Chapter 48: Recapture of Fort Kaime

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Translator: Soafp

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“Fire, fire, fire!! Kill them before the monsters get any closer!!”

“Hey, you idiot!! Don't fire the ballista yet—wait until they're closer!! Ammo is limited!!”

“Who are you calling an idiot!! If you've got time to talk, throw some rocks, dumbass!!”

Shouts and curses flew across the battlefield.

After Lidiel unleashed her rain of light arrows, a massive number of monsters poured out of Kaime Fortress.

The soldiers of the vanguard force moved to intercept them.

Ballista bolts, stones hurled with slings, and rocks launched from catapults rained down upon the advancing monsters.

Weak monsters like goblins and kobolds were dealt fatal blows in a single hit, but…

“G–Giant Horn!!”

Someone shouted.

Emerging from Kaime Fortress was a four-legged monster with enormous horns.

At a glance it looked like a rhinoceros, but its entire body was pitch black, red veins bulging across its surface, pulsing grotesquely with a thump-thump rhythm.

A rock fired from a catapult flew straight at the charging beast, only to be shattered head-on by its horn.

“D–damn it!! We can't stop the Giant Horn!!”

“I'll take it down!! Everyone else, focus on the other monsters!!”

Lidiel raised her crossbow and fired.

The arrow flew straight and pierced the creature through the crown of its head, killing it instantly.

Wow. She took it down in one shot. Amazing.

“Still…”

The monsters screamed their death cries.

Watching living beings die right in front of me honestly didn't feel very good.

But there was no helping it.

Unlike demonkind with intelligence comparable to humans, monsters that think of nothing but devouring people are nothing more than dangerous beasts.

There's no reason to let them live.

If we lose, we're the ones who'll be killed—so we have no choice but to kill them.

“Gah!? That monster just used magic!!”

“A Goblin Mage!!”

“Focus fire on monsters that can use magic!!”

When some of the monsters counterattacked with magic, dozens of soldiers were injured.

This was my cue.

“Fuhahaha!! Extra Heal and Mind Up!!”

I ran from one wounded soldier to another, casting healing and mental enhancement magic.

The result—

“W–whoa!? W–what the hell!?”

“I can feel power welling up from deep inside my body!?”

“I don't know why, but I feel way stronger now—muki!!”

The wounded soldiers immediately returned to the front lines.

And among them, about one in several had powered up into full-on muscle-bound hulks.

It really does seem that when Extra Heal and Mind Up are used together, for some reason a certain percentage of people end up getting ridiculously buff.

Even though Mind Up is just supposed to boost morale…

Maybe for people with especially strong beliefs, it affects the body itself.

I'll need to research this further.

“H–hey!! Some of our troops just suddenly got super buff!!?”

“It is fine!! Probably!!”

“!?”

I've tested it many times—after a few hours, they return to normal.

There don't seem to be any health issues afterward either. If I had to put it in game terms, it's probably like receiving a temporary buff. I think. Maybe.

“We're out of ballista bolts!!”

“We've used up all the rocks for the catapults!!”

“Ballista units and catapult units, join the sling throwers!! Don't let them get close!!”

The battle was going smoothly.

At least, it was a stalemate until we ran out of ballista bolts and catapult ammunition…

“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“Eek!?”

“W–what is that thing!?”

“I've never seen anything like it!!”

From beyond the walls of Kaime Fortress, a massive winged creature appeared, flapping its wings as it rose into view.

It was a grotesque monster with the heads of a lion and a goat, and a serpent for a tail.

What the hell is that…

“That's a Chimera!? T–this is bad!! All units, fall back immediately!!”

“…Lidiel-sama, what is a Chimera?”

“It's a monster that copies the traits of whatever it eats!! It shouldn't even be living in this area!!”

Copies what it eats?

“What happens if a Chimera eats a human?”

“Huh? Um, I've heard that if it copies a creature with high intelligence, its ego gets overtaken, so it rarely copies humans, but…”

What a disgusting ecology.

But if it doesn't copy human heads, then this should still be manageable.

I stepped out in front of the vanguard.

“H–hey, you!! It's dangerous!!”

Lidiel shouted for me to come back, but there was no problem.

I hurled my silver chain.

“GROAA!?”

“An artifact chain cannot be broken, can it? Now!! Lidiel-sama, take it down while you can!!”

“Eh? Ah—y–yes!! Got it!!”

With the Chimera bound tightly by the silver chain and unable to move, Lidiel took careful aim and finished it off.

“…That was surprisingly easy.”

“Indeed.”

“W–well, for now it doesn't seem like any more monsters are coming out of Kaime Fortress, so… let's move in and secure it!!”

“““Yes!!”””

The vanguard force stormed into Kaime Fortress, wiping out the few monsters that remained inside.

Just like that, the recapture of Kaime Fortress was complete.

With only a thousand soldiers and not a single casualty, Lidiel had achieved a flawless victory.

“This is our victory!!”

“““OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!”””

Lidiel declared triumphantly.

“…No way… did we really do this? Just us?”

“Idiot!! It's all thanks to Lidiel!!”

“Uuugh, sniff… I think this is the first time I've ever done something I can be proud of…”

The soldiers of the vanguard praised each other's efforts, tears streaming down their faces.

Yeah. I get it. I'd be happy too.

“Fufu, then let's immediately send the good news to Hange Fortress—!?”

At that moment—

Lidiel suddenly turned, her expression fierce, raising her crossbow in a flash.

Its aim was fixed on the top of the defensive wall surrounding Kaime Fortress.

But there was nothing there. Lidiel stared for a moment, then slowly lowered her guard.

“What is it, Lidiel-sama?”

“Just now, I thought I sensed someone on the wall… no, it must have been my imagination.”

Still wary, Lidiel proceeded to send word to Hange Fortress about the recapture of Kaime Fortress.

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“Mmnh!! I just got back from a walk and—what is that girl, what is that girl, what is that girl!! She looks absolutely delicious!! I want to eat her!! I want to suck every last bit of her flesh and blood down to the marrow of her bones!! Mmnh!!”

On a plain some distance from Kaime Fortress, a beautiful woman let out a shrill cry.

Zenapart, White Church Cardinal of ‘Gluttony,' twisted her mouth into a crescent smile, drool dripping as she fixed her gaze on her next prey.

“Lidiel, that girl's name is Lidiel. Mmnh!! I wonder what she tastes like, how cute her face will be when she's in despair. Mmnh!! I can't stop getting excited!! No, no!! Calm down!! It would be such a waste to eat her in one bite!! I have to act carefully so no one interferes!!”

Zenapart wore a blissful smile, like a maiden in love.

An innocent, yet wicked smile.

And so, in order to savor every drop of the girl called Lidiel—her heart, her brain, even a single drop of her blood—Zenapart set her plan into motion.