again, and this time, I did not let the blunder go unpunished.
I drove the Holy Sword straight through his neck.
Through his agape jaws, I thrust the iron sword in my left hand straight up.
The tip of the blade pierced through the roof of his mouth.
Wrenching the blade free, I drove it down again, pinning the tongue that had spoken human words straight through his lower jaw.
Lobo's head slammed into the dirt.
Pouring out the last of my mana, I swung both swords.
Countless sword paths carved into his body.
Lobo rattled his mangled jaws, gasping out his final words.
"You...! You insignificant insects who should have been crushed underfoot—!!"
"Shut up, mutt."
Splat—!!
My final strike severed the wolf's neck.
Lobo's massive body was sliced into three clean pieces in midair.
Thud.
The leader was dead.
I turned around to look at the struggling knights.
Once more, I squeezed my heart.
An immense pool of mana, surging from some unknown depth, made my Aura burn even brighter.
The battle ground to a halt.
The wolves backed away from the knights, baring their fangs as they stared at me, while the battered and bloodied knights stared back in stunned silence.
"Their leader has fallen!"
I raised my voice, rallying our momentum.
I needed to engrave defeat into the minds of the monsters and declare victory to our knights and soldiers.
I mounted my horse, which had slipped back to my side.
Exhilarated by my mana, the steed reared back on its hind legs before planting its hooves firmly on the ground.
"We will not fall here!"
The knights nodded.
With every word, I stoked their spirits.
I would be the beacon that stood at the very front, lighting their path.
Those who had dropped their spears picked them up once more.
Those who had driven their swords into the ground drew them back out.
"Now, I am going to rescue the third, fourth, and fifth patrol units."
The soldiers swallowed hard.
The fighting spirit that had been dying out in their eyes flared back to life.
"Will you follow me?"
""Even if it is into the depths of hell!""
"Then I shall be the first to break through the flames."
The wolves were gathering.
I looked up at the sky, where the faint remnants of the signal flare still lingered.
I could still hear the distant sounds of my comrades resisting the monsters.
I could hear the voices of those who refused to let go of their swords, waiting for me.
Yeah. Just as you said.
"All forces, prepare to charge!!"
At my command, the knights and soldiers lined up behind me.
I spurred my horse forward toward the wall of monsters, the thunderous battle cries of the soldiers pushing me from behind.
I thrust both the Holy Sword and the iron sword forward—
And a white and silver meteor began to shine brighter than the midsummer sun.