Chapter 22 - Freya 16.5

"Whoa, whoa, they got Seal?!"

The transport and logistics squad. The true final line of Warsa's army.

Inside a tent that had been set up there, even Resheph could not hide his surprise at the reports flying in and the accelerating disappearances of children who had received his blessings.

"Y-yes, sir! And the other elite members of your followers are being defeated across all fronts! Our forces are not being allowed to retreat or even be routed. The only division still capable of fighting is Gorza's main division!"

"What? There are only eight of them, right? Are you freaking kidding me?" Resheph groaned, struggling to believe the reports he was hearing.

"I'm not freaking kidding you, sir!"

Even a god like him could not see through what was happening on the battlefield out there. But that did not stop him from breaking into a smile.

"Damn, I'd rather my premonition wasn't right, but it looks like I'm gonna have to use my trump card. "

Standing up as the soldier looked at him in confusion, Resheph left the tent. He headed toward the part of the camp where supplies were being kept. There was a strange sight to behold there. It was a gigantic cargo container that would never be mistaken for carrying weapons or rations in it. It required several hundred people to carry it, and it contained the ace up Resheph's sleeve.

"Iza, send this to the middle of the battlefield. Don't worry, as long as you have this magic item I got from those Evils guys, it will do as you say. Probably."

Calling out to the lone tamer among his followers, he handed over a crimson whip with jewels in the end of it. At his command, the tamer swung the whip and a roar shook the ground. The giant cargo crate shattered as the troops around it drew back. A giant shadow that terrified even the tamer moved to the command of the whip and started advancing toward the battlefield.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You always gotta save your trump card for the very

end. "

The god's laughter rang out as everyone in the transport unit was frozen in place. Resheph turned around to head back to his tent, content that all that was left was for his trump card to take care of all those getting in his way. But as he departed, he paused for a second and turned to one of the messengers.

"Oh yeah, we got any word about who the enemy is? If they could kill Seal and the others that easily, then it's gotta be someone from Orario, I'd imagine."

"Y-yes, sir…the second and third divisions were assaulted by an elf and a dark elf respectively…"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh."

"And the fourth division and reserve forces were cornered by a catman and four prums…"

"Uh-huh...hmm?"

"And the central division is being approached by a large boaz man…" "…"

There, for the first time, Resheph's composure finally cracked.

A flurry of sand shot into the air. The Warsa general Gorza looked on with a trembling gaze as the resulting cloud grew big enough to block out the sun.

"What is he…?!"

The man held an unbelievably large sword. After he utterly smashed both wings and the central unit, he calmly strolled through the path he had created. The man did not needlessly kill anyone. He only turned his blade on those who approached him, using his overwhelming physical strength to crush them.

He was a boaz.

"We can't even stop his advance…?! It's just one man!" Gorza spat out as he watched through binoculars from far at the back of the main force.

The absurd reports he had just been getting from the various divisions being destroyed had sounded like lies, but at this point he had no choice but to believe them. The enemy really was attempting to eradicate an army of

eighty thousand with just eight people. But Gorza could not give up. If they could not take Shalzad even after bringing in an outside power, a pestilence, then his position and his patron god's authority would plummet.

Even if it was just petty pride, if he could not at least take out a single

enemy warrior— "…?"

All of a sudden, a shadow appeared. He wondered if a cloud had floated across the sun, but that was not it. It was a gigantic monster whose head stretched up toward the sky.

"What?!"

More precisely, it was an enormous serpent. The gigantic monster had appeared behind Gorza, from the direction of the supply lines.

"I-it can't be…a basilisk?!"

It was a name that every resident of the desert realm knew from bedtime stories. A feared and despised creature.

A basilisk.

It had the imposing figure of a serpent, but it was also unmistakably a member of the dragon family, the strongest species of monsters. The giant serpent breathed fire while spreading a paralyzing toxin that seemed to petrify those afflicted by it. In ancient times, basilisks had destroyed countless cities and spread such devastation around the world that anecdotes about the menace of basilisks were still told all around present-day Kaios.

Appearing behind the main force, the monster trampled the soldiers in its path. More and more people cried out and abandoned their positions to run away. This clash had long since ceased to be a battle between humans. Gorza and his aide-de-camp desperately took refuge to avoid being consumed by the chaos.