Episode 11
The strongest hero of the current generation, Elfride Batory.
She wasn’t just the strongest of this era but also ranked among the greatest heroes of all time.
A knight with dazzling golden hair, cutting down demons with ease. Her heroic tales alone had already made Elfride’s fame skyrocket.
But even she had one problem: she couldn’t find anyone who truly clicked with her.
Cynthia, the saint of the Lunaria Church who traveled with her, was too quiet to hold a conversation. And Levius, another hero, was exactly the type Elfride couldn’t stand.
Then came Abel, a hero whose pure personality, regardless of his status, caught her interest.
Even though he knew his skills were lacking, he still answered the call to save people. His mindset was already that of a true hero, even if his strength wasn’t quite there yet.
“I like him.”
“…Elfride?”
“Ah, nothing. Just talking to myself. Keep casting the blessing, Cynthia.”
“Understood.”
Cynthia was the saint of the Lunaria Church, second only to the Solaria Church in influence.
With her vast holy power, she could cast powerful blessings, but her extreme reticence made conversations impossible.
Elfride had always found it frustrating, but now she felt a spark of excitement. Maybe, just maybe, she’d finally found someone she could talk to freely.
“…Be careful.”
“Uncharacteristic of you to worry. I’ve taken down Balvatos-class monsters. What could possibly go wrong?”
Elfride pointed her rapier toward the monsters.
“Hero Elfride Batory. In the name of the Batory family, I shall now exterminate these monsters.”
#
…What the hell is that?
Elfride and the monsters clashed, and the sky lit up with sparks and shockwaves.
The sound of swords and spears colliding was so loud it reached us on the ground.
“Looks like they’ve started over there.”
“…No, what is that!?”
“A battle between a hero and monsters. Do I really need to explain that?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
What was I even doing fighting monsters before? Was it just child’s play?
And speaking of monsters, is Elfride even human? She’s flying around in the sky!
“Hero, stop staring. You won’t see Elfride’s panties no matter how hard you look♡”
…Crazy woman.
“Oh, if you want to see panties that badly, I can show you mine~♡”
“…No thanks. What are we supposed to do now?”
“Don’t you see? Or is your hero vision too weak~?”
Following the saint’s pointing finger, I saw a horde of monsters rushing toward us from beneath the Leviathan-class monster.
“Kueek! Kill the humans!”
“Grrr! Kill the men, capture the women, grrr!”
“Krrrung!!!”
Familiar kobolds and nols were there, along with many monsters I didn’t recognize. Either way, there were way too many of them.
“Kyaa♡ The filthy monsters are swarming, hero♡ What do we do? We might get captured and become their playthings until we die~♡”
“Enough nonsense. Just cast the blessing.”
“Okay~♡”
The saint giggled and gently placed her hand on my chest.
《Blessing of Solaria》
…Huh?
As the saint’s holy power flowed into me, my body felt lighter, and strength surged through me. It felt like I could do anything now.
“There you go, hero. Now even with your trash-tier skills, you should be able to handle mid-level monsters with ease~♡”
“…Is that how strong I’ve become?”
“Are you underestimating me, the saint of the Solaria Church? This is only natural.”
…This is basically a cheat code.
“Now, it’s time to stop standing around like an idiot. Go help the soldiers fighting the monsters!”
“You’re coming too, right?”
“I’ll wait here for now.”
“…What?”
Didn’t she just say we’d fight together? Giving her a puzzled look, the saint smirked.
“I have my reasons, so go ahead, you mediocre hero♡ Are you scared? You coward♡ Chicken♡”
“…I’m not.”
Sigh. It’s better to just go fight the monsters. I grabbed my holy sword and headed toward the battlefield where the soldiers were fighting.
“The hero is here!”
“Ooh, the hero!”
…Why is everyone so excited? This is so stressful.
“This is what heroes are supposed to be like.”
“Ah, crap, you scared me. When did you follow me?”
The saint was suddenly behind me. Didn’t she say she’d wait?
“I thought you weren’t going to fight?”
“I said I’d wait, but I still need to see how you fight, hero.”
So she’s just going to watch from the sidelines. Well, she’ll probably help if things get dangerous.
“I’m heading out.”
“Don’t die~♥ Dying here would be such a pathetic way to go♡”
“…Haha.”
I looked at the wave of monsters rushing toward us. How many could I even handle?
The most I’d fought before was maybe a dozen. But now, there were hundreds, if not more.
‘Just do what you can.’
No need to overdo it. I’m not that strong, and honestly, I don’t feel much of a hero’s sense of duty.
I just got randomly thrown into this hero’s body. But as I stepped forward, my thoughts changed instantly.
“……”
As the monsters were torn apart, so were the people. I saw a soldier’s skull crushed by a massive club right in front of me.
The realistic sound. The realistic visuals. I wanted to dismiss it as some kind of CG effect, but my body froze.
A green-skinned, hulking monster—an orc—grinned as it looked at the crushed soldier.
“…F*ck!”
Forget about holding back…!
I charged forward and swung my holy sword. With the enhanced strength from the blessing, the sword cleanly sliced through the orc’s neck.
The orc’s blood splattered, but there was no time to complain. Soldiers were still dying to the monsters.
What made it even more chaotic were the soldiers’ enthusiastic shouts.
“The hero is with us!”
“Fight bravely! Fight and die!”
“We can’t lose to these monsters!”
Dammit, can’t you guys tone it down and take care of yourselves? Why are you all acting like macho men?
It wasn’t just orcs. There were nols, goblins, kobolds, and even mid-level monsters like nol chieftains and hobgoblins.
According to the saint, my current strength should be enough to handle mid-level monsters. She might be annoying, but her skills were legit. So, trusting her, I charged at the nol chieftain.
“Kraak!!!”
The nol chieftain swung its massive axe at me. Normally, I’d dodge, but not this time.
I swung my holy sword with the intent to cleave through the axe itself.
Swoosh!
The sword cut through without resistance. Was this the power of a holy sword and a blessing cheat?
The nol chieftain was split in two along with its axe. Seeing a mid-level monster taken down in one strike boosted the soldiers’ morale even more.
“The hero took down the chieftain! Let’s fight even harder!!”
“Fight bravely so you don’t become a burden to the hero!”
Wait… what the hell, is this some kind of berserker?
I’m trying to be careful, but the harder I try, the less these people seem to care about their own safety.
Then a soldier shouted.
“A troll!”
What? Who the hell is acting like a troll? Can’t you keep your head straight in a battlefield where people are dying?
“Retreat! Soldiers fall back, knights step forward!”
“Huh?”
But I think I misunderstood. The soldiers fell back, and the knights stepped forward to reform the formation. It was a formation prepared for a single monster.
*Thud.*
The sound of footsteps shook the ground. It had a giant-like build with long arms and relatively short legs.
The grotesque, naked humanoid monster with sharp, large teeth swung the club in its hand, smashing the head of the knight in front of it.
With a sickening crunch, the knight’s head exploded, but none of the other knights stepped forward to stop the monster. Even the trained knights were trembling in fear.
“…So, that troll wasn’t just any troll.”
The giant monster, a troll, revealed itself. The aura it gave off was different from that of a Nol Chieftain. It seemed more like a high-level monster than a mid-level one.
“Hero~♡”
“…Why is she calling me when she’s busy?”
While fighting, I noticed the saintess had moved quite far away. She was gesturing for me to come over.
What the hell, there’s a monster right in front of me, and she wants me to leave my spot?
‘…Well, if she says so, I guess I have to.’
I quickly approached her, and she asked me:
“The troll is a high-level monster.”
“I figured as much.”
“Then let me ask you, hero. Do you want to take it down yourself? Or should I, the weakling who’s scared of trolls, handle it for you~?”
Damn brat.
“What if I take it down?”
“Hmm~♡ Then I’ll grant you one wish. Anything you want.”
“Really?”
“Of course♥”
You’re a damn naked tease, you bitch. I grabbed the Holy Sword and was about to head back when the saintess stopped me.
“Wait a second. I’ll change your blessing.”
“Change my blessing?”
The saintess placed her hand on my chest again and infused me with Holy Power.
*《 Solaria’s Grace 》*
“!”
“How is it? Feeling powerful, hero~?”
“…You could’ve just given me this from the start.”
“I didn’t expect a high-level monster like a troll to appear. Usually, Leviathan-Class Monsters don’t have high-level monsters under them.”
“…Really?”
So, this must be a special case.
“Now, go on, you mediocre hero♡”
“…Yes.”
#
After sending Abel off, Estelle glanced up at the sky. In the air above, the monster and Elfride were locked in a fierce battle. The shockwaves alone were reshaping the clouds and shaking the trees on the ground.
A Leviathan-Class Monster isn’t supposed to have high-level monsters as subordinates.
It’s common knowledge, a rule that hasn’t changed since monsters first appeared. So, why is there a high-level monster mixed in with this horde?
There’s only one answer.
“That thing isn’t a Leviathan-Class Monster…”
*BOOM!!!*
Something fell from the sky. It crashed down right in front of Estelle at an incredible speed.
What landed before Estelle was the radiant golden-haired hero, Elfride.
She didn’t seem dead, but the impact had knocked her out. It would take some time for her to wake up.
“…So, it must be a Balvatos-Class Monster.”
The red demon, with six insect-like eyes, stared down at Estelle. Estelle sighed deeply and glanced at Elfride, who was sprawled out.
She had some wounds here and there, but nothing too serious. In the end, it was a stalemate.
“If you hadn’t underestimated it as a Leviathan-Class Monster, you could’ve handled it yourself. Now I have to clean up your mess.”
Of course, it’s not easy to predict that a monster thought to be a Leviathan-Class is actually a Balvatos-Class. This whole situation was due to the Count’s mistake in misclassifying the monster.
From afar, Cynthia, the saintess of the Lunaria Church, was running over. She was probably coming to check on her hero, but it was a foolish decision.
After all, there was a demon flying overhead. It turned its gaze from Estelle to Cynthia and vanished in an instant.
*《 Sacred Chain 》*
*Clang! Clatter!*
“…Huh?”
A sharp spear stopped right in front of Cynthia’s eyes. At the same time, the sight of the crimson monster made even the stoic Cynthia shed a tear.
But the monster couldn’t move. Gleaming white chains had bound its entire body.
The chains seemed to have been shot from mid-air, but even the monster’s strength couldn’t break them.
“Go to your hero, Saintess Cynthia.”
Cynthia saw another saintess with black hair walking towards her. Her amber eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she extended her hand and then swung it to the side.
The monster, still bound by the chains, was flung backward and crashed into the ground with a loud thud.
“If you stay here, you’ll die. I’ll only save you once. Go take care of your hero.”
“Th-thank you, Saintess Estelle. But what about you…?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
The monster, which had crashed into the ground, stood up unharmed. Estelle, as if unaware, casually pointed behind her with her thumb.
“I’ve got to take care of that.”
“…! Saintess!”
In the blink of an eye, the monster appeared behind Estelle and thrust its spear.
*《 Sacred Sword 》*
*Slash.*
“Too predictable.”
The monster’s spear was cleanly severed. The spear, which had remained intact even during the intense battle with Elfride, was easily cut, leaving the monster stunned.
“The higher the monster’s rank, the more intelligent they become. And with intelligence comes the ability to think.”
*《 Sacred Arrow 》*
Brilliant arrows of light formed around Estelle.
“And if they can think, they’ll panic when faced with the unexpected.”
“…Human!”
“Not just any human.”
The arrows of light rained down. The monster instinctively dodged a few, but its limbs were pierced by the arrows imbued with the power of the sun god. The arrows pinned it to the ground, and the monster collapsed.
*Crash!*
A small foot stomped on the monster’s torso, now immobilized like a pinned insect.
The girl, with a smug smile, looked down at the monster and spoke.
“I’m a saintess♡”
