Chapter 85

This is the perspective of the leader of the Great Sword of the War God.

"Damn it! This is way too early!"

In the distance, I could see a horde of monsters approaching at an abnormal speed. As I stared at them, I couldn't help but mutter a curse.

I had no way of knowing exactly how much time had passed since we fled the Labyrinth City, but based on the distance, it couldn't have been more than two hours.

Still, the appearance of monsters was unimaginable.

"Didn't some monsters appear a little while ago!?"

Laust's words about the Lich attempting to cast a tactical-level spell on the Labyrinth City were still fresh in my memory. While I suspected Laust had exaggerated the part about the tactical-level spell, I didn't doubt that the Lich had appeared. One of the reasons we fled the Labyrinth City at this moment was because Laust had told us about the Lich's appearance. I had assumed that if monsters appeared a little while ago, there would be enough time before the next batch appeared.

With a bit of luck, we might even make it to the city before the next wave of monsters appeared.

That's why I couldn't hide my shock at the appearance of the monsters, which came much earlier than I had imagined. The other people felt the same way, and the faces of the adventurers who were hurriedly preparing were filled with anxiety, making their work visibly slower.

From that scene, I realized that even if we tried to run now, it would only worsen the situation.

"Why does nothing go right...!"

I gritted my teeth in frustration. The adventurers were nothing more than decoys to me, but I didn't want to lose them needlessly. According to my plan, the time to use the adventurers as decoys was much later. I couldn't afford to lose them here. Besides, there were things I couldn't afford to lose more than the adventurers.

"Monsters? Are you going to protect us?"

"If this is going to happen, we should have stayed in the Labyrinth City..."

The guild staff, who were completely useless in this sudden emergency, were causing a commotion. Their behavior was incredibly frustrating, but they were absolutely necessary for our escape to the city. To create a situation where we could escape with the guild staff, I made a decision.

"Everyone, take up your weapons and get ready! We'll fight while protecting those who aren't ready for battle!"

Some of the adventurers who were already prepared distorted their faces at my words, but in the end, they said nothing and took up their weapons. Their attitude made me a bit frustrated, but I couldn't focus on that as I turned my eyes to the direction the monsters were coming from.

...The monsters appeared almost immediately.

More than a hundred hobgoblins were running towards us, shouting war cries.

"There are too many...!"

My face naturally tensed at the sight. We had five hundred adventurers, so there was no way we would lose. However, in this situation where we didn't know when more monsters would appear from the labyrinth, the time we spent fighting could be fatal. And the time it would take to deal with this number of monsters...

...At worst, we might have to abandon the adventurers and escape with the guild staff.

Such thoughts crossed my mind, but they were interrupted by the approaching monsters.

First, a hobgoblin at the front of the monster group leaped at me.

"Die!"

With a cold, murderous voice, the unarmed hobgoblin leaped at me. I swung my greatsword at it, venting my frustration.

"You're all in my way!"

The greatsword didn't just crush the hobgoblin's head; it split its body in half vertically.

"Gig!"

Judging the moment I lowered my greatsword as an opening, another hobgoblin leaped at me. However, its attack didn't even scratch me. The armor I wore easily blocked the unarmed hobgoblin's attack.

"Gii!?"

"It's not going to work!"

I kicked the hobgoblin in the abdomen, which was surprised by the hardness of my armor, and roared. Then, I slashed the immobilized hobgoblin with my greatsword. Reacting to this, more hobgoblins gathered around me, but the unarmed hobgoblins were no match for me.

With a single swing of my greatsword, I cut through the torsos of several hobgoblins, and their attacks were all deflected by my armor. Gradually, the hobgoblins in front of me disappeared, and I even had the leisure to assess the battle situation.

The adventurers fighting the hobgoblins were not unscathed. There were already a number of casualties, including some mid-level adventurers.

Still, the battle situation wasn't bad.

"With five hundred people, this is about right."

Confirming this, I smiled. At least, with this, I could protect the guild staff and keep the adventurer casualties within my expectations.

"!"

...But the next moment, my smile froze when I saw orcs appear behind the hobgoblins.

The orcs, which exist in the middle layers, were not something I, who usually hunted in the lower layers, should be concerned about.

"Those are orcs? This is a joke...!"

The moment I saw the orcs, my common sense crumbled.

The number of orcs was far fewer compared to the hobgoblins. There couldn't be more than fifty. Still, I instinctively understood that this group of orcs was far more troublesome than the hobgoblins.

At that moment, I instinctively shouted to Louise, the leader of the Wind and Fire Spirits, another top-tier adventurer.

"Louise, take them out first!"

By the time I shouted, Louise had already started casting a spell. Her reaction made me realize that she had come to the same conclusion as me.

That is, the orcs were so strong that even other top-tier adventurers couldn't handle them.

Our judgment was correct. I could hear screams from the group of adventurers who had already engaged the orcs.

"What's with these orcs...!"

"Norz! Open your eyes!"

The battle situation, which had been in our favor until a moment ago, changed instantly. If someone didn't stop this, the guild staff might also be in danger.

"Damn it!"

Realizing this clearly, I started running towards the orcs to change the situation.

Just as I reached the orcs, the spells of Louise and Alex, the Great Sword of the War God, who had been chanting behind me, were completed.

"O Spirit of the Wind!"

"O Spirit of the Trees!"

The wind tore through several orcs, and the trees restricted their movements. However, the orcs were not shaken by such a level of magic.

The orcs that were not restricted by the trees ignored us and headed towards the other adventurers. The restricted orcs, without losing their composure, started peeling off the trees that were restraining them.

"It's not just the strength of the orcs!"

In an instant, more than half of the tree restraints were peeled off, and Alex, who was behind me, let out a scream. What should have stopped the orcs for a few minutes, according to Alex's attack, was completely ineffective against them.

Still, the orcs were vulnerable at the moment they peeled off the trees.

"Oraaaaaah!"

I was already right in front of the orcs and didn't miss this opportunity. I cut off the arm of an orc that was peeling off the tree with my greatsword.

"Buugiiii!"

The orc, whose arm had been cut off, let out a dirty scream. It glared at me with eyes filled with intense anger. In the next moment, the orc stopped peeling off the tree and grabbed at me with its remaining arm.

However, an attack with one arm while being restrained was no match for me. I deflected the arm that was reaching for me with my greatsword and laughed.

"You're too slow!"

"Fuuuuuuuuu!"

The orc, foaming at the mouth, radiated a killing intent that rivaled that of the ogres in the lower layers. However, an orc that had lost both arms and was restrained was no match for me.

"Die!"

I slammed my greatsword into the orc's neck. For a moment, the momentum of the swing weakened when it hit the bone, but I forcefully cut through the neck with my enhanced physical abilities. I smiled in victory at the orc's lifeless corpse without a head.

"Hokano ningen to chigau"

"Yakai da na"

...The orcs broke through the tree restraints at that moment.

Judging me as a threat for killing their comrade, several orcs attacked me simultaneously.

"..."

Their attacks were much faster than I had imagined, rivaling those of the ogres in the lower layers. I was taken aback by the speed of their attacks. Still, as someone who had faced groups of orcs in the lower layers, I could handle it within my limits.

"Don't underestimate a warrior!"

I blocked potentially fatal attacks with my greatsword and the rest with my armor, engaging multiple orcs.

Still, that was the limit of what I could do. I was on the defensive against the orcs' continuous attacks. The orcs sneered at me, as if mocking my situation.

"Kono joukyou de, yoku hoeru na"

As if they were certain of victory.

The orcs' attacks became even more intense. However, I remained calm and dealt with their attacks.

A warrior is indeed an attacker who deals damage to monsters. However, that's not the only role of a warrior.

To allow the mages to cast their spells.

To prevent attacks from reaching the rangers.

The most important role of a warrior is to take the brunt of the monsters' attacks and buy time for victory.

So I smiled at the orcs.

"Shut up. You're the ones who will lose!"

The orc's face twisted, and it tried to say something more.

--However, before it could utter a word, the orc collapsed to its knees.

The orc that fell was not alone. Several orcs that had been focusing their attacks on me suddenly fell forward.

"Full of openings"

Then, from behind the fallen orcs, Marseval, the martial artist of the Great Sword of the War God, appeared. Seeing him, I couldn't help but smile.

Martial artists don't have abilities to enhance their physical strength. However, the reason they are favored by adventurers is because of their firepower. No matter how excellent a warrior might be, they couldn't take down these orcs in one hit. However, a martial artist's skills can render them combat ineffective in one hit.

This firepower can sometimes drastically change the battle situation, as it did now.

"Buugii!"

The sudden fall of their comrades and the appearance of Marseval behind them made the orcs turn around and try to attack Marseval.

However, it was the worst possible move they could have made. After all, they had exposed themselves to me.

I raised my physical abilities to the limit and shouted as I swung my greatsword at the orcs' necks.

"Dieeeeeee!"

The full-force horizontal swing of my greatsword decapitated one orc and stopped halfway through the neck of the second.

Even after receiving an attack that would have been fatal to a human, the second orc didn't fall. Instead, it glared at me with eyes filled with anger and raised its arm.

"Chit!"

Before the attack could land, I released my greatsword and retreated. I had a spare dagger, but it wouldn't do much damage to the orcs. My mind was filled with confusion about what to do next.

At that moment, I heard Alex's chanting from behind.

"O Great Flame! Burn them to ashes!"

The next moment, a great flame passed over me and enveloped the orcs. Seeing this, I couldn't help but smile. The spell Alex had cast was the strongest spell that had been effective in the past when our party had taken down a super-difficult monster. No matter how mutated and powerful these orcs were, they couldn't withstand it. As I had expected, the great flame burned the orcs.

"Buugiiiiii!"

"Buugii! Buugii!"

The orcs, now charred black, died from the force of Alex's spell. I confirmed that none of the orcs we hadn't engaged were moving. Then, I picked up my greatsword, which had a slightly scorched and heated handle.

"If this wasn't a quasi-magic sword, I would have had to replace it..."

For a moment, I thought about yelling at Alex, but I suppressed that urge. I looked around.

The current battle situation was not good. Most of the mid-level and lower adventurers couldn't stand up to the orcs, and there were many casualties. Still, the situation wasn't the worst.

"...At this rate, we can defeat the orcs safely."

The adventurers who were fleeing and being killed by the orcs were causing significant casualties. However, thanks to their drawing the orcs' attention, we top-tier adventurers, including Louise and the Wind and Fire Spirits party, were steadily repelling the orcs. The guild staff, though frightened, were unharmed.

"With this, we can safely bring the guild staff along."

Watching the steady repulsion of the orcs by Louise and others, I let out a sigh of relief.

...However, I should have realized at this moment.

Given the current situation with so many monsters appearing, it wouldn't be strange for even stronger monsters to appear. In fact, it would be strange if they didn't.

--I realized this too late.

"...! What is it!?"

An unprecedented ground tremor.

Reacting to it, I looked in the direction the monsters had come from, the direction of the labyrinth. Running towards us was a monster I should have known well...

"O, Ogre...!"

The next chapter will be from the perspective of the guild staff, and the chapter after that will conclude the perspective of the leader of the Great Sword of the War God.