Chapter 86

Episode 86 – The White Familiar

“Oi, how far are we going?”

No matter how far we pushed forward, there was no sign of the enemy.

Keeping pace with Linos’s flying drake, I scanned the area.

No bodies.

None of the elite assault unit either.

No cultists.
Not even a hint of human presence.

This… was wrong.
Good thing I took that warning seriously.

If the cult had truly retreated, the elite unit should’ve returned by now.

But with not a single one of them in sight, there was only one possible explanation.

“We should stay alert.”

“Hey, Aldia=Greitz. Try explaining this in a way I can understand!”

“There’s not a single corpse. But bloodstains are everywhere. That’s not normal.”

A harbinger of chaos, no doubt.

Whatever’s waiting ahead—it’s not going to be pleasant.

“So what, the enemy’s already gone?”

“Even in retreat, they’d leave some casualties behind. There’s no trace of that. It’s too clean. Too deliberate.”

I’d rushed all the way out here with Linos, but now I was starting to worry.

It’s not that I fear dying—only that I sense a brutal battle ahead.

“Sir Linos, if you want to turn back, now’s the time.”

The scent of death was thick in the air.

That’s why I offered him an out.
Was he ready to face whatever lay ahead?

But he waved it off like I was wasting his time.

“Tch. Turning back now would just leave me stranded. I’ll stick with you. It’s… the better option.”

“You could die, you know.”

He may be a difficult man, but he’s still young—and a skilled drake knight at that.

No need for someone with a future to throw his life away.

“Don’t underestimate me. Stepping onto this battlefield means I’ve already made peace with that. You should focus on doing your job—as Her Highness Valtlüne’s knight.”

So he’s coming along, all the way to the end.

It’s reassuring, but… also makes me feel a little guilty.

This was my failure.
A lack of preparation.
Had I anticipated every possibility, I wouldn’t be worrying about some unknown threat.

Even so, we pressed on.

And then, the ground shook violently.

“—!”

“What the hell was that?!”

“I don’t know… but something’s coming.”

This wasn’t natural.
Trees snapped.
Something massive was approaching.

“A demon or a serpent…”

I’d made the joke.
But I would soon regret it.

Because the nightmare had answered my call.

A thick, dragging sound across the ground.
Pale, gleaming scales. A hardened, ivory sheen.

“…Looks like it’s a serpent, Aldia=Greitz.”

Great. Just great.

I was used to fighting men.
But monsters like this… I lacked experience.

A gigantic white serpent.

The irregular threat that had emerged to turn this battle on its head.

Far larger than any drake.
Its enormous maw could swallow a horse whole—and blood dripped from it, though I couldn’t tell whose.

“That thing’s been devouring everyone in the area, hasn’t it…”

“Yeah. I can see that. But I’ve never heard of any such creature inhabiting the Dirstr region.”

“Because it doesn’t.”

It was brought here.

The Svell Cult worshipped a white serpent as a divine beast.
They called it a messenger of the gods.
Even their banners bore its image.

“It’s the cult’s doing.”

“I see… a divine familiar, then. Not that I understand the appeal of snake worship.”

“There’s no more time to get you out of here safely.”

“Hmph. Save your concern. Whether it’s a man or a monster—if it threatens the Empire, I won’t show mercy. Besides, if I left you behind now, I’d disgrace the nobility of the Empire.”

Just the two of us.
Facing a monster far too powerful for such numbers.

No reinforcements were coming.
The main force was still locked in battle with the Reshfelt army.

Ritsia-Reite had the upper hand, last I heard.
But there was no way they could spare anyone for us.

“We’ll have to deal with it ourselves.”

“Obviously. Try not to slow me down, Aldia=Greitz.”

“I won’t.”

Even if I stood alone,
Even if I had no allies left—

—I will destroy anything that dares to stand in Her Highness Valtlüne’s way.

“Do not… interfere…”

The serpent spoke.

So it could talk.

Likely a result of the cult’s veneration.
It had a terrifying level of intelligence.

“If it can talk, maybe we can negotiate?”

“If that were possible, it wouldn’t have eaten half the troops already.”

True enough.

I said it mostly as a formality.

The serpent’s tail whipped down, cutting through the air with a thunderous roar.

The ground buckled, and clouds of dust flew up with the impact.

Linos and I leapt to opposite sides, barely avoiding the blow.

“Damn, it’s faster than I thought!”

Even just reacting was a challenge.

Linos may be a top-class drake knight, but this thing was way beyond human.

And I’d never fought anything like it either.

“We’ll need to avoid the tail and strike at its head.”

“That’s the fastest way, huh? Fine.”

Flanking it from both sides, we waited for an opening and launched simultaneous attacks.

My sword was deflected by its tail.
Linos’s axe couldn’t even pierce its scales.

“We’re stuck…”

Linos had no effective means of damage.

And me? For some reason, the serpent seemed to be wary of me specifically—its tail was actively guarding against my attacks.

“Sir Linos, please go and call for reinforcements. This kind of enemy… we need to overwhelm with numbers.”

That was a lie.

This battlefield wasn’t for him.

“You want me to run away?”

“I want you to bring back reinforcements.”

“You really think I’d fall for that nonsense?”

“……”

Linos was sharp.

But with him here, I couldn’t fight at full power.

“…I’m about to disgrace myself.”

That’s why.

In this moment, with no time to spare—
I had no choice but to tell him the truth.