Volume 10 Chapter 23 A Heated Siege
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Ah, they’re here, they’re here.”
I let out a relaxed sigh, watching the encroaching, writhing black wave. The Brigante warriors took their positions one by one. I watched them line up on the ramparts, then stretched my shoulders.
”They really gathered this many, huh?”
”Right? Does the Demon Lord have some kind of beastly fetish?”
”Oi, oi, are these the Demon Lord’s women? If so, I’ll gladly take them with this thick, hard one of mine.”
A middle-aged adventurer said this, tapping the stone wall with his sword. I wondered if that rough sword could really captivate monsters. The adventurers next to him grinned.
”If you find one you like, you can take her home.”
”Which one of us do you think will be eaten then?”
They burst into laughter over such a stupid joke. It felt less like they were laughing and more like they were forcing themselves to laugh. The enemy army was vast. A fierce battle was about to begin. Everyone was tense, their nerves frayed.
A heavy thud echoed, clearly footsteps. The sound grew louder with each step.
Klock’s expression grew grim.
They’re bringing out giant beasts in front. This is bad. They know what bothers us. These beasts won’t fall easily to stones, and there are too many of them.
The beasts roared. Klock heard a mammoth’s trumpet for the first time. Its long trunk swayed, tusks bared, letting out a deafening cry at the fortress.
”…Huge.”
Someone muttered, but no one answered.
The Brigante soldiers stood ready on the walls, their earlier bravado gone. As the enemy approached, tension mounted. Everyone stared, dumbfounded.
The mammoths drew closer. Behind them, growls filled the air. The beasts’ expressions became visible—they looked hungry, like predators eyeing prey.
”Ugh…!”
Someone swallowed hard. The warriors who had been grinning moments before were now frozen, their faces grim.
”…Is this bad? Are we really going to be okay…?”
The monster army stretched as far as the eye could see, with no end in sight. The beasts lined up, drooling, their ferocity barely contained. Growls and ragged breaths echoed. Instinct screamed: Run! The defenders’ spirits broke instantly.
The sight was overwhelming. Even a dragon would sense danger surrounded by these beasts. How could humans not feel terror?
Morale plummeted. The soldiers’ energy vanished. They remembered being helpless civilians. Their fighting spirit was gone.
The beasts’ eyes scanned the defenders, appraising them like prey. Their sharp gazes broke the soldiers’ hearts. Fear spread like wildfire as they realized they were seen as food.
…This is bad.
My breathing grew ragged, like I was being strangled. My chest felt tight, and my knees weakened for no reason.
This is bad. I have to stay calm…!! Why am I panicking?
Calm down. I can’t stay like this.
Everyone had lost their voice. The will to fight was gone before the battle even started. This wasn’t the right mental state. If we fought like this, we’d lose instantly.
What do I do?
I didn’t flinch against the Abyss monsters. Compared to them, these monsters are weak.
Remember how I felt then.
The giant centipede with a wolf’s head.
I wasn’t entirely fearless against that monster, but my mental state was better then. Why am I like this now?
Elna… Kuzuha…!!
It’s simple. I thought we could win. There were many strong people with Klock. With them, I wasn’t afraid.
…That’s it!! That’s the only way…!!
Brigante needs power now. To lead, I must show them a power that can turn this around. Like Cianie, I must show overwhelming strength. Otherwise, we can’t win. To raise morale, we need a light to wash away fear. Power to control everything—enemy and ally alike.
”Primlenaaaa!!”
Klock’s voice made her turn around. High above, a hooded woman leaped down from the defense tower.
”What is it?”
”Sorry, Reina. Call a tsunami, right now.”
”Already? Can you really cut it off that suddenly?”
I nodded. I was asking for the Water Cannon, the same tsunami I used against Viola.
Dragon’s Breath Wave—the secret magic of Merfolk priests, her strongest power.
That’s why I asked Primlena to act as the cannon.
”It’ll use most of your magic. Are you sure?”
”Yeah. I’m entrusting the first strike to you. Let that blow signal the battle’s start. Lead everyone, lead Brigante.”
”Understood.”
Elna and Kuzuha are gone. The Hero is gone. But Primlena and Meina are here. They’re among the strongest of their kin, not inferior to Elna.
If so, we shouldn’t fear this battle.
Primlena stood on the fortress’s highest point, the residence’s roof. She raised her spear—a trident, favored by Merfolk. It stabilizes water magic.
The spear’s tip aimed at the enemy army, still a short distance away. She swept it around, then paused.
The monsters approached, leaping over the moat outside the fortress walls.
The giant mammoth stopped at the moat, then stepped over and began climbing the slope. At that moment, the beasts behind it started to run.
Were they warhounds? They charged the fortress in unison, their guttural roars echoing as if competing for prey on the walls.
At that moment, the orange-haired Merfolk princess reversed her spear and plunged it into the ground.
”Whoa—!?”
Even though I knew what was coming, Klock couldn’t help but shout. The shock was like a natural disaster—an overwhelming amount of water suddenly appeared. The tsunami, summoned by the Merfolk princess, surged from the Sanctum.
”What the hell is thaaaat!?”
”Uwoooaahhh—!!”
The soldiers cried out—some in awe, some in terror—but their voices were drowned by the tide’s power. The earth convulsed as seawater poured over the land, smashing everything like a living hammer.
Primlena had used nearly all her magic to summon this flood—a monstrous torrent that turned the plains into a seething ocean. The flood slammed through the enemy ranks, dragging everything into the current.
”Wahaha! Damn, Primlena! You’re incredible! The salt’ll kill every weed—we just cleaned the field and enemy in one go! Best woman alive, ha-ha-ha!”
The massive creatures—each at least eight meters tall—stood no chance. The demon elephants were swallowed by the tsunami, their bodies tossed like laundry in a river. They bellowed pitifully before vanishing into the flood.
The smaller beasts fared worse. They were gone instantly, crushed and swept away without a trace—like travelers caught beneath a collapsing dam. No resistance, no mercy. The water devoured them all.
”…You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
One adventurer gawked, mouth wide, eyes blank. Everyone did. The monsters’ terrifying advance had been met—and obliterated—by something even more terrifying.
It lasted only moments, as this was land, not sea. But those moments were enough.
When the water withdrew, the ground was littered with corpses—drowned, crushed, necks bent, bones shattered. The once-dry moat was now a deep, glittering trench. Everything glistened wet and muddy, like a month’s rain had fallen in seconds.
”Alright, bastards—this is war!!”
Klock sprinted along the wall, shouting loud enough for everyone to hear.
”You saw that! They’re nothing! They crumble from one spell! From here on, it’s OUR turn—our blades, our strength! The hunt begins! Kill every last one of them!”
His voice cracked like a whip. Each shout reignited the soldiers’ dead embers. Fear melted into something hot and alive.
”Magic!? That was our magic!?”
”I thought we didn’t have a Hero!!”
Confused voices spread. No one expected such power from their own side.
Some looked at Primlena with new eyes. Her name had always been below Cianie and Viola’s in legends, but now she felt above them—above anyone.
”Stop standing around like idiots! Pick up your spears! Brigante doesn’t need a Hero—we’re already strong! I told you, this fight was ours from the start!”
Maybe they’d been scared before, but now? The tsunami and Klock’s roar had burned that fear away.
Many were veterans, scarred and stubborn. Seeing such strength beside them rekindled pride, not panic. None would cower after that.
They grabbed spears, hefted stones, and faced the beasts again. This time, their eyes were bright with fire, not dread. They looked alive, feral, ready.
”Hold until they’re close! Wait for the signal!”
The captains shouted the order down the line.
The monsters charged again, undeterred, as if they hadn’t seen their comrades obliterated. They came at the fortress with the same mindless hunger.
But the giants were gone—the vanguard wiped out. Those beasts were meant to break the soldiers’ will and crush the walls. Now, with the elephants dead, the enemy had to fight the hard way.
The wall would hold. They had a chance now.
The monsters clawed up the muddy slope, slipping and stumbling. Their pace slowed to a crawl—perfect targets.
”Now!! Hit them!!”
”Attack—!!”
”NOW, GO!!”
The battle erupted anew. Stones rained from the walls like a storm.
”Hey! There’s still an elephant over there!”
”Huh!?”
The moment he said it, a roar cut through the air—raw and furious, shaking Klock’s gut.
Shit. One’s still alive. You’d need a perfect hit to kill an elephant with rocks, and that bastard’s still standing.
If it charged, it could shatter the wall. Even a partial collapse would let smaller monsters swarm in.
”Earth Style—Mole Reversal!”
Golden hair fluttered in the sunlight. Despite her bubbly attitude, she looked stylish, perfect. The sakura pattern on her outfit shimmered as she landed, tail flicking, legs bare, uncaring of the mud.
”Fire Style—Cat Chariot!!”
A wall of dirt burst from the ground, flipping the elephant backward like it was punched. As it bellowed and struggled to rise, a blazing feline shape tore through the air and rammed into it.
It screamed.
It wasn’t a real cat—just fire shaped like one, dragging a burning wheel. The infernal chariot slammed into the beast, wrapping it in orange flame. The creature screamed, thrashing, trampling its allies before collapsing and rolling down the slope in a smoking heap.
”Nice one, Meina!”
”You too, Sir Klock!!”
Hands clenched into fists, bright grin, Meina beamed like the battlefield had turned into sunlight.
The others realized Klock had done something.
The elephant’s hide was too thick for fire alone to kill it. But when it dove face-first into the moat, it never rose again—Meina’s flames blinded it, and Klock’s slash had cut through its throat.
”Meina,” he called, catching his breath. “This fight will drag on. Don’t burn through your magic—save your power and let the soldiers handle most of the killing.”
”Got it!” she said, tail flicking.
She was the reserve unit—the rescue runner. Her job was to step in when soldiers faced beasts too big or brutal, or when someone needed saving fast. With Primlena busy healing, Meina was the only one who could take that role. Her legs could circle the wall in minutes.
”Stronger than I thought,” Klock muttered, eyes narrowing.
Monsters clung to the walls like a living tide. Stones hammered them, but not all died instantly—some missed, some endured, and soon a few would climb over. The longer it went, the greater the risk of a breakthrough. That couldn’t be allowed.
”Spears! Grab your spears! Split your groups—stone throwers and stabbers! Take down the climbers and jumpers!”
”Master!”
He turned. A young adventurer in light leather armor came running—his apprentice, the younger sister. “Perfect timing, Kaitney! Run the wall and pass my orders to the other side!”
”Yes, sir!!”
Tonight, she was the messenger—her job was to run. Not glamorous, but vital.
Then a scream: “Shit’s bad! Really bad!!”
”What now!?”
Her sister ran from the opposite side—same armor, same panic. Klock sighed. He’d paid for their gear—not the return he wanted.
”A giant snake! It’s climbing the mountain side—already up top!!”
”You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Apparently, elephants weren’t the only big ones in the mix.
Klock took off at full speed. A monster that size reaching the walltop was catastrophic. Getting breached this early in the fight would be a joke—and not a funny one.
Instead of running around the ramparts, he bolted down the stairs and cut through the inner yard to the far side, boots slamming the soaked stone.
”No visitors without an appointment! Fuck off, customer!” he shouted, bursting onto the scene.
The giant serpent coiled around a tower, crushing stone. Soldiers fell back, helpless, eyes wide.
Klock pushed through and lunged at it.
The snake’s eyes locked onto him. Klock leapt and swung midair, sending a blade of wind through its face.
Blood sprayed as the invisible cut tore through its eye, making the creature thrash violently.
And then—its head went flying.
The sword’s aura sliced through the thick-scaled neck. It was a Hero’s legacy blade.
The serpent’s corpse crashed down the wall. Soldiers cheered.
”Holy shit! The captain is a Brave Knight!”
”What the hell did he just do!? That was insane!”
”Shut up! Get back to posts! Monsters are still climbing!”
Klock swung, cutting down wolf-like beasts. His strikes flew like wind blades—precise, clean. He looked like a wind mage hurling slashes.
””Stabilizing,” he muttered.
They dropped stones, speared climbers, repeating the cycle. Soldiers adapted—faster, sharper, automatic.
Monsters were brainwashed, mindless, relentless. But once you figured their pattern—kill, reset, repeat.
Klock scanned the walls. The battle’s rhythm had steadied.
”Rachel!”
”Yeah!”
”Send E squad forward—bows out! Archers, thin the bastards near the moat!”
They’d burned through stones. Despite collecting them, it wasn’t enough. Stones were heavy, hauling took time, and the stockpile vanished fast.
Only blades, spears, and few bows remained. Every arrow had to count. Beasts clogged the slope—perfect chance.
”FIRE!!”
A guard raised his curved sword high, then thrust it forward. Dozens of arrows arced over the wall and fell like rain into the squirming horde below.
Beasts screamed as arrows buried in their hides.
”Fall back! Wait for the next wave!”
Arrows thudded into flesh—then silence. Archers withdrew, breath ragged.
”We still have arrows!” Rachel said.
”Wait till they bunch up,” Klock said.
Normally, you wouldn’t pull back, but supplies drained fast. They had to ration. Half were rookies—barely trained, barely shooting straight.
Sniping running beasts would waste arrows. Better to wait till they crowded—so every arrow hit.
Mud and water slowed monsters. The tsunami was a good call. They slipped, rolled, legs caught in muck.
”Ha! They can’t climb! Should’ve built the moat wider!” someone yelled.
”Captain, looks like we’ve got this!”
A bearded squad leader grinned, teeth gleaming through the grime.
”Yeah. Look down there.”
”Holy hell… that’s a lot of cleanup.”
Corpses everywhere. Monster flesh stank of rot. Unusable, untouchable—only fire could fix it.
Klock grimaced. Laughter broke out.
”We’re rich! No more work! Hahaha!!”
The man roared—amid blood, laughter still had a place.
Meat was useless, but pelts were worth gold.
Laughter boomed, wild, contagious. Some cheered, some flexed, some made faces. The air crackled—every shout a release. This was fighting for life—screaming to remember you’re alive.
”Not the time to laugh, idiot captain!!”
”Huh? What now?”
”Something bad’s coming! Other side!”
Rachel’s voice broke through. She ran, gasping, sweat on her brow.
”Too far to yell! What is it!?”
”A dragon!!”
”What!? A dragon!?”
”Dragon” snapped like a whip. Dragons weren’t like other monsters—they shouldn’t be here. Lorelei Resonance might work on beasts, but dragons? No way.
”Idiot! It’s a lizard!”
Klock sprinted, lungs burning. Even out of breath, he snapped back.
”Too big to be a lizard!”
”Then what is it!?”
It was huge—bigger than elephants, ten meters long. Dragon-like, but tail low, hide rough, no scales, no wings—just raw flesh.
Something was off. Its movements were sluggish, steps uneven. A white lump clung to its side—eggs? Fungus? Pulsing. It made his skin crawl.
”It’s fake,” Klock muttered.
”Huh?”
””Bad feeling about this.”
It was instinct—a bone-deep feeling something was wrong. Instinct was worth more than any manual.
He reached for his knife, stopped. Too far—slash wouldn’t reach. He saw her—darting along the upper wall.
”Meina!!”
”Yes, sir!!”
”Keep that lizard away!”
Meina spotted it, eyes narrowing. She hopped up the tower, perched high—catlike, poised.
High place, cat instinct—she belonged there.
She inhaled, exhaled something invisible.
”Wind Style—Vacuum Split!!”
The air cracked. A perfect blade of wind cut through the sky and cleaved the reptile straight down the middle, from skull to gut. The ground split beneath it with a thunderclap.
The lizard collapsed, motionless. But the moment its belly hit the mud—pop. A soft, wet explosion.
Something inside it burst and sprayed outward.
”What was that? Something just—exploded?”
Around the corpse, monsters shrieked. The spray hit them, and their bodies began turning white—patches spreading fast like…
The monster turned its head the instant it saw Meina. Even brainwashed, some primal instinct must have told it—this one’s dangerous.
”Seiyaaahhh!!”
A blade plunged deep into the base of its neck. Rachel—damn it, Rachel—had crept up from behind and driven her knife home while the beast was distracted.
Rachel, no—don’t go being brave now!
The creature roared and spun, its furious gaze fixed on the tiny human who had dared stab it.
Klock didn’t think—his hand was already on the holster. A black flash leapt from his side, faster than any cat’s strike, cleaving through the air.
”Whew… that was close.”
The monster’s head spun away, body kicked aside by Meina, tumbling from the wall into the darkness below.
Rachel dropped to her knees with a thud, trembling, eyes wide. One heartbeat ago she’d been staring death in the face—now she was alive, and stunned by how fast it had ended.
Klock ran up to her, resting a gloved hand gently on her head. Her legs were shaking. When she looked back at him, her eyes glistened faintly with tears.
He thought fast. Yelling at her would do nothing. A girl who’d risked her life to save someone didn’t need scolding—she needed strength.
”Nice work, Rachel.”
”Y-yeah…!!”
He grinned and threw up a thumbs-up. She blinked, then mimicked the gesture, smiling shakily. Kaitney came sprinting over, saw her sister alive, and raised her own thumb skyward. The three of them shared a breath of wild relief amidst the chaos.
”Injured to the rear! Rotate lines! Hold as long as you can!”
Klock’s orders snapped across the wall. Exhausted troops swapped out—spear and sword users stepped forward, stone-throwers fell back.
The second wave held. Despite close calls, defense stabilized. It was down to endurance—who would last longer, beast or man.
Teams A and B fell back. C and D moved up. Then C and D withdrew, letting A and B return. Team E handled the wounded, cooked, patched armor, and fired arrows when needed. With steady rotation, the wall became a living machine, grinding the enemy down without pause.
All they had to do was keep repeating it. The big monsters were gone, danger mostly past. Klock and Meina stood vigilant, scanning for anything that slipped through.
Above them, the sky deepened into red. The battle that began at dawn was now steeped in dusk.
”…Huh. She’s here?”
He squinted upward. On the tower’s edge sat a girl who didn’t belong on a battlefield—legs swinging, black pinafore fluttering, face lit by the sun. A demon in a cheerful child’s body.
He thought she was in the Crimson Spire. Apparently not. She watched the carnage below with lazy amusement, eyes locked on Klock, as if he were tonight’s entertainment.
Then—something shifted.
”Huh? What the hell—?”
It started quietly. The sun dipped below the horizon, shadows stretching across the mud. Night was coming. The monsters began to pull back.
Wait… retreating?
You’ve got to be kidding. It’s almost night—don’t tell me they sleep when the moon rises? If they kept pressing, fatigue would’ve broken the defenders. Why stop now?
The horde withdrew further, a black tide receding. Even after losing thousands, their numbers stretched beyond sight. They shouldn’t be stopping. Unless—
”Boss,” a bearded man called. “They’ve stopped attacking.”
”Trying to save their strength?” another muttered.
The soldiers exchanged wary looks. They expected the brainwashed beasts to fight until they dropped. Majin armies were relentless, tireless. But this silence… was wrong.
Klock’s gut twisted. Oh, hell. Not like this.
Never trust quiet. Not here.
He scanned the field, eyes darting. Then—he noticed it. Something red, flickering across the edges of the sky.
But the sun was gone. The light wasn’t sunset.
When he looked up—his stomach dropped.
Hanging in the heavens was the same crimson omen he’d prayed not to see again.
The Red Moon. And carved upon its surface—a massive, unblinking eye.
It stared down at the battlefield like a god peering into a jar.
The real enemy had arrived.
So that was it—the lesser monsters had retreated to avoid being caught in whatever was coming. Or maybe they’d been ordered to stand aside for the main act.
Either way… the real fight was just beginning.
”Ta-da-da-daaaan!!”
A shrill voice cut through the wind. “Thanks for waiting, everyone! The one and only super-cute VioVio is here!! Tonight’s show: Bloody Night Without Our Lady Hero! Ahh, where’s our beloved idol-heroine now, I wonder? But never fear—your darling VioVio has arrived! Don’t fall too hard, okay~?”
She twirled midair, cape swirling like a stage curtain. Blood rose from the fallen monsters, twisting into her shape until her form solidified and dropped lightly onto the wall.
Klock exhaled through his teeth. “Well, look who it is. Miss ‘Too-Cute-for-the-End-of-the-World.’ Been a while, dumbass.”
It was half nerves, half exhilaration. Maybe even his blade was trembling in its sheath.
”Oh? So you made it out alive from dear KisKis, huh?” she said sweetly, fangs glinting. “Ugh, watching weaklings act tough makes my skin crawl—but hey, thanks for the assist! Big opportunity to raise my approval score with him!”
Klock smirked. “I’ve got a lovely room waiting for you, babe. Comes with meals, a toilet, and bars on every wall.”
She grinned wide, eyes gleaming red. “Cute. Then I’ll order room service—a girl named Viola. Outfit request: open-front lingerie and a see-through nightie.”
”Die.♡”
The word left her lips like a curse—sweet, venomous, and promising hell to come.
Notes:
• Elna – Female. A young apprentice mage. Her appearance is that of a child with white hair reaching her shoulders. She wears a black hooded mantle with strange patterns. Her relationship is as an apprentice to Hermine, the Great Mage. Her power involves advanced magic, including spatial teleportation. Her combat style is magical, and she is described as childish and easily provoked.
• Cianie – A noble girl with a fluffy white and light blue dress, indicating her high status. She has a hesitant and flustered personality but is kind and courteous. Her relationship with Klock begins as an accidental encounter and develops into a romantic interest. She has a fiancé but expresses feelings for Klock, complicating their relationship.
• Primlena – Orange-haired merfolk priestess, fierce yet elegant | First v8c3 | Sister of Sea General Primjune, subordinate to Primrity | Once captured and violated by Klock, now obsessed with reclaiming honor | Commands Obsidian Riders on giant fish, fights with trident | Seeks to drag Klock to Seabed Temple for marriage trial or execution | Unique note: revenge-driven siren bride who masks fury under ritual grace
• Reina – Primlena’s Klock nickname.
• Meina – She is a golden-haired catgirl employee of the beastman (Larana the cat woman) Inn, appeared performing fellatio, desperate and tear-streaked, with an inexperienced yet earnest approach to her work.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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