episode_0241

“Wow! This monster looks incredibly cute, Sister Charlotte!”

Little Eugene Schneider was reading a monster encyclopedia with Charlotte.

It was a monster encyclopedia full of grotesquely shaped creatures,

But unlike before, he discovered a monster with a non-repulsive appearance, and little Eugene Schneider’s eyes widened.

“Owl bear! It has the head of an owl and the body of a bear! I think it’s a really amazing and unique monster, Sister!”

It was a high-level monster, the owl bear.

“Oh my…! What did our Eugene discover, it’s an owl bear? Hmm… My lovely brother thinks the high-level monster owl bear looks cute?”

“Yes! Look at these eyes! And its body is round and I want to stroke it! It would be the best if we raised it as a pet, Sister!”

Charlotte seemed to find Eugene Schneider’s reaction cute, and she paused, inducing a reaction from her beloved younger brother.

Then Eugene Schneider stroked the picture in the encyclopedia, not knowing what to do.

“But Eugene, if you go near the owl bear and touch this monster with your little hand, it will…”

Whoosh…!

Charlotte, seeing her younger brother showing such a cute reaction in her arms, temporarily put down the heavy monster encyclopedia on the bedside.

“Roar!! Like this! Like this, it will eat our pretty Eugene Schneider up?”

Wham!!

“Aaaaaah! Sisssster~~~~!!!”

Then, she hugged Eugene and laid him down on the bed.

Eugene Schneider was almost having a seizure at Charlotte’s realistic performance, and he flailed his hands in the air as if struggling in surprise.

“Owl bears are really ferocious monsters, Eugene. They are classified as high-level monsters, but their close combat ability is as good as that of the highest-level monsters. You’ll be in big trouble if you let your guard down and approach them because of their round appearance.”

Pat…! Pat…! Pat…!

“Hngheueung… You startled me so much, Sister Charlotte…”

Rub! Rub! Rub!

Charlotte stroked Eugene Schneider’s head to comfort him, and Eugene rubbed his face against Charlotte’s chest, acting cute.

“Owl bears establish a specific place as their territory and engage in slaughter to protect that area. That’s why they are so ferocious. Because they are such monsters, it is recommended to isolate the area and bypass it rather than directly confronting them.”

“Eueueum… I see…”

The factors that determine the tier of a monster are more complex than determining the tier of an Awakened.

Simple strength can have an impact, difficulty can have an impact, and it can also be defined by unique characteristics.

In the case of owl bears, the absolute level is a high-level monster,

From a tier perspective, it shouldn’t be a very difficult monster.

However, although it has no magical abilities, its close-quarters combat ability, where it engages with its physical body, is top-tier.

Moreover, its regenerative ability is excellent and its ferocity is unparalleled, so the perceived tier level felt by those who face it is even higher.

However, its range of activity is not that wide, so it is possible to avoid it by bypassing it, and it is also possible to avoid it by moving out of its territory.

Therefore, unless there is a special situation, various countermeasures have been studied, and it is classified as a high-level monster accordingly.

“Hmm… Then it would be really difficult if an owl bear made its nest in a critical place, Sister…”

“Theoretically, that’s true, Eugene, but the kind of thing I’m imagining is almost nonexistent. They often make nests in deep forest caves with few people. Look, it says so in the encyclopedia.”

Little Eugene Schneider, after hearing Charlotte’s explanation, imagined a terrible situation where a ferocious owl bear had taken a key location.

Then, his wise and benevolent sister Charlotte explained that it was unrealistic for them to settle in such a location due to the nature of the owl bears.

But

‘An owl bear appearing in a place like this!!’

It became a reality.

An owl bear the size of a dump truck, which could not have existed in a cave, was standing proudly like a gatekeeper at the foot of the mountain path, appearing in front of Charlotte.

“Krrrrrrrrrr…!”

The owl bear was glaring at her and her companions, lying flat about 150m in front of Charlotte.

In the case of owl bears, when entering a full-fledged attack posture, they show aggressive behavior such as standing on two legs and roaring at the opponent.

In other words, the current appearance can be said to be in a state of high alert, assessing the abilities of the humans who have appeared in front of it.

“What on earth is going on, Bishop Charlotte! An owl bear in such an open space!”

Thump thump thump thump! Thump thump thump thump!

The senior nuns and high-ranking priest nuns, who had finished off all the surrounding monsters, gathered quickly behind Charlotte, whispering with horrified expressions.

“I also can’t understand the sight…”

Perhaps a dimensional rift has formed near here, and the owl bear crossed over to this place through the dimensional rift and settled down.

However, Charlotte was not aware that dimensional rifts were being created on the continent, so she shook her head as if she couldn’t understand.

“Can we defeat the owl bear with our own strength without expert combat Awakened ones, Bishop Charlotte?”

A high-ranking priest nun asked from one step behind Charlotte on her left, with a worried feeling.

‘Why an owl bear of all things. It would have been easier if it had been a magic-focused monster, even if it was top-tier.’

This is because owl bears, which have excellent regenerative abilities and are skilled in close combat, are not very compatible with the priest class.

Priests’ close combat abilities are specialized in dealing with a large number of mediocre monsters.

It can be seen as an effect based on wide-area damage.

On the other hand, since the firepower concentration is low and the skills are monotonous, they play a supporter role rather than a major attack option against monsters beyond that level.

“There are no combat class Awakened ones above Expert in the defense force anyway. It means we have to finish this among ourselves. Senior nuns, please give buffs to me and the high-ranking priest nuns. That is the best we can do for now.”

Whoooooosh…!

Divine power was projected onto the Goddess’s Mace held by Charlotte.

She was planning to fight right away,

The divine magic of priests is largely divided into two types: buffs and debuff removal.

However, debuff removal is meaningless against owl bears, which have no magical abilities.

Therefore, Charlotte is planning to engage in a desperate close combat fight while receiving divine power buffs from her companions.

“I will follow you, Bishop Charlotte.”

Whoooooosh…! Whoooooosh…!

Divine power was also projected onto the maces of the three high-ranking priests.

They looked determined.

This is because standing at the forefront from a position where they should be playing a support role is truly a tactic with no turning back.

Shoooooooo…! Shoooooooo…!

Soon, the buff magic of the senior nuns at the very back entered the four people at the front,

“Let’s go!”

ㅡPaaaaaaaat!!!

Charlotte, surrounded by divine power, a buff divine magic, charged towards the owl bear with a valiant appearance.

And the three high-ranking priest nuns also followed Charlotte.

“Koooh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uhck!!!”

ㅡChoooooeok!!!

Then, the owl bear, which had been crouching, stood up on its thick legs and spread its body wide open.

It felt like the size had increased by about 1.5 times.

“Kneel before the main god, monster!!!”

ㅡBooaaaaaaak!!!

Charlotte, who had already approached right in front of the owl bear, jumped slightly and then swung the Goddess’s Mace fiercely.

ㅡChoooooeok!!

The close combat-optimized high-level monster, the owl bear, was agile and flexible, unlike what it looked like.

The owl bear avoided Charlotte’s attack by leaning its upper body back,

ㅡBooaaaaaaak!!ㅡBoo-ooooooook!!

The monster swung its forelimbs, with blue claws embedded in them, at Charlotte in a bizarre manner befitting a monster.

ㅡTeooooeok!ㅡTeooooeok!!

However, the attacks from those forelimbs were blocked by the maces of the high-ranking priest nuns who had followed Charlotte.

ㅡChooaaaaaaat!!

Charlotte, who had already anticipated that, unleashed an upward mace attack while still on the ground.

ㅡKwaaaaaaaang!!

Charlotte’s second attack accurately hit the owl bear’s jaw.

‘It’s shallow!’

However, it’s shallow.

Unlike the drake, which has a hard hide, the owl bear has a soft, fluffy, and elastic outer skin. Therefore, it has a very good shock absorption rate against blunt weapons that are not sharp.

ㅡKuaaaaaaaang!!

Therefore, the owl bear, which did not lose its balance significantly and was still mentally sound, immediately retaliated with a headbutt.

A loud impact sound, the owl bear’s headbutt hit the top of Charlotte’s Goddess’s Mace, which was raised as a guard.

ㅡCheo-cheo-cheo-cheo-cheok!!

Charlotte, who was pushed back about 6m,

“Keueueut!” “Be careful, it’s very erratic!”

The space she left had to be filled by the two high-ranking priest nuns.

“With the authority given by the goddess! As a bishop nun of the Goddess of Light Order, I will!”

ㅡPaaaaaaat!!!

Charlotte, who could not bear to see her companions in danger, immediately charged forward in a state where she was not properly prepared.

‘Ah…’

However, in the continued battle, Charlotte keenly felt her disadvantage in compatibility.

It was a battlefield of a different dimension from the greenhouse-like Holy See.

‘Eugene… and Jeanne… have you been walking this path of carnage all along…?’

That’s why she thought of Eugene and Jeanne, who were working as mercenaries and walking their own paths.

She realized that her beloved siblings must have felt this way at first.

“Sister, were you very tired?”

Charlotte had been going in and out of the Holy See since her mid-teens and received special education that was close to a privilege.

There was also basic physical training in it, and

She looked very tired on the days she did that training and returned home.

Every time, her younger brother Eugene Schneider took care of Charlotte like that.

“I’m a little tired, but I can handle it~ I’m thinking of it as working hard to protect my siblings~”

Looking at such Eugene, Charlotte smiled amidst the exhaustion.

“I’m going to get stronger. Strong enough to protect my sister. So that our sister doesn’t have to do such hard training!”

Despite being so sickly, he was so eager to protect and take care of his beloved older sister that it was deeply lovely to her heart.

“I’ll look forward to it, Eugene~ Our Eugene must become a healthy and strong man and protect his sister?”

Clutch…!

Charlotte hugged Eugene Schneider, who was expressing his aspirations with bright eyes,

She was hoping that this child would quickly become a healthy Eugene rather than truly thinking that he would protect her.

Eugene Schneider was that kind of existence to Charlotte de Cell Obelian.

He was pitiful, she wanted to take care of him, and she wanted to look after him,

‘Eugene… perhaps this may be my last moment…’

But at this moment, facing the owl bear,

Charlotte repeatedly recited the name Eugene Schneider as if she wanted him to suddenly appear to save her.

“ㅡKrehaaaaaaaat!!!!”

ㅡBooaaaaaaak!!

The owl bear’s brutal forelimb swung towards Charlotte’s head.

But at that moment

ㅡPooshushushushushut!!!!

A crimson blood streak gushed out in front of Charlotte’s eyes.

It was the owl bear’s blood,

The owl bear’s hand, which was heading towards her head, had been cut off.

And the one who cut off that hand was none other than

“Don’t bully our sister, you cute owl bear.”

It was Eugene Schneider’s greatsword.