"You still have a chance. Come under me. I will help you achieve what you desire."
Though he didn't know where the voice was coming from, the words of the alchemist called Dremül pierced everyone's ears like arrows. In the midst of it all, there was a faint sweet scent wafting through the air—perhaps from a spell he had cast—though only Enkrid could smell it.
"Give up, Tempest. As Dremül said, what can two swordsmen and one girl possibly do?"
As Heskal spoke, he raised his left hand. Behind him, another horde of monsters came crawling forward.
Again, Heskal raised his right hand as well, and the monster horde grew even larger.
'They've divided their forces.'
Enkrid's gaze moved left and right.
It was already remarkable that the monsters were arrayed like an army, but they were divided into different units. When Heskal raised his left hand, what came were Scalers riding lizard beasts.
The lizard beasts that the Scalers rode flicked their tongues. The pouring rainwater streamed down their foreheads and along their snouts, creating rivulets. Their brow ridges protruded upward, forming a long groove in the center of their faces where the water flowed visibly.
Though it was difficult to distinguish colors due to the storm, the lizards' scales weren't pitch black—separate from the Scalers themselves. Even if they appeared that way now.
Their numbers exceeded at least three hundred.
The Scalers sat on their beasts without even reins, but even if the lizards charged at full speed, they didn't look like they would fall off or crack their skulls.
The Scalers' heads weren't that soft to begin with, and if they weren't confident in mounted combat, why would they do such a thing?
Heskal had betrayed Zaun, not his own brain. In other words, he hadn't become a fool.
'There are many.'
The monster horde now approached nearly two thousand.
Several more writhing masses remained on the gently curved downward slope. The monsters would keep coming endlessly. Even without a Knight's insight, this was obvious.
From Enkrid's viewpoint, to the right, what appeared to be crouching Scalers and Owlbears numbered over three hundred again. Not a small number.
'They hid them well.'
Hiding them was probably Heskal's handiwork, wasn't it? It must be.
He was skilled at manipulating information.
The ones coming up from below were also arrayed in formation. They moved in organized ranks.
Enkrid decided that if the instructor who trained these monsters was human or an intelligent species, he would ask about their training methods before killing them.
Just looking at it was impressive, wasn't it?
While observing the black masses visible through the wind and rain with these idle thoughts, somehow the things gathering on the right seemed to have membrane-covered wings attached to their backs, similar to those of bats.
'Do they fly? They probably do.'
They wouldn't have attached wings to their backs just for decoration. Assuming that, the bodies of those on the right looked noticeably lighter.
After all, to fly through the sky, bodies needed to be light—perhaps monsters made with holes drilled in their bones?
Enkrid continued to take in the monster horde with his eyes, confirming where his allies stood, gauging the distance from the enemy, and comparing their strength.
In other words, he mixed everything necessary for battle in his head.
"The flow of battle is organic. Even if you become an elite force through training, variables that occur in combat cannot be predicted. Of course, there are those who fight calculating all of this. Like those sharp-eyed fellows. But even that Krais probably can't predict every single thing that happens on a battlefield in detail."
These were Luagarne's words when teaching tactical thinking.
And she continued:
"But I can do something similar, at least for battles that include me."
She said this, and:
"That's how I can kill opponents stronger than myself."
She showed such confidence.
Must one fight purely on skill alone? Is that important in a fight to win?
"Not important at all."
Enkrid muttered to himself. His mind was constantly calculating.
Luagarne possessed a very rare talent even considering the entire continent. Enkrid acknowledged this. The more he learned from her, the more this became true.
"I am Frog, a challenger who has decided to break beyond limits."
Her words—Frog Luagarne's words—burned in his mind.
Her fighting began with tactics. And the foundation of tactics is deceiving the opponent.
What Heskal showed was the same. He had hidden his strength. The existence called Dremül was within the Family Head's expected range, but everything else was not.
Especially the monster horde that had transformed into an army was truly unexpected.
In other words, it would be a battle of many against many.
So what Zaun needed most at this moment was a single flow to control the chaotically moving group.
"Feel the flow, Enki. You can do it. Don't you already have experience commanding a battlefield with your senses?"
That's right. He had blocked Azpen's army with an invisible wall. What moved Enkrid then was instinct. Now was no different.
Rumble.
An angry god roared through thunder.
Bang!
Gesturing toward the ground, lightning seared and shattered the earth. The storm intensified once again.
In Enkrid's eyes, each individual raindrop appeared fragmented.
One of his two divided thoughts recognized the situation while the other calculated. It was a variation of the Wave-Blocking Sword.
Added to this, the instinct beyond the five senses that had become ingrained through learning from Jaxen activated. Instinct constantly rummaged through his mind, providing answers.
What needed to be done, what flow needed to be created, and such.
'How should I fight to win?'
The enemy had eliminated their experienced campaigners. To prevent them from forming formations. Therefore, what was most needed here was formation—an unbreakable form.
Whoosh!
Enkrid drew in a deep breath and gathered it in his abdomen. Then he expelled the gathered air. The air expelled with abdominal pressure passed through his vocal cords, becoming sound and carrying meaning. Naturally, it was a shout mixed with Will.
"Family Head! From that position! The wall!"
Short and powerful words. Would they understand? They would.
If not, they would ask.
The Family Head didn't even look back. In Enkrid's eyes, only the back of his head was visible, but he answered with action.
Thunk!
He thrust his sword into the ground and drew a line.
"Since rain is falling, it will fill the moat with water on its own."
Unusually, he even threw in a joke.
If he was the wall, then the line drawn with his sword was the moat, wasn't it?
He wouldn't let the monsters gathered here dare cross his line.
The Family Head spoke with his back, and:
"We are!"
"Zaun!"
"Those who walk!"
"The path of the sword!"
At Rilee's call, someone else picked up the words, and when Kata shouted, the nineteen-year-old girl of Zaun, brimming with talent, concluded.
Whatever you do, we will no longer waver.
That's what the wall erected by the Family Head meant. He had shown even more than Enkrid had requested.
Still, it wasn't quite enough. The Family Head alone couldn't stop the monster tide. He had established a central axis.
Enkrid brought his right hand to his mouth and projected his voice.
"Alexandra, ten steps to the Family Head's right! Rynox, how well can you fight?"
"Are you asking me how well I can fight? Stop with the impudent words. I've been wielding a sword since before you were born."
"Doing something for a long time doesn't mean you're good at it."
He mixed in jokes even in this situation. Why throw jokes while veins bulged in his neck? The same intention as the Family Head's uncharacteristic joke. Seeing the arrayed monster horde, the shoulders of those who had tensed up relaxed.
'Boosting ally morale.'
Naturally, it was intentional.
'Then reading the enemy's flow.'
Guiding that flow to confine the battlefield situation within his intentions.
Instinct stung and stabbed through his head. It felt like small lightning bolts were splitting apart and rummaging through his brain.
"Anahera, you may run wild!"
At Enkrid's shout, the shackles of the beast that contained red blood were released.
"Hahahaha!"
Normally, Anahera restrained her giant instincts. If she hadn't, she would have already killed several people around her.
But on a battlefield teeming with enemies, there was no need to suppress her instincts.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The giant race kicked off the wet earth and ran. Where she stepped, muddy water shot up left and right. By the time the fan-shaped spray of muddy water fell back to the ground, Anahera had encountered the foremost monster group.
It was in front of a lizard group sufficient to be considered cavalry.
From above, it would look like a mad giant charging alone into enemy ranks.
"Intercept!"
Someone on the opposing side shouted. One of those aligned with Heskal.
At his words, over ten arrows flew. Not in an arc, but direct shots fired from close range after hiding among the monsters.
Ping, thunk, clang.
Several glanced off and bounced off her skin, another hit her head but struck her iron helmet and fell.
Only one arrow lodged in her forearm, but even that was quickly pulled out by her violent movements and fell to the ground.
It had barely penetrated the surface of her skin.
A giant's skin is thick and hard. Most arrows won't pierce it.
Those who had lived confined in Zaun had forgotten this.
Enkrid knew the hunter village was an enemy. Wasn't there a single marksman among them?
Of course there was.
But was there any guarantee their arrows would work on a giant?
Right now, several of those archers had panicked and stopped pulling their bowstrings. Ripples of disturbance arose in the enemy ranks.
Then Anahera faced a Scaler riding a lizard.
The lizard opened its mouth wide, showing saw-like teeth, and the Scaler on top gripped a blackened short spear in reverse and thrust.
Though Enkrid couldn't see, Anahera twisted her lips up to their fullest and swung her sword with a smile.
She was a giant, and though intoxicated by instinct, she didn't forget she was a sword of Zaun.
Therefore, what came from her hands was Zaun swordsmanship.
Thoom.
Her planted left foot dug into the ground up to the ankle, and the force transmitted with her push-off was loaded into her vertically descending sword.
It was a heavy sword-style Half-Moon Cut swung with Will loaded fully.
Crash!
The harmony of giant strength and Will split the lizard and the Scaler riding it vertically.
Splash!
Black blood poured out, soaking her helmet. The constantly falling rain quickly washed the blood away.
"Die all of youuuu!"
The giant raised her head toward the sky and shouted.
Had he anticipated all of this?
No. Enkrid had simply followed his instincts.
"Kata, follow and guard Anahera's back!"
As he spoke, Enkrid's head constantly turned left and right.
At some point, the enemy monster horde was also charging toward the Family Head.
'Even if I were Heskal, I'd use monsters to drain their strength.'
Though it would be difficult with a human army.
'With a monster army, there's no reason not to use this tactic.'
Monsters have no fear. So using them to drain strength would be profitable.
Did he know this in advance too?
Not at all. He had instinctively erected a wall. The reason he erected that wall was to clearly reduce the number of deaths here.
Scalers riding lizards, black scales mixed with red ones, Owlbears with steel feathers, and above them, flying ones.
Such monsters charged in formation.
The Family Head, Alexandra, and Rynox blocked their advance.
Only three? No, a full three.
Knights are calamity—alone they cut down a thousand.
They could probably do the same.
Anahera would wreak havoc and Kata would guard the rear. He would leave those two alone. Both had clear specialties that didn't suit group combat.
They weren't suited for collective battle.
Anahera would only exceed her full potential by running wild regardless of friend or foe, utilizing even her instincts.
'Kata fights with weapons hidden all over his body.'
In other words, being surrounded by enemies and fighting was efficient for him. He had honed his skills by traveling between villages, sparring against multiple opponents.
That's how he had developed into his current form.
Sometimes there are those specialized in actual combat rather than sparring, and Kata was exactly that.
Enkrid had sent the two out first to exploit this.
If you strike first before enemies charge, their ranks become disordered.
This would be the same even if it were monster grandpas instead of monsters.
The ones in front would inevitably be caught up in melee.
Enkrid's intention succeeded, and Heskal extracted the groups not caught in melee, reorganized their ranks, and flanked.
'Truly clever.'
Heskal was clever. He felt this anew.
However, he fought with his head while Enkrid relied on instinct.
So there was no need to panic. His intentions were read? That could certainly happen, couldn't it? So he just needed to respond to whatever move Heskal showed next.
The enemy's aim was clear.
'Make this side fight alone while that side fights in formation.'
Zaun had lost those with rich campaign experience.
Instead, a commander from Border Guard stock who had experienced countless wars, climbing up from the bottom—
A man who had learned the sword of tactics from the Frog called Luagarne had filled that empty position.