Chapter 46
The unbelievers, already wary of us, poured out the moment they sensed the approach of the knight order.
“Waaaah!”
The shout echoed through the mountains—yet there was no strength in it.
They had already exhausted much of their energy keeping watch on us from the foot of the mountain.
In contrast, our 3rd Knight Order, holding the initiative, was brimming with vigor.
“Sorcerers! About half a dozen!”
Cesare, leading at the front, spotted the sorcerers among the unbelievers and shouted.
At that moment, slime began bursting forth from the tips of the sorcerers’ staffs.
“Another swarm tactic?!”
Cesare gritted his teeth. Having fought Matata before, he knew all too well how dangerous and exhausting a slime swarm could be. The other knights wore similarly grim expressions.
Then—
“Everyone, heads down!”
Carlos, right beside me, bellowed. The knights who understood his warning ducked immediately. Carlos drew his sword and swung it wide.
A breathtaking thing happened—the arc of his swing turned into a wind slash, slicing through the incoming slimes as though with an invisible blade.
Bang, bang! Slimes exploded into goo.
What in the world…? Can a human even do that?
When I looked in shock, Carlos was merely retrieving a dagger from the first sentry he had felled, looking only slightly winded.
“What are you staring at? Eyes forward!”
I hurriedly raised my sword and struck down an unbeliever rushing at me.
“That was close!”
Carlos stepped in front of me, dagger in his right hand, longsword in his left, shielding me.
“Our time is near… Gah!”
He slit the unbeliever’s throat in one swift motion. The sight of a man dying so close sent a jolt through my heart.
“No time to think. We’re going for the sorcerers now.”
I forced my mind to focus. We’re in the middle of a purge—there’s no time to hesitate.
“Let’s go.”
Carlos nodded and charged into the melee.
Cutting down the regular unbelievers wasn’t hard—the problem was the sorcerers.
Six of them stood at the vertices of a six-pointed magic circle in the center of the hideout, chanting ominously. My heart pounded. This was a summoning—a monster wielding a flaming sword would appear, and then our chances would be slim.
“Sir Ivach, let’s take out the sorcerers first!”
“Agreed.”
We pushed forward, but fiery slimes appeared from nowhere. Even split in half, they refused to die.
“One of us takes the slimes, the other the sorcerers!”
“I’ll handle the slimes.”
I hesitated, but Carlos insisted:
“The slimes are stronger. The sorcerers are defenseless while casting. You go.”
I nodded and sprinted past him toward the sorcerers.
“What—already?!”
Panic spread among them. I ignored their cries about a ‘great lich king’ and ran a sorcerer through. The realistic sensation of steel piercing flesh sent shivers down my spine, but I didn’t stop. One, two, three, four fell.
“You won’t kill me and Laya so easily!”
The fifth stepped forward, shielding the sixth—a boy who looked to be his younger brother.
Beneath their feet, the magic circle was drawn in human blood, with piles of tiny skulls at its center.
“Sacrificing humans… vile creatures.”
We clashed. His attack was sloppy, and I quickly stabbed him in the side. He collapsed.
Only one left.
“Brother!” the boy cried.
“M-monster!”
His tearful face made me falter for the briefest moment.
“Foolish woman!”
He bolted toward the magic circle, grinning madly.
“Captain!” Carlos shouted in warning.
But he wouldn’t make it in time.
“It’s fine!”
I mimicked what Carlos had done earlier—pulling my arm far back and hurling my sword.
The blade flew with impossible speed, piercing the boy’s back before he could complete the circle.
He collapsed instantly—and all the flaming slimes vanished. The remaining unbelievers, realizing their sorcerers were dead, dropped their weapons in surrender.
“Captain!”
Carlos rushed to me.
“Well done. I was so startled at the end…”
He stopped mid-sentence, seeing my right hand trembling violently.
“Captain, don’t tell me—”
“Yeah… that happened.”
I gave a wry smile, lifting my limp right arm with my left.
“At the last moment, I threw the sword with my dominant arm out of habit.”
And now… the condition of that arm was far from good.
