[Haaahhh...... haaaahhh......]
I wonder how many of them I have killed .
Having hunted down all the monsters blocking our way, me and the others were now heading for the North Gate .
(Bane-san......)
I look over my shoulder, in the direction of the southern ramparts .
From the strange sounds Iâve been hearing coming from the distance, that place is probably filled with monsters .
My inherent skill may be powerful, but it still has a weakness .
It is weak against too many enemies .
The weapons made by can change their size according to the targetâs size .
Even if I had a huge sword in my hand, I couldnât maintain its huge size .
If the next opponent is small in size, it will match its size with it .
In other words, it will get smaller .
There are times when some other nearby monsters will get involved while Iâm defeating a large one .
However, I canât fight with just a gigantic weapon all the time .
If the large monster dies, I canât use a large weapon .
Moreover, it seems that the farther their distance from me, the weaker these inherent weapons .
The offensive power and the strength will fall down .
Iâve tried spawning a spear and throwing it to a monster, and it turns out these weapons had a specific range .
Just as the spear I threw flew to a certain distance, the spear came back towards me .
Then, the inherent weapon was recombined with my other weapons I held .
On the contrary, the attack performance of the inherent weapon when the distance is close is tremendous, especially when I held it myself .
At melee distance, I could kill any monster with a single swing .
Thereâs no monster that couldnât be cut or pierced .
It could be said that this is a unique skill that specializes in melee fights .
And if it werenât for the speed I gained after I released my limiters, I wouldnât have been able to kill so many enemies .
However, I may not be feeling it, but releasing my limiters are definitely accumulating some burden on my body .
Even if itâs an inherent skill, I wouldnât be able to use it once I ran out of MP .
In fact, my MP was decreasing rapidly while using it .
And so, Iâve released my inherent skill .
In this situation, we canât take the option of heading towards the south wall .
My fighting style doesnât show its true value when Iâm fighting against a large amount of enemies .
If we were to be attacked by more monsters than weâve fought earlierââ
(Iâm not sure I can protect everyone......)
In that case, for now, we should first join up with the armies of the different countries that should be outside the north gate .
If itâs an army versus an army, thereâs a chance to win .
Biting my lips, we continued running .
Most of all...
(Perhaps, Bane-san is already......)
As if suppressing myself, I furrowed my brows .
No, donât even think about it .
Even if I know it, I donât have the time to think about it now .
At that time...
[Thatâs...... Guira-san!?]
Approaching on horseback was the castle lord, Guira Heith .
Since that angry Human-Faced descended down from the sky and chaos ensued, his whereabouts were unknown .
I canât see his guards anywhere, but it appears that he survived .
If I remember correctly, Iâve heard that heâs from the lineage of heroes .
Putting his mental aspect aside, I think he should still have a certain level of ability .
I ran over towards him .
[Guira-san, youâre safe . ]
Looking at him, I could see that Guira was holding his hand over his belly .
[Yeah, I didnât expect to get injured......]
Guiraâs body lurches .
Thud
[Ugh . ]
Tumbling off his horse, there were some things stuck on his back .
I wonder if itâs the monstersâ claws or horn .
Moreover, on closer inspection, he also had a wound on his abdomen .
His guts...... were popping out .
He was dead .
Now, heâs dead .
Heâs already dying huh .
I didnât notice it earlier...
[P- President......]
Nihei looked pale as he looked towards me .
[Kuh...... Letâs go, everyone......]
I wonder if there were any other people that survived .
Killing the monsters popping out from behind the buildings, me and the others head for the north gate .
Thereupon...
[Theyâre fighting......?]
Near the north gate, a battle was taking place .
It looks like theyâre being pushed around, but the Human sideâs defensive formation has managed to tread well against the enemies .
[Everyone, letâs back them up!]
Answering my call, Nihei and the others followed as I ran .
Together, we stormed into the battle .
Some of the monsters got caught in between a pincer attack .
As a result, me and the others were able to drive out the monsters almost unscathed and joined the group in a defensive formation .
[President......?]
[Murota-san! Youâre safe!]
The people fighting now were the remaining soldiers and Kiriharaâs group .
I quickly issued instructions and asked Kayako and the others to take up a defensive formation .
[Suou-san, Nihei-kun, Iâll leave this place to you! Iâm going to stay and back up the other soldiers!]
ââ Activate .
I joined the group that were still fighting the monsters .
With my intrusion in the battle, the situation completely changed .
Thus, the monsters that had gathered near the north gate had been swept away for the most part .
Turning my back to the astonished soldiers, I walk back near Murota .
Murota Erii, the acting leader of Kiriharaâs group after Oyamada, looked at me, flabbergasted .
[Youâre...... the President, right......?]
[Eh? T- Thatâs right but......]
[No, I should have expected so...... Itâs the President after all...... Itâs just that, it felt like youâve completely changed......]
Iâm relieved though .
[Anyhow, Iâm glad that everyoneâs alright......]
Murota turned silent .
[Murota-san?]
[Youâre mistaken...... Ikumi died . ]
[Eh? Kariya-san......?]
(Speaking of which......)
Looking closely, I canât see Kariya Ikumi anywhere near them .
She was also one of the members of Kiriharaâs group .
Clenching her body close, Murota grit her teeth .
[I- Ikumi...... Just as we were escaping, we saw her being eaten by a monster...... We wanted to help her, but weâre too scared that we fled...... We abandoned her and fled......]
[No way......]
The fourth death in our class .
A small smile appeared on Murotaâs lips .
However, her eyes were as dark and hollow as a deep cave .
[Ikubi-sa...... Even though half of her face was already eaten...... However, I can still see her mouth moving...... âSave meâ, is what I feel sheâs saying...... Haha...... What the heck...... This is just a bad dream, right?]
Blood oozed out as I bit on my lips .
Grabbing both of Murotaâs shoulders, I suppressed the helplessness sheâs carrying .
[ââHang in there, Murota-san . We need the power of Kirihara-kunâs group, which has all the B-Rank Heroes . Please, lend me your strength . ]
[......Huh? I mean...... Whereâs Shougo? I thought I heard him scream after that monster with many limbs fell from the sky......]
[O- Oyamada-kun......]
With a bitter expression on my face, I explained the situation to her .
[Ha, haha...... The heck? Shougo and Yasu...... did they die? The Dragonslayer and the other members of the Four Revered Saints, all of them died? Seriously, the heck is that...... Youâre really funny......]
Her âThatâs really funnyâ sounds totally lifeless though .
[W- We canât be sure if theyâre both dead yet! Even Bane-san and White-san......]
I didnât see them die .
Therefore, Iâm not certain of their deaths .
[They might still be alive! I mean, even Murota-san has survived and in this place!]
[......Weâve only survived thanks to Agito-san . ]
[Agito-san? Come to think of it, Agito-sanâ-]
I tried searching for him .
However, I canât find him nearby .
[He took a bunch of cavalries and went to bring down that monster made of limbs...... I donât know where they are now though . Or rather... . . Itâs because Agito-san has been protecting us that weâve managed to get here......]
(Then...... That Offensive Technique that lured away the Human-Faced that ate Abyss-san, the one that has been fighting from the distance......)
So, thatâs Agito Angoon huh .
Now, it seems that he used his own body as a decoy and lured away that angry Human-Faced .
[I donât know if Agito-san is still alive or not...... Iâve been wondering...... If this is where we die, President...... I already feel like all these fighting we did is useless......]
[Say, why......]
[?]
[Why donât you go outside the north gate?]
Once they went outside, they should be able to join up with the armies of the different countries that were camping there .
Lifelessly, Murota pointed at the north gate with her thumb .
At that moment...
Boom!
The gate loudly shook inwardly and let out a screech .
She said that something outside was breaking down the gate with a battering ram or something like that .
Listening closely, I could hear the loud roars of monsters outside the gate .
[Thatâs how it is...... There are monsters outside the gate as well......]
[Eh? But those people should be outside the gate......]
The armies of the different countries should be there .
[I donât know...... Isnât it possible that they died?]
No, thatâs not it .
They havenât fallen yet .
Listening carefully, I can hear their voices outside the gateâ- outside those ramparts .
Itâs a bit far from the north gate though......
Thatâs right .
Those are the sounds of battle .
There may certainly be a large number of monsters near the north gate .
However, there are still humans fighting outside .
I look at the north gate .
[..................... . ]
If we can wipe out the horde that gathered outside the gate......
If we can break through them...
We could join up with them and do it .
I tightly squeeze my sweaty hands .
Rather, if we open the gates from here and take the lead in trying to break through their horde by surprise......]
[President . ]
Lifelessly, Murota spoke .
[......I think itâs already over . ]
Murotaâs lifeless eyes were pointed in the opposite direction of the north gate .
Then, Moe spoke .
[Ayaka-chan...... âThatâ is...... umm, the Human-Facedââ]
Turning around, I saw something approaching from the direction of the south wall .
[Miyooonnn...... Miyoooonnnn...... . Miyoooonnnn......]
[Baaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiâââ-!]
[Nyaaaaiiiiiii...... Nyaaaaaaaiiiiiiiii!]
Three Human-Faced .
[Ahâââ]
That spherical Human-Faced formed by humanoid upper bodies, had the Dragonslayerâs gigantic sword stuck on its body .
The head of the four-legged Human-Faced with the large head is crushed and smashed .
The third Human-Faced that appeared behind the others had lost its legs and was crawling at a frightening pace with only its two arms .
[Bane-san . ]
The traces of the fierce triple battle against these three monsters .
It turned out that Banewolf struggled against the three Human-Faced .
He must have already been determined to die when he fought .
However, if those three have left the south wall and theyâre now heading hereââ
[...............]
The Human-Faced with a gigantic sword stabbed on it made its move .
At the same time, the sphere Human-Faced with upper bodies covering its body threw something towards us .
[Miyooooonnnnn...... Miyoooooonnnnnn......]
A large amount of ball-like objects come flying towards us .
Those with shields and Defense Skills tried to protect themselves from the objects falling from the sky .
However, âthoseâ things falling from the sky doesnât really have that much offensive power .
One of the Heroes let out a short scream .
Itâs because what the Human-Faced threwââ were human heads .
Finding âsomethingâ in the heads lying on the ground, I grind my teeth and my expression distorted .
[White-san......]
The second sister of the Four Revered Saints, White Angoon was mixed among them .
Her head doesnât have eyeballs .
I let out a thin sigh .
And then...
[Murota-san . ]
[President?]
[If you want to give up......]
With a spear in hand, I started walking forward .
[Do it after I died . ]
Kayako gulps .
[Sogou-san, donât tell me......]
[Everyone, stay here and keep your defenses up . Iâll take care of those three . ]
Glaring at the south, a drop of tear ran down my cheek .
Theyâre the reason why we made it this far .
The reason why everyone managed to escape .
[This path youâve made for me...... Iâm not going to let it go to waste . ]
Once againâ- I released the limiters on my body .
Even though those things were wounded, Iâm still fighting against those Human-Faced .
[]
However...
(I will absolutelyââ)
âNot give up until the end .
On both of my handsâ- I create my inherent swords .
When all of these battles come to an end, itâs alright even if my body ends up broken .
Now, I have to show everyone .
Thatâs right...
[Thereâs still hope here . ]
With the two swords in my hands ready, I, Sogou Ayaka powerfully kicked off the ground .
â½
Screams resounded around the area .
[And this should be the last one . ]
I thrust my blade downwards .
I coldly spoke the name of a technique synonymous to their death sentence .
[]
An explosion erupted from inside the Human-Faced .
Their flesh exploding, pieces of flesh flashily scattered up in the air, falling towards the ground .
The Human-Face falls down on the group .
Only its head had barely retained its original shape .
A large mouth with its protruding tongue oozed out blue blood, characteristic of the Human-Faced .
Behind the head were the two corpses that had fallen first, turned upside down .
The two Human-Faced that died earlier had also been totally different from how they look like before .
[Three Human-Faced...... She took them on all by herself...... That canât be......]
One of the soldiers shuddered as he muttered that .
[W- Whatâs with her speed...... Thereâs also the way she fights with the weapons she freely spawns......]
[Thatâs a Hero from Another World...... An S-Rank Hero huh......]
I could feel awe from their voices .
Over the corpses of these Human-Faced, I roughly exhaled .
[Haahhh...... Haaahhh......]
I press down on the wound on my left arm .
(Iâm not able to defeat them unscathed......)
No, my opponents were those Human-Faced .
Itâs rather fortunate that I was able to get away with just this level of injury .
It was also because the enemies were already wounded .
Banewolf had already done quite a bit of damage to them .
Thatâs probably why I was able to defeat them even if there were three of them .
Filled with gratitude, I thought of Banewolfââ
[...... . , âââââââ]
I suddenly feel uncomfortable .
[......?]
Slowly, I turned around .
Waves of monsters .
Or should I say, theyâve finally arrived huh .
The hordes of monsters that had been lingering around the south wall earlier were now surging into this place .
From yet another direction, I heard a loud crash .
The sound of that thunderous roar made me turn my head towards that direction .
Sweat began running down on my cheeks, dropping from the tip of my chin to the ground .
[Haahhaaahh...... Haaahhh......]
The sound of my own breathing is louder and louder .
Feeling a bad premonition, my eyes caught the sight of snow falling from behind the destroyed north gate, and the appearance of the Ogre Soldiers coming in .