41. War (3)
41. War (3)
Heriis, having tasted human flesh for the first time, began to savor the Militia Leader and the Rookie Adventurer he had killed.
Seeing a guard who had come to his senses after being distracted by the corpses of the Militia Leader and the Rookie Adventurer, he shouted.
"Ri, ring the bell! Ring the bell right now!!!"
Every district in Medherun City has a clock tower that tells the time, and at the top of each tower is a giant bell that amplifies sound.
The moment this is rung, all the bells in Medherun City resonate and ring together.
This bell is never rung unless it's an extremely dangerous moment—specifically, when a war breaks out.
But this moment wasn't just "extremely dangerous"; it was a crisis where the entire city was on the verge of destruction.
"You absolutely must ring the bell!!!"
Terrified by that voice, the guards, who had been frozen in place, began to run toward the clock tower in front of them.
But it wasn't just Heriis who was moving.
Since countless Ners had already begun to pour out, the guards couldn't outrun them.
"He, help me! So, someone save me—aaaaaagh!"
The guard at the very back screamed for help, but the others didn't even look back; they just headed for the clock tower, listening to him being torn apart by the countless Ners behind them.
Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak.
They ran desperately at the sound getting closer and closer behind them.
Their hearts felt like they were going to burst, but they ran even faster, even more desperately.
Because they knew that the moment they stopped, they would die.
Just when everyone was coloring their faces with despair, thinking they would die before even reaching the clock tower.
Kung!
"I have arrived!"
An adventurer holding a giant shield appeared before them.
All the running guards looked at the adventurer.
An adventurer with armor that didn't pale in comparison to the Knights Order, a massive physique of 2m, and a shield of similar size.
It was an adventurer all the guards knew.
He was an A-Rank Adventurer dispatched from the Padix Kingdom as the villages around Medherun City were being attacked.
As soon as the guards saw the adventurer, their despair turned into hope.
This adventurer was quite famous even in Medherun City.
"Since I'm here, don't worry! This body will protect all of you! Leave everything to me and go ring the bell!!!"
The adventurer, who happened to be walking around the Public Cemetery, had come here after hearing the sudden screams.
He thrust his shield forward, drew up his mana, and activated his Unique Ability, causing the shield to glow.
Just as the guards thought they were saved by the adventurer's overwhelming confidence.
Heriis, having finished eating the Militia Leader and the Rookie Adventurer, kicked off the ground with force, rushed at the A-Rank Adventurer, and pierced right through the A-Rank Adventurer's chest, killing him instantly.
The guards, unable to believe what had just happened, could only stare at the scene of Heriis tearing into the A-Rank Adventurer again, and right behind those guards, the Ners were approaching.
==
Watching the situation unfolding right next to the slums from the sky through the Hive Mind, it was a very satisfying start.
In particular, Heriis's strength exceeded my expectations.
I thought he would be strong, but he killed an A-Rank Adventurer alone in one go.
Considering how many Ners it takes to catch an A-Rank Adventurer, we definitely need humans to make our legion stronger.
And humans with combat abilities at that.
The problem is that those humans are both materials to make our legion stronger and ingredients for food.
Especially considering what the Evolute said, the most necessary thing when fusing creatures and humans is the human brain.
Coincidentally, the most delicious part of a human is also the brain.
In other words, it means I have to think every time whether to use them as food or make them into the legion.
However, since this city raid was an attack solely intended to satisfy the children's desires and grow the Orphanage more, I said they could just eat everyone as they pleased.
Except for Gwen.
Daeng— Daeng— Daeng—
The bell started ringing.
Knowing what that sound meant, I got up from my seat and ran out of the room.
The children at the Orphanage didn't know what was happening as it was their first time hearing the bell, but the knights and adventurers nearby frowned deeply.
Even though the children didn't know anything, they started gathering around me, feeling anxious just from the atmosphere around them.
Just as I was comforting those children, telling them it was okay.
Tada-da-dak.
Gwen ran to me with an urgent face.
"Saint-nim! Right no— no, we need to talk separately."
Gwen was about to say exactly what the situation was, but changed her words after seeing the children trembling around me.
I put on a serious face and nodded.
"Spider monsters are pouring out into the city right now. You must evacuate immediately."
Gwen started pouring out words as soon as she entered the room.
"You must pack only the truly important things and move immediately with the children."
"Where should we evacuate to?"
"First, to the place that is the safest, where the Lord is—"
"Will our children be able to get in?"
"If I am there, surely—"
"Then what about the other citizens?"
"If you have Saint-nim's power, you can save the citizens. That Heal of Saint-nim will save many knights, adventurers, and guards, and by that much, you will be able to protect the citizens."
I was just planning to watch peacefully from this Orphanage, but Gwen is suddenly saying she'll take me to the castle where the Lord is, and asking me to use Heal through holy power, which I don't want to use.
Heal is a quite troublesome power for me.
To be trusted by the humans around me, I acted as a Saint and helped them by using Heal.
To use Heal, I have to use holy power, and that holy power is fundamentally a power that doesn't fit me at all.
Every time I use it, it feels like a sweaty, sticky middle-aged man is groping my body.
That very holy power is something I have to use while enduring such disgusting feelings.
I tried to refuse by making up various excuses, but I thought of something.
If it's the place where the Lord is, that means it's the place where the highest human in this Medherun City is.
An interesting thought came to mind.
"Okay... But the children must also be included without exception."
I thought about the things I would do once I entered the castle where the Lord is, and laughed 'hehehe' inside like a pervert.
==
Medherun City was chaos itself.
As they started eating all the living organisms called humans in Medherun City with Heriis at the center, all the combat-capable personnel in Medherun City gathered quickly, but the Ners had already spread throughout the city.
"Do not kill the spider monsters recklessly!"
Even though they already knew all the information about the Ners through Gwen, the Ners are quite tricky creatures even knowing that.
The moment a Ners approaches and sticks to your body, you can't do anything.
Once it clings to your body, it basically starts tearing and eating your body with its sharp teeth.
The speed at which it tears and eats is also very fast, so you have to tear it off quickly. But tearing it off is almost impossible.
It fixes its whole body with sharp teeth and feet, so the only way to tear it off is to kill it.
However, the moment you kill it, the Ners explodes its body right before it dies.
And the Ners don't use poison unless necessary.
The reason is that the moment the poison enters a human, that human is no longer a human, but a contaminated human.
It's not that the brain gets ruined just because you're poisoned, but in the end, the body, which takes up the most of a human, gets contaminated, so the Ners don't use poison unless there is an order from Queen Rhea.
Even while they are dying, they don't use poison. Because the next Ners might eat that human.
Anyway, if you don't tear the Ners off, you get chewed up as is, and if you kill it to tear it off, acidic blood bursts out.
If you could use a Mana Barrier, that might be one thing, but since a Mana Barrier is a quite difficult magic, only at least B-Rank Adventurers use it.
Among them, if your mana efficiency isn't high, a Mana Barrier is like a white elephant, so there are few people who use it properly in actual combat situations.
In the end, the best way is not to allow the Ners to approach you.
But just because you know that doesn't mean it's possible.
In a situation where there are thousands of Ners, from large Ners to palm-sized ones, how can you prevent them from approaching?
In the end, the humans who allowed the approach only met death.
That doesn't mean the humans were doing nothing.
If it had only been the combat forces of Medherun City, it would have reached a level where they would have had to give up the city itself, but right now, the Knights Order and adventurers of the Padix Kingdom were dispatched to Medherun City.
The reason the Padix Kingdom's Knights Order was annihilated was because they didn't have that much information about the Ners.
But now, they have already taken countermeasures against the Ners.
The Padix Kingdom's Knights Order and Medherun City's Knights Order joined forces and rushed forward to save Medherun City.
"Never separate alone! Move in groups of at least 3, and if the blessing disappears, retreat immediately to get blessed and regroup!"
"Do not try to catch the large spider monsters recklessly, and contact us immediately!"
Kwang!
While the Knights Order was blocking the Ners slowly but without damage, Heriis appeared, killing the Knights who were separated.
"Crazy... what on earth is that."
The Padix dispatched Knights Commander was flustered, looking at Heriis, who had an overwhelming size and the upper body of a human.