Crossroad was peaceful.
Ash, the Lord and Commander, had ordered an evacuation, and a refuge had been prepared in the northeast of the city.
Citizens had begun to pack their belongings, making their way to the refuge where clean water, food, and various facilities were provided.
Contrary to the current situation labeled as "evacuation," the faces of the citizens showed no signs of worry or fear.
And why should they? In the half-year since Ash had taken command, Crossroad had not allowed any invasions.
Including the eight defensive battles that took place in Crossroad and the fight against the Black Spider Legion at the forward base, there had been nine battles in total. Under Ash's command, monsters had been thoroughly repelled, and although soldiers were injured or died, the city itself suffered no damage.
As a result, the citizens hadn't felt the growing threat of the monsters.
They perceived this evacuation order as an extension of the safety-first policy that had been in place so far.
The summer sunlight was warm, and a relaxed atmosphere floated through the city.
The atmosphere in the local temple was no different.
Bandages, holy water, and potions were being transported to the makeshift medical facility set up in the refuge. The priests looked at ease.
Only Saintess Margarita wore a somber expression.
"Damien..."
In front of Margarita sat Damien, his face impassive.
On the day Ash and his entourage set out, Damien had been unshackled per the orders, but he had continued living as if still bound, confined to his room without moving an inch.
"Damien, we're moving all the patients here to the refuge. You need to go too."
"..."
For the first time that day, the usually silent Damien spoke.
"The front lines?"
"Excuse me?"
"Aren't they forming the last line of defense on the city walls? Can I go there?"
"His Highness told me to check on your condition and then make a decision."
Damien had twice aimed his gun at allies.
Ash had judged that the risk of Damien shooting at their own forces outweighed the advantages of having him as a sniper.
So, he was completely excluded from this defensive battle.
Margarita glanced at Damien's face.
"And from what I can see, you're still not in good condition."
"..."
"Let's go to the refuge together, Damien."
Damien remained silent. Margarita sighed softly.
"If you continue like this, we'll have no choice but to drag you to the refuge. Shall we do that?"
"...I'll go. To the refuge."
A fleeting sense of relief passed over Margarita's face.
However, the next thing Damien said made her furrow her brows.
"Then, please return my magic gun... Black Queen."
Despite the troubles caused by that Black Queen, Damien still wanted to hold that magic gun.
Because then, he could see the face of Ban, the precious person he had lost, in his dreams again.
But Margarita shook her head coldly.
"His Highness has ordered that under no circumstances should that gun be returned to you."
"..."
"Damien, this is a decision His Highness has made considering your well-being. You understand, right?"
Damien curled up on the bed.
"...I'll just stay here then."
"Pardon?"
"The monsters will be repelled by His Highness... and the others anyway. Is there really a need to evacuate?"
In reality, most of the citizens of the city felt that way. So did Saintess Margarita, deep down.
Ash will pull it off again, just like he always has.
'But preparing for the worst is a leader's duty.'
As High Priestess, Margarita planned to follow Ash's orders to the letter.
While everyone else was evacuating, only Damien obstinately refused to listen.
'How can I convince him...'
If he keeps resisting, I may have no choice but to forcefully move him, thought Margarita.
"Is something the matter, Your Holiness?"
Someone poked their head into Damien's room.
It was Kureha, the older brother of Kuilan, who was sharing the room next door. He was hobbling about, propped up on a crutch, carrying luggage.
Due to his voluntary service in the temple, Kureha was treated as clerical support staff. Margarita managed a forced smile.
"Kureha, well..."
"...Ah."
Glimpsing the immobile Damien and Margarita seated in front of him, Kureha limped into the room, quickly deducing the situation.
"It's the evacuation, isn't it? Let me try to persuade Damien. You can go attend to other matters, Your Holiness."
"Really? But..."
"The evacuation deadline is not until tomorrow. I'll try to convince him by then."
Hesitant at first, Margarita eventually nodded and stood up. There was plenty of other work piled up.
"I'll leave it to you."
"Trust me."
After Margarita left, Kureha hobbled over and plopped down on a chair in front of Damien.
"So, we meet properly for the first time, Damien?"
Kureha offered a gentle smile. Damien shot him a cursory glance.
The man had fiery red hair, a frail body from enduring an illness, and a notably emaciated left leg.
'I don't really care. Why is he acting so friendly?'
Damien lowered his gaze.
"...Regardless of what you say, I intend to stay here. If the monsters break the front line, I'd rather be trampled to death..."
"What a coincidence. I had the same plan."
"...?"
Confused, Damien stared at Kureha. Kureha shrugged.
"I also didn't want to evacuate. I wanted to help on the front lines, but look at my leg. So, I'll just stay here with you."
"Why...?"
"My younger brother is out there fighting the monsters. He's risking his life, and his older brother runs away fearing his failure? That feels wrong. I planned to stay here too."
After looking left and right, Kureha leaned in and whispered, lowering his voice to a hush.
"Let's stay in this city together!"
Damien looked at Kureha with eyes filled with despair.
***
Ssshhhhh!
Jormungandr crossed the river.
It was a reasonably wide river with raging currents, but Jormungandr cared little as it made its way through the water.
The Penal Squad, who were busy working on Jormungandr's body, momentarily stopped their hands to enjoy the refreshing spray of water.
"Ahh!"
"That's refreshing!"
"Shower facilities, and it's even fairly comfortable with the snakes around?!"
Members of the Penal Squad, who had been chuckling and joking among themselves, slowly began to look around.
Clink... Clink... Clink...
The sight of Lucas and Kuilan sluggishly swinging their pickaxes came into view.
Their duel, which had begun the night before, had continued through the night and still went on even as the sun reached its zenith.
Like zombies, they took turns swinging their pickaxes with languid motions.
"..."
"..."
'We should probably stop them, but they're not even pretending to listen.'
The Penal Squad members awkwardly exchanged glances just as that thought crossed their minds.
Swoosh-
Thud!
With the sound of a hook sucking up a rope, Evangeline flew in, riding a grappling hook launcher. Her movements were as swift as a flying squirrel.
"How's everyone doing? Senior told me that the destruction speed has dropped in the central area, so I came to see what was happening and... Ah."
Evangeline clicked her tongue upon seeing Lucas and Kuilan wearily swing their pickaxes in a lethargic manner.
"Ah, I get it. A battle of pride, huh?"
"Yes, Knight. They've been like that all night..."
"There's an easy solution for this."
Evangeline quickly ran behind Lucas and Kuilan, and—
Whack! Smack!
She slammed her shield against the backs of their heads. It was a merciless, compassionless blow.
"Keh, what the...?!"
"Ev, Evangeline, what are you... doing..."
Thump.
Both men collapsed to the ground.
They appeared to faint, subsequently slipping into a sleep that resembled death.
"A battle of pride when the world might end? Idiotic..."
After retrieving her shield, Evangeline huffed and looked back at the Penal Squad.
"So, it's a draw, right?"
"Yes, yes... That's correct...!"
The Penal Squad responded, trembling with fear.
Evangeline, who had just taken down the fearsome duo with a force that suggested she might kill them, was terrifying.
"After letting them sleep for three hours, wake them up and resume work. Oh, and these are new tools. I'll explain how to use them now, so pay attention."
Evangeline handed out new drills to the Penal Squad and explained how to operate them.
The Penal Squad members listened intently, standing at attention.
"We don't have much time left. Stay focused, and if those two start causing trouble again, you stop them. Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Great! Let's get back to work!"
The Penal Squad members clumsily gripped their new drills and resumed the destruction work, while Evangeline corrected their technique one by one.
***
The second day passed even more quickly, and before I knew it, evening had come.
I lifted my head to look around.
After crossing the river, Jormungandr had entered the forest area.
Tall trees were tumbling one after another, following the snake's path.
Although it was a headache dealing with the falling tree trunks from above, it was far better than the rock bombardment from the first day.
I wielded my magic blade to roughly fend off the large falling branches while I glanced at the system window.
[Jormungandr - Progress of Area Destruction]
- First Vertebra: 86%
- Second Vertebra: 42%
- Third Vertebra: 67%
'The two mages near the head seem to be doing well...'
Far in the distance, near the head of Jormungand, a burst of magical light flashed. The rate of progress was fastest there; it seemed like there was nothing to worry about on that end.
'If the tail here is relatively easy and we speed up the destruction of the central part, it looks like we can finish this within the time limit, right?'
Though the gimmicks were unique, it seemed like this defense battle would end without any major issues.
As I was deep in thought,
"Hey! Ash!"
Kellibey's voice echoed. I turned around to see where it came from.
Swish- Click!
Kellibey, who had hooked a grappling hook on the tip of the tail and climbed up, squawked in high excitement.
"Listen, listen! I thought I'd exhausted all the places to dig, so I was wandering around, you know?!"
You've been doing that since yesterday.
"Find anything new?"
"I sure did! If you go do~wn there, Jormungand has this ti~ny butthole!"
"A butth... what now?"
I thought I'd misheard him for a moment, but Kellibey elaborated.
"It had an asshole, okay? An asshole! You deaf?"
"... Ah, no. I hear you loud and clear."
"Don't make that disgusted face! Jormungand is fundamentally a magical creature! How do you think this massive being sustains its body? It doesn't ingest food for nutrients! It's not the digestive system you're thinking of!"
Then why call it an asshole?
"It absorbs mana from the atmosphere through its mouth and gathers the non-mana elements to expel from the rear!"
"Fine, got it. So what's your point? What did you find?"
"Anyway, it's in a dwarf's nature to enter any cave they see, right? So, I went in!"
"Why the fuck would you go in there?!"
I let out an expletive without thinking. Kellibey didn't seem to mind and continued grinning.
"And look what I found!"
Kellibey put down something he'd been carrying on his back. I stepped back in shock.
"Don't come any closer! It might stink!"
"It doesn't stink! Look at this!"
What Kellibey had brought from Jormungand's, uh, rear end and placed in front of me was...
"Our buddy, Nameless!"
With long white hair and wearing tattered robes, it was the familiar dungeon merchant NPC.
"...?"
Nameless, who had seemed entirely deflated and strengthless, lifted his shaking face to look at me and weakly waved his hand.
"Long time no see, Ash."
"Wha...?"
For a moment, I didn't understand what was happening.
Then I let out a loud squawk.
"Why the hell are you coming out from there?!"
I mean... that... you know...
...
Why from 'there'?!