Ch.218EP.49 – The Most Dangerous Creature in the World…(5)

When you’re on military duty, you end up watching a lot of movies.

This isn’t about slacking off—it’s just that when everyone else is asleep in the middle of the night, there’s nothing else to do but watch movies.

Well, for Ihan though…

“Are you reading martial arts novels and internet comics again?”

“Senior Dokgo, they’re not internet comics, they’re web comics.”

With his consistent tastes, he only occasionally watched movies and such.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“…Senior Dokgo, are you really in your mid-twenties?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just meant you’re mature.”

“Hmm, that sounds suspicious…”

“Oh, look, the movie’s starting.”

“……”

Unlike the consistently predictable Ihan, his superior enjoyed SF movies just as much as martial arts novels, and was an omnivore who didn’t discriminate between hero films or thrillers as long as they had SF elements.

Because of this, Ihan occasionally had to join in watching movies, and what he often saw during those times was…

“Senior Dokgo, you seem to particularly enjoy those kinds of movies.”

“It’s because I read a lot of American comics when I was young.”

“That early education was a bit…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Thus, he often watched movies about parasitic aliens, and each time, Senior Dokgo would ask childish questions.

“What do you think it would be like if parasitic aliens like that really existed?”

“Do you really want to have this conversation at your age? …But if I had to answer, I’d say we should blast them with high-explosive bombs first.”

However, he was just as childish, and they would end up debating for about four hours on how to kill parasitic aliens.

…And now.

‘Senior Dokgo, can you see this?’

[KEEEEE!!!]

‘I think we weren’t being childish—we were visionaries.’

The crimson liquid monster devoured the half-demon’s corpse, gradually increasing in size.

* * *

Gulp… gulp…!

It was a dark red liquid that seemed too filthy and horrible to even touch.

It looked like unrefined oil at times, and at others like hot lava containing flames.

-However, one thing.

If there was one thing he could say with certainty.

[It would be best not to touch it. It’s very ominous.]

“…I know without you telling me.”

Even without the owl’s advice, Ihan, Lac de Duron, and Maximus Iron de Lionel backed away from the crimson liquid without touching it.

They were certain that nothing good would come from touching that thing.

Their survival instinct was ringing alarm bells, and as if that instinct was telling them the right answer.

Squirm, squirm…

The crimson liquid monster dissolved the half-demon’s corpse.

Or was it eating it?

Either way, it was a horrifying sight.

“…I never thought I’d see that again.”

“You’ve seen it before?”

“Yes, do you remember half a year ago when monsters were summoned to the Academy?”

“How could I forget?”

Just thinking about how much he suffered then makes him bolt upright even in his sleep.

“Hmm, do you also know there was a mastermind behind that incident? And that Galahad and Lionel moved to subdue that mastermind?”

“…That’s the first I’m hearing of it.”

“Then know it now. I once fought a priest named Andrea Lorang, one of those masterminds. And that priest sacrificed his own body to summon ‘that thing.'”

“……”

“For reference, after fighting that thing, I had to recuperate for over two weeks. It was quite, no, extremely tricky and strong.”

“…I can imagine.”

Even without Maximus’s advice, Ihan had no intention whatsoever of underestimating that liquid monster.

Not only did it look terrible from the start…

Gooooo-!

The aura it emitted was already overwhelmingly terrifying.

As Ihan and the other two knights hardened their expressions and raised their energy, an incredulous laugh came from elsewhere.

“Hehe, to think that prophet would do this to our bodies…”

“He set it up so that when we die, the [spell] activates automatically. What a nasty fellow.”

The survivors, except for Numbers 5 and 6 who had already died instantly or become too disabled to survive.

Numbers 7 and 11 muttered like that as they watched their comrades being swallowed with empty eyes, and soon cackled.

“Well, dying like this isn’t so bad.”

“Is killing them better than running away?”

Not showing any resistance.

With gloomy eyes like those of the dead chasing death, they were abandoning their will to survive.

As if they had always known this day would come…

And Ihan, who had precisely captured the appearance of these two.

“-Look at these babies trying to act cool.”

“!?!!”

“Since you seem intent on dying anyway, let me ask you—is Madam Lime still alive? I need to kill her with my own hands.”

“You…!”

There seemed to be many meanings packed into that “you.”

The man and woman glared at him with incredulous eyes, and Ihan spoke regardless of whether they were shocked or not.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you escaped the assassination squad to open a bakery? …Well, seeing you like this, I guess assassination was your true calling?”

“…!!”

“Who are you?”

“You still don’t know?”

It was a question of how he knew their secret, and Ihan shrugged and mentioned his past “nickname.”

“It’s me, ‘Cutie.'”

“????”

“…Why are you acting crazy?!”

The spear-wielder and the big guy suddenly looked at him like he was insane, and Ihan couldn’t help but snap at them.

……to hide his embarrassment.

‘…Shit.’

It wasn’t even a nickname I gave myself….

* * *

[KEEEE!!]

The writhing liquid monster, no, the monster that had absorbed all the corpses and taken form, roared at the world.

It was as if it had just hatched from an egg, and looking at it was like seeing a combination of a mollusk and a demon.

Something wrapped in dark red skin.

The death energy emanating from the monster’s body, which couldn’t even form a clear shape, was dense, and if an ordinary citizen had been here, they would have suffocated from that dense death energy.

That’s how intense and malicious the energy emitted by the monster was.

And such a monster, without hesitation-.

Fwhaack!

[?]

…Flames suddenly erupted from the monster’s body.

“You, are you really Number 8!? That Number 8?! How is this possible… How can someone’s race change even with transformation? …No, this shouldn’t be possible even with monster genes injected…”

The bomb mage was muttering incomprehensible words without pause, and that bomb mage was causing flames and explosions without rest.

The monster quietly watched the heat engulfing it and thought.

…It was itchy.

[KEEE!!!]

The monster went berserk.

Although it hadn’t yet formed a proper shape, the monster was still strong.

Kwaaaang!

Every time its eight sprouted arms flailed, intense shockwaves spread, turning the surroundings into a wasteland.

If this had been an ordinary city center rather than the Sacred Repository protected by countless mysteries, the entire downtown would have collapsed long ago.

“It has strength comparable to a giant.”

Kuung!

The northerner with the unique experience of having clashed with a giant endured the monster’s rampage and shared his impression.

However, that didn’t mean he was at ease.

Whack!

The monster wasn’t just physically strong; it also spewed powerful [curses], and those curses were like fatal poison to knights.

“Of all things, curses…”

The spear-wielder rarely showed difficulty.

Since ancient times, inexplicable powers like curses and sorcery have been the natural enemies of knights.

Knights are strong against mages, sorcerers are strong against knights, and mages are strong against sorcerers—.

There are affinities everywhere in the world, and in that sense, it was natural for the spear-wielder to show difficulty.

Being afflicted by a curse leaves permanent disabilities.

Therefore.

“To think Number 8, that cutie, would change like this… Time is cruel.”

The existence of a “sorcerer” played a very important role here.

“[Oom].”

The 11th Apostle, also known as the sorcerer Yan, uttered a <Spell Word>.

Clang!

The death energy and curses emanating from the monster’s body shattered like glass in an instant.

Although Yan’s sorcery wasn’t stronger than the curses the monster emitted, it wasn’t difficult to offset them appropriately.

The big guy admired it.

“Excellent!”

“Haha, it’s not worthy of praise from you. Unlike mages who need a large amount of magical power, we need a precise process like a puzzle.”

“…Better than our family’s sorcerer.”

Sorcerers are even rarer than mages, and those born with the talent are extremely limited.

Even within the Pendragon Kingdom, sorcerers are very few in number.

At one time, when the temple suppressed sorcerers, they nearly died out in the south.

They barely maintained their lineage with the support of Galahad or Lionel.

And as if to show why the two great families spared no support, the sorcerer strongly asserted his presence.

It clearly showed why sorcerers are the natural enemies and counters to knights.

“Haha, now I see you were the most dangerous among our enemies. We might have been defeated if we weren’t careful.”

“I appreciate the praise. But for now, let’s focus on what’s in front of us. That thing hasn’t finished growing yet.”

“Hmm!”

At the sorcerer’s words, the big guy nodded vigorously.

Indeed…

Crack!

Its form was still changing into something even more threatening.

Seeing this, the big guy, no, Maximus Iron de Lionel, thought it was fortunate that they had formed an alliance with those they had been trying to kill until just moments ago.

“It’s fortunate my brother persuaded you, even if it’s just a ‘temporary alliance.'”

“…Both she and I are still dazed, but yes.”

Yan’s gaze turned to the man who had persuaded them.

“You two owe me, remember? When I saved you from that bisexual bastard Number 2. Even if you die, pay that debt before dying. I protected your chastity.”

A benefactor who had indeed saved them in the past as he claimed.

Kwagwagwang!

…And now a madman who was offsetting the monster’s fist with his own.

‘You’ve really grown into a strong human, no, a dangerous [creature], Number 8…’

“…Ha.”

The sorcerer couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at this situation where he was following a knight as if entranced.

It felt like a sorcerer being bewitched by a ghost, no, by a knight.