Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

The irrational scenery opening up in front of them was hard to believe. The stone-paved building that could withstand a tsunami was broken into pieces with a loud bang. Dust particles swirled through the air, as rubble was flung everywhere, a giant shadow appearing from within in the smoke. What appeared was a monster with a minotaurus with a human body. He probably stood tall three times the size of a regular human, as he carried a giant axe in his hand. For many, it was like they had been dragged into a nightmare.

A downpour of arrows made its way toward the giant, but it showed no effect whatsoever, as the giant only felt like he was hit with a few pebbles.

“Wh-Where did that monster even come from?!”

“We don’t know! It just appeared out of nowhere…!”

A certain country’s general came running to gather information, but their formation had broken apart because of this sudden dilemma.

“How did that thing even make it inside the fortress? N-No, it can’t be…He destroyed the outer wall?!”

The general looked at the wall that had been turned into a pile of rubble and raised a voice filled with terror. Anybody stationed here knew just how thick and sturdy the wall was, and yet the giant possessed enough strength to break through it with a single strike. It was entirely unthinkable.

“Wh-What are you doing?! Strike it down!”

One of the guard knights raised his voice, which pulled back the other knights to reality. Wanting to protect their lords, the knights all tried to strike down the giant. However, he didn’t even defend himself. There was no need to do so, either.

“I-Impossible!”

Even a strike with all one’s might barely even left a scratch on the giant’s skin, as he did not shed a single drop of blood. However, the giant must have gotten annoyed at all these little ants poking at his feet, because he swung his giant axe once to send every soldier close to him flying. With nothing to do, they all landed on the ground and groaned in pain.

“Don’t get too close! Stop him with long-range attacks!”

Bows were pulled, with magic chants resounding. Giant stone arrows and spells such as [Fire Ball] or [Ice Blast] flew at the giant. This actually showed some level of effect, as scars or frozen areas showed on the giant’s body, but even so, he kept on moving forward. His next goal seemed to be the banquet hall in which the banquet on the first day took place, as he broke the outer wall like it was made of paper, creating an unsightly scene inside. After finishing his imminent goal, the giant made his way to the tall tower that acted as a landmark and he raised a voice that sounded like a cow’s.

“…Destroy!”

Together with this outburst showing a lack of knowledge or emotion, he swung his axe again, bringing down the tower. The more he pressed on, the less he looked like a living being and more like a moving calamity. Even the other knights could only watch in despair, as the difference between them was like that of an elephant trampling over an ant’s hill.

“Th-That…is a minotaurus! It’s a demon!” Rifuaro witnessed the beast approaching and screamed in angst.

The moment all of humanfolk understood that they were dealing with a demon, their archnemesis, a new terror started to grow inside of them. Most of them had only heard the stories of such grotesque monsters, and yet they were now met with one right in front of them, so despair was all that they felt.

“E-Eat this!”

Solace had followed after Rifuaro, firing an arrow at the giant, landing right between his eyes. It must have been a spot not guarded much with skin because although the arrow got repelled, it showed a faint trail of blood running down the giant’s face. Even so, he didn’t react whatsoever, just charging on ahead.

“N-No…”

Realizing that his arrow didn’t have any impact whatsoever, Solace’s eyes lost all shine.

“That…That is a demon…?!”

After rushing to their side because of Garadoff’s order, Bogune couldn’t believe his eyes. The difference between what he had thought to know and the reality in front of him was too great. He carried an axe like his opponent, and although he should be charging at the foe, his legs wouldn’t move. With each step the Minotaurus took, the earth shook, almost like a waking earthquake. As all guards and knights didn’t know what to do against this almost otherworldly calamity, the only one who charged in without hesitation—was the lizardman Basques.

As she had been training further away from the scene, it took her a moment to rush here, but she didn’t hesitate a second to dodge past the approaching axe to attack the giant. Not losing her momentum, she sliced at the giant’s foot. There, a loud KLANG rang out, which you wouldn’t expect if a sharp blade met skin. Turning around, Basques came to a standstill.

“How odd…it’s too sturdyyy. And I didn’t feel much of a respooonse…?”

Basques showed a bewildered expression, only to realize that the tip of her scimitar had a scratch in it, at which she clicked her tongue.

“Futileee…Then, how about thiiis…!”

Basques moved on to aim at the giant’s eyes. She must have guessed that the eyes weren’t as well-fended as his feet. However, because of the monster’s sheer size, you’d have to run up its shoulders. But naturally, the Minotaurus wouldn’t allow for that to happen. Approaching carelessly during one of its axe swings was utterly foolish.

“How troublesooome…But strooong!”

Despite her words, her tone sounded almost delighted. Basques’ movement was extremely minute despite the way it may look, and the way she moved around, paired with the way she handled her sword, was beautiful. With the sudden appearance of a formidable foe, the realization that a lizardman could fight on equal terms with the monster shook the bystanders, but this didn’t continue for long.

“Simple movement…Maybe this will do iiit!”

Basques set up a few attacks, but lost balance and tipped over.

“Crap?!”

In that one moment, Basques received a strike from the opponent’s axe and was slammed into the wall of the nearest wall. Luckily, the wall killed most of the impact, so she didn’t suffer too grave of a wound. However, the real problem was her freedom. After all, she landed in a building meant to store objects such as liquid or ropes, sealing away her movement.

“Wh-What a blundeeer…!”

She tried to free herself from the rope as the Minotaurus kept on moving closer. Helpless, she had prepared herself to meet her maker through the strike of the giant’s axe. But then, she heard the sound of metal clashing.

“You okay?!”

Kyle came in clutch to deflect the axe swing, effectively saving Basques in the process.

“Careful! His body is sturdy, and I don’t know any weakneeess!”

“Got it!” Kyle briefly responded and went to attack the Minotaurus himself.

Since Kyle managed to hold his ground against the Minotauraus in this one-versus-one, the surrounding soldiers began to cheer. Despite their best efforts, they didn’t manage to harm the Minotaurus at all, and yet Kyle’s strikes were deep, damaging the giant. He managed to block off another attack that could have easily destroyed a stone building. And finally, Kyle managed to knock the giant axe out of the Minotaurus’s hands.

“Got it!”

Another strike going up the giant’s belly was especially effective, as a faint smile showed on Kyle’s expression. However, this disappeared in but an instant.

“Wha…?!”

As Kyle rammed his sword deep into the Minotaurus’s stomach, causing blood to gush out, the giant groaned in pain as he splattered liquid everywhere, then rammed his fist directly into Kyle. Hit with the blunt force of this attack, Kyle’s body was flung away like a wet dust cloth, slamming into the wall—except, he broke the wall and flew inside the building. Screams of terror and despair rang out. Since one of the strongest of humanfolk, the hero revered as the [Dragon Slayer] was knocked out in one punch, their reactions weren’t unfounded.

Enraged because of its injuries, the Minotaurus picked up his axe and started rampaging once more, except while aiming for a different direction. Comically, he almost resembled a small child throwing a tamper tantrum, as he grew more violent.

“Bastard…Where is he heading?!”

“That over here…No! It’s the evacuation point for the lords!”

The Minotaurus was heading toward the sturdiest building of the fortress—the place where all the participants of the meeting had evacuated to.

“Just what is going on outside, I wonder,” Ninos asked with a worried tone.

Minagi responded with a tense expression herself. All the other rulers around couldn’t hide their anxiety, either. The moment they learned of this attack, the elves all began to turn pale as they rushed to confirm the situation, with Kyle following after. Left behind, the participants of the meeting were guided to this location by Sakira.

“This building was built with utmost security in mind. It is hidden from sight, too, so we will be safe here,” Garadoff explained, having taken over the role of the leader.

There was only one entrance, and the door was protected with three layers, so there was no place more secure in this whole fortress. It would take days for any invader to make their way to where they were. Emergency rations stacked at every corner, they could survive for weeks. Milena sighed in relief at that, but then, the whole building shook.

“Wh-What was that?!”

Someone must have rammed the outer wall with an incredible force that sent tremors to where they were hiding. This was repeated several times over until cracks showed in the wall.

“I-Impossible…”

Knowledgeable about the buildings and construction, the dwarf Garadoff knew how sturdy this building should have been. No living being should possess such raw destructive power. However, the wall slowly began to show cracks, and from the small opening that formed, a bloodshot eye peeked inside the room.