“I did it!”
The Sand Dragon fell. Its massive body made it seem like it was falling slowly, but it wasn’t an easy escape. Rest in peace, crushed Orcs.
Cheers erupted from the mercenaries. Anaheim was safe. Everyone thought so, but only Rufina approached me and looked at my wound. She didn’t “treat” it, she “looked” at it.
“Captain, are you alright!?”
My legs were trembling. It was hard just to stand. My vision was blurring. Someone, give me some eye drops for blurred vision.
“This much is fine. I’ll fix it right away. ■■■■, Blazing Fire.”
I cauterized the wound. I saw it in a movie, where they’d extract a bullet and then cauterize it for disinfection.
“Ugh, grrrraaaah!”
Looking is one thing, and experiencing it is another. I could see the flames erupting from the Orc’s cut, even with my blurred vision. The pain blew away my blurry vision.
“Rufina! You can use healing magic, right!”
“…What a waste…”
What did you say just now?
For now, the bleeding stopped. The pain was immense, and I couldn’t muster any strength in my hands. Did I bleed a little too much…?
“What a waste…”
I heard you! Sorry for getting stabbed. I got careless and then *thwack*. I was scared of Sophia!
Rufina took out a bottle containing a red liquid from her cloak, placed her hand on her hip, and downed it in one go.
“Delicious!”
I could imagine what it was, probably my blood. Rufina had used up her magic power by overworking the undead and zombies. To control that many requires more than just an ordinary Necromancer.
“There are other ways to use it.”
As Rufina said that, she bit down on my neck. Are you crazy!? Are you trying to make me black out at a time like this!? I thought my magic power had recovered.
I thought I’d praised her for nothing and braced myself, but my vision cleared, and the unpleasant heaviness in my body disappeared.
“Eh!? I’m alive…”
“Of course. There’s no way I’d let my Captain die. I used a ‘blood-sucking device’ to flow your blood back into you. I couldn’t possibly let you drink it, could I? Kakakaka!”
Putting aside her creepy laughter, she gave me a transfusion. Was it okay because it was my own blood? I should ask the Red Cross about this later…
“I haven’t forgotten about taking possession of the Sand Dragon.”
I wanted to forget. I’d done the killing, let’s just run away. Seeing the hope and ecstasy in Rufina’s eyes, I couldn’t find any words to refuse.
“Everyone, defensive formation! Set up formations at the Sand Dragon’s feet.”
We had swords, shields, and armor. My body could move, and it wasn’t the time to criticize Rufina’s treatment method. Priscilla and Orietta were also doing their best. Christine and Sophia were exhausted, kneeling and gasping for breath.
I picked up Christine, entrusted Sophia to Alana, and, accompanied by Rufina, went to the underside of the fallen Sand Dragon.
“How long until it becomes undead?”
“…About an hour.”
That’s too long. Let’s get to work a little faster.
“Alana, put Sophia next to Rufina. And deploy Doron for reconnaissance. If they’re deploying this many troops, their commander must be a Demon. Find them!”
As I put Christine down, I lightly touched her behind. A perk of the job.
I pushed through the Mages and went to the mercenaries fighting on the front lines, where cavalry charged in with the force to crush Orcs.
“I am Helena Hasse, Captain of the Anaheim Offen Knight Order! Where is your commander!”
She was different from the person who had been nervously shouting orders within the castle. She was confident and radiant. She must be the real deal.
“I am Mikael Sin, Captain of the mercenary White Lily Corps. I am currently in command.”
“Hmm? The man who was with that demi-human. Quite capable. Splendid work! Let’s return to the city, follow me.”
“Would you like to fight together?” I kept the joke to myself. The woman with sun-kissed skin and white teeth, revealed when she opened her helmet visor, smiled like a sunflower blooming in midsummer.
“I’m afraid not. One of our members is currently turning the Sand Dragon into an undead. If we can have them as allies, there’s no stronger support. Forgive us for a short while until the undead transformation is complete.”
If we can gain the Sand Dragon as an ally, a little sacrifice is acceptable. After all, it can throw rocks and glow.
“Understood! We will also hold the defensive line. Cavalry! Follow!”
It was good that she was reasonable. cavalry’s charge could tear through the Orc formations, which would be a great help to us. This should hold us over until Rufina finishes turning the Sand Dragon into undead.
“Are you smitten…”
Why are you standing right behind me, Priscilla? Your position should be further to the right…
“Hmm? Is that so…”
To fall for someone after only a few words? Impossible. But her skin was beautiful. She didn’t look like she’d be a savage knight. Am I weak to tanned skin?
“Th-There’s no way that’s true. We just met, and we barely even spoke.”
Stop poking me with your Halberd! You’ll give me an extra hole in my backside.
“Hmm, but you seemed to be talking quite cheerfully…”
That was just a report! There’s no way it’s cheerful. Just ahead of me, Orietta had switched from her shield to a Hammer and was rampaging, and the cavalry were fighting for their lives.
Well, it’s a secret that I felt a little flutter when she said “Quite capable.”
“Captain, I don’t see any Demons nearby.”
Alana threw me a lifeline before I got more holes in my backside. Thank you, Alana. After this, let’s do something fun without swords.
“No… Search again, with a wider range…”
“That’s what I’m saying, they’re far away. They’re coming this way, Giants.”
Giants? Could it be the ones from that anime? That’s not good news. I want to go back to Anaheim.
“Are they big? Being Giants and all.”
“I think they’re big. Three times the size of Trolls. There are ten of them.”
Three times the size of Trolls!? Trolls are bigger than Orcs, about five or six meters tall from what I’ve seen. Three times that is eighteen meters!? That’s the same height as the robot in Odaiba.
I only saw that once. It was incredibly huge and cool. Is that what’s coming!? Can I ride it!?
If something that big comes, they’ll scale the castle walls in a single bound. Even fleeing to Anaheim won’t help.
“Time?”
“They’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
This is the worst. I thought it would end with the Sand Dragon. Giants!? No way. If we wait here for Rufina to finish turning the Sand Dragon into undead, we’ll be attacked by Demons and Giants.
Even if I returned to Anaheim now, the castle walls would be useless against Giants. This unit was probably just a vanguard.
I thought this was the main force because of the Sand Dragon, but those damn Demons! They should have brought the Giants from the start. Then I would have run away.
“Sophia, I’m sorry to bother you when you’re in pain, but if you know anything about Giants, please tell me.”
I’m a military otaku, not an expert on monsters. Anyway, given they’re Giants, they must be big.
“I, I haven’t seen Giants before… but, according to records, they are rock-hard, giant humanoids, weak to magic. So, there shouldn’t be any Mages around the Giants… I don’t think so.”
Is this bad? Rufina, who can use magic in the White Lily Corps, is preoccupied with the Sand Dragon, and Sophia, despite drinking potions, is exhausted.
I need Alana to protect three people, including Christine, and if I take Orietta away, we’ll lose our core. Having Priscilla fight the Giants is out of the question. She fights until one of them dies.
Do I have to go…? If I take the Demon’s head, will the Giants retreat? Normally, that would end the battle. After all, the employer dies. Is that effective against monsters?
In Koatotemites, monsters controlled by Demons attacked. What happens if they’re controlled? Will they withdraw?
Ah, whatever… When I can’t find an answer by thinking, I’ll just give it my best shot.
“Priscilla, I’ll leave the command here to you. When Rufina finishes turning the Sand Dragon into undead, retreat to Anaheim.”
“What are you going to do!?”
“…I’m going to become a Newtype.”
“Huh?”
I left everything to Priscilla and went to Orietta.
“Orietta, get your weapon out. I need the strongest spear you have.”
“A spear, you say~”
Whoa! Idiot, idiot, it’s my fault for talking to you, but you don’t have to turn around! An Orc is attacking!
I ignored Orietta’s subtle gesture of tapping her chin guard with her index finger, but she was deep in thought. I drew my sword to attack the Orc.
“Orietta, anything quickly!”
“It’s hard when you say ‘anything’~”
You little… I’m going to beat you up. My stomach was burned, and the burn wound hurt more than the stab. Orc, please go easy on me.
“Quickly!”
“Alright, here it comes~”
Normally, when you hand someone scissors or a knife, you’d hold the blade yourself and hand the handle to the other person, I thought.
A magic circle, about as high as Orietta’s head, appeared above me and then rained down. Spears, Halberds, Short Swords, Buster Swords, Axes, Arrows, Hobbyhorses, anything! With the blades pointing downwards.
“Dangerous! Orietta!”
“That’s all of them~”
In a way, it was an aggressive way of delivering them. The Orcs crushed beneath also ended up impaled before they knew what happened.
I pulled out a decent-looking spear from an Orc and wiped off the blood.
“Orietta, please collect all of them. Don’t be wasteful.”
“Okay, okay~”
Now, let’s kill it…
Godspeed Mode Two.
I’ll challenge the Giants with this unfamiliar spear. I’ll leave the Hobbyhorses for later…
