Come on, come on!

　In the city of Teirakainen, where the screams and the sounds of battle had diminished considerably, the dozens of survivors who had barely managed to scrape together were staggering forward.
　Escorting and guiding them were the survivors of the Second Order. They were escorted and guided by only a few knights commanded by Kaya, a survivor of the Second Order.

"Forward alert!　If anything other than Bloodsuckers appear, try not to deal with them on your own, I'll deal with them if they're dangerous!
　If the Rose Princess of Hell appears, evacuate as fast as you can.
"Understood!

　While protecting the rescued citizens, the two of them scouted ahead to be on the alert for encounters with Blood Suckers.
　I'm sure we all want to get out of the city as quickly as possible, but if we rush, we'll neglect our attention. A frustrating time was passing.

　The Second Order had applied a simple "sanctification" spell to all of their weapons beforehand.
　Thanks to this, they could take down a bloodsucker with a single stroke, but even the bloodsuckers would only take a bite out of an unarmed citizen.
　Above all, the opponent is a horde, and we are a small army, though it sounds like an elite few.
　A moment's slackness could have resulted in death.

"Oh, ......?

　The knight who was almost ahead of you raises a questioning voice.
　A white tiger with golden ornaments all over its body appeared from the shadows of the building in front of it. Two of them.

Holy beast!
Holy beast!
Thank God you're here to help us.

　The knights and citizens alike shouted in relief.
　The Noachurian Holy Beast had become a familiar face to the people of the city, as it had been waiting like a figurine in the city for a while now.
　To defeat the undead, you need to use holy air. Even a layman can understand that.

　Moreover, this holy beast, despite its beastly appearance, can hear and understand people.
　It understands complex commands and can think and act flexibly on its own. In addition, they are summoned beasts, so they are loyal to orders. She will fight for her life.
　Kaya, as one of the commanders, has been given the authority to give orders to the holy beasts.

"Holy Beasts, we're moving to evacuate the survivors out of the city. We will be escorting them along the way. ......

　Kaya was about to give the order.

　The Holy Beast in the form of a tiger ignored Kaya, approached the citizens, and bit them.

"...... What?

　What?

"Ssshhhhh!

　Several times in one stride, Udanosuke struck with his famous sword, Douchou Atziryoku.
　The katana, wielded from all directions in a slow and steady manner, sparked with Zeft's sword.

　At first glance, Zeft was on the defensive. But Udanosuke understood that this battle was a toss-up.
　By being on the defensive, Zeft was able to withstand Udanosuke's attacks, and if he were to slow down for even a moment, Zeft would be watching vigilantly for a way to counterattack.
　In other words, this is a battle like controlling a runaway buffalo car: ......

　--You can't beat me in such a passive fight. Two grains of Sansho are twice as hot as one!

　He could no longer remember who had taught him this, but the words had taken root in his mind as a lesson.

"Zeft, look out!

　A female grappler named Chancey shouted.

　A large man, half-mechanized, with an enlarged claw-like blade bared, attacked Zeft.
　He was Brent. "He's an adventurer who belonged to a party called the Ties of Blue and Silver, and was found by Rene. Rene had found him and Everis had transformed him into a mechanized undead.
　It's not enough to just turn the best of the best into ghouls. Rene and Everith agreed that it was time to expand the range of undead, and Everith created this new undead that could be created even if the evil spirits of the ritual field were thin.

　Chauncey intervened with a blow from Brent, and clawed up the claw with his cuirass.
　He then stepped in and hit Brent in the back with an inverted spinning kick that sent him sprawling to the ground.

　But then, in Brent's mask-like face, an eye that looked like it had a glass ball in it flashed.

"What?

　With a slamming sound, Brent's eyes flashed with heat.
　If you've got a lot of time and energy, you're going to want to make sure you've got the right equipment. A thin heat ray burned Chancy's side.

　Brent followed up.
　His mechanical arm blew out air like a dragon's breath, and his fist sped up from its awkward position to strike Chauncey.
　Chauncey, who was out of position, was barely able to catch it, but was knocked away and sent flying.
　It's a good thing I'm not the only one.

Yikes. ......

　In an attempt to save Chensie, Zeft reaches for her.

"Douchou!

　I'm not sure what to do.
　You've got to be careful not to get caught in the air.
　Udanosuke controls the attack by hitting Zeft's small hand while letting Chancy take the attack.
　And then.

"Atryoku!

　As if sliding the blade, Udanosuke stabbed Chancy in the white belly.

　And the blade went through.

"...... Nun!
"Yeah, .......

　The blood-soaked blade was stopped by Zeft's sword as it pierced Chenshi.


　The skewered Chen Shi coughed up blood and looked at the blade with a look of disbelief.

"Chauncey!

　Zeft exclaimed.

　Strange things were happening around them.
　The holy beasts that had been fighting the undead army and occasionally taking the place of Zeft and the others were abandoning the battle and moving towards the city.
　They reaped, trampled, and jumped over the undead in their path, fugitives at full speed.

　Normally, the holy beast would have taken the wound and fallen instead of Chen Shi.
　But that was not to be. Udanosuke's katana pierced Chen Shi.

Why ......
I'm not sure what to make of that.

　The priestess in the rearguard was wondering, still unable to comprehend the situation.
　Udanosuke doesn't know what's going on either. Losing the spear in this situation would be a huge blow, so why did the holy beast abandon them and retreat?

"...... Zeft, secure Chen Shi!
I'm not going to let you.

　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

I'm sure you'll be able to understand why.
"......

　Zeft grits his teeth.
　When an adventurer has had a companion killed, he or she will attempt to reanimate the corpse.
　This place is near the city, so you can try to revive a freshly dead body with a relatively high success rate.
　However, Udanosuke and his team are also tasked with securing the corpses. Strong adventurers produce strong undead, so this is a valuable resource. Even if they were asked to return it, they couldn't just hand it over.
　Especially if it's a lucky victory, like remembering a piece of sushi you've been keeping in the cupboard.

"Zeft, there's something wrong with the city. There are undead on the city walls.
What?
You've noticed. You've noticed that the Titans haven't been firing or even preparing to fire.
No way. They're already at .......

　Zeft glanced behind him as he faced Udanosuke.

　The wizard, who was watching the battle from a step back, seemed to notice first.
　The city was already in the hands of the undead, and the walls had been overrun.

There's no point for us to hold on here. All we have to do is run.
But Chauncey is at ......!
Let's say we get the ...... body back. Do you think he's ready to be revived by the Teiracaines?
......!

　Zeft backed away a bit, glaring at Udanosuke as if he were going to shoot him dead.
　The wizard with the glasses was chanting a spell, protected by Zeft and the man with the tank.

"Mass Teleportation!

　A huge magic circle unfolded on the ground.
　The complex and geometrical magic circle emitted a vague purple light that engulfed the adventurers, and then vanished without a trace.
　"The four remaining spears and the rest of the low-level adventurers were gone.

"Oh, so you've already secured your escape route. Losers turn into Chihuahuas, I guess.

　Udanosuke thought to himself.
　It's difficult to transfer this many people in an impromptu manner. Perhaps the wizard had laid out a magic circle of "exit" somewhere beforehand, and then transferred to it.

　--The wizard must have laid out a magic circle of exit somewhere beforehand and moved to it.
　　　If I had wanted to, I would have left all the "spears under the spear" dead, but I guess we should be happy that we didn't suffer much damage against the strongest party in the ...... country. You should not play a game of shogi where you lose a cannon turtle to get a silver knight.

　Looking down at the corpse beside him, Udanosuke trembled with the joy of being a warrior. After all, it is the samurai who fights and defeats his strongest enemy. She would be a strong undead, he thought, and the princess would be pleased.

But why did the holy beast retreat?　What are you trying to do, ......?

　What are you doing?

　When Bertil stopped moving, all the undead had already fallen.
　Some of the Blood Suckers have been reduced to white ashes, while others have been gouged out, leaving only a small portion of their body in ashes. Two knight ghouls were also split into four.
　There were many dead bodies (although they were dead even before they were cut).

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with your time.

"Ohhhh!
Thank God!
That's the Second Knight Commander!
You are the savior!

　There was an outburst of cheering, but it quickly subsided when Bertil held up his hand with a calm motion.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We have defeated the enemy here, but the city is now in a very dangerous state. I don't know how long this chapel will be safe.
　We need to get out of here. Get out of the loophole quickly. ......

　It happened before he could finish.

　With a roar, the entrance to the chapel ...... collapsed, or rather, the wall on the side of the entrance collapsed.

What the hell?

　There was no time to be surprised.


　A storm of gold and white rushed into the chapel, repelling the crumbling walls of what used to be.
　Its strong body was entirely covered with white scales, with claws like golden manacles and a sharp face like a golden mask. The wings had a golden skeleton reminiscent of an artifact, and the membrane was also pure white.

　The dragon-shaped holy beast that Noa Curio had left as his trump card.
　It smashed through the walls of the chapel and grabbed the people.

Oh my God! Help me! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!

　The holy beast grabbed several people at once with his large hands and tried to carry them into his mask-like mouth.

"I won't let you!

　Bertil immediately assessed the situation and went on the offensive.
　He thrust his sword and circled the holy beast's arm, then kicked the masked face with all his might. There, in the space of a single breath.

"Giaaaaaaah!

　The holy beast let out a screeching roar.
　The hand that had grabbed the survivor was severed at the wrist and fell to the ground.

　The holy beast didn't try to fight back or use the remaining hand to aim at more people, but retreated immediately.
　It jumped out of the hole it had just jumped into and was never seen again.
　All that was left were the dumbfounded people who couldn't keep up with the sudden turn of events and the agonized groans of those who had been grabbed.

"I retreated .......
What was that, a holy beast?　Noah Curio's holy beast, right?　Why did it attack us?

　Bertil plunged his sword into the giant hand that had been cut off and dismantled it properly.
　In the event that you've got a lot more than one of these, you'll be able to get a lot more.

...... ≪healing (regeneration)

　Putting his hand on his bloodstained apron, Bertil cast a healing spell.
　The maid, who had been injured in the abdomen, seemed to have caught her breath.

This is not good. ...... The situation may be more dangerous than I thought.

　I'm not sure what to make of this.
　Something around his waist gave off a purple phosphorescence.

　He pulls out a piece of paper from his belt compartment. It's a caller's code to the one he gave Kaya.

"Kaja!　What's going on?
We've been attacked by a tiger-shaped holy beast!　It preyed on two survivors, at which point I had no choice but to slay it.
I had no choice but to slay it." "...... Holy Beast attacked a citizen?　You too?

　I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think it's a good idea.

"You mean the same thing happened to the Commander?
'Yes. We've just arrived at the chapel in the castle, and suddenly a holy beast attacked us and drove us away.
　I'm going to use a loophole to get the survivors out of there. Can you go around the exit?
"Yes, sir!
Call me if you need anything.

　They exchanged a few quick words to keep the bill from burning up, and Bertil deactivated the call sign.
　Right after that.

"......!!!

　Something that can't be described as a shout or a roar echoes out like an echo.
　The earth shook, and dust or something flew down from the ceiling.
　From the other side of the great hole that the holy beast had made, there was the sound of something huge stomping on the ground.

"It's getting noisy again. ......
　If one of the ones fighting is Rene, what's the other one ............?