‘This isn’t good.’
I frowned as I looked at the flame of life dwelling within me.
Right now, the flame was only about half its usual size.
I had spent too much strength rescuing the students I encountered on the way to save Cecilia.
I glared at the group of Toadmen, who were still hesitating.
‘Can I win like this?’
Under normal circumstances, I would have answered yes without hesitation.
There were still quite a few of them left, but it was still within my expectations.
On top of that, perhaps because they had just witnessed their companion die so horribly, their momentum had noticeably weakened.
If I repeatedly struck and withdrew while hunting them down, it might take a long time, but I would certainly win.
The problem was that, right now, I could not leave this spot.
I glanced back at Cecilia behind me.
Perhaps all the emotions she had been suppressing had finally burst forth, because tears were endlessly streaming from her deep green eyes.
‘So much for getting help.’
Just as I clicked my tongue softly, something small caught on my senses.
Judging by its trajectory, its target was Cecilia.
Without even having time to consider what it was, I swiftly swung my spear and knocked the projectile away.
With the clear ring of metal striking stone, the stone knife hit by my spear bounced off.
The already wide mouth of the Toadman split all the way to its ears.
‘Was it checking whether I was trying to protect Cecilia?’
As if answering that guess, the Toadman that had thrown the stone knife let out a loud cry.
The sound that began with a single creature gradually spread, until it covered every direction.
Without letting down my guard, I focused all my nerves on my senses.
The vision of Crimson Blood and my five senses covered the surroundings, and the moment I began to read their movements—
The singing stopped.
At the same time, several Toadmen from different directions threw stone knives, aiming for Cecilia.
I immediately thrust out my spear to protect Cecilia, but something had slipped in between.
Thud—!
With a dull impact, a Toadman’s fist struck my torso.
Thanks to Dracul, the armor of the Sanguine Scripture that remained hidden from sight, there was no serious damage, but I could not prevent my stance from faltering for an instant.
Seizing that opening, one of the Toadmen reached out for Cecilia.
‘Kuh!’
I forced strength into my waist and thrust out my spear.
The muscles in my waist screamed, but fortunately, I was able to pierce the Toadman’s hand.
The creature trembled as if in pain, but immediately pulled its hand back and avoided a fatal wound.
The Toadmen all withdrew again at once.
They resumed their song and stared at us.
The sight of them looked just like children who had caught a frog and were toying with it.
‘As expected, this won’t work as I am.’
Unless I used Crimson Blood in earnest, I would simply die slowly like this.
‘No choice, then.’
I placed a hand on Cecilia’s shoulder as she wept and looked straight into her eyes.
“Lady Cecilia. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
Cecilia’s tear-filled eyes looked at me.
“From now on, I am going to use a hidden power. Can you swear on your own name that you will not tell anyone about this?”
At that, Cecilia’s eyes trembled.
Under normal circumstances, I would have waited for her, but there was no time now.
Once again, the Toadmen’s song stopped.
I could not see them directly, but I sensed several of them moving at the same time.
“Answer me quickly.”
At my urgent voice, Cecilia seemed to come to her senses and nodded.
Placing her hand over the family crest embroidered on the breast of her uniform, she shouted loudly.
“I-I swear. On the name of Cecilia Waitley.”
“That was the answer I was waiting for.”
The moment she answered, I released the Crimson Blood that had been trapped inside my body.
An aura that looked like blood-red liquid flowed out like tentacles and struck away the stone knives flying toward Cecilia.
The Toadmen flinched as if startled.
Before they could even react, I drove my spear into the chest of the nearest Toadman.
Crack—!
Red thorns extending from the spear bloomed inside the Toadman’s body, tearing it apart from within.
The Toadman trembled, then lowered its head.
Using Crimson Blood, I absorbed at least a portion of the Toadman’s life force.
“Now I can finally breathe a little.”
Feeling the slight but definite recovery of my life force, I smiled.
At the same time, blood-red liquid covered my entire body.
Before long, I had taken on the form of a humanoid monster clad in living armor.
As if sensing that something had gone wrong, some of the Toadmen faltered.
The frog-like eyes of the Toadmen went back and forth between Cecilia and me again and again.
They were probably debating whether to flee because they feared me, or to at least seize Cecilia.
Unfortunately for them, I had no intention of offering them either option.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
Boom—!
With the sound of the ground bursting beneath me, I charged at one of the Toadmen before my eyes.
The emotion the creature showed the moment death appeared before it was not fear, but bewilderment.
With its already huge eyes wide open, its head was torn apart by the spear blade and flew into the air.
Hearing the sound of air leaking from its throat, it must have been trying to make some kind of noise.
It was an impressive sight, but I had no intention of continuing to watch it.
The moment they confirmed that I had moved away from Cecilia, several Toadmen leapt toward her.
I pointed at their center and extended my spear.
Clatter—!
Tentacles in the form of thorny vines shot out from the spear and seized the Toadmen’s bodies all at once, tightening around them.
They struggled to break free of the tentacles, but that only served to strangle them further.
Slash—!
The Toadmen’s bodies were slowly crushed, torn all over by thorns.
Before long, all that remained in that place was the mucus and dark red blood that had spilled from their bodies.
“Eek!”
Cecilia, who had been splattered with it, let out a horrified cry, but I was sorry—I could not afford to worry about that much.
I launched myself once more into the group of Toadmen.
This time, two Toadmen rushed in at once to face me, but it meant nothing.
While I pierced one through the heart with my spear, I grabbed the other by the neck with my opposite hand and snapped it.
Perhaps finally realizing that they could not possibly win, the Toadmen began trying to flee into their huts.
Without even giving them a glance, I stabbed my spear into the ground.
Centered on the spear, tentacles made of blood stretched out in every direction.
The only things those tentacles targeted were the fleeing Toadmen.
They tried to avoid the attacks by using one another as shields, but that was meaningless.
Two at a time, the Toadmen impaled by the tentacles shuddered and became mummies.
Seeing that, did they judge that escape was impossible?
Half of the remaining Toadmen charged toward me, while the other half charged toward Cecilia.
Ignoring the Toadmen rushing at me, I threw my spear at the ones charging toward Cecilia.
The spear, filled with red energy, cut through the air and took the life of one of the Toadmen.
While the others flinched at the sight, a red vortex spread out from the corpse of the dead Toadman.
A blood-red whirlpool extended outward, avoiding only the spot where Cecilia stood.
The Toadmen touched by it were sliced into dozens of pieces without even understanding that they had died.
At the same time, the fists of the Toadmen attacking me struck my body.
A powerful shock ran through my entire body, but I gritted my teeth and endured it as I grabbed the head of the nearest Toadman.
Splat.
With the sound of fruit being crushed, the Toadman’s hard skull shattered into fragments of bone.
I released its head and immediately opened my hand.
The spear embedded near Lady Cecilia instantly answered my call.
Before I knew it, the blood-dyed spear was in my hand.
What followed was a massacre.
After slaughtering the Toadmen that rushed at me one by one, I withdrew Crimson Blood and sank to one knee on the ground, panting heavily.
‘Did I overdo it a little?’
Just in case, I checked and found that my life force had fallen to less than half its usual amount.
I had absorbed life force in between, but it seemed to have been far from enough compared to what I had consumed.
If I followed my heart, I would have liked to sit down and rest, but I could not do that.
With an exhausted expression, I looked at Cecilia.
She was looking at me without saying a word, her face deathly pale.
“Are you all right, Lady Cecilia?”
When I reached out to her with a worried gaze, Cecilia immediately trembled and backed away.
It was the attitude one would show toward a monster, just like the Toadmen from moments ago.
The moment I saw that, I withdrew the hand I had been about to extend and gave a bitter smile.
‘Right. That’s normal.’
I had forgotten, after spending so much time with Senior Lena and Miss Eleonore.
Ordinary people would be terrified if they saw me use my power.
To them, I looked less like a knight who saved people and more like a monster that devoured monsters.
‘Maybe becoming the ideal knight really is impossible for me.’
After all, there would not be many people in this world who admired a blood-soaked beast.
Turning my back to Lady Cecilia, I spoke in a calm tone.
“There is a path leading to the dungeon entrance in that direction. I have killed nearly all the monsters, so you should not encounter any trouble on the way.”
With this, even if she was frightened of me, she should be able to run away.
Thinking that, I was just about to move away from Cecilia.
“W-Wait!”
Cecilia called out to me and reached out her hand.
Her voice was still trembling, but her tear-streaked eyes were looking straight at me.
“What is it?”
When I turned back to Cecilia and spoke, she flinched slightly.
Her eyes were still filled with fear.
Even so, as if she had something she wanted to say, her lips continued to move.
A moment later.
“Thank you. For saving me.”
At Cecilia’s words, I stared blankly for a moment, then smiled faintly and turned my head.
“Don’t mention it.”
With those words, I set off to rescue the other students.