Behind the crumbled statue of the girl in the square, Vanilla, holding a shotgun, finally confirmed that all the targets had gathered around the clock tower.
"Amy, the flag."
At Vanilla's command, a tense Amy hurriedly waved the flag to send the signal.
From the clock tower and the roof, Cherry and Harrison spotted Amy’s signal and waved their respective flags in response, signaling their readiness.
At that moment, a large flag waved from the roof of Happy House on the distant hill—Victor and Nox’s signal.
After confirming everyone’s signals, Vanilla and Amy slowly advanced toward the clock tower.
*****
Receiving the signal from Vanilla and Amy, Victor placed a large stone onto the catapult arm.
These stones had been newly acquired by Cherry and Ethan together. There were only five in total, but Cherry had assured them that it would be enough.
Victor and Nox’s role was to create chaos.
The catapult, which Cherry had managed alone, was now being operated by Victor and Nox together, pulling with all their strength before launching a stone toward the area near the clock tower.
BOOM!
In the distance, the stone struck the outer wall of a house near the clock tower, partially collapsing the building.
Nox exhaled a cloud of pale smoke from his lips. Having nearly run out of lollipops, he had finally resorted to cigarettes.
He took another deep drag, then exhaled.
Whooo.
With the cigarette still pinched between his fingers, he shaded his eyes with his hand and squinted at the scene ahead. A lazy smile played on his lips.
"Wow, this is nerve-wracking. What were they thinking, giving us this job? What if we accidentally hit the clock tower?"
Hearing Nox mutter to himself, Victor tensed up even further. If anything went wrong, it would all be over for them.
Noticing Victor’s anxiety, Nox smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Don’t worry too much. That’s Lancaster and Sinclair over there."
"...What? What do you mean?"
"It means they’re the ultimate duo. Even if the clock tower collapses, they’re the kind of people who would survive."
Of course, if Ethan or Cherry had heard this, they would have gone berserk, demanding to know who was planning to kill them. But Nox genuinely believed in their resilience.
"Anyway, shall we prepare the next stone, Chef?"
At Nox’s words, Victor quickly moved to load another stone onto the catapult.
*****
Frank was in utter disarray. A massive stone had come out of nowhere and smashed into the outer wall of the mansion.
"I thought there were no other people left in this village?!"
Frank barked furiously at Jacob and Mark, who were pressed tightly against the clock tower wall to avoid the rampaging monsters. Alongside them, three soldiers pretending to be from the Royal Army were also trapped near the clock tower.
More and more monsters were gathering. While the number didn’t rival the hordes in Soudonna or Kint, it was far more than what a group of barely ten people could handle.
"How about we climb the clock tower?" Jacob suggested.
Frank nodded. "That might be our best bet."
"But what if the monsters bring the clock tower down?" Mark interjected, causing Frank to hesitate briefly. That was when—
Bang! Thud!
A bullet came from somewhere, hitting Jacob in the arm.
"Ugh!"
Jacob dropped the rifle he was holding. The shot had hit his right arm, the one he was using to hold his weapon.
"What the hell? Where did that come from?!" Mark yelled, immediately raising his rifle—only for his right arm to also get hit by a bullet. Mark’s rifle fell to the ground, where it was kicked away by the scuffling monsters.
Frank yelled at the scouting unit, his voice filled with anger.
"Dammit! Didn’t you say you captured everyone in the village?! Did you even search properly?!"
"We... we did! The only ones left were the slaves at the village elder’s house...!"
The scout couldn’t even finish his sentence. Another bullet pierced his hand, forcing him to drop his weapon as well.
"Damn it! Hold on to your guns! There’s a sniper! They’re targeting our weapons!"
But the sniper wasn’t their only problem.
RAAARGH!
"Argh!"
"Aaaaah!"
A monster dragged away one of the scouts and one of the soldiers masquerading as Royal Army troops. Frank swallowed dryly and ducked even lower.
"Ugh... Captain, what do we do now?"
"What else?! Shoot! Kill the damn monsters!" Frank screamed, snapping the unit back to their senses. They began firing at the oncoming horde.
Bang! Bang!
But massive stones kept flying from nowhere, creating thunderous crashes all around them, while the continuous roar of a light machine gun echoed from the top of the clock tower.
Monsters kept pouring in around the clock tower without end.
‘Damn it, this is a complete nightmare!’
At this point, two soldiers had been shot, losing their firearms, and four scouting unit members had dropped theirs. The only ones still armed were Frank and Mark.
Just as Frank was beginning to think all hope was lost—
BOOM!
Suddenly, the front door of the clock tower's ground floor was blown off.
Screeeech!
At the same time, a massive monster lurking by the door was flung away along with the shattered door.
Even the rampaging monsters paused momentarily, their confusion evident as all eyes turned to the entrance of the clock tower.
A cloud of dust billowed from the entrance, obscuring everything. Slowly, as the dust settled, a figure became visible.
A woman stood there, her delicate features framed by hair the color of deep pink, her golden eyes gleaming as though forged from molten gold. Her appearance was dazzlingly beautiful, almost otherworldly, but in her hands, she gripped a massive axe that starkly contrasted with her delicate visage.
Frank rubbed his eyes in disbelief. There she was, holding that enormous axe, an image wholly at odds with her petite frame.
As she stepped slowly out of the clock tower, one of the nearby monsters lunged at her. But—
Bang!
A bullet struck the monster's head with perfect precision. Frank couldn’t tell where the shot had come from.
There were snipers among the Kint scouting unit, weren’t there? What the hell were they doing? And what about Charlie? Was he really dead? Frank bit his lip anxiously.
The woman casually glanced over her shoulder at them, a bright smile lighting up her face.
"Hello, gentlemen."
Hello, gentlemen...? Frank couldn’t believe his ears and kept muttering her words to himself.
"Don’t you know it’s basic manners to knock before entering someone’s house?"
"...What?"
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What kind of nonsense was this? Frank couldn’t stop himself from stupidly questioning her.
Cherry continued, her tone sharp.
"Do you have any idea how much effort I’ve put into this place? And now you think you can just come in and help yourselves? No chance."
"W-we only need Sir Ethan," one of the soldiers called out from the opposite side. "Hand him over to us, my lady."
Ethan? Sir Ethan? Where had Frank heard that name before? He couldn’t quite place it, but he was sure that it referred to the lunatic firing a barrage of bullets from the top of the clock tower.
Bang!
Another shot rang out, and this time Mark was hit in the arm. Now, Frank was the only one left holding a weapon. But the woman in front of them wasn’t armed with a gun.
As Frank quickly raised his firearm—
Bang!
A bullet struck his shoulder, making him drop the gun. At that moment, the monsters surged forward.
Frank screamed and tried to run, but they were already backed into the clock tower. There was no escape. A monster’s jaws clamped down on his leg, tearing it off.
"Arghhh! Aaaaagh!"
Losing his leg in an instant, Frank collapsed to the ground. As he looked up, his vision was filled with the sight of deep pink hair.
Wham!
The woman swung her massive axe, sending a monster flying. Wait—flying?
Frank’s eyes widened as he watched her. She twirled the heavy axe in her hands as though it weighed nothing and swung it again at an oncoming monster.
Slash!
Two monsters charging toward her were sliced diagonally across their torsos, their bodies split apart.
She raised the axe high once more and brought it down. The monster’s head smashed into the ground with such force that the earth beneath it caved in. As she turned, she cleanly slashed the neck of a nearby monster.
Splat!
Thick, green blood splattered everywhere. She kicked the remaining body, sending it hurtling into a nearby building. The impact caused its already dangling head to snap off entirely and roll across the ground.
"What the hell is she...? What kind of monster is this?!" Frank muttered in horror, his mind reeling.
To him, the woman seemed no less monstrous than the creatures she was fighting. No human could possess such strength. It was beyond comprehension.
"I... I need to tell El about this..." Frank thought desperately. They hadn’t even managed to transport the Brunel slaves to El yet!
As Frank crawled along the ground, legless and desperate, the barrel of a long gun slammed into the dirt before him, blocking his path.
Sturdy military boots appeared in his line of sight. They were too small to be a man’s.
"Where do you think you’re going with your legs like that?" a cold female voice asked.
Lifting his gaze, Frank saw a woman with icy blue hair tied high, glaring down at him with a piercing gaze.
Then, leaping over the shoulders of the monsters and landing gracefully like a flying squirrel, another girl appeared in front of them.
"So you were planning to enslave the villagers? You’re such a bad guy," she said with a cheeky smile.
What... who the hell are these people? Frank wondered, but he had no time to process it. The monster that had bitten his leg now closed its jaws around his torso, devouring him whole.
"Ahhh! Please! Spare me! Save me!" Frank screamed, his pleas filled with desperation.
But his cries for help were silenced as the monster's jaws slammed shut, devouring him.