"Enki, it's a wave."
It was the afternoon, and the sun had not yet set.
At the sound of Asia's words, which were almost like a call, Encrid relaxed his grip on the sword.
Luagarne was in the middle of uncoiling the whip from her waist, saying she would show how the fight with the Frog would unfold.
"Let's go. This won't be a common sight."
Luagarne said as she re-wrapped the whip around her waist.
Encrid agreed, and everyone followed.
"We're off to see some crazy place. Crazy, crazy, craaazyyyy."
Rem hummed along as he followed, and Dunbachel reluctantly took a step forward and spoke.
"Guess we should go. It's the Demon Realm, ah, so exciting."
Her voice was anything but excited.
Encrid walked briskly towards the northwest part of the city, recalling the Junior-Knight he once fought on the battlefield of Aspen.
How his heart had raced at the sight of the Junior-Knight's charge, with the red cape fluttering behind him.
This time, it was a Knight.
Not a duel, but a real battle.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't excited.
They soon arrived in front of the western city gate. The two large gates were carved entirely from stone.
It was almost a wonder how they managed to carve them so perfectly.
About thirty soldiers had gathered, all holding longbows and lined up along the wall.
"Here already? You've never seen a gate like this before, have you?"
Oara greeted Encrid. She smiled at him in front of the closed gate.
"Did you carve this yourself?"
"No, my grandfather did."
It sounded like there was a story behind that answer, though it wasn't the time to hear it.
"Hey! Rowena's man, show us your spirit!"
A shout came from outside the city gate.
"Open it."
Oara instructed the four soldiers with thick arms standing by the gate, and she lightly tapped Encrid's arm.
"Today, just watch from the wall. Get ready, one man's pure love is going to work a miracle!"
Oara shouted towards the now-open gate, mid-conversation with Encrid.
Encrid did as she suggested and stepped onto the stone staircase leading to the top of the wall. The stairs, made of stacked bricks, continued upward. The railing on the opposite side of the wall reached chest height.
Encrid used the railing as a handhold as he climbed. There was no dust on the railing, a sign that people regularly passed through and wiped it clean with their hands.
"Oh-ho, looks like it's going to be a public execution."
Rem said as he followed, looking as if something amusing was about to unfold.
"Is that supposed to be fun?"
Dunbachel, for once, showed something akin to annoyance. It's rare for Dunbachel to express such negative emotions, who usually would rather pretend to limp after getting beaten up by Rem.
Encrid noticed that the scene ahead had touched on some wound of Dunbachel's, but he let it go.
He thought it was something Dunbachel would handle on her own.
"Of course it's fun."
Rem chuckled in response.
Dunbachel closed her mouth, only pouting her lips.
Luagarne quietly ate a dried insect.
She seemed to enjoy eating insects from near the Demon Realm as a delicacy, which was nice to see.
It wouldn't hurt to give the tavern keeper a few extra silver coins.
Crunch.
Chomp.
Luagarne's tongue darted out, wrapping around the insect and swallowing it whole.
Even the sight of her long tongue quickly devouring the insect had become oddly endearing after seeing it enough times.
"Does that taste good?"
"Want one?"
Luagarne held out her hand when Rem asked. A white insect, a pupa, was visible on the mucus-covered skin.
Rem didn't eat it.
Encrid's gaze turned to the right, along the wall.
He could see that Asia had also come up the opposite wall.
Their eyes met. Asia gestured with her chin to look ahead, signaling him to just watch.
Encrid glanced at Asia and then turned his eyes forward.
"Oah!"
A shout echoed from outside the gate. It was someone's battle cry.
"Oah!"
The soldiers lined up on either side of the gate also shouted in unison.
Thud!
The soldiers armed with longbows on top of the wall stomped their feet in time with the shout.
"Damn it, here we go. When I say I'll do it, I mean it!"
The lover of Rowena shouted alone.
The wave hadn't even begun yet, but Encrid felt a tingling sense of foreboding.
Beyond the wall, the land of humans stretched out into a dark gray forest.
It was a place tainted by the aura of monsters, the Demon Realm.
The ground right in front of the wall was a yellowish-brown, but the color darkened gradually as it neared the Demon Realm.
The grayish trees seemed to blend into the darkened soil, which looked like it would reek of rot. In fact, a faint, rotten smell did linger in the air.
A mound of earth, like a burial mound, seemed to mark the entrance to the forest.
And from there, the monsters began to emerge.
Grrrrr.
The roar of the monsters shook the ground, their cries traveling through the air and reaching the wall.
To Encrid's eyes, it seemed as if the sound of the monsters formed a spear, flying toward the wall, only to be blocked.
His martial skills had matured to the point where he could sense an opponent's momentum as if he were seeing it with his own eyes.
The time he spent enduring battles against Knights hadn't been wasted, as he now realized.
Encrid could see the horde of monsters beyond the gray forest.
Some creatures crawled on all fours, others had arms so long they dragged on the ground, some drooled with mouths torn wide open, and others had two heads.
They all had long claws. Some had longer toenails than fingernails, using their hands to walk and only lightly tapping the ground with their feet for balance.
The skin of some creatures was split, revealing the muscles beneath—a ghoul.
These were flesh-eating monsters that devoured humans.
The ghouls they had dealt with before in the colony had been strange enough, but there were even more peculiar ones here.
"The Demon Realm evolves monsters."
Didn't Luagarne say that?
The sight made those words instantly understandable. And there were so many of them.
In just a brief moment, more than fifty of them had emerged.
Like something hidden behind a black curtain, nothing inside the gray trees was visible. Ghouls kept pouring out from within.
They didn't call it a wave for nothing. Right now, it looked like a gentle tide, but once they started running, it would quickly turn into a wave.
Of course, these weren't just any ghouls.
Sure, even in the Demon Realm, there would be common ghouls.
But these were colony ghouls. Those that had formed colonies within the Demon Realm.
Creatures that had banded together to conquer land, chew flesh and bones, and drink blood.
'They're different.'
It's said that three or four regular soldiers make up a stable force capable of taking down a single ghoul.
If they're skilled soldiers, they might even manage two ghouls.
But against these ghouls?
Even with a solid formation, at least ten soldiers would be needed, and only if they were all experienced.
'If they rush in unprepared, a few soldiers will be ripped apart and killed.'
One of the ghouls grabbed a stone on the ground and crushed it to pieces.
Let your guard down, and you're dead. Fight those things? These weren't opponents regular soldiers could handle.
The sunlight seemed to dim. In reality, the sun couldn't fully shine near the Demon Realm.
It was as if the Demon Realm rejected the sunlight.
The trees with their characteristic gray hue, the soil with its dark brown color, all contributed to this impression.
It was a time for fear to take hold.
Seeing hundreds of ghouls crawling out of the Demon Realm could certainly cause that.
Grrrrr.
Their cries sounded like soot rising from the depths of the earth.
It was low, thick, and left a mark.
How could humans face the fear running across the ground?
As for Encrid, he would raise his sword.
"Damn it."
Rem sneered.
"What's the point of a public execution?"
Dunbachel tried to escape reality.
"It's probably your first time seeing Demon Realm ghouls and the people fighting them, so watch closely."
Luagarne tirelessly tried to impart something to Encrid.
It was as if her goal was to teach, teach, and teach again, right up until the moment of death.
Perhaps she believed that if she didn't do that, even one lesson might not be properly absorbed.
They were right in front of the wall.
Behind Rowena's lover, a response came to the ghoul's cries from the depths of the earth.
"Oah!"
The same chant as before.
It was a shout to counter the soot rising from the depths.
"Smile!"
In response to the chant, the army on the wall stomped their feet with a thud, shouting out their mindset and conviction in facing this land, this city, and the Demon Realm.
"Let's die with a smile!"
They were all people of Oara, the Smiling Knight.
So they would die with a smile.
"I love you, Rowena!"
The soldier at the front, who had lost the bet, shouted. Oara was true to her word. She had kept her word, even if it was lightly spoken.
A Knight is someone who keeps the words they utter.
Those words are an oath.
Will is the force of willpower, and willpower comes from conviction.
A Knight who does not keep the words they utter cannot properly wield the Will they possess.
Grrrrrr!
The cries from the depths surged across the ground.
A horde of ghouls, armed with soot, began to charge.
Their black eyes tore through the light, and their greedy tongues searched for red blood and tender flesh.
Grrrrr!
In Encrid's eyes, the soldier, lover of Rowena was skilled enough to be placed in the Border Guard, even above standard rank.
A soldier who would quickly prove his worth in the Martai Border Guard Unit.
But he wasn't enough to hold back the wave of monsters alone.
Yet, he did not retreat.
Encrid couldn't see the soldier's face from atop the wall.
"If I survive, what the hell! Let's get married!"
Hearing the bold shout, presumably from Rowena, Encrid could almost imagine the expression on the man's face.
He would be smiling.
Even if he died, he would die with a smile.
"Are you going?"
Encrid had already placed one hand on the wall.
Rem noticed this and asked.
"Probably?"
He would follow his instincts, as he always had. That's how Encrid lived.
Therefore, that soldier would not die today.
Encrid tightened his grip on the wall. It was high to jump from, and he carried quite a bit of weight, but it wouldn't be impossible.
"No need to intervene, I think."
Rem continued, gesturing with his eyes.
Below the wall, the person who had been shouting behind Rowena's lover had already charged forward.
It wasn't a swift movement, but a heavy, determined stride.
Thud, thud, he stomped the ground, gaining speed. Soon his body passed the soldier and drew a long line as he reached the ghouls.
Despite his heavy appearance, his pace was faster than that of the ghouls, who were running on all fours using their hands as feet.
It was just as Rowena's lover faced the first ghoul.
"I love you, Rowena!"
The soldier, who confessed his love even in his last moments, thrust his spear. He had no time to care about who might be coming from behind.
He was focused on killing the ghoul.
His spear technique was quite impressive.
With a thud, the spear pierced the head of the ghoul that was lunging at him from below.
He stabbed it precisely and calmly.
The soldier tried to pull out the spear but gave up and grabbed another one that was stuck in the ground at an angle.
It was only then that the soldier realized someone had rushed out behind him.
He shouted.
"It started well!"
Even Encrid, watching from atop the wall, recognized the figure that had charged in.
It was Squire Oliver.
"Oliver of the Hexagonal Mace!"
One of the soldiers lined up on either side shouted.
Oliver had a nickname, and he was now proving why he had earned it.
There were six ghouls charging. The soldier had killed one, leaving five.
Oliver was holding a long rod with a heavy metal lump at the end.
The end of the lump was hexagonal.
He slightly slowed his run, then kicked off the ground again, diving into the midst of the ghouls.
By changing his speed, he prevented the ghouls from reacting.
It was an excellent technique. Within the chaos, Oliver swung his mace.
Thwack! Crack!
It sounded like fireworks going off.
The mace crushed and shattered the ghoul's head. Black blood and pieces of ghoul bone flew into the air.
Oliver wasn't the only one who had charged in.
"The bet's over. Fall back."
Oliver pushed the soldier back.
There were four Squires in Thousand Bricks.
Each of them was almost equivalent to a Junior-Knight. Well, not quite, but they were all capable fighters.
Following Oliver, the other three moved as well. Their weapons were similar.
One had a flail with a spiked metal ball attached by chains to a rod.
Another wielded a morning star, a similar weapon without the chains.
The last had a long-handled war hammer.
The four Squires formed a front line. They stepped forward and swung their weapons.
Thud, crack, crunch, splat.
Bones broke and blood splattered. In the midst of the battlefield, the four Squires shouted.
"Let's die with a smile!"
Encrid remembered the Junior-Knight he had seen charging on the battlefield of Aspen.
These men were also draped in red capes.
Their charge sent a shiver through his skin, just like before.
Oara's words to just watch from the wall seemed almost frustrating.
Of course, Encrid could have ignored those words and gone out himself.
But there was neither time nor opportunity for that.
"Let's go."
Oara was the first to move.
The Knight led her two Squires into action.
"Looks like she's excited."
Rem muttered under his breath. His hands were probably itching to join the fight just like the others.
Dunbachel, who had been sticking her neck out, quickly pulled back and pressed against the wall.
Two Junior-Knights were in motion. The man wielded a thick, club-like weapon that could barely be called a sword.
It was a weapon that, even if you beat someone to death with it, you still couldn't call it a sword.
It had a handle but no guard, just a long, thick piece of iron.
The surface appeared round, like a metal pillar being carried around.
He swung it as if it were a wooden sword.
But, of course, it was no wooden sword.
Wham!
With a single strike, three or four ghouls were torn apart and scattered.
The short-haired female Junior-Knight fought in a very different style.
She flicked thin daggers or pulled out a sharp, spike-like sword, stabbing quickly and retreating just as fast.
Her battle was so silent that from atop the wall, not even the sound of her fighting could be heard.
Although the destructive power was different, the lethality was about the same.
Grrrrraaaah!
The ghouls' cries sounded like screams.
Without noses, green smoke leaked from the gaping nostrils in their faces, and soon after, black blood began to drip.
Then, they collapsed.
Even though their heads hadn't exploded, they simply fell forward, slamming into the ground.
"Well, would you look at that?"
Rem reacted. He seemed to recognize something.
And then there was the Knight Oara.
Amidst the ghoul wave, a ghoul with sagging breasts appeared.
A female ghoul, the leader of this horde.
The ghoul stretched out its arm. The elongated limb, like that of a cephalopod, reached for Oara.
Its arm extended in an instant, cutting across the allied forces so fast that even from atop the wall, the movement seemed like a blink of an eye.
From a distance, it was clear the arm had stretched. But if it had happened right in front of you, you would have been too shocked to react in time. It was that fast.
Just from that alone, it was clear. This creature was a monster that could probably take on a Junior-Knight by itself.
In the path made by the four Squires and two Junior-Knights, who had crushed and skewered hundreds of ghouls, the ghoul's arm stretched toward Oara.
At that moment, Encrid's eyes caught sight of Oara's back. The Knight swung her sword.
It was an upward diagonal slash, from the ground to the sky.
A strike that, if performed while standing still, would have been meaningless.
But Oara's follow-up movement gave meaning to the swing.
As the sword rose, Oara stepped forward in sync with the momentum of her blade. Her body moved forward.
The Knight's sword slashed diagonally through the ghoul's arm.
Yet, the strike was not over.
Simple but the straightest line.
A line connecting two points.
Encrid could do something similar, but never quite like this.
Oara planted one point at her current location and another on the distant monster, and then drew a line between them.
There was no better way to describe it.
Slice, rip.
Oara's movements left afterimages along the way.
The first step she took as she pushed off the ground, the moment she cut through the ghoul's arm, and finally, when she cleaved from the chest to the head, finishing with the sword raised toward the sky.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Oara said.
The ghoul leader was dead.
Encrid was filled with awe and shivers.
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