Ch.72Insufficient

Alesia faced two significant things: one stroke of luck and one stroke of misfortune.

First, the lucky part was that all the knights Alesia brought with her were female knights.

The Royal Knights Order didn’t particularly distinguish between genders, and in reality, among the royal knights, the consciousness of being “Charlotte’s knights” prevailed over being men or women.

After all, the Royal Knights Order operated on a strictly merit-based system, so there was no point in distinguishing by gender.

However, it was natural in its own way that female knights gathered under Alesia, the only female knight captain.

Therefore, from the perspective of Alesia and her subordinate knights, the fact that there were no male knights eyeing Christine was incredibly fortunate.

If there had been even one male knight under Alesia’s command who had rolled his eyes inappropriately, Christine would have immediately blown up the knight’s head rather than the monster’s.

Conversely, the misfortune was also the same—that all the knights Alesia brought were female knights.

It didn’t matter right now.

The deity Christine worshiped was in a pitiful state, having attempted suicide by letting herself be eaten by a monster, only to survive and wait for someone to retrieve her.

But if Alesia or any of her knights were to catch even a glimpse of Christine’s deity in their eyes, what would happen next was unpredictable.

One thing was certain, though.

The difference would merely be between dying peacefully with limbs intact or dying horribly with arms and legs torn off.

Perhaps their misfortune was simply appearing before Christine in the first place.

“Black blood is flowing out, so be careful with your breathing and steps! We must catch that monster before it escapes elsewhere!”

“Understood!”

At Alesia’s resolute cry, her subordinate knights simultaneously enveloped their bodies with mana.

They used the maximum physical enhancement possible, maintaining wide intervals between each other as they moved to surround the black blood monster.

The monster was still preoccupied with healing the wound caused by the slash to its head.

Seeing the wound healing instantly, one female knight shouted loudly.

“Confirmed that the monster’s skin is regenerating! It’s a regenerative-type monster, Captain!”

“Acknowledged! Don’t give it time to recover and press forward! I’ll attack first!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

No sooner had those words ended than Alesia rushed toward the giant worm.

Fighting a monster with black blood was completely different from fighting ordinary monsters.

If even a drop of their blood splashed onto you, that area would begin to rot, and merely breathing the same air would dissolve your lungs.

Their attacks were faster, their skin tougher, their bodies larger, and their strength greater—yet you couldn’t allow even a single hit.

That’s why knights who relied on overwhelming opponents with strength had the worst compatibility with black blood monsters. Engaging in a contest of strength with them was tantamount to suicide.

The problem was that while they needed dozens of attacks to land, each of the monster’s attacks forced them to walk a tightrope between life and death.

Naturally, knights who enjoyed strength-versus-strength battles had to completely revise their strategies. Doing otherwise against a black blood monster was like offering up your life wholesale.

That was why most of the Royal Knights had been defeated when fighting the black blood monster Charlotte had created with illusion magic.

Because they couldn’t break it with overwhelming force like other enemies.

In that sense, the Alesia-style swordsmanship that Alesia had developed could be said to be optimal for facing black blood monsters.

Hard against hardness, sharp against softness, flexible against strength.

That was exactly the path they needed to pursue.

—Alesia-style Third Form: Wind Slash.

Alesia lightly pushed off the ground, then sliced past the monster’s skin as if brushing against it.

Where her sword had passed, the flesh tore in a jagged manner. It looked like it had been cut with a saw rather than a sword.

The single long slash split into dozens of fine wounds, creating additional cracks. Blood burst from each crack.

Quickly shaking off the black blood from her blade, Alesia rolled sideways as she felt an eerie sensation on her back.

Just then, the monster’s head crashed down, shaking the ground.

From the monster’s perspective, it had merely twisted its body slightly, but due to its enormous size, the distance closed quickly.

Alesia’s eyes caught the wound squirming and healing at a rapid pace. If they dragged this out, the Royal Knights would be at a disadvantage.

Just the black blood being exposed to the air was beginning to contaminate the atmosphere.

No matter how elite the Royal Knights were as the kingdom’s finest swordsmen, they couldn’t fight without breathing.

The time they could continue fighting while holding their breath was at most about 5 minutes. If they couldn’t finish it within that time, they would need more than 30 seconds to regroup.

It might seem short at first glance, but it was enough time for the monster to either leap far away or, conversely, recompose itself.

Well aware of this fact, Alesia shouted loudly.

“Focus attacks on the wounds! Don’t give it time to recover! Keep pushing!”

The knights who received the order rushed in unison.

Carefully avoiding stepping in black blood or getting hit by droplets spraying from the wounds, they steadily used their swords to widen the injuries.

Befitting the Royal Knights, their coordination was nearly perfect. No one interfered with a comrade’s attack, and no one had their attack interfered with.

Their movements were as if they were a single organism.

Alesia slashed at the front of the monster, tearing its mouth and breaking its teeth, focusing its attention on herself.

If the monster were to curl its body and wrap around the knights at its sides, it would be over, so she was ensuring it maintained its current stretched-out position.

Confirming that the monster’s attention was entirely on her, Alesia shouted again.

“Safety takes priority over forcing attacks! One sword strike and death is our loss!”

At first glance, it was hard to tell if this was encouragement or praise, but Alesia’s words were sound reasoning.

This was a massive monster over 30 meters in size. It would take hundreds of sword strikes at minimum, so dying after just one swing wasn’t cost-effective.

If they were just random adventurers, they might accept being treated as expendable, but they were the elite of the elite—the Royal Knights.

They were far from being disposable.

“Captain! My sword is corroding! The rate of deterioration is faster than expected!”

A female knight with light brown hair who had been focusing on slashing at the monster’s side threw away her sword and retreated.

The sword that landed on the ground was heavily rusted.

The wound Alesia had inflicted had widened enough to fit four or five people inside. Black blood continuously leaked from the wound, contaminating the soil and air.

But even more serious was the deterioration of their weapons.

Having been informed about the characteristics of black blood monsters by Charlotte, they had come prepared with four or five spare weapons per person from the start.

Moreover, the swords they brought weren’t ordinary iron swords but were made with adamantium mixed in, exclusively supplied to the Royal Knights.

These were swords that could normally be used semi-permanently without major issues, yet even they couldn’t withstand more than a few strikes before corroding.

“What about the spare weapons?”

“All used up!”

“Even with mana reinforcement, they deteriorated that much?!”

Alesia’s mouth fell open.

When she first heard about black blood monsters, she thought they were just slightly more dangerous and stronger monsters.

That was how King Charlotte had described them, after all.

She never imagined that their weapons would be consumed first while they were on the offensive.

“My spare weapons are all gone too!”

“Same here! I’m retreating for now!”

Reports came from all around that even their spare weapons had completely corroded and shattered.

As the number of attacks noticeably decreased, the rate of healing began to outpace the rate at which wounds were being inflicted.

The situation was not good.

Alesia examined her own sword. It was the third one she had switched to, and she still had two more at her waist.

Overall it looked fine, but the blade part that had directly contacted the black blood had turned black. It seemed it could only be swung a couple more times at most.

“Get back!”

Alesia used Wind Slash once more, moving so fast she was barely visible as she scraped along the side of the black blood monster.

That was as far as she got. With no follow-up attacks, the monster’s skin quickly covered the area, regenerating the wounded part.

Alesia threw away her half-rusted, rattling sword and drew a new one. The knights who still had spare weapons followed her lead, gripping their swords and taking stance.

Alesia spoke calmly.

“This is my mistake for misjudging. I’ll buy time here, so all of you return to the palace immediately and request reinforcements.”

“What? We can’t do that! We can’t leave you behind, Captain!”

“I made the wrong judgment about the enemy, and naturally I should take responsibility for that. We’re short on time. Hurry!”

The monster’s side had almost completely healed, making all their previous attacks seem futile. Its body trembled.

“But what about that adventurer and the nun?”

Ah. At those words, Alesia clicked her tongue and looked back.

An adventurer who had fainted at the sight of the massive monster, and a nun who stood still in prayer as if she had given up on life. They were the only survivors.

She had forgotten about those two. Alesia berated herself as she wracked her brain. Finally, she opened her mouth.

“…Try to save them. We need to retreat as far from here as possible.”

“Understood.”

Sensing the resolve in her words, the female knight didn’t question further. She simply bowed her head respectfully and followed Alesia’s orders.

Alesia raised her sword as two knights ran to retrieve the adventurer and the nun.

The Alesia style was a school that chose to use small techniques multiple times rather than one big technique.

But this time was different. The durability of the sword wouldn’t hold up otherwise. She needed to use the largest technique possible in one go.

Just as Alesia was preparing to deliver the strongest blow she could muster, her flow was interrupted by a female knight’s desperate scream.

“AAAAHHHH!”

“How dare you lay hands on my body.”

And a low voice filled with anger was also heard. It was a voice she had never heard before. Alesia turned her head involuntarily and let out a hollow voice.

“What in the world…?”

In the direction of the scream, there was a female knight with her arm torn out from the shoulder, spraying blood, and a nun casually crushing the torn arm.

She had ripped out the arm along with the armor. Alesia was shocked at this impossible sight.

“The Lord has given me a command.”

The nun squeezed the arm inside the armor. The Royal Knights froze completely at this surreal scene.

The white sleeve of the nun’s habit was gradually stained red.

“Why do you put me to the test?”

Casually dropping the female knight’s arm, now reduced to a handful of bloody pulp, Christine surveyed Alesia and her knights with dead eyes.

“I asked why you put me to the test.”

No one answered. They couldn’t. They were certain that one wrong word would mean death.

The silence continued. Christine’s holy power was about to designate them as heretics. Alesia’s skin prickled as if being stabbed with needles.

Ironically, it was the black blood monster that broke this suffocating situation.

As the black blood monster, having finished healing its side and mouth, tried to burrow into the ground, Christine snapped her neck toward it. Endless rage burned in her eyes.

“You worthless beast deserving of death, where do you think you’re going while carrying my god?”

Christine’s fist clenched. A subtle holy power swirled around it.

Feeling the sudden heat emanating from her fist, Alesia and the female knights unconsciously stepped back.

It was fortunate, in a way. If Christine had truly designated them as heretics, they would have burned to nothing the moment they encountered that holy power.

Alesia stared blankly at the spot where Christine had launched herself. The ground around where her foot had pushed off was cracked like a spider web.

In the distance, as if the monster had begun its final struggle, the ground shook each time its massive body over 30 meters in size desperately thrashed.

The vibrations soon ceased, but Alesia didn’t dare turn her head.

Only the sound of flesh being pulverized echoed through the air.