A few hours passed after waking up.
There was some food left over yesterday so, after we got up, we had that for breakfast.
The girls got dressed and were a little shy.
It's totally different than with those two as they were never embarrassed.
Celia made a cover up for Evelyn's dress which was torn in a few places, I gave her my jacket to cover up while we got back.
Once we were ready, we heard a noise.
"What is that?"
I asked confused as it was clearly audible.
Celia said me.
"Could it be a celebration for the end of the war?"
If so, why don't we hear shouts of happiness?
◇◇◇
"Haa... haa..."
Emily was getting up very shakily.
Blood was dripping from her forehead and down her eyes.
Her armor was almost completely shattered.
All around her lay dead bodies.
Jerome lay with a broken arm near a rock.
Emily raised her gaze and saw the one responsible for this.
"... All along it was always his plan this..."
That being... looked uninterestedly at Emily.
◇◇◇
A few hours ago.
Gerald summoned all the knights and adventurers to a specific area.
They all thought it was part of a surprise gift for what they did.
Yukihime was among them.
"I wonder what it is?"
She came due to the fact that she thought Razel would be here.
Since yesterday she hadn't seen him and that worried her a lot.
Emily was by her side, she was babysitting her since Yukihime's outfit was very provocative despite being a traditional attire.
"It has a lot of slits..."
Emily unintentionally muttered that. On the day of the party, she and Yukihime met.
Yukihime was the one who prepared certain snacks and at the same time was eating them.
That impressed Emily who understood where all that sugar was going when she saw her.
Jerome spoke after standing on a rock.
"Well, you're all wondering what you're doing here. The truth is, so am I."
"I was informed to tell you all to come, but I don't know the reason."
Then a knight raised his voice.
"Guild master, there is nothing here. Nor anyone."
"That's right! We came thinking there would be a victory celebration."
"I didn't eat anything thinking I'd be filled with a feast."
Jerome had mixed feelings as they were right.
(This doesn't make sense.)
(There's nothing here, why did the lord of this land send for us?)
(We should have left for home long ago, but we stayed because he said he would reward us).
While Jerome was lost in his confused thoughts, someone visualized something in the distance.
"Ah. Look."
"Err... yes, I see something approaching."
"Could it be the surprise we were promised?"
The adventurers and knights who were intrigued by the oddity of being summoned were now cheerful because it seems they weren't fooled.
But that smile didn't last at all.
The same person who shouted that something was approaching reported.
"I-it can't be... guild master, look!"
Jerome used a binocular and observed what was coming from in front of him.
Cold sweat ran down his bald head as he reported.
"Retreat! Everyone run to the carriages back!"
"It's an enemy attack! A horde of monsters is heading straight for us at high speed!"
Everyone's smiles were wiped off at that instant.
◇◇◇
A castle in the vicinity of the territory.
Standing there looking out the window, was Taylor as he rubbed his big belly.
"They should be arriving by now, shouldn't they?"
He was asking his bodyguard, Estarossa, who was painting her nails lilac.
"Yes. After dropping them off near a place where they won't be seen, I blew the flute and the mind control spell was broken. Everyone but that big boy, he's the one who should be in control."
"I still don't understand our role here."
"You were the one who accepted the payment, I didn't. Besides, it doesn't matter what our role actually was. We'll go home once we catch him again."
"Is that monster really that important?"
Estarossa looked uninterestedly at Taylor before replying.
"You're kidding right? That monster is listed as an A+++ or S level threat."
"Losing such a resource would be bad for us. I'm sure the emperor will reward it when he sees the wonders it did on the battlefield."
Taylor rubbed his chin in response.
"You're right. But a monster is still a monster."
"True, but that monster to capture him, 10,000 brave soldiers from our country had to give their lives."
"That many!"
Taylor asked sweating, Estarossa without turning to look at him answered.
"Of course they did. I'm not kidding. What's more, either dressing him or feeding him is very expensive, he's an alpha for a reason."
"Alpha? What's that?"
Just then, Estarossa looked at Taylor.
"... You're kidding right? No... don't tell me you really don't know."
"Hurry up and tell me what that is!"
Estarossa was telling her as she stood up and walked to the window.
"Among the monsters there are unique beings, they are called king or hero. They are those who were born to rule over the other monsters."
"But among them there are even rarer ones. Alpha they are called."
"An alpha is a monster who was born to rule over the other monsters. It is as if it used the flute, but without uttering a single sound. That's what an alpha is, a unique existence that can command legions of monsters. And the monster we captured is one of the strongest and most dangerous monsters I've ever seen."
"... Is that so?"
"Yes. The best thing is that we never released it before since it would be really difficult for us to catch it later. For that reason I waited for when the deal is ready."
"Oh right, Estoria's soldiers have already left."
"It's as you say. That's why we'll be starting the plan shortly.
A wicked laugh appeared from Estarossa.
◇◇◇
A group of monsters were running at full speed straight at the Arklight Empire's army.
They were running rampant, among them, was their leader.
It was not an earth dragon, nor a champion goblin, much less an orc.
It was an ogre.
In a Roman chariot, drawn by bicorns, horses that love unclean beings.
The bicorns were two in number and were running at great speed while their driver watched uninterestedly what lay before him.
A shaman goblin was in his carriage.
With his gaze he told him. "Do it."
The goblin shaman commanded the other shamans who raised their staffs.
They shouted a language incomprehensible to humans and then in the sky a magic circle appeared and from it, great balls of fire fell like meteors impacting at great speed the area where the carriages lay.
The horses and some weapons lying there were destroyed.
The adventurers and knights looked horrified at the situation.
They could not escape.
Several meters away from them, the monsters stopped.
The leading monster, the alpha, had green skin, short black hair that was tied in a long braid near the end of his hair.
His body was muscular, his teeth showed giving him a wild tiger-like appearance, his eyes were black with red irises.
He had horned lion heads on his shoulders and a red bear coat around his waist.
His armor was made of giant insect parts and in his right hand a stone mallet.
He was a chief of the game.
He was called, Caligula the ogre hero.
He was part of the demon king's army that used monsters.
But he should not have appeared here yet.
In fact, the weapon he holds shouldn't even have it yet.
It was made of solid stone from the demon continent.
The method of obtaining it both in the game and here was a mystery.
What could be known, however, was that this monster was so strong, that even having two saints on its back wouldn't be enough to stop it.
An adventurer stood in front of the monster.
He was very muscular, wore a loincloth and in his hand he held a sword, his hair was long and wavy.
"I don't know what puny beasts like you are planning, but... don't underestimate humans!"
The adventurer went straight at the monster.
"You will witness the power of one of the strongest A-ranked adventurers in the empire! Taste the wrath of Geoffrey the Magnificent!"
Geoffrey's sword went straight for Caligula's neck.
Without even trying to defend himself, he took the direct hit.
Anyone would think he would be dead after receiving that attack, but no.
The neck─ the muscles of that monster were so strong that the sword was destroyed.
Caligula glanced sideways at Geoffrey, then his gaze focused on the others.
He slightly moved his right hand that held his mace.
The upper half of Geoffrey's body turned to dust.
Caligula walked slowly and then slowly began to run.
Jerome shouted.
"On guard everyone!"
Jerome used his magic, there was thanks to Geoffrey blood in the air, that he used as energy to materialize his scythe.
The adventurers and knights who had their weapons at hand braced themselves.
But that was not significant.
Caligula moved his hand a little and his mace tore through several adventurers at once.
Then he swung it again without paying attention to his surroundings, the surrounding knights were torn to pieces.
Caligula was stronger than most.
That was because he was an alpha.
He was born to subdue the weak.
He was crowned a hero because he killed the old ogre king, his father, because he dethroned him, he became a hero to them.
That was part of his background, but in reality.
Caligula did it for a reason.
"I want to have a real opponent."
Since he was stronger than the other ogres, he jumped right into a war with the other species of monsters.
One after another he began to attack until one day he found a strange mace, he wanted to try his luck with human settlements.
He was just as strong with or without the mace.
He kept fighting until one day, Estarossa appeared before him.
He controlled it thanks to a flute.
The flute prevented him from tearing his head off.
He was under the service of Estarossa, but Caligula himself didn't care.
He had figured out how to avoid mind control. But the day he was to rebel against him.
It was when they entered Lautreamont territory.
He watched the warriors prepare for battle.
He thought they would take him out to fight.
But it never happened to this day.
Caligula in less than five minutes had dug in with half the forces of the empire.
Now he was facing Jerome.
Jerome was throwing steel daggers at him, they were hitting Caligula's body, but nothing was happening.
Jerome sensed that he would attack him, he retreated quickly, but he was wounded by a gust of wind anyway.
That gust caused him to be hit directly against a rock, which caused his arm to fracture.
The adventurers were afraid.
The knights did not move.
But only one of them faced him.
It was Emily.
She stood up to Caligula.
Caligula saw her, but felt no interest, he quickly directed his mace against her.
But she raised her shield, which was part of the sword set.
She was hit hard, but the attack did nothing to her, she only recoiled.
Emily watched with a smile at Caligula.
"This is the best you can do?"
He ran straight to fight him.
Emily drew her sword and struck Caligula, part of his armor was cut off.
That shocked him.
He moved the corner of his mouth slightly and then made a flatulence-like sound from his lips.
This time... he swung his mace hard and Emily was hit straight into her shield in a brutal manner.
But she wasn't thrown anywhere. She was struck to tear her to shreds.
Like a butcher, Caligula moved his hand up and down and her shield was beaten relentlessly.
Little by little her feet were sunk into the earth, but even with that, she did not weaken.
The power of her sword lay in her will.
As long as Emily's will was high, her sword would not lose strength.
Emily threw up her shield and began to attack him.
Shoulders, feet, hands, torso, chest. Caligula's body was attacked in different parts and little by little his armor was destroyed.
Even if he was hit like that, Caligula, didn't show pain or any emotion, he just yawned.
Like a bear his mouth opened.
After returning his jaw to normal.
He took a big leap in the air and was behind Emily in an instant.
She no longer had her shield, so she stepped back.
But because Caligula was ten feet tall, his arms were faster because of how long they were.
As if she were a toy, he slammed Emily into the grass generating several deep holes.
Everyone watched in horror. Yukihime covered her mouth in horror.
Only a few seconds passed and Emily's armor was almost completely shattered, blood was falling from her head to the ground.
Her eyes were opening and closing in time.
Caligula lifted her one more time and then threw her to the ground generating a big crater with her.
Emily had one of her eyes red from the accumulated blood.
Slowly on wobbly legs she got to her feet.
Red drool dripped from her mouth.
For her it was a hard blow, but for Caligula that was just a stretch.
But even with that, with that pain, Emily did not give up.
For she was a knight of the empire, part of the 12 candidates to be the next saint of the sword.
However...
(A woman is not fit for the battlefield.)
(You should give up being one, no one expects anything from you.)
(That's the job of men.)
For a moment she heard the voices of her family.
It's probably trauma to the brain from the blows, but the belittling voices of her family were loud.
Gradually the will to fight was going down, her sword that was glowing was also losing its luster.
"No... I am a knight... leave me alone."
"Leave me alone!"
She dropped her sword and clutched her head, Emily had lost the will to fight because of her family's prejudice.
Caligula raised his hand and in a split second, slammed his mace into the ground.
The end of Emily had come... or so anyone would think if they hadn't seen that she wasn't there.
Caligula reacted late, but noticed that Emily was gone.
Instead, Emily herself heard a voice.
She opened her eyes that were closed to avoid seeing her own end and removed her hands from her ears.
She was being carried by Razel.
She didn't know who it was, but she warned him anyway.
"Look out, behind you!"
Caligula without mere interest despite observing that Emily was in Razel's arms, swung his mallet straight for Razel's neck.
But at that moment. Razel moved his mouth and bit down like a rabid dog on the stone mallet.
Seconds after his teeth touched the stone, it turned to dust due to the force of his jaw.
Razel had used Blut, thanks to Astraea's guidance, he could use that absolute defense on any part of his body.
He only had to think of an invincible shield.
And thus, obtain the ultimate defensive ability.
Razel spat rock scraps from his mouth after leaving Emily on the ground.
Celia and Evelyn were just arriving behind the forest.
Razel turned around and in less than a blink of an eye.
His entire fist was buried in Caligula's stomach.
For the first time in his life, he felt pain.
A pain so searing, it caused him to momentarily lose consciousness.
He was propelled several meters backwards.
Rasel adjusted the sleeves of his shirt and then.
"I'm sick of this event, the worst of it all is that in the end the betrayal did happen."
"It's time to stop being a background character and kick all of you asses, I want to go home dammit!"
With furious steps.
Razel entered the battlefield to end this once and for all.