It’s Ko-Fi’s Supporters’ chapter (125/130), enjoy~
ED: LonelyMatter
Part 2
Near the castle, where the Ishtalika fleet stood shoulder-to-shoulder, Lily was leading the knights and guiding the evacuation.
Duke Amour of Euro was also there, and he, too, was following Lily’s lead.
“Lily-dono, is everything alright with you?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. To put it bluntly, we don’t understand what’s going on either. For now, please give top priority to evacuation!”
Duke Amour, who may be the leader of a country, bowed his head to Lily at the end.
Lily replied loosely and ordered the knights to lead Duke Amour inside the battleship.
Currently, there were three Ishtalika battleships in Euro.
Many refugees were sheltered in these, including Duke Amour, who had just been guided to the ship. Since many people have already boarded the battleships, Lily and the knights of Ishtalika are busy checking the situation.
“Lily-sama, I am reporting to you. The evacuation situation has been going well since our arrival.”
“Oh! That’s great news!”
“But the number of casualties before our arrival is uncountable. …Countless bodies are lying all over town, more than we have ever seen before.”
And, the knight continued,
“Please take a look at this.”
With these words, the knight opened the leather bag in his hand and took out the contents.
Inside was a dead rat the size of a large dog.
“Is this harassment?”
“No, that’s not it. Please check it carefully.”
Lily was about to say, “That’s disgusting,” when she saw the rat’s belly.
As she looked at the rat’s belly, she noticed its abnormal body.
“──I’ve never seen anything like it.”
There was a huge jet-black magic stone on the belly that didn’t match the body, and vein-like stripes were extending from it to the whole body.
“The magic stone, which is supposed to be the weak point of the body… is floating on the body’s surface like this.”
“We have already destroyed the magic stone with the sword. The brain has also been destroyed at the same time, so there is nothing to worry about.”
“Yes. That’s better.”
“And… one of our knights was killed by this rat.”
Lily’s body twitched, and for the first time, her face turned red with surprise.
“Continue.”
With a cold stare at the carcass, she urged him to continue.
The knights brought to Euro were not weak at all. It was no wonder that the knight was inferior to the royal knights, but they were still considered to be the best knights in the world. That is why she could not believe that such a rat could defeat them.
“The whole body has atrophied from being bitten by this rat. If I were to use an analogy, it would be as if all the liquid in the body had been absorbed.”
It was unimaginable.
“As soon as we arrived, we found out that the town was under attack by something. This creature was the entity that had been lurking in the darkness and attacking the people. We burned many of them down with our magic tools, but they are so numerous that we have not been able to destroy them.”
“So, if it is alone, it is not enough to be feared?”
“Yes. But there are still too many of them. In addition, we have confirmed that there are other individuals───”
Then the knight pulled out another carcass.
“What is it, a rabbit this time?”
“Yes, and like the rats, it also has a magic stone.”
On the chest of the giant rabbit, as in the case of the rat, a huge magic stone could be seen.
“In this case, although there is no report that the knight was killed, it showed the same biting gesture.”
“──Tch.”
Lily clicked her tongue grimly and started biting her nails.
Even Lily, who knew a lot about monsters, had no idea what kind of rat or rabbit would look like this. The fact that it occurred so suddenly, she didn’t even know what was affecting it.
“Then how can we go to Heim… to get Elena-sama…?”
Even though the original purpose of coming to Euro was to make contact with Elena.
This meant she’ll have her hands full guiding the evacuation of the people of the friendly nation of Euro and dealing with hostile creatures.
As she pondered whether she should report to her home country and ask for reinforcements, a new knight came along and kneeled before her.
“Heim’s knights are engaging in a battle in the castle town! But, unfortunately, it appears that they have been attacked already!”
Huh? She almost let out a pitiful sound, but she stopped herself on the brink.
At the same time, she found hope that maybe…
“Who is the one being attacked? Did you see their faces?”
“We have not been able to confirm that much! However, we have heard that it was a group including a woman! I’ve already sent the knights!”
“Let me go too! You lead the way!”
Lily was confident in her physical strength. Although she was in a unit that mainly engaged in covert activities, she was proud of her swordsmanship, which was as good as that of royal knights.
Still, it was depressing to see the castle town of Euro now. Everywhere she looked, the bodies lying around were all the gruesome corpses that the knights had reported. All of them were in the same bizarre state as the Ishtalika knight, who was the victim, as if their entire bodies had been squeezed out.
Lily, while raising her eyebrows at the scene around her.
She turned her attention to those from Heim, whom the knight said he had seen.
“They were almost in sight!”
“Then hurry up!”
“Understood…! But please be careful, Lily-sama! This area is calm, but you never know when they might come at you from the shadows!”
“I know that too! Don’t worry about me!”
Shortly after, from the collapsed house.
“──Ki-kiki!”
A huge rat jumped at her just as Lily finished her sentence.
When the knight turned around, it was already just before it bit Lily on the neck.
Knowing it was too late, he drew his sword and raised it to help Lily, who seemed oblivious.
He should have been more alert.
As the knight’s lips twisted in heartfelt regret, the rat’s skull suddenly split in two as it leaped up.
“Verify.”
“Lily-sama… what on earth!”
“Nothing. I just threw a knife.”
At which moment she threw it, nobody could tell.
“G-good work.”
The knight praised Lily’s skill and then approached the rat with trepidation. He used his sword to flip the rat over and looked at the magic stone in its abdomen.
It was weak and blinked repeatedly.
“It is a reaction to the loss of magic power. It will soon die out.”
“Good… It looks like we can kill it just by crushing its head.”
───Burn it! Don’t worry about the house!
───No, there’s no end to it! We’d better get back to the ship!
The voices of the knights could be heard from a distance.
The situation seemed to be troublesome enough, but considering that the person she was looking for might be there, she was willing to put up with the slowness.
“It seems there is an engagement going on over there.”
“Just in time. But, hmm… what to do?”
This battlefield was a struggle and not a good one.
Then, let’s not leave it out.
Lily fished around in the chest and muttered, “I wonder if I have anything.” She had some highly lethal items, but there were her people and those of Heim in there.
If she threw away a dangerous item, she could not guarantee everyone’s life.
“Oh, here it is, here it is.”
It was fortunate that she had just the right item.
After nodding a few times, she picked up a black ball about five centimeters in diameter.
“…Eh, uhee.”
As she stepped further, she sympathized with the voices of the knights from earlier.
Not only the rats and rabbits of the example but also several kinds of insects, including a large moth, were at large around this perimeter, surrounding the knights as if they were pushing in.
Upon closer inspection, the knights were fighting to protect something.
“Elena-sama, you were right to go to Euro. Well, I don’t quite understand why that prince is here.”
Among those being protected were the wounded Heim knights and servants, as well as Elena and Tigre’s group.
However, no matter how powerful the Ishtalika knights were, they seem to be outnumbered and struggling, and the battle while protecting them is getting tougher and tougher.
“Let’s help them right away, shall we?”
Lily, after confirming the situation, took a deep breath.
“──Charge!”
Hearing her voice echoing across the battlefield, the knights all grabbed their shields at once. The knights used their shields to strike the attacking creatures and create a distance between them and then retracted their swords to create a wall with no gaps between their shields.
From the point of view of Elena and the others who were being protected, an iron wall was created in an instant.
“Close your eyes!”
Hearing the next command, everyone closed their eyes at once.
Immediately, a black ball was thrown and exploded in front of the knights with a powerful flash.
A roaring sound also frightened the mysterious creatures.
“…Kuh… Elena… that was…!”
“Your Highness! Please don’t move!”
Perhaps startled by the sudden noise, Elena and Tigre also cowered, holding their ears.
Lily did not miss the chance to quickly rush to Elena’s side as the creatures that had attacked them were neutralized.
“Someone carry this prince over here! I’ll carry this one! Then, the rest of you carry them properly, and run away, run away!”
They all ran at once, aiming for the Ishtalika battleship.
“Who are you?”
Elena raised a slightly frightened voice.
“Yes, yes. It’s your favorite Lily!”
Even if she tried to answer… Elena, whose ears are numb, would not hear her. The flashbang also hit her directly, and she could open her eyes only dimly and be flailing about, restless and agitated.
Tigre, on the other hand, was surprisingly quiet.
“…He’s easy, isn’t he?”
“──Yeah… you’re right.”
Tigre, who was being carried, may have been knocked out of his wits, or perhaps he was overwhelmed by surprise.
He was being carried quietly, seemingly unconscious.
“I will start throwing red bullets now, so everyone watches your backs.”
Hearing the order, the knights who were also retreating nodded in unison. Lily then pulled out from her pocket a bright red crystal ball. It was translucent like a magic stone, with a red smoke-like substance wriggling inside.
When she tossed it at random, a crimson pillar of fire rose high into the sky.
Elena, who saw it with eyes that were still only dimly open, learned here the identity of the pillar of fire she had seen outside the castle town.
“…So it was Lily who saved us.”
“I see that you have finally noticed. But it was the knights who saved you; I’m just being nice.”
“Tell me, what happened to Euro?”
“You are so abrupt. I understand your concern, but I will explain later. This is not a good place to talk.”
──Ki.
──Ka-kakaka…
After all, burning hurts, doesn’t it?
The cries of the burning creatures behind them pricked their ears and then faded away. Perhaps frightened by the vicious column of fire, there was no sign of any further pursuit.
It was only a few minutes later that the group was able to escape from the castle town, a scene of utter devastation.
Thanks for the chapter
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