The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

The chilling wind blew through the ruins as the battle cries echoed.

The nerves were on edge.

And, as always.

The senses of my body sharpened before the battle.

My mind cleared.

My heartbeat quickened.

An unsettling, tense feeling enveloped my body.

I forced my Giga Sense to expand.

With a pain like my skull was cracking, half of the ruined area appeared in my mind.

I focused only on the living things.

Everything unnecessary was excluded.

Thick liquid flowed from my nose.

"Noah! You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine... just be quiet for a second..."

The positions of the monsters appeared in my mind.

Hearing the noise of the battle, the monsters began to gather in one place.

Elite Beasts.

The leader of the monsters roared.

The monsters responded.

More than five hundred beasts gathered in one place.

They started barking at the same spot.

The first group began charging toward us.

The second group turned around.

The third group went left.

The fourth group went to the remaining right side.

They were closing in from all directions.

There was nowhere to hide.

They were still fighting.

Moreover, some of them had already fallen and were incapacitated.

I gripped my greatsword.

The rattling handle could be felt.

The dull blade scraped against the ground.

Blood surged from my mouth.

"Noah!"

"I'm fine... just stay quiet."

The two men were strong.

Probably platinum rank.

The knights, though not bad, wouldn't stand a chance against the monster group led by the beast leader.

I drew a picture in my mind.

I needed to draw their attention.

I needed to create an opportunity to fight the monsters.

I took Ailyn's hand.

"Ailyn."

"Y-yes...?"@@novelbin@@

"The monsters are coming."

"What...?"

"The group led by the leader is heading this way. About five hundred of them. Luckily, there are no Carpens."

Ailyn's hand trembled violently.

I squeezed her hand tighter.

"So, stay here."

"Are you... really going there?"

"Yes."

"No, Noah, you should stay here with me... I’ll stay far away... Or maybe we should escape..."

"Ailyn."

I gently stroked Ailyn's cheek.

Just like how my father used to do for me when I was young.

I had to reach up a little...

"I’ll be back. Make sure to prepare food."

"Because if I do it, it won’t taste good."

"What...?"

"I'll be back."

After smiling at Ailyn, I leaped out of the window.

I narrowed my Giga Sense and focused.

I needed to draw attention.

I tied the handkerchief Ailyn had given me around the sword handle.

The scent of saliva filled my nostrils.

The foul smell made me gag, but it loosened the tension in my body.

Damn beast.

One day, I’ll eat that bastard for dinner.

"Haah..."

I focused my mind.

Even if it meant breaking my hand bones, I had to do it.

Once I return to Ailyn, I could heal, so it would be fine.

Let’s trust the walking potion.

I ran toward the battlefield, widening my Giga Sense.

The monster army was approaching.

I quickly drew the terrain information I had discarded.

The stone wall.

I could see a half-collapsed stone barrier.

The sound of metal clashing grew closer.

One, two. The fools started looking at me.

I kept running without stopping.

A knight in armor blocked my path.

I slashed at his abdomen with the flat side of my greatsword.

The knight flew helplessly and slammed into the corner.

Another one blocked me.

He looked stronger.

I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to stop.

The man holding the halberd next to me shoved the knight away.

Thanks to that, I kept running.

I reached the barrier.

The monster army was clearly visible, closing in.

There was no time left.

I raised my greatsword to shoulder level.

I gripped the base of the hilt with my left hand.

In about ten seconds, the vanguard would reach us.

"Haah..."

This isn’t a game.

Can I do this?

This isn’t a game.

This is reality.

So...

I can do this.

This world doesn’t have status windows.

No level-ups.

No experience points, skills, mana, or traits.

It’s a reality without any of that.

But I know what the extreme Giga Sense can do.

I know what effects the extreme Giga Sense will bring.

I can do this.

I focused my Giga Sense in one spot.

Blood trickled from my nose.

I discarded all the surrounding information.

Blood tears leaked from my closed eyes.

I accepted only one piece of information. The stone barrier.

Blood poured from my mouth.

The shape of the stone. The carved patterns. The entire structure of the wall was painted in my mind.

My heart felt like it was going to burst.

Grrrraa-!!

And finally...

"I found it."

I swung my greatsword.

Not too slow, not too fast.

But endlessly accurate.

Slowly.

I traced the line I had drawn in my mind.

Screech-

The sound of wood being cut.

With that sound, a small crack appeared in the wall.

The small crack turned into a full fracture.

Kruuunnn-!

The sound of the sky collapsing.

The giant barrier that once protected the village collapsed.

Dozens of the vanguard were crushed.

It was too early to rejoice.

I turned around and opened my eyes.

Everyone was looking at me.

As planned, I had drawn attention and destroyed the vanguard.

I opened my mouth.

Blood gushed out.

I gathered the blood caught in my throat and spat it out.

"They're here. The monsters are coming. About five hundred. They're coming in waves, and the leader is with them. So."

I swallowed the blood that was rising again and continued.

"Kill them all, or fight."

"Kill them all, or fight."

I looked at the girl in front of me.

The small girl I had seen in Alrba.

The girl who reminded me of my dead younger sibling.

The girl I was protecting.

And.

The girl who had broken the barrier of Hablon.

That massive beast.

The barrier that even Carpen barely broke through.

With her tiny body.

With that worn-out greatsword.

She shattered it with a single strike.

I stared at the shattered barrier, forgetting to breathe.

If it were me...

No, even if it were Hainzel standing next to me, could we have done the same?

No.

Impossible.

At least, it would take a 'Master' to perform such a feat.

"Ruchi..."

"Why do you call me?"

"My escort target... is strange."

"I think so too."

"By the way, it looks like the monsters are coming because of our noise."

"That was stupid."

"Yeah."

I looked around.

Even the knights from Erden couldn’t take their eyes off the girl.

Ahem- I cleared my throat.

"Everyone! It seems like the girl’s words are true. So, how about we stop fighting for a moment and go hunting together?"

Then Hainzel spoke up.

"But I wonder if you gentlemen have ever hunted beasts like that. Ha ha ha ha!"

Our voices echoed through the ruins.

The knights ignored the two adventurers' words and reorganized their formation.

"They're going to hunt beasts."

"Good idea."

I turned my head again and looked at the girl.

Eyes, nose, mouth, ears.

The girl, bleeding from every part of her face, had no sign of her will being broken.

Her red eyes reminded me of a cruel predator.

For a moment, I wondered if this was really the same small girl I had seen in Alrba.

After a moment, the girl spoke in a growl.

"When you're ready, move."

She turned her back and rushed forward.

I let out a hollow laugh.

"Heh... This is crazy."

"Ruchi, I still think the request target is wrong."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Hainzel and I also rushed after her, following the girl.

My body, not recovered from the battle earlier, screamed in agony. Blood flowed painfully inside.

But I had to fight.

I had to protect Ailyn.

She entrusted her safety to me, so I had to protect her.

She entrusted her life to me, so I had to keep her alive.

I gritted my teeth and swung my greatsword.

It was embarrassing to even call it a greatsword now.

With the sound of flesh tearing, the monster’s body exploded.

Not sliced, but shattered.

The power doubled.

Still, I moved.

Again.

Without bracing for impact, I swung again.

The handle rattled, and the sword’s path twisted.

The mace swung toward my shoulder.

It was too late.

Clang-

"Hey, the gear is in terrible shape."

The mace that should have crushed my shoulder was blocked by a halberd swung from behind.

It was an adventurer.

"How is it that so much blood is coming from such a small body?"

From the right, a mocking voice accompanied a sword swing.

An ordinary sword, but the person wielding it was extraordinary.

The sword swung silently, cutting down six of the monsters.

And then the sword dance continued.

It was a familiar sword dance.

A familiar voice.

A familiar sword.

The graceful swordsmanship I had seen while playing [Black Sun].

It was Ruchi’s swordsmanship.

"One-eyed Ruchi...?"

"Huh? Ha ha ha! You heard that? You know my name!"

"Wow, really... then, I wonder if you know mine..."

The man wielding the halberd looked at me, stammering awkwardly.

The adventurer who was swinging the halberd next to Ruchi...

"Bald... no, bald Hainzel."

"Ha ha ha ha! Bald! Hainzel! You’re a bald guy now!"

Ruchi continued to laugh lightly, swinging his sword.

But the sword accurately decapitated the monster.

"Damn! This is ridiculously sad!"

Hainzel also launched a vicious attack, but his strikes accurately split the monster’s head.

Why are they here?

I don’t remember the entire story, but I’m sure Ruchi and Hainzel weren’t supposed to be NPCs here at this time.

Grrr-!

I grabbed the neck of a charging monster and slammed it into the ground.

I shoved my greatsword into its mouth.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts.

The situation was the worst.

Even with two platinum-ranked adventurers, it was still the worst.

But, if it’s Ruchi and Hainzel, things are different.

These two were exceptional among the platinum NPCs.

Seeing them massacre the monsters, I felt my tension easing.

My head cleared, and my body, which had been burning, began to cool down.

I guess...

I shouldn't have come.

I imagined my body screaming and Ailyn crying silently in the room.

Like a husband going to war.

I set so many flags.

Honestly, I thought I might die.

If I had known Ruchi and Hainzel were here, I would have just stayed in the room...

Ah.

I really shouldn't have come.

I should have just had a meal with Ailyn.