Chapter 13
I frowned and stepped back, holding my breath.
At the same time, a deep, heavy bell sound rang in my ears.
“…!”
A beat later, a chill of fear rushed through my whole body. I gripped the handle of my holy sword tightly.
A monster had appeared.
Commander No. 4—Dios—who was standing not far from me, quickly scanned the surroundings. After blinking a few times, he said in a low voice,
“There are 32 monsters. I’m declaring a Level 2 alert.”
“Level 2?”
“That’s insane.”
I think I heard someone quietly curse under their breath.
32 of them?
The monsters began slowly walking toward the golden pillars.
They looked like bugs drawn to fake honey.
A monster group with more than 10 is rare, for sure…
Now I had to carefully observe how the Oparts would react and change.
Enrico had always said he wished he could test them directly in front of monsters.
Suddenly, the sky flashed brightly.
Crack!
Someone had raised a holy sword and driven it right into a monster.
“…!”
I winced hard.
My hand holding the sword was starting to sweat. In the novel, it took six trainees just to take down one monster.
Of course, these were commanders, so it’d be different—but still, 32 was just too many.
After checking on Schloitz, I looked toward Raphael, who also had an Oparts.
“Raphael!”
I yelled and yanked his wrist toward me.
How could that thing move so fast?
A massive monster’s hand had swung through the air, slicing off several strands of Raphael’s hair.
Did he just almost die? Just now?
My heart thudded in my chest.
And it wasn’t over yet.
The monster’s movements were faster than Raphael’s attempts to block with his sword or step back.
Just as the Oparts’ barrier formed around him, I swung my sword, and the blade drove deep into the monster’s body.
But if monsters could be killed that easily, this world wouldn’t be suffering so much.
Still, it gave Raphael just enough time to back away and avoid a critical hit.
“Urgh!”
More monsters rushed in, and eventually, cracks appeared on Raphael’s Oparts.
See? I told you he’s been overworked.
He was swinging his sword slower.
And then, I got a strange feeling.
Wait… was today supposed to be Raphael’s death day?
Maybe in the original story, he didn’t die from betrayal—but here, he just dies right now?
Then… does that mean I just saved him?
Raphael, now wounded in the shoulder and bleeding badly, was being dragged back by junior officers.
Then—
“Aaagh!”
A high-pitched scream pierced my ears. I looked ahead and my eyes widened.
Monsters looked human at first, but when their bodies got cut, they mutated into grotesque forms.
From the stump of an arm, hundreds of strange new limbs were sprouting—thick and long, all different sizes. I couldn’t believe I was seeing this in real life.
I clenched my teeth. But Raphael, who had the highest chance of dying today, was safely pulled back already.
Now, only I and Marc were left standing in this area.
Our positions had been preassigned—meaning the two of us had to deal with this part.
That bastard’s annoying, but he’s better than the monsters!
This wasn’t the time for grudges. The monsters, looking horrifying and twisted, stomped toward us with loud thuds.
Marc’s holy sword flew through the air—but it only cut down one monster at the front.
And even then, maybe because his hand was shaking, he missed the head.
If Marc keeps fighting like this, he’s going to get himself killed.
That thought flashed through my mind—right before something shocking happened.
“…!”
Marc grabbed my arm and yanked me forward.
My heart jumped. For a moment, my thoughts froze, and time seemed to slow down.
A monster’s hand was just inches from me.
I didn’t close my eyes from fear—I didn’t even have time.
Clang!
A sharp sound rang out as the monster’s hand smashed into a newly formed barrier and was crushed.
I was speechless from the shock.
Wait—did that bastard just throw me in front of the monster to save himself?
A hundred thoughts flashed through my mind in a split second.
Raphael was supposed to be standing there, not me.
No matter how injured he was.
Usually, in a Level 2 operation, you didn’t get pulled out just because of some injuries.
And maybe Marc—his mind frozen in panic—would’ve thrown whoever was standing next to him in that moment.
Or maybe… he had been secretly hoping Raphael would die, and acted on that impulse without thinking.
Is that why Raphael never appears in the original story? Because he dies here—because of Marc Hunt?
Even as my mind spun in confusion, my sword moved on its own.
Venus had said—even a few seconds could make all the difference in surviving a monster attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Shards of the holy sword pierced the monster.
But maybe because I was still shaken, or because I lacked experience, none of the shards hit its head.
The monster, feeling no pain despite losing arms or legs, reached out with hundreds of wriggling arms to crush me.
“Commander!”
The barrier activated again—but this time, it couldn’t withstand the hit. It shattered with a loud crack. At the same time, my stomach turned badly.
This is… bad.
Just as I tried to steady myself—
Dozens of holy swords flew through the air and tore the monster apart.
Its whole body—not just the head—was shredded and scattered into thousands of bloody chunks.
Heavy rain began pouring from above.
And then—someone grabbed my wrist and spun me around.
It was him.
Schloitz.
“…”
He scanned me from head to toe with cold eyes, then let go of my wrist.
Almost immediately, an angry voice exploded through the air.
“MARC, YOU INSANE BASTARD!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Have you completely lost your mind? What kind of cowardly move was that?!”
Raphael was shouting, blood pouring from his body.
Marc looked frozen, pale as a sheet.
Even in this chaos, I felt a strange sense of relief.
He saw it.
Thank goodness.
I’d worried no one had seen it—everything had happened so fast, and there were over 30 monsters around.
But instead of me yelling, “That bastard threw me toward the monster!”, it was way more convincing if someone else screamed, “He tried to throw her!”
Everyone was stunned.
Marc Hunt’s face was ghost-white.
I could feel everyone glancing back and forth between me and him.
But I couldn’t say anything. I was too nauseated.
While I was holding my chest, gasping for breath, Marc’s expression suddenly changed.
Like he’d finished calculating something in his head, he suddenly spoke.
“The barrier….”
“…?”
“I did it as a strategy to activate the barrier!”
Raphael’s face turned red, then pale.
“Since Lady Lefevre is a direct noble, I knew she’d have one of those mystery barriers, so I acted strategically! I was planning to follow up with a holy sword attack from behind, and—”
He didn’t get to finish.
Schloitz walked straight up to him.
Standing in front of Mark, he slammed his holy sword into the ground.
Whack!
He punched Marc in the face, sending him flying.
Then Schloitz bent down and grabbed Marc by the collar, lifting him off the ground. Blood dripped from Marc’s mouth.
Everyone went dead silent.
“Marc Hunt.”
“Y… yes, sir…”
“How am I supposed to hold my head up, with a direct Lefevre heir right in front of me, and you pulling stunts like this?”
“T-Total Commander, please…”
Marc could barely speak, like he was being strangled. Schloitz’s grip didn’t waver.
“What do I need to do to fix this military discipline? Do I need to behead the junior officers and stack their heads on the golden pillars?”
“…!”
The assistant officers turned pale. Marc started shaking.
“You misunderstand, Commander…! L-Lady Lefevre, please, just say something…!”
He suddenly called out my name, probably sensing real fear for his life.
Why was he clinging to me?
Because I was the highest-ranking person here, after Schloitz?
Or because I looked like I’d be soft-hearted?
“If I get executed like this, wouldn’t that trouble your conscience, my lady?!”
In that exact moment—
Schloitz shoved his military boot straight into Marc’s mouth.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bones echoed horribly as Marc’s face twisted into something unrecognizable.
I froze in shock.
Schloitz slowly pulled his blood-and-spit-covered boot out of Marc’s mouth. A few shattered teeth rolled onto the ground, and his lips were torn and bloody.
The stench of blood was heavy in the air—and Schloitz was smiling.
Or… was it really a smile?
In the metallic, rain-soaked atmosphere, his cold grin seemed just as hard and sharp as steel.
He held Mark’s head up by his hair, roughly and carelessly.
“You must really think I’m an idiot.”
“Ugh…”
“Wouldn’t it have been better if you just shut up after getting punched? Save yourself from showing that face to Lefevre?”
His tone was soft and drawn-out, almost like scolding a child.
But there wasn’t a single trace of kindness in his voice.
