Village Chief Shione was already in bed, but she immediately sprang up when the self-defense force member knocked on her house gate.
The village had been free from incidents and accidents for decades, but throughout her long life, she had encountered several urgent situations.
The village chief, maintaining her usual calm demeanor, invited the self-defense force member in to hear the situation.
“…I see. I’ll head to the gate right away.”
Receiving the shocking report of a mysterious army approaching, the village chief did not show any signs of surprise or confusion on her expression.
She had not aged in vain; she fully understood that as the leader in an emergency, she must remain calm.
However, just because she didn’t show her emotions didn’t mean that a great anxiety was not coiling within her.
While praying that no blood would be shed among the villagers, she put on her well-worn deep green robe and grasped a long staff with a light green stone embedded at its tip, stepping out of her house.
That robe and staff were combat equipment that she normally wouldn’t use.
“Eh… what does that mean?”
Nino, who had just left the guild with Cradle, returned with a changed expression, surprising Nyareko and the others, but disregarding their reactions, Nino succinctly explained the situation, or rather shouted so that the entire guild could hear.
Nyareko looked stunned, but Aten, Harry, and other adventurers scattered at different tables began to move immediately.
“Nyareko, hurry up and contact the guild master, and gather all the adventurers at the Irz Village guild!”
“Y-Yes!!”
Panicking at Nino’s words, Nyareko dashed toward the counter.
“Ah… maybe I should’ve told them to run instead.”
“What are you saying? Nyareko is a guild staff member too, during an evacuation, second from the last.”
Even without saying that they were last, Nino understood.
“But this feels way too dangerous—”
Boom!!
At that moment, a deafening sound echoed throughout the guild, no, the entire Irz Village.
“Indeed, it feels dangerous.”
“Is the sound coming from the gate?”
“Damn it, we need to hurry, Aten, Harry!”
Each grabbed their weapons and bolted out of the guild, heading towards the village gate.
“Shatter Gate!”
Ten mages cooperated to activate the compound magic spell, which smashed open the gate of Irz Village to pieces as the name implied.
The self-defense force members positioned near the gate were blown apart by the shock, dying instantly.
To make contact with the mysterious army, the village chief had walked near the gate, but thanks to the self-defense force leader protecting her with his body as a shield, she escaped injury.
A chorus of shocked screams and the painful groans of the injured rang out into the night.
Even as the dust from the explosion lingered and a thick cloud of dust rose, a young man on horseback led the white-robed crusaders boldly into Irz Village.
“Hmm, quite a number of demons are here.”
From atop his horse, Kilvan frowned at the sight of the gathered self-defense force.
Among them, he recognized a small elf woman holding a long staff, accompanied by a notably large lizardman who was approaching him.
As a soldier in the back drew a crossbow to shoot at them, Kilvan waved his hand lightly to stop him.
Accompanied only by his deputy commander, Colus, Kilvan stepped forward.
While the surroundings were still chaotic, an air of silence fell upon the moment where the village chief Shione and self-defense force leader Glint faced off against Kilvan the priest, representing the crusaders.
However, one side exhibited anxiety and shock, while the other held disdain and ridicule, indicating a clear difference in their states of mind.
“Are you the leader of this village?”
Kilvan was the first to speak, rudely looking down at Shione from atop his horse.
“Yes, I am the—”
“Do not speak further. It is a disgrace for me to converse with a demon.
What I’m about to say is equivalent to the word of God. I will say it only once, so listen well.
Our holy crusaders have vanquished the evil dragon Gavinal and liberated this land of Daedalus.
In accordance with the will of our great Lord, we offer this entire land to Him.”
At those words, Village Chief Shione’s eyes widened in shock.
In short, the Dragon King Gavinal had been defeated by a human army claiming to be crusaders and had occupied Daedalus.
She was aware that there was fighting with humans, but she found it hard to believe that the formidable Daedalus Army led directly by Gavinal could be defeated.
“Well, well, it seems you do not understand what you should do. It can’t be helped. I will explain it clearly even to you lowly demons.
Immediately surrender all gold, silver, valuables, weapons, and food from the village to our crusaders.
Oh, and bring all humans you have; I will keep them alive as slaves.”
A chill ran down Shione’s crooked spine at Kilvan’s expressionless face.
If it were thieves, they would surely smile at the prospect of obtaining treasure, with desire gleaming in their eyes.
However, in those eyes looking down on her, she could not sense any emotion other than deep-rooted disdain.
This man had no sense of guilt, nor even the consciousness of ‘taking’ from others; he was convinced that this Irz Village and its inhabitants already belonged to him.
Intuitively, Shione understood, and unfortunately, that intuition was correct.
In other words, there was no room for negotiation whatsoever.
Shione made a decision, apologizing to the doomed Irz Village and the many villagers who would perish.
“…Glint, ring the bell.”
That one whispered word reached Glint’s ears.
At the same time, he threw himself in front of Shione just as he did to protect her from the blast and shouted toward the night sky.
“Ring the bell!!”
Boom! Boom!!
The sound of the bells resonated throughout the village, a meaning that everyone living in Irz Village understood.
It announced the occurrence of an emergency and the need for evacuation, that was what the bells signified.
“Dammit, don’t make this troublesome for me.”
Kilvan said as he lowered his arm that he had raised.
At the moment the bell rang, Kilvan determined that they showed signs of resistance and immediately commanded an attack.
Behind him, infantry readied their spears, archers nocked their arrows, mages began their incantations, and the battle began.
And even where Kilvan stood, combat had started.
Before him stood Glint, pierced by an arrow shot from a crossbow at the moment Kilvan ordered the attack.
“Hmph!”
Glint forcibly swatted away the arrow lodged in his body with his arm.
Although the arrow had pierced between the gaps in his scales, most arrows were thwarted by his thick, tough scales and steel-like muscles.
Being a lizardman naturally strong against physical attacks, and as a trained warrior, the few arrows that had struck him were far from enough to take his life.
“Indeed, demons are made sturdily; absolutely disgusting.”
With a discontented remark, Glint lunged at Kilvan with a growl.
With the incredible power of the lizardman, he could exert an impact comparable to that of a cavalry charge, and at that moment, Glint was indeed realizing that power.
“Oooooo—Charge!”
With the activation of his martial arts, the already powerful strike capable of piercing steel gained double its might.
That spear was supposed to come straight through Kilvan’s tall, slender figure, but,
“One Flash.”
It was deflected by a long sword swung from the side.
Colus, Kilvan’s deputy commander, stepped in to protect him.
“Do you need strength enhancement?”
“No, this is sufficient for me to handle with just my martial arts.”
Despite intercepting the attack from the strong lizardman warrior Glint, Colus responded calmly.
“I see,
الدرع الأبيض لمنع ضوء――White Shield.”
As Kilvan activated a defensive magic, the luminous shield scattered the blades of wind that rushed toward him.
“It’s really troublesome that even that old woman can fight, this demon race is truly a pain.”
In his sight was Village Chief Shione, who had unleashed the wind blades.
“This is too dangerous, I’ve made up my mind, Colus, this village’s demons—”
Kilvan laughed, thinking that killing the vile existence of demonkin brought him greater joy than claiming gold and silver treasures or enslaving women, as a devout crusader.
“—Shall be exterminated.”
“Damn it, damn it!!”
Covered in blood and grease, Nino thrust his blade wildly toward the throat of a white-clad human soldier.
He had already cut down nearly ten, but the number of enemies was not decreasing, and flames were rising all around.
Most enemies were merely foot soldiers incapable of using any martial arts, but the numbers were overwhelming.
With enemies and fire surrounding him, it was merely a matter of time before he was cornered, and amid his raging emotions, his awareness as an adventurer remained calm.
Nino had been heading toward the northwest gate while taking down the white human soldiers that began to appear after the bell signaled evacuation.
However, just recently, the gate was likely breached by that shocking sound, and soldiers were pouring in from the dark road ahead.
“Nino, it’s impossible to proceed any further! We need to return to the guild!”
He understood that without needing to be told, but,
“Idiot! Cradle is still at the gate!”
“Calm down, Nino. The self-defense force is there, so we don’t have to forcefully join the reinforcements—”
He understood that too; the self-defense force—the village’s strongest force—had already gathered at the gate, and he did not think they could turn the tide by just joining them.
No, rather, the self-defense force might already have been annihilated by the overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
“…We’re going back to the guild.”
If they could not reach the gate, the next course of action should be to return to the guild and collaborate with other adventurers to buy time for the villagers to evacuate.
By doing so, they should be able to save as many as possible, including Nyareko and others.
“I’m sorry, Cradle…”
Glancing back one last time at the gate now painted in flames, Nino and the others began to retrace their steps.