VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (5)
VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (5)
"A monster! A monster!"
Radomar’s near-scream echoed from the distance. Keldric urged Boreas into a gallop and raced toward the sound.
But he could not ride as fast as he wanted while keeping pace with the mercenaries and soldiers on foot. Only Keldric and Alisa were mounted.
Spitzenberg’s old streets were intricate and often winding, another drawback of the ancient city.
Several residents, awakened by the commotion, peered out anxiously. That might have been exactly the opening the monster wanted. Keldric shouted at them.
"Get back inside! Don’t come out for any reason!"
"Bar your doors! Sir Keldric will kill the monster!"
The soldiers were doing their part as well. Bright torches rapidly appeared near the inner castle—the rest of Baron Spitzenberg’s troops, whom he had not deployed earlier.
"Form up! I said form up and stop it! Hey!"
Radomar’s voice rapidly drew closer, and the commotion became clearer.
Crash! Smash!
Keldric realized the monster was rampaging near the market. He followed Radomar’s voice while driving Boreas hard and soon reached the market that sustained the city.
A dozen or so torches flickered chaotically in the darkness. Something was indiscriminately smashing the crude food stalls and the charcoal covered with cloth.
"What are you doing? Stop it!"
While the mercenaries and soldiers stood frozen, Keldric spurred Boreas forward and barked at them. The soldiers came to their senses first and charged with their spears.
"Uh... uh..."
"Fuck, what the hell is that?"
"I don’t know! Hurry, get after it!"
The Iron Claw mercenaries recovered a moment later and followed. Three or four carried crossbows, probably because Keldric had ordered them to prepare for hunting a beast.
That was useful. Ranged weapons were an advantage when hunting any animal, especially a ferocious predator.
Once he came close enough, Keldric reined Boreas to a sharp halt and dismounted.
The market was poorly suited to mounted combat. Broken stalls and unidentified debris covered the ground. If Boreas stepped on something and fell at speed, it would be disastrous.
"Don’t let it escape!"
Keldric drew his longsword and shouted. The terrified mercenaries cheered when he arrived.
"Sir Keldric!"
"Radomar!"
Radomar looked openly relieved. Keldric pulled his helmet down and charged straight past him.
Two mercenaries lay behind Radomar, barely conscious, their deep claw wounds plainly serious.
"Report! Keep it brief!"
"Yes! After we split from you, we started searching around the market, and that bastard was tearing through the food stalls!"
A quick look around confirmed Radomar’s report. Every overturned stall had sold food.
There had not been many food stalls to begin with, and merchants naturally took their wares home at closing time. The monster had found nothing to eat and was venting its rage.
Anger brought out an opponent’s full strength, but it also clouded moment-to-moment judgment. That made the creature easier to handle, and Keldric did not fear a contest of strength.
"Everyone, back away slowly! Surround it!"
Several soldiers and mercenaries edged backward with rigid faces. The rest of Keldric’s mercenaries, the late-arriving soldiers, and Alisa closed the ring around the creature.
The monster was now almost completely surrounded. Keldric gripped his longsword, settled into his stance, and advanced with heavy steps.
"Grrrrr...!"
A deep growl rolled through the market, powerful enough to make several mercenaries flinch.
Keldric narrowed his eyes at the monster beyond his visor. The wavering torchlight illuminated the area.
The creature revealed beneath the red torchlight pressing in from every direction was shocking. Even Keldric stopped in spite of himself.
It was enormous and black. Sleek fur bristled in the torchlight, and its lower body, thinner than its massive torso, ended in digitigrade legs.
The raised fur may have exaggerated its size, but it was still larger than Keldric and nearly twice the height of an ordinary man.
"Dear God! What is that?"
"A-a servant of the devil!"
"Oh, Lord God..."
Several mercenaries invoked God as they trembled. The growling shook their courage and tested their faith.
The veterans fared slightly better. They were afraid too, but quickly pulled themselves together and assessed the situation.
"Quiet! Two of you, go to the church and bring Brother Marcus!"
Two soldiers hurried toward the church, leaving a small gap in the encirclement.
Keldric did not know what a clergyman could do here, but assumed there was some reason the soldiers wanted one.
"Sir Keldric!"
Against a human opponent, both sides might have tested each other for an opening. The irrational monster lunged directly at Keldric on pure instinct.
Keldric snapped his longsword up. The blade above his shoulder intercepted the hideous claws slashing down like lightning.
Clang!
A deeply ominous clang came from the claws. For a moment, Keldric felt as though he had blocked metal.
"Kraaah!"
The monster did not stop. Its wild barrage of claws was immensely dangerous.
More tense than he had ever been in the tournament, Keldric calmly blocked each strike.
One clean hit from those claws could kill him on the spot. But merely defending would not work forever as the attacks grew fiercer.
He had to seize the initiative before his guard failed.
"Hup!"
With a short exhalation, Keldric broke the barrage by smashing the claws aside with all his strength.
He drove a kick into the opening he had created.
Boom!
"Ku-hung?!"
The impact sounded like a boot striking a wall. The monster’s fur rippled in waves; although its exterior looked intact, its insides must have churned violently.
Keldric did not stop. Once he seized the initiative, he pursued an opponent without mercy.
When Keldric thrust his longsword with all his force, the monster instinctively raised an arm to block.
Keldric swung hard enough to sever the arm in one stroke.
Shhk—!
"What...?"
But the longsword slid across the hide and left only a shallow cut. It felt like striking a greased ball.
Keldric had underestimated the toughness of an animal’s hide.
A beast’s skin—especially one covered in fur—was not only durable but thick.
A wild animal wore no armor. To survive on fur and hide alone, its skin had to withstand at least the claws of other predators.
The monster’s sleek fur and hide caused Keldric’s blade to slip and glance away.
"Yipe! Yip!"
The blow had not been entirely useless. A clean red line appeared across the monster’s arm, and it recoiled three or four steps in alarm.
Brilliant yellow eyes shone in the darkness as they fixed on Keldric.
Those bestial eyes had previously surrendered completely to instinct. Now they watched Keldric with a faint trace of fear.
"Shoot!"
At Radomar’s shout, the mercenaries fired their crossbows.
Half of the five or six bolts struck the ground. The rest buried themselves in the monster’s fur and hide.
"Kung! Ku-hung—!"
The creature casually tore out most of the bolts. One had sunk too deep to remove, and blood streamed from the wound.
Keldric immediately threw his longsword behind him and drew the mace at his waist.
A thrusting weapon might have pierced the thick hide, but he had no spear and little training with one.
In that case, he would simply beat the monster until its insides were pulp.
'At least one bone should break.'
Keldric advanced with the mace, and the monster whimpered as it retreated.
Crimson blood dripped through the fur on its arm. Perhaps this was its first experience of pain; it still feared Keldric.
Keldric ignored its fear and drove off the ground. Startled, the monster opened its jaws wide at him.
Sharp claws came at him at the same time, but Keldric intended to deflect them as much as possible and still land a solid blow.
Scrrrape—! The claws raked across Keldric’s chain mail hard enough to throw sparks, but the heavy mass of iron reached the monster before the attack could turn fatal.
"Hup!"
WHAM!
The mace struck the monster’s lower jaw like lightning. Bone shattered at once, and the broken jaw dangled while blood poured from it.
"Yip! Yip! Hack!"
Several teeth fell from its mouth as it staggered backward, yelping as though half dead.
Until now, the victims’ blood had stained the ground.
Not tonight. Blood from the monster’s shattered jaw pattered onto the dirt of the market.
Keldric intended to kill it here. However tough the hide might be, repeated blows to the head would crack its skull.
"Ke-heng!"
Instead, the monster immediately turned and fled.
Keldric stared in disbelief. It had appeared ready to smash everything in sight, then bolted the moment it took a few solid hits.
"Stop it!"
Keldric shouted, but the monster shoved past the fumbling spearmen before they could thrust their weapons.
Several mercenaries tumbled across the ground. Keldric bounded after the creature.
"Not so fast!"
His disbelief did not matter; he still had to catch it. Keldric hurled the mace with all his strength.
Spinning end over end, the mace traced a long arc and slammed into the ground ahead. It missed even the creature’s tail by a hair.
Whoosh!
At the same moment, flames conjured by Alisa erupted from the bare ground. The monster easily leaped clear.
The creature was astonishingly fast in flight. In the span of a blink, it seemed ready to vanish into the distance.
Its black fur helped it disappear into the darkness. With only torchlight, Keldric had no way to pursue something moving that fast.
"Damn."
Keldric clicked his tongue and retrieved the longsword he had thrown aside.
He felt sure he would have won if the fight had continued, which made the escape all the more frustrating.
Never had he regretted his lack of hunting experience so much. He suspected he would not receive many more chances.
An animal never returned to a place where it had discovered a trap.
The monster would be no different. It would avoid Keldric whenever possible from now on.
This might have been his last perfect opportunity.
"Track the blood in teams of five. If you follow it, you may find where the creature hides during the day."
"Yes, Sir Keldric!"
Keldric took command of the mercenaries, soldiers, and reinforcements arriving from the inner castle, then raised the tip of his longsword to the torchlight.
Something yellow and sticky clung to the tip. He pinched it between his fingers and found it unpleasantly slick.
'...Fat?'
A thick layer of fat lay beneath the hide. The yellow residue on Keldric’s sword had come from it.
That was why the wound had been shallow despite the force of his swing.
Keldric stared at the streets of Spitzenberg as torches appeared throughout the city in response to the commotion.
The clawed chain mail hung precariously from his body, nearly severed. His surcoat was torn to shreds as well.
His first attempt at hunting the monster had ended in failure.
It was Keldric’s first failure since being born into this world.
But he did not despair. Failure meant there were things he could correct, and that meant he could improve.
Next time, he would not let it escape.