Chapter 195: The Warriors

After the chaos on the Pochisley Agency’s side had died down, in front of the east gate, Duncan was shouting in a wild rampage.

“NWOOOOHHHHHHHH!!”

The lump of metal of a battleaxe, wielded so easily in his left hand alone, pinned down the movement of the Kaiser Rex’s gigantic tail.

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

Charlie saw that, despite Blazer’s face showing some fatigue as the latter provided support from the sides, his movements became sharper every time he matched up with the Kaiser Rex’s actions.

“GAHAHAHAHAHA! As expected from Argent’s bloodline! The favorite among the Silver General! I finally got to see your power for certain with my own two eyes!”

As for Charlie the Thousand Morphing Blade himself, he stood in the most dangerous location of all: directly in front of the Kaiser Rex.

His greatsword, despite having been swung countless times since the beginning of the battle, still showed not even a sign of blunting.

And that was not to mention his opponent, the Kaiser Rex, a monster with powers on the rank of SS.

In the midst of the conflict, Blazer was astonished by Charlie’s movements. He started trying to imitate the latter’s actions, incorporating them into his own moves.

[Relax the tension in this timing… I see. Lower strength focus in arms, higher in feet. Two actions in conjunction with each other add to the centrifugal force, boosting speed.]

Charlie, noticing that Blazer’s movements were becoming more and more refined, grinned and exclaimed,

“GAHAHAHAHA! This is how it’s done!”

[And here, full power in every muscle… all right. Still too early for me to pull off, but I’ll get there one of these days…]

Caught between the Kaiser Rex’s display of its sharp fangs and Charlie’s competitive intimidation, the whole battlefield briefly froze in place.

The only one who did not let that moment go to waste was Beilanea’s so-called Gatekeeper.

“Uhuhuhu, got’cho butt~♪ NWOOOOHHHHHHHH!!”

A straight slash down on the monster’s tail, and it came right off.

The severed tail crashed onto the ground, shaking the earth.

“GWOOOOHHHHHHHH?!”

The Kaiser Rex showed a look of intense pain on its face.

And as it raised its head away from Charlie’s greatsword, Blazer used Charlie’s shoulder as a springboard, leaping up and slipping through the monster’s fangs.

Taking advantage of the momentary opening, he followed up with the Aerial Dancer. Spinning in midair, he cleanly cut off one of the Kaiser Rex’s arms.

“The audacity of this man, casually using me as a springboard! Even the other Six Braves wouldn’t dare do that! Now, Sir Blazer! Try again!”

Charlie shouted to Blazer and jumped up as well, then extended his greatsword forward so that the latter could hop off it.

That allowed for an instant change of direction in midair. Charlie’s physical strength added to the flowing coordination. The Kaiser Rex was unable to strike back as it lost its other arm to Blazer.

The monster’s cry of grief covered the field, startling all the monsters in the area.

The other adventurers, Mana included, shouted in unison and intensified their attack like a tidal wave.

“GAHAHAHAHA! The little ones, too… seems we’re almost done here!”

Charlie’s eyes sparkled slightly as he looked back.

“Maybe we should get its legs next~♪”

Duncan, standing behind the Kaiser Rex, muttered as he swung his battleaxe around.

“Why not get straight to its neck?”

Balzer asked as he stood on the ground drenched in blood, courtesy of the wounds he had just inflicted on the monster.

“GA… GARRR……”

The Kaiser Rex’s voice transitioned from menacing to trembling.

For the first time ever, the monster felt trapped and terrified by the three pairs of eyes around it.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

In front of the north gate, Bruce was sent flying by a swing of the Ogre Queen’s spear.

“WHOA?!”

Just as he landed, he was shouted at by Betty,

“Stop messing around!”

“I wasn’t! That thing’s actually strong!”

Betty and Dallas had already taken care of all the Assault Wyverns. They were fighting the rest of the monsters, but then decided to go to Bruce’s aid.

Knowing that Bruce would never make a joke in such a situation, they immediately changed plans and moved to surround the Ogre Queen.

The Ogre Queen, as if in response to the three’s presence, had a black, ominous aura exude from beneath its feet.

“Oh, I see… So it’s started to take effect on Rank S monster now.”

“A monster covered in a black aura… the Inspirited.”

“Yup, makes sense that my brother can’t take it by himself.”

“Hell no! This thing’s rank is already high, so it’s not like its gonna increase its rank much – whoa?!”

The Ogre Queen swung its spear.

Bruce promptly deflected it… which knocked it away in Dallas’ direction.

“Ah, sorry…”

“For the love of God…!”

Dallas heaved a sigh and also deflected it, this time sending it upward. With the monster’s right flank now open, Betty slipped under it.

But at that moment, the Ogre Queen’s belly inflated… and promptly deflated.

What followed was an emission of white-ish gas into the surroundings. Betty, with her mind registering that as ‘poison,’ decided to fall back.

She flipped over and leaped backward, and was joined by Bruce and Dallas. The latter two’s faces twisted in discomfort.

“What the hell?! That thing just farted!”

“You should have just kept going and landed some hits.”

“I thought it was poisonous! Besides, I didn’t want to be covered in that… that thing! Gah, that move’s not fitting for a ‘queen’ at all, damn it…!”

Betty proceeded to make her move, the speed at which she was going made her silhouette flicker like a heat haze.

Realizing what Betty was aiming for, Bruce whispered to Dallas,

“Welp, Betty’s in a bad mood. Watch out for when she throws a dagger – then knock it right back to her.”

“What?”

“Just give it a try. You might get to see something cool.”

“Hmph, alright. You two are an entertaining pair, if anything…”

Dallas nodded, and at the same time, the Ogre Queen made its move, tired of trying to see through Betty’s mysterious movements.

It swung its spear to pin Betty down with it.

The spear shattered the ground, but the Ogre Queen did not realize that Betty had actually dodged it.

Then it noticed that Betty was in the air, her silhouette darkened by the flashes of lightning in the sky. The monster swung its spear upward.

The swing should have swept Betty right out of the air, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Then, Dallas saw Betty spinning, and realized what was up.

[She just grabbed that spear, despite its speed…!]

Holding on to the tip of the spear, and using the momentum from the ongoing swing, Betty was spinning in the air as if she was flying in a corkscrew maneuver.

“Here it comes!”

“Hmm-!”

Just as Bruce called out, Betty took a dagger from the holster on her chest.

Making use of the momentum of the rotation, she proceeded to throw it, hitting the Ogre Queen.

Then the dagger bounced off, Bruce deflected it right back at Betty, and she grabbed it and threw it at the Ogre Queen again.

In the midst of the heavy rain, the speed at which the Ogre Queen sustained injuries made it look as if the monster was being hit by a rain of blades instead.

Then, when Bruce saw a metallic glow on Betty’s waist, he gave Dallas the final signal.

“That’s it! Smash-slash!”

With the surface of his sword, he delivered a powerful blow to the Ogre Queen’s waist, sending its gigantic body flying towards Dallas.

“Hmph!”

Dallas side-stepped the body while inflicting countless sword slashes on it, then topped them off with a Gamma Thrash at its core, dealing massive damage.

Using the momentum of Bruce’s attack, Dallas shredded out a massive wound, knocking the Ogre Queen to the ground.

“Heh! I knew I could count on you! -Whoa, wait?!”

Bruce saw Betty hopping onto the Ogre Queen’s body despite its most likely already being dead.

“Seventh Lunge!”

She repeatedly and precisely stabbed the Ogre Queen’s back with her dagger, eventually piercing through its body.

Bruce, feeling a chill run through his body despite being on a battlefield, looked on at his little sister and muttered a few words.

“What the hell… you an Ogre or somethin’?”

“Hmph, the only Ogre here is the one I’m stabbing.”

“…So merciless.”

Even the Scarlet Blade could not help but make that remark. Betty, running off while picking up some of the fallen daggers that were still usable, eventually disappeared into the remaining horde of monsters.

“Man… a fart shouldn’t make someone that angry… I think.”

“Her rage is on her own scale… Fitting for a ‘Silver Tiger,’ I suppose.”

“Yeah, right… Well, let’s go! We gotta clear out the rest of ’em!”

Dallas nodded and swiped the blood off his sword, and then proceeded to charge straight into the wave of monsters.

Bruce rested his greatsword on his shoulder, looked up at the sky, and saw that the rain had started to subside.

“Oh yeah, those guys… Wonder what they’re up to now.”