Monster Subjugation (3)
Jacob thought Archbishop Carlo was a crazy old geezer. And it wasn’t just him—every last member of the Holy Front Knight Order probably felt the same. The archbishop’s training methods were deranged enough to break even the sanest person. The knights’ overall level had risen sharply, and ever since Cardinal Benedict arrived at the Entat Parish there had been no casualties, so the archbishop-led training sessions had almost vanished. Still, the man remained unmistakably insane. The things he said and did from time to time were either incomprehensible or flatly absurd.
Just look at him right now. She could use holy power now, sure, but to drag a saintess candidate this young into a magic beast subjugation? Wasn’t this the same archbishop who had reawakened years of buried terror in her body simply because he failed to stop the attack on Levia and Cardinal Benedict? And yet here he was, tossing her straight into a place like this. Jacob was dumbfounded.
The archbishop had declared that if Levia suffered so much as a scratch on her fingernail, the escort unit had better prepare themselves. If he was that worried, why not just keep her out of it entirely?
The truly terrifying thing about burnphallos was their overwhelming speed born from powerful leg strength, their pack coordination, and their insane reproductive rate. They charged forward without hesitation in whatever direction their leader set, and the ground they passed over would burn and crumble in their wake. The scorched trees they had crossed on the way to this wasteland were living proof.
Even the knights who had faced these creatures multiple times were fighting with visible tension. So how much worse must it be for a young saintess candidate? She had to be trembling in fear. It wasn’t too late yet—before the beasts collided with the knight order, she could still pull back. If she retreated now, her safety would be guaranteed.
Having reached that conclusion, Jacob turned his head from the battlefield to look at Levia and urge her to withdraw. That was when he saw her.
She was stomping her feet restlessly, as if her entire body itched unbearably. Not a single trace of fear could be found on her face. Instead, Levia wore a bright, delighted smile.
“Rear line, launch the prepared spells!”
“Hold the line! Block and thrust! Keep their eyes on us!”
Explosions thundered. The scrape of cold steel rang out. Agonized howls from the magic beasts tore through the air.
Nearly a hundred holy knights stood in formation, their wall of light forming a barrier in its own right. The burnphallos that had charged ahead slammed into it, stumbled, and fell, only to be skewered by the knights’ blades. Those that followed were sliced apart by magic, frozen solid, or shredded until they couldn’t even scream.
Quite a few burnphallos had already died, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Far more of them trampled their own dead and kept rushing forward.
“Brace for another impact! Rear line, begin chanting again!”
“Don’t let their attention scatter!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The knights at the front hammered their shields with their swords, drawing the burnphallos’ focus… and then the collision came again. Just like before, blades and spells sent the creatures crashing down. It was a simple, brutish tactic, but it worked perfectly.
Years of rigorous training had forged powerful bodies. Mana and holy power made them even stronger. Sacred arts could restrain the beasts’ movements. And from the rear, multiple spells could strike several targets at once. It was combat from an entirely different world.
But the limit was already in sight. If things continued this way, the corpses of burnphallos would pile up against the wall of light. Once the creatures could no longer trample their dead to charge—
“Mooooooohhhhhh!!!!!!”
“Their charge direction has changed!”
—they would start taking detours like this.
“Front line, shift left!”
The moment the forward knights hurriedly moved to block the new path, the apparent leader of the burnphallos let out another roar.
“Mooooohhh!”
With that cry, the herd split and poured down both sides.
“Damn it! This leader’s actually got a brain. Archbishop!”
While the knights shifted to match, Grandpa Carlo moved in the opposite direction. I’d been curious. Bowt had once told me that the way Carlo fought couldn’t even be called sacred arts.
Grandpa Carlo dashed forward at terrifying speed and planted his feet. The instant the burnphallos drew close… he threw a punch.
BOOM!
Dozens of burnphallos were erased so completely that not even their original shapes remained. Seeing it, I finally understood why it couldn’t be called a sacred art. He was simply gathering holy power in his fist and slamming it forward with raw, stupid force. The sheer physical strength combined with that massive amount of holy power created such destructive might.
Bowt had told me not to copy it, but… it looked perfectly doable to me. I suddenly wanted to test it out.
And just then, the perfect opportunity arrived.
“Some of them broke through! Rear line, prepare! Escort unit, protect the saintess candidate!”
Several burnphallos had slipped past the front line. Some charged toward the spell-casting knights, while the rest headed straight for us at the very back.
The escort unit, Jacob included, drew their weapons and surrounded me. Everyone around me—even the ones praying to protect each other. Sorry. A chance like this just came up. There’s no way I’m sitting still.
How had Grandpa Carlo done it? Gather holy power around the fist like this… Since I wasn’t as physically strong as him, I compressed and stacked it the same way I had when I fought the Clown’s puppet last time, reinforcing my body.
Golden light wrapped around me. Once, twice, three times… This much stacking should be enough.
Several burnphallos had already closed in. I lowered my stance and raised both fists to eye level.
“Lady Levia! Be carefu—”
BANG!
I shot forward using my enhanced leg strength. The moment the blazing face of the lead burnphallo filled my vision, I jumped and drove a holy-power-infused straight punch into it.
CRASH!
It was powerful enough to kill in a single blow, but unlike Grandpa Carlo’s strikes, the creature’s body didn’t tear apart. I wasn’t exactly eager to see that kind of gore up close anyway, but the power was a little weaker than I’d expected.
Three burnphallos had charged our way. Plenty for an experiment.
I stacked body reinforcement once more and poured holy power into both fists—this time putting even more into my left, and still more into my right. I slammed my left fist into the second one. Its face caved in. Using its falling body as a springboard, I leaped and brought my left fist down on the third one’s head like a hammer.
BOOM!
Its body slammed into the ground and its skull exploded. I’d roughly figured out the trick and the right amount of power. How much reinforcement to stack with my current body, how much holy power to pour in. It was a pretty satisfying technique—simple, overwhelmingly strong. In my head I decided to call it Divine Punch.
Divine Punch
Compress and layer holy power into the fist for devastating physical strikes. Power scales with the amount of stacking and holy energy invested.
“Levia… ma’am? What the hell was that movement just now…?”
Jacob and the rest of the escort unit stared at me in shock. Right. These people didn’t know.
“Oh. Did I never mention it? I can fight.”
“Did you learn that from the damned old geezer? No, wait—your instructor was supposed to be the captain…”
Jacob, apparently not vice-captain for nothing, had noticed I was copying Carlo and pointed it out.
“I just watched Grandpa do it earlier and copied him. It worked, didn’t it?”
“…”
Reincarnators really are cheats. Just roll with it.
“Lady Levia. It’s extremely rude of me to say this, but you are genuinely infuriating.”
“Just call me annoying.”
“I will refrain from saying it out loud. Haha.”
I really do like how honest our Holy Front knights are. Honest enough that I kind of want to punch them once or twice.
Leaving Jacob laughing in disbelief and the still-frozen escort unit behind, I looked forward. The holy knights were still locked in battle with a huge number of burnphallos. They probably hadn’t seen what just happened here while dealing with the ones charging straight at them. Or maybe they had seen it but were simply focusing on the fight.
I wanted to fight more. More of them. Stronger ones. My fighting spirit was boiling over.
In the distance, my eyes met Grandpa Carlo’s. From the look on his face, he had watched the entire thing. To be able to casually glance over here while throwing those terrifying punches… No wonder my danger sensor kept screaming at me not to mess with him.
I shouted at him.
“Grandpa!!!! Can I join the fight too?!”
Grandpa Carlo grinned and called back, “Just make sure you don’t get hurt!!”
His tone was the gentle warning of a grandfather watching his grandchild head out to play.
“Archbishop?! What are you saying right now?!”
“You crazy old bastard! Have you lost your mind?!”
The knights who didn’t know the situation poured out curses at Carlo’s permission. Goodness. He had a proper reason for allowing it, yet they couldn’t understand the deep meaning behind his decision. How tragic.
Anyway, permission had been granted. I turned to the escort unit.
“You heard him. Let’s go help. I’ll head out first, okay?”
Then I dashed toward the wall of light. My goal was the opposite side from Grandpa Carlo—the far right of the glowing barrier. I would charge in and block the burnphallos’ detour route.
“Huk!!! Saintess candidate?! It’s dangerous here! Don’t listen to that crazy old ma—”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The holy knights’ faces filled with astonishment as they watched me unleash Divine Punch after Divine Punch, sending burnphallos crashing to the ground.
“Hey, uncles. Let’s wrap this up quick and go home for dinner. I’m starving.”
Fighting cow-like monsters suddenly made me crave beef. But they’re magic beasts… can you even eat them?