"Damn it."
He wasn't in a rush, nor was he running. He walked out the gate, opening it like he was simply watching a group of monsters charge.
Behind him, the Luchi brothers followed. The older brother, Luchi, was always muttering "Damn it," like a bad habit.
He did the same now.
"Damn it, be careful. Those things are up to something."
Luchi was wearing studded leather armor with chains added around his waist, making a clinking sound with every step as he followed Enkrid.
The Luchi brothers were strong but not exactly clever.
"Damn it. I came here to buy a crossbow, and now I'm stuck in some colony war."
There were some things that could never be fixed, even if you beat them senseless. And frankly, Luchi didn't even care to fix them.
There were many soldiers with loose lips, and Luchi's constant "Damn it" was at least considered moderate compared to others.
"If we're gonna fight those man-faced dogs, the damn horses will rush in on us!"
Rich, the younger of the two brothers, added from the side. Luchi muttered a creative insult about "those damn horses" under his breath.
"That seems to be the case," Enkrid said, noting the movement of the centaur units.
From the wall, Enkrid had already seen what was going on. He had heard Torres talking excitedly, and now he saw him running behind them, eager to join.
'They're thinking.'
The centaurs were naturally excellent cavalry, and now their numbers were growing, with a 'general' form among them as well. The previous colony leader was merely an "ordinary" type, a capable individual but with no leadership.
The general was different.
Enkrid had never encountered such a creature before. Dangerous monsters like that were hard to see up close unless you were near a battle zone.
But now, as it was in front of him, he just had to watch and understand.
'They split into three groups.'
One was the man-faced dogs and ghouls, another was the main force of centaurs, and the last was a group of horse monsters.
At the moment, as the man-faced dogs and ghouls charged, Enkrid noticed the horse monsters were veering off to one side, possibly intending to strike at the human army's flank.
Several centaurs were leading them, much like commanders leading soldiers.
So, was this a tactical move?
Not really.
It was fairly obvious.
So, why was this difficult to counter?
It wasn't the horse monsters charging that posed the issue. It was the centaur leader standing at the front, unmoving and watching.
Enkrid spoke, concluding his thoughts.
"Rem."
"I know. But... are we drawing him in?" Rem asked, gesturing toward the centaur leader with a tilt of his chin.
It was a question about whether they should fight cautiously.
"No need to," Enkrid replied.
He had thought about it while descending from the wall. Krais had said it was fine to just fight.
A battle of strength. This was exactly what the monsters wanted.
Watching Rem dash forward, Enkrid took a deep breath and shouted.
"Torres! Don't close the gate!"
"... Damn it." Torres was so startled he nearly stopped in his tracks.
"I thought my ears were gonna burst."
Jaxen, having caught up, added his comment.
"Is it really that bad?"
Enkrid replied lightly, watching as Rem swung his axe. Rem's steps were light, and his strikes were merciless.
'So these are the ones that hit my pet?' Rem thought.
If someone asked him if he cared about Dunbakel, Rem would strike them over the head.
Well, if he saw someone mistreating a pet in front of him, he would just watch, but if they got hurt, he would defend them.
After everything was over, he'd scold the one who hurt the pet.
"Wanna play with me, huh?"
That was his mood now.
The man-faced dogs charging at him seemed half-mad.
But Rem didn't care.
He saw the red eyes of the man-faced dogs, eyes with no sense of boundaries, and heard their frantic cries.
As they drew near, Rem crossed his arms over his chest. He then flexed his arm muscles and swung his axe.
The crossed arms spread out, and the axe whipped through the air, slashing without hesitation.
The trajectory of the axes cut through the heads and bodies of the ghouls and man-faced dogs.
With a loud crunch, the axe cleaved through them like dry twigs.
A spray of black blood burst out around him, like ink spilled from a broken bottle.
Red eyes popped out, and sharp teeth shattered. Bones cracked as the axe sliced through bodies and severed limbs.
The air was thick with black blood, swirling like rain in the wind.
"Let's have some fun."
Rem muttered, then began swinging his axes vertically.
With each down swing, another man-faced dog or ghoul's head flew into the air.
Swinging up, then down, up, then down.
He spun on his heel, and once again, heads and limbs of the enemies flew overhead.
What could be said?
Rem was just Rem.
"Damn it."
A former Martaian soldier, watching from behind, cursed under his breath as he saw Rem in action.
"Are we really about to fight these things?"
It was hard to believe, even as they watched. It felt like a continuous string of unbelievable events.
At some point, Rem's axe was barely visible; only the monsters that were torn apart or severed, flying in different directions, could be seen.
In an instant, more than twenty creatures were torn apart, dismembered, and exploded in various directions.
It seemed like Rem had eight arms, the way his movements flowed without pause. His legs never stopped either.
Before long, he had strayed far from the rest of the army and plunged into the midst of the man-faced dogs, creating chaos.
The shrieks of the man-faced dogs filled the air.
One of the soldiers nearby muttered in awe, "He fights like a monster."
"Are you just going to watch?"
Zimmer shouted from behind.
He was just as startled. While he didn't think of Enkrid as the only monster, no one could have anticipated that the axe-wielding Rem could be this much of a monster.
Suddenly, a harpy screamed and circled in the air, one of the many creatures that had caused numerous casualties over the last few days.
Zimmer, limping, glared at the sky and shouted, "Shoot!"
A few archers who were skilled in their craft loosed their arrows into the air, but it was pointless. There were only a few hits, and even then, the harpy's tough hide repelled most of the arrows.
Then one of the harpies dove down toward them.
Zimmer's eyes caught the harpy's descent as it plunged toward Rem, who was still fighting among the man-faced dogs.
"Watch out!" Zimmer yelled, about to throw a spear himself.
'Damn it, what is that?'
Zimmer couldn't close his mouth after what he saw next.
The harpy descended, and Rem, who had been fighting off enemies from all directions, stopped momentarily, planted one hand on the ground, and kicked into the air, crossing his legs.
The kick landed squarely on the harpy's head.
Boom!
The head exploded, sending black blood splattering in all directions. The harpy's body rolled, crushing several man-faced dogs as it tumbled.
"Ugh!"
A man-faced dog cried out as it was crushed under the harpy's body, but Rem quickly righted himself and kicked the head of the dog trapped underneath.
Boom!
The power and precision of his moves were terrifying.
How could he pull off such moves?
Zimmer was relieved he wasn't the one fighting him.
But before he could dwell on it, the ground started to shake.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rhythmic thuds of approaching hooves began, signaling the start of a familiar tactic.
The man-faced dogs were thrown forward as meat shields, and the horse monsters charged in behind them.
At the head of the charge were three centaurs, wielding thick wooden clubs in their hands. They weren't professional weapons, but more like hastily prepared clubs made from thick branches in the forest.
Even so, they were threatening enough. A blow from them would easily crush the skull of an average soldier.
"Hold the line!" Zimmer shouted, aware that the battle had now escalated.
Though the battle had started unexpectedly, now it was clear that something needed to be done immediately.
Zimmer didn't think they would lose.
'Crazy bastards.'
He assumed they had faith in their abilities, which was why they had taken the risk.
More than anything, seeing their strength firsthand, he couldn't imagine Rem dying from a mere bite of a man-faced dog.
Now, the rest of the unit just had to hold their ground, killing and wounding the man-faced dogs and ghouls, pushing back the attacking wolf monsters.
Just as Zimmer had hoped, Enkrid sent Audin to handle the charge.
"Go stop them, Audin, Teresa."
"Yes, Brother. We'll knock their asses back," Audin replied.
Without another word, Teresa followed him silently.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunderous sound of the horse monsters' charge filled the air, followed by the loud pounding of hooves.
This wasn't just any charge; it was a charge from monsters, not humans.
The border defense unit and the regular soldiers of the Martaian forces braced themselves, grinding their teeth in preparation.
'Damn it, here they come again.'
They needed to stop them. In the midst of this, two large figures stepped forward to block the way.
One of the defenders recognized Audin.
"A priest?"
"Just because something comes out of your mouth doesn't mean it's true. Is that my title, Brother?" Audin replied without even looking back.
The defender was taken aback, impressed by how sharp Audin's hearing was.
Once the two large figures blocked the way, an odd sense of calm settled in. With their imposing stature, it was hard not to feel reassured.
But what was with the woman?
Her massive frames didn't seem human, and even standing next to Audin, her heads and shoulders loomed high, giving the impression they could never be moved.
"Move to the right."
Audin said, his voice calm.
"Understood," Teresa responded.
With their large figures and shields, they were in perfect formation, ready to block the charge.
Could they really stop the horses' charge alone with just their shields?
The sound of thunder grew louder.
The charge of the horse monsters was fearfully fast. The moment they came into view, they were already right in front of them.
There was no time to think about their size. One of the defenders threw a spear just before the monsters reached them.
The spear, propelled with all the defender's might, struck the head of one of the horse monsters.
Thud!
One creature collapsed, hoping to take a few others down with it, but as it fell, the remaining beasts swiftly leapt over its fallen body.
The speed of their reactions was terrifying.
Then, the mace of the lead Centaur struck the shield of the bulky figure with a mask.
Bang!
The defenders could not immediately understand what had happened.
The Centaur, having struck the shield, lost its balance, teetering sideways and nearly falling.
In that instant, the masked figure naturally sliced down with a sword at the approaching beast's head.
That wasn't the end, though.
As the sword was withdrawn, the figure attached the shield to their body and shoved the charging beast aside.
It was a repetitive and systematic motion.
They shoved the beast to the right and swung the sword, pushing it away.
"What is that?"
It was at least the strength of a mid-tier knight.
Even without 'Will', the person who inherited the blood of a hybrid giant fought with precision.
In fact, Enkrid hadn't even unleashed all of Teresa's abilities.
It was with meeting Enkrid that Teresa discovered the joy of handling a sword and fighting.
The original Teresa had been worthy of the giant's nickname.
She was a red-blooded beast, another term for a giant.
"Ha!"
A husky shout erupted as a beast slammed into her shield, and it was knocked to the side, stumbling away.
She stood firm, deflecting the blow with the shield as her feet scraped backward.
Despite the force, her arms didn't break, nor did her stance falter.
She withstood the beast's charge with sheer power.
"The gates of heaven have opened!"
Her performance was astounding, but the religious zealot's figure was even more impressive.
What seemed like a slow, lumbering body soared into the air.
It rose and landed atop a descending beast, swinging a mace down upon its head.
Wham!
The beast let out a brief scream before dying, and the zealot jumped off its fallen body, thrusting the mace into another approaching beast's head.
Wham! Crack!
The impact ripped the beast's skull and spine out of its body, sending the remains flying through the air, spraying blood.
The zealot moved through the midst of the charging beasts, swinging the mace without stopping.
Rather than just blocking the charge, they were actively killing.
At the same time, they intended to push the left side of the charge.
Though a few beasts managed to strike allies, the previous three days of fighting made the new attacks feel almost insignificant.
"Is this the time to watch?" a voice called.
Turning, Enkrid saw a soldier with reddish-brown hair, wearing a round helmet.
It was a Madmen unit member.
At his feet, a Centaur lay bleeding, having been knocked away earlier.
The creature, with its incredible sense of balance, had attempted to rise again, but a blade had already pierced its neck and was swiftly withdrawn.
"Fight. That's your job," said Jaxen, choosing only the words that fit.
"Counterattack!"
A shout from Torres echoed from behind.
Two massive beasts split the charging group, scattering the herd of horse-beasts.
There was no time to watch now.
"Fire!"
Charging together would be dangerous, but what if the enemy's flank was exposed?
There was no beast easier to fight than one with a weak side.
Those armed with bows, crossbows, and slingshots all launched their projectiles.
Arrows flew, stones whizzed through the air, and by chance, a bolt pierced a beast's eye.
Enkrid surveyed the situation, using all his senses.
'When will it come?'
He focused on the one in front, trying to target it.
Wasn't this the one that would end the fight?
Though things hadn't gone this badly before, the gates had been opened wide, and a chaotic brawl had broken out.
The leader of the beasts had no intention of retreating.
Most of all, the creature hadn't yet shown the 'killing intent' that had made it so dangerous.
Enkrid's anticipation quickly became reality.
"Kyoo-yoo-ot!"
The Centaurs, the main force of the enemy, surged forward in a third wave.
The tactic the beasts employed was a three-wave assault.
The first wave drew attention, the second wave dealt damage, and the third wave crushed the enemy.
Simple, yet effective if the strength advantage was clear.
The third wave charged forward, unstoppable.
Enkrid unsheathed his sword and stepped forward.
His position had always been at the junction between his army's center and the enemy's main force.
Ragna stood by his side.
"The killing intent of the beast is overwhelming."
Unlike the soldiers whose courage faltered at the approaching beasts, Ragna's tone remained steady.
It was calm, cutting through the muffled sounds of hooves with crystal clarity.
"Yeah."
Enkrid responded.
Then, the leader of the Centaurs, holding a glaive, bellowed and rushed at them.
"Kiiaa!"
Enkrid felt a force, something intense, reach him.
It was like the gaze of a cat trapping a mouse.
A chilling killing intent consumed his body, overwhelming the surrounding soldiers.
The pressure and killing intent spread fear of death throughout the area.
But Enkrid rejected it all.
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