“Holy crap, giant zombies too?”
As the Great Beast hurled a dark figure toward the ramparts, Merlin muttered to himself.
He continued directing the knights on the walls to fire at the beast, not particularly concerned at first.
Great Beasts simply weren’t intelligent enough for this kind of complicated cooperation.
The Order of the Round Table still had plenty of defenders stationed atop the fortress.
Whatever smaller beast had just been thrown onto the wall would probably be dealt with quickly enough.
Then Merlin realized that the dark figure was getting closer.
Closer…
And—
It was actually a human!
A figure holding a spear was flying straight toward him!
There was no time to dodge.
By the time Merlin’s mind processed what was happening, the spear in the figure’s hands was already right in front of him.
Instinctively, Merlin closed his eyes.
…
Clang.
The expected pain of being pierced never came.
Merlin opened his eyes again and saw the cold gleam of a monomolecular blade stopped just before his face.
“Traitor.”
Lion El’Jonson stood in front of him, one hand firmly gripping the attacker’s spear.
The beast-knight tried to force the weapon forward with all his strength, but he couldn’t move it even an inch.
“Lion El’Jonson?
How did you—”
If Merlin remembered correctly, Lion El’Jonson had been fighting the Great Beast far from the city wall only moments ago.
How had she appeared beside him almost as if she’d teleported?
Still confused, Merlin looked toward their attacker.
Only now did he clearly see what the dark figure looked like.
The beast-knight’s armor was covered from head to toe with beast pelts, teeth, and scales.
He looked like some savage knight from an ancient tribal age, almost like a shamanic warrior.
Compared with the clean, orderly knights of Caliban, his appearance looked as though he had regressed all the way back to primitive times.
“Yah!!!”
Seeing his spear stopped so easily, the beast-knight refused to give up.
He poured all his strength into the weapon in one last desperate attempt.
But to his growing despair, even after using all his strength, even drawing upon that blessed divine power, the spear still didn’t move.
It was as though it had been nailed in place.
Monster.
This woman was definitely a monster.
“Are you done?”
Under the man’s increasingly desperate gaze, Lion El’Jonson ripped the spear from his hands and forcibly bent its sturdy shaft into the shape of an Ω.
Then she tossed the ruined weapon aside.
“Tie him up.
I’ll interrogate him after I’ve dealt with the beasts.”
…
Once the Great Beast’s final struggle failed, the Order’s counterattack became overwhelming.
Before long, the enormous beast crashed to the ground beneath the Order’s concentrated fire.
With their leader gone, the remaining beasts soon fled into the darkness.
“Andrew, take your squad and attendants and clear out the stragglers.
Are the Firekeepers short-handed?
Have the First Squad of the Ravenwing reinforce them.”
“The beasts may organize another wave of attacks tonight. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Stay alert.”
“This time, our enemy isn’t just the beasts.”
Merlin began arranging repairs to the city wall and reorganizing the defenses.
Although they had won a complete victory, the atmosphere throughout New Spring Town remained grim.
This was the first time anyone on Caliban had seen humans and Great Beasts cooperate.
And they had cooperated specifically to attack a human knightly order.
The attacking force hadn’t been particularly large, but the implications were completely different.
“Traitor.”
On the brightly torchlit ramparts, an enraged Lion El’Jonson held her sword against the throat of the captured beast-knight.
“Tell me.”
“Who sent you to attack us?”
“And why are you able to fight alongside the beasts?”
“Heh…
Don’t you already know?
Why bother asking me?”
The man’s helmet had been removed.
He gave a disdainful snort.
“Why can I fight alongside the beasts, great Lion El’Jonson?”
He glanced toward Merlin.
“That wizard seems to have tamed you, this beast, quite well too, hasn’t he?”
“Or do you really think there’s any difference between you and those beasts?
Argh—!”
Crack.
The sharp sound of breaking bone came from his thigh as Lion El’Jonson’s armored boot crushed down on it.
Cold fury burned in her eyes.
“That wasn’t the question I asked.”
“Now you have only one chance left.”
Her sword pressed against his neck, drawing a thin line of blood.
“Heh…
Hahaha!”
“Of course we’re here to stop you!”
“To stop you and that damned wizard’s madness!”
“Caliban will not be destroyed by the beasts!
The World-Soul of Caliban has already shown us this world’s future!”
The beast-knight’s eyes contracted with rage, fear, and excitement, as though he had witnessed something utterly terrifying.
“The beasts will not destroy it!
Humanity will not destroy it!
The one who will destroy Caliban is—”
“Enough.”
Lion El’Jonson had lost patience with the traitor’s ravings.
She raised her sword and drove it through his chest, granting him a quick death.
“You…”
The beast-knight went limp.
“Merlin, how are things on your side?”
As though the interrogation had never happened, Lion El’Jonson calmly wiped the blood from her sword and turned toward the busy wizard.
“Almost done.
If we keep everyone working on the wall at full capacity, we can temporarily patch the breach tonight.
A full reconstruction will take longer.”
“Good.”
Lion El’Jonson nodded slightly.
Merlin’s combat ability was certainly lacking, but when it came to coordinating the Order and handling logistics, Lion El’Jonson really did seem to rely on him.
That was close… Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Too close…
Now that she had a moment to breathe, Lion El’Jonson couldn’t help recalling the instant when Merlin had nearly been pierced by the spear.
She had been very far away at the time.
Even with her speed, she should not have been able to reach him in time.
But somehow, almost as though a miracle had occurred, her body had seemed to move according to her will.
And in the next instant, she had appeared in front of Merlin.
“What kind of sorcery was that…?”
Lion El’Jonson stared at her hands in a daze.
When had she gained such an ability?
“Lion El’Jonson?”
Merlin looked at her in confusion as she stood there silently lost in thought.
“Everything inside the town has been dealt with.
But there’s one more thing I need to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
“I suspect the force that attacked the Order of the Round Table wasn’t the enemy’s main force.”
Merlin continued:
“We examined that man’s body.
There was a strong smell of alcohol from the contents of his stomach, along with traces of bread.
It doesn’t look like he was operating alone.”
Great Beasts couldn’t brew alcohol or bake bread.
If the attacker had been able to eat and drink properly before the battle, then it was very likely that an organized human force was directing the beasts.
“Your observation is very keen, Wizard.”
Lion El’Jonson nodded in agreement.
She was often impressed by Merlin’s unexpected little methods.
Of course, she could actually have discovered the same thing herself.
A Primarch’s body could easily analyze the composition of substances.
She simply hadn’t realized yet that her abilities could be used for things beyond overwhelming physical strength.
Whether she realized it or not, she relied too much on Merlin.
If only he knew how to fight.
Sigh.
Lion El’Jonson felt a little helpless.
How could someone so intelligent be so bad at fighting?
“So I suspect—”
“That man was probably only a diversion meant to keep us occupied.
Their main force is most likely attacking Luther’s Order right now.
Aldurukh is the closest major stronghold to us.”
“So?”
Lion El’Jonson raised an eyebrow.
She didn’t have a particularly good impression of those people who had done nothing but make excuses at the meeting.
“The Order is the backbone of Caliban’s knightly orders.”
“If we go to their aid now, they’ll owe us a debt they won’t be able to easily ignore.”
At the same time, this would give them a legitimate reason to unite the knightly orders against the Great Beasts.
Knights controlling Great Beasts to attack other humans—
There could hardly be a better justification for Lion El’Jonson to bring the orders together and launch a campaign to eradicate the beasts.
“Let’s go, Lion El’Jonson.”
“This is a good opportunity for us to unite Caliban.”
It really helps the fic grow!