Crunch.
Juice from the bitten apple flowed, wetting her hands. Angie briefly wrinkled her nose at the sticky sensation but did not wipe it off on her clothes.
An appropriate level of stickiness was rather good. At least she wouldn’t drop it.
As Angie was in the middle of eating the apple, Phey sat on the rock beside her, swinging their legs.
While they idly waited at the entrance of the mountain town, many people passed by them.
Leisurely warriors with weapons patrolling around, clearly foreigners or merchants stopping by for trade, mercenaries coming out equipped with weapons to make a fortune from distant lands, and so on.
Among the numerous people bustling about, only the two of them were enjoying the tranquility. The feeling of drying under the sunlight was oddly pleasant.
The thought slowly crossed Angie’s mind that he might not come after all, and just as she finally put the last piece of the apple into her mouth, the stillness disappeared.
Slowly flowing clouds dispersed in the wind and vanished, and in their place, noise began to fill the air.
It wasn’t a sound that the people of Geladridion, whose technology level remained in the medieval era, could understand.
If Aslan had heard it, he would have said it was the sound of turbines turning, and if Angie had heard it, she would have said it sounded similar to what she had heard in Aslan’s fantasy.
But the people of Geladridion, especially the warriors of the mountain kingdom, thought the sound resembled the roar of some beast.
—!
A growling-like roar. When the thunderous sound echoed, people lifted their heads in unison toward the direction the sound came from.
“…Huh?”
Thus, the first warrior to confirm muttered in confusion. There existed something that shouldn’t be in the sky.
At a glance, it looked like a giant bull.
Its angular body extended with four legs that spewed rough storms along with burning flames.
Looking at the front past the massive legs and angular body, one could see it had a head resembling a bull attached to its front.
Horns and an angular, prominent head. Even the light emitted from there.
It seemed like this is what a bull made of steel would look like.
Mimicking animals is the simplest way to amplify power, and the priest of predators knew this fact well, remodeling his body to resemble a bull.
The difference would be that it can fly in the sky and is made of metal.
The massive bull flying with turbine sounds and flames tilted its body. It leaned forward greatly, rushing toward the ground.
The rushing movement gradually accelerated, inflating the noise. The swelling sound intertwined with the sound of something massive diving and the turbine noise, giving off the feeling of some colossal monster roaring and charging.
Finally, people realized what it was.
A priest.
No, a priest of predators.
“Priest, it’s a priest!”
Following the first warrior who screamed, cries spread widely. Fear spread among those fleeing.
Mothers holding their children and running, travelers stumbling away, mercenaries weaving through them to evade, various people united to run into the mountains.
Even the warriors weren’t in such a leisurely situation. Watching the charging massive form of the priest, they thought.
‘This can’t be stopped.’
But if they don’t stop it, the mountain will collapse. Instinctively knowing they couldn’t block this attack, they still realized they had to somehow stop it.
“Hold, hold it back!”
With someone’s shrill scream, the warriors gripped their weapons and headed toward where the priest would dive.
Amidst that complex chaos, Angie let out a “Huh.”
“Really came, huh? Looks exactly like you said… How does Aslan know all this stuff?”
Angie’s casual words showed no signs of tension. It seemed she was getting used to it, Angie thought.
Phey responded to Angie’s words.
“Aslan knows everything! There’s nothing he doesn’t know!”
Just hearing the voice might bring to mind a child boasting, “Our dad is the best!” But due to the two short swords Phey held in their hands, such a feeling barely emanated.
With vibrant red hair fluttering, Phey jumped up on the spot as the priest’s massive form started to approach.
Crack!
Seeing the massive form less than 20 meters above the ground, Angie crushed the remaining piece of the apple in her hand. Sticky juice flowed between the scattered pieces.
“I’m going.”
With the stickiness generously smeared on her hands, Angie rushed forward.
Boom, boom, ku-gu-gu!
Angie ran. Though lacking agility, thanks to strength and health, her sprint gradually gained speed and momentum. The force behind it was considerable.
Each time she planted her foot on the ground, cracks spread, propelling her body forward. Despite knees that should ache, Angie’s excellent health prevented it.
Accelerating Angie passed the warriors, causing them to exclaim.
Finally, when her acceleration reached its peak, Angie collided with the priest descending like a meteor toward the ground.
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-aang!
The resounding explosion. Angie’s body, propelled by acceleration, was pushed back. Her legs dug into the ground with a dr-dr-dr sound, carving deep and long trenches while scattering rocks around.
Angie stood her ground, arms wide open, blocking the priest’s massive form, gritting her teeth.
“Khhhhhh…”
The motion pushing Angie back slowly ceased. Amidst the grinding leather boots tearing apart, Angie embraced and lifted a body several times larger and heavier than herself.
The moment Angie’s golden eyes flashed, the priest’s body plummeted back to the ground.
“Aaaaahhhh!”
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-aang!
It plunged into the ground. A booming sound resonated throughout the mountain, and the priest bounced off the impact before rolling and landing.
Dust rose from the sunken earth, and Angie, bleeding through her torn clothes, shook her hands.
“Ah, damn, my wrists hurt.”
The priest, who had rolled on the ground, shakily got up and lit its eyes.
“…First, confirm predation target, commence engagement.”
A mechanical voice. Angie cracked her neck side to side and smirked.
Supporting that smirk, a group of people walked out.
They were warriors.
Warriors of the mountain kingdom, adorned with magical tattoos on their bodies, drawing out the limits of human potential.
Warriors familiar with combat, the first thing Aslan would think of when considering alliances.
Warriors with at least one tattoo covering their entire body revealed themselves simultaneously.
The most striking were two women.
Frida, the lady warrior wielding two curved short swords in both hands, bent forward.
Ereta, an elegant woman gripping an axe in one hand and a mace in the other, wearing a leather cuirass over a shirt.
Ereta spoke to Angie while spinning the axe in her hand.
“Just as you said, I brought them here. It seems like you managed to block it well, Angie.”
“Hmph, obviously. You know me, Tail’s Stone Fist.”
Angie grumbled as Ereta laughed, thinking it had little to do with the “Stone Fist.” Frida narrowed her eyes watching the bickering girl and woman.
‘Just as she said.’
Ereta approached Frida abruptly. What she told her was simple yet full of questions.
Two priests were set to attack the city, and these priests planned to attack with a time differential.
One would arrive first in the city, and the other waiting outside would join in when the time was right.
And since the priest waiting outside the city was stronger than the one inside, Aslan went to deal with the priest outside.
Frida couldn’t easily understand or trust what she said.
But there was no time to deliberate. She decided it was better to move and risk wasting steps than lose preparation time.
Fortunately, her judgment was correct.
A colossal steel bull, likely over five meters in length, glowed with red eyes. Flames erupted beneath its feet.
“Everyone, draw your weapons.”
How Aslan foresaw the appearance of the priests, and why he didn’t inform them earlier if he knew—many questions arose, but Frida realized she couldn’t ask them now.
Instead, she prepared for battle.
The warriors of the mountain kingdom drew their weapons simultaneously. Axes, spears, swords, shields—all kinds of weapons appeared in their hands, pulled from their waists, backs, and shoulders, as the magical tattoos on their bodies glowed blue.
The warriors’ muscles bulged, breaths escaped their mouths, and their heated bodies turned red.
In the center, Frida glowed fiercely along with the beast at her feet. As the tattoos covering her whole body illuminated, her two eyes flickered bright blue.
The beast that had been standing on all fours until now rose onto two legs.
The warriors preparing for battle exuded an inhuman aura. Even Angie and Ereta took their stances while watching the priest. Seeing the warriors ready for battle, the bull-shaped priest roared while emitting the sound of turning turbines.
In the fleeting moment when silence settled amidst the heated air,
“Go and kill them!”
In sync with Frida’s ferocious cry, the priests and warriors clashed.
*
Aslan and Tiamat walked. They followed the mountain path until they reached a densely wooded area.
It wasn’t aimless walking.
Aslan remembered the main quest.
What kind of enemy would appear, where, and how they’d execute their plan.
Aslan already knew.
He was confident.
Because cunning and strategic predators would surely act just like in the game.
And Aslan’s prediction was correct. Just like in the game, the priest was waiting for the right moment to attack in the same spot.
The unexpected part was the priest’s demeanor.
The priest confronted by Aslan and Tiamat wore a full-body cloak made of feather plumes.
Unlike typical predator priests who abandon their human form, this one retained a complete humanoid shape.
This priest’s identifier name was Steamfalos.
Powerful enough to have a name, and an old priest.
Old enough to possess a clear self-awareness.
So, the hostility was faint. It seemed surprising that Aslan and Tiamat had shown up here.
With a distinct self-awareness, as Aslan placed his hand on the hilt, the priest spoke. His voice was nearly free of mechanical tones, a male voice.
“How did you know?”
His question brimmed with curiosity and was akin to asking how they noticed the timed attack.
Aslan answered nonchalantly.
“You figure it out when you watch. Your master is that kind of guy.”
Though the answer could be unpleasant, Steamfalos stroked his chin as if understanding, mimicking the gesture as if he had a beard there.
“That makes sense. My Lord is indeed such a person.”
This timed attack strategy also appeared in the game.
A wicked strategy that flips the assumption: ‘There won’t be two priests in one place,’ ‘Two priests wouldn’t attack just one city.’
This strategy aims for the moment when the defenders are exhausted from dealing with the first priest and have depleted their available resources.
Attacking during that weakened state to finish them off with the second strike.
Aslan knew this through the game and confirmed it with the cunning intelligence of the predator.
If it were the predator he knew, they would definitely do this.
That’s why Aslan came to capture the second priest with Tiamat.
Their armament level, machine form, and tactical skills were probably several times stronger than the priest wreaking havoc in the city, but Aslan was confident.
If Tiamat’s skill was as good as Aslan imagined—or even better—there would be no problem.
Aslan placed his hand on the hilt. He drew the bloodthirsty sword Rutile with his right hand and pulled out another sword from behind his waist with his left.
As the two long swords stretched out, Steamfalos tracked Aslan’s movements with his eyes.
“Tiamat.”
“…Yeah.”
Tiamat, visibly tense, replied, and Aslan softly said,
“I’ll create the opportunity.”
As the slightly raised crimson blade blazed white, Aslan spoke through the swirling white flames.
“So, you do what you do best.”
This was a test.
A test to see if Tiamat’s abilities could affect a priest.
As the two drawn long swords ominously gleamed, the priest unfurled his cloak.
