At night, the knights stationed atop the watchtower kept watch over the area outside the village, guarding against any possible attacks.
Looking around, one of them found nothing but the empty darkness of the night.
“I’m heading down.
My watch is over.” One of the soldiers climbed down from the tower.
“Okay, all right.” Not long afterward, another soldier arrived to take his place and climbed up the tower.
“Hey, how is it?
Everything all right?” “You can see for yourself.” “What about you?” “More or less the same as you.
Although, earlier this afternoon, while I was guarding the village gate, there was someone who frightened me.
I still can’t stop thinking about him.” His fellow soldier looked interested.
“Who scared you?” “One of the people from the Lotusiana household.
He gave me the creeps.
I don’t know why, but when I looked at him, it felt like I was staring at something dangerous.” “Maybe you’re just tired.” “I thought so too.
But then I saw how Captain Arturia reacted to him.” The two soldiers fell silent.
They both remembered how Arturia had immediately drawn her sword and nearly attacked Val.
“Should we investigate him?” “For now, don’t give yourself more work.
Let’s focus on the evacuation and the Blight threat first.” “You have a point.” In the middle of their conversation, one of the soldiers noticed something strange outside the village.
“What is that?” “What?” A faint light was slowly approaching.
There wasn’t just one.
There were many.
It didn’t take long for them to realize what they were seeing.
“Damn!
They’re coming!” “Bro, if I die, tell my girlfriend that I love her.” “Don’t say creepy stuff like that!” “Just do it if I die.” “Blight!!!
They’re coming!!!” The soldier suddenly shouted, warning his comrades below.
The moment they heard the cry, the soldiers immediately rushed to prepare the village’s defenses against the incoming Blight.
Everyone panicked.
Those who had been resting were immediately awakened and told to prepare for battle.
Inside one of the tents, Marc was lying asleep while Val was doing one-handed push-ups.
Whenever Val wasn’t sleeping, he trained his body.
Since he didn’t really need sleep, he spent most nights either strengthening his muscles or meditating.
Val ended his training after hearing the commotion outside.
Marc also woke up for the same reason.
The noise from the soldiers outside had disturbed them both.
A soldier approached Val and Marc’s tent to inform them that the Blight had begun attacking.
Hearing this, Marc immediately rushed outside while carrying a sword and the round shield that Val had taken from the mansion.
‘He just took my stuff.
No, forget it.’ Val put on his cloak and armed himself with his flintlock and a sword strapped to his waist.
When he stepped outside, he saw numerous soldiers forming defensive lines while others were evacuating the villagers to a safer location away from the battlefield.
Arturia was coordinating her subordinates efficiently.
“Form a defensive formation behind the gate!
Prepare your arrows and attack once they enter the village!” “Yes!” The soldiers followed Arturia’s orders.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Sera also wanted to contribute.
“Help guide the villagers to a safer location and protect them.
Several soldiers will assist you.” “All right.” Sera immediately went to help the villagers.
She tried to guide them, but the villagers were in complete panic.
They wouldn’t listen to Sera or the soldiers trying to help them.
Mass panic had spread throughout the village.
While trying to organize the villagers, Sera noticed Val walking toward her, his cloak covering everything from his neck downward.
“Val, help me guide the villagers.” Val looked at the panicking crowd for several seconds.
He knew trying to give instructions to people in a state of mass panic would be difficult.
But he had an idea.
He needed to get everyone’s attention first.
“All right.” Val raised the hand holding his flintlock and pointed it toward the sky.
BANG!
The loud gunshot made the villagers cover their ears, thinking that lightning had struck nearby.
The soldiers heard it as well.
For a brief moment, the entire village fell silent.
Val nodded toward Sera.
She immediately understood what he wanted her to do.
“Everyone, listen to me!” Sera began directing the villagers.
Fortunately, the villagers finally listened to her instructions.
Arturia approached Val and asked him for something.
“Hand that over.” Val looked confused.
Why did Arturia want his weapon?
“Why?” “That weapon is an experimental firearm.
I assume you obtained it from Baron Lotusiana.
Its possession is heavily regulated because it can easily endanger ordinary civilians.” Val immediately understood why the weapon was regulated.
Even a child could potentially use a firearm like this.
Someone could easily injure or kill another person by accident.
“Why should I?” Val clearly didn’t want to give up the flintlock.
A firearm was easy to use, even if it was only a primitive flintlock.
If there was an easier way to kill something, why bother using a more complicated method?
“If you refuse, you’ll be punished under the kingdom’s laws regarding firearms.” Val finally gave in.
He handed the weapon to Arturia.
He had no intention of going back to prison after spending nearly two months trapped there when he first arrived in this new world.
Arturia walked away carrying the firearm.
“This isn’t fair,” Val grumbled under his breath.
No one heard him.
Although he no longer had the flintlock, he still had five small pouches of gunpowder that could potentially be used to make explosives.
“Attack!” A soldier’s cry came from the village gate.
A horde of Blight charged directly into the soldiers’ defensive formation.
There were countless different forms.
Some resembled humanoids with bizarre heads.
Others were massive, bloated creatures with no heads but mouths embedded in their stomachs.
And there were countless other horrifying shapes.
Val, seeing so many Blight at once for the first time, could only stand there in silence.
He wasn’t calm.
He was terrified.
He never expected so many horrifying creatures to attack at the same time.
‘Hehe.
I’m screwed.’ Val gave a faint smile as he laughed bitterly at his own fate.
When he had first arrived in this world, he had been somewhat excited.
He wanted to see a fantasy world with his own eyes.
Its civilizations.
Its landscapes.
Its unique monsters.
But he had never expected the monsters here to be this horrifying.
From a modern person’s perspective, Blight were nightmares given physical form.
And the situation only made things worse.
Val’s legs refused to move.
He had to force himself to walk out of the tent, intending to find somewhere safe.
The horrifying scene unfolded before his eyes.
Humans fought desperately for their lives while grotesque monsters charged toward them.
Val stood there in silence.
He didn’t know what to do.
Even his thoughts seemed to move slowly.
Arturia fought to defend the village.
Every time she swung her greatsword, two or three Blight were effortlessly cleaved in half.
“Captain, you’re amazing!” “Focus on what’s in front of you!” “Sorry!” Arturia glanced toward Val, who had been standing motionless the entire time.
“What are you doing?!
If you can’t fight, go with the other villagers!” Val didn’t respond.
He simply stared toward the direction from which the Blight were coming.
“Tch.
Suit yourself!” Arturia eventually left him alone.
One of the Blight broke through the front line and charged toward the rear, where the archers were positioned.
“Damn!
One got through!” The Blight attacked wildly, injuring several soldiers.
Val watched the creature from some distance away.
The Blight noticed him as well.
Suddenly, it stopped moving.
It simply stood there and stared at Val.
The soldiers who saw this were confused.
But before they could think about it, they were attacked from behind.
‘Why did that thing suddenly look at me?!
That’s creepy!’ “AAAGH!” Several soldiers were thrown backward at once.
Arturia and Marc immediately realized that a stronger Blight had appeared.
A massive serpentine Blight emerged.
Its body was roughly three times the size of an adult human.
Its entire body was dark, with glowing crystals embedded between its scales.
Its lower body resembled a giant snake, while its upper body was humanoid.
Its head looked human, but crystalline flowers grew from every opening on its face—its eyes, nose, ears, and even other openings.
“Captain, I think that’s a Nullifer.” “No.
I don’t think so.
It doesn’t seem intelligent enough.” For some reason, Arturia immediately realized that the creature wasn’t a Nullifer.
“It’s coming!” “UUUAAARGHHH!” A scream resembling the cry of a dying man erupted from the serpentine Blight.
The horrifying sound shook the soldiers’ morale.
The serpentine Blight charged forward, tearing through the defensive line and creating an opening for the other Blight.
Marc tried to stop it from the front.
But the creature easily grabbed him with its massive hand.
Then it slammed him violently into the ground.
The soldiers wanted to stop the creature, but they couldn’t ignore the countless other Blight still attacking them.
“You focus on the ones in front!
I’ll handle this!” Arturia shouted.
“Yes!” The serpentine Blight tore through the rear lines.
It attacked with its massive tail and huge hands, grabbing and crushing soldiers.
“AAAGHH!” Cries of pain echoed throughout the battlefield.
No one knew how many soldiers had died.
No one knew how many were still fighting.
Everything had descended into chaos.
“Bastard!” Arturia leaped from behind and attacked.
The serpentine Blight easily blocked her strike with its tail.
Arturia continued attacking and managed to wound the creature, but the wound wasn’t deep enough.
The archers provided supporting fire.
Countless arrows struck the serpentine Blight’s body.
But they barely seemed to affect it.
The creature attempted to grab Arturia, but she managed to evade it every time.
Eventually, it changed its target.
The archers.
The Blight charged toward them.
Arturia tried to stop it by leaping into the air and attacking its head.
But it was a feint.
The creature suddenly turned around and caught Arturia with ease.
“UUUWAOOGRRHH!” The creature screamed directly into Arturia’s face, disturbing her composure.
It then threw her toward Val.
Fortunately, Arturia landed beside him instead of hitting him.
“You!
You’re still standing here?!” Arturia was shocked to see Val still frozen in place.
Val was staring directly at the serpentine Blight.
The creature intended to approach Arturia.
But the moment it noticed Val, its movements gradually slowed.
Then it stopped directly in front of him.
Val and the creature stared at each other in silence.
Arturia could barely believe what she was seeing.
The serpentine Blight slowly lowered its head toward Val.
Val initially remained still.
Then, slowly, he drew his sword.
He raised the blade toward the creature’s neck.
With a swift motion— He decapitated it.
The creature collapsed.
Its body cracked like crystal before disintegrating into dark dust and sparkling fragments of light.
Val sheathed his sword.
Then he simply turned around and walked away.
Arturia remained frozen.
There were countless questions racing through her mind.
‘Who is he?’ Val walked away calmly.
But inside his head, he was still terrified.
‘Damn, that thing was terrifying.
But fortunately, it practically handed me its neck.
I have no idea why, though.’ After the serpentine Blight was defeated, the remaining Blight inexplicably began retreating.
The village had survived.
But something was clearly wrong.
Deep inside a dark cave, a pair of eyes slowly opened.
They glowed faintly within the darkness.
The creature’s true form remained hidden, but one thing was certain.
It was not human.
“…My…
kin…” “…disturbing…
me…” The pair of eyes slowly closed again.
Darkness once again swallowed the cave.