Chapter 186: The End of the War
“Volley!”
Under Cassandra’s command, multiple layers of whooshing sounds echoed. It was the sound of crossbows firing.
A storm of fired bolts tore through the monsters, temporarily halting their advance.
“We’ll fire again! Ready! Reload the next bolts, quickly!”
Cassandra retreated from the firing point, and a girl who had been lined up behind her took aim with her crossbow at the firing position.
She was a girl not yet an adult. For a moment, Cassandra’s heart ached at that fact.
“Volley!”
Once again, a chorus of whooshing sounds echoed, and monsters fell. But other monsters pressed forward, trampling over the fallen ones.
It was a losing battle. Cassandra was merely delaying the moment of destruction slightly with the crossbow volleys.
Cassandra knew this as well. But with more than half of the West District already in enemy hands, an effective counterattack was nothing more than a pipe dream.
For now, she was just using guerrilla tactics to delay total annihilation, even if only by a little.
“We’re falling back! Hurry!”
However, Cassandra didn’t give up. She gave orders to the crossbow unit and moved to the next cheval de frise.
“Firing positions!”
They had retreated a little further again. Cassandra issued the command, feeling bitter about it. There were no more cheval de frise prepared beyond this point. This was the last bastion. It was far too crude to be called a fortress, but having even this was a world of difference from having nothing.
If possible, she wanted to stop the monsters’ advance here. Behind Cassandra were children who couldn’t even hold weapons yet, and the injured.
But the monsters wouldn’t take such things into consideration.
Destroying the cheval de frise where Cassandra and her group had been until moments ago, the monsters closed in.
“Volley! Reload the next bolts, quickly!”
Again, the whooshing sounds echoed, felling monsters. However, its effectiveness was less than half compared to the beginning. This was because the bolts had changed from metal to wooden ones.
Even those wooden bolts were running low.
This might be it.
It was the moment Cassandra thought so. Suddenly, the monsters stopped.
“Eh…?”
At first, Cassandra couldn’t understand.
The monsters that had, until now, advanced single-mindedly without regard for losses. Even when checking with her Gift’s skill, she could see that the monsters’ advance had stopped not just here, but on all fronts.
What was happening?
And then, something even more unbelievable happened.
“Wh-Why…”
Unbelievably, the monsters had begun to retreat. And it wasn’t an orderly retreat, but a shameful one, as if they were scrambling to escape first.
She didn’t know what was happening. But…
The ominous castle far in the distance that Cassandra looked up at. She felt as if the oppressive pressure from above it had disappeared.
“Dee… is it…?”
In any case, it was a fact that they had been saved at the very last moment. Cassandra’s body swayed and she collapsed to the ground. The thread of tension she had been holding onto for so long had snapped, and Cassandra was on the verge of losing consciousness.
She had been leading the unit without proper sleep until now.
“Madam!?”
“Cassandra-sama!?”
Looking at the worried faces of the girls, Cassandra’s consciousness faded.
◇
“So this is the Demon God Castle…”
Reinhardt muttered, unusually tense. Before his eyes sat a black castle so large that looking up at it seemed like it would make his neck hurt.
They were about to conquer this castle.
Reinhardt’s body trembled with a shiver. He told himself it was a warrior’s thrill and took a determined step forward.
“Let’s go!”
Reinhardt called out to his party members.
The members of ‘Hekireki’ seemed to have no objections, as they silently began to walk, following Reinhardt.
“According to Dee, we were supposed to watch out for Gargoyles camouflaged against the castle at first… But they’re not here?”
Saying that, Reinhardt drew his sword and advanced slowly, ready for battle.
Just then, he heard footsteps from ahead.
“Battle stations!”
At Reinhardt’s call, the party members took their stances.
However—
“Halt-kun, look at that!”
Bianca exclaimed in surprise.
◇
“Hm? Isn’t that Reinhardt and his group?”
As I lowered the twin swords I had readied, I saw Reinhardt, perhaps having recognized us, also lower his weapon.
“Dee? What’s with those clothes?”
“Ah… It’s a bit… you know…”
Right now, I’m just wearing my cloak wrapped around my waist. I look like I just got out of a bath. Walking around the Evil God Castle dressed like this must be a sight that makes people doubt my sanity.
I know. I know all that.
But I don’t have any spare clothes, so it can’t be helped, right?
“Are you guys retreating, Dee?”
“Hm? Well, if you call it a retreat, then I guess it is…”
“Then, can you give us some intel? We’ll definitely defeat the Evil God!”
“Reinhardt, sorry to burst your bubble while you’re striking a cool pose, but… we already defeated the Evil God, you know?”
“……….Eh?”
It was hard to keep from laughing at Reinhardt’s dumbfounded expression at that moment.