To take control of Brunel, it was necessary to eliminate the monsters.
The creatures varied in appearance and combat abilities, but they all shared one characteristic: they didn’t use their heads. Like wild predators, they moved solely based on instinct, seeking prey without employing any strategy or intelligence.
This meant they could be dealt with. Although there were roughly twenty monsters remaining, five had already been taken down by the soldiers and the Kint forces.
Of course, the two remaining soldiers who had killed those monsters had been eaten by other monsters shortly after. The same fate befell the Kint forces—only two of them were left alive, and the rest were dead.
Fortunately, since the corpses were devoured before they could transform into monsters, there was no need to worry about their numbers increasing.
When I used my axe to take down two monsters in front of me, a sniper bullet and an arrow handled a monster attacking from behind. That was Jose and Harrison, covering me.
The rapid gunfire from the clock tower had ceased. I could see Ethan stepping out from the tower’s ground floor entrance.
After eliminating another five monsters, there were only ten left. At this point, our group could handle them on our own. The sniper had already taken care of a significant portion of the threat.
And once Ethan joined us, drawing his sword instead of his revolver, the pace of the battle accelerated.
While Vanilla and Amy worked together to take down one monster, I handled two on my own. Jose and Harrison each dealt with one, and Ethan eliminated three or four at once, his longsword cutting cleanly through their heads in a single motion.
After about thirty minutes, the monster purge was complete.
*****
Mission complete.
Jose, resting the butt of his Sharps rifle against his shoulder for stability, lifted his gaze.
“Wow. I can’t believe what I just saw.”
He couldn’t hide his astonishment after witnessing the combat prowess of Cherry Sinclair and Ethan Duncan Lancaster with his own eyes.
“How is it even possible for humans to fight like that?”
Harrison, lowering his crossbow, remained silent at Jose’s comment.
From where he stood, he could see Ethan and Cherry talking amid the piles of corpses. Their conversation hinted at a bond between them that seemed impenetrable to outsiders, something unshakable that no one else could intrude upon.
He had always thought of Cherry as a sheltered girl, but the Cherry he’d seen here in Brunel felt strangely unfamiliar.
“She said she gained superhuman strength from some drug, right? I really want to know what that drug is,” Jose muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
Hearing this, Harrison began tidying up his gear and stood. He couldn’t deny that Cherry’s strength seemed even more formidable than the last time he’d seen her.
Perhaps the strength he’d known Cherry to possess before was only a fraction of her true potential. Or maybe, her abilities were continuing to evolve over time.
Whatever the case, he hoped there wouldn’t be any side effects. The thought of Cherry suffering due to this power was not one Harrison wanted to entertain.
*****
I swung my axe to shake off the sticky green blood before holstering it on my back.
My combat skills were improving day by day. With my inhuman strength from the start, I adapted faster than others. Not only did I have incredible power, but the rate at which my abilities were developing was also extraordinary.
"Sugar Star, you’re amazing!"
Amy, holding Vanilla’s hand, approached me and gave me a thumbs-up. She then turned to Ethan, who was walking toward us, and teased,
"And that old man was kind of cool too, I guess?"
Ethan, like me, wiped his sword clean before sliding it back into its scabbard. He gave Amy a brief glance with his usual indifferent expression and then smirked.
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His annoyingly handsome face made Amy roll her eyes, but she let it slide just for today.
"Your shooting was incredible too. Oh, by the way, the Kint guys called you a ‘crazy lunatic cop.’"
That must’ve been what she overheard while hiding behind the first-floor door of the clock tower, waiting for the right moment to strike. Amy burst into laughter as she recounted it.
Ethan, unfazed, crossed his arms and shrugged. Meanwhile, Vanilla, uninterested in our banter, turned to me and asked,
"You said the villagers are at the elder’s house, right?"
I nodded. Just then, Jose and Harrison climbed down from the roof and joined us.
"Good work, everyone," I said.
As soon as I spoke, everyone exchanged brief words of encouragement and checked on one another. I took a moment to scan our surroundings before speaking again.
"Monsters don’t have good eyesight, so if we block the village entrances, they won’t get in as long as there isn’t too much noise inside."
"Exactly. This is a small rural village, after all. The number of monsters wandering around here won’t be as high as in the capital," Vanilla replied.
Harrison summarized the situation concisely.
"First, we should free the villagers trapped in the elder’s house and ask for their help. Blocking the village entrances will require a lot of manpower."
Everyone nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Amy clung to my arm.
"Sugar Star, can I sleep with you tonight?"
With her wide, pleading eyes, she looked up at me like a kitten in boots. Before I could respond, Ethan chimed in with a mischievous tone,
"Why are you clinging to her like that? Besides, Cherry snores loudly. You’re better off sleeping alone."
"What? I don’t snore!" I shot back indignantly, but Ethan just shrugged nonchalantly. Amy, listening to our exchange, suddenly asked,
"Wait, have you two slept together?"
"Of course not—"
"As if we would. There are so many rooms," I interrupted without a moment’s hesitation. Amy nodded knowingly, as if to say, "I thought so."
Ethan, however, fell silent. Propping his chin on his hand, he suddenly looked deep in thought, his expression unusually serious. What’s with him now?
Ironically, it was at that moment, seeing him act so strangely, that I fully realized the battle was over, and we had taken control of Brunel Village.