Abel! Get Back Far Away!!
Abel!
Stay far away!!
“Krrrrak! It’s a human!”
“Kiiik! Kill it! Rip it apart!!”
...It’s bubbling. Those must be the remaining forces gathered here.
We were standing at the border, right below the mountain where they had been gathered. It was to minimize damage to the border line and, more importantly, to avoid harming the villagers. In war, the side on higher ground always has the advantage, but this wasn’t even a human-versus-human war...
“Defend!!!”
The sound of metal scraping filled the air as the holy knights drew their swords. And they cast blessings upon themselves.
Solaria’s Grace
Solaria’s Blessing
“While the hero fights high-risk monsters, we must buy time so the other monsters can’t approach him! Understood!”
““Yes!!””
“The courageous shall be granted Solaria’s Grace to light their path! Do not retreat!”
““Solaria, grant us Thy Grace!””
...This was just like some cult group.
The knights roared and charged forward alongside the soldiers, finally clashing with the monsters and the holy knights and soldiers.
“By the way, high-risk monsters are...”
“There’s one over there.”
Following Estelle’s pointing direction, a creature that looked like a high-risk monster stood there. It wore a hard blue armor resembling insect carapaces all over and stood upright on two legs like a human.
Is it a knight-type?
“How many are there?”
“...I’m not sure. It seems one hasn’t revealed itself yet.”
“Um....”
Well... let’s just take the visible ones first.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful. Don’t get cocky.”
“Okay.”
I pushed off the ground with a thud and sprinted forward, leaving Estelle and Celine behind. Since one was out of sight, I assumed it was hiding and prepared to fight it.
“Kraak! Die, you filthy human vermin!!”
Start with the huge troll in front. It was blocking the path and, if left alone, could cause serious damage to the soldiers.
Just like its name—ice troll—its blue skin was covered with sharp ice shards on its club. Even when swung wildly, it didn’t break, so it wasn’t ordinary ice.
My reinforced body, thanks to the blessing Estelle had cast earlier, could display physical abilities on a completely different level. The ice troll was swinging its club so hard it hadn’t even noticed me approaching from behind.
Puuk! Chwaak!!
“Kuuuk....”
I stabbed its heart and pushed the sword sideways to split its body open. At that moment, the soldier who had almost been crushed by the club looked at me with eyes full of awe.
I gave him a slight nod and immediately sprinted toward the next target. As I cut down the monsters one after another, reactions came from the other side. They had finally realized I was targeting them.
“...Her Majesty’s...vengeance.”
#
Abel tilted his sword low, listening. The monster was knight-type. Rank: at least Leviathan, at most Barbatos. He inferred it was above Amon-class because the monster near the queen was Amon, and he didn’t assume there would be more.
That’s why Abel felt confident. With Estelle’s blessing, he felt he could cut apart anything from Leviathan to Barbatos. But Abel didn’t let his guard down and charged forward.
“Karaaarak!!”
The monster roared and drew its huge battle-axe.
Clang!
The two weapons clashed, sending sparks flying. Abel was slightly surprised. Blocking an attack meant the monster had matched his enhanced speed.
“At least Barbatos-class.”
If it had been Leviathan-class, he wouldn’t have been able to block it. Abel, who had grown much faster than when he received Celine’s blessing, felt invincible.
Thinking that blocking the full power of a Barbatos-class monster head-on would exhaust his stamina first, Abel quickly dodged.
Kwaaang!!
When Abel pulled out his sword and lost balance, the axe slammed into the ground. Dust flew up, but the monster’s sharp senses caught Abel’s movements even through the dust.
Clang! The metal sound rang out again, louder this time.
Abel tried to dodge once more, but the monster grabbed the battle-axe in one hand and reached out with the other.
Abel saw the movement and changed tactics. Instead of just stepping back, he kicked the monster’s front leg with his leg.
Puuk!!
Normally, hitting a hard carapace with bare fists would be insane, but the body strengthened by the blessing crushed even that armor. The monster’s balance faltered slightly, allowing Abel to slip away and run again.
“Human...!”
The monster growled low, then dragged the battle-axe along the ground as it chased. It was faster than before but still a step slower than blessed Abel.
When Abel suddenly twisted direction and swung his sword, the monster reacted a beat late, spraying blood.
It wasn’t a vital strike, so it wasn’t fatal, but the monster was furious just from bleeding.
“Krrrraaaaaaaak!!”
Abel didn’t stop. As the monster charged at him again, Abel dodged its swinging battle-axe with even faster movements and turned to counterattack.
“Don’t crawl, you human!!”
The monster swung its battle-axe at the approaching Abel with perfect timing and trajectory. But it hadn’t accounted for one thing.
Abel traced something in the air with his non-sword hand.
The green characters read ‘防’ (blocking).
The instant the axe flew, a transparent barrier appeared above Abel’s head.
Kaaang!!!
Of course, a low-level magic spell couldn’t block a Barbatos-class attack. But it was fine. He hadn’t expected it to block completely anyway.
The brief one-second gap created when the barrier absorbed the monster’s attack. Abel didn’t miss it. The upper blade of his white sword, now serrated like a saw, drove straight into the Barbatos-class monster’s chest.
“You’ve been noisy since earlier, you.”
Abel swept his sword horizontally. The serrated edge of the sword tore through the monster’s flesh, and the wound split wide open. It was a fatal blow. The monster’s hard carapace meant nothing against the sword’s power, and its chest simply opened.
“...H..uman....”
“Enough. Die.”
Abel finally drove the sword straight into the Barbatos-class monster’s heart. The monster gushed blood and grabbed Abel tightly with one hand.
“!”
“...Got...you.”
The battle-axe rose high, and the monster brought it down for the final blow.
“...Annoying until the end.”
But the monster’s wish was never fulfilled. Abel quickly pulled the sword out and, holding it in his right hand, swung it in a circle. The monster’s arm that had been bringing the axe down cracked open with a sharp sound.
Kung! The severed arm and battle-axe dropped. The monster’s small eyes flickered once, then went completely dark.
The hero who defeated the Barbatos-class monster, Abel, wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and exhaled.
“Huu.”
#
“Hero!”
Seeing Abel nearly perfectly defeat the Barbatos-class monster in single combat, Celine was overjoyed.
Honestly, she had thought it was dangerous at the end, but Abel hadn’t let his guard down even once.
“...As expected. You can do it alone too.”
Estelle nodded as if she had predicted it. But tension still lingered in her eyes.
“Why are you like that, Saint?”
“There’s still one left. Where did it go....”
“Hmm, that’s true. With one of the commanding entities down, the remaining one should have appeared by now.”
Just as Estelle and Celine were thinking something was wrong, the surroundings suddenly darkened.
“...?”
At that moment, a holy knight shouted.
“Captain! What’s that?!”
“What?”
“That! In the sky!”
It was a call for the squad leader, but Estelle and Celine also heard it and looked up at the sky he was pointing to. The expressions on the two women’s faces froze instantly.
A huge something was floating, covering the blue sky. It was so large that it blocked the bright sunlight with its own body, resembling a sphere.
“That’s....”
“...A floating-type monster? Wait, what rank is it....”
It was enormous. It cast a shadow on the ground large enough to block sunlight, so anyone could tell it was massive without measuring.
“...Amon-class?”
Then something began to happen on the surface of the sphere. Everyone who witnessed it was shocked.
It cracked open, revealing a huge eyeball. A horrifyingly realistic human pupil sparkled with something inside. Upon seeing that, only Estelle noticed and shouted.
“Run! Celine, this way!”
“Huh?”
“Holy Shield!”
Estelle summoned a huge shield with her holy sword and shouted at Abel.
“Abel! Get back far away!!”
“Huh?”
Abel didn’t understand why but nodded and stepped aside anyway. And the instant he moved, the sparkling thing gathered in front of the spherical monster’s large pupil turned into a massive beam of light.
Kwaaaaaaaaang——!!!
#
“Kulk!”
...Shit, what the hell was that?
Because Estelle told him to run, he had dodged, and a white beam of light—something like the lasers that appeared in SF movies—swept across the entire front, including where he had been standing.
The vegetation burned away and vanished. The ground was blackened and scorched. The corpses of the Barbatos-class monsters he had killed and the monsters lying on the ground had all evaporated as if they had never existed. As if everything at that spot had never been there.
...Wait, Estelle. Celine.
“Estelle! Celine!!”
The black smoke from the burned vegetation made distant visibility poor. That was why he had shouted their names, but there was no reply.
Shit, no... God, please...
Abel gripped his sword and rushed forward. The sabatons melted into the ground with only the remaining heat, sticking to his feet, but he ran without hesitation and shouted.
“Estelle!!! Celine!!! Please answer if you’re there!!”
Only then did they hear his cry. Luckily, a reply came back this time.
“...Kulk! We’re fine....”
“Celine!?”
Abel looked toward the voice’s direction. There, Estelle and Celine stood on a very small patch of ground that hadn’t burned.
Thank you, Solaria. I’m so relieved.
He approached them with a relieved heart.
“Estelle! Celine! I’m glad you’re safe!”
“...It’s hot, Abel. Don’t come closer.”
“Ah.”
The armor was warm just from the heat. He must have absorbed heat while passing over the burned ground.
Estelle glanced at him and nodded.
“Good thing. You don’t look injured.”
“Yes, I’m fine, but are you two okay?”
“I’m fine too. Thanks to the Saint protecting me. But the problem is....”
Celine looked at the place where the holy knights and soldiers had been. When Abel followed her gaze, nothing remained there at all.
“Where did....”
“They’re all dead.”
“Huh?”
“The attack range was too wide. Not everyone like the hero is fast. This was too destructive.”
...Eh?...All dead? All the holy knights?
“The holy knights are all dead?”
“Well... some might have been lucky and survived. But most are dead. That monster attacked the soldiers in the first place.”
Estelle answered firmly and looked at him. In her eyes was a very serious gaze, the kind he had seen before.
“Abel.”
“...Huh?”
“We have to do it together.”
Estelle pointed at the huge, grotesque spherical monster.
“That’s an Agares-class floating-type monster. If we can’t defeat it here, the Apollo Kingdom will turn into a sea of fire like this.”