Just at that moment,
"Kyaaaaaaaah-!"
A ghastly scream echoed through Crossroad.
It was the death cry of Euryale, one of the three Gorgon sisters.
The terrible roar resounded through the city's skies, and all living beings had to shrink their shoulders under the overwhelming malice.
"...?!"
And then.
Upon hearing that scream, Stheno, who had been rushing toward the Blacklist survivors, stopped her charge as if it were a lie.
Stheno, who abruptly braked right in front of the humans, hurriedly turned around.
On the monster's face, intense emotions were boiling like never before.
Despair.
It was the face of one feeling sorrow.
"Kyaaaah-!"
Responding to the scream with a monstrous howl, Stheno began to run toward the direction from which Euryale's scream had come.
Thud...! Thud...! Thud...!
The ground shook as the back of the monster receded into the distance.
Torkel and the three members of Blacklist, having narrowly survived death, stood dumbfounded, sweating coldly.
"What, what's that..."
"Good that we're alive, but..."
"Where is that thing going?"
"..."
Torkel quietly sighed in relief to himself.
The 'final trait' of the three Gorgon sisters that Lucas had mentioned earlier had been activated.
***
"Heugh... Heugh..."
Lucas gasped for breath.
In front of the knight, Medusa stood as solid as a fortress. Unlike Lucas, whose armor was battered and falling apart, Medusa was hardly damaged.
'It's such a headache not being able to meet her gaze...'
Lucas gritted his teeth.
Of course, in a battle between masters, eye power is very important.
One must observe the entire movement of the opponent, capture their vulnerabilities, and react to their sudden movements.
The movement of muscles, subtle changes in complexion, a single blink of an eye-
All this information is gathered by the eyes, and based on this, Lucas had been fighting by moving his body.
But Medusa possessed the petrifying evil eye.
Unable to meet her eyes directly, Lucas had to fight by reflecting the opponent in a mirror.
And this was a significant handicap.
Because Lucas's natural eyes were exceptional, fighting Medusa, who forced him to seal his own eye power, was a tough adversary.
And this was the result.
Lucas could not defeat Medusa in a direct confrontation.
He was merely being worn down endlessly, barely managing to keep Medusa at bay.
With a forked tongue flicking her lips, Medusa laughed.
"Really extraordinary, human. To fight me like this, relying on that mere mirror."
"..."
"If you were born in the mythical era, you could have become a legend. But now the world is fading, and even the seemingly endless light and shadow are reaching their end... Who will remember your futile resistance?"
Lucas, clicking his tongue, firmly gripped his sword and thrust it forward.
"Quite a long tongue you've got, monster."
"Oh dear, this long tongue is my pride. Thanks for the compliment."
"I've adapted to your movements too. Stop the chatter and come at me again. This time, I'll take your head with this sword."
"Hu-hu, knights, always so full of bravado, no matter the era."
"That's a jobist remark."
"Does it matter? I am a monster, after all."
The brief banter ended.
The knight and the monster took their fighting stances, as if by agreement, and both closed their mouths.
Lucas and Medusa, both were preparing their lethal moves to finish off each other.
And, just at the moment before collision-
"Kyaaaaaaaah-!"
From the other side of the city, a terrible scream ripped through the air.
Medusa's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly turned toward the direction of the scream.
Medusa uttered with a trembling voice.
"...Sister Euryale?"
With a dash!
Medusa shot towards that direction, seemingly no longer caring about Lucas.
"Sister, no! Sisteeer!"
Lucas tried to stop her, but it was futile. Watching Medusa's receding back, Lucas exhaled a light sigh.
"...It worked, Evangeline."
The scream just heard... there was no doubt it was Euryale's death cry.
***
In an alley at a corner of Crossroad.
Euryale lay there, shattered to pieces.
The wing-torn monster had turned its whole body into a statue just before its last breath.
And Evangeline completely smashed even this statue.
"Whew... That was quite dangerous."
Evangeline, having removed her helmet, wiped the sweat beading on her forehead.
Thanks to the success of the initial ambush, she had brought this monster to the brink of death at the start of the battle. Still, Euryale resisted to the end with her tenacious vitality.
But if it came down to tenacity, Evangeline was no less formidable. She finally succeeded in bringing it down.
Though Evangeline had also nearly exhausted her strength...
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Then, from the other side of the city, heavy footsteps rushing towards this direction were heard.
Alarmed, Evangeline quickly left the spot.
Soon, the other two Gorgon sisters arrived at Euryale's corpse.
Stheno gazed down at the body with her mouth agape in a daze, while Medusa, wailing, collapsed in front of Euryale.
"Aaaaaaaah! Sister! Sister Euryale! Ahhhhh, noooooo!"
Unable to contain her sorrow, Medusa's eyes erupted with a yellow magical energy.
Stheno also let out an incomprehensible wail, shooting out her evil eye.
Boom! Boom...!
Buildings collapsed amidst billowing dust, turning to stone under the influence of the Gorgon sisters' evil eyes.
The entire area petrified, crumbled, and hardened again.
After the terrible wails and petrification storms swept through several times... the alley had transformed, looking like a bird's nest.
In the center of that nest, Medusa, stroking Euryale's body, muttered in a gloomy voice.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll never lose you, sister. Never..."
Medusa picked up a piece of Euryale's shattered remains,
Crunch!
and put it in her mouth.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of Medusa eating the stone statue of her sister echoed chillingly in all directions.
Stheno, as if protecting Medusa, glared around fiercely with her grey eyes.
Crack! Snap! Crunch...!
And as Medusa frenziedly devoured the remnants of her sister, both her shoulders,
Crack, crackle-!
began to fracture like an old statue, spreading apart,
Shhhh...!
and from those fractures, wings burst forth.
They were Euryale's battered, cracked membrane wings.
***
"The final trait of the Gorgon sisters. It's... 'sister cannibalism'."
The barracks in Crossroad. Rooftop.
As Evangeline returned, Lucas, standing at the edge of the rooftop, slowly spoke.
"When one of the three dies, the surviving ones 'eat' the corpse."
"..."
"In this process, the surviving sibling inherits some abilities of the deceased."
The day of fierce battles was drawing to a close.
The late afternoon was transitioning into evening, twilight seeping into the sky.
Looking at the setting sun, Lucas continued.
"It would be best to interfere with the consumption if possible... but the Gorgon sisters, during their 'sister cannibalism', build a 'nest' to ensure their safety."
"..."
"In a location with ample rocks, they construct a rock nest for the cannibalism and enter a defensive state."
Evangeline silently listened, staring at the nest constructed in a corner of the city.
"And that nest is currently impenetrable with our forces. The Gorgon sisters' combat power skyrockets when they enter their defensive state. We have no choice but to wait for them to finish their sister cannibalism and come out on their own."
"..."
"In other words... with each Gorgon sister we kill, the surviving ones grow stronger, and we must defeat the final one, who has absorbed the others, to end the battle."
Even for powerful monsters, they possess this terrifying gimmick.
"Sigh."
Stretching her stiff shoulders, Evangeline spoke.
"The only silver lining is that sister cannibalism takes a lot of time. Was it 12 to 24 hours? So, we have at least 12 hours of respite."
"..."
"So, what's the plan for tomorrow, acting commander?"
"Same as today."
Lucas answered mechanically.
"Continue the tag operation to isolate the remaining two, then take down one of them."
"And then wait again during their sister cannibalism? To take down the last third one?"
"..."
"Think about it coldly, Lucas. Do we have that much force left now?"
Lucas slowly turned to look at Evangeline. She gestured with her chin.
"We've already suffered tremendous damage just facing the three individually today. The hero parties mobilized for the diversion operation are either dead or petrified, and we who faced them... are not unscathed."
Lucas's armor was mostly destroyed, and although he didn't show it, he was riddled with minor injuries.
Evangeline was also heavily exhausted.
The damage to the hero parties mobilized for the tag operation was much more severe than anticipated.
Although they had expected some casualties while luring and scattering the three, the actual number of casualties was several times higher than expected.
Evangeline continued to the silent Lucas.
"We need to understand the original intention behind this operation set by Senior Ash."
"..."
"Senior Ash didn't leave this 'tag' operation to kill the Gorgon sisters."
Evangeline stepped forward, facing Lucas squarely.
"It was left as a way to 'buy time until Senior Ash's return' in case the Gorgon sisters appeared."
Why leave a strategy that involves giving up the walls, opening the gates, and letting the monsters inside?
Ash had left this strategy to switch to a delaying tactic, accepting the damage instead of facing a tough opponent, waiting for his return.
Citizens and regular soldiers were evacuated from the front lines, and elite heroes were to constantly run and hide within the city to buy time.
If they could fortunately damage a Gorgon sister in the process, they could drag out time while the nest forms and sister cannibalism takes place.
'Opening the gates deliberately was to give up the battle and drag out time.'
If one of the Gorgon sisters is killed while fighting along the walls, the remaining sisters are likely to destroy the wall and build their nest there.
As it is the place with the most rocks.
If Ash was going to give up this battle anyway, he left the strategy of opening the gates as a desperate measure to preserve the walls for the next defense.
The tag operation was never about fighting to win from the start. It was just a means to buy time until Ash's return.
Lucas twisted this operation to continue the battle against the Gorgon sisters.
"...We can't call for reinforcements from the Imperial Capital."
Even as Evangeline said this, Lucas shook his head adamantly.
"We can't burden our lord...!"
"Why not?"
"What?"
"Why can't we impose a burden?"
Evangeline pointed her finger, poking Lucas in the chest.
"Think clearly, Lucas. Senior Ash will be even sadder the more we struggle on our own and the greater the damage gets, because we didn't trust in him."
"..."
"Senior Ash is the commander of this frontline. He willingly took up the burden."
Lucas clamped his mouth shut. Evangeline continued.
"The one who will be most upset about your injury is Senior Ash."
"..."
"If Lilly's child is in danger, Senior Ash would be the one to blame himself the most."
"..."
"Senior Ash will be the one suffering the most in front of the graves of those who died today! Why don't you understand that, Uncle?"
A brief silence followed.
Lucas stammered as he began to speak.
"I didn't want to hinder my lord's path..."
"This is it!"
Evangeline whispered with conviction.
"This is Prince Ash's path."
"..."
"Trust Senior Ash more, Lucas. He must have already won at the Imperial Capital. And he will come to save us."
Evangeline flashed a mischievous grin.
"Just like a prince on a white horse."
"..."
"To Acting Commander Lucas McGregor. As the heir of Crossroad, I formally request you."
Evangeline, now as tall as Lucas, demanded confidently.
"Please allow the sending of a distress signal to the Imperial Capital."
Lucas opened and closed his mouth several times to retort,
"...Hah. I was foolish."
He sighed bitterly and lowered his head.
Then he raised both hands.
"...Granted, Evangeline. You're right. Let's send the distress signal."
As the acting commander's permission was given, Evangeline grinned, showing her teeth.
"Actually, I already sent it."
"...What?"
"On the day the Gorgon sisters began their assault, I secretly sent a courier pigeon to the Imperial Capital behind your back."
Evangeline shrugged.
"I exaggerated a bit, saying the city had already fallen. Which it actually did, right? Just look at that nest built within our city walls."
Lucas gaped in astonishment.
"You, you...! Ignoring the acting commander...!"
"I just helped you out, who seemed too stubborn to break. You don't need to thank me that much."
Lucas, about to say something, eventually gave up and covered his face with his hand.
It turned out just as Evangeline said, and in fact, her judgment was right.
Evangeline glanced northwards.
"Senior Ash will come to save us. Definitely. So, let's just hold out until then."
Though she had secretly sent the request for help without Lucas's knowledge, it was actually late.
It would take days for the courier pigeon to reach the Imperial Capital.
And for Ash to gather forces and march south from the Imperial Capital, again, days.
Whether Ash would return precisely in time, and whether they could survive against the monsters inside that nest until then... nothing was certain.
'Please come quickly, Senior.'
The great evil stirring inside the nest in the city was palpable. Evangeline clenched her fists tightly.
'Before our city is completely destroyed, quickly...!'
***
Imperial Capital. New Terra.
"...Prepare for immediate return."
Having received the urgent report from Serenade, I crumpled the paper and shouted urgently.
"We must return to Crossroad, right now!"