Huff A sound of someone catching their breath echoed.
If my comrade, who was cleanly shot through the stomach, fell forward, it made sense they’d make such a sound—but that wasn’t the only reason.
The humans behind them fell as well, collapsing sideways at the same time.
The plate armor all had bullet holes.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of clunky guns firing in rapid succession mixed with ear-shattering gunfire.
I fired continuously toward the direction of the Cardinal, until the revolver’s cylinder was empty.
I didn’t even aim properly. It didn’t matter if I hit or not. The Marmaros was sufficient. With each shot, enemies were engulfed in flames, their armor froze, and they were swept away by the wind.
The reactions coming back were pure horror.
Well, Marmaros is indeed one of the most important resources. It was only natural they’d react like this, wasting it on a single bullet.
Aside from one bullet shot at the Gryphon, there were five rounds left in the gun.
I carefully counted the remaining bullets while shooting one by one, securing my line of sight as my enemies panicked and took a breath.
And finally, I confirmed that the earth-type Marmaros pierced through the enemies with a single shot, then I tossed the rifle down.
Without a moment’s pause, I grabbed the automatic pistol hidden under my arm with both hands and dove into the side of the corridor.
A few sword strokes swept past my previous position a beat later, with some even flying towards the décor I had hidden behind, scattering a few stone fragments as well.
I just reached out and fired a few rounds in that position.
“Ah…!”
And then, my hand was sliced off.
Looks like I didn’t hit.
Again.
*
The reason I was able to instill fear in my opponents on the battlefield was that I could hit them even without looking, and I already knew where the threats would come from. Well, technically, I had only fought for real once, but from my perspective, it wasn’t even a ‘one’ time success.
Once before turning back time, and once after—plus I had gone through that battlefield several times already in practice to get the best results.
So, to put it simply, I could be called a ‘veteran’ relative to my age.
How skilled the Cathedral Knights were, or what their training level was, I didn’t know. But if there was something they could never match, it was the fact that most knights lacked ‘real combat experience.’
If the Empire and the Papal State were to fight, the Papal State would inevitably lose. The Empire would send in the veterans who survived the Northern battlefield. No matter how outstanding an individual’s skills were, facing thousands of soldiers who survived hell was too much for the Cathedral Knights of the Papal State.
It wasn’t just a simple difference in skills or the strength of weapons.
If the protagonists hadn’t defeated the Emperor, the war would have ended with the Empire’s one-sided slaughter.
I couldn’t see the expressions of my enemies. But the human inside those armor surely felt fear.
The smell lingering on the second floor was a mix of smoky gunpowder and the metallic scent of blood. Amidst the burnt smell, there was a faint freshness of earth.
“Eek…!”
As I slowly approached the Cardinal, he hurriedly tried to crawl away from me. With one arm gone and a leg broken with exposed bone, his desperate attempts to escape looked somewhat pitiful.
I wiped the blood trickling down my forehead. It had been obstructing my vision for a while now.
From the first floor, the sounds of clashing swords and the Gryphon’s roars could still be heard.
Were the kids safe?
I desperately wanted to check, but it was more important to stop what was in the Cardinal’s chest. In games, you could defeat an enemy by just reducing their HP—conversely, as long as HP didn’t hit ‘0’ from our side, you could somehow take them down. But here, it was different. Permanent disabilities couldn’t be reversed unless time was turned back, and the dead couldn’t be revived. In battle, there was no option of just ‘falling.’
Bang, bang.
As I stepped forward, I took down the knights who were struggling to get up and grab their swords.
“Ugh…!”
As I finally approached the Cardinal, stepping on his back, blood spewed from his mouth with that sound.
“Why?”
The Cardinal spat those words out.
Right?
That was what I wanted to ask you.
But since he wasn’t dead, it was something I could check once he was treated somehow.
“It’s too late…! The beasts and monsters outside have already…!”
“If this is removed, they won’t be controllable anymore.”
I leaned down and tore off the necklace hanging around the Cardinal’s neck.
“What on earth…?”
Straining to lift his head to see me, as if realizing something, the Cardinal struggled to spit out the words.
“If deities exist, and if they truly are observing this place, it means those deities have not chosen you.”
I let the necklace drop to the ground and lifted my foot off the Cardinal, crushing the object.
Splinter—the delicate necklace shattered effortlessly.
“Ah!”
A noise came from below.
Something must have happened to the Gryphon.
But since the intense clashing of swords suddenly quieted, it didn’t seem to be a change just disadvantageous for us.
I took out the emergency bandages I had kept. …It looked like I didn’t put it in a good spot. I had stored it on the side where there was no brass plate, and of all places, that part had been hit by a sword, leaving the bandages tattered. Plus, blood was oozing out from below, so no matter how I looked at it, it seemed the ‘bandage’ was no longer functioning.
Well, for the purpose I was going to use it for now, it would still be usable.
I stuffed the bandage into the Cardinal’s mouth. If he bit his tongue… well, he wouldn’t die, but it’d undoubtedly be a hassle for the testimony I needed to hear.
“Try not to die. There’s much I want to ask you after this is all done.”
After briefly gazing at the Cardinal’s wide-open eyes as he looked up at me, I turned back.
Even if it said ‘second floor,’ it was really just a corridor. Overall, it looked like a huge hall. So I could properly look over the situation on the first floor.
The Gryphon was bowing its head, kneeling. The previous dignified appearance had vanished, replaced with ragged breaths.
That made sense.
With so many tumors on its body, blood vessels in its eyes bursting, and sores here and there, it must have been agony just to stand still.
The reason the Cardinal couldn’t escape after all was likely due to this. A regular beast could manage to move on just its tumor’s strength, but the Gryphon would have needed immense power just to remain standing.
I knew what that thing was. I had read it in settings books multiple times. So I didn’t feel much regret in breaking it.
Rather than that…
“Not yet! Keep fighting until the end—”
One of the cathedral knights, who had been particularly resilient, said that before slumping face-first into the ground.
Accompanied by the sound of my gunfire.
To be honest, wielding that gigantic gun was exhausting. However, since the suit’s magic stone hadn’t run out of power yet, and the suit itself provided some level of power assist, I was able to keep my sitting position while shooting.
I still had some rounds of Marmaros remaining in the magazine.
After taking down the Cardinal, reloading the fallen gun with bullets wasn’t too difficult, as no further combatants remained on this side.
Five rounds left.
There were more than five knights below, but—
“…”
My gaze met with Alice, who was looking up at me.
Not just Alice. Claire, Leo, Charlotte, Mia, Rena, Jake, Roti.
…And even Sofia, looking up at me with a bit of fear.
They still looked ready to fight.
Everyone had at least one big or small injury, but none had fallen. Even while I had turned back time so many times—they had persistently stood their ground, fighting.
Against the Gryphon.
Knowing very well it was entirely not a situation that allowed for that, a laugh almost slipped out.
“Indeed. It’s not over yet.”
I murmured quietly.
“If you want to end it, then go all out until the end. But for now… I would recommend just acknowledging your defeat.”
One knight staring blankly at me dropped his sword to the ground. In the room, overwhelmed by silence, the sound of metal hitting the floor rang out oddly loudly.
After that, a few more such sounds echoed.
Was I that frightening?
How foolish.
The real ‘Fanggriffon’ that fought against the Gryphon was probably those kids in front of you.
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