Firekeepers were the knights of Caliban responsible for tending the warning beacons.
Smoke that thick and violent meant only one thing—the beacon was lit only when New Spring Town faced a major crisis.
Most likely, a Great Beast was attacking the settlement.
“Quickly.”
Lion El’Jonson opened her arms toward Merlin.
“No.
I can’t fight.
Carrying me will only slow you down.
You go back first, and I’ll follow once I know what’s happening—”
“Impossible.
I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“But—”
“We don’t have time to argue.”
“Be good.”
Without giving Merlin another chance to object, Lion El’Jonson reached out and, with strength completely disproportionate to her petite frame, effortlessly swept him into her arms.
“Let’s go.”
The next instant, Merlin could only hear the violent rush of wind as bushes and enormous trees blurred past at the edges of his vision.
So fast.
Even faster than a Calibanite warhorse.
Struggling to keep his eyes open against the wind, Merlin looked up at Lion El’Jonson as she carried him.
The female Primarch’s expression was completely serious.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of the flustered girl who had turned bright red only moments ago when he’d called her Warmaster.
Serious mode: activated.
Merlin hadn’t expected the transition to be so seamless.
It was almost as though the Lion El’Jonson who became shy whenever he called her Warmaster had never existed.
At that moment, sensing his gaze, Lion El’Jonson lowered her head slightly.
Their eyes met.
Her previously cold and stern face instantly flushed red again.
“What…
what we talked about tonight—you are not allowed to tell anyone.
Anyone at all.
Do you understand?!”
Her emerald eyes glared fiercely at Merlin.
“Of course!”
Still held in her arms, Merlin widened his eyes with an exaggeratedly solemn expression and raised one hand in salute.
Sworn to serve the Dark Angels until death!
The honor of Primarch Lion El’Jonson must be defended!
“…”
Lion El’Jonson rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him.
…
A Primarch could move terrifyingly fast.
After only a few minutes at full speed, the jungle vanished behind them, replaced by a chaotic battlefield filled with shouting, gunfire, and the thunderous roars of Great Beasts.
Part of the previously intact city wall had collapsed beneath repeated impacts, but fortunately the damage was still manageable and no full breach had formed.
The knights defending the fortress poured fire down from the ramparts, forcing back the smaller Great Beasts that repeatedly tried to climb through the damaged section of wall.
It seemed to be gathering momentum for another charge against New Spring Town’s defenses.
The deafening gunfire and the Great Beast’s roars made Merlin’s head ache.
“One large Great Beast.
The situation is still under control.”
Lion El’Jonson calmly surveyed the battlefield.
She reached the base of the wall, kicked off several protruding sections of stone in rapid succession, and vaulted onto the ramparts.
The moment she appeared, every knight on the wall turned toward her.
“Lady Lion El’Jonson is here!
We’re saved!”
“Tell the others!
Lion El’Jonson has returned!”
“You all protect the wizard.
I’ll handle this.”
Lion El’Jonson carefully lowered Merlin from her arms, drew the sword at her waist, and turned toward the Great Beast in the distance.
“Yes!”
“Merlin.
Keep yourself safe.”
She took several steps toward the edge of the wall, then stopped.
“…Don’t die.”
Only then did she leap down.
Compared to before, she clearly cared much more about Merlin’s safety.
And the faint unease in her heart was only growing stronger.
This wasn’t what she had intended when she’d dragged Merlin to the lake.
She had originally wanted to free herself from her growing dependence on him.
She wanted to understand why she had begun caring about him so much, and whether some kind of evil sorcery had been placed upon her.
So why…
Why had she learned nothing, only to find herself sinking even deeper?
“Mm.”
“You be careful too.”
Merlin’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
Forget it.
Now wasn’t the time to think about such things.
With a powerful enemy before her, Lion El’Jonson tightened her grip on her sword, pushed every distracting thought aside, and charged.
The Great Beast before her was enormous.
Bulging muscles covered its body, six massive legs supported its weight, and its head was protected by thick, smooth layers of horn-like keratin.
Nine eyes beneath the front of its body tracked Lion El’Jonson’s every movement.
“…You’re courting death.”
She was already in a bad mood.
This damned animal had interrupted her conversation with Merlin.
Because of it, she still hadn’t discovered why she had become so concerned about him—why that concern kept turning into anxiety whenever she imagined something happening to him.
Then the Great Beast moved.
Its charge shook the earth.
It thundered directly toward the walls of New Spring Town, its thick hide allowing it to ignore the storm of fire pouring down from the defenders.
The enormous horn jutting from its head lowered toward the wall.
Another direct hit might bring the entire section crashing down.
Unfortunately for the beast…
Now!
As the Great Beast charged, Lion El’Jonson exploded forward and thrust her sword straight toward it—
But not at its forehead.
The creature’s head was protected by dense layers of hardened keratin.
Lion El’Jonson had hunted countless Great Beasts and knew exactly how tough Caliban’s monsters could be.
An instant before the two collided, she twisted in midair with astonishing agility and landed against the side of its enormous horn instead.
Using the smooth surface like a ramp, she slid down along it.
Her target was one of the eyes beneath its body.
For a split second, Lion El’Jonson found herself staring directly into the terrified eye of the Great Beast.
There.
That was the weak point.
“Hmph.”
A faint, disdainful smile appeared on her lips.
Lion El’Jonson drove her sword straight into the eye socket, then let the momentum of the creature’s charge carry her along its body, dragging the blade through flesh and carving open a long wound.
The tearing flesh, spraying blood, and resistance against her sword told her she’d chosen correctly.
“ROOOAAARGH!”
The Great Beast released an agonized howl.
It desperately tried to stop its charge and abandoned its attempt to ram the wall, violently shaking its head in an effort to throw Lion El’Jonson off.
“Knights!
Aim for the wound!”
Lion El’Jonson shouted toward the defenders on the ramparts.
Then she leapt again, driving her blade toward another section of flesh unprotected by bone or scales.
She was bleeding the creature to death.
Against something this enormous, killing it instantly with a single human-scale weapon was nearly impossible.
This was how the Great Beasts of Caliban were hunted: open wound after wound, weaken the creature, and let blood loss finish what the blade had started.
“ROOOAARGH—!”
The beast gave another deep, agonized roar.
It seemed to realize what the humans were doing and began struggling desperately.
Then it suddenly jerked its head upward—
And a black figure was hurled from somewhere atop its body.
There was more than one enemy!
Lion El’Jonson’s Primarch-enhanced vision immediately focused on the airborne figure.
A human.
A human carrying a spear-like weapon.
Using the force of the Great Beast’s movement, the figure shot toward the walls of New Spring Town like a cannonball.
Why would a human be working alongside a Great Beast?
Was this attack deliberate?
Was someone controlling the beasts and using them to assault the knightly orders?
And that person’s trajectory—
Lion El’Jonson followed the figure’s flight toward the ramparts.
Her emerald pupils contracted sharply.
“MERLIN!!!”
It really helps the fic grow!