"Guah?! Poison…? Cough…"
"My leg…?! It's in agony!"
I rushed through the enemy lines, attacking anyone who was in my way. Some fell to my poisonous stinger attacks, while others had their ankles and shins severed by my pincers. I didn't spare anyone out of mercy; I simply aimed to sow chaos and elicit screams of pain.
The holy knights weren't foolish. Once they recovered from the shock of my flash attacks, they would undoubtedly scatter to avoid becoming a hindrance. However, before that could happen, I needed to incapacitate any of them who posed a threat and prepare the corpses of any allies I didn't want to destroy.
My actions might have seemed villainous and despicable, even if not by the standards of holy knights. Nevertheless, to survive and emerge victorious against a numerically superior enemy, I had to do what was necessary.
"…".
The old holy knight chased after me and lunged with his long sword. However, I had a flesh wall made of holy knights that couldn't be penetrated, and I was able to predict and avoid his limited sword swings effortlessly. While dealing with his attacks, I injured the group of holy knights one by one.
"Disperse! Don't get in the way of the Captain!"
"Ca-Captain…! Please cut me down too…!"
Hmm, the holy knights seem to be recovering faster than I expected. They must have undergone rigorous training and possessed good coordination. They were a troublesome bunch.
Some of the incapacitated holy knights pleaded with their leader to just kill them alongside me, but the old knight seemed to disapprove of such actions. He remained silent and fought to avoid injuring his comrades.
His kindness was undoubtedly admirable, but it also worked in my favor. Thanks to him, I was able to prepare for the final phase of my plan!
"Chichichichichi!!!"
I increased my spiritual power as much as possible and then squeezed it out, transforming only the surface of the ground into sand. With great force, I whipped up the sandstorm, which grew larger as it swept up debris from the city along with some of the injured and deceased knights.
Despite their efforts to hold on or brace themselves with their swords, most of the knights were unable to withstand the force of the storm. Although it didn't have much of a ranged attack, it was becoming more of a nuisance than a serious threat to the injured knights. But that was acceptable.
Suddenly, the old knight, who had remained still until now, raised his gleaming sword with great momentum, using spiritual power. Thunder rose from below, and he swung the sword powerfully, canceling out my sandstorm from the inside out. He then accurately shot through the debris that had been swept up and divided it into pieces.
The debris was pulverized into fine dust, while the knights positioned in the lightning's path remained unscathed. It was a masterful display of spiritual power. Although most of the knights who were launched into the air eventually descended, nearly all of them survived the ordeal.
It's possible that they had fortified their bodies using their fighting spirit. It would have been ideal if they could have propelled themselves higher, but not everything goes according to plan. It's impractical to expect perfection in every situation. Nevertheless, I had already accomplished my objective, so there was no need to demand any more from the situation.
"Gitchi!"
"…!"
The massive sandstorm was just a temporary distraction to make it harder to keep track of me. Just before the old holy knight unleashed his lightning strike, I had concealed my presence as much as possible and burrowed into the ground to approach him.
I sprang up from below with a powerful leap, but this level of surprise attack wasn't enough to shock the holy knight. He had already anticipated my move and had his longsword poised in an upper stance when I emerged.
If things continued like this, I would be cut vertically in half. I would scream in agony as I received the attack…is what you thought right?
"!?"
With a squelching sound, the holy knight's sword stroke went awry. While it scraped the surface of my right pincer, it ended up slicing the ground instead of my body. In contrast, the holy knight stared at his right knee in disbelief.
Impaled in the backside of his right knee was a sharp-tipped, stake-like object. This was one of my severed limbs from earlier, and this move was also another spiritual art technique that I reproduced from an opponent i faced in the arena—the battle doll.
The doll's creators had brought a new model as revenge, which had a feature to launch both arms as projectiles. Using this as a reference, I independently acquired a spiritual art that allowed me to remotely manipulate a part of my body that was cut off. The flashy and wide-ranging sandstorm was also intended to distract the knight from this hidden attack.
By employing this technique, I turned the severed limb into an unforeseen flying projectile that approached from an unexpected direction. Even with the use of fighting spirit, the joint areas remained vulnerable, as they needed to be pliable for movement, which their sturdy armor could not safeguard. Therefore, aiming for this weak point became my only option.
This plan was my primary and best strategy, perhaps the only opportunity I, as the inferior opponent, had to win. If I failed to seize this moment, given the power disparity, I wouldn't get another chance. Thus, I had to grab this chance and execute my plan flawlessly to finish the job.
"Guuuaaaahhh!"
I launched a simultaneous attack from above and below with my right claw and tail segment. The holy knight, true to his title, forcefully swung his sword that was lodged in the ground, slicing the tip of my right claw and three of my compound eyes. Although it was quite painful and blood was flowing, I managed to control the pain and endure it. Besides, I had ten compound eyes, so my vision was not impaired.
However, he was unable to dodge my tail, and the venomous stinger that was already oozing with poison missed its intended target on the neck and instead cut deeply from his left cheek to his ear. Naturally, the poison had entered his body through the wound.
Despite my poison being lethal enough to kill even large creatures with just one drop, the holy knight was still alive and swinging his sword with astonishing vitality.
In response, I made my next move unconsciously. I quickly manipulated sand with my spiritual technique to form my left claw and thrust it into the holy knight's torso after opening it widely. Then, with all my strength, I sliced off his right side from his ribs to his spine by squeezing it.
"Gogaa…!"
"Gishiii…!"
However, at the same time, the Holy Knight's sword was also swung down. The long sword, which he held in reverse grip, pierced through my body, and its tip was deeply embedded in the ground, pinning me to the ground. This was a serious wound…it could even be called a fatal one.
I felt like I had become a specimen that Georg had collected. While groaning in agony, I thought about it as if it were someone else's business. It was because I was forcibly suppressing the pain by controlling my senses. If I hadn't done that, I might not have been able to think about anything because of the pain.
"Well…fought…gaffu…"
The old holy knight, leaning on his long sword, muttered in a small voice that only I could hear, and then passed away. The voice I heard for the first time in his dying moments was a mature and composed one with a hint of bitterness.
As I broke down the sand that made up the left pincers, the holy knight collapsed with a groan. However, it seemed that his hand holding the long sword had stiffened. As the Holy Knight fell, I too rolled to the side.
However, thanks to that, the part of the long sword that was stuck in the ground was bent and broken. No matter how good a sword is, if it is bent with force in the wrong direction, it will break. Although the long sword is still stuck, I can move now.
"Captain?! No way!"
"That's a lie! Justice can't lose!"
"You bastard! Everyone, let's avenge the captain!"
The old holy knight's defeat had a profound impact on the other holy knights. Initially, they were stunned by what they saw, then filled with sorrow, and finally consumed by rage. They unleashed a barrage of spiritual arts and curses in my direction while charging at me with their swords raised. Despite their differing words, they all shared a common feeling: they would never forgive me.
Ordinarily, opponents who lose their composure in a fight wouldn't pose much of a threat to me. However, I found myself in a dire situation. My left claw had been severed at the base, my right claw was only half intact, three of my compound eyes had been crushed, and a long sword was lodged in my body. These severe injuries left me unable to use even a fraction of my strength.
To make matters worse, I was facing a multitude of enemies. If they managed to surround me and thrust their swords, I would undoubtedly be riddled with holes and meet my demise. Escaping seemed unlikely, and I realized that this could very well be the end for me.
"Giiii…Gishiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!"
But I cannot die here. I have a mission to "live for a hundred years." I must survive at all costs and fulfill my duty no matter what. That's why I won't give up, even in the most desperate situations! Giving up is not an option!
◆◇◆◇◆◇
A coup erupted in the capital of the Harlasia Kingdom. The coup, which was carried out in the middle of the night, proceeded smoothly. Key facilities were seized, the noble district was attacked, and it turned into a sea of blood. The royal castle was also occupied, and now the first prince, Ludwig, was pressuring the king to abdicate in his favor. If this was recognized, the coup would be considered a success.
However, the ailing king did not give in. Instead of abdicating, he declared that his second son, Carl, would succeed him. While Prince Ludwig tried to persuade him patiently, Duke Dalbaren began to consider using force.
"Ahahaha! This is amazing! I never expected to find such a valuable item while just trying to earn some pocket money and clear out some stock!"
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the arena, Orvo Hakkinen, a senior spiritualist of the secret society 'The Seventh Pillar' was laughing aloud. In his eyes, he could see the hades scorpion twitching on top of a mountain of dead holy knights.
Orvo's specialty was in creating and controlling synthetic beasts. He was asked to unleash a powerful but not overwhelmingly strong synthetic beasts in the capital city during the recent coup d'état.
After the coup, it was planned to announce that Orvo's synthetic beasts had gone berserk and that they were specimens created for the "Battle Beast Tournament". This would demonstrate the danger of the arena to the citizens while simultaneously building trust and showing the power of the Duke of Dalbaren and the Justice Church, which had taken down the beast.
Before the coup, Orvo had seized control of the arena and created the requested synthetic beasts before unleashing them in the city. The holy knights were supposed to exterminate all of the beasts, but an unexpected accident occurred. One of the beasts escaped and ran towards the noble district.
The district was in danger of being crushed by the overwhelming synthetic beast, and Orvo was disappointed in the knights, who proved to be weaker than he had thought. However, he was astonished at what he saw next. Suddenly, a hand made of sand appeared and disintegrated the massive synthetic beast into pieces.
And as he learned of the identity of the caster of such powerful art, his surprise grew even bigger. It was because the one who had used that spiritual art was none other than the young Hades Scorpion.
From there, it was a series of surprises. The young Hades Scorpion skillfully controlled its spiritual power to slay the holy knights without batting an eye and put an end to the reactivated synthetic beast.
Furthermore, it even defeated Gaius, the strongest of the holy knights, who was in tatters, and wiped out the vengeful holy knights. It was hard not to be amazed.
"Come to think of it, I heard about a ridiculously strong battle beast. It must be this one… Let's go!"
Orvo jumped from the rooftop and landed in front of the Hades Scorpion using spiritual arts. The area was filled with a choking smell of blood and entrails because the battle had just taken place. Even Orvo frowned at the smell.
Holding his nose and enduring the stench, he cautiously approached the Hades Scorpion, considering the possibility of being attacked. However, his worries were unfounded.
The hades scorpion was on the brink of death and unable to even move. Perhaps it hadn't even noticed that Orvo was standing right in front of it. And the current situation was very convenient for Orvo.
When Orvo lightly tapped the ground with his staff, several black chains extended from the hem of his robe towards the Hades Scorpion. The chains wound around him multiple times, eventually forming a giant black sphere that engulfed the scorpion.
"You probably can't hear me, but you should rest easy and surrender yourself. I won't let you die. After all, you're… the highest quality material," Orvo said.
The black chains silently retracted into the inside of Orvo's hem, and the black sphere connected to them was also sucked in. Although the black sphere was clearly larger than Orvo, there was not a single witness who pointed out its disappearance.
Afterwards, Orvo scoured the battlefield for a while, gathering valuable items, before taking off again and flying away from the capital. He had already received his reward and even had an unexpected harvest. He had no interest in the success or failure of the coup d'etat, so there was no point in staying any longer.
As the night of the coup gave way to morning in the capital, a dazzling sunrise mercilessly illuminated the devastation left behind by the night's events. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in just one night, but the intense and eventful night had come to an end.
*************
This is the end of the first volume.