SOTBW - 3

It was a night of meteor showers. That night, too, the soldiers of Noctis Fortress were engaged in combat with the Serith, who sought to engulf the Kingdom of Bastronia. The four knightly orders desperately defended their assigned sections of the wall, and the newly born Serith juveniles struggled to hunt humans and grow into adults.

Twelve years had already passed since the Serith, for unknown reasons, had been released from their seal and began occupying the continent. The battlefield, where fierce battles took place every night, was a living hell. It was a tragic battlefield where even seasoned veterans who had overcome countless trials could instantly become prey for the monsters.

Even veterans who had fought the Serith for hundreds of nights would have their heads cut off by Serith claws in an instant if they let their guard down, and even knights praised as heroes who could turn unfavorable war situations into hope were nothing more than helpless prey in front of adult Serith.

Maximón, the young commander of the Romsoa Knights, used the shield firmly fixed to his left arm to forcefully strike the head of a juvenile Serith who was busy tearing apart a soldier’s entrails. With a thud, bluish blood mixed with silver spurted out like a fountain.

He swiftly thrust his longsword deep into the spine of the juvenile, whose head had been crushed like pudding, and looked towards where the knights were struggling. Four or five knights wielding holy swords and skilled soldiers were surrounded by three adult Serith and were being unilaterally attacked.

Those adults seemed to know how to hunt humans. While the adults drew the knights’ attention and overwhelmed the surroundings, the juveniles took the opportunity to catch inexperienced young soldiers or try to climb over the wall and invade the city. The moment a Serith crossed the wall, the city would be doomed. Inside the city were only those who couldn’t fight or were too weak to hold a sword and shield.

Maximón instantly pulled out a spear that was embedded in the chest of a dead soldier. Juveniles rushed at Maximón like starving dogs when they saw him, but Jacob and Belshua, who were nearby, deftly blocked them.

Swoosh. The spear that Maximón threw with all his might made a sharp sound like an arrow and pierced the head of an adult Serith that was trying to chew on a fallen knight. The superhuman strength that surpassed human common sense caused everyone on the battlefield to turn to Maximón for a moment.

The soldiers, who had been gripped by the fear of death for a moment, subtly regained their vigor as if they had found hope. It was something only Maximón Elgort could do. Piercing the diamond-hard outer skin of an adult Serith with a mere spear was a fighting style that ordinary people couldn’t even imitate, but now it served as a powerful blow that dispelled the soldiers’ fear and encouraged them.

Maximón, removing the juveniles that were clinging to his subordinates, shouted loudly so that everyone could hear.

“Regroup! As always, soldiers in teams of four, knights with me, we’ll take on the adults in the front! Belshua, Daniel!”

Maximón called out to his subordinates and ran towards where the adult Serith were. Belshua instantly blew away the juveniles swarming like flies on the corpse of a young soldier with a single slash and followed Maximón faster than anyone else.

Daniel had already cut off the tail of an adult Serith that was flying around like a mace and was aiming for its head. Maximón stepped on the body of a Serith whose head had been pierced by a spear and flew upwards, bringing his sword down on the head of an adult Serith that was aiming for Daniel from behind.

Blue blood poured like rain from where the sword had pierced. Belshua, protecting Maximón’s back as he landed on the ground, glanced at the juveniles endlessly climbing over the great wall. Daniel, who had barely managed to cut off the left arm of a charging adult, whistled and picked up a dropped shield.

“It’s a bit much today, isn’t it? If we’re not careful, we’ll become Serith food ourselves. Ah, I’m going to die, really.”

Daniel grumbled, panting heavily.

Belshua agreed.

“Those idiots who were surrounded by adults earlier, they’re from the Eschus Knights.”

“Eschus? If it’s Eschus, that’s the knights of those high and mighty nobles.”

Daniel, who had been sneering, suddenly tilted his head.

“Wait a minute, but why are they here? Isn’t the Eschus Knights’ defense zone the first wall?”

The Romsoa Knights were stationed at the easternmost part of Noctis Fortress, in what was called the Fourth Wall sector. It was rare to see the knights of the Eschus Order during battles. Their defense sectors were on opposite sides, so unless there was joint training, they never crossed paths.

In other words, the fact that the Eschus Knights had been pushed back to the Fourth Wall meant that there were an unusually large number of adult Serith attacking the fortress. Belshua, protecting the young soldiers who were cauterizing the severed heads of Serith with torches, spoke to Maximón.

“The adults are attacking in excessive numbers, Commander. At this rate, not only us but everyone is in danger. We should request reinforcements now…”

“Reinforcements? If there were any, we would have called them already!”

Maximón shouted irritably, barely managing to block the arm swung by an adult Serith with his shield. There had already been warnings from the priests that more Serith than expected would attack. The lord of the fortress had ordered the mobilization of reserve forces and even young soldiers who hadn’t even received proper training to stop the Serith. Those who could fight were already on the field or had long since become corpses.

Just then, a clear bell rang out from above the wall. Maximón hurriedly looked towards the source of the sound. A juvenile Serith with a dagger stuck in its back was rapidly climbing the wall.

None of the archers, who should always be stationed on the wall, were to be seen. They had all already descended to the field to fight, having no time to nock their arrows.

“Jacob!”

Maximón shouted the name of his most trusted subordinate as he fended off the recklessly attacking juveniles. Jacob heard Maximón’s voice at once. There was no one else on the field besides Jacob who was fit to deal with that juvenile. If the juvenile managed to invade the town, a terrible thing would happen.

Understanding the situation, Jacob immediately ran towards the gate. Fortunately, the soldiers inside the wall had confirmed the juvenile’s intrusion and formed a search party. Jacob, riding a horse prepared by them, rode at full speed towards the point where the juvenile was likely to have fallen. Fortunately, just beyond the wall were the knights’ quarters and the soldiers’ barracks.

Only those who were resting due to fatal injuries were in the quarters, but if the soldiers guarding the place had acted conscientiously, they would have at least grabbed the ankle of the dagger-stabbed juvenile. No, they absolutely had to have done so. If the juvenile attacked the defenseless fortress residents and took their blood and flesh, it would recover from its injuries. Then the situation would become uncontrollably worse.

Jacob gritted his teeth and whipped the horse hard. Upon arriving at the Romsoa Knights’ quarters, he saw countless torches gathered in one place. In the knights’ courtyard facing the gloomy wall, he smelled the cold, fishy odor unique to the Serith, which could only be smelled on the field.

Jacob pulled the reins and gradually slowed down. The gathered soldiers recognized Jacob and quickly stepped back. There, a juvenile Serith, its breath already gone, lay sprawled out. Jacob dismounted and calmly examined the scene.

The thick neck of the swiftly dispatched juvenile and the sword deeply embedded along the cut surface to prevent the head and torso from regenerating… This was the work of someone who had faced the Serith many times. Jacob looked back at the injured soldiers who had run out of the quarters and asked.

“Who hunted this?”

It was something worthy of praise, but the soldiers only looked at each other and tilted their heads, no one answering. Jacob pulled out the sword that was deeply embedded along the spine and asked the soldiers again.

“I’m not trying to reprimand anyone, but to give them a proper reward.”

Then, a young soldier standing beyond the range of the torches timidly raised his hand. When Jacob’s gaze reached him, everyone turned around. The young soldier shrank back from the attention and carefully said.

“I, I was the first to discover this Serith. When I found it, it was already decapitated. No one knows who dealt with this juvenile…”

At that moment, a soldier with a bandage over his left eye muttered, “Ah…”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, when we were coming out of the infirmary, someone, I mean, someone wearing a skirt… yes, someone definitely wearing something fluttering, running from the wall towards the maids’ quarters,” the soldier testified.

As the soldier testified, others nodded and added their opinions.

“That’s right. I saw it too. I heard the alarm bell and thought a Serith had climbed over the wall, so I rushed out, and at that time, someone was running away as if they were fleeing. When my colleagues and I came out, someone had already perfectly dealt with it, as you see, sir…”

“Was there a thud? Yes, along with that sound, there was a sudden flash of lightning.”

“The Serith, it seems it was staggering because a dagger with holy water on it was properly stuck in its back and just fell. And then, just like this guy said, a white lightning bolt suddenly fell. So we thought the great Sylin had finally inflicted divine punishment on the Serith…”

Before the soldier could finish speaking, the young soldier, perhaps out of nervousness, cauterized the severed head of the Serith with a torch. Jacob watched the scene and stared at the quarters shrouded in darkness.

Lightning? A white lightning bolt?

No, more than that, a mere maid hunted a Serith?

As the Serith’s flesh turned black, a pungent smell arose. Jacob faintly frowned and looked up at the wall where the battle was still raging. He already felt overwhelmed thinking about how he should report this to Maximón. Maximón was the kind of man who would definitely order him to find out who had dealt with the juvenile Serith.