Ch.291EP.63 – A Knight’s Valor Contains No Recklessness (2)

The soldiers moved urgently despite the fatigue and heat from the battle’s aftermath still weighing heavily on their bodies.

As if they had forgotten what fatigue even was.

“Do we have enough ammunition!”

“How much gunpowder?!”

“Potions! Count the potion supplies first…!!”

Their frantic shouting and running around brought to mind the phrase “utter confusion.” That’s how urgent the situation was.

And there was one fortunate dog watching this scene from the sidelines.

“Kaeng.”

“Kung?”

“Saa.”

However, this was no ordinary dog.

It had two heads and a snake for a tail—certainly not an ordinary creature.

Orthos.

That was the identity of the beast currently observing humans while tied to a leash.

Though it appeared completely harmless, knights and soldiers who saw Orthos would instinctively furrow their brows or shudder.

Though now greatly weakened, Orthos had originally been a notorious monster in the barracks.

While no one had died, food supplies were frequently stolen, and the quartermaster wanted nothing more than to take a kitchen knife to settle old scores, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm the “benefactor’s” captured prey.

Thus, demonstrating how a dog’s life could be better than a human’s, Orthos lay sprawled out, observing the frantic humans with a smirk.

With intelligence exceeding that of humans, Orthos could roughly guess what was happening.

“Kaeng.”

‘It’ has finally broken the seal.

The being that summoned monsters like Orthos into this world.

A creature that, despite not being a monster, harbored more malice, hatred, and death energy than any monster.

Now that it had been unleashed upon the world, the outcome was predictable.

“Kaeng, kaeng.”

Orthos wore a broad smile.

Once that thing was free, his own freedom wouldn’t be far behind.

No matter how strong that human was, he was still just a human, and as a human, he couldn’t defeat that creature.

So Orthos was happily…

“What are you snickering about?”

“!!?”

“Acting all carefree like you’re on vacation, you monster. The world’s truly upside down.”

“…Ki, kiing…”

“I already saw you laughing, and now you’re suddenly playing pitiful? Hey, get up.”

“?”

“Why are you pretending not to understand? I might start by ripping off one of your heads.”

Snap!

Orthos stood up on two legs as if it had never been lounging around, with a disciplined expression.

Though it desperately wanted to rebel, it knew this human was the type who followed through on his threats.

Orthos’s short legs trembled pathetically, but the human showed no mercy.

Instead…

“Lie down, roll over, stand up, roll over, stand up, jump in place.”

“!!”

He was being even more relentless.

Though Orthos performed each command quickly, its body soon reached its limit.

After all, even as a young monster pup, there were limits to what it could physically do.

The fact that it understood and executed all these commands demonstrated just how intelligent Orthos truly was.

Observing this…

“This thing is really smart, huh?”

“Mung?”

“Ah, just talking to myself.”

“……”

The human uttered an ominous remark, and Orthos’s eyes trembled.

…It was chilling. Orthos felt anxious, as if an axe might fly into its chest at any moment, and suddenly sensed that the human’s muttering was a test.

As if he was testing how well Orthos could understand language and how clever it really was?

Not just its intelligent mind, but Orthos’s exceptional animal instincts—characteristic of monsters—made its heart race…

“Puppy, want to work with me?”

“……”

“If you cooperate well, I might even guarantee your freedom.”

“Krung….”

Orthos took a step back at his sweet talk and showed a defensive posture.

Does he think I’m a pushover?

“Grrrr!”

What kind of trick is this…?

It was clearly a dangerous task he wanted to assign, and Orthos growled fiercely.

Although it might die tomorrow in its current situation, it was still Orthos, a high-ranking monster.

Even as a monster, it had pride, and there was no way it would ever help a human…

“-I thought so. Whether beast or monster, they don’t understand words.”

Crack!

“!?!!”

“I don’t have time to negotiate right now. So let’s take the short course. Hmm, I’ve rarely used bone-breaking techniques on monsters, though I’ve used them on spell casters and beasts. My control might be a bit rough. So try to bear with it.”

“!!!!!”

“When you feel like cooperating, we can talk again, okay?”

“…!”

“Well, I’ll give you credit for being male and having pride. You’re holding up pretty well…”

“!!?”

—No, you devil!

Orthos couldn’t even scream.

After the human poked it a few times, pain unlike anything of this world flooded in without pause, and Orthos understood why people say death would be preferable.

It begged with its eyes.

‘I’ll cooperate with anything, just make this stop!’

But…

“Stubborn one, won’t even nod your head until the end?”

The man just watched leisurely as if he had all the time in the world, and Orthos realized.

…That standing against this human had been a mistake from the beginning.

* * *

…If told that an army of 200,000 was approaching, most people would first think about running away.

And this wasn’t just any army of 200,000—it was an army of monsters.

Not just goblins either, but tens of thousands of medium-sized monsters like orcs and large monsters like ogres.

Even with a nation’s full military might, defeating such a force would be difficult, yet here was a force of less than a thousand trying to stop them?

Even if the legendary warrior king of Pendragon were to return from the dead, he would hesitate at such odds.

One would rather choose to flee.

But…

Boom!

“How’s the wall repair coming along?”

“We’ve patched up the most urgent sections. The knights’ help has been valuable.”

“Bring more gunpowder over here!”

“Should I bring the collected magic stones too?”

“Is that even a question? How are we supposed to use the [Flame Cannon] without them!”

“All 10,341 reserve units have been brought.”

“Hmm, and the cannons?”

“We should have around 20.”

“…Sigh, this is maddening.”

Currently, not a single person here had chosen to flee.

Though urgent and fatigued, they all had fierce determination in their eyes.

And for good reason.

Each of Modred’s warriors had experienced over a thousand monster waves, and every one of them was an elite.

They had seen too much death to fear it anymore, and they had something more precious than their lives… people they absolutely had to protect behind them.

So they weren’t afraid.

If they feared anything, it was dying without accomplishing anything.

“The Great Archfiend, that damned pest!”

“I hope my bullet pierces that cursed bug’s head…”

“Wait your turn, wait your turn.”

Another factor fueling their fighting spirit was the presence of the Great Archfiend.

That abominable being who had tormented their ancestors for hundreds of years and now brought them to this state had finally shown itself?

Nothing could ignite their fighting spirit more.

Even if it was a battle they couldn’t survive, they had long resolved to plant their swords and bullets in the neck of the Great Archfiend, that pest, before departing this world-!

They had already made their resolution long ago.

However.

“-Don’t prepare for death; prepare to survive.”

…Their lord’s calm statement made the soldiers blink in surprise.

But regardless of their confusion, he continued to speak matter-of-factly.

“Since when have we been on this land to die? We are here to protect our families and restore our peaceful daily lives, not to die.”

“……”

“Yes, the enemy is powerful. Their overwhelming numbers certainly warrant preparing for death. But don’t resign yourself to death before even fighting. That disrespects the feelings of those who love and wait for you.”

His words made everyone flinch.

If it had been the day before, before receiving the letters, perhaps his words wouldn’t have resonated so deeply.

The past five years, or perhaps even longer, on the front lines.

Their spirits had been worn down like pencils used until they could write no more.

But reading those letters—those precious “feelings”—reminded them of forgotten memories and why they were here in the first place.

That’s why their lord’s words carved themselves deeper into their hearts.

More than anything…

“……”

The soldiers’ eyes calmed as if they had never been excited like berserkers.

But this didn’t mean their fighting spirit had diminished.

Rather, remembering what they needed to protect could make them even more resolute.

“…Yes, that’s better.”

Yes, this is better.

Berserkers might be fearless, but that dulls reason.

For a short battle, dulling reason might not be bad, but they were a small force against an army.

If they didn’t fight intelligently and rationally, they wouldn’t last long before being annihilated.

‘At least I’ve put out the immediate fire.’

Kain, in his honest feelings, wanted to fight with abandon like the soldiers, but he hadn’t forgotten that man’s advice.

– Remember, focus not on winning but on surviving. Then we will win.

‘…Endure, that’s the only thing to remember.’

As a Margrave, following the advice of a mere knight might seem insane to others, but he believed in that man.

That he never spoke empty words.

So.

‘I must focus solely on survival.’

Kain made that cold and cruel resolution.

Even if his subordinates and family died, he was determined to survive—no, to endure.

*

*

*

…However.

KWAAAANG!

“?”

Despite his cruel resolution, Kain couldn’t help but blink in surprise.

“What is that…?”

WHOOSH!

How is ‘that thing’ flying?

Kain and his soldiers watched.

A massive one-ton boulder flying over their heads like a cannonball.

And that boulder…

KWAAAANG!!

Once again pulverized the monster army like meat, creating an incredibly surreal scene.

But proving this was neither dream nor hallucination…

“Try to get your form right. You’re not throwing properly.”

“I-I’m trying my best!!”

“Kid, your voice is loud but where’s your strength!”

“Grrrr!!”

His nephew, gritting his teeth in frustration, picked up a boulder and handed it over, and once again, he…

“Duck your heads.”

BANG-!!!

He kicked the boulder, and it traced a beautiful arc as it once again slaughtered the monsters.

Seeing this, Kain and his soldiers thought:

‘…Do we even need to be here?’

…They all blinked in astonishment at the sight of him, the [Human Catapult], who seemed capable of slaughtering 200,000 monsters all by himself.