A colosseum turned into a scene of carnage.
Everyone thrashed about trying to escape, pushing and trampling over others to get out first in what could only be called a race for survival.
There were noble souls who sacrificed themselves to save their children, parents, or lovers, while others fainted or lost their minds, drooling under the fear aura exuded by the monsters.
It was a devastating sight.
This was what the appearance of a monster beyond human comprehension—one that humanity dared not oppose—truly looked like.
A continuous wave of panic, where simply maintaining one's sanity was a Herculean task.
Yet, in the midst of this devastating crisis...
"This is a failure."
"It really shouldn't be this 'peaceful'..."
There were two men who dared to call this disastrous scene "peaceful."
Remaining seated and calmly conversing in the middle of this slaughterhouse, the two men were a jarring sight.
But what was even more jarring was the fact that they were priests clad in the vestments of the temple—and despite one of them wearing the robes of a High Priest, not a single soul sought their help.
As if no one had even noticed their existence.
The High Priest, who listened to the cacophony of screams as if it were music, opened his mouth.
"It's not going as I expected."
While it was undeniably a devastating spectacle to others, the brutality the High Priest had 'planned' was not meant to be this half-hearted.
There had to be death, [sacrifice]!
It had to be gruesome, drenched in blood, and filled with countless lambs wearing faces of absolute despair.
Yet, what of the present?
"...There are no worthy sacrificial lambs."
Even though the situation was a crucible of chaos, it was a lukewarm space devoid of despair and death.
Chaos of this meager degree could be quelled at any moment.
The High Priest shook his head in disappointment.
"It seems things have deviated significantly from the plan."
"Umm, my apologies, Captain. I tried to keep an eye on it, but a hitch like this occurred."
The young lower-ranking priest expressed his remorse.
Even the usually mischievous lower priest couldn't hide his guilt this time.
However, the High Priest shook his head.
"How could that be your fault? The blame lies with me, for arrogantly believing everything would proceed according to plan."
"……"
"So, do not be too hard on yourself."
"...Thank you, Captain."
"Your gratitude is noted. More importantly, contrary to our plan, the 'offerings' are all slipping away. It can't be helped."
"What...?"
"Open the secondary summoning circle."
"Uh, wouldn't the cost be too steep...?"
The toll of summoning a colossal monster of that size alone was already astronomical.
Roughly half the kingdom's annual budget?
Perhaps even more.
And to incur additional expenses on top of that?
It meant the additional cost might eclipse the original investment.
Yet, he.
"Do it. Now."
"……"
He merely issued an absolute command.
As if he would bear the full responsibility.
"Sigh, I don't know anymore."
The lower priest silently obeyed his superior's command and drew a staff from his robes.
*Hum.*
Mana, murky like sewage, began to stir, and only then did the High Priest nod in acknowledgment.
But he only spared it a brief glance before his eyes returned to the center of the colosseum.
"—How dare a despicable knight obstruct our grand design."
Detestable and loathsome.
He wanted to step in and tear him to pieces himself, rip him into a thousand shreds.
But he couldn't.
This stage was not meant for them.
Still, even if he couldn't intervene directly...
"I will kill you, no matter what."
Even if it meant suffering astronomical losses, he swore to his god that he would definitely kill that knight.
* * *
—In the pitch-black space, the beast howled.
[[Grrrrr…!]]
...Its sheer size was beyond comprehension.
Just how massive did it have to be for its voice alone to echo such ominous sounds throughout the entire academy?
Yet, what was more horrific than its bulk was...
*Crackle! Squelch... squelch...*
The fact that it was regenerating even as it burned fiercely.
An overwhelming regenerative ability.
'You monstrous bastard, do you have any idea what kind of blow that was...!'
The arrogant mage, Odwal.
He may have despised knights, but he was no fool who couldn't recognize their skill.
Thus, he knew.
That the ballista strike unleashed by that brutish knight was a blow that even an Archmage would struggle to reproduce.
In other words, any typical large monster should have died instantly from that attack.
Therefore, the fact that it not only remained intact but was also healing itself without having taken any damage was absolutely abnormal, and that realization quickly morphed into terror.
'Just who could have summoned a monster of that magnitude!!?'
At least a century-old.
The longer humanoid monsters lived, the larger their bodies grew, and their ferocity and power were nothing to scoff at.
Therefore, that beast had to be at least a century old.
And surviving for over a century was proof in itself of a monster's might.
To live a long life meant surviving the natural ecosystem of predator and prey.
'A century... Are there still specimens of that size left on the continent?'
It was hard to believe.
He had thought that specimens of that magnitude were wiped out during the reign of the previous king.
"Hey, slave. Let me ask you one thing. That looks like magic, can't you dispel it?"
"...Your stupidity is enough to give me a heart attack. Summoning magic is activated by an 'absolute covenant'. Therefore, that is..."
"Enough. If you can't, just say you can't. Why do you run your mouth so much, ...you useless bastard."
"!!?"
It was infuriating.
It wasn't that he couldn't; no matter what mage they brought in, they would absolutely never be able to dispel that magic, so why was he the only one getting chewed out!
"It's not a matter of skill!"
Just as he had screamed, it truly was not a matter of skill.
That summoning magic had undoubtedly been activated through massive sacrifices.
And summoning magic fueled by sacrifices was absolute.
An irrevocable 'covenant' that guarantees its descent into this world, impossible to overturn by any means.
Thus, that monster would definitely descend upon the world.
Right now, it simply couldn't squeeze out of the hole due to its excessively massive body, but it could emerge at any time.
"W-We have to run! Or request reinforcements from the kingdom immediately! You can never defeat that monster alone!"
"……"
"Stop acting like a fool! Are you trying to be a hero or something, you...!"
Odwal was desperately trying to persuade the knight, gnashing his teeth.
He wanted to live too; he wanted to run away right this instant.
But because of that damned 'vow', he couldn't refuse the knight's orders.
Hence, he was reduced to pleading.
Begging him to run away.
...But.
"The spectators seem to have mostly escaped, so it looks like we can bolt too."
"Now those are the words I wanted to hear! You're finally making sense!"
"But you see, I don't think that thing plans on letting us go."
"What nonsense...!"
"It's not nonsense. Look."
"You bastard, what are you—Hmm!?"
...Fate didn't even seem to permit escape.
Odwal, whose gaze was forced skyward by the knight's rough hand nearly snapping his neck, was about to yell at the disrespectful gesture, but the words died in his throat.
From the sky...
"You crazy bastard...!"
A new summoning circle had opened.
*Patter!*
...Those who saw it for the first time might have mistaken it for hail.
Black or green-tinted hail.
A hail that inspired an inexplicable sense of revulsion, and as they continued to fall...
"M-Monsters are falling from the sky...!"
The true nature of the hail became easy to discern.
Living creatures, curled into balls, dropping from the sky.
The natural enemies of humanity, born man-eaters with whom coexistence was impossible.
The storm clouds were not only spewing out a colossal monster, but smaller ones as well.
*Kwung-!*
Monsters rained down.
So many that their numbers were beyond measure.
They easily numbered in the hundreds, and seeing them left him pale with terror.
*Kwung!*
*Kwuuung-!*
Hundreds of specimens plummeted from dozens of meters in the air, crashing into the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
It would have been nice if the fall had killed them, but that was the nature of summoning magic.
It typically didn't summon the weak; the summoned were invariably the powerful among monsters.
In other words.
[Kiaaa!!]
[KRR-!]
—None of them had life forces so frail that a fall from dozens of meters would kill them.
"N-Nolls!"
Nolls.
Heteromorphic monsters that looked like a cross between a dog and a hyena.
Their entire bodies were covered in toxic filth, creatures that spread disease wherever they went.
However, they didn't just carry poison; their hides were thick enough that arrows couldn't easily kill them.
And their favorite food was...
"Hide the children and the women! Hurry—!!"
Newborns and young women.
Monsters that humanity despised and loathed the most, and feared beyond all else.
And right now, those Nolls...
[KiAAA!!]
...numbered in the hundreds, and they all let out a unified howl.
[Kieee…!]
Clad in looted armor and wielding axes, they drooled as their bloodshot, crimson eyes lost all reason at the sudden scent of their favorite prey.
From the Nolls' perspective, it was as if a grand feast had suddenly spread out as far as the eye could see in the blink of an eye.
They knew that whatever they chose would be delicious, unable to hide their excitement.
...As trifling as they were.
*Shhk!*
*Thud...*
[……?]
The Noll couldn't process the situation in that instant.
A situation where the head of a comrade right next to it was suddenly falling to the ground.
In what felt like slow motion, a Noll slowly turned its head, and the last sight it saw in its life was...!
"Stop yapping. It stinks."
*Slash!*
The trajectory of an axe swung by a terrifying human male.
*Thud!*
Another Noll corpse was added to the pile, its head separated from its body. An axe warrior slicing through the mid-to-high rank Nolls as if they were scarecrows—no.
"Blackie."
"Roen Dmitri de Lionel, present, Instructor."
"We are in a combat situation. Address me as Sir."
"Command me, Sir Ihan."
The knight, Ihan.
There stood a knight wearing an expression of unprecedented rage.
Having disposed of a Noll and approached his side, Roen awaited orders.
"Do you know who's responsible for this?"
"...I do not."
"And you're not lying."
"I swear my life on it."
Though he wore his usual stoic expression, he couldn't hide the tremor in his eyes.
It meant he, too, was unaware of the current situation.
An event even the regressor didn't know about.
However, what was important to Ihan right now wasn't this unprecedented event.
It was simply...
"Then I will trust you."
"……"
He just needed an outstanding blade.
"From this moment on, I appoint you as my proxy. Levi Volt will be your adjutant. Take command, gather everyone who is still fit, and slaughter every single one of these disgusting bastards."
"……"
As Roen hesitated to answer, ten Nolls pounced on Ihan, having suppressed their presence.
[KiAA!!]
They were fundamentally twice the size of an adult male, and it was a moment of extreme threat, but...
*Splat!!*
"I asked if you understood."
"...It feels like you could just kill them all yourself, Sir."
Ihan's axe swept horizontally, turning nine Nolls into mangled heaps of flesh in an instant.
[Ki…-.]
The remaining one struggled in Ihan's grasp.
*Crack!*
His five fingers dug into its skull, and the Noll thrashed in agony before dying instantly.
Ihan shook the Noll off lightly, as if brushing off filthy dust, and shook his head.
"I have someone else I need to deal with."
He pointed a finger at the sky.
Roen's face darkened.
"...Will you be alright on your own?"
"I might not win, but I have to hold out."
"……"
"So, what's your answer?"
"...I will follow your command."
There was a man who trusted him and entrusted him with his back.
If he did not answer this call, how could he call himself a warrior of the North?
Roen struck his heart with the hilt of his sword in a salute.
A Northern salute, signifying he would sacrifice his very heart to complete the mission.
"That's how it should be."
Wearing a satisfied smile, Ihan took a deep breath.
*Huuup!*
[[—One Hundred and Eight Arhats, hear me!!]]
He let out a roar that thundered across the entire arena.
[…!?!]
Lion's Roar.
Ihan's Lion's Roar instantly shook the entire colosseum, incapacitating the rampaging pack of Nolls.
The killing intent infused within the Lion's Roar possessed enough power to momentarily paralyze the entire horde of Nolls.
And amidst this deafening Lion's Roar, the knight's disciples who heard his voice snapped to attention, their eyes wide with shock and focus...
[[I appoint Roen Dmitri de Lionel and Levi Volt as my temporary proxies! Everyone who can fight, follow their command and butcher every single one of these nauseating bastards!]]
—…….
[[Do you understand? Not a single one left! Eradicate them all!]]
—...Yes!!!
The One Hundred and Eight Arhats—no, the entire first-year cadet class of the Swordsmanship Department—responded as one, regardless of their status, drawing their swords with a unified salute.
And out of the eighty first-year cadets, not a single one fled.
"...Are you really sure you can't handle this alone?"
Watching him display an aura that could overpower hundreds of Nolls with his voice alone, Roen couldn't help but ask once more if there was even any need for him to step in.
The brutal melee had begun.