Chapter 37: A Scene from Hell

As expected, the monsters approaching the western gate were the first to reach the town. A large number of soldiers drew their bows from atop the wall.

“Fire!”

At the command, a rain of arrows poured down upon the grand crocodile leading the charge. But the grand crocodile continued forward without paying the arrows the slightest attention.

“E-eek…”

One of the soldiers whimpered in terror.

The grand crocodile truly was an ironclad monster. Its body stretched more than nine meters and was covered entirely in steel-like scales. One of its four eyes had been sealed by a scar, while the remaining three regarded the humans as prey. Each of its six legs was as thick as a log. The ground caved in beneath every step, revealing just how heavy it was.

The soldiers froze merely from being caught in its gaze.

“Don’t be afraid! No matter how large it is, it can’t possibly destroy the wall! Throw stones!”

The soldiers hurled stones, spears, arrows, and anything else they could find at the grand crocodile. But none of it seemed to have any effect.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The grand crocodile released a tremendous roar. That howl, as though it had risen from hell itself, planted terror in the hearts of every soldier and resident in Delcour.

“Y-you men… Your hands have stopped! H-hurry and attack!”

The commander shouted encouragement from the flanking tower, but his terrified soldiers didn’t hear him.

The grand crocodile deftly backed up a great distance. Then, in the next instant, it charged the wall with agility utterly at odds with its enormous body. It spun its body and slammed its head against the wall like a gigantic steel drill.

With a thunderous crash that seemed to shake all of Delcour, a massive hole opened in the wall.

“I-it’s over…”

One of the soldiers defending the wall lost the will to fight and collapsed to the ground.

“There’s a hole in the wall!”

The residents’ screams echoed across the battlefield. An old soldier nearing retirement had been stationed there as a watchman, and his eyes widened in shock.

“Th-that beast… There’s no mistake. It’s the same grand crocodile that attacked us fifty years ago! It survived, and now it’s returned to take revenge on this town!”

The sword slipped from the old soldier’s trembling hand and rang clearly against the ground.

Hell had come crashing toward them.

All I could do was wait for the extending iron rod’s modifications to be completed. At last, a tremendous boom rang out in the distance, sounding as though a building had been destroyed.

“Did it break through the wall…?”

Even here, I could hear the townspeople screaming. So it had broken through after all. We’d originally planned to fight before the horde reached the wall, but that would have forced only a handful of us to face more than eight hundred monsters, so we’d abandoned the idea.

“I-I’m going on ahead!”

Unable to stand still while listening to the townspeople’s screams, Eve ran toward the western gate.

“Hey, old man! You didn’t finish it in time!”

Diller shouted.

“Shut yer trap! It’s done! Take it!”

The dwarf smith tossed over the completed extending iron rod. It was now more than twenty centimeters in diameter, far thicker than when we’d last seen it. He seemed to have modified it quite drastically.

“Let’s go!”

We ran toward the western gate, carrying the large barrel and praying that everyone had escaped.