There were two routes leading northeast to e Vilge from E-Rantel.

  One headed north and the along the outskirts of the forest. The other was eastwards, then north.

  This time, they went with the first route.

  Traveling along the edge of the forest meant that there would be a higher ce of entering monsters. It was the wrong choice from a bodyguard’s perspective.

  That said, they still went with the route. This was because Yuuji wao fulfill the job Peter and his friends offered them; that of monster hunting.

  Peter and the rest of the Swords of Darkness were not worried, as although they were taking a greater risk, the presence of the mighty Alexander and his rades had given them a peaind.

  Another reason was that Momon had demonstrated the spell [Thunderball] outside the city to prove he was capable of casting 3rd-tier spells.

  Thus, they all accepted Yuuji’s request a on the route along the edge of the forest.

  The group arrayed around the wagon as they moved forward.

  Nfirea, naturally, was driving the wagon. Lukrut the ranger walked ahead of him along with Peter, ag as the vanguard. Momon and Lupu was on the left of the wagon, the one closer to the treelines marking the edge of the forest, while Dyne and Ninya took the right.

  Yuuji and Aika brought up the rear.

  Visibility was good, so everyone was not too tense. Yuuji and Aika also knew whely would monsters begin to appear, so they took the ce to treat this as a mini outing/date, and held hands.

  “Mm~ It’s been a while since we went on a walk like this, huh hubby~?”

  “Yeah. The st time we did was when we were in Tatsuya’s world.”

  “Fufu~ And it has been longer for you too since you went on the quest in Lelouch’s world~ Did you miss me~?”

  “I do. Of course I do. You never left my mind.”

  “Hehe~”

  Yuuji held her hand tighter and caressed it with his fingers, elig a cute little giggle from the Empress of Evil and World Disaster.

  And as they whispered to each other, flirting, the gazes from a certain “boy” was not missed by Aika.

  Her eyes narrowed under her fox mask and her lips curled into a thin smile.

  “Hey, hubby~ You notice it, don’t you~?”

  “...”

  Yuuji’s silence was a firmation in itself for Aika, and she began to giggle once more. And Yuuji could not help but sigh inwardly… This was all because Aika told him to remove his helm.

  “Well, it’s not all that bad, right~? She’s a nice girl, talented, and I’m sure she’ll be cute ourn her into a succubus~”

  “...Are you pnning on turning her?”

  “I do~ Of course I won’t do it if she doesn’t want it. But I’m sure she will.”

  “...”

  Yuuji could not deny her words, because he knew Ninya would take the a heartbeat.

  She will do anything to gairength to save her sister…

  And if they help her save her sister, she will be eternally loyal to Nazaribsp;

  “...Let’s see.”

  Yuuji did not pn on f her. For subordination through means of force would never yield to true loyalty.

  Well… he’s sure Aika would somehe everything to make sure the oute she wanted would ocaturally. And if Ninya did end up acc to her wishes, then there won’t be any lost for him nor Nazaribsp;

  “Hehehe~”

  Yuuji couldn’t help but wonder when did Aika turn into such a mastermind… perhaps, she had always been like this, long before he eve her.

  Perhaps, this was her true personality that was shrouded by her outward dispy of perversion in the anime and didn’t get the ce to be shown off.

  The journey tinued for a while. But just then, Lukrut stopped and alerted the rest of the group with a single word.

  “Movement.” Lukrut suddenly said, in a voice which held a hint of tension. It was pletely different from the flighty attitude he had taken while flirting with Lupu. In his pce rofessional, seasoned adventurer.

  “Where?”

  “There, over there.”

  Lukrut answered in respoo Peter’s question as he poi the er of the forest. The Swords of Darkness could not see anything through the clutter of forest. Momonga and Lupu also couldn’t physically see them yet, although they could se.

  While Yuuji and Aika could see them with their Elemental Sight.

  “What should we do?”

  “We shouldn’t force our way in. If they don’t leave the forest, then we’ll leave them alone.”

  As they discussed their move, however, the movements in the forest became more apparent as monsters slowly revealed themselves.

  There were 15 creatures the size of childrens surrounding six huge creatures.

  The first group were demihumans called goblins. They were ugly creatures who had twisted faces and fttened noses, and two fangs thrusted out of their ravening maw. Their skin was bright brown, while their filthy, matted bck hair looked like it had been styled by wax.

  They wore tattered clothes, which were dirty brown though it was unknowher it was dyed that color or staihat way by dirt. On top of that, they had fashioanned animal hides into a crude form of armor, and each held a wooden club in one hand and a wooden shield iher.

  They were evil-looking monsters, born out of the twisted matiween humans and apes.

  The less numerous creatures were huge, roughly 3 meters i.

  Their lower jaws jutted out, atuating their already retarded looks. They were heavily muscled with arms looking like tree trunks. Their hands nearly dragged on the ground due to their hunchedbacked stance, as held within it were logs used as clubs. They wore animal hides around their waist.

  Their tanned brown skin was covered in warts, and they reeked so much that every single one of Peter and Yuuji’s group could smell them despite their distanbsp;

  The monsters watched the adventurers warily as they advanced onto the grassy pins. They might have been some distance away, but there was an unmistakable hostility on their ugly faces.

  “...There’s quite a number of them. Looks like we ’t avoid a fight.”

  “Mm, that’s right. Goblins and Ogres are the kind who’ll attace they outheir oppos. Or rather, I should say that intelligent beings would probably not judge their oppos’ strength simply by their numbers.”

  Peter immediately looked back towards Yuuji.

  “Then, Alexander-san.”

  “Yes?”

  “Earlier, we agreed to divide them in half, but how shall we assign them now?”

  Yuuji thought for a moment, before answering.

  “I shall be in the forefront and block the enemy’s main charge along with my party. May I ask your party to deal with any fish which may “slip” the ?”

  “Yes! Of course!”

  Peter readily agreed. He did not even think for a sed that Alexander and his rades could not hahe monsters before them.

  The way he proposed of blog the enemy’s charge head on so calmly and without any sign of boasting or baseless fidence… He meant every word he said.

  “I’ll hold down the Ogres with the martial art [Fortress]. Dyne, you’ll hahe Goblins. Ninya will cast a defensive spell on me and use attack spells whenever possible. Lukrut, go take care of the Goblins, and if any Ogres make it past the defensive line, you’ll have to block them too. If that happens, ge your priority to wiping out the Goblins, Ninya.”

  All of them Peter’s words, and began their preparations for the assault.

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Lukrut drew the string of his posite bow to its limits, until its limbs began creaking. Then, with a whoosh, the b sliced through the air, ung an arrow in a straight line.

  It struck the dirt ground 10 meters away from the goblins.

  The goblins s Lukrut from behind their shields. And with the vast disparity betweeack they had received and their numbers, the goblins’ instinct swelled and they charged with wild abandon, the ogres following closely from behind.

  Driven into a frenzy by their bloodlust, they did not form into ranks, nor did they protect themselves with their shields, turning it into a useless decoration.

  Seeing the results, Lukrut smiled thinly, a loose another arrow. This time, hitting a goblin straight on the head.

  But, the death of one of their own did not stop their charge. They did not even realize that the first shot Lukrut made was an iional miss in order to lure them into a reckless charge after seeing the accuracy he was truly capable of.

  “[Reinforce Armor]!”

  Ninya cast a spell from behind Lukrut, reinf Peter’s defense, and Lukrut ocked another arrow to his b, and fired off another shot.

  Anoblin fell.

  Although goblins were agile, Ogres had rge strides, and so their speeds were roughly the same. That said, a charge of nearly 100 meters across the grassy pins, the Ogres ended up in front while the Goblins gged behind.

  Dyne decided to make his move, and his first objective was to pin down one Ogre.

  “[Twin Pnt]!”

  Upon casting the spell, vegetation moved uhe feet of one of the Ogres, turning into vihat tangled around its feet. Immobilized by the abnormally resilient pnt life, the Ogre roared in frustration.

  The distaween them shrunk quickly, but there was no worry ier’s hands that were holding his sword and shield. That’s because he was fident that his rades would protect him as he did to them.

  Two goblins quickly neared him, aer raised his shield.

  One raised its crude, wooden bat into the air and swung down, hittier’s shield squarely at its ter.

  And while a Goblin’s strength was inparable to that of something like an Ogre, Peter khat its attacks would still be enough to crack a bone, or evehem, if he wasn’t careful.

  However, with Ninya’s spell, increasing his defense, and his preparedness, he caught the swing with his shield and parried.

  Losing its band having its attack parried, the goblin became flustered, givier an opening to stab his sword straight into its torso, killing it.

  The oblin charged his fnk, taking advantage of its rade distrag him with its life. But before it could reach him, pure are energy that had been formed into sharp arrows of mana stabbed its body, killing it.

  “Thank you, Ninya!”

  The immediate threat was over, but none of the Swords of Darkness let their guard down.

  The bulk of the enemies were still headed to their location.

  And just then, they all saw Yuuji, followed by Aika, Momonga, and Lupu, stroll leisurely forward and towards the creatures.

  They walked like they were simply taking a stroll, not standing fast against the charging monsters.

  At that time, Yuuji reached behind his back to grasp the hilt of his sword, and drew it.

  The brightly gleaming edge of a beautiful, white-gold sword shined as the light of the Sun was reflected upon its surfabsp;

  He held the sword up with both of his hands, and a wave of warmth emanated from him.

  His body glowed with golden light as his sword began to shine brighter and brighter, before a ripple of golden energy spread wide from around him.

  “This…!”

  Aika, Momonga, Lupu, as well as Peter, Lukrut, Ninya, Dyne, and even Nfirea, began to glow with a simir golden light.

  Like a fy bhe light shrouded them with warmth, soothing their heart, erasing their fears, and energizing their bodies.

  “T-This is…?!”“So warm…”

  “I’m feeling energized…”

  The slight tier felt in his shield-wielding hand from receiving the goblin’s strike disappeared. The slight sting Lukrut felt in his fingers from pulling his bs to its limits also faded. And Ninya, as well as Dyne, felt their lost mana quickly recovered pletely. Even the pain on their feet from the hours of walking had disappeared.

  They all looked with eyes wide in shock at the figure holding his sword up into the sky, shining with divine golden light.

  A phrase came to mind.

  “Holy Knight.”

  A divine warriht upon by the heavens to protect the weak, heal the wounded, and sy evil.

  Ninya had read many stories with the cliche of a knight in shining armor saving a princess.

  And now that she saw ht before her, she could hardly believe the true might of one such figure.

  Holy Aura [II] - Fortitude.

  A skill equivalent to [Despair Aura] that Momonga and Yuuji could unleash from his Devil side, but its por opposite.

  Instead of instilling enemies with fear or despair amongst many other debuffs, Holy Aura buffs allies with mental and physical fortitude, as well as rest a slight amount of HP and MP, sing curses and disease, and slightly increasing their stats.

  It was a skill that Yuuji could unleash with his angelic side.

  Despite not having aerring effects on enemies, even the unintelligent goblierrified by the sight of the shining holy warrior, their legs slowing from their mad dash.

  Only the ogres, who were too stupid to be afraid and who were supremely fident in their brawns, tio charge towards Yuuji.

  As they closed in on him, the Ogres raised their clubs.

  Yuuji’s long sword, which size could categorize it as a great sword, was huge. But the ogres, with their massive great clubs, had a longer reach than him.

  Despite still being more than two meters away, an Ogre swung down its great club. From its trajectory, it was sure to hit Yuuji.

  “Alexander-san!”

  Peter shouted, his eyes wide in shod panic when he saw the man in white gold armor not moving from his spot.

  But before he could do anything, the ogre’s club struck with a devastating impact, sending shockwaves all around them and winds to blow.

  Peter raised his shield to protect himself from the shockwave and winds.

  For a moment, fear struck his heart. As a front-liner, he had experienced being in the forefront of danger just like Alexander. He had his fair share of block attacks from various creatures and monsters… But none like an ogre.

  When against an ogre who had far superior strength, he would’ve been squashed to death even if he had Ninya’s Reinforce Armor and an iron shield if he were to try and block against it.

  Just seeing it swung its club down and feeling the shockwave it created raised goosebumps all over his body.

  Peter wondered what happeo Alexander, who seemed to have directly received the ogre’s swing.

  He didn’t have a shield equipped, so perhaps, he mao dodge at the st possible moment, or block it with his sword.

  While it was unthinkable for Peter to do so, he could tell that Alexander was no ordinary advehe copper pte hanging down his neck was clearly unindicative of his true strength. So perhaps, he was capable of defending against it with just his sword.

  As the wind subsided… Peter slowly looked up from his shield, and his eyes widened in pure shock.

  “What the…”

  Before him, he saw Alexander raising his left hand up, clutg the ogre’s woode club as it struggled to take it babsp;

  Every single member of the Swords of Darkness gawked at the sight… And for a moment, they all wondered if this was a dream.

  But then, a loud crad shattering shem out of their daze. And when they looked, the massive wooden club Alexander was holding had shattered.

  Then, with speed almost imperceptible to Peter even Lukrut, Alexander swung the greatsword in his right hand upwards. The shining bde left a golden lierimage in its wake as it cleaved through the air and the ogre before him in half.

  It was over in a single blow.

  The two halves of the ogre slowly fell down in opposite dires, allowing Yuuji to see the re, frozen behind it.

  The ogre had been literally cleaved vertically in half…

  The battle was still going on, but both sides were motionless, staring at the awesome and harrowing sight.

  And before the silence broke, Yuuji’s sword, which he still held up high in the air, shined once more.

  Then, with a casual swing, a wave of brilliant golden light flew from its edge.

  “Aura Saber.”

  The golden ssh cleaved through the air, and hit the ogre in the distanbsp;

  There was silence. And in the moment, the ogre also split into twht at the ter, and fell down with a disgusting plop as its entrails and blood spilled to the ground.

  It was an unbelievable sight.

  But little did the Swords of Darkness know, it was simply the beginning for them.

  VergsX