Faith, Betrayal (5)
My eyes were brimming with tears.
“We must not let Small Rock’s sacrifice be in vain!”
I figured my voice, magnified by spell amplification, would steady the troops rather than rattle them.
There were a few who seemed to think they might die the same way Small Rock had, but his final end hadn’t been a face twisted with terror, fleeing for its life.
Most likely, they hadn’t even heard his last, faint scream.
Unlike us, who could grasp the shape of the battle with the help of magic, ordinary soldiers were too busy dealing with the monsters right in front of them.
The image of the bastard shouting, “Lee Kiyoung, you son of a bitch!” while raising his sword in resistance would have looked, to them, like the last brave stand of a man cursing the monsters and fighting until the end.
From a distance, Song Jungwook’s death must have looked like the kind of beautiful ending that belonged in a movie.
Small Rock and Song Jungwook, who had fought for Castle Rock until the very end at the front line before disappearing from the world.
They were, without a doubt, the finest heroes this siege had produced.
You go ahead and be a hero all you want, Jungwook.
If it came to it, I could probably force in the story that Small Rock’s ascent to the first wall had been aided by those guys’ support.
Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of becoming some kind of hero like that.
It’s better to survive miserably than to die gloriously.
It was only natural that so many troops had been moved by the sight of Small Rock, one of the guilds representing Castle Rock.
One by one, more and more voices began to join mine.
“Don’t let Small Rock’s sacrifice be in vain!”
“Those filthy monster bastards! You sons of bitches!”
“Let’s protect our home!”
His death gave the defenders a second wind.
As if they’d been granted a buff, archers drew their bows with fire in their eyes, warriors threw themselves into the fray without regard for their own lives, and priests kept pouring out holy power without pause.
Since I had to set an example too, I slowly began to chant the spell myself.
It was time to show the monsters crowding the first wall just how great Castle Rock’s unity truly was.
“Let’s protect Castle Rock!”
Puhihihihit.
Perhaps sensing my mana, Jung Hayan began chanting from a distance as well.
On my own, I wouldn’t be able to inflict much damage on them, but if I channeled Jung Hayan’s mana, I could do far more than I’d dare imagine.
Time to farm some experience.
The moment the spell was complete, I cast it aloud, and as if they’d been waiting for it, a massive hand appeared in the sky above the first wall.
The enormous hand, reconstructed in an instant from the catalyst, kept expanding, while the mana supplied by Jung Hayan continuously pumped strength into it.
It was only natural that the monsters on the first wall were crushed flat with a thunderous boom.
Small Rock might have been in there too, but for the greater good, even a little sacrifice was sometimes necessary.
Before long, the giant hand swelled past its limit and exploded in a blast of force.
It wasn’t even my spell, but it was obvious who had cast that magic.
Hayan!
BOOOOOOOOM!
KRADADADADADAK!
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
Nice!
I couldn’t hear the sound of my experience bar climbing, but the spell had just swept away hundreds of monsters.
Part of the wall collapsed as well, and the number of monsters buried beneath it was no small thing.
Already?
Considering how growth became more and more difficult the higher one climbed, this was a massive achievement.
I had killed quite a lot of monsters, but I hadn’t expected to earn a new class so soon.
It was only natural that the corners of my mouth lifted of their own accord.
Apparently noticing my expression, Cha Heera quietly spoke up.
“A new class?”
“Yes. I didn’t think I’d rank up this quickly.”
“Which time is this, darling?”
“The fourth.”
“That last one seems pretty good too, but it’s awfully fast... You probably got the experience from what happened with Ito Souta counted in too. Combat gives the biggest experience rewards by default, but usually you get experience for everything you do. You can choose your class a little more carefully after the wave ends. Experience accumulates anyway.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“It’s all common knowledge, really. More importantly, you need to keep your face in check.”
“Of course. We’re focusing our firepower on the first wall, where the monsters are concentrated! This is Guild Master Song Jungwook’s final message!”
I had never said anything of the sort, obviously.
“We must not let Guild Master Song Jungwook’s wish to protect Castle Rock go to waste! Everyone! Just a little more! Without sacrifice, nothing can be protected. That is why Guild Master Song Jungwook sacrificed himself after fighting to the very last at the first wall. Let us all fight together for the hero who gave his life protecting Castle Rock! All units, fire!”
There could still be survivors on the first wall.
Spells and arrows, all wrapped in the noble name of sacrifice, rained down in an instant on the dense mass of monsters.
They had held out longer than I’d expected, and in the process they had drawn a huge amount of aggro.
Before I’d even finished running through the calculations, a storm of magic slammed down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
KWAJIKIJIKIJIK!
The deafening roar in my ears was a bonus.
If nothing else, the fire spells I’d sprayed around had been worth it.
The ones who were completely charred black by the flames were the lucky ones.
The sight of the smaller monsters exploding apart under the pressure of the blast was, in a twisted way, a spectacle.
Heh...
“Kieeeeeeek!”
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
The monsters that struggled against one another and were flung from the wall crushed the ones trying to climb up, and for a brief moment, a huge hole opened in the sea of monsters that had been surging endlessly forward.
Of course, the creatures rushing in to fill the gap were still coming, but even by eye alone the damage was enormous.
All of this is thanks to Song Jungwook!
Offering a prayer of thanks to the man who was now dead was only proper.
I kept finding my mouth curving upward.
“This might end easier than expected...”
Cha Heera’s words were impossible to deny.
The allied forces relying on the wall were driving the monsters back completely. Of course, heroic-grade monsters were still forcing their way up in waves.
A few had made it onto the wall, but in those cases the guild executives and clan masters were clearly keeping them pinned down.
Kim Hyunsung and our Blue party were among those doing the same.
Flying from one wall to another and methodically clearing monsters away, Kim Hyunsung looked almost like a god of war.
I had no idea how he could cut down the neck of some enormous monster with nothing but a single sword, but our regressor, burning with intensity as he ran himself ragged, was holding down more than his fair share all by himself.
Kim Yeri too...
The kid with absurd talent was the same.
Jung Hayan’s magic landing exactly where it needed to, Hwang Jeongyeon supporting her, Sun Heeyoung scattering holy power everywhere she went.
In our party, the only ordinary person was Park Deokgu. And even he was doing more than enough for one man, which made it painfully clear just how much impact a single well-trained, capable party could have on the battlefield.
We’ve grown a lot.
I was no exception, but our party was definitely no longer what it had once been.
That was when one of the men bearing the Red Mercenary emblem rushed over to me.
“Lady Cha Heera.”
“Hm? Ah. Did you handle it?”
“Yes. Just as you said, we secured all of the merchandise left in the underground auction house. We also confirmed the monster’s cry from earlier.”
“Report.”
“We found a hatchling born from a monster egg in Small Rock’s guild warehouse. It’s a form we’ve never seen before...”
“What?”
“It was a monster unlike anything we’ve seen before. For now, we’ve occupied Small Rock’s guild house and are securing the hostage situation, but... I think you should come see it personally. Perhaps...”
Huh.
“Perhaps it was the cause of the monster wave.”
When I spoke to the Red Mercenary member, I saw him nod.
I was right.
There is no result without a cause.
Now that what had seemed like a mere guess was turning into certainty, my head started to ache a little.
If the monster wave had really begun because of that egg, then we might have to deal with the creature’s parents as well.
Cha Heera seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she was quietly looking toward the wall.
“Did you check where the egg was found?”
“We interrogated Small Rock’s warehouse keeper, but he had no leads beyond saying it was discovered deep in the forest.”
“Hah... those idiots. Bringing a monster egg in without permission isn’t merely illegal; it’s taboo. I already knew they were up to something illegal, but I never imagined they’d be this stupid... At this point, I almost feel like those bastards died too easily...”
“Then the monster wave...”
“The odds are high that it started because of that bastard. It’s making sense now. The clues their guild master found finally fit. The beginning of the monster wave was definitely that howling, too...”
“Is it a dangerous situation?”
Even as I said it, I realized what a stupid question it was.
Of course it was dangerous.
“No. It shouldn’t cause any major problems. Probably... For now, I think you’d better head into the city and see for yourself. I should probably keep cleaning up the appetizers before the main dish gets here. Don’t worry too much. It’s only one more bastard I have to deal with.”
For Cha Heera to say she was going to move out now was, honestly, a little startling.
It wasn’t a bad decision timing-wise, but it was proof that the situation was spiraling into something urgent.
“I’m going.”
“Ah... yeah.”
She waved once as if it were nothing and leapt down from the wall, a sight that was nothing short of outrageous.
Just in case it was dangerous, I glanced toward the Red Mercenary member, and he immediately spoke up.
“She’ll be more comfortable fighting alone.”
“I see.”
“When the master focuses, she tends to get very worked up... I suppose it would be more accurate to say she loses her reason.”
I knew that much already. If you thought about Cha Heera’s nature, the answer came quickly enough.
[Trait - Blood-Crazed Madwoman - Heroic Grade]
[Temporarily lowers intelligence stats to raise attack power.]
I couldn’t tell whether it was her intelligence stat that dropped or intelligence itself that simply went down, but it was probably both.
It was almost enough to make me think this trait was the very thing that had made Cha Heera who she was.
Considering her raw strength was already 97, the sight of her with her attack power boosted was barely even human anymore.
KRADADADADADAK!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Looking down toward the lower part of the wall, I saw exactly what I’d expected: monsters being torn apart and killed.
For the moment she still seemed to be clinging to her sanity, sending them to the afterlife without getting drenched in blood, but it wasn’t long before I could see her slowly turning more and more beastlike.
It was movement that made you forget who the monsters were and who the human was.
Climbing over a heroic-grade monster, tearing its jaw apart with her bare hand, and then ripping its head clean off was the act of a beast wearing a human skin.
Strong...
I had a rough idea of how powerful bastards like Ito Souta were, but Cha Heera was beyond anything I’d imagined.
Honestly...
She was starting to make me a little sick of it.
The sight of her smiling with her insides splattered all over her wasn’t exactly the picture of sanity.
Whoa, she’s scary...
Then, just as Cha Heera’s eyes, which looked as though she’d lost all reason, shifted up toward the wall—
“Huh?”
It wasn’t my imagination.
For some reason, it felt as though she was staring straight at me.
She was holding a monster’s head in one hand, yet her gaze was fixed precisely in my direction.
Those eyes looked as if all reason had already flown away, her lips were curled in a grin, and her face was strangely flushed with excitement.
No way...
[Player Cha Heera's unique quirk has been confirmed.]
[Lioness faithful to instinct.]
No way...
What I’d half-expected turned out to be true after all.
Watching Cha Heera suddenly charge straight toward me, I had no choice but to admit that things had gone badly, horribly wrong.
“You crazy—shit!! RUN!”
For reasons I couldn’t understand, Cha Heera was definitely chasing me.