Shouts and screams echoed. At the scene of that clash, life and death collided as well.
“Do not retreat! Maintain the formation!”
“Hold the line, hold the li- guk!”
“The sergeant has fallen! Fill the gap!”
As one life ended, many deaths sprouted from its place, and upon those deaths spread rage. While fear should have taken root in their places, it was a sense of duty that filled them, causing the soldiers to move blindly.
They simply looked ahead, saw the impending danger before them, and swung their spears and swords against it.
A Male wielded an axe with great skill. The soldier who blocked his sharp technique lost an arm, but pierced through with a spear, striking through the eye.
The Male, now missing an eye, attacked in fury and lost his torso, but another infantryman grabbed his ankle and struck his neck with a halberd, severing it.
Such was the state of the battle.
Despite the clear numerical disadvantage, they could not overpower the enemy.
Each Male was practically a hero capable of turning the tide, and to capture one, they had to cling on using every possible advantage of their numbers, risking their lives.
For every Male killed, five soldiers perished. It was a straightforward calculation. In fact, some would say this ratio was relatively favorable.
Even knowing that continuing this way meant certain death, they had no choice but to persevere with this strategy.
Ordinary soldiers couldn’t achieve better results.
The variable that could change the course of this battlefield wasn’t the soldiers.
In the world, such capable beings were called Veterans.
Naturally, the two achieving the highest number of kills among these Veterans were none other than these two.
“Surround him! Don’t face him one-on-one! All together—”
Chiik, the sound of flesh burning within the exoskeleton.
The handle swiftly moved along the waist, and with a fierce and scorching intent, it split the Male’s waist and neck. Surrounding Males gripped their weapons and charged.
“Hhuh…”
The woman breathed heavily. Her pink eyes, inflamed with murderous intent, blazed like fire, and she mercilessly swung her axe, flowing with flames.
Ereta, the Saint of Slaughter.
She repeatedly swung her axe, using her body as the axis.
Her axe, swinging around her waist, slashed heads diagonally, followed by a downward slash with crossed arms.
As the Male, whose head was split by the downward slash, collapsed, her crossed arms uncrossed as her entire body rotated.
Chhzzz!
Several times in one breath, relentless fiery attacks rained down.
The Males caught in her attacks met their end without resistance, and with each death, Ereta’s emitted heat grew stronger.
It was the result of Bijou’s bravery mingling with divine power. Her acts of slaughter became increasingly powerful, and the divine power carried even stronger heat and regeneration.
Clumsy attacks didn’t affect her. As long as the divine power remained, Ereta, who wouldn’t die, was the Saint of Slaughter, the Vanguard of Flames.
With her emitted flames melting their weapons, the weakened Males perished at an ever-accelerating pace.
Unlike Ereta, who spread flames, Phey’s slaughtering was incredibly understated.
In chaotic battles, all directions are practically synonymous with death. Thus, despite the importance of vision, guarding every direction is impossible.
The moment the Males, tangled up with soldiers, slightly let their guard down.
The impartial intent to kill burst forth and savagely tore into them.
“Ugh—”
The headless body of a Male falling and rolling on the ground, an incident that occurred in the blink of an eye while blocking a soldier’s spear.
Before the body even knelt on the ground, Phey dove back into the fray between soldiers and Males, disappearing without a trace.
With keen senses, Phey pinpointed spots where a single strike could subdue enemies.
Using superior agility, Phey reached those spots in an instant.
So stealthy that their presence seemed nonexistent, Phey infiltrated blind spots.
And there, they executed the most lethal and straightforward attacks.
Faster than the headless Males could fall, Phey moved on, making them one of the top killers on this battlefield, rivaling Ereta.
Yet, even with the help of such killers, the battlefield remained deadlocked. The number of dying soldiers decreased too quickly, the number of Males was too high, and the Supreme Divinity’s Sword still stood strong.
Simply put, firepower was insufficient.
A variable was needed.
Right on cue, that variable entered the battlefield.
“Cavalry!”
One of the Males shouted as cavalry charged from the side.
Lances longer and thicker than those used on Earth pierced through the flanks of the Males, and heavy maces with long handles shattered the skulls of the unwary.
Among the Males falling in droves and retreating, Lumel led the charge at the forefront.
“Haaah!”
Roaring, he swung and thrust with two spears.
Every time the golden lightning streaming from his spears pierced a Male, a soul departed for the Supreme Divinity. And every time the white steel spear swung, Males lost their armor or limbs and retreated behind their comrades.
This was the result of Aslan enhancing the horse he rode, combined with his innate survival instincts and brilliant spear techniques.
To the Males attempting to ambush and capture such a Lumel, Anton’s mace delivered retribution.
Tung, tung, tung. The sound of fired maces followed by brief incantations. Explosions erupted, holes burned, and the areas pierced swelled until they exploded, preventing the Males from pushing back Lumel and the cavalry.
Still, amidst the fallen and dying cavalry, the Supreme Divinity’s Sword attempted several times to turn the situation around.
Swinging its tail once, slashing with its sword—just doing so was enough. Using its innate massive body, the battlefield would transform into a slaughterhouse.
But it couldn’t.
Because at that very moment, an assassination attempt flew towards the Supreme Divinity’s Sword.
There was a figure standing naked atop the wall, planting arrows on the ground and mercilessly sniping.
A figure solely focused on the Supreme Divinity’s Sword, relentlessly sniping.
The only means of intervention available on the battlefield was its centipede-like lower half. Attempting to perform the same attack that had previously destroyed the wall, the Supreme Divinity’s Sword flipped its body—but.
“Aslan!”
Responding to the short call, a subtle glance, and a sudden dash, Angie understood Aslan’s intention and picked up a hammer from the corpse of a fallen Male, following closely.
Ku-gu-gu-gu…!
The spinning body tilting its tail. The appendages at its tip wriggling and preparing for an attack.
Following the distinct noise characteristic of its massive body, Aslan inserted himself into the trajectory of the charging tail.
Accelerating instantly. Impossible to track visually. Accelerating, Aslan closed his eyes and placed purity directly in front of him.
The charging tail. A trajectory perceived only by intuition. Into that trajectory, Aslan lunged his body, blocking it with purity.
And just before impact, Aslan raised the edge of purity and pushed back.
Directly colliding with purity, the mythic killer’s appendages, which served as both arms and legs.
The weapons attached to those appendages were severed, the appendages themselves were cut, and the tail clashed with purity.
Spurting bodily fluids sprayed everywhere at that moment, and with incredible agility, Angie identified the trajectory and swung her hammer.
Kwa-a-a-aang!
With a swing akin to a baseball bat, powered by her core strength, the tail soared skyward, and the Supreme Divinity’s Sword screamed and twisted its body.
Twisting its body, it performed a downward strike. A bold attack delivered by human flesh cast a shadow.
A shadow of death.
Aslan blocked that shadow with purity.
—!
The shockwave from the collision point sent soldiers and Males flying, and the edges of their blades scraped against each other, emitting metallic sounds.
――!
Tearing screams. The Supreme Divinity’s Sword twisted its body and charged at Aslan with its centipede-like lower half.
Dozens of trajectories whistling through the air.
Yet Aslan did not retreat, holding fast to his position. Trusting in his ally.
Tu-tu-tung!
As if responding to that trust, Anton aimed and fired his mace.
Two mace bolts embedded in the ground. Striking them caused the third mace bolt to bounce into the sky, and Anton muttered.
“INCENDENT.”
Mana drained away, and three spells unfolded simultaneously.
Expansion, explosion, repulsion.
In the order they activated, the third mace bolt inflated massively, was propelled forward, and flew toward the target in an explosive manner.
The target was the Supreme Divinity’s Sword. Specifically, the pierced portion of its centipede form, where its vocal cords had been.
Kwa-dde-dek!
The massive mace bolt precisely pierced that spot, causing the Supreme Divinity’s Sword to twist its body and retreat. The dozens of trajectories aimed at Aslan disappeared.
“Damn.”
The crisis was averted.
However, Aslan’s expression was not bright.
After all, the soldiers were being consumed at an alarming rate.
Those caught and killed by the tail, those killed by the shockwave, those who fell over due to being pushed and were subsequently killed by the Males during that brief moment.
If the role of the infantry was to deal with the Males, then Aslan and the Veteran party’s role was to slay the Supreme Divinity’s Sword.
From Aslan’s perspective, the central figure in this role, defeat seemed inevitable at this rate.
They had to use the full might of the fortress and the Veteran party to bring down the Supreme Divinity’s Sword much faster.
Otherwise, the soldiers would be annihilated, and the members of the party would perish one by one.
It was a moment that required a bold decision.
Aslan raised his head and looked at the mythic killer who was currently deflecting magic and cannons coming from the fortress with his sword.
At this point, the Supreme Divinity’s Sword must be wary of purity.
It must have recognized the extraordinary cutting power and the divine essence of ancient deities.
Even though it was merely a Lesser Divinity, having personally buried multiple ancient deities, it couldn’t help but know.
Thus, what Aslan was aiming for was right there.
