Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 64: The Public Extermination (1)
The renovated old arena in the capital’s north resembled a tournament ground. Residents crowded the public stands.
Several elevated rows at the north-center formed a VIP section for the king and high nobles.
The Royal Order stood in formation upon a thick wooden floor over a stone foundation.
Participating among the low-ranking knights, Kevin sighed at the festival atmosphere.
—Can displaying an extermination of undead beasts truly be acceptable?
Several familiar officers who had cared for him had already left the Order. If possible, Kevin too would have painted his shield black and followed former Commander Lionel.
Crown Prince Alexis, however, had entrusted him with a task.
As a common-born low-ranking knight, Kevin could hardly refuse, but after hearing the details, he didn’t want to. That was why he remained.
Murmurs became cheers and then a roar.
The king appeared in the central VIP seats, followed by Elliot and Emily. The crowd welcomed its heroes.
The staged extermination began.
Distant from Kevin, Elliot wore an extravagant ceremonial uniform absurdly unsuitable for battle. Emily stood beside him in a jeweled dress of pale layered lace like a storybook princess.
Unable to watch, Kevin surveyed the venue instead.
Court sorcerers’ barriers enclosed the arena and stands. Very few clergy attended, and all looked anxious.
—May the crown prince’s fear prove unfounded.
Yet Kevin couldn’t escape a strange foreboding.
The orchestra played a fanfare. High-ranking knights advanced as part of the layered barriers opened, releasing more than a dozen medium-sized undead beasts into the wooden arena.
Nobles and commoners unfamiliar with undead beasts murmured fearfully.
Elliot descended behind the knights, drew his sword, and raised it toward the sky. The crowd’s fear became excitement and expectation.
Individual sorcerers’ barriers still confined the undead beasts so tightly that they had scarcely been released, creating a bizarre sight.
It was no different from locking savage animals in cages.
The entire spectacle resembled a performance about to begin.
One by one, barriers opened and high-ranking knights stepped forward, destroying the undead beasts like dancers performing a routine. Every severed head and collapsing corpse won thunderous applause.
Kevin’s role was merely to fill the formation and serve as a reserve. He could only watch from a distance.
Kevin followed Elliot’s movement with a glare.
—Did the holy sword always look like that?
From afar, it resembled the blade Kevin remembered and gave off a faint glow that announced its presence.
Though distance had grown between them after Elliot became the Holy Knight, Kevin had watched him wield the sword on the battlefield for a year.
Something felt wrong.
While Kevin considered, the last undead beast was released and Elliot faced it with the supposed holy sword.
He ran forward and smoothly severed its head in passing. The magnificent flash accompanying the hero’s strike drew jubilant cheers that shook the air.
Immediately afterward, the floor trembled. Kevin first mistook it for the roaring crowd.
Then the rumble beneath his feet intensified until he couldn’t stand. He crouched and looked toward Elliot with a gasp.
The arena floor rose like a mountain. Thick timbers creaked and split as something approached beneath them with a tremendous splintering roar.
—A dragon? Impossible. What’s that?
Something as thick as a dragon’s neck burst upward before Elliot and the high-ranking knights.
—Is this also part of the performance?
Low-ranking knights hadn’t been told the spectacle’s details. Kevin bit his lip when he saw the high-ranking knights equally shocked and frozen.
The floor continued shaking, preventing movement.
The object resembled a dragon’s neck but possessed no head; it was shaped like a giant worm. Wriggling and undulating, it leaned toward the northern VIP section holding the king and Emily.
The floor split farther north and collapsed before the VIP seats.
Multiple magical barriers should have protected the king and high nobles.
Yet another thick tentacle burst from the shattered floor and destroyed one end of the VIP wall.