episode_0069

Argentia Empire Royal Palace, Western Gate Defense Line.

– Clang!

“Get into formation properly! It’s just a bunch of Lake Serpents coming at us!”

“Ah, even so, the number is too overwhelming! We need to retreat and call for reinforcements…!”

– Swoosh!

“If we retreat from here, the entire palace will be razed to the ground! Hold the line!”

The unit of palace guards, consisting of about fifteen members, maintained their formation even in the dire situation, relentlessly cutting down the approaching horde of Lake Serpents.

The monsters, with legs the size of an adult man, kept pushing forward endlessly, putting pressure on the Western Gate defense line.

– Thud!

“Aaah!!”

“Damn it…! These damn monsters keep coming endlessly and overwhelming us!”

Each Lake Serpent was not a particularly strong monster.

From the perspective of an ordinary person, they could be considered quite formidable, but since everyone here was part of the palace guard, a unit composed of individuals with exceptional abilities among ordinary soldiers, they could easily handle the Lake Serpents.

“Aaah… My, my arm…”

“Heuk, heuk, heuk…”

However, facing a situation where the monsters kept coming endlessly, even the palace guards couldn’t help but feel exhausted.

Like facing a giant wave, the soldiers, who had been cutting down the monsters in the darkness for thirty minutes, began to show signs of fatigue.

“….”

– Shriek!

…However, amidst this chaos, there was someone silently dispatching the monsters without showing any signs of fatigue.

Ethan Richard Blackwood.

Summoned by Orion for the defense of the palace, the nobleman from the Blackwood family silently continued to slay the Lake Serpents without even a hint of tiredness.

The sword with the emblem of the Blackwood family, the twin-headed eagle, was flying towards yet another monster’s neck.

‘…This much, I can endure.’

– Shriek!

‘Compared to the training I received from my father, this is nothing…!’

Of course, even after swinging his sword for over thirty minutes, fatigue was inevitable.

But Ethan focused solely on quietly killing the monsters and defending the Western Gate, not showing any signs of his exhaustion, knowing that just by not showing his fatigue, he could boost the morale of the other guards.

“Lord Blackwood is still wielding his sword without showing any signs of fatigue! If you guards of the palace fall first and collapse, what will happen then!”

“No way!!”

“Kill them all! Hold the line until the end! Think of the people inside the palace as your wives and children, and defend them with your lives!”

“Aaaah!!”

…Yes, they couldn’t afford to fall here.

As the knight of the guard said, they had to risk their lives to protect the people inside the palace.

Because inside the palace, his exclusive maid and today’s partner, Lillith, would be waiting.

‘I shouldn’t have brought her here.’

Why did he bring her here, embarrassing her in front of the Auguste family and exposing her to such danger?

The decision he made a few days ago to bring Lillith to the masquerade ball of Princess Seraphine was something he deeply regretted.

It was all because of his small desire to dance with her as his partner.

So, at the very least, he had to do everything in his power to ensure that Lillith didn’t come to harm until the end.

If he failed to stop the monsters and let them enter the palace, and if she were to get hurt, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

‘At least she didn’t insist on joining the battle with us. That’s a relief.’

A year ago, Edan, who remembered seeing a hostile side of Lillis in the Blackwood Territory Defense Force, was worried that she might pop up again during the Hwangung Palace defense operation this time.

His worries seemed to be relieved this time as she behaved herself, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Thus, Edan, Orion, Agnes, each stationed at the North Gate, East Gate, and West Gate respectively, devised a plan to block the monster invasion.

However, despite slashing and slashing, Edan couldn’t help but feel something was off as the never-ending horde of monsters seemed to diminish little by little.

“I expected the North Gate of the Hwangung Palace to have the most… but no matter how much I think about it, it’s too many…”

If even this place is in such a situation, how many monsters must be pouring in through the North Gate?

Even if he defended this place with all his might, if he allowed the monsters to invade through the North Gate, it would all be in vain.

Such trivial thoughts briefly crossed Edan’s mind, but he quickly realized they were not important and focused on cutting down the monsters in front of him.

-Swish!

“…Ha.”

-Swish!

While praying that Orion and Agnes, who had gone to other fronts, were defending properly.

***

The monster horde began to push into the Hwangung Palace as the entrance of the main hall, the South Gate, was breached.

As a dozen snake-like monsters rushed into the shelter, the scene turned into chaos.

-Crunch!

“Scream!!”

A nobleman’s son somewhere, with only a thigh-thick lake serpent biting his leg and screaming.

-Slither!

“Help me! Save me! Aaah!”

A noble lady running around screaming to pull the monster that crawled into her dress.

“Damn it…!”

-Crunch!

‘Geez…!’

Even in such chaotic circumstances, the Hwangung Palace guards managed to kill the monsters and reduce their numbers.

It didn’t take long for the scene to change from a mixture of all kinds of people and monsters to a scene of chaos.

“Lizzy, don’t just stand there.”

“…Y-yes?!”

“If you happen to run off somewhere else, I might not be able to protect you then.”

Whether Lizzy truly understood or not, she simply remained silent in response to Auguste’s words.

Perhaps it was too difficult to even respond due to fear. It wasn’t crucial to get a response, so they moved on.

What was important to me was killing the lake serpent rushing towards me. That was the only thing that mattered.

The lake serpent was a level 4 monster.

One might say that there was a need to be cautious when facing a level 4 monster, but to the noble youths present here, even a level 4 monster didn’t feel so easy to deal with.

Even if they had magical knowledge, their bodies that hadn’t grown through experience had limitations in overcoming the level difference.

Moreover, there weren’t conditions for them to face these monsters one-on-one, and it was unlikely that 1-2 level mages could properly deal with the lake serpent rushing at them.

I couldn’t save all these noble youths. They had to protect themselves.

“Stick together back to back! Block the monsters coming from each direction!”

In fact, some noble youths were already paired up or formed ranks, using swords or magic to face the lake serpent.

I couldn’t go around trying to save nobles who couldn’t even do that. It would only put Lizzy, whom I had to protect, in danger.

Even if it was just for her sake, I would do my best to wield my sword within my capabilities.

‘Swish!’

“Aaah!”

-Crunch!

I swung the head of the Lake Serpent rushing towards me and Lize down with my dagger, slamming it into the ground.

The monster, pierced through the head, writhed on the ground a few times before collapsing.

Even with the increased attack power of my dagger skill, I never thought I could kill it in one blow.

It seems like the dagger I received from Auguste is a better item than I thought.

“L-Lize, are you okay?”

“Yes. It’s a good knife.”

“Oh, no… I didn’t mean the knife…”

-Swish!

“Ugh?!”

This time, instead of Lize, I aimed at the monster flying towards me head-on and slammed it with the dagger.

Soon, the second Lake Serpent also collapsed on the ground, its head pierced through, dead.

“…What do you mean, not the knife?”

“Oh, no! It’s nothing!”

…?

Seriously, why has she been acting like this since earlier?

Anyway, unlike before, she behaved as I instructed, so wielding the sword was definitely more comfortable.

“Get away! Get back!!”

If even Lize had panicked like the noble lady running around without her clothes, then it would have been impossible to protect her while fighting.

Somehow, I ended up in a good position, wedging myself between two walls, making it easier to wield the sword against the monsters.

If I could hold out as long as possible, Seraphine and Agnes would eventually come and help us out.

Perhaps this monster wave will end when Seraphine and Agnes cooperate to kill the ‘boss monster’ that appeared at the west gate.

“Seeing the Lake Serpents rushing in like this, the boss of this monster wave is probably the ‘King Serpent.’”

If it’s at that level, Seraphine and Agnes should be able to handle it on their own.

With Agnes’s Gigafireball and Seraphine’s moon magic, they should have enough power to take down one King Serpent.

-Swish!

‘Gyaaah!’

While killing the third Lake Serpent running towards Lize and me, I noticed a commotion and screams coming from the exit leading to the south gate.

-Swish! Swish! Swish!

‘Gyaa…!’

…This familiar sound effect, could it be?

As I began to imagine the familiar sound of a kick I had heard somewhere before, a sense of unease crept into my mind.

Because the only character I remembered using kicks as their main attack at the ‘Luminor Academy’ was only one person.

With the image of that person appearing at the south gate, I turned my gaze towards the entrance.

There, a shadow with golden hair appeared, smashing monsters’ heads with a series of consecutive kicks.

“…Huh?”

“Princess Seraphine…?”

Although she still wore a mask and covered her eyes, no one here could not know that she was Seraphine.

Unexpectedly, everyone’s gaze turned to her at once when the moon princess appeared out of nowhere.

While I, too, was momentarily taken aback by her sudden appearance and shifted my gaze to her, sadly, the reason my eyes landed on her was slightly different from the others.

‘Why is she here…?’

It was the moment when I realized that the story was flowing in a completely different direction from the original.