chapter 7

“Hurry up and move, you slowpokes!”

“If you don’t want to die, grab your weapons first!”

As shouts came from outside, a rat with a scowling face grabbed his weapon.

“Why now of all times… wake up, you bastard!”

Slap-

The rat slapped Buta to wake him up.

As they ran outside together, the commander who was aligning the soldiers shouted in an angry voice.

“Squad 5, it took exactly 6 minutes and 24 seconds to assemble. Are you ready?”

“Damn it… It seems we’ve come too late, brother.”

As soon as the rat finished speaking, the soldiers lined up in front of the commander glared at us.

“You slow idiots. Because of these slowpokes, we’re going to starve tonight.”

“If it weren’t for Buta, I would have made all of them invalids.”

“These bastards, just you wait.”

“It’s getting dark, so be careful. You might accidentally stab someone thinking they’re a monster. Pfft!”

The guys showing their teeth at us.

The soldiers of Squad 5 all looked fierce enough to be ordinary.

They seemed like they wanted to rush at us right away, but since the commander was there, they restrained themselves as much as possible.

“What are you saying, you fools.”

Strictly speaking, it’s our fault, but maybe it’s because of our thick skin. We weren’t particularly intimidated.

‘A beggar-like tendency can be useful too.’

I let their curses go in one ear and out the other as I surveyed the ramparts.

A briny mist, different from the mist, was creeping over the high walls stretching towards the night sky.

That slowly creeping fog over the walls is an artificially created sea fog.

And.

I know the ominous owner of the sea fog.

‘Lemut… a male, no less.’

A rare species that grows by eating the metals of the seabed, a giant monster that cannot even be wounded without a sword’s energy.

‘The appearance of this creature means that the history I know of is about to begin.’

The air becomes sticky, and a deep sense of discomfort crawls over my body like ants.

Staring at the pale shadows swimming in the fog, I tightly gripped the sword given to me by  Balkan.

‘I can do it.’

To survive, I must succeed.

Just as I was reassuring myself, the soldiers who had been cursing at us all this time suddenly fell silent.

They must have seen the same thing as me in the fog.

‘The real thing hasn’t even appeared yet.’

Cell block-3 , enveloped in silence due to the tension of the impending battle. The void was filled with a heavy tension.

Gulp.

As someone swallowed their saliva loudly, the commander at the forefront shouted as if he had been waiting.

“Listen! You, who have lived lives worse than trash and vermin, have only one thing to do from now on.”

To throw your lives away defending the walls until the King’s Knights (Royal guard) defeat the monster.

Specifically, to fend off the byproducts brought by the monster.

“If your worthless lives can halt their advance even for a moment, that too would be a death of value!”

“That bastard, spouting nonsense again. We are human too. Human. Where is there such a thing as a death of value?”

It seems that the commander’s words were quite disagreeable, as the rat narrowed his already small eyes even further.

“Tsk, Sir, since it’s your first battle, stay back. No matter how well you fight, this is a place for veterans like us… What are you looking at?”

The rat was chattering away on his own.

However, none of us were listening to his story.

Oooooo-

From the sea fog that had already covered more than half of the ramparts, a monster, tightly packed with malice, began to reveal itself.

The soldiers’ faces turned pale at the sight of the creature, which seemed to be tens of meters long and resembled a deep-sea fish.

“What is that!”

“How can a human defeat such a thing? Commander! Siege weapons! Are there no siege weapons?”

“Damn it, why are there so many monsters!”

Some sat down on the spot, and some even wet their trousers.

Even some of the veteran soldiers, including the rat, trembled at the sight of Lemut.

It was understandable.

Lemut was a rare species of monster classified as superior even among the supernatural beings in Disa.

“I can’t do it. I can’t fight…”

As one soldier stared blankly at the materializing Lemut, about to turn around.

Swoosh!

A fountain of blood erupted from the front of the formation.

“Fools. The giant monster is not your opponent! The lord will soon arrive, so don’t be afraid!”

The captain of the cell block-3, who had cut down the fleeing soldier, raised his bloodied sword high.

“Therefore, from now on until the situation is over, throw your lives away to defend the eastern wall from the monsters!”

“Crazy bastard. This is just a dog’s death…”

“Has the same kind of monster ever appeared?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen such a creature. It seems that even the commander doesn’t know this monster… Damn it. We’re all dead now.”

The rat’s judgment was not wrong.

For the soldiers standing at the crossroads of life and death, there were three choices left.

Either be torn apart by the monsters, or end up in Lemut’s belly.

Or die by the hands of the third squad’s captain.

I am no different.

With the current state, a few monsters would be my limit.

But I had another option.

‘What a stroke of luck.’

A choice that saves my life and also gets me a decent reward.

“Rat. And Buta. And the rest. Pay attention.”

“…?”

At my call, all of Squad 5, who had been pale with fear, turned their heads at once.

At the same time.

Kwaaaaang-

A streak of light split the night sky and struck Lemut’s massive body.

“He’s finally here.”

The blue flash filled the surroundings, and I, who met  Balkan gaze on top of the ramparts, turned around with a smirk.

“If you don’t want to die here, follow me.”

****

[Meteor Sword Technique, Fifth Form]

[Heaven-Slicing Meteor]

A streak of blue sword energy, resembling a meteor, extended from Velkan’s sword tip and struck the distorted face of the monster.

Kwaaaaang!

Ooooooh-!!!

With a thunderous roar that seemed to turn the heavens upside down, the monster roared, spraying blue blood.

“Good!”

 Balkan exclaimed with excitement as he steadied his staggering body towards the creature.

“Seeing it withstand that hit, it seems like it’ll be fun to beat. It’s been a while since I’ve had such enjoyment.”

There was worth in rushing over after the report of an unidentified entity.

 Balkan, having loosened up, quietly looked down below the ramparts.

“Shh. It seems to be here.”

After sending a gesture to the restless rat to be quiet, I kicked the rampart with my foot, hoping my senses were correct.

“Break!”

Crash─!!!

What broke was my ankle.

“Damn, it wasn’t here.”

As I grimaced and clutched my ankle in embarrassment and pain, the rat looked at me as if he didn’t understand what was happening.

“I’m so frustrated, Sir. What are you doing right now?”

“…That thing, it must have made a nest for its young inside the walls.”

Lemuts usually move in pairs, male and female.

‘The one that showed itself a little while ago was the male. The female is only slightly larger than an adult male. Compared to the male, it’s incredibly weak.’

The creatures that dwell in the abyss of the sea of magic, feeding on rocks and metals, venture out of the abyss only once in their lifetime.

It’s to procure fresh meat for their newly born young.

The stomachs of the newly born Lemuts are not yet mature enough to properly digest the hard rocks.

‘Coincidentally, that day is today.’

Lemuts have a peculiar habit when they go hunting for the first and last time in their lives.

That is, they always make a temporary nest near the hunting ground to supply fresh meat to their young.

And.

That nest is built under a huge rock, large enough to feed the young until they become adults.

From the Lemut’s point of view, there would have been no better place than the ramparts of the Whisen fortress, which are made of processed and stacked rocks.

“The young ones won’t be very strong either. They probably haven’t grown their scales yet. Moreover…”

The female that has built the nest will be in a state of exhaustion for a while.

In addition, the creature, whose hearing significantly deteriorates out of water, will not be able to hear the cries of its young.

In other words, now is the optimal time to raid their nest.

As I roughly explained this reason, a look of horror appeared in everyone’s eyes, including the rat’s.

“…How do you know such things, Sir? Even the commander seems unaware.”

“I just know a lot of things.”

“Bu, Buta knew from the start that pig Sir was also, smart. If we kill the young, we don’t have to pay the price for deserting the front line.”

“Tsk, just now you called me a stupid pig.”

“Buta likes to joke. It’s an eastern-style jo, joke.”

Flash!

Even as they conversed, the battle between Velkan and Lemut was raging on, with blue flashes continuously lighting up the night sky.

“It’s noisy. You know what you have to do now, right?”

We need to find their nest before Velkan finishes it off.

“We need to find an empty section. That will be the path leading to the nest. It’s probably around here…”

Upon hearing my story, Rat and Buta looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.

“If it’s that…”

“I saw it recently while patrolling the outer wall with Moose.”

“It’s not far from here. Follow me!”

No sooner had they finished speaking than the two ran off in a hurry.

As the rest of the soldiers followed them, the edge of the eastern wall soon appeared.

“Here it is!”

Rat pointed towards a part of the wall.

The spot he pointed to had a hollowed-out mark, unlike the other walls.

It was so intricately camouflaged that it was difficult to notice at a glance, presumably already finished by the female Lemut.

“When I was patrolling with Buta, he fell and it became like this, but at that time…”

Rat rambled on with unnecessary stories about how he thought Buta had gained weight or didn’t feel any discomfort.

“Quiet, you brat.”

After kicking Rat’s behind, I swung my sheathed sword towards the entrance of the nest camouflaged in the wall.

Crack!

The entrance was only slightly cracked, but otherwise intact. Fortunately, the sword didn’t break, but my wrist was tingling.

“I’ll do it. Buta is stronger than you, sir.”

Buta, who stood in front of me, tightly gripped the crude mace with both hands.

And then.

Kwaaaaang!!!

Clouds of dusty debris scattered in all directions, revealing a hidden passage.