Chapter 36
“Ugh, ughh!”
A holy knight named Evan screamed. The whip that had ensnared him mercilessly tightened around his torso.
In an instant, Evan’s face, neck, and hands flushed bright red with blood.
The horrified knights rushed toward Evan, raising their swords high. They had to cut the whip without touching him.
The whip quickly sank into Evan’s clothes. At this rate, his body would be sliced in half—!
Swoosh!
At that moment, something golden flew past the knights. A flash of light left a long trail from below to above.
Thud, thud, the cut whip pieces hit the floor, and only then did the knights realize what had happened.
A girl with flowing blonde hair had sliced the whip in front of them.
The holy knights blinked at the sudden turn of events. Evan’s pristine white uniform bore the mark of the sword’s path.
Crescent clutched her sword and squealed.
“Uh… I cut your clothes a little. Sorry! You didn’t get hurt, right? As you know, I’ve only been training for six months.”
“…Uh, yeah, I think it’s fine. Thanks.”
Evan replied in a daze.
He had nearly been sliced in half, but not a drop of blood was spilled. Could someone who had been a holy knight for only half a year really possess this level of skill…?
The knights were puzzled, but their thoughts didn’t last long.
“E-everyone, be careful!”
At almost the same time as someone shouted, the whip pieces on the floor writhed. They seemed to be creatures that didn’t die when cut.
“These persistent things—!”
The knights swung their swords at the whips rushing back at them. Two strands became four, and four quickly became eight.
The number of whips annoying them was multiplying!
‘How do we get rid of these whips? They’re so annoying.’
Crescent bit her lip and thought hard.
The whips could even extend in length. Cutting them only seemed to help Izmir.
They couldn’t exactly feed these inedible rubber strips to the monsters either.
Then—
“Kyaaang! Kek!”
‘It feels amazing to shred that whip! I’ve wanted to chew it up every time I saw it!’
“Kyaaak!”
‘You too? Me too! Stubborn gum snack!’
Hmm?
Crescent’s ears perked up. She caught the whispering of the monsters.
‘They’ve been wanting to chew it up, right…? Perfect!’
Crescent immediately shouted to the knights.
“Knights! Don’t cut the whips—throw them to the monsters! They’ll chew them up!”
“What?!”
The knights’ eyes widened. Feed the monsters whips with no taste? They had just established some rapport with the monsters; would feeding them black rubber make them hostile again?
Should we sprinkle sugar on them?
Meanwhile, Crescent quickly struck the whips with her sword, like hitting golf balls.
A whip strand flew into the cage where the monsters were. One monster caught it with its paw and put it directly in its mouth.
Chomp, chomp.
“Kraaang!”
‘Demonic rubber tastes good!’
‘It tastes good…?’
Unexpectedly, it really was a good snack. Well, it was a thing from the demon realm—how could human logic explain it?
“Oh!”
Seeing the monsters’ reaction, the other knights hurriedly threw the whips into the cages. The whips, which had already grown to sixteen strands, began disappearing into the monsters’ mouths one by one.
It was a truly satisfying solution.
“Wow, to eat it like that… what a clever idea, Crescent.”
“No, you’re suffering along with us too.”
Thwack!
Crescent sent one more whip into the cage. The last whip of the sixteen strands vanished.
The knights all looked at Crescent, mouths wide in amazement. Their eyes were full of admiration.
‘That girl… she’s incredible…!’
From taming the monsters to handling the whips, Crescent had been a huge help. Without her, someone might have already lost an arm while feeding the monsters.
Meanwhile, while Crescent and the knights battled the whips, Ruben continued to face Izmir.
After realizing the whips could multiply, Ruben didn’t cut them.
Deflecting attacks without cutting them was no easy task.
‘If only I could take that whip away…!’
Clenching his teeth with that thought, his eyes brightened. Two knights charged toward him. Once they joined him, Ruben gave them a look.
Immediately, the knights also began attacking Izmir.
Three swords charged the demon.
But Izmir laughed casually.
“Just because one becomes three doesn’t change anything.”
Izmir’s two whips stretched long to both sides. As the attacks were dispersed among the knights, Ruben’s vision cleared.
Finally, he had a chance to strike at the center.
Without hesitation, Ruben dashed forward and swung his sword hard. In less than a second, Izmir’s pink pupils widened.
A beat later, he leapt away.
He dodged fairly quickly, but Izmir’s expression was terrifyingly hardened.
A thin red line bloomed on his white chin—the mark of Ruben’s sword.
“…Dare to scar my perfect face?”
“Funny how you were happy to have an excellent slave, now you look scared.”
“Hahaha!”
At Ruben’s words, Izmir burst into laughter.
“Yes, I’ve entertained you long enough. Looks like you have no intention of becoming my partner willingly. What a good opportunity, though.”
Then.
Izmir’s two whips extended the length of the cave. Crescent and the knights, having just fed the monsters, got back into battle stance.
The whips split into dozens of pieces and surged toward the cage doors, wrapping around the handles.
Click! The doors creaked open from all directions.
The doors of the prison holding all the monsters swung open.
The monsters’ eyes glowed in the darkness, now brimming with deadly intent.
Count Izmir’s voice rang out again.
“Don’t blame me too much. I clearly gave you a chance to become my slaves peacefully.”
The relaxed tone vanished as he shouted harshly at the monsters.
“Kill them all! No, no, no—don’t kill! Capture them alive and bring them to me! These humans will make the perfect monsters to raise; it’s a waste to kill them! Hahaha!”
“Grrrr…”
“Kyaaak!”
The monsters responded to Izmir’s commands. Roars echoed everywhere.
Creak—the doors split, and the monsters began crawling out one by one. The growls sent shivers down the spine.
‘Crazy. This murderous intent is insane.’
I felt a chill.
Even when I first arrived here, I didn’t sense this strong an aura of malice.
The knights hesitated and huddled together. No one could help but feel intimidated.
“Even now, if you give up and agree to live with me for the rest of your life, I’ll spare you. After all, you’re practically mine now.”
Who’s yours?
“Who’s yours?”
The words I had thought echoed exactly from Ruben’s mouth.
“My dear little ones are obedient. If I tell them to break your necks, they’ll do it immediately. If I tell them to eat you, they’ll devour you. Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“I do not know fear.”
Ruben readjusted his grip on his sword. Without another word, he charged at Izmir, and the demon shouted:
“Bite!”
At almost the same moment, I also shouted to the monsters:
“Bite!”
As a ‘beast management expert,’ my current level was 128.
Upon surpassing level 120, I gained a new stat: Loyalty of Grade-A Difficulty Animals.
By achieving a certain affection level, I could gain loyalty.
