The soldiers here were troops mustered by the Spanish colonial authorities to strike the English colony.
They were not particularly elite soldiers, but compared to the civilians here from London, they were overwhelming military force.
And their strength came from abundant real combat experience.
They had fought desperately against tens of thousands of Indios, watched comrades die from unfamiliar poisonous plants and insects, and witnessed all manner of bizarre beasts roaming the skies and fields.
Their courage was not something to be taken lightly. No, if one were to find the people most familiar with the sensation of “strangeness” in this world, it would be these Spanish soldiers.
After all, they were ones who had left their beloved homeland behind and set foot into a completely new world.
And when they faced that bizarre monster, there was only one thing they could say.
“Dear Lord (Dios mío)….”
Boom!
And another one of those stunned fools died.
Whoooooom!
The sons of Spain hurriedly climbing over the wire fence froze solid at the roar of the monster charging like mad.
A terrible metallic sound licked past their ears. A nauseating petroleum stench that made their heads throb paralyzed their sense of smell.
“Guaaaack!”
“P-please save me….”
“Monster, monster…!”
That thing, that bright yellow steel beast, was crushing its allies like mad.
It was heaving its massive body around at a nonsensical speed, seemingly savoring the sweet taste of slaughter.
Rumble. Rumble.
In an instant, they lost their commander, the Governor.
In an instant, several comrades who had been at the front became chunks of meat.
“Ha. W-what… is that?”
Someone let out a hollow laugh as his neck snapped. It was because the monster’s arm, rotating at high speed, had smashed his head.
A body made of bright yellow metal, strange wheels like belts attached to it, and a massive arm dangling threateningly near its “head.”
The fresh blood of their allies painted all of it.
Did the Behemoth of the Bible look like that? Was it a product Satan had crafted with painstaking care?
Crunch.
One dazed soldier’s arm happened to get caught in the monster’s joint. The startled soldier struggled desperately, but the monster emotionlessly raised its arm and…
“Guaaaaack!”
Crunch.
…crushed his arm.
And then…
“R-raise your guns!”
“H-huh?”
“Shoot from the front!”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The shabby militia poured another volley of fire into them.
***
Uncle Choi, I’m sorry.
“Guaaaack! His Excellency the Governor has been sent flying!”
“E-everyone, get out of the way! Get out!”
“Shit (Mierda)! How the hell…!”
Today, the excavator Uncle Choi borrowed is going to become a killing machine.
A horse runs at about 60 kilometers per hour.
A human sprints at an average of about 20 kilometers per hour.
And this excavator can reach speeds of up to about 37.5 kilometers per hour. Of course, if I keep running it like that, it’ll break… but so what. It can be fixed.
Earlier, when I charged through once, the man called His Excellency the Governor was sent rolling far away, and the soldiers crushed beneath him were…
“Kkgh! Kkgaaaaack!”
…‘crushed.’
Ugh. I won’t be able to eat meat for days.
I barely managed to hold back the urge to vomit that was rising unbidden. I forcibly tore my eyes away from the horrific sight of flesh, bone, and organs tangled together and charged toward the other soldiers before me.
“Hiiik! D-don’t come! You monster!”
“You bastard! Just shoot! I said shoot!”
Bang! Rat-a-tat!
The Spanish soldiers who had crossed the wire fence couldn’t even think of laying hands on anyone else and just sprayed bullets toward me. It was an excellent attempt, excellent military discipline. To attempt a counterattack in this situation.
Pit. Pit-pit. Pit.
But it was a failure.
Why? Did you think I made this crazy plan to charge into the middle of the enemy with an excavator without taking any precautions? Of course I had wrapped the cabin all around with polycarbonate sheets.
Unless I was really terribly unlucky, those lead bullets would never hit me…
Pshh!
“….”
What, what the hell. It just grazed me?
Damn. The polycarbonate sheet I had fixed in place must have started rattling loose from the impact earlier. It seemed a lead bullet had flown through that gap.
Thwack!
“Kuaaack!”
Thud-thud-thud!
“Kieeeek!”
While freely ramming and trampling people, I glanced at my arm and saw hot, stinging blood flowing from where the bullet had grazed me. Damn. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have made such a reckless plan.
Now I was running with my life on the line. These damn Spaniards, threatening me?
I feel no more guilt. I’ll smash, trample, and kill to my heart’s content…
Clunk. Clunk.
“…Ugh.”
The nauseating stench of blood wafted from everywhere. While the Spaniards fell into confusion, our allies fell back and poured a volley of fire, felling more enemies once again.
But we were slowly running out of gunpowder, too. For now, while our allies who had retreated far back took up pitchforks and spears to stand guard…
…in the meantime, it was my turn.
“Seize that thing! A person is riding on it! It’s not some Behemoth or mythological monster, it’s just a complicated machine!”
“D-damn it, Lord. Lord…!”
“Get a hold of yourselves! If we kill the rider and take that machine, we win!”
Fucking hell. How can they come to their senses in this situation?
When the man who seemed to be a lieutenant shouted, the Spanish troops, who had already reformed their ranks, sprayed gunfire at me. The polycarbonate sheets deflected most of it, but the impacts were heavy.
“Everyone draw your swords and charge! It’s not that fast, so you can survive as long as you dodge!”
“Waaaaah!”
“Break the sorcery of these heathens! Kill the Indio bastard riding up there too!”
And shockingly, even that much was enough for the Spanish army to recover its morale.
They had been a powerful and well-trained army from the start. Even with the Governor rammed by a monster that jumped out of nowhere and their comrades turned to mush, they were an army that could regain their composure.
I clicked my tongue at that military discipline.
I tried to step on the accelerator and raise the speed somehow, but as the enemy commander said, there was a severe limit to the speed an excavator could reach, and once they escaped their panicked state, attacking became difficult.
At this rate… this won’t do…!
This was an operation fundamentally designed based on the fear pre-modern people would feel at an unfamiliar machine. If the enemy escaped that fear, the basic premise of the operation was twisted.
Even though I had killed a lot of them, there were still disgustingly many left!
Seeing our allies fall back, it seemed they were already out of gunpowder. If I went down here, the shabby militia would have to clash head-on with the steel-armored Spanish army immediately.
Then there would be no chance of victory.
I had to somehow drive the enemy into a corner as much as possible…!
Tak.
…Huh?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ha. Crazy.
“O-onto it!”
“Everyone get on and kill the rider!”
Spanish soldiers wearing plate armor and running like mad began jumping onto my excavator.
Some were struck and killed, some were crushed underfoot, but none of them gave up. With bloodshot eyes, they began clinging to the outside of the excavator.
“Uuugh! You heathen devil! How dare you… uaaagaaack!”
Whiiiiiiine!
Whoa! I nearly died! There was a guy trying to open the door, so I barely managed to slice that bastard’s arm off with the chainsaw! I hurriedly locked the door and grabbed the steering wheel again… huh?
Crunch!
“Don’t aim for that tough glass! Smash the joints!”
Ha.
That’s right. This is the Conquistador from the textbooks.
They fight damn well.
Tung! Teotung! Tung!
The Spaniards clinging to the front and sides began thrusting their steel swords like mad through the gaps between the silicone and nails used to fix the polycarbonate sheets.
While that was happening, a few more soldiers fell off the vehicle and rolled away, and some had their heads burst from being trampled by the excavator, but the remaining ones paid no heed, focusing on their work with bloodshot eyes.
Tung! Tung! Teotung!
I twisted the steering wheel like crazy, turning curves until the excavator was on the verge of tipping over to shake them off. And the more I did so, the more the Spaniards clung to the vehicle body.
Now there seemed to be about ten of them stuck like bugs. Through the front windshield, I couldn’t see anyth—
Oh.
Damn.
Bang!
I crashed straight into the wire fence.
And that wasn’t the problem.
Teoteoteong!
The moment the excavator hit the wire fence, a soldier’s knife tore away the polycarbonate sheet and dug through that gap.
Due to inertia, my body naturally lurched forward.
The two events occurred simultaneously, by chance. The result was…
…
…I saw the knife hilt protruding from my chest.
Red blood gushed out so much that I wondered if there was this much blood inside a human body. Every time I swayed, the blade shook and churned up my insides. It was excruciatingly painful.
It was as if… the center of my chest was being burned with a branding iron.
When I barely raised my eyes, the soldier who had stabbed me was already wedged between the wire fence and the excavator, half-crushed. He wouldn’t live long.
‘You who shall be immortal beyond the ages, a new world now calls to you.’
I… uh…
Damn.
‘Immortal one.’
My consciousness grows hazy.
The smell of oil hit the tip of my nose. For some reason, the opening phrase of ‘Immortal Order’ echoed in my ears. Yeah. Stop that immortal nonsense. It’s all over now…
‘There is no end.’
…Huh?
‘For you, there is no such thing as an end.’
I looked down without thinking.
The blood…
‘Immortal one.’
…stops.
***
“….”
“….”
The metallic sounds and shouts that had been raging moments ago faded into nothingness as a sudden, leaden silence descended upon the farm.
The yellow monster, that terrible machine of death, had finally stopped.
Dozens had died and been wounded to finally stop it. And yet, dozens still survived.
“K-keoheok, keok….”
“H-His Excellency the Governor is alive!”
“Your Excellency the Governor! Are you alright?”
“D-don’t touch me. I believe my ribs are broken.”
“….”
“….”
“Th-that monstrosity…?”
At Vicente’s question, the soldiers all pointed to that side at once.
The sight of that ‘monster’ having crashed into the wire fence and crumbling horrifically entered the Governor’s eyes. Smoke rose from the monster’s flank.
At that sight, a look of delight spread across Vicente’s face, whose entire body’s joints were naturally twisted.
Only.
“….”
“….”
Only, the natives and the English could not smile.
Quietly, the Spaniards approached them. Their chests and backs encased in Toledo steel, quality swords and shields in hand.
Now it was time to enjoy the pleasures of slaughter and plunder as victors. The time had come to chase after easy prey instead of being hunted.
The settlers and natives crept backward. Some collapsed as strength left their legs.
They desperately searched for the rider of that monster in the smoke.
“P-please, angel….”
But there were no angels here.
Now, this place held only butchers and those to be butchered.
The Spaniards’ breastplates and shields seemed to laugh off the arrows fired by the natives, including Manteo. One or two fell, but that was all.
Rather, their laughter grew louder. The reason they had discarded their guns to shoot arrows? It must be because they were out of gunpowder.
Now was the time for pure hand-to-hand combat.
Veteran Spanish troops clad in steel were now going to dance with a mere militia and savages.
Just as they thought this and walked forward, drooling.
Kwakwang!
At the sudden thunderous roar, everyone’s gaze turned back toward the monster.
The rider was walking out of the ashes and smoke, gasping for breath.
With a knife stuck in his chest.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Everyone lost their souls at that sight.
What superhuman force of will must it take to stand so upright and walk out with a knife stuck in one’s chest?
“Huaaaack!”
But the Spaniards were not ones to sit and watch.
One man who had just lost a comrade to him ran forward and swung his sword. The man blocked the sword with his arm as if he had no strength at all, or perhaps no interest.
Swoosh-schlock.
Naturally, the arm was cut off entirely. English women screamed, and the natives trembled in fear.
And then.
And then…
“He has become a priest, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indestructible life….”
While everyone could not tear their eyes from the man, one of the Spanish soldiers muttered a passage from the Bible.
“…For it is testified: ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
Hebrews 7:16–17.
The man looked at the arm that had just been cut off.
He raised his forearm… letting everyone see.
The bones, muscles, and blood vessels regrowing.