CH 115

[Jelchi Pov]

"Did you put us in this situation too?"

I squeeze out my voice as I glare at him.

The other hand, Vertex has a wicked smile on his face.　　

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to take care of the scum that threaten the security of the city."

"Well said. Which one of you is the scum... for involving people who have nothing to do with this!?"

"Are you sure you're the head of Darzain here?"

Vertex ignored my words and asked me such a question, but there was no way I was going to answer it.

"You think I'm going to give you an honest answer?"

"I don't think so. It matches the description I've heard, and if it doesn't, I'll think about it after I get rid of you."

He looked at the knights around him as he said this.

The knights did not look at Vertex.

It's a reaction that seems to indicate that they are talking to each other.

... did it mean he's in cahoots with the knights?

"What do you mean? Hey! I'll take care of her! Is that alright with you?"

Vertex, perhaps not expecting the knight's reaction, said something strange.

"Do what you want! I've heard what you have to say."

That was all one of the knights said.　

"What? What's going on? Did he set this up? What did he...?

What is this? Isn't he working with the knight?

Vertex's unnatural reaction made me tilt my head inwardly, but it didn't change the unpleasant situation.

I will have to somehow finish this guy off and dig a passageway out of the crushed house....

It is so difficult that it cannot be summed up by the word "difficult," but I have no choice but to do it.

I was about to take the plunge with determination, but...

"Oh? You seem to be struggling, aren't you?"

-interrupted by that voice.

It's Stephanie. What is that woman doing here now?　

As usual, I can't see her, just her voice. Perhaps she is in a safe place.

She is an irritating woman.

"What? There's still someone hiding, huh? Why don't you come out and stop fooling around?"

"Oh? Impatient, aren't you? But, dummy. A good woman doesn't show herself so easily, you know?"

Vertex snickered.

"What's a good woman? You are an apostle, aren't you? If you are, you're just a monster. You're so brazen. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"You say that. But I'm an adult, so I won't get angry. Well, we don't have much time, so let's finish our business. I'll spare your life if you give me back my "arms" and "eyes"?

"Ha. Don't make me laugh. I won't give them back."

"Oh, really? Then I'll let you die."

Stephanie's voice lowers.

"Why do you think I approached you at this exact moment?"

Vertex says nothing.

Stephanie ignores him and continues.

"Because I'm ready to finish you off."

At the same time she says this, a large number of squeaks and the sound of wings echoes from the sky.

"These kids are nocturnal, so I had a hard time bringing them in."

I look up at the sky.

I saw what looked like clouds approaching, mingling with the blackness of the night sky.

No, it was not a cloud. They were monsters.

An unusual number of monsters were coming toward us from the sky.

The closer they got, the more their exact appearance became clear.

Chiroptera.

They are monsters that live mainly in caves, and such.

I have heard that instead of having no eyes, they have frighteningly good hearing, but I don't know more than that because I only saw it in a book.

"I don't control all of them, though, so they'll attack you regardless of whether you're friend or foe. You and Jelchi-chan, do your best to escape."

"What!?"

"I'm glad you brought Mr. Vertex to the right hunting ground. If you survive, I'll see you again."

You bitch! You used us as bait!　

You've got to be kidding me. We're going to die if we stay here.

This is no time to fight anymore. If we stay here, we will die for sure.

"Then, I'll just eat dinner and wait for you.... What are you...haha?"

Stephanie, who was planning to take the high ground, suddenly made an impatient sound, and a short distance away, I saw something fall and crash into the burning house, scattering pieces of debris.

Let me guess, someone attacked her and plunged her into the burning house?

"Ha! Suck on that!"

Vertex laughed as if he was having a good time.

I agree with him, but I can't say the same when I see the situation in the sky.

Knights, Gnosis, us, Darzain, and a bunch of monsters.

I want to think about this chaotic situation, but for now, all I can think about is survival.

I decided to concentrate on how to escape from the man in front of me.

[Other Pov]

The monsters approaching from the sky were guided but not controlled, so they acted according to their instincts.

The Chiroptera, which is not very intelligent, does not think much and begins its descent to prey on the source of the sound - the prey below.

The first targets were the Sacred Knights and Knights in the middle of the battle.

They braced themselves for the sudden attack of the monsters, but were slow to react due to the enemy in front of them.

When the swarm of chiroptera caught their prey within range, they shot something invisible from their mouths.

It easily penetrated the armor of knights and sacred knights, killing them.

However, some knights and those above the rank as temple knights were saved by the robustness of their equipment and were able to escape unharmed from the attack, turning to counterattack to avenge their friends.

A large number of bows and arrows and magic rushed into the hordes of monsters as if to return the favor.

The monsters pierced by arrows, burned by magic, and crushed by magic fell to the ground one after another, but they were a mere fraction of the whole, far from being annihilated.

The swarm of chiroptera, which had been somewhat reduced in number, scattered with angry cries and swarmed one by one to their prey.

"Damn, what the hell are these things?"

One of the knights cut down one of the creatures that came toward him. The smallest chiroptera were about the size of the palm of his hand, but the largest were much larger than a person.

The knight was grabbed by the legs and carried high into the sky, where he was tortured in mid-air before falling to the ground as a piece of meat.

Once this happened, it was no longer a time for both sides to be fighting with each other, but rather to be working together to face the threat before them.

One of the knights slashed the sacred knight who was dealing with the monster from behind.

"What!? Are you insane! Look at the situation in front of you! This is no time for fighting!"

"Shut up! After we take care of them, you'll be next! Then why don't we just get rid of you while we're at it!"

Some knights followed suit and attacked the holy knights and the temple knights.

The holy knights are fighting back. Monsters attacked indiscriminately.

As a result, the situation was completely three-way.

[Mc Pov]

The chaos in the favelas has spread further and it's not too much to say that it's already a small-scale war.

It pains my heart ...... greatly to know that I am playing a part in it.

Enjoy to the fullest.

But still....

"It's more exciting than I expected."

I muttered to myself as I turned my gaze toward the idiot who I had just knocked to the ground, as I had decided to hide and watch from a high place.

Vertex said Moron is "an idiot who likes to look down on others and thinks he's smart," and he was right.

It seems that the target was firmly in the right place.

There was an unnatural shimmering of space in the air, although it may have been disguised with some sort of tool to find a position where they could see the whole of this place and easily reach it if they needed anything.

Perhaps they were doing something. This is how the location was revealed.

They were so distracted by their surroundings that they literally lost track of their bearings.

Something came out of the wreckage of the house that had burned with a loud bang.

"... you... did this to me..."

The impact of the fall seems to have lifted the invisibility.

The figure is revealed.

I had some idea of what to expect when I saw the monsters flying around in the sky, but it was so predictable that I wasn't particularly surprised.

The color is entirely black.

Its arms were covered with wings, and its face was somewhat like a mouse...rodent? It reminded me of a rodent.

Well, it is a bat no matter how you look at it.

I could tell from the lines of her body that she was a woman.

Spider-man, centipede-man, and now bat-woman?

She is an apostle, no matter how you look at it.

I was able to get a hit successfully, but now, let's see. Can I finish her off?

"You are the boy who was with Mr. Vertex, aren't you? Will you take off that mask and show me your face?"

I was wearing the mask that hides my true identity, so the other side could not recognize me.

Naturally, I have no obligation or need to remove it, so I pull out the club monster on my back as a response.

"So, no questions asked, right? Okay, I'll play with you a little. I'm curious to know who you are."

Oh, okay. Well, you're either dead or immobilized.　

I hold out my hand and activate the magic. [Explosion II]

I use the blast as a cover to swing down from the upper level while rushing in without checking the impact.

It cuts through the air.

"Missed."

A grating sound, like glass being scratched, echoes from above.

Ultrasonic? I had a bad feeling about this, so I jumped back.

A small explosion on the ground and a scattering of dirt.

"Too slow, too slow."

A shock to the shoulder. I held on to the fact that my body was about to be swept away and I was about to fall over.

The next one comes with a deafening sound, but I run around and avoid it.

The flames from the previous explosion had not yet cleared, but it hit precisely.

I can see this from the other side.

Blinding me is a bad idea.

Oh, by the way, do you think that bats can detect your position by sound or something?

But it still has its eyes....

So far, it hasn't done much damage, but its coat is starting to get scratches, so it's not a good idea to take too much of it.

The feeling of being hit is close to a slash... but what am I being hit with?

Well, whatever. The smoke should be clearing by now, so let's counterattack.

The smoke thinned out and I could see the bat-woman.........

A big bat, the size of a human being, rushes toward me.

Foolishly, they came at me from the front, so I knocked them down one by one.

After the fourth one, I couldn't handle it any longer, and it bit me here and there.

...but it seems to be literally ineffectual due to my coat blocking it.

After pulling off the nearest one at hand for now, I put my hand in its mouth and extend the "root".

It takes over its brain and checks its memory. Thanks to this, I now have a better understanding of the bat-woman's means of attack.

Ah, I see, she attacked with sound, something I saw in a monster movie.

Was it an ultrasonic knife?

Once I understood the principle, I could manage to prevent it, all I had to do was to block her movements.

As I pulled off the bats that were biting at my body, I wondered how I would attack them.