The halberd, having lost its will, struck the castle wall floor due to momentum.

    Crack! Fragments scattered upward. The intense impact shook the hands gripping the shaft. Valentin’s fingers went limp.

    “Guh…gurk…”

    Air escaped from his lungs along with blood, forcing open his severed vocal cords.

    Bloody foam flowed through the gap, staining the beast’s chest fur red.

    – Thwack.

    The severed head slid off and rolled across the floor with a heavy thud. A fountain of hot blood gushed from the cut surface, dyeing everything around it crimson.

    Beheading by the Jin sword. Before it, a werebeast’s regenerative abilities meant nothing.

    Valentin, killed in a single strike, fell to his knees with a thud. His strengthless body collapsed forward.

    A light breeze swept through Haschal’s hair.

    After shaking the blood from her sword, Haschal looked down contemptuously at the wolf’s head that had rolled to her feet.

    His face was filled with bitter rage, as if he hadn’t even realized his own death.

    A pitiful end unworthy of the Champion’s name. The tongue protruding between his teeth looked ridiculous.

    Haschal snickered, picked up Valentin’s head, and leaped over the castle wall. Red tentacles shot out like appendages, burrowing into the wall and holding her body horizontally.

    [Why are you taking that?]

    Hersella asked curiously. Even as a trophy, it was unnecessarily bulky baggage.

    While it might make sense after the battle was completely over, it wasn’t something worth carrying around now.

    “I want to try using this too. It’s not as good as Boris’s skin, but wouldn’t they be shaken if I play with it like a ball right in front of them?”

    Haschal grinned as she spun Valentin’s head around.

    [You truly are a demon.]

    Hersella sighed, at a loss for words.

    The attitude of the woman who possessed her body always left her perplexed.

    She was extreme in many ways. Like a rabbit and wolf combined into one.

    Judging by her past actions and beliefs, she was practically a model cleric, but the provocations she occasionally uttered were astonishingly vicious even to Hersella.

    She showed mercy to humans, but her methods against enemies were surprisingly cruel, sometimes seeming more ferocious than Hersella herself.

    Of course, Haschal let Hersella’s assessment go in one ear and out the other. Hersella’s sarcasm meant nothing to her. The Hersella she remembered was a hundred times more vicious and cruel than herself.

    There was a six-year gap between the Hersella that she knew and the actual Hersella, but Haschal hadn’t noticed this discrepancy.

    In fact, even if she had noticed, she probably wouldn’t have cared much.

    Whatever happened during those six years couldn’t serve as an excuse. After all, it was certain that this woman had led the Ka’har warriors and committed all sorts of atrocities even before she had possessed her.

    ‘…So now, who should I target next?’

    Since Valentin’s death had happened so quickly, neither Rurik nor the other Champions seemed to have noticed her presence yet. She needed to eliminate one more while she had the chance. Haschal, clinging to the wall, quickly scanned the battlefield.

    Despite the knights’ valiant efforts, the battle situation wasn’t looking good.

    Pureblooded warriors who had climbed up were rampaging fiercely, and even half-bloods had made it up and were engaged in combat with the soldiers.

    Rurik was creating waves of bright red, and the other Champions were still going strong.

    —-

    “Keep shooting! The moment I reach you will be your last! You’ll be begging me to kill you!”

    A hyena deflected Millia’s arrows with a javelin as she ran toward the watchtower.

    Each time the two metals collided and canceled each other out, the air exploded with shockwaves.

    On the opposite side, Demian, who had appeared out of nowhere, was engaged in fierce combat with a snow leopard werebeast wielding twin swords.

    His armor was in tatters like a rag because he couldn’t properly respond to the enemy’s speed, but thanks to the support of the paladins, he was somehow managing to hold on.

    “You’re super cute! Want to make half-breeds with me?”

    “Stop talking nonsense!”

    The snow leopard who had jumped onto the swung greatsword laughed gleefully.

    “You don’t have the right to refuse, you know?”

    The two blades gripped in reverse came down aiming for both of Demian’s shoulders.

    As Demian gritted his teeth and tried to shake off Abigeyl, a massive arrow that sounded like thunder flew toward them.

    “Abigeyl! I missed one!”

    The hyena werebeast, Lyudmila, shouted as she looked back.

    The watchtower’s arrows had been targeting only her until now, so her reaction to the shot aimed at Abigeyl was a beat too late.

    Of course, the warning was also a bit late.

    “What good is telling me now?!”

    Abigeyl threw her left sword at the arrow with a playful tone.

    She was hoping to somehow deflect it or alter its trajectory. It was a rash decision.

    – Crack!

    The sword that collided with the arrow split in half with a scream.

    Millia’s rage toward the female who was flirting with her “lover.” This arrow carried a completely different energy than the previous ones!

    “Ah.”

    Abigeyl let out a short gasp. It was already too late to try anything else.

    Millia’s shot pierced the snow leopard’s shoulder. The severed arm flew into the air.

    “Aaaaargh! That hurts!”

    Abigeyl, who had been thrown backward, screamed loudly while clutching her severed shoulder.

    A burning pain surged from the cut surface. Regeneration was slow due to the silver arrow.

    “Lyudmila! Let’s switch places-! I’m going to tear that archer apart!”

    “Stop talking nonsense and focus on regenerating!”

    After confirming that Abigeyl was relatively safe, Lyudmila sprinted toward the watchtower.

    Thanks to the arrow targeting Abigeyl instead of her, she now had the freedom to run without interference until the next arrow was fired.

    The watchtower was within reach.

    —-

    “What are you doing, Millia…!”

    [Your acquaintances. Truly, not a single one of them is in their right mind.]

    Haschal let out a sigh. Getting provoked by taunts that weren’t even directed at her and showing an opening. That was a sure way to die needlessly. In fact, hadn’t the distance between her and the hyena werebeast significantly shortened? If they ended up facing each other head-on, how did she plan to deal with it?

    Millia’s archery itself exceeded her expectations in a good way, but her close combat skills were still worryingly inadequate. Although it had been quite some time since she had actually seen it, she clearly remembered Millia’s swordsmanship skills. She couldn’t believe that Millia could possibly face a Champion.

    The only consolation was that the snow leopard’s arm had been blown off, so Demian should be safe now.

    ‘So, should I take down that hyena first? Or Oleg?’

    Those two seemed to be the only important ones at the moment.

    If she took down the hyena, there would be no one left who could intercept Millia’s arrows.

    Conversely, if she took down Oleg, she would eliminate a future formidable enemy while simultaneously freeing two Masters.

    Haschal thought for a very brief moment and then started running toward the watchtower. It was a decision based on comparing losses rather than gains.

    In the case of Frider and Noah, they didn’t seem likely to die anytime soon even if left alone, but with Millia, it was uncertain.

    The red spider sprinted along the wall.

    The distance between them began to narrow rapidly. Though Lyudmila hadn’t noticed yet.

    It was around that time that Vasili and Viktor struck the castle gate.

    The thunderous sound shook the entire castle.

    —-

    War is a series of variables.

    No matter how systematic the operation or how rational the judgment, a single trivial coincidence or sudden misfortune can twist all plans.

    This battle was no exception.

    The werebeasts’ attack on the castle gate brought misfortune to Haschal.

    The tremendous noise and vibration momentarily halted the soldiers fighting on both sides.

    It was a brief silence, lasting only as long as it took to blink a couple of times, but in that moment, there was a beast who spotted the red light blooming on the castle wall.

    “So there you are-!”

    The winter wolf flashed his eyes and roared toward Haschal.

    The gazes of everyone on the castle wall turned to where Rurik was looking.

    There, a woman was standing horizontally. Wearing beast fur and with red tentacles penetrating the wall to fix her body in place.

    “Baron of Median?! I was wondering where she went…!”

    “That head…! Could it be Lord Valentin…?!”

    Everyone, both human and werebeast, was shocked.

    “This monster…!”

    Lyudmila was the most shocked of all. Just by looking at the position where the Were Eater was hanging, it was obvious who she had been targeting.

    She felt her hands and feet grow cold and her spine freeze. She had almost died helplessly without even noticing anything.

    ‘Damn it…! I never thought I’d be discovered like this.’

    Haschal frowned as she pulled herself up onto the castle wall.

    It was an unexpected setback. Who could have known the entire wall would vibrate? The spikes of Karma of Murder that she had casually inserted were dislodged by the vibration, and she almost fell.

    She barely managed to stabilize herself with the Karma of Murder that extended like a death grip, but as a result, it emitted light bright enough to be seen from the castle wall. Thanks to that, she avoided falling, but she was ultimately discovered by the enemy.

    ‘In that case, I need to at least eliminate that hyena woman…!’

    Haschal turned her head toward Lyudmila and sprinted across the castle wall.

    Her blue-burning eyes left a long afterimage. A speed that surpassed a werebeast Champion despite having a human form. Lyudmila’s face turned pale.

    What the Were Eater held in her hand was clearly Valentin’s head. Lyudmila saw her own face overlapping with the dangling wolf’s head.

    Considering that there wasn’t much difference in skill between herself and Valentin, it was a highly likely future.

    “Stay away! Fight His Majesty instead!”

    The javelin she threw in a panic flew like a beam of light toward Haschal.

    Haschal drew out the power of Karma of Murder and channeled it into Frosting.

    A crimson vortex wrapped around her left arm as she pulled it back like loading a weapon. Now that she had been discovered anyway, there was no reason to worry about being spotted by enemies anymore.

    “He’s next after you!”

    A strike shot like a bullet—no, a shell.

    The tip of the spear that touched her fist literally vanished in an explosion. The echo of the collision reverberated throughout the inner castle.

    Lyudmila let out a deflated groan.


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