The Plan Cracks as Loktur Appears
The plan had fallen apart.
If the plan had gone through, the moment we spotted Loktur we were supposed to face him directly.
We were supposed to observe the surrounding terrain, make use of every advantage available, and agree on a hunting strategy that would allow us to strike in perfect synchronization.
But here he was, coming to find us first.
Lukas had faced Loktur a few times on the battlefield before. He clenched his teeth.
“Loktur···.”
Above him hovered a monster whose size was more than double his own, its roar and breathing carrying the raw fury of a wild beast.
Rigel hurriedly fumbled a magic device out of his pouch and slammed the button to send a signal to the main force.
Meanwhile Luke continued to wail in agony and terror.
The hero’s body—superior not only to ordinary people but also to a knight’s enhanced physical abilities thanks to the blessing—had been shattered with terrifying ease.
It was the kind of overwhelming difference that existed between a beast and a normal human.
Rigel’s eyes trembled as he watched Luke’s bones snap like crumpled paper.
“Luke!”
“U, uuuuuu···.”
This was the worst possible situation.
We were in the center of Casillum Fortress.
Worse still, there was no kingdom army left to help us.
Of the two heroes, Luke was completely incapacitated.
I thought about running while taking down Loktur, but it was impossible.
Everyone had just seen how powerless he was compared to the monster.
And we couldn’t abandon the one hero who remained in this world.
Right now the only options were to hold on until the kingdom army arrived or to kill Loktur here.
“But with our current strength we can’t beat Loktur···.”
Thinking back to Lukas’s experience, it seemed nearly impossible to take on the monster while Luke was out of the fight.
Then what could we do?
While Lukas gritted his teeth and brainstormed, Rigel stepped forward first.
“There’s no other way. It’s already been discovered. Besides, we can’t run away now.”
Rigel stepped out ahead of us, gripping his sword with both hands.
His eyes were trembling, but his body moved with a steadiness that didn’t match them.
“If it’s me, then who else can do it now.”
Rigel walked forward calmly.
“Kurrurrurr···.”
“Is this really a demon?”
Its form was demonic, so it had taken on a human-like shape.
The horns on its head were nothing new either.
What set it apart was the enormous body—more than three times the size of a normal man—and the massive hole in the center of its chest where a heart should have been.
Outside of that, it was clearly a monster and a beast.
There was no sign of any true intelligence.
It looked like it moved only on instinct, yet it had earned the title of demon because of it.
This thing had slaughtered countless humans and was strong enough to match heroes and knights alike.
Rigel stood alone before the demon.
In front of the monster that had already crushed Luke with one casual swing, he braced himself.
His heartbeat could be heard through his racing pulse.
One mistake and it would be over.
He tensed every nerve in his body at the thought.
Wham!
His arm moved in a blur.
In that instant something brushed past him and continued on.
The rough wind pressure sliced his cheek.
If his body hadn’t moved first, his upper body would have been carved away cleanly.
The speed with which it had grazed his skin far exceeded the force that had slammed into Luke.
When he snapped back to his senses, the next punch had already been thrown.
At that moment Rigel knew he was going to die.
Crack!
The blurry death had stopped right in front of his face.
Only the wind pressure from the stopped fist tilted his armored body backward.
“Rigel, you okay?”
Lukas’s voice rang out.
His sword sliced through Loktur’s arm and black blood sprayed into the air.
Taking advantage of the demon’s momentary recoil from pain, Lukas quickly retreated and steadied himself.
With his usual relaxed pace restored, he placed a hand on Lukas’s shoulder and spoke.
“You were right. There’s no other way now. We have no choice but to fight Loktur to the death here.”
“I can’t see the fist coming, so I have to react to the shoulder movement.”
You have to predict the fist’s path.
If you can’t predict the movement, you die.
Even if you can’t predict it, a single strike will leave you badly wounded.
“Then I’ll stand in front. I’ve fought Loktur before. With my seniors.”
“···That was more than twenty years ago.”
The ground began to shake again.
Pain and an even fiercer Loktur spewed out rougher breathing and howls than before.
“Kurrurrurr!”
And without any warning it leaped into the air.
The predator charged the two prey it needed to catch.
Just before it launched, Lukas and Rigel felt its body contract and immediately hurled their bodies sideways.
Kaboom!
The ground where they had been standing moments ago shattered into pieces.
Yet Loktur, moving at an impossible speed, bounced back and rushed straight at Lukas first.
The moment Lukas’s foot touched the ground, Loktur launched from several meters away.
He reached out a hand and flicked his wrist, manifesting a fist.
“Glare.”
A blinding flash exploded outward.
The monster lost its balance in the air from the intense light.
When it fell, the prey was nowhere to be found.
In that same instant the sword sliced through Loktur’s arm and left a gash across its back.
Black blood flowed freely.
“How solid is this thing?!”
Rigel had chopped at its back with both hands, yet all that remained was a shallow wound and a trickle of blood.
But the arm that Lukas had cut was deep enough that his blade had sunk in and blood sprayed out.
“KuoOOOOO!!!”
They had decided to take it slow and savor it rather than rush in.
Lukas, watching Loktur’s movements from behind, made the demon roar toward the sky.
The air itself seemed to vibrate and the howl tore at their ears.
Lukas and Rigel both clamped their hands over their ears and grimaced at the same time.
“K, uuuuh!”
Their heads were spinning.
They had lost their sense of balance from the roar and now a piercing tinnitus was scrambling their brains.
Loktur was not the kind of demon that would miss such an opening.
The moment Lukas sat down, it shifted its gaze to him and charged.
“Rigel!!”
He gritted his teeth and forced himself upright.
His balance was still off, but he somehow managed to steady himself.
In front of him Loktur was pumping power into its arm.
Rigel dodged to the side as if the demon were springing forward with its body.
Thud!
Loktur’s fist that sliced through the air smashed straight through a wall like it was hitting overkill.
While the massive fist was still buried in the wall, Lukas leaped forward and slashed in one fluid motion—arm, waist, and leg.
Slice!
Black blood sprayed.
But it wouldn’t be fatal.
He dodged Loktur’s attacks repeatedly and stabbed his sword into the gaps.
Instead it looked like only his own stamina was running out.
On the contrary, the demon didn’t seem to tire at all.
Instead it grew even more enraged and swung its arms wildly.
“Doesn’t it ever get tired?”
Lukas and I kept our distance from Loktur and backed away quickly.
By now the fortress had become a ruin; only the outer wall remained, and the inside was filled with broken rubble.
Even that outer wall was crumbling from the battle’s aftermath.
Rigel was gradually getting used to the speed, but it still wasn’t enough.
“It would be nice if we could just land one big hit.”
“If we gather all our strength, Loktur will come straight at me and that won’t work.”
In the end we had no choice but to keep trading blows endlessly.
Just as I was gathering all my strength and bracing myself, a thud echoed from Loktur’s direction.
I looked over and saw several large chunks of rubble big enough to match the demon’s size.
Countless smaller fragments piled on top of them.
Rigel arched his back and, in a single explosive motion, hurled the massive fragment toward us.
But even faster came the smaller pieces raining down on us.
Klang, Klang!
I leaped forward and batted away the debris hurtling toward me, then batted it away again.
At that moment I felt a strange sensation on my head.
The head that had been shaken by the roar was now shaking again at the exact same time.
“U, uuuuh···!!”
I grimaced.
I knew debris was flying straight at me, so when I opened my eyes again.
Klang.
There was no sound.
My vision suddenly went white and blurred.
A jagged rock had smashed into Rigel’s head.
His head swayed and his consciousness began to fade.
“RIGEL!!!”
Lukas, who had seen the blood spray from Rigel’s head, shouted at the same time as a massive piece of rubble exploded right in front of him.
Through the shattered debris came something huge and threatening.
Loktur’s foot shot out and kicked Lukas’s torso clean through the air.
Thud—!
Lukas flew straight into the wall and slammed against it with a deafening crash.
“Y-you damned···.”
He had to get up.
If he didn’t, he would die.
And so would the remaining two.
He had to stand up to survive, to protect others, but his hand holding the sword was completely powerless.
He tried to push himself off the wall, but no strength came into his hand.
His vision grew steadily blurrier and he couldn’t hear anything.
And so Lukas’s consciousness cut off.