episode_0043

Milaea raised her longsword high above the cliff and leaped down, landing amidst the demons.

The area was already in the midst of a fierce battle between the subjugation team and the demons.

Goblins, ogres, dire wolves, kobolds, skeleton knights, and various other types of demons gathered together, and as Milaea walked forward slowly, she saw the largest demon on the opposite side, Behemoth.

With a body the size of a house, long sharp claws, rock-hard skin, and a appearance resembling a mix of gorilla and rhinoceros, it was approaching the subjugation team, smashing the rocks in the gorge along the way.

Swish!

Milaea swung her longsword through the air at an almost invisible speed.

Then, she walked straight towards the rampaging Behemoth.

The demons surrounding her to attack all rushed towards her at once.

But before their attacks could reach Milaea, the demons’ bodies were suddenly cut into pieces.

Swish! Swish!

Milaea continued to move forward without swinging her sword, yet the demons approaching her were inevitably cut down.

Milaea’s sword technique involved cutting the air around her in advance, storing the time-delayed strikes with magic, and then activating them at the desired moment.

It was an application of the time-delayed strikes she had shown to Yunoa before.

The amount of magic power contained in Milaea’s sword surpassed imagination.

By cutting the air once and storing the strike, she could unleash multiple strikes that could kill demons in a single blow from the same position.

Furthermore, these strikes stored in the air could be moved to a different location at Milaea’s will, as they contained her magic power.

In essence, it was like having an invisible blade shield, and it was fascinating to cut down enemies with a transparent sword.

The corpses of the demons that had been sliced by the time-delayed strikes along Milaea’s path piled up, creating a path of blood.

The other subjugation team members who were fighting fiercely around her were also boosted by Milaea’s appearance, pushing back the demons.

“Roar!”

The monster Behemoth roared, sweeping the surrounding area with its giant arms.

A few unlucky subjugation team members fighting nearby were hit by Behemoth’s swing and flew away with fierce momentum.

The giant monster even disregarded its own allies, throwing away the smaller demons with its swings.

Milaea laid her longsword horizontally and took a stance as if to stab Behemoth.

As Behemoth noticed her and turned its body, its sharp clawed hand struck the ground.

Crash!

Behemoth’s heavy blow shattered the surrounding rocks and raised a cloud of dust.

The ground shook slightly, causing a landslide from the cliff above, with rocks rolling down.

But Milaea was no longer in the spot where Behemoth had struck.

In the blink of an eye, she had appeared behind Behemoth.

A blue magic power gathered on her longsword, visible even from a distance.

The magic power swirling around the blade rotated around the center like a small storm, striking fiercely.

In the next moment, Milaea plunged the longsword, engulfed in a storm of magic power, deep into Behemoth’s back.

The sharp rotating magic power tore through Behemoth’s body.

Behemoth raised its head, letting out a roar of agony, its mouth wide open.

As if the soul was escaping from the gaping mouth of the torn monster, a burst of blue magic power emanated.

Thud!

Finally, Behemoth’s massive body collapsed to the side with the dust.

The other monsters that were underneath were crushed under its body.

As the organs in its body were all torn apart by the magical storm, Behemoth was instantly killed.

* * *

“Argh! Darn it!”

No matter how many monsters we cut down, there seemed to be no end to them.

After sending Milaia to the battlefield, I was fighting alongside other members of the subjugation team against the monster forces.

I deflected the goblin’s spear flying towards me with my sword and quickly slashed at its body.

At the same time, a dire wolf rushed towards me from one side, and a kobold’s fire magic flew towards me from above.

There was no time to think.

It was a chaotic battle unlike anything I had faced against blue slimes or arachnes.

Furthermore, there were powerful monsters that my sword couldn’t penetrate at times.

When faced with a monster that I couldn’t immediately deal with, the situation quickly turned unfavorable.

Even in the moment of realizing that my attacks were ineffective and panicking, the monster’s attacks didn’t stop.

Thud!

In the midst of the relentless fighting, a loud noise rang out, shaking the ground with a cloud of dusty soil.

The giant monster Behemoth, sweeping through the battlefield, had fallen.

“Behemoth has fallen!”

“Wow-! Lady Milaia-!”

The members of the subjugation team shouted Milaia’s name, rallying themselves to push back the monsters.

Without Milaia, there was no one who could stand against Behemoth alone, which is why the subjugation team had been unable to approach Behemoth and had been fighting in a limited space.

But now that Behemoth had fallen, the tide turned as the subjugation team pushed back the monsters and began to form a unified front.

I joined the subjugation team in forming a formation and swung my sword towards the approaching monsters.

“At first, Yunoa was not confident in victory due to the overwhelming numerical difference.

The tide seemed to be turning in favor of the subjugation team. No, it seemed to be swaying.”

At that moment, a foreboding narration began in my mind.

“Yunoa had forgotten that this large-scale monster alliance was being led by the command of the demons.

Now that the tide had turned, the demon commanding the monsters was approaching the battlefield to join the fight.

The identity of that demon was none other than Bloodstain, known as the direct subordinate of the Demon King and the Lord of Blood.”

“W-what… what did you say…?”

Clang! Whoosh!

I deflected the blunt sword of the flying goblin and stabbed my sword into its belly, focusing on the narration.

Bloodstain.

It sounded familiar from somewhere… Ah!

-Bloodstain, the Lord of Blood who was called a demon and attacked the village where hundreds of people were killed and the village disappeared without a trace.

The one who destroyed Milaia’s hometown.

“With the face of a horse and the axe of slaughter, Bloodstain’s strength was enough to sweep through the subjugation team alone.

If Milaia was the last line of defense for the subjugation team on this battlefield, then Bloodstain was the last line of defense for the monsters.

The only one who could stop him was Milaia here.”

I quickly retreated from the battle formation and looked for where Milaia was.

Although we were currently pushing back the monsters with momentum, if Bloodstain appeared on the battlefield as the narration said, the tide would surely turn again.

But then, the monsters suddenly began to retreat.

The subjugation team chased after the retreating monsters, breaking formation and charging forward.

I noticed a figure vaguely visible behind the retreating monsters.

A huge muscular body, a horse’s face, a large axe…

“Don’t chase after them!”

I shouted towards the subjugation team.

The members of the suppression team who heard my shout stopped their charge, retreated, and regrouped.

However, some of the overly excited suppression team members, caught up in the heat of battle, continued to pursue the monsters without listening to me.

“Darn it.”

The monsters who were retreating suddenly split apart, making way for Bloodstain to stride forward, raising his axe high above his head.

A sinister red magic gathered around his axe, giving off a dangerous vibe.

Something seemed ominous.

But in the next moment, Milaia dashed forward like a flash of lightning, intercepting Bloodstain’s axe strike with her sword.

Clang! Thud! Thud!

The two powerhouses clashed their weapons, causing a collision of blue and red magic from both sides, creating a strong gust of wind around them.

Dust and debris flew, and the nearby monsters were pushed back in circles by the force.

The ground beneath Milaia’s feet began to crumble under the immense pressure.

Unable to approach the fight, the other monsters scattered in all directions, regrouping and launching attacks towards the direction of the suppression team.

Thus, the situation escalated into a battle between Milaia and Bloodstain, the suppression team, and the monsters.

Thankfully, the disaster we feared did not come to pass.

If Milaia hadn’t quickly intervened to stop Bloodstain, the sacrifices of the suppression team would have been immense.

As the battle neared its conclusion, at that moment.

Thud thud thud.

Something felt strangely unstable underfoot.

“Wha… what?”

Other suppression team members also felt the anomaly and looked down at their feet.

The monsters, too, lost their balance and became disoriented by the shaking ground.

Clang!

Then, Bloodstain’s axe struck Milaia’s sword forcefully once again.

A thunderous roar echoed throughout the entire gorge, almost like an explosion.

“The ground! The ground is collapsing! Take cover!”

Someone shouted loudly.

The suppression team scattered in all directions, seeking refuge on stable ground as the ground shook without any cracks.

Thud! Roar!

I had a bad feeling about this.

Like the other suppression team members, I wanted to escape to stable ground.

But as soon as I took a step, the ground beneath my feet crumbled, causing me to stumble.

“Damn it…”

Before I could react, the ground beneath both my feet collapsed and disappeared in an instant.

A massive hole opened up in the ground like a sinkhole, and unfortunately, I was right at the center of it.

“Aaaah!”

I screamed as I fell into the seemingly endless abyss, with no idea of what lay ahead.