Chapter 68
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: A Single Scream
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While Bin rode the lightning spirit’s back, soaring through the battlefield sky, Bel, Ad, and the soldiers were moving diligently through the enemy’s trenches, abandoned warehouses, caves, and rotten trees.
“…Quite the commotion.”
Bel, having infiltrated the Mazoku camp, muttered under his breath as he watched Bin and the lightning spirit freely fly through the sky, incinerating the demons.
He had ordered Bin to draw their attention using the spirit, but even he hadn't expected him to go this far.
The other soldiers, aside from Bel, let out a dry laugh as they watched the white-haired boy and the deer in the sky.
To them, too, the sight was something they had never seen or heard of in their lives, but they didn't have the luxury of marveling at it.
Most soldiers chose to scan their surroundings one more time rather than look at the sky. Only Ad would glance up at the scene the boy and the deer embroidered across the heavens whenever he had a fleeting moment.
‘…That’s it.’
Ad thought to himself, watching the boy without realizing it.
If asked what exactly he felt watching the boy, Ad wouldn't be able to answer properly.
He was simply endlessly envious of the boy who flew so freely through the sky.
“…Let’s get moving. Thanks to him raising such a ruckus, the perimeter security should be a bit lax. If we’re going to move, now’s the time.”
“Right, let’s go.”
Menes, hearing Bel’s command, belatedly came to his senses and replied. Even for an elf who had lived over 2,000 years, a mage riding a spirit through the sky was unheard of.
“This is the last one. Let’s finish this quickly and return to the barracks. I’m starting to get antsy.”
Bel rubbed his fingers together as if annoyed by the long time he’d gone without a smoke, skillfully navigating the heart of the enemy camp.
“…As Astella watches over me, I shall advance with faith, repelling the hounds of hell…”
Corporal Citadel's faint prayer could be heard by everyone through the communication magic of their masks.
Having been forced to watch a brother-in-arms, with whom he had shared thick and thin for five years, be abducted by a mutant, his mental collapse was inevitable.
Everyone knew that.
Still, they couldn't help the anger and irritation that welled up in their chests.
“Everyone, focus.”
Menes’s voice echoed inside the masks of the soldiers who were worriedly watching the broken corporal.
“There’s a mutant with a peculiar form up ahead.”
“Peculiar how?”
“It has a human form, but its ears are… quite large. Looks like you could stuff a cow or two into its ear canals.”
Ad frowned at Menes’s description. He couldn't picture its form from the description alone.
“…Hah.”
It seemed Bel also found the description hard to grasp.
“Its outer ears are so massive they're slumped on the ground. It seems unable to move, probably because it can't bear the weight of its ears.”
“…Why would there be a mutant like that?”
“For surveillance, I’d guess. It’s been enhanced with a specific organ for a specific purpose. It can’t turn its head, so we should only need to worry about sound.”
Bel nodded as if he understood Menes’s words and began to take off his leather boots.
“Everyone, take off your boots. The ground is mud, so it should muffle the sound, but… it’ll be safer to move barefoot.”
The soldiers all grimaced, showing their reluctance. They had no idea how many pieces of flesh and poison might be soaked into the mud, and the thought of stepping on it without boots was extremely unsettling.
“Ssss…”
Sure enough, as soon as they stepped on the mud, the soldiers felt a sharp pain in their feet, and the tips of their toes began to feel numb with cold.
“Let’s finish this fast and go back. This level of poison is bearable, isn’t it? I’ll take you to the Saintess as soon as we return, so just endure it for a little longer.”
“Hah… hah…”
Corporal Citadel’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Bel watched him intently, then exchanged a look with Menes through his mask.
Ad had no way of knowing what the two had communicated with their eyes… but it probably wasn't anything good for Corporal Citadel.
In any case, the soldiers continued to move forward slowly, their bare feet treading through the mud.
Soon, a pair of enormous earlobes appeared over a muddy hill.
The grotesque, massive ears had several burst blood vessels. The bruised and sallow auricles looked large enough to fit two or three orcs, just as Menes had said.
The mutant’s head was slumped forward, unable to bear the weight of its ears. Thanks to that, even though it was in a rather conspicuous spot, it seemed they wouldn’t be seen as long as they didn’t make a sound.
‘Advance.’
Menes, at the front, assessed the situation and gave the command with a hand signal.
Ad held his breath and moved carefully, one step at a time, with his body lowered. The mud clinging to the soles of his feet and the sharp pain tormented him, but Ad clenched his jaw and suppressed his groans.
He had to be careful not to step on the bones hidden here and there in the mud. The soft, rotten bones would break with the slightest impact.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Corporal Citadel’s breathing grew more and more ragged. Or perhaps it wasn't getting more ragged, but because the soldiers were so tense, his breathing just sounded much louder than usual.
The experienced soldiers thought the mutant might detect Corporal Citadel’s ragged breaths.
‘Steady. Keep advancing.’
As if he had eyes on his back or the ability to read minds, Menes quickly sensed the soldiers’ anxiety and sent a hand signal.
The soldiers had no choice but to trust him and keep moving forward. Ad moved cautiously, hoping the mutant's hearing wasn't as good as its appearance suggested.
*Boom!*
Just as they were trying to pass stealthily by the mutant’s head, an explosion sounded again from a distance.
A hot wind momentarily brushed past their earlobes. Some foolish mutant had stepped on a mana mine.
“Hgh…!”
Ad couldn't help but let out a gasp. Faced with a sudden explosion in a state of extreme tension, he couldn't hold it in.
The soldiers all turned their heads to glance at Ad, then turned their gazes to the mutant.
“…Hoo. Ssss, hoo.”
Corporal Citadel’s harsh breathing only grew louder.
“…”
The mutant showed no reaction. Ad’s gasp had probably been drowned out by the explosion.
Ad almost let out a sigh of relief.
To avoid making another mistake, he clenched his jaw and swept a hand over his chest instead.
The soldiers all felt a sense of relief and slowly began to lift their feet again.
“…Fuck. Fuuuck…”
But Corporal Citadel’s breathing remained just as ragged. Unable to control his gasping breaths, he started cursing at himself.
‘…Quiet.’
Menes turned back and gave a hand signal. A dark shadow was cast over his sharp eyes.
“Sorry… I’m sorry, Danny. I couldn’t help it. You know that.”
‘Quiet!’
Menes signaled again. The soldiers next to Corporal Citadel quickly grabbed his shoulders and repeated the lieutenant's signal in front of his eyes.
“…”
Corporal Citadel stared blankly at his comrades’ hand signals with unfocused eyes.
Then, he clamped his mouth shut and nodded.
The soldiers who had urgently repeated Menes’s signal barely managed to suppress their sighs of relief.
They quickly turned their heads forward to get out of the giant-eared mutant’s hearing range.
“The lieutenant said to shut up, Danny! Please, just! Be still!”
And then.
Corporal Citadel’s scream, almost a shriek.
It slammed into the backs of the soldiers’ heads.
“Ah.”
After letting out the scream, Corporal Citadel lifted his head as if he realized what he had done and continued speaking.
“My apologies.”
Having let out a full-throated scream, Corporal Citadel, in the next moment, apologized in a steady, calm voice, no different from before they had left for the mission, like a dementia patient suddenly returned to their senses.
Even so, his eyes remained unfocused.
*Piiiiii—*
A ringing tormented the ears of the soldiers standing there.
It wasn't a ringing born from stress.
It was a ringing created by the mutant with the abnormally large ears.
The giant-eared mutant let out a nauseating ringing sound, as if preparing for something. The ringing was so loud that it pierced through the rumbling thunder and threatened to rupture the soldiers' eardrums.
“Fuck.”
Menes cursed under his breath, as if the inevitable had finally happened.
He hastily drew the longbow from his back and fired an arrow at the mutant's head. It took him less than half a second to grab the longbow from his back and fire the arrow.
A thin, sharp line shot out from the bow.
“Kiyaa…!”
Just as a massive, ear-splitting scream was about to erupt from the mutant’s face, which was pointed at the ground, the arrow Menes fired pierced straight through its neck.
Compared to its massive ears, the mutant's neck was no different from a human's. As the steel arrow pierced its neck, the rotten flesh immediately tore, and its torso collapsed limply like waterlogged paper.
“A step too late.”
Though it was for a brief moment, the mutant's scream had escaped.
For Ad and the other soldiers, even that momentary scream was enough to make their ears go numb and their ribs vibrate.
If that mutant had screamed properly, all the soldiers here would have lost their hearing.
*Wuuuuung—*
Soon after, a sound like a great horn’s blast came from far away, as if in response to the mutant's scream.
Without a moment to collect themselves, the soldiers quickly dropped the boots they were holding and shoved their mud-caked feet inside.
Whatever the source of this sound was, the soldiers wanted absolutely no part of it.
“What do we do? Do we pull back?”
Menes slung his longbow over his back and looked at Bel. It was clear from his eyes that he, too, hoped to abort the mission and withdraw immediately.
*Wuuuuuuung—!*
Once again, the great horn’s blast pressed down on them. This time, it came from a different direction.
Something was approaching. That much was certain.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Bel gave his order.
“…Most of the forces around here will be focused on Bin. We can still complete the mission. We’re planting the last parchment.”
Bel had made his decision.
The order, given after a moment's thought, was to ‘continue the operation.’
And the soldiers who heard this order thought, ‘We’re not making it back alive.’
“…This is insane. You lot! Get your boots on, now! Anyone who falls behind from now on gets left behind!”
“Clear a path, Lieutenant. From now on, all engagement is authorized.”
Bel began to run at a speed unbelievable for a mage. The lieutenant, Menes, who heard the order, muttered a curse in annoyance before moving his feet and overtaking Bel.
An overwhelming number of enemy forces would soon swarm this location.
If they were lucky, they would die. If they were unlucky, they’d end up like Corporal Danny.
Either way, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for them.