The Defense of Roholan (3)
It started with Heinzel.
Laughing in a way that had no business belonging to a battlefield, he charged straight into the thick of twelve hundred gnolls. His halberd swung without the slightest regard for friend or foe—wild, reckless arcs that looked almost careless. Yet every pass of the blade sent a dozen of the creatures bursting apart in sprays of blood and bone.
Next came Luci, who had been clicking his tongue in mild irritation. He lacked Heinzel’s raw destructive power, but his sword strokes were razor-precise, each one slicing cleanly through a gnoll’s throat. Compared to Heinzel’s overwhelming force, Luci’s style was leaner, more efficient—every motion calculated to conserve stamina.
And then there was me.
I drew the greatsword I liked the least. I would have preferred my beloved blade, but if it broke right at the start… the thought alone was too depressing. So I had tucked it safely away in the rear, the way you save the best peach-flavored jelly for last. I would use it when it truly mattered.
I felt the weight settle into my palms, swung it a couple of times to get the feel, and adapted almost instantly—thanks to my sky-high Greatsword Mastery. After a few steadying breaths I picked out a stretch of ground where I could move freely, then threw myself forward.
First, one of them.
Just like always, I swept the greatsword from left to right. The blade looked worn, yet it proved sharp enough. With the clean sensation of slicing through a cucumber, the gnoll’s body came apart in two neat halves.
This wasn’t the time to copy Luci’s measured style. I needed Heinzel’s ferocity—overwhelming power, weapons swung with pure force. I pictured the way he fought during our spars, clenched my teeth, caught the rebound, and heaved the greatsword up on a diagonal before bringing it down in a single continuous cut. Four heads shattered under that one motion.
A club came whistling toward my right leg. I reversed my grip, yanked the blade in close, and caught the weapon on the edge. The hurried block sent a sharp jolt through my hands.
“Hah…”
My body was heating up. I gritted my teeth, raised the greatsword high, and swung with everything I had. The vivid sensation of leather tearing traveled straight up my arms. That made ten.
[Graaa!]
Before I could even catch my breath, another gnoll came trampling over its own kin’s corpse and thrust a spear at me. I flicked the hilt upward, knocking the shaft aside, then shot my free hand out, seized the gaping maw that had opened toward me, and slammed it into the dirt. My greatsword split the next one clean in half; a kick to the chest sent a third—dagger raised for a backstab—flying. A wet crunch of shattering spine, and the gnolls behind it toppled in a heap. I spun and brought the greatsword down like a pile-driver onto the tangled pile. Foul liquid splattered across my entire body.
I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of a hand and scanned the field. The gnolls that had fallen into a berserk frenzy were swinging their weapons indiscriminately—friend and foe alike. If I used that properly, this would get even easier.
I steadied my ragged breathing and charged again. The first one that lunged I shoved aside; the one behind it I cut down. Fists, feet, knees, head—sometimes even teeth—I tore a path through them. My whole body was soaked in blood. The sticky feel of it, the sour stench, only stoked the fire higher.
I widened my Qi Sensing. No more gnolls behind me. I didn’t need to look back. Only forward.
I scooped up a discarded dagger from the ground, then turned toward the remaining pack and… well. Words weren’t going to work on these things.
So I barked.
“Woof…! Grrrr… woof woof!”
The provocation landed perfectly. They came at me drooling, and I met them with a wide grin, greatsword already in motion.
“Wooof, woof!”
I hurled away the greatsword whose edge had been completely chewed up, drew a fourth one, and surveyed the field. Roughly fifty gnolls still lived; fewer than ten of them could even stand properly. The vanguard was finally finished.
I wiped the thick crust of blood from my face and spoke.
“Haa… That about wraps up the vanguard, woof— I mean… ahem.”
Judging by the lack of reaction, nobody had heard that last bit… Thank the gods. That would have been mortifying.
Whether it was because Luci and Heinzel were ridiculously strong or because I myself was ridiculous, the fight had ended faster than expected. I had burned through a lot of potions, but finishing this cleanly was still a relief. The relative ease had even let some of the tension drain away. If things kept going like this, our side would be fine.
As for Rubia’s side… I thought about widening my Qi Sensing to check, but in my current state I wouldn’t have the confidence to handle the rear guard afterward. So I decided to trust her. Besides, the western gate was narrow; the gnolls couldn’t pour through all at once. As long as no one ran, they could hold it just by standing still and swinging their swords.
“Brat! How many did you get?!”
Heinzel, the heat of battle finally cooling from his body, strode over with a bright shout.
“Ah—what about you, Mister?”
“Four hundred and four!”
“Hmm. I took four hundred and ten. Noah, how many for you?”
“I got three hundred ninety-six—ugh, yaaah! Haa—three hundred ninety-seven now…!”
I swung at a gnoll that had the nerve to charge without reading the room. Its guts painted the ground.
“Oops—hah! Definitely four hundred ten for me. Make that four hundred eleven. Looks like Noah’s in last place.”
Luci, using his Unique Ability, casually severed the neck of a gnoll that had been loading a crossbow in the distance.
“I-it’s not over yet… Just… watch.”
I drove my greatsword straight down into the skull of a gnoll still crawling toward us.
“That should about do it. Brat, how long until the ones behind them show up?”
Heinzel dumped a potion over his own head as he spoke.
Why over the head…? That’s not going to grow any hair back.
“Mm… they’ll be in sight within about five minutes… We should head back and get ready… Any later and it’ll get messy.”
“Noah. You secured the sparkstones?”
“Yes. Right here… ah, two of them broke. Still plenty left, though.”
I opened the pouch and showed them the heap of sparkstones inside.
“Plenty indeed. No point lingering. Let’s move.”
“Good idea…! Four hundred five!”
Heinzel stomped; the gnoll he’d been standing on exploded under his boot. That seemed to be the last of the ones still twitching.
Which left… these greatswords…
“Um… sorry, but… could you help me carry these greatswords…?”
Six of them were still stuck in the ground. Three more discarded. One in my hand. And far back, waiting patiently for me—my precious greatsword. Heh… I’ll be there soon!
“I’ll carry them, but… brat, how exactly do you fight that your swords end up looking like this?”
Heinzel nudged one of the ruined blades with his foot.
“He’s right. Noah, you need to learn to treasure your weapons. Looks like you require some education. An adventurer’s gear is as precious as life itself. Therefore, you must always—”
Luci launched into a full-blown lecture, pure old-man energy.
Ugh… ughhh, old man!
I ignored Old Man Luci’s sermon and yanked three more greatswords free. Thanks to my absurd Strength stat, bundling two in each hand wasn’t as bad as expected—though my height meant I still had to drag them along the ground.
“—Anyway, that’s the long and short of it. Understood?”
“Yeees… I understood perfectly.”
I gave a vague nod and turned my back. I did not want to talk anymore.
Scriiitch—scriiitch—thud. Scriiitch—thud.
Two greatswords in each hand, four in total, I dragged them toward the village entrance.
“A brat barely taller than a gnoll, swinging greatswords like that without a shred of fear.”
Heinzel scooped up the remaining two blades and fell into step beside me.
“I-I’m taller than a gnoll… by about… fifty centimeters…”
Exactly 45.7 cm, but if you round up it’s fifty… so fifty is correct…!
“Kwahahahaha! From where I stood it looked like the sword was swinging you!”
“Coming from the guy who lost to me in arm-wrestling… i-it’s not even funny… seriously…!”
“She’s right, Heinzel. You’ve got no room to talk. And if you look closely, it isn’t quite like that. She was using the rebound.”
“Hmm? That so?”
Oh, Luci’s eyes are sharper than I thought.
“That’s right…! The second strike is stronger than the first, the third stronger than the second. L-Luci Mister actually knows a thing or two… Is it because we both use swords?”
I had no idea how my movements looked to other people, but I was fighting as efficiently as possible. Sure, being short and small might make it look comical, but every motion was pure greatsword essence!
“A greatsword is still a bit… well, crude—no, awkward—but a sword is a sword. Close enough.”
Exactly. Heinzel is just too crude. I’m nothing like that brute. I fight with elegance and refinement. My technique is even flashy!
“Exactly. A sword is… elegant, flashy, and… refined… Completely different from that crude axe of his…”
“Crude? Brat, this is what you call fiery. If anyone’s crude, it’s you.”
“M-me?! I’m elegant… and flashy… and what was the other one… ah, refined, I tell you!”
You crude baldy Heinzel! You shiny-dome Heinzel!
“Claiming elegance and refinement looking like that is pretty funny… but I’ll grant you the flashy part.”
Luci looked me up and down as he spoke. I tilted my head and checked myself with Qi Sensing. Just a bit of blood spatter—nothing wrong. I wasn’t even dragging monster organs around like last time.
We kept up the petty sparring all the way past the southern gate. The moment we reached our destination, the ground began to tremble again. The rear guard was pouring in, howling at the top of their lungs. The vibration was stronger than before, and it set my cooled body burning once more.
“Kwahahahaha! If the last wave was a net, this one’s a tidal wave!”
“I’ve never seen this many magic beasts… If nothing else, it’s a spectacle.”
“I-is this really the time for sightseeing…? Get ready, hurry. Mister Heinzel, take the sparkstones.”
“Hmm. So I just chuck the whole lot out in front of us?”
“Y-yes. Then Mister Luci just has to light them with his Unique Ability. You can do that, right?”
“Never tried it, but it shouldn’t be hard.”
Heinzel took the sparkstones. Luci climbed the watchtower.
“I’ll… give the signal. The second you hear it, throw. Mister Luci… you absolutely cannot mess this up.”
I listened for their acknowledgments, then widened my Qi Sensing. Dizzying pain wrapped my entire body. I discarded every scrap of unnecessary information until only the target cluster remained in my mind.
“Brat. Now?”
“Ah, no. Not yet…”
I had to wait longer. Ignore the ones in front. Cut the middle of the pack.
Five seconds passed.
[Gruaaaa!]
The moment a gnoll’s roar sounded close by—
“Baldy Mister! Now!”
“Hup—ha!”
On my signal Heinzel hurled the mass of sparkstones. They arced toward the “gas canisters” we had stacked at the entrance—every last one scavenged from the villagers’ homes.
“Mister Luci!”
Luci immediately used his Unique Ability to slash the canisters open and twist the flight paths of the countless sparkstones.
“Cover your ears and duck!”
The colliding sparkstones threw off tiny sparks that ignited the gas hanging in the air.
And then—
An explosion powerful enough to shatter the sky itself tore the entire southern wall apart.
Of the seven thousand gnolls, roughly four thousand were crushed, burned, or blown to pieces.
Three thousand left.
I drew the beloved greatsword that had been waiting so carefully beside me.
“Grrrrr…!”
I charged the reeling survivors, taunting them through the aftershocks of the blast.
“Woof woof!”