Chapter 66

My mental state was already in shreds, but surprisingly, the Marquis took charge and assessed the situation with composure.

“Is Hereis in no position to go rescue them?”

“Currently, the Imperial Knights are subjugating a Lictupurum alongside Sir Ilian. They are too far from the Rubel Knights; it looks difficult for them to reach them immediately!”

“Dammit. We’re the ones who need rescue right now!”

“It seems the Rubel Knights are trying to take down the Lictupurum blocking their path first!”

“That’ll be too late!”

…I didn’t want to do anything risky, but I suppose I have no choice. I spoke to Edelina with a look of grim determination.

“Miss Edelina. Let’s use that.”

“Saintess. That truly is a last resort…. My apologies for asking, but has your power to temporarily repel the monsters run out?”

Do you have no conscience?

Are you telling me to run around even more?

“It’s not that, but I think we need to bring the Rubel Knights here now for the sake of what’s to come. Everyone, please hold out until I return.”

“Ah…! But that is too dangerous for you, Saintess!”

“There is no need to worry about me. Now, begin!”

“S-Saintess…”

The last resort Edelina had devised could only be activated when the soldiers were gathered together.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The bell signaling an emergency rang out. The soldiers, who had been pre-trained for this exact scenario, ran toward us with terrified faces.

“F-forty-three! Everyone is accounted for!”

Every soldier summoned every last ounce of strength to escape the pursuing monsters and enter the defensive radius of my Holy Relic. At that exact moment, Edelina vigorously hurled a circular object.

Pop! Pop-pop-pop!

Along with a series of chain explosions, a pungent green smoke rose and blanketed the rampart. The monsters began to collapse, shrieking in agony.

That’s right.

The “last resort” was a poison gas bomb designed to massacre any monsters within its range in a single blow. Since the area around the explosion would be filled with toxic gas—meaning we could end up killing ourselves too—it could only be used in controlled situations like this.

‘I can only use this comfortably because the Holy Relic, Ludvican’s Full Moon, categorizes this smoke as an external impurity.’

I led the soldiers to a shelter inside the rampart that I had set up beforehand, which was sealed on both sides and safe from the smoke.

“S-Saintess. Please don’t go out. It’s too dangerous!”

A young soldier looked at me with concern.

“Mere smoke like this could never dare to cause me suffering.”

I gave him a bright smile to reassure him and closed the door.

‘So, the evacuation is complete.’

The moment the door shut, my face hardened instantly.

‘How am I supposed to maintain my poker face in a situation like this?’

Even if I knew I’d be fine, choosing to dive into the middle of a monster horde required some serious mental preparation. I walked through the collapsed monsters, placed both hands on the battlements of the rampart, and looked down as I thought.

My plan was this: The gas generated by Edelina’s special bomb was the type that settled heavily in the air, so it wouldn’t dissipate quickly. Since it was made of ingredients that monsters loathed, they wouldn’t approach the rampart as long as the gas remained. While I bought time with this, I would go rescue the Rubel Knights.

After taking one or two deep breaths, I climbed over the battlements. Then, grabbing onto crevices in the wall like I was rock climbing, I descended rapidly.

Whoosh—thud!

The soil was uneven, causing me to stumble slightly, but thanks to bending my knees to absorb the impact, I landed without a single scratch. I tilted my head back to look up at the rampart.

‘Is the height roughly twenty meters…?’

I’d felt this before, but Belita really isn’t a normal person.

‘Maybe I would have been fine even if I’d just jumped.’

In fact, I felt like I was getting stronger as time went by. I had been testing Belita’s athletic abilities whenever I had the chance. At first, I thought she was just coordinated and strong, but she was gradually moving beyond that category. I could effortlessly carry loads that grown men struggled with, and I remained perfectly fine even after falling from ten meters.

‘…Let’s just move fast.’

Now wasn’t the time to ponder this.

As I kept walking with my back to the wall, I eventually stepped out of the green mist. Because of that, things that had been hidden by the fog began to come into view.

‘Holy crap. They’re even bigger up close.’

Specifically, a boar beast staring at me with a chilling gaze from right in front of me.
It was twice the size of any boar I knew. When fighting from atop the wall, I hadn’t felt this much pressure because I was looking down on them…

Dozens of boar beasts stomped their feet in unison, kicking up clouds of dust. The momentum suggested they would charge at any second.

Kruaaaaargh!

‘Here they come…!’

Even though I was mentally prepared, my legs almost gave out. Fortunately, the moment they entered the Holy Relic’s range, they decelerated as if sliding and came to a halt near me.

Gru… gruuh…?

The boar beasts passed in front of me with eyes that had suddenly turned docile. Looking bewildered as if they had forgotten their own purpose, they headed back outside the barrier.

‘This is doable.’

The only things I need to watch out for are monsters with long attack ranges. The Holy Relic can’t block physical attacks coming from outside the barrier, after all. Still, for the time being, I didn’t think I had to worry much; the boar monsters only charged by digging in their short hind legs—they didn’t throw or swing anything.

‘…Let’s just stay alert and move.’

Between Belita’s athletic prowess and the emergency potions I had on hand, I should be fine. I stayed calm and hurried my pace toward the Rubel Knights.

‘Looks like they’re still struggling with that lobster.’

I could see flashes of light sparking in the distance. Well, since it was so massive and conspicuous, I wasn’t likely to lose my way as long as I kept my eyes on it.

“Commander! The Lictupurum’s shell is regenerating too fast! If we keep up this war of attrition….”

Dammit.

Darian, the Commander of the Rubel Knights, swallowed a groan.

‘Our positioning is terrible.’

There was a limit to how long they could face a Lictupurum while surrounded by Kootuns (boar beasts). To bring down a Lictupurum clad in such heavy armor, they needed to pour all their attacks into a single point simultaneously, but the constant interference from the Kootuns kept causing their attempts to fail. Their forces had been spread thin just trying to fend off the Kootun charges coming from all directions.

“Blast it, we came to help, but for it to end up like this…!”

He had come gallantly at the request of Hereis, the true master of the Rubel Duchy, but the situation was spiraling toward the worst-case scenario.

‘Still, I suppose it’s a relief we can keep the Lictupurum tied down here.’

High-grade monsters like the Lictupurum posed a threat of destroying the ramparts. They had to finish it here. Just as he was trying to focus on the subjugation with that thought—

Whimper…

Grrrr…?

He heard the cries of monsters that didn’t fit the current situation at all. Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, his gaze naturally shifted toward the source of the sound. The Kootuns that had been making those odd noises suddenly showed abnormal symptoms, then began to pull back to either side like the parting of the Red Sea!

“Wh-what on earth is that?”

In the center of the cleared path, a woman was walking leisurely. The monsters around her seemed dazed as if enchanted, stupidly making way or staring blankly into the air. The knights’ faces were painted with shock at the unbelievable sight.

“What is happening, C-commander?”

“I… I don’t know either…?”

“~!!!”

“Pardon?”

The woman was gesturing toward them. Was she… telling them to come that way?

“C-commander. What should we do…?”

Darian wanted to snap back that he had no idea, but he was the one in charge of this order. He had to judge the situation, make a decision, and lead his subordinates.

‘….’

Wait. Now that he thought about it, in Lord Hereis’s letter….

…For these reasons, I request reinforcements at the Marquis’s estate. I cannot disclose the details, but it is an emergency, so I hope you do not ignore this request. Oh, and there should be a certain black-haired lady among our group; please treat her with the utmost kindness…

“Could it be?”

“Sir?”

“No, never mind. Let’s head over.”

The person Hereis had specifically asked him to be careful with. He had passed over it lightly at the time, but seeing this, he understood. A woman the monsters wouldn’t attack. Who else could it be?

‘The one said to have a connection with Lord Hereis in Lanta Village…’

It must be the Saintess!

“That person is likely the Saintess. Trust her completely and follow her!”

“What?”

“Do you understand!”

“W-we obey! For the honor of the Rubel Duchy!”

The lobster monster had a whopping eight legs, each one thick and massive. Because of them, I could barely see an inch in front of me. I tried waving my arms vigorously to tell the knights to come toward me, but I wasn’t sure if they could see me, and I figured they might hesitate to follow out of pure confusion.

‘It’s a bit weird if some strange woman starts waving her hands in the middle of a battlefield.’

I didn’t want them getting hurt because they were distracted by me, so it was better to approach quietly. Once I got reasonably close, the giant lobster that had been wildly swinging its claws flinched and paused. Not missing that brief window, the knights leaped toward me simultaneously. The man at the front—a brown-haired leader type who looked quite stiff—bowed ninety degrees the moment our eyes met. Let’s see, his name is Darian?

“Y-you are the Saintess, correct?”

Oh….

“I greet the incarnation of Ralphican!”

How did he know? This was the first time I’d met someone who realized I was the Saintess immediately without any explanation.

‘Ah, wait. He probably figured it out because the monsters are avoiding me.’

Or maybe the protagonist gave him a heads-up. Well, whatever the case, it saved me the trouble of explaining. I waved my hand at the bowing knights and told them to stand up.

“The rampart is on the verge of collapsing. Leave that monster for a moment and come to the wall first.”

“Ah, so that’s how it is! Understood!”

“Is this everyone?”

“Yes! Thirty-five in total!”

Not a huge number, then. Still, it was a relief that there were few enough of them to fit inside the Holy Relic’s defensive zone. It might have actually been dangerous if there were more.

“Stay as close to me as possible and move quick—”

“Pardon the intrusion!”

Darian apologized for the rudeness and suddenly picked me up, beginning a full-out sprint with the other knights. He claimed this was faster. It was only possible because the monsters were clearing a path on their own thanks to the Holy Relic.

‘Why does this keep happening to me?’

However, I didn’t even have time to let my face rot in annoyance before trouble broke out.

“Dammit! The Lictupurum is still following us!”

Are you kidding me? Did the aggro not reset? The lobster was chasing after us like a madman. At this rate, we would be leading that giant thing straight to the rampart.

‘I need to deal with it here.’

Essentially, monsters within the Holy Relic’s range become docile, but that doesn’t mean they’ll just stand there and die quietly if attacked. The answer was clear if I thought back to the “Mother” in Garain County. When it felt murderous intent and couldn’t escape because it was tied to the ground, didn’t it counterattack aggressively?

There was a chance the lobster would retreat on its own once we reached the wall if Edelina’s special bomb was still in effect, but…

‘She did say the gas might not work if the monster’s grade is too high.’

“Commander Darian! If there are no distractions, can you kill that monster?”

…!

Darian’s pupils dilated. He answered immediately without a hint of hesitation.

“It’s possible if we can all attack at the same time!”

‘Then that’s enough.’

“There will be a moment when the monster shows abnormal symptoms as it approaches! That is your chance! Do you understand?!”

“Understood!”

“First, put me down.”

“Ah, yes.”

As soon as Darian put me down, he raised his arm to signal the knights to stop. The knights halted and focused on Darian’s movements. Drawing his sword, Darian pointed it at the giant lobster approaching from a distance and shouted.