Chapter 222. Holy Relic (3)
Orpheus had put the enemy forces to sleep with his lyre, but he couldn’t knock out every demon.
The ones who had been too far away to hear the music were unaffected, and the higher-ranking demons woke up quickly.
“To think you’d put Sargatanas to sleep with such a cheap trick...!”
Among the corpses of demons scattered across the battlefield, a goat-headed demon wildly swung an axe.
“I’ll never forgive you, Constellations...!”
“Hmph!”
The one facing Sargatanas was a slim girl in her late teens.
The ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess,’ Atalanta.
With her exceptional agility, she was dodging every single one of Sargatanas’s attacks.
“You’ll never catch me moving that slowly!”
“Ghk! You little brat...!”
Sargatanas tried to grab Atalanta, but she lightly hopped onto his arm.
“Opening!”
“Ghk!”
Atalanta jumped again.
Her dagger cut into Sargatanas’s right eyelid.
“You rat-like little bitch! I’ll tear you apart with my own hands!”
“Try it if you can! You’re nothing but a big lump!”
Atalanta shouted confidently.
But in truth, the battle wasn’t particularly favorable for her.
She could avoid Sargatanas’s attacks through sheer speed, but she lacked the offensive power to finish him off.
Her dagger could wound him at all only because she was receiving buffs from her allies.
Even with those, dealing serious damage to Sargatanas was difficult.
“Tch...”
Atalanta clicked her tongue as she watched the wound on Sargatanas’s eyelid completely heal in less than a minute.
Sweat was already running down her forehead from constantly dodging his attacks.
“How about this!”
"...!"
Sargatanas suddenly kicked the ground.
A stone protruding from the earth shattered into countless fragments and flew toward Atalanta like buckshot.
“Ghk...!”
Atalanta hurriedly tried to dodge.
But one of the fragments struck her ankle, causing her to fall.
“Got you!”
"...!"
Sargatanas raised his axe over the fallen Atalanta.
“Atalanta...!”
I jumped down from the sky directly above Sargatanas.
Then I drove my sword into the area beside his collarbone.
“Graaagh...!”
I landed on Sargatanas’s shoulder and immediately drew my pistol.
“You bastard...!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets fired from the gun strengthened by the Count of Monte Cristo struck Sargatanas’s head one after another.
They pierced through his demonic defenses and tore through the inside of his skull.
“Guh... aaah...”
Sargatanas staggered with a groan.
I kicked off his shoulder and swung my sword.
His head separated from his body.
“Are you all right, Atalanta?”
“Ah... yeah.”
I approached the fallen Atalanta and held out my hand.
She lowered her head, her face turning red.
“Y-You didn’t need to help me.”
“I see. My apologies.”
“It looked like you hurt your foot, so I stepped in without thinking.”
I deliberately phrased it that way to protect Atalanta’s pride.
Her face turned even redder.
“I’m not really hurt...”
“That’s good.”
Atalanta hesitated before taking my hand and pulling herself up.
“T-There are still plenty of enemies left! I should go take care of them!”
She started rambling to herself, then vanished in an instant.
Watching her retreat, Astolfo descended beside me on his Hippogriff and whistled.
“Your Majesty, you’re pretty smooth. If you were as handsome as me, she would’ve fallen for you instantly.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
I answered and climbed back onto the Hippogriff.
“Right! Up we go again!”
The Hippogriff began climbing back into the sky.
It had terrified me at first, but I was starting to get used to it.
“We’re getting close to the fortress now.”
“Yeah.”
The Knights of the Round Table were beginning their full approach toward the fortress.
Arrows, magic, and other long-range attacks continued raining down from the defenses.
But with Galahad at the front and the shield-bearing knights blocking for everyone, they closed the distance without taking much damage.
“And soon, the lightning should...”
I was scanning the fortress as I muttered.
Then...
a huge explosion suddenly erupted from the ground.
“What was that?”
It wasn’t one of our attacks.
The explosion had come from inside the fortress.
“Isn’t that around the command center?”
“Yeah. Let’s go take a look.”
We flew toward the location of the explosion.
According to the intelligence we had gathered beforehand, the command center and Astaroth’s personal office were located in that area.
The defensive walls there were too thick for a direct assault, so we had begun the attack from other directions.
And yet...
an explosion had suddenly come from that exact spot.
“Your Majesty!”
"...!"
Something enormous was emerging by smashing through the fortress.
No.
Through the ground itself.
“A giant?”
Astolfo tilted his head and spoke casually.
“No, that’s...”
I frowned and stared down.
At first glance, it had the shape of a woman.
But it was difficult to call it an ordinary giant.
The horns growing from both sides of its head made it look demonic.
But there were three horns on the right and two on the left, making them asymmetrical.
And the asymmetry wasn’t limited to its head.
Its right arm had split into two arms.
Its left arm was singular, but had two hands.
A huge blade-like protrusion jutted from its right knee, while its left foot was made entirely of octopus-like tentacles.
“Astolfo, have you ever seen a demon like that?”
“Even demons would look at that thing and say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anyone look more demonic than you.’”
A grotesque creature that looked even more demonic than a demon.
