Chapter 44

When the rebelling slaves attacked the East Gate, about fifty men, including the squad that had been guarding the gate when Sōma entered the town, were defending it.

As soon as they sensed the rebelling slaves heading towards the gate they were guarding, they built a barricade using nearby carts and sandbags and prepared to fight back.

First, the dwarf slaves charged forward, shouting curses, and the squad leader, who was commanding the scene, rained arrows down from the town wall. The slaves, armed with swords and spears but without armor, fell one after another. Some of the slaves who managed to keep their composure avoided the open street without cover and charged the barricade from the side of a nearby house through the alley. However, they were repelled by the spears of the soldiers waiting at the barricade.

Even the slaves, who had been gaining momentum, were at a loss.

At this moment, the squad leader who had been guarding the gate when Sōma entered the town was among the soldiers at the barricade. Unaware that he had played a part in the slave rebellion, the squad leader lamented his misfortune.

"Why did they have to come to this gate? They should have gone west, to the west."

While grumbling, the squad leader, who had been peering through the gap in the legs of the table used to build the barricade, was taken aback.

"What... what is that...?"

It was a food stall.

The stall itself was not unusual. Only a limited number of merchants could set up shops in the town. Itinerant traders and farmers from the outskirts who came to sell their crops would typically line the streets with small stalls.

What the squad leader was seeing now was one of such stalls. It was a simple wooden stand with a sunshade, giving off a homemade feel. There was nothing particularly eye-catching about it.

However, the situation would be different if it were charging straight towards them in the middle of the street.

Of course, the carts in this world did not have wheels. Someone was lifting the stall and charging forward, using it as a shield.

"Fire, fire!"

At the squad leader's command, arrows were shot from the town wall, but they only stuck uselessly into the stand and the sunshade, unable to stop its momentum.

"It's bad, run!"

As the stall charged closer, the squad leader desperately shouted and crouched down behind the barricade.

Immediately after, the stall, which had not slowed down, blew apart the corner of the barricade it collided with.

"Damn it! What kind of fool...?!"

While protecting his head from the falling wood, the squad leader, who had been lying on the ground, was taken aback.

In front of him were three powerful toes.

Looking up from the ground, he saw a massive body over two meters tall, supported by thick legs that dug into the ground like tree trunks, covered in greenish-gray scales like a sheer cliff.

And atop that massive body was a head resembling a lizard. It turned its vertically elongated eyes towards the squad leader.

"D-Dinosaurian?!"

The squad leader's voice was a cry of despair in the face of an inescapable death.

The Dinosaurian, after taking a deep breath, let out a metallic screech that could shatter a large amount of glass at once. The soldiers guarding the gate were paralyzed with fear.

"My name is Jahangir Hesam Jaluji! Know the terror of my wrath, the descendant of the great dragons, you puny humans!"

The combat abilities of the Dinosaurian, which even the famous general Inkdius of the empire had said, "Close combat with their race means death," were experienced firsthand by the gate guards.

In Jahangir's clawed hand was a chain with a large iron ball attached to the end. The iron ball, which a human could barely drag, became a deadly weapon in Jahangir's hands.

Swinging the iron ball around, creating a violent storm, Jahangir was a whirlwind of violence. The soldiers caught in this storm had their heads crushed like overripe fruit by the iron ball and their bones shattered by the chain.

Some brave soldiers tried to cut down Jahangir by dodging the swinging iron ball, but they were all blown away like puppets with a single swing of his clawed arm.

Dovarin, watching the scene, sighed in admiration.

"Ho, the Tyrano Dinosaurians, known for their ferocity, are not just a name."

Dinosaurians are not a single race.

Among the Dinosaurians, the Nagaraaja, the royal species, are the largest, with horns and tusks, resembling a giant lizard. The Radon, the priest species, have a distinctive crest on their head, extremely short legs, and wings that can spread to three times their body height.

Dinosaurians have a unique caste system where each species, with different appearances, inherits their status and occupation.

However, when many other races think of Dinosaurians, they first think of the Tyrano species, known as the most ferocious and excellent warriors among the warrior species.

The soldiers, who had lost not only their will to fight but even their will to flee, were mowed down by Jahangir like wheat being harvested by farmers. Dovarin, leading a few dwarves, ran to the gate and removed the sandbags and the bar.

"Open the gate!"

When Dovarin and his group opened the gate, a Zoan in red and black slipped through the narrow opening.

"Yeehah! I'm the first one in!"

As soon as he entered, the red-haired Zoan, Zugg, let out a war cry. However, he immediately frowned and turned to the black-haired Zoan who had entered just a moment later.

"Garam! You said you'd leave it to me, what are you competing for?!"

"Well, I couldn't help it..."

Perhaps feeling guilty, Garam mumbled and turned away.

Just then, Shemul and Sōma, who had come through the back alleys, appeared between the houses. Sōma, to avoid being seen by the slaves, was wearing a hooded cloak, but Garam immediately recognized him.

Garam was both anxious and furious that Sōma, a human, had been brought to the place where the slaves were rampaging.

"High Fang! Are you an idiot?! Take Sōma and leave immediately!"

"Sorry, Fierce Fang. But, Sōma's story..."

Interrupting Shemul's hurried explanation, Sōma threw back his hood and shouted.

"Sorry, Garam! I insisted on being brought here!"

Seeing Sōma's face, any soldiers who were still breathing and hiding would have been found and trampled to death by Jahangir, whose body was now radiating anger and killing intent.

He could not forgive a human, even a child, who had treated him as a slave.

Jahangir, about to charge at Sōma with his chain, was stopped by Shemul, Garam, and Zugg.

Shemul stood in front of Sōma, and Garam and Zugg, baring their fangs and brandishing their machetes, stepped in front of her.

Jahangir, taken aback, hesitated.

A female Zoan and a human child could be crushed with a single blow of the iron ball, but the aura of the two Zoans in front of him was too overwhelming for even Jahangir to ignore. He was confident he could win in a one-on-one fight, but against two at once, the odds were not in his favor.

"Zoans, are you protecting a human?!"

Jahangir was frustrated that the Zoan warriors, whose presence even intimidated a Dinosaurian, were protecting a mere human child.

"Stop it, Jahangir! This human child is the one who freed us from slavery!"

Unable to ignore Dovarin's words, Jahangir held back. However, his eyes were still filled with the intent to tear Sōma apart at the first opportunity.

However, Sōma, seemingly unaware of the dangerous situation, continued to give orders.

"Garam, proceed as planned and capture the lord's residence! I saw a person with a blue tassel on his helmet on the west wall. He's probably the commander of the town's soldiers. Zugg, take care of him!"

Garam and Zugg hesitated, not wanting to leave Sōma in front of the raging Dinosaurian, but when Sōma repeated his command, they led their comrades to their respective destinations.

"Banuka?!"

Banuka, called next, hurriedly stepped forward.

"Y-Yes! Here I am!"

"Banuka, quickly suppress the former slaves who are causing chaos! We can't let the town be damaged any further! Use force if necessary!"

"What?!"

Dovarin, who had been listening, could not ignore the order to suppress his comrades.

"We came here to take this town! I have no intention of indulging your grudges!"

However, Sōma's words were harsh.

"This human brat! How dare you call our rightful revenge a grudge?!"

Jahangir's anger was so intense that even the Zoan warriors around him took a step back.

However, Sōma stepped forward.

"Shut up! Be quiet, Iguana!"

Jahangir did not know what an "Iguana" was, but he understood it was an insult.

He had never imagined that a member of another race would dare to speak so insolently to a Dinosaurian, especially one who was now free and armed.

"Without thinking, you call their rampage a grudge! What's wrong with that? Killing humans and destroying things, what do you plan to do after that? Answer me!"

Jahangir was at a loss for words.

He had only wanted to rampage. He had not thought about what would happen afterward.

Sōma pressed on.

"We need to move forward! Don't get in our way!"

At that moment, a gust of wind blew.

Sōma's bangs, which had been covering his forehead, were blown away, revealing a mark.

"! Is this a Divine Child?!"

Sōma had removed his headband at Shemul's suggestion.

To the people of the Seldias continent, where gods truly exist, even the gods of other races are revered. Shemul had hoped that if the rampaging slaves recognized Sōma as a Divine Child, they might hesitate to attack.

And it worked. Jahangir, who had been about to raise his hand, hesitated.

Still, he could not just lower his raised hand, so he bluffed.

"This human brat. Do you not know of the Tyrano species, the most feared among the Dinosaurians?!"

For Jahangir, being a Tyrano was a source of great pride.

However, he had asked the wrong person.

"I don't know anything about that!"

Sōma had cut through Jahangir's pride with a single word.

As a foundling from another world, there was no way he could have known.

However, Jahangir was taken aback.

Until now, everyone had been terrified when they learned he was a Tyrano. Had he been mistaken? Perhaps his reputation had not reached other races. If so, he had made a fool of himself.

Perhaps feeling pity for Jahangir, who was struggling with shame, Banuka spoke up hesitantly.

"Um... Sōma-sama really doesn't know."

Banuka's inadequate explanation was the final blow to Jahangir's pride.

Jahangir groaned and slumped his shoulders.

Seeing this, Banuka panicked, thinking he had been rude, but his clan members said with a subtle smile,

"Come, young master. Let's go fulfill our duties."

They led Banuka away.

◆◇◆◇◆

"Damn it, damn it! You beasts!"

On the town wall, the battalion commander was shouting in anger.

The Zoans who had broken through the East Gate had split into two groups, one heading for the lord's residence and the other for the town wall where he was.

The withdrawal of the soldiers, who were confused by the fall of the town, was not going as planned, and the Zoans' incredible mobility had allowed them to attack even before the soldiers, who had just descended the stairs, could form a proper formation.

At the bottom of the stairs, humans and Zoans were engaged in a fierce melee. In this chaos, it was impossible to provide support with arrows.

"Let's go down from another place! Follow me!"

There was no telling how long they could hold out on the town wall. The battalion commander, leading a small group of soldiers to another staircase, stopped.

"Finally, my luck is turning. That tassel on your helmet means you're the commander here, right?"

Standing in front of them was Zugg.

The battalion commander immediately looked for another escape route, but he saw Zoans climbing the town wall from another staircase far behind.

"I want to show Sōma-sama and the Claw Clan our best. I can't let you escape."

While sending the majority of the warriors directly, Zugg had led a small group of warriors up the town wall from another staircase, cutting off their retreat. The Zoans' mobility had allowed them to quickly find another staircase and circle around in a short time.

"What are you doing! It's just a beast!"

At the battalion commander's command, two guards charged at Zugg with their swords.

However, Zugg knocked them off the town wall, one inside and one outside, with his fists and kicks.

"Just to let you know, if you surrender, I'll spare your life."

"This beast! How dare you talk big to a human!"

Zugg's words only fueled the battalion commander's anger.

But Zugg laughed genuinely.

"This is a blessing."

Zugg licked his lips.

"I'm told not to kill if I can help it, but I doubt anyone will complain about killing scum like you. Besides—"

"O gods of humans, witness this!"

Before Zugg could finish, the battalion commander drew his sword and delivered a powerful strike.

It was one of the best strikes of his life.

However, Zugg, stepping into the range with a light step as if going for a walk, caught the hilt of the sword and the hand holding it with his large palm.

Then, with a single strike,

"Besides, with someone like you, I won't even have time to hold back before it's over."

The battalion commander was no longer listening to Zugg's words.

His body, separated into head and torso, fell to the inside and outside of the town wall, following the guards.

◆◇◆◇◆

Leading the warriors of the Fang Clan, Garam ran through the town on all fours, reaching the lord's residence in no time.

The lord's residence of Borinis was surrounded by a moat filled with water from a nearby river and a sturdy wall of baked bricks with saw-toothed loopholes.

Attacking it head-on would be extremely difficult. They had to storm it before it was fortified after the gate was breached.

"Everyone, don't fall behind!"

Garam increased his speed.

As he approached the drawbridge over the moat, he noticed a soldier inside the still-open gate raising a stick-like object.

"Charging in!"

Garam kicked the ground with his hind legs and leaped onto the drawbridge.

Just as he landed, the soldier struck the object, and the drawbridge began to rise with a clattering sound.

Garam slid down the slanted drawbridge like a slide, and the splashes of his comrades who fell into the moat behind him echoed.

However, it was not over. A thick wooden gate was about to be lowered in front of him.

"Jump!"

Shouting, Garam leaped into the compound, barely clearing the ground. His comrades who were a bit late hit the lowered gate and screamed.

Rolling on the ground with the momentum of his leap, Garam got up and cut down a soldier who was standing still in shock.

"How many made it in?!"

"About five, including me!"

Gurkaka, who was also cutting down a nearby soldier, replied.

"Two... no, one person! Follow me! The rest, open the gate!"

Gurkaka was about to designate someone to support Garam, but someone stepped forward before he could.

"I'll go!"

It was Zugg's niece, Shishul.

Garam was surprised that the young