It wasn’t out of mere annoyance or irresponsibility that Yi Han left the gnolls to his disciples.
‘Because they are reliable.’
It wasn’t just because he had taught them himself; his cadets were genuinely strong.
Though individuals might still be lacking, as a group, they would exert the utmost synergy.
That was how he had taught them, and they were like his carefully crafted masterpieces.
Above all, there was a ‘Regressor’ who had experienced war.
He would be someone who knew how to handle people, making him trustworthy enough to leave it to him.
Thus, what Yi Han had to focus on now was the [Monster] falling from the sky.
-The creature slowly plummeted to the ground.
Whoooosh!
The sight of hundreds of gnolls falling earlier was also a magnificent spectacle, but seeing that massive object falling now felt like watching a meteor.
It fell rapidly, and the outline of the monster gradually drew closer.
Huge.
So massive that it almost felt like a fortress wall was pouncing on him.
Therefore, Yi Han.
"How many times a day am I going to have to do this, really."
"Aaaaaargh!"
"Hold it steady."
"You vicious bastard...!"
"What a drama queen."
Drip...
Odwal, whose blood vessels bulged so much that a nosebleed erupted and even tears of blood dripped from his eyes, forcibly lifted the log-like spear once again.
However, a telekinetic force on a completely different level from the first ballista shot was added, along with the rotational force of magical power.
It was undeniably a strike meant to send the creature to hell for sure.
Though inwardly satisfied by this, Yi Han, instead of warm praise.
"It was just drama after all. You should have done this sooner."
"You bastaaaaard!"
Only whipped him further.
For a spellcaster, the carrot was a luxury.
‘Still, if there's a chance he gets hit later, I can just hit him one less time, well.’
...If he survives, that is.
With such a resolution, Yi Han pivoted on his left foot and struck with all his might.
A full-powered push strike substituting for his unusable right leg.
Quaaaang!
The second Gwanilchang was fired toward the falling giant.
Of course.
[[Grrrrr…!]]
Boom!
Unlike the first shot, it wasn't as entertaining.
"It deflected it."
The creature deflected the Gwanilchang.
As if it wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
However.
"Yes, fall over there."
Unable to completely nullify the impact of the Gwanilchang, the creature began to plummet toward the area located on the exact opposite side of the Colosseum.
Namely.
Splashhh!
Into the massive lake.
* * *
While an inhuman battle ran rampant with absurd techniques on one side.
In the Colosseum, where a relatively normal—no, brutal and suffocating mood of war hung in the air—humanity and monsters were in a standoff.
[Krrr!!]
The pack of gnolls, momentarily faltered by the knight's imposing presence, soon came to their senses and howled loudly.
That was what monsters were like.
Even against an opponent they couldn't defeat, if that opponent was human, they would harbor a sense of humiliation, anger, and hatred instead of fear, and try to kill the human.
This was why there were occasional cases where animal lovers claimed they could communicate with monsters, tried to spare and protect them, only to end up getting an entire village annihilated.
Monsters should not be placed within the boundaries of human common sense.
Therefore, monsters were sworn enemies that could not live under the same sky as humans.
Though there was no inherent grudge, coexistence between them was simply impossible.
Monsters try to eat humans, and humans must stop them.
A struggle for survival.
Yes, the fight against monsters was a struggle for survival for humanity.
"Form the Phalanx formation!!"
-Form the formation!
-Raise your spears and shields!
-Ooh! Ooo! Ooh...!
The moment her master's command fell, Levi Folt utilized her command authority while simultaneously leading the chants.
Phalanx.
A densely packed formation where soldiers wielding spears and shields gathered in a line like a hedgehog.
A traditional tactic used by humanity since the days of wielding stone axes instead of iron, a formation that any kingdom soldier would know.
However, if it seemed to carry a hint of Shaolin flavor unlike a common Phalanx, it was no illusion.
Because the instructor who taught them tactics had been inspired by a combined array straight out of a wuxia novel and taught it to his disciples.
"We must block the passages no matter what!"
However, Levi Folt took a step further from the combined array she was taught and organically maneuvered the troops.
She instantly split the forces into three and blocked all three directions of the passages.
The reduced numbers created some danger, but fortunately, the troops didn't consist of only the 18 Arhats.
"Entering close combat! Everyone, draw your swords!"
The noble youths drew their swords at Roen's command.
Swordsmen firmly filled the gaps the Arhats couldn't cover, aiming their blades at the gnolls.
[Kiaa….]
The gnolls faltered.
Not only were they surrounded in an instant, but all of their prey was emitting quite a formidable aura.
Fighting Spirit Technique.
A technique created by ancient humans to hunt beasts and monsters.
If the creatures that slaughtered the most humans in human history were monsters, then likewise, the creatures that slaughtered the most monsters were warriors who had mastered the Fighting Spirit Technique.
"……."
In the midst of the tense atmosphere that could explode at any moment, the first to move were.
"-Charge."
Thump!!
The swordsmen.
The moment Roen's command fell, the blades slashed toward the gnolls, and the gnolls also launched their attack.
Boom!
Smack!
Concentric circles spread along with the violent collision.
A fierce struggle ensued as the swordsmen who had mastered the Fighting Spirit Technique clashed with the bizarre two-legged monsters.
A fierce close combat where a single mistake could mean someone's death.
But even if someone made a mistake.
Swoosh!
'He' had their backs.
"Pull yourself together! Don't let your strength falter halfway!"
"T-thank you, Young Lord."
"Save the thanks for later. Right now, annihilate the enemy...!"
"Chu, chuung!!!"
Roen's spirited rebuke and command.
Hearing this, Cain unconsciously shouted a salute.
Because the man before him didn't look like a youth their age, but rather a 'general' who had survived countless battlefields.
A veteran one at that.
"Slash and stab! The techniques you've learned are by no means weak! The skills you've honed and the teachings you've learned from your master remain in your bodies! You will not lose!"
-Uwaaaah!!
A desperate shout like a battle cry.
Roen's presence firmly supported their backs, and they advanced and fought as commanded.
As the swordsmen gradually grew accustomed to fighting the gnolls, the gnolls trying to escape the Colosseum faltered.
[Krrrr…!]
The gnolls were bewildered by how fiercely their prey resisted, but immediately sought another passage.
And they discovered the spearmen, who looked relatively weaker than the swordsmen.
The intimidating aura the swordsmen emitted.
In other words, they targeted the weak ones who didn't seem to possess any fighting spirit.
However, this was.
"Thrust!!"
Puuuk!
Stab!
Thunk!
[!!?]
Nothing short of a blunder.
The gnolls had to learn with their bodies that underestimating the spearmen was a mistake.
"Aaaagh!"
At Levi's command, the Arhats also thrust their spears, and each time, the gnolls' bodies were pierced.
Thud!
[Ki-!]
[Kiaa!?]
The thick hides of the gnolls, which could even deflect ordinary swords, were pierced.
By youths who hadn't even mastered the Fighting Spirit Technique.
But this was natural.
Although they hadn't mastered the Fighting Spirit Technique, what they had inherited was by no means trivial.
Rather, they had inherited the extraordinary secret techniques of a man who had spent his entire life fighting mages and battling monsters.
Muscle Arts.
[Jin]
Though it fell short of the Fighting Spirit Technique, this too was undoubtedly a power to hunt monsters.
"Burst!"
-Heuuup!
An eruption of power bursting out with a resounding battle cry!
Jin was emitted through the spearheads that pierced the hides, and the gnolls just.
Splurch!
[Ki-!]
...Thud.
Unable to withstand the pain, they collapsed.
Though they couldn't face them one-on-one, humans were strong when they formed a group.
They had properly utilized the advantages of the Phalanx.
...However.
"W-we won!"
"We defeated the gnolls—"
"-Don't let your guard down!!"
!!?
Whosh!
A gnoll thought to be dead suddenly stood up, and Levi Folt drew her bow and pierced its throat to finish it off.
Yet.
[k……i…!]
There were still many gnolls moving.
A tenacious vitality.
The recovery speed of the gnolls, who endured even a burst attack from the inside, was terrifying.
They couldn't just pierce the stomach or chest; they absolutely had to pierce the throat or heart.
Due to their insufficient finishing blows, the gnolls collapsed only to rise again and charge at them, and the moment they panicked.
Squelch!
"Bears, letting your guard down is bad."
A man reminiscent of a black panther.
Kunta bisected a gnoll in a single strike with a khopesh resembling a sickle.
Slish!
"When you kill, aim for the heart or the head. Like this."
Garand, wielding a halberd that blew open the top of a gnoll's skull, didn't withhold his advice.
Slash!
"It's better to aim for the arms and ankles first. That way, you can strip them of their mobility."
Arno, who had ravaged two gnolls with dual swords, shook off the blood.
"I-I survived..."
Those who barely survived thanks to the three offered sighs of relief and words of gratitude.
But they shook their heads.
"Even if you survive, I doubt it'll feel like you're truly alive."
"Those guys are intelligent."
"Kunta hates those."
They expressed difficulty and hardened their faces.
What was the reason gnolls established themselves as one of the most dreadful monsters?
Because they always moved in packs, and despite being monsters, they used tactics.
Cunning monsters.
Gnolls were dreadful because they not only moved on instinct but also knew how to 'cooperate'.
Was it for nothing that one of the continent's greatest insults was 'Gnoll-like bastard'?
There was a reason for everything.
"-We're surrounded."
[Kieee!!]
[Krrr!]
[KA-!]
The gnolls gradually surrounded the humans like a hunting drive.
It seemed those guys were gradually no longer taking them lightly.
The gnolls were setting out to hunt the humans with full force.
No matter how high their individual capabilities were for their age, it was still too much for them to defeat a pack of that size.
Just as all the cadets' faces darkened with a sense of crisis.
"Charge!!"
"Save the children!"
Old knights and old veterans.
An incredibly reliable reinforcement joined the fray.
They were the ones who came as spectators, and as soon as the people's evacuation was complete, they took up arms and returned to the Colosseum.
Solely to help them.
And it wasn't just them.
"We can't lose to our juniors!"
"I am Rahel of the Doreun Family!"
Their seniors.
They were thought to have fled, but they had brought their armor and horses, and charged at the gnolls.
The pride and bravery of not running away even with monsters before them.
This was truly the spirit of Pendragon.
The nation founded by brave and noble knights respected by the dragon.
"...You came!"
Levi felt a sense of relief.
Before the battle, there was a result of asking the ladies for as much reinforcement as possible.
"Hehe, the way those girls begged."
"My face burned so hot I couldn't just stand by."
Because it was unacceptable to dare refuse the girls' request and run away like a coward.
Above all.
"If we don't defeat those heinous things, who knows how much damage will occur."
Even if a single gnoll reaches a civilian settlement, the village is annihilated.
But if hundreds of them are released into the royal capital at the same time, it was impossible to fathom just how much damage would ensue.
Now, when the Colosseum and they themselves became the iron cage, they had to be annihilated at all costs.
With such a resolution, the old knight took his lance stance and thrust his spear toward the gnolls—.
Craaaash!!
Rumble—!
"……Ahem."
Instead of thrusting, he was momentarily dumbfounded.
The lake right next to the Colosseum.
The lake erupted like an explosion, with a water column shooting high into the sky and falling as raindrops.
The old knight, unable to believe reality for a moment, asked.
"It's a question I shouldn't be asking in this situation, but let me ask just one thing."
"What do you mean?"
"...That knight, is he truly human?"
"Uh, well..."
Levi felt awkward and let out a hollow laugh.
But she empathized with the intent behind those words.
Because.
"We always wonder that too, but yes, he is human."
However.
"He just does things that make him not seem human sometimes."
"...Hehe."
Whoooosh!
The water column shot up again as soon as the girl finished speaking.
The cause of the water column was simple.
Namely.
"Harpoon added."
"Uoooogh!"
"Bring it, quickly!"
A massive harpoon.
The knight—their master—was throwing massive harpoons, ones that made one wonder if a human could even throw them, at the monster.
'Um...'
-Who is the monster?
It was a sight that naturally made one doubt his species.