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147 The Black Tortoise Order Falls

「That golden wolf’s holding the line on that narrow path……!!」

「That’s [Garou]! The Werewolf girl!」

「But it’s different from what we heard! They said she just had golden claws and fangs, maybe a tail if she was lucky. What the hell is that monster-sized wolf……!?」

The light enveloping the Werewolf girl cloaked her entire body, and now she stood as a giant wolf, blocking the bridge. Every charging monster she tore apart was hurled into the ravine, and any that seemed to slip past her were promptly finished off by the rear-guard Werewolves with thrusting spears.

「Wait a minute—why are all the monsters funneling into that narrow path to begin with?」

「I don’t know! I don’t get it at all! They’re all getting drawn to a single route like it’s magnetic, but they’re moving so fast it just looks like a chaotic mess!」

「Give me the binoculars! [Hawk’s Eye], activate! I’ll track their movement flow with my dynamic vision—」

「W-Well?」

「……They did it. They took down the bridges.」

「Huh? That was within expectations, wasn’t it? We accounted for the loss of the bridges; that’s why we threw numbers at it. Worst case, the shallow parts of the ravine would fill up with the monsters’ corpses, creating makeshift bridges, right?」

「They left one bridge intact to avoid that.」

When the horde of monsters reached the cliffs, the ones in front hesitated to move forward. But the ones behind didn’t care and kept pushing, shoving the frontliners off the edge. In the shallow areas, the piling corpses were meant to form a bridge of flesh for the rest to cross.

But what if there was a single place they could cross properly?

Monsters have eyes. They’ve got the wits of a wild beast, at least. Naturally, they would gravitate toward the only visible crossing point.

「That’s their plan—bottleneck them there and knock them off as they try to cross. As long as the drop below the bridge is deep enough, no amount of bodies will be enough to fill it.」

「Which means……」

「As long as that golden wolf keeps holding out on that bridge, the monsters can’t break into Abik territory.」

「Hey! This is nothing like the original plan!」

「They completely misread the situation. If the Werewolves were still the kind to fight head-on like in the old days, they would have been destroyed immediately. Even if someone had the brains to leave a single bridge, it would’ve meant nothing without the power to hold it. Remonde underestimated their tactical prowess—and their endemic skill power!」

「S-So what now? Do we report this?」

Even for the men watching, this had gone far beyond expectations. They might not care about the outcome themselves—but only as long as they weren’t caught up in it. What they were witnessing was clearly not the result Remonde had planned for.

「We can’t lie about it either…… Send the signal. One white, two reds.」

「G-Got it.」

Immediately, pine branches were added to three campfires, sending plumes of smoke skyward. One remained white, while the others turned red with added saltbark and dyes. Before long, matching smoke signals rose from the nearest relay point—one white, two reds.

「Looks like the message got through. Well, this is just the first wave. There is a second, and a third—keep it up long enough and we’ll break through eventually.」

「Not if the first wave’s anything to go by… Doesn’t look like things’ll change no matter how many we throw in.」

「By the way, why are we splitting them into waves in the first place? Why not just send them all at once and overwhelm them in one go?」

「You idiot. Try that and the monsters’ll spill in every direction—including Fathie.」

「Ah, right. If we only want to crush the Kinui side, we have to split them.」

「Exactly. Especially since the Elves didn’t want the Fathie side of the mountain range damaged. ……Oh, looks like the second wave’s starting.」

While they talked, the ground began to rumble, and another surge of monsters poured out. From the camp, they could already see that the numbers and density surpassed the first wave.

The men laughed at the spectacle, calling it a show of force—until their faces began to pale.

「……Oi, oi, oi, oi.」

「Isn’t that way too many!? Did the Elves screw up the dosage or something!?」

The second wave spilled over the terrain—and unlike the first wave, it surged toward the Fathie side. The flow was clearly out of control.

As panic spread, one of the older men shouted.

「Smoke signal! Contact Fathie!」

「W-What signal!? How many!?」

「Four reds! Hurry, or my house—my wife—they’re in danger!」

「Four reds! Got it! Get another fire going—」

The men scrambled into action. But before they could finish, a calm voice rang out behind them.

「No need for that.」

「Wh—!?」

「Who’s there!?」

Even in the chaos, an unfamiliar voice was enough to send everyone reeling. The men spun around in shock—to find a formation of soldiers in the official uniform of the Narshe Regular Army.

Beside them stood a second, smaller unit—lightly armed, clad in silver and black like the first, but visibly different. And most disturbingly, most of them had vacant, unfocused eyes.

「You guys are with the Narshe army, and those others……?」

「How tragic… The twin-faced city of Fathie… I never imagined a place even more tainted by demi-humans than Kinui existed…」

「You don’t look like anyone from Narshe. Who the hell are you?」

「Normalization… We must normalize…」

The question from one of the Vehl men went unanswered. Instead, the man who seemed to be the leader drew his sword. Only now did the green-haired men realize they were in real danger—but it was already too late.

「W-What are you doing……!?」

「We are the Black Tortoise Knights… Of the Seven Orders, we are the absolute, the certain, the purging spear……」

「Knights? I’ve heard of them! They’re from the east! Why the hell are enemy soldiers just strolling around in Narshe!?」

「Hey, you guys are Narshe soldiers, right!? What are these lunatics supposed to be!?」

「Just as you heard. Knights summoned from the neighboring country. Though whether they’re still fully aware of that, I couldn’t say.」

The regular army officer answered coolly, watching the knights with disdain as he shook his head in disapproval.

「They were a specialized demi-human extermination force. They were very effective at killing the Elves controlling the dungeon monsters. The plan to let the beast rampage went well until that, but they took too much of the drug, and they finally broke.」

「Drug… You mean Verdant Rot?」

「Exactly. The highly addictive narcotic you Vehls smuggled across the border illegally, without authorization. Officially labeled as a painkiller, but in practice more akin to an anesthetic.」

When the officer emphasized ‘illegal’ and ‘unauthorized’. The Vehl Family men understood.

The nation of Narshe—its government—had decided to cut ties with the Vehl Family.

「This is a problem. Once they track the source of the drug that spread across the border, and if it’s known that the Narshe government was involved with demi-humans… the diplomatic fallout will be devastating.」

「You mean… you’re gonna wipe us all out!?」

「If you want someone to blame, blame your boss, that incompetent fool Remonde. Soon, Fathie will be placed under martial law. All evidence will be erased. Starting with you.」

「Normalization… We must normalize…」

「Indeed, knights. Normalize them. Those men consorted with demi-humans—they are filth.」

Their minds might be dulled, but their bodies remembered the blade. Numb to pain, they unleashed power far beyond normal men, drawing massive swords that groaned with each swing.

Before the knights’ ruthless blades, the Vehl Family lackeys could do nothing.

Only their screams echoed through the snowy mountains.

「W-Wait! Please wai—」

「Help! Don’t—Gyaaaa!」

「The smoke! Red smoke! Four of them! Four red—!!」