Chapter 18 The Red Knight

1

The sun was beating down, its light reflecting off the desert sand. Zara felt a wave of emotion as he gazed absentmindedly into the rippling air.

If I hadn’t arranged for a guide and a bobo, I probably would have died out here.

He felt a renewed sense of gratitude toward the Divine Blade for his advice and for helping him prepare. He’d had no idea the desert was such a scary place.

According to the map, he was currently on the South Elga Highway. But there was only sand as far as he could see and nothing resembling a road.

“Sir, there’s something coming.”

Zara answered the guide’s words with a simple grunt.

Some monsters emerged from the sand that looked like spiders as big as humans with two whips protruding from their bodies.

They were imotarbas. There were five of them.

The guide tossed some bait as a decoy, then urged his bobo to sprint. Zara also ordered his bobo to run by kicking it in the flank.

One of his bobo’s ears was black. That black ear twitched, and the bobo ran.

It ran at a comfortable speed. His rear was in pain from being jolted around relentlessly on its back, however.

He sensed that the five imotarbas behind them were eating the decoy bait. He and the guide relaxed their pace after they crossed over three hills.

They weren’t enemies he was incapable of defeating, but Zara was following all the guide’s instructions in order to study the etiquette of the desert. There were many dangers in the desert that Zara was unaware of.

The man dismounted from his bobo and gave it some salt as a reward. Zara did the same thing.

Bobos were as tall as horses, but they had only two legs. Their torso was a little short. Their face was not as long as a horse’s, and their muzzle was somewhat thin. They had sleepy-looking eyes, but they seemed friendly and full of charm.

Zara remounted the bobo.

It was hot. And bright. And hot.

He felt listless. And he was hot.

He couldn’t imagine that any human could live here. Could there actually be a town in this kind of place?

Zara bounced up and down on the bobo’s back, feeling weary and fed up with the desert.

2

Conflict was forbidden at oases. It didn’t matter if you ran into a mortal enemy or a rival soldier. That was a law of the desert.

Zara was wary of the approaching group, but because he had been taught that rule, he didn’t make any hostile actions.

“Looks like someone beat us here. Coming through.”

The guide gave a very deep and humbling bow to the approaching group. They must have been of high rank.

The group outnumbered Zara and his guide five to two. Four of them stopped at a distance, and one person approached them.

Zara stood up and spread his arms, then crossed both hands in front of his chest and greeted the person as he had been taught.

“My fire, my soup, and my dried meat are yours as well as mine, O Traveler of the Desert.”

The person made an amused expression and gave the same gesture.

“Thank you, O Friend of the Desert. But we have no need of fire or soup. We will be content to simply rest at this spot for a bit.”

Zara realized she was a woman. And incredibly beautiful, too.

Clothes worn for travel through the desert had no distinction between men and women, and it was dim outside, but she was close enough that he should have been able to tell her sex. However, there was a reason Zara hadn’t noticed she was a woman.

Her gait, the way she carried herself, and her presence were all that of a warrior. She also had an aura that reminded one of a knight with plenty of battle experience. That was why Zara had subconsciously thought she was a man.

He also felt high combat prowess and a strong will from the other four people.

The group moved into the shade halfway around the spring and got to work right away on preparing for their break and their meal.

It had been a week since Zara and the guide entered the desert, but he could still not get used to the heat. Even the slightest bit of warmth still caused him to go into a daze.

Shortly after the group of five finished their dinner, one person walked over to Zara and the guide.

“Would you two like to come join us for a drink?”

It was natural for travelers to want to exchange information, so there was no reason to be suspicious of them. Zara answered that they would be glad to.

It was customary that in this situation, the people who extended the invitation would offer drinks, and the people who were invited would offer food. Zara presented some delicacies that he’d brought with him from Aldana. The group received them enthusiastically, and their gathering grew lively.

“By the way, Zara, where are you headed?” asked the beautiful woman named Laura.

“I am traveling to Bia-Dharla.”

“Hmm. You don’t look like a merchant. I can tell you’re not used to the desert, either. What do you seek in Bia-Dharla?”

There was nothing in Laura’s expression that suggested any ulterior motive. Her beauty was radiant, but he didn’t sense anything flirtatious from her, either.

She had narrow eyes with emerald irises and a thin nose. Her eyebrows were flat. Zara thought she looked like a moon goddess illuminated by a bonfire next to a spring in the desert at night.

“There is someone I want to meet.”

“Oh, how exciting! Did you hear that, everyone? Beautiful people always give beautiful answers. That’s such a romantic trip.”

“Oh-ho-ho, it sure is.”

“You have it made, boy.”

Zara realized they’d gotten the wrong idea from his answer, but he didn’t want to say anything to land him in any more trouble.

People invited to eat at an oasis were supposed to offer treats to go with the alcohol, but Zara felt that he himself was becoming their entertainment for the evening.

Laura seemed to take a liking to him and pulled out an instrument to sing a love song. The group cheered, and it ended up being a fun night.

3

They rested until close to dusk the next day before they departed. Laura’s group joined them because they were heading for the same destination.

In order to reach Bia-Dharla, they apparently had to leave the highway at their current position and head south for ten days.

In this era, countries were nothing more than an assemblage of towns and villages. In between those towns and villages were vast landscapes devoid of human settlement. The name of the Free Cities of Karelia referred to the small, isolated cities scattered throughout the expansive desert region, but in truth, uninhabited desert made up the vast majority of the land.

Laura and the four other members of her group were as skilled as Zara expected them to be. They were attacked by four giant scorpions not long after they set out, but the five of them defeated the monsters in no time.

Laura used a longsword slightly big for her build, but she handled it with great speed and accuracy.

The large man named Moura swung around a battle-ax with ease.

The thin man named Jamagar used an extremely sharp sword with a curved blade and was very good at attacking from out of sight. He was also skilled at moving while hiding his presence. He was probably an assassin.

The man of short stature named Shariabro was an archer who was adept at shooting while moving.

The plump man named Orien was a support sorcerer capable of support magic, restricting enemies, and healing.

They were each an elite of their own skill set, and they fought with polished coordination.

They were attacked four more times in the next two days. Whenever Zara tried to participate in combat, they politely refused his help, probably because they didn’t want him to get heatstroke.

The guide asked Laura and the others why they were fighting instead of using meat as a decoy and fleeing. Their answer was that because this road was essential for traveling to and from the highway, they wanted to try to reduce the number of monsters to make it at least a little safer for people passing through after them.

The five of them shared a Treasury. That meant that they all had the holy occupation of knight. They didn’t look like family, so the fact that they shared a Treasury must have meant they had especially strong bonds and held a common mission.

On the third day, they were attacked by the largest group of monsters yet, so Zara fought with them. The first thing he did was defeat the two grigols that looked like the strongest of the pack.

Grigols were monsters slightly larger than horses. They traveled swiftly on their four legs. The majority of their bodies was covered by a carapace, and they each had a pair of enormous pincers on their head.

Zara sliced through a grigol’s front legs with one swing of his sword, and then he cut off its head when it fell. Another grigol looked like it was going to attack Moura, who was defending himself with a shield, so Zara leaped onto the monster’s back and beheaded it as well.

The situation then turned in their favor.

Next Zara took on the sandal bugs. Sandal bugs were insect monsters that were the size of a large sandal and had countless tiny feet. Their extreme speed and habit of diving into the sand made them very difficult to hit. Their poison was paralyzing, and enough of it would likely result in the victim becoming prey for another monster.

Catching the bugs was no problem with Zara’s Detection skill and the speed of his sword. He wiped them out as they threw themselves at him in rapid succession. They couldn’t even hide from Zara when they traveled under the sand.

Once Zara cleaned up the sandal bugs, the group was able to relax and focus on the remaining medium-sized monsters. The battle ended shortly, and then Laura hugged Zara.

“Zara, you’re amazing! Simply amazing! I’ve never seen anyone swing their sword as quickly and brilliantly as you! I also can’t believe you cut through the thick necks of the grigols with just one strike. What skill you have! What incredible technique! I’ve made a decision. Enter our party. Together we’ll take down that minotaur, the Labyrinth King!”

Laura continued to speak to him enthusiastically as they cleaned up after the battle, and even after they got back on their bobos and resumed travel.

To hear her tell it, when Zara had leaped on top of the grigol, he looked as gallant as Arza, a hero of old.

To hear her tell it, even the famous Divine Blade would have been amazed at his swordsmanship and how he’d wiped out the sandal bugs without falter.

This woman had a much more excitable personality than Zara expected.

“What do you mean by taking down the Labyrinth King?”

“Didn’t you say you were born in Baldemost? Do you really not know? In the town of Micaene near the royal capital of Baldemost Kingdom, there is a labyrinth called Sazardon. This labyrinth has one hundred floors, and the monsters are pretty tough, but the boss monster on the bottom floor possesses special strength. Minotaurs aren’t known for being very strong in other labyrinths, but the one in the Sazardon Labyrinth is a unique monster. It grew stronger by continuing to fight humans and monsters, and it eventually gained strength enough that even the wicked dragons and giants you hear of in myths would fear it. It drove out the metal dragon that was the original boss of the one hundredth floor and became the master of the labyrinth. It has great intelligence, physical strength, and speed; it’s robust; it has high resistance to magic and status ailments; it has an undying thirst for battle; and its skill with the sword stands out above all. It really is like a monster from a myth. It also has many skills, including its scorching hot breath and its strengthened Howling. Before long, people came to call this minotaur the Labyrinth King. No one knows how much experience will be gained for defeating the Labyrinth King. And that’s not all. The Labyrinth King has taken down many adventurers and monsters and has amassed a great collection of items. It is said that when it’s defeated, its drops will be worth enough to buy a country. For that reason, people from Baldemost and from all over the continent who desired fame and fortune have challenged the Labyrinth King. And they’ve all been killed. Can you believe this? Since it appeared a little over thirty years ago, this minotaur has never once lost.”

“It is said that one knight defeated it.”

“I don’t believe that. If the knight defeated it, then why is the minotaur still alive? It’s nonsensical that anyone would take on the minotaur alone in the first place. If a hydra or a real dragon appeared above the surface, would anyone be stupid enough to fight it alone? A few years before that, the king of Baldemost sent one hundred knights on a mission to take down the King of the Labyrinth, but every single one of them ended up being killed. The story of the knight was probably fabricated to cover up that shameful failure. They just want to say there is a knight in their kingdom who can defeat the Labyrinth King solo. Don’t make me laugh. That’s impossible. In order to defeat the Labyrinth King, a truly skilled warrior needs to form a party, and they need to challenge it with tight-knit coordination. There is no honor in going at it with great numbers, and carelessness and disorder are bound to be a problem. The Labyrinth King is a modern legend. Whoever defeats it will be a hero whose name will live on in posterity. So join our party. This is fate!”

Laura’s fervent invitation continued even into dinner.

“All right, I get it. You don’t have to worry. What is the name of the girl you are visiting? No harm will come of this. Just tell me. No matter what she says, I’ll make sure you get her hand in marriage. If she has a man, I’ll get her to break up. I’ll pay the man to leave her. I give you my word. So you can join our party without reservation. First just tell me her name. Go ahead, tell me!”

Having no other option, Zara told her the truth.

“I’ve heard rumors of a certain knight. This knight serves the ruler of the desert city of Bia-Dharla and kills monsters in the desert to make people’s lives easier. He is proud and incredible with a sword, and he is called the Red Knight because of the color of his armor. I want to meet him and ask for a lesson.”

Everyone in Laura’s group burst out laughing except for her. Even Zara’s guide was laughing shrilly. Laura looked upset, and she may have even been blushing.

“Oh, Zara, you don’t know how lucky you are. The gods have granted your wish. For Laura, no, Lady Laura just vowed to give you her hand in marriage! Hoo-hoo, congratulations. Okay, I suppose I should introduce you. This is the daughter of Lord Coralior, the ruler of the desert city of Bia-Dharla, Lady Laurasalim Taripetra Tolito Bia-Dharla. She is the current Red Knight!”

4

Laura was in quite the mood, and the group was paying dearly for it.

“The boy says he wants a lesson, but what kind of lesson could he mean?” asked the usually silent assassin Jamagar absentmindedly.

He then received a punch in the face.

“Zara, are you and the lady betrothed?” asked the defensive specialist Moura earnestly in a moment of down time.

He was then kicked into a spring.

The uncompromising Shariabro asked Zara his age, and Zara said he was about to turn eighteen. Shariabro then glanced at Laura, said “hmm,” and seemed to fall deep into thought.

Laura then cut off his proud beard.

The usually eloquent Orien was wise enough to keep his mouth shut, but that seemed to get on Laura’s nerves as well, and she kicked him in the back of the head.

When Laura’s attention turned to the guide, he went ahead and jumped into the spring himself.

After Laura calmed down, Zara sat at a distance from the spring and looked up at the stars. The sorcerer Orien came over and sat next to him.

“The original Red Knight was the lady’s uncle. The next Red Knight was her older brother. The rumors you heard were likely about him. He was kind and strong. He gave his life protecting the city and its people from monsters.”

“May I ask a question?”

“The lady is twenty-two years old.”

“It’s not about that. Why does Laura want to defeat the Sazardon minotaur?”

Orien answered after taking a moment to think.

“Human lives are fleeting in the desert. Your life vanishes without a trace the moment you are unable to escape the jaws of death. Right now, you are holding countless grains of sand in your palm, but when tomorrow comes, you won’t remember a single thing about any of them. Yet if just one of those grains of sand was to be illuminated by the stars and shine with a quick, beautiful flash of light, it might stick in your memory. The lady surely wants to leave proof of her existence. She also believes it will make her brother proud.”

“There have got to be plenty of stronger magical beasts and spirits. I’m sure there are also monsters and bad people nearby who are making people suffer. Why the Sazardon minotaur?”

“Probably because it’s far away. We don’t get much information about the north in this region. We don’t know how true the rumors about the minotaur are. To us, it’s a mythical monster from a distant land we know little about. That is probably what has spurred the desire in her heart to fight it.”

“So she’s not actually serious about fighting it?”

“Oh, she’s very, very serious, I assure you. You can see how our party formation is better suited for fighting a small number of strong enemies than it is for taking on many monsters at once, right? Our training is geared specifically toward fighting the Labyrinth King, and we are readying equipment for that purpose as well.”

“But you have all devoted yourselves to fighting monsters here every day. Wouldn’t that be difficult for the city if people as skilled as you left for a long period of time?”

“I’m sure it will be. The lady has an extreme sense of responsibility. She has made it her life’s mission to defend the populace that her brother fought to protect.”

“Then wouldn’t preparing for a fight with the minotaur be a waste of time?”

“Working as hard as you can toward achieving a dream cannot be considered a waste of time. We all love that aspect of the lady.”

For some reason, Zara remembered a conversation he’d had with Barrast Logan, the instructor who sent him on this trip.

“Uncle, earlier you said that there was no way that Father did not know the pain of human life. What did you mean by that?”

“Ah, that. When your old man, Panzel, was born, his family ran a sword training hall, and they were quite well off. I’m sure they were the envy of many. But when Panzel’s old man fell sick, their lives were flipped upside down. It sounds like it was a real struggle for Panzel’s mom to support the family. After his old man died, whenever his mom’s body failed her, they would have to go without food. Panzel started supporting when he was five years old. There isn’t much work a five-year-old can do, though, as you can imagine. They did their best to scrape by, but when he turned seven, his mom’s condition took a nosedive. He then started going into the labyrinth to get enough money to buy medicine, and that’s when he encountered the minotaur. Even at his young age, he already knew the futility of human life to a tragic extent. His old man was dead, his mom was growing thin, and he experienced many nights with the knowledge that they had no food to put on the table. It was all hopeless. But even within that hopelessness, he did have some constants. There were things to be happy about. His mom’s attitude toward his old man or him never changed, regardless of whether or not they had money. After they fell into poverty, his old man’s pupils would come to check on them and bring them food. They were even kind enough to give Panzel work. Panzel once said something to me. He couldn’t even allow himself to hope that he would live to see the next day. But even then, he decided he would love his mom and do everything in his power to support the family. That was when he found something he could do. He said he was very grateful for that. People who only think in terms of victory or defeat, strength or weakness, can’t fight like Panzel. If you understand what it means to fight honorably but are unable to put everything else aside, you can’t fight a monster like the minotaur. Knowing the pain of human life allows you to give your all without being distracted by things such as greed or insecurity.”

Barrast’s words had been like a riddle to Zara at the time. But now he felt like he had an idea of what he meant.

5

Bia-Dharla was on fire. Smoke was rising up from the city. They were still a good distance away, but a putrid stench hung in the air.

It was the smell of viscera. The smell of living creatures being burned. The smell of death.

As they approached the city, they saw heaps of monster corpses lying on the ground next to the rampart.

A Mass Craze!

There was a phenomenon among monsters called a Mass Craze, which caused them to suddenly gather and attack human settlements.

Monsters that had settlements of their own would even throw away their equivalent of society, livelihood, and property that they had built up to join this strange march. Monsters that didn’t normally form groups would show up and join as well.

Different species of monsters were often hostile toward each other, but at this time alone, they would have no hostility. They would forget about hunger and exhaustion, throw away all instinct of self-preservation, and relentlessly attack humans right up until they perished.

Bia-Dharla was under assault from monsters in a Mass Craze.

When they finally entered the city, they realized that it had not been completely destroyed. The damage, however, was great. The rampart was holding, but the south gate had been breached. Flying monsters that could breathe fire also greatly added to the damage.

Laura was mad at herself for being absent when the city needed her most, but there was no undoing what had already been done.

She spoke with her father, who was the ruler of the city. She then opened up the palace and set about carrying in injured people who had nowhere to go, treating them, and distributing emergency food. She ran around the city from early in the morning to late at night, providing medical care and giving words of encouragement to all who were injured.

Zara felt moved as he accompanied her and helped her out. Saying that you care about your people is nice, but he wondered how many nobles would be willing to go this far.

He was the eldest son of a marquis, and the time would soon come when he had to take his seat as ruler of the domain.

He stopped a moment to consider whether the people of his domain had ever been important to him. That train of thought led him to decide that he would support Laura in this moment with everything he had.

The first thing he did was offer all the medicinal goods he had on hand, taking care to keep a bit for himself. The medicines he had received from Narillia in the Great Ravine were extremely effective and were very gladly received. The antidotes for curing poison worked remarkably well.

The biggest problem that faced the city then was whether or not there would be second and third waves of attacks.

Bia-Dharla’s military force numbered three hundred and fifty people, including patrols and gatekeepers. There were fifty knights among that number, and the other three hundred were common soldiers. They also had four hundred volunteer soldiers from among the populace.

Ten knights had died and twenty were injured during the first attack. Twenty common soldiers died, and thirty were injured. Among the volunteer soldiers, thirty died and two hundred were injured. The losses were many. However, the safe return of Laura’s party to the palace caused the soldiers and the citizens to not lose heart.

Laura consulted with the commanding officers of the knights and then recruited three hundred more volunteer soldiers. It was decided that the volunteer soldiers would not participate in battle even if there was a second wave. They would instead help with transporting supplies, treating the injured, and other kinds of rear support.

Then on the fourth day, the second wave arrived.

Consisting of a number of monsters that far surpassed the defensive capabilities of the city.

6

The monsters numbered more than two thousand. Of those, nearly two hundred could fly. There were also as many as one hundred and fifty ogres on the ground.

It was a really bad situation. But that wouldn’t change their tactics. First, they would firmly shut the castle gates and attack the monsters from up on the rampart. Then, if the castle gate or a part of the rampart broke, they would lure in fixed numbers of monsters and wipe them out in manageable chunks.

There were currently one hundred soldiers waiting on top of the rampart with bows at the ready. This group had been formed after gathering people with experience. Every one of their arrows had been laced with the poison Zara received from Narillia. It was lamia poison that Narillia herself had secreted.

Zara had all five of the treasures he’d borrowed from House Mercurius equipped. He had been told not to use them in places where he stood out, but this wasn’t the time to worry about his appearance.

He had not yet taken out Bora’s Sword. Zara’s father, Panzel, died from overuse of the sword’s blessings. His mom had always told him not to use it unless he absolutely needed to.

“Fire!”

Arrows were loosed at the commander’s order. Very few of the soldiers were able to handle their bows steadily in the face of the approaching monsters. As a result, most shot their arrows too quickly and were way off the mark, but a few of them did still find their target.

The effects of the poison were immediate, and just being grazed by the arrows caused the flying monsters to crash to the ground. Some of them collided into the rampart, and some fell within the palace grounds.

A great number of the archers forgot that they had been ordered to get down immediately after firing an arrow and fell victim to the flying monsters as a result.

Zara loosed three arrows in rapid succession with his Tirika Bow. He immediately drew three more arrows and fired.

The small size of the Tirika Bow made it look like a toy compared to the bows of the soldiers around him, but it was actually very strong. With his strength and skill, Zara could manage significantly greater distance than the other soldiers were capable of, and his arrows penetrated more deeply.

The flying monsters dove at them. Zara dodged nimbly, turned to face the ones that had made it inside the rampart, and fired three more arrows. He was using the bow technique he had been taught by the girl of the mountains.

Eight of the nine arrows he shot found their mark and felled the beasts. The one arrow that missed ended up traveling a long distance and hit an ogre directly. The ogre toppled over and brought down a decent number of monsters with it, so it was fair to say he got a decent return out of that arrow.

They had taken down less than forty of the flying monsters so far. Over one hundred and fifty of them remained, but thankfully, it seemed like all the ones that possessed the ability to breathe fire had been killed. Those could cause a lot of trouble if ignored, so they had been priority targets.

Next, all they could do was leave it to the mobile forces within the palace walls.

The army of monsters on the ground was approaching. They could not let them take the rampart with that level of force. Zara decided it was time to use a trump card.

“Summon Comet! Summon Comet! Summon Comet!”

Giant comets were summoned, falling to the ground where Zara pointed his sword and destroying and burning everything in their path.

Raika’s Ring ran out of magic power, and its light extinguished.

Each one of those spells was powerful enough to exhaust the magic of an elite sorcerer. And Zara had used three of them. He’d probably killed fifty monsters.

The surrounding soldiers looked at Zara in mute amazement. Even the commander.

“Prepare the bombs!”

On Zara’s order, a group that was on standby spread out atop the rampart.

The bombs were big and heavy but extremely effective at killing enemy forces. When Zara pulled out three hundred bombs that he had stored in his Treasury and offered them to the defense effort, Laura was shocked and asked him if he had been planning to go to war against this land. That was a perfectly understandable reaction. Just one of the bombs was worth more than all the equipment of an elite knight put together, so it was unimaginable that one person could be walking around with that amount of them.

Some of the soldiers started to rush to throw the bombs immediately, but Zara stopped them.

“Don’t throw them yet! Wait until they have drawn closer and are about to hit the rampart. Aim for specific monsters and make sure you hit your target! Don’t hit the rampart!”

He wanted to tell them to aim for only ogres, but that would have been expecting too much. There was no point in giving them an order they were incapable of following.

“Now! Throw the bombs! Archers, what are you doing? Fiiiiiire!”

A mass of bombs and arrows flew together on Zara’s order. This strategy wouldn’t last very long, but it would be effective if they bombarded the enemy with everything they had.

The explosives detonated, sending monsters flying in every direction. The arrows fell over the monsters by the rampart like a blanket.

They were doing as well as could possibly be expected. That said, they had taken down only around 20 percent of the enemy’s numbers. If they had been fighting an army of humans, the enemy probably would have temporarily withdrawn after suffering such losses, but monsters in a Mass Craze did not stop their assault until all had perished.

The real battle started now. The monsters began to attack the rampart. Judging by the quaking, it wouldn’t last long.

Zara advised the commander to have the soldiers evacuate to the right and left and leaped within the walls of the rampart. He kicked off an overhang on a tower, landed on a staircase, then jumped down to the ground in an instant.

Laura then called out to him. “Zara, good work up there.”

“We need to retreat. It’s about to collapse.”

“Got it. Everyone, fall back!”

They heard the constant booming sound of the rampart being hit. The wall finally gave in near the south gate. The large quantity of falling stones crushed about ten monsters.

The monsters instantly began to climb over the wreckage. They let in about fifty monsters and then blocked any more from getting through. Their five valuable sorcerer knights were given the role of blocking the monsters.

Laura, the archer Shariabro, and the support sorcerer Orien were also with them.

The defensive specialist Moura, the assassin Jamagar, eight knights, and fifty common soldiers were in charge of killing the monsters they’d allowed past the wall. Seven more knights and fifty more common soldiers were close by, awaiting orders to switch places with them. There were also fifty common soldiers stationed around the city to deal with flying monsters or anything that broke through the line of defense at the rampart.

Moura, who was using a tower shield, attracted three ogres his way. Normally it would take five soldiers to defeat a single ogre. An elite knight would be able to fight one on their own. He may have been a defensive specialist, but taking on three at once showed that Moura was no ordinary warrior.

Each clanging noise of the ogres striking his shield was dreadful enough to make even battle-hardened warriors cower in fear, but Moura’s face was perfectly calm.

Jamagar snuck behind an ogre and sliced through the tendons of its legs with his curved sword. The ogre then fell, and he cut its hands so that it wouldn’t be able to hold its weapon. From there, he left it to the common soldiers and turned toward the next monster. Jamagar and the soldiers made short work of three ogres using that method.

Eight knights were fighting two ogres a short distance away.

Fifty soldiers were fighting forty medium-size monsters.

Zara charged forward and severed the legs of the two ogres one by one. Then, without even looking back, he plunged into the pack of medium-size monsters and began to slay all within reach.

The commander of the knights issued an order, and those who were fighting switched with the group that was on standby. Laura then judged it was time to let in the next batch of monsters.

This time, they let in sixty monsters, ten more than last time. They then used offensive magic and explosive arrows to obstruct any more from getting through.

After using his Tirika Bow to help keep the group of monsters in check, Zara got to work on cleaning up the monsters they’d allowed in. Everyone watched in awe at the brilliance of his movements, all wondering who in the world this young man was.

Zara was thinking about the current situation.

It was going well. For the time being. But the sorcerer knights’ magic wouldn’t last very long. The arrows would eventually run out. The monsters were in the process of breaking through in a number of other locations across the rampart.

At this rate, they had no chance of holding back the remaining 1,500 monsters. Eventually their front line would collapse.

This was a battle without any hope of victory.

7

A part of the rampart that was not yet broken was struck with a magic attack from the outside. It was a lightning attack.

Zara was surprised.

There are still monsters that can use magic?

If that was the case, then a new possibility had opened up.

“Laura! I’m moving!”

Zara took off without waiting for an answer, cutting down every monster he passed. He then leaped onto the fallen stones of the rampart, killed the enemies around him with speed and precision, and jumped through to the other side.

By that point, he had become the target of the bloodlust of all 1,500 monsters outside the city. The people watching him were surely taken aback by this seemingly suicidal act.

There they are!

The magic attacks were coming from a strange type of monster. There were just over ten of them. They looked like giant earthworms with thorns all along their bodies, and they were five times the height of the average human.

Zara made full use of his Acceleration skill and circled all the way around the army of monsters to get behind them. While doing so, he disabled the blessing of Alestra’s Bracelet and enabled the blessing of Bolton’s Charm.

An ogre swung its club at him, and he blocked it with Ende’s Shield. The shield reflected the force of the blow, causing the club to shatter.

The ogre tried to punch him, and he blocked that with Ende’s Shield as well, greatly injuring its arm.

Zara slaughtered the enemies around him with the sword in his right hand. When he got within arrow’s range of the giant earthworms, he stored his shield, drew out his Tirika Bow, and fired at two of them in quick succession while dodging the attacks of the enemies around him.

The first giant earthworm trembled violently after being hit with the arrow, and then it turned toward Zara and fired a lightning attack. The second one did the same.

Zara allowed both lightning attacks to hit him, and his entire body jolted from the shock. He looked down at Raika’s Ring. Its light had returned.

“Summon Comet!”

A comet fell and blasted away the monsters near the rampart.

Each of the five blessed items of House Mercurius had incredible blessings.

Alestra’s Bracelet eliminated magic at the user’s discretion.

Kaldan’s Dagger protected the user from status ailments and poison.

Ende’s Shield reflected physical attacks back at the user’s opponent.

Raika’s Ring fired offensive magic.

Bolton’s Charm absorbed magic and granted invisibility.

There were a number of extremely strong spells sealed within Raika’s Ring, and even people without magical ability could cast them. Naturally, the spells could not be cast once the magic power within ran out.

As for Bolton’s Charm, in addition to the blessing of invisibility, it was also capable of absorbing enemy magic attacks for the owner to use as magic power. If you were hit by a magic attack with both Bolton’s Charm and Raika’s Ring equipped, the magic power would be stored in Raika’s Ring. Most of the damage from the attack would be absorbed, but the pain would remain the same.

In other words, Zara could continue casting Summon Comet as long as he could bear the pain of the lightning attacks. What would make this difficult, however, was that he needed to dodge the attacks of the crazed monsters around him while remaining in firing range of the giant earthworms. In this chaotic of a battle, there was no way even Zara could avoid all their attacks. He would receive a constant stream of injuries, so it could not be said that this method had a high chance of success.

But this was the only sliver of hope they had in a hopeless situation.

Zara continued to fight with the rage of a demon. His memory from that point on was vague.

8

Laura smiled as she wiped off Zara’s face.

“Are you awake?”

Her own face was covered in injuries, but they did nothing to detract from her beauty.

Zara’s entire body was numb, and his senses were dull. He hadn’t yet fully regained consciousness, either. Everything seemed vague and unreal, as if it were all a mirage.

“Just who are you, Zara?”

Laura’s voice sounded distant despite her close proximity.

Zara was lying in a bed. Laura knelt down and buried her head in his chest.

“It doesn’t matter who you are. Thank you.”

He couldn’t see her face, but he somehow understood she had been crying.

Time passed in silence.

He may have lost consciousness for a moment, because before Zara knew it, Laura’s face was right in front of his. She kissed him gently.

He felt like he was enveloped by a sweet, soft wind.

“I thought we would be lucky to save one person. But I knew even that would be impossible. You’re a miracle worker, Zara.”

Zara was finally able to get his mouth to move.

“How many…survivors?”

“Excluding me and the ones who didn’t fight due to injury, all the knights died. Close to one hundred common soldiers survived. The king and the palace are safe, and two-thirds of the populace survived. We won.”

“What about Moura? And Jamagar? And Shariabro? And Orien?”

“All dead. Each one of them died valiantly.”

He couldn’t move his head, so he looked at Laura by moving his eyes. Her right arm was gone. Her bandages were soaked with blood. As if noticing Zara’s gaze, Laura explained what had happened.

“The painkillers you gave us are unbelievable, Zara. I was also sleeping until just recently. The pain from my missing arm hurt so much that it woke me up. But I’m okay now thanks to the painkiller. A desert alligator clamped down on my arm. I was trapped and nearly received a fatal blow from an ogre, but Orien saved me by using a flash bomb to burn my right arm off and free me. Then the ogre hit and killed Orien instead. I used my left arm alone to kill both the ogre and the alligator.”

That was how she’d survived.

They’d actually succeeded in defeating that large of a force. Though it seemed the sacrifice was great.

“I saw the way you fought. It wasn’t just me—a lot of people saw you. No human can fight like that. Everyone is saying that you must be the warrior god Arza.”

“Arza… That is…my other…name.”

Arza was his original name. In order to prevent his identity from being found out, he had changed his name temporarily to Zara.

“Huh? Are you actually Arza? If you are, then I want you to tell me something. It’s said in the Gorenza Empire that the warrior Arza was a servant of the wicked dragon Kaldan. But in the north, they say that he was an attendant of the goddess Pharah. In the desert, it is believed that Arza is the name that the goddess Bora’s brother took after throwing away his status as a god and becoming a human. Which one is correct?”

Zara did his best to answer while still half asleep.

“The goddess Kaldan… Today’s victory…was made possible…by Kaldan’s blessing. The earth goddess Bora’s…blessings were…even greater. The goddess Pharah… I don’t know…much about her.”

“I see. Then from now on, Bia-Dharla will worship the goddess Bora and the dragon goddess Kaldan. A festival will be held on this date. So, Zara. If you can—”

Laura’s speech broke off. There was a big commotion happening in the city.

Laura grabbed her sword with her left hand, said something to Zara, and left.

Zara’s entire body was numb, and neither his headache nor the ringing in his ears would die down. He opened his Treasury without getting up, but he couldn’t move his arms. After much effort, he managed to withdraw Bora’s Sword.

He got to his feet using his sword to prop himself up. Ende’s Shield was leaning against the bed, so he stored it along with the dagger sheathed within it. He checked for the bracelet, charm, and ring. Using the sword, he staggered his way out of the building.

The city was in terrible shape. Many people were looking in the direction of rubble, piled-up corpses, and the crumbled rampart. There were also some fleeing in Zara’s direction.

There were trolls. More than ten of them were approaching.

Trolls were big-bodied and unbelievably strong. Just one swing of a troll’s arm packed the punch of ten ogres. Their skin was highly resistant to blows and cutting attacks, and they could not be brought down with swords or lances. As far as the city’s defenses were concerned, they may as well have been gods of death.

Zara dragged his feet as he approached them; his stiff body wouldn’t move as he ordered it to. He then felt like he heard someone calling out to him. He turned around and saw his guide shouting something and waving his arms.

A single bobo ran up to Zara, spurred on by the guide. It then bent its knees and held its back out in front of him. Zara noticed that it had one black ear. He clung to its back, and the bobo skillfully slipped through the wreckage of the rampart and the corpses and went outside the city.

It would take about twenty more seconds to reach the trolls. Laura was running straight ahead of Zara with a sword drawn in her left hand. Zara urged on his bobo.

There were twelve trolls. They were a variety of sizes. The four smaller ones in the back were probably children. Zara wondered if trolls also felt sadness at the death of children or parents.

Arza had never seen trolls before, but he didn’t think they would be this big. The troll at the front of the pack was especially gigantic. Trolls had long arms and torsos and short legs, but their knees were still even with Laura’s head as she approached.

A giant troll raised the club in its right hand and drew it back. Laura was charging straight at it. Zara felt a sincere sense of dread as he urged his bobo forward, but he wasn’t going to make it on time.

The troll swung at Laura with its club in a sweeping motion. She dodged by dropping to the ground; then she got back up and rotated into a powerful strike that cut off the troll’s right arm.

The troll then kicked her, and her body went flying high into the air. After she landed, the trolls stomped on her mercilessly.

Zara’s bobo reached the foremost troll. The bobo changed course to the right to avoid the trolls.

Zara was thrown off, and he turned toward the trolls closing in on him and rolled like a barrel. The largest troll lifted what was left of its right arm to its head and screamed as if it had just registered the pain. Zara, still lacking total freedom of movement, succeeded in using the force from rolling to slash the troll’s leg with Bora’s Sword.

At that moment, Bora’s Sword gave Zara a tremendous blessing.

The divine sword was furnished with a number of powerful blessings, including Health Leech 10 Percent, which just activated. Zara absorbed 10 percent of the damage he inflicted on the troll. The effect was dramatic.

His body was freed as if being released from shackles, and his thinking, hearing, vision, and his other senses regained their clarity.

He twisted out of the way to avoid being stepped on by the second and third trolls he encountered, and he cut off the leg of a fourth troll. He once again regained a significant amount of stamina, and then he cut off the collapsed troll’s head and ran up to Laura. The eleven remaining trolls headed for the city, seemingly having lost interest in Zara and Laura.

Laura was in terrible shape. Her red armor had just barely protected her from being crushed to death, but the blood flowing from her mouth suggested more than a few of her internal organs had ruptured. Her eyes were hazy, and she couldn’t even focus her vision. Her left leg had suffered a full break and was twisted in an impossible direction.

Laura was going to die. She would pass through the gate to the underworld at any moment. Even a priest capable of working miracles would not have been able to save her.

Then, as if possessed by something, Zara took action that defied reason or explanation.

He lifted Laura’s body, supported her weight from behind, and placed Bora’s Sword in her limp left hand. He then wrapped his left around hers, raised a beast-like cry, and attacked the eleven trolls approaching the city.

He cut. He slashed. And he killed.

Despite the restrictive posture of holding Laura’s body in his right hand and holding the sword through her left, he was like a hurricane as he swung Bora’s Sword. The trolls were probably never even aware of who they were fighting. Their hands, legs, and heads were cut off in quick succession before they ever understood what was happening. Before long, all that was left was Zara and Laura and the mutilated flesh of the trolls.

Zara’s mind was surprisingly calm. Laura had still not opened her eyes. Zara laid her down on the sand, then got on his knees and prayed.

“O Earth Goddess Bora. O Great Bora. I humbly thank you for your divine protection and do beseech thee: grant this woman restful slumber.”

Laura’s lost right arm was restored.

Her left leg was restored as well. Her body, which had been covered in injuries, was brought back from the brink. Her head was still plastered with clotted blood, but the injuries had healed.

She was asleep and breathing peacefully. Less than a thousand paces away, the citizens of Bia-Dharla looked on at the rubble of the rampart without a clue as to what was going on.

A booming voice resounded in Zara’s head.

“Arza, son of Panzel, known also as Zara. The time has come. Honor our agreement and become my blade.”

Zara’s body then disappeared.