CH 340

“Princess Lily, we have almost reached the castle.”

“Yes, knight Kalin!”

Hipopo brothers keep rushing through the main street, which is filled with bugs clad in purifying light.

“Kick them out of the way! Maintain the packed formation! Forward, Hipopo brothers!”

I check the situation around us as best I can while charging against the bugs in our way in a straight line.

The castle’s gate hasn’t been broken. It looks like the soldiers have noticed us.

“Princess Lily! Let’s try something first! Let out a big battle cry when we approach the castle!”

“U-understood!”

I say to Princess Lily, who is right next to me. That Hipopo brother she’s riding, Charil, seems like a very attentive one.

It’s great that Rust’s transmuted beasts are so good.

I think about this as I hold my dear sword like a lance.

This position is more useful when we’re packed so tightly.

A giant bug appears right in front of me, and when I clash with it, I cut upwards like I’m scratching it with the tip of my sword.

“Forward at full speed!”

We can still go, but there are a lot of them. It’ll be bad if we miss the chance to turn left.

I dispatch the bugs that appear in front of me while keeping an eye on the bigger picture.

Princess Lily… Hou, interesting.

She’s standing up on Charil’s back, as it jumps and kicks around. The way she’s managing to stay balanced is certainly not normal.

Despite how much Charil is jumping around, she’s still waving her sword. The flashes of light it leaves look like she’s drawing a picture in the sky.

Even as I think this, Princess Lily leaps from Charil and onto an enemy, cuts a section of its body, and jumps back on Charil.

Now that I think about it, she also shuffled around on top of Seilook mid flight.

The other Hipopo brothers are doing a great job too.

One of them is particularly big, and uses its big body to stomp a new path. The smaller ones send bugs flying with more power than you’d think they have.

They’re all pretty strong, but not as strong as me of course. That Rust managed to create muscle density that comes close to even someone like me, who has giant blood in my veins.

“Princess Lily, now.”

I give the signal, and the Hipopo brothers move to support her. In an instant, a space is opened around her.

That’s when Princess Lily holds her sword high and lets out a loud war cry.

That cry breaks through even this noisy battlefield, rousing the castle’s soldiers. My idea is for them to see Princess Lily herself coming to their aid.

She was always popular with soldiers anyway, so they all know her face.

And just as I planned, the soldiers protecting the castle all look her way and respond with a big cheer.

All right! Now let’s pull back and go around through the left…

But then, a loud noise that sounds like an explosion shakes the battlefield.