Limited Extra Time - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Millaiyen’s blade, dulled from impact, swept toward the exposed neck of Herta, who was rolling across the ground.

Unlike every other part of Herta’s body, which was encased in rigid armor, the creature’s underbelly appeared soft enough for a blade to penetrate deeply.

The problem was that Herta’s defenses were formidable enough to protect that weakness, and I had been racking my brain trying to create an opening.

I never imagined I could exploit the gap between its raised foot and claws when it lifted its leg with such force to attack with those talons—yet here I was.

‘I heard about this from Carina Leopold, but I was skeptical….’

Indeed, when the creature raised its foot, even an impregnable fortress of a beast had no means of defense. And there was one more thing I discovered….

‘Do they possess camaraderie?’

I pondered this as I felt the rage of the Hertas beginning to stomp their feet thunderously.

They were furious. Likely because I had killed one of their kind.

“How amusing.”

The scent of blood caused my eyes to gleam with renewed intensity.

The smell of blood after so long. A battlefield after so long. It was perfect warm-up exercise before the subjugation that would soon begin.

Baring my teeth in a grin, I immediately changed direction and lunged at another Herta.

At the sound of my cry, all the Hertas turned their bodies in unison.

The other Knights who had been engaged with them fell back as the creatures all exhaled sharp snorts toward me.

The grating sound of armored claws scraping the earth was almost unbearable.

Undeterred, I deftly thrust my blade beneath the talons of the Herta that raised its foot before me, its claws extended razor-sharp for an attack.

The Herta shrieked and fell once more—this time, a considerably smaller specimen than the last.

Just as I moved to pierce the neck of the overturned creature, I sensed a tremendous killing intent from the side and hastily twisted my body, redirecting my blade downward.

The rhinoceros-like horn of iron-clad material clashed against Millaiyen’s blade. As he parried the creature’s swift assault, Millaiyen’s

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body was driven back considerably. Pale yellow eyes with faded pigmentation. Thin, worn navy iron armor with its color faded, bearing several deep claw scars etched across its surface. The Herta before him was twice the size of any other, its gaze sharp and utterly devoid of emotion. What emanated from those hollow eyes was nothing but murderous intent—pure, unadulterated malice that sent a chill down Millaiyen’s spine.

So you’re the leader.

The Herta, driving Millaiyen forward with brute force and pinning him against a wooden pillar, let out a low growl.

Though the sound was shorter than those of the other Hertas, its volume was like thunder itself. Millaiyen clenched his teeth, bracing his legs against the assault of the massive creature bearing down upon him.

At the leader Herta’s call, the swarm that had rushed forward moments before suddenly turned, lifting an injured young Herta from the ground with their horns and shielding the limping creature as they began to vanish beyond the forest.

“Damn it, I’m going after them!”

“Henry! Stop! No orders have been given!”

Jeron stepped in front of the young Knight, blocking his path.

Henry, who had been about to chase after half a dozen fleeing Hertas, contorted his face at the obstruction. He turned to look back at Millaiyen, still locked in confrontation with the Herta.

The Herta facing Millaiyen let out a low growl and retreated two steps backward. Its piercing gaze was the kind that would strike at the slightest movement.

Millaiyen lowered his blade and deliberated. Cutting down this creature would not be difficult. However, he could not guarantee how effective it would be. The creature was formidable, and he had no confidence in fighting it while protecting the other Knights.

The Herta that appeared to be the leader let out a single short call, and in an instant, the dozen or so remaining Hertas turned their bodies. As if granting mercy, or as if promising a future encounter. Their piercing gaze never dimmed until the very end. Between the Herta and Millaiyen, who had locked eyes until the last moment, it was the Herta that looked away first. The pack of Hertas vanished into the distance in an instant.

“Damn beasts.”

Roughly tousling his blood-matted hair, Millaiyen Pestellio raised his voice harshly. All he’d managed to rescue was Herta’s corpse.

“Captain, are you alright?”

Jeron came running over and spoke. Perhaps because the situation was so urgent, he was frantically calling Millaiyen by his old title of commander, but no one pointed it out.

“If I had chased after him, I could have killed that bastard, that last one. What a waste.”

“If I had chased after them, I would have gotten killed.”

Millaiyen spoke in a low voice. With his skills and those of a few Knights, they could have escaped if they tried, but even among Knights with exceptional abilities, he was still

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inexperienced. They were at a disadvantage both in numbers and in sheer strength against Herta.

“Damn it!”

In frustration, he swung Millaiyen’s blade sideways, cleaving through a nearby tree.

The tree, already half-snapped by Herta’s assault, came crashing down with a thunderous sound.

“Herta will be the deciding factor in this subjugation.”

“Yes, I never imagined their numbers would increase exponentially like this.”

“How many of those creatures could there possibly be?”

Millaiyen pressed his hand to his temple. He couldn’t say that Herta’s numbers were limited to what they’d seen.

Each individual Herta was a match for several Soldiers, yet their forces were overwhelmingly insufficient.

“But it’s strange—they withdrew rather readily.”

“They let us go. I don’t know why.”

Millaiyen naturally drew a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips.

Jeron approached and lit it for him. As the flame flared and quickly subsided, Millaiyen inhaled deeply from the cigarette.

“…Are you suggesting they possess that level of intelligence?”

“Possibly.”

With his eyes closed, Millaiyen recalled the Herta that had driven him to the brink.

Those eyes were not the eyes of something that had given up. They were the eyes of something that would come for his throat by any means necessary.

“This subjugation will not proceed smoothly.”

I needed to move up the meeting with the Lords.

Wisps of pale smoke curled from between Millaiyen Pestellio’s lips. His eyes, which had been gleaming with intensity, softened slightly.

“Where on earth was it hiding before it emerged?”

“Who knows. There’s a theory it was pushed down here from the End of Winter.”

Herta, the captain, appeared to be quite advanced in years.

Yet throughout all the subjugations thus far, I had never seen anything like this. It made no sense that I hadn’t spotted even a single creature of that number.

“The End of Winter… Surely not. That cave is sealed shut.”

“There’s much work to be done.”

The End of Winter.

It was also famous as a passage through which demonic beasts entered.

There was no certainty to it, but various legends of the Northern Territory spoke of it.

At the edge of the Northern Territory stood a colossal Mountain Range, and within that range existed a single passage that resembled a cave—a place where eternal winter lay dormant, or so the tales claimed.

Millaiyen Pestellio had been there once himself, but it was truly a Mountain Range as insurmountable as a cliff no human could dare ascend.

No one knew what truly existed beyond that firmly sealed barrier.

“Perhaps it surged up from beneath the earth instead.”

Having finished the entire cigarette, Millaiyen Pestellio flicked it to the ground.

He crushed it beneath his heel, then slowly approached Herta, who lay dead with his belly exposed and tongue lolling out.

“Could it be here?”

“What do you mean?”

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“Harlon.”

“We won’t know unless we open it. Shall we try?”

“Go ahead.”

The moment Millaiyen nodded, Jeron leaped directly onto the massive Herta’s belly.

He spun his blade and drove the point downward, piercing straight into the creature’s flesh.

The sound of the blade burrowing through tissue echoed out,

followed immediately by the wet sound of flesh being severed.

Capturing even a single Herta was a significant prize. It would allow us to identify whether other weak points existed.

“Ah, I found it!”

“You did? How large?”

“Well, about the size of a fist. Not particularly large.”

He extracted the Harlon that had been embedded near the Herta’s heart as he spoke. Though he called it fist-sized, it was actually slightly

larger than a palm.

“Clean it and keep it.”

“Understood.”

Jeron nodded obediently despite his puzzled expression. Millaiyen turned away as he watched Jeron pull out a handkerchief and wrap the Harlon carefully.

“But Commander, you usually don’t take Harlon with you, do you?”

“I have someone to give it to.”

“Who… Ah! That person, right? The frail prospective lady who arrived recently!”

Millaiyen glanced at Henry before turning away.

Continuing the search any further today was impossible. Above all, the beasts had begun to gather at the scent of blood.

“We’re falling back.”

Millaiyen turned his body toward the rendezvous point. Despite the victory, a profound sense of defeat weighed heavily upon me. My eyes grew cold and distant.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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