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A gloomy wind sweeps across the darkened sky.

The biting north wind rushes down upon this cursed land, chilling me to the very bone.

Amidst the icy blades, a woman stands with her red hair whipping around her.

Facing the colossal monster that ravages the defense line.

“…It’s incredibly huge.”

Her thoughts were succinct and straightforward.

The giant spider, seemingly insatiable, focused on crushing the defenses it had already shattered, devouring lives and resources greedily, while the snowy landscape behind it squirmed.

“Camila, the corpse spiders are coming.”

“I see them too.”

Camila said this, her eyes still fixated on the giant spider.

The spider, like a craven glutton, extracted corpses from an armored vehicle like pulling the meat from crab shells, chewing on bones and flesh while emitting a grotesque wail.

It seemed the Imperial Army judged holding the defense line any longer was futile, as they began to regroup and retreat.

As the infantry carried the groaning casualties and supplies backwards, we made our way to the crumbling stronghold.

Avoiding the gaze of a suit man and two civilians crawling on the ground like madmen, I approached with worry.

“This is maddening… You do have a plan, right?”

“Yes.”

Camila replied.

“I just had a brilliant idea.”

Episode 11 – Northern Front is All Clear

A valley shrouded in thick fog. Under the chilling sky laden with icy winds, we arrived at the collapsed defense line.

The giant spider roared as it demolished the reinforced concrete stronghold, crushing abandoned vehicles underfoot. A small military vehicle, abandoned by the stewardess, was completely flattened beneath its massive legs.

“What a crazy monster… Is there really such a beast in this world?”

“Who knows, Colonel… I can’t claim to know it all…”

Francesca tilted her head with a mischievous expression. Camila, scanning the surroundings, spoke up.

“Fortunately, there are no people here.”

Right after the heavily armored brigade was swept away by the spider, the Imperial Army abandoned the defense line and retreated.

They hastily gathered whatever supplies they could carry, retreating with those who could still walk while leaving behind everything they could not transport.

In the empty stronghold where not even an ant remained, I managed to salvage a functional radio.

Despite the cold weather, perhaps thanks to the magic battery, the radio turned on just fine. I called out to Senior Lyudmila over the confiscated Imperial Army radio.

“Senior Lyudmila, can you hear me?”

If the division’s security were to find out an enemy soldier had taken control of the radio, it would cost the commander’s head, but regrettably, this was not the time to be concerned about such things.

With foreign troops jamming the already chaotic communication lines, I somehow succeeded in reaching Senior Lyudmila. She was searching for us in front of a crumbled building where we had previously stayed.

“C-Colonel? The building collapsed. Where exactly are you? But more importantly, how are you on the radio…?”

“We are at the defense line now. I’ll be brief as the situation is urgent.”

Her explanation was quick and concise.

“We’ll hold the giant spider and the incoming corpse spiders here. Please regroup the remaining troops and send them here. Magicians, artillery, armored units, anyone will do.”

“W-What do you mean?”

At Senior Lyudmila’s question, I looked at Camila.

“What do we do now?”

“Do you know Marvel?”

Camila enshrouded her fingertips with flames.

And she fixed her eyes directly on the giant spider glaring at us.

“Have you seen Civil War?”

Icy winds filled with chilling blades gusted from the rift. The north wind rushed in.

Fallen leaves and withered branches, dead trees in despair, all buried beneath the piling snow, were suddenly ignited by flames.

-Fwoosh!

The blossoms of fire appeared like a bloom.

The small flames defied the penetrating cold and biting wind, blazing fiercely as they surged forward, again and again.

Thus, the flames generated took shape, wrapping around the defense line.

It was a scale of flames far greater than that produced at the sentry position.

In truth, the height was so small it could hardly be called a barrier, but that was enough to dampen the corpse spiders’ fervor.

-Screech!

-Grrrrrr.

The cries of the corpse spiders echoed through the snowy mountains. Those that were sneaking in to breach the gap surrounding the rift sat helpless before the wall of flames.

Seeing this, Francesca murmured in an even tone.

“…It worked.”

“Not yet.”

A monstrous roar shook the snow-capped mountains.

The creature let out a spine-chilling cry that rivaled a banshee’s wail, rolling its armored legs and venting its rage.

Every time its massive legs rolled, the earth trembled, and the ancient trees shuddered at the sound that grated on the ears. Faced with the wall of flames around the defense line, the giant spider screamed in frustration like a child robbed of its toy.

Francesca, watching the giant spider squirm in the flames, broke into a low voice.

“Indeed. It’s too soon to say we’ve succeeded…”

“Enough talk, prepare to fight, Administrator.”

“Gosh, how prickly you are.”

Francesca offered a faint smile at the not-so-gentle jab and reached out into the air.

Suddenly, a golem core appeared in her grasp. A gear inscribed with indecipherable symbols. Francesca tapped the gear with her fingers a few times before seemingly losing interest and tossed it down to the ground.

It was then.

The gear, descending, stopped abruptly mid-air.

Affected by gravity, the falling gear hovered in the air and began to gradually rise. At the same time, the characters inscribed on its side glowed brightly.

The gear fluttered in the air, vibrating. It seemed as if it were broken, vibrating slowly, and after a few rotations, its motion resembled that of a well-crafted mechanical movement.

Each rotation of the gear drew nearby objects toward it as if magnetized.

Thus, a ball of snow and rocks flew in from all directions to form a singular body.

In an instant, a golem was completed.

“Phew—”

Francesca placed a hand on the completed golem and playfully blew into it, and a bright light emanated from its chest, causing its massive body to stir to life.

“One golem made…”

“……”

“That should be enough, right? Hero?”

Standing before the blazing defense line, Camila turned towards Francesca. Her red hair, fastened by the wind, danced around her.

“Uh… I think we might need a few more?”

“How many more do you think we need? Specific numbers, please.”

“Well, maybe… five…?”

“You’re asking for quite a lot.”

At Francesca’s response, Camila turned away, embarrassed.

However, contrary to her previous remark, Francesca wore a playful smile and quickly conjured up three more golems. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

“Four. This is the maximum number of golems I can manage at once. Creating any more would be pushing it.”

“I think this should do. Though, I feel a bit uneasy.”

“What on earth are you planning…?”

Camila’s gaze shifted to the giant spider.

The spider, writhing in flames, had just leaped over the wall, revealing itself before us, its crimson eyes glistening and letting out deep, rumbling growls.

Gazing into those red eyes, infused with rage and entangled emotions, Camila’s blue pupils shone intensely.

At the end of her sapphire gaze lay the hot, red-hot legs covered in armor.

“We have to knock it down!”

-The giant spider’s furious roar shook the snowy mountains.

Numerous legs left countless afterimages as they tore through the area.

The blade-like legs etched deep scars into the ground, sweeping away everything that stood upon it.

If one were struck by those sharp, armored legs, it wouldn’t be surprising if their body split in half instantly. Evidence of this lay in a discarded armored vehicle, torn apart like paper.

Though it was an extraordinary attack, such thoughts were of no importance at the moment.

“Camila!”

I shouted Camila’s name as I was battered by the blizzard.

The place where the monster fell was quite far from Camila, yet the area that had just been swept away by the legs was alarmingly close to her.

No matter how much a knight might be regarded as a halfwit who can only enhance their body with magic power, they wouldn’t be able to withstand that attack. Let alone Camila, who wasn’t even a knight.

However, it seemed my worries were unfounded.

“I’m okay!”

Camila’s voice reached me from beyond the fog. It was a strong response.

Having heard her reply, I still couldn’t rest easy and kept my gaze fixed on where the voice had come from.

At that moment, a familiar flame erupted from beyond the mist.

-Swish!

Camila, having evaded the attack, conjured flames in an instant. Swiftly deploying the fire, she retreated, and the flames she created pierced through the fog, striking the giant spider.

-Kieeeek!!

A scream filled with agony echoed from beyond the mist.

The spider, hit directly by the flames, fell over, rolling in the snow as its massive body flipped. The heat of the fire was evidently painfully intense.

At this point, one thing became certain.

“Fire works! Camila!”

“Of course, even aliens can’t mess around in front of a flamethrower! The Predator is the same!”

“Ah, shut up! Stop talking about movies and just throw more fire! Quickly!”

Camila didn’t reply.

New flames ignited in mid-air. The spider, instinctively trying to escape the fire, attempted to flee, but Camila was one step ahead.

The flames shot through the mist once again, digging into the monster’s body. A horrific shriek shook the snowy mountain, and the sound of the armored legs thumping against the ground echoed repeatedly.

I looked at the thrashing giant spider and shouted.

“Did we take it down?!”

Not yet.

-Grrrrrrr!

The spider, having endured Camila’s attack, kicked off the snow and stood up. Whether it had recovered from the wound inflicted or hadn’t been injured at all was uncertain, but the spider rose on its own.

Although we hadn’t killed it, it was a relief to confirm that fire was effective.

I took aim at several pairs of glowing red eyes peering through the mist and steadied my rifle.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The spider’s eyes, which had been fixed on Camila, were shot out. No matter how strong the monster was, its eyeballs weren’t exactly tough. And that common sense applied to the giant spider as well.

Having verified, albeit in limited capacity, that bullets were effective, I shoved a bullet into the spider’s remaining eye. However, due to the distance and the thick fog, I wasn’t able to burst all of its eyes.

Each bullet that struck its head made the spider blink. After dozens of blinks, its red eyes began turning towards me instead of Camila. It seemed I’d piqued its interest.

The spider, glaring at me as if it was determined to tear me apart, pressed its bloated body against the snowy ground. An ominous sound akin to a furious roar echoed as its red-hot armored shell gleamed like a razor in the mist.

The spider lowered its body, seemingly preparing to leap and cover me at any moment. Its malicious gaze locked onto mine mid-air.

Then, just as the spider was about to jump…

-Clang!

The sound of something shattering rang out from above.

The spider, poised to leap, jerked its head up as it sensed something with its beast-like instincts. What reflected in its retinas was a myriad of colorful liquids painting the vast sky.

Splash! The liquid poured over the spider’s head. For a brief moment, the spider blinked in astonishment at having suddenly been doused in liquid.

-Kieeeek!!

A scream, unlike any before, spread toward the sky.

The spider, prepared to take to the skies, buried its head to the ground. It rubbed its face against the snow to wipe away the liquid covering its head.

Shards of shattered armor fell upon the pristine, white snow mixed with ash powder. As the armor covering the spider’s skin broke away, gooey flesh dripped onto the ground.

As I aimed at the writhing spider in pain, Francesca appeared beside me, humming to herself.

“Hm… I thought the corpse spider wouldn’t have any armor, so I didn’t expect it to be effective, but it looks like I was wrong. Could it be that the hero’s flames weakened its armor?”

Without a word, I fired at the writhing spider.

-Bang!

The gunshot reverberated across the snowy mountain.

New flames soared toward the beast, while Francesca, standing beside me, pulled out a vial and hurled it. The hand grabbing the vial that fell from the air swung mercilessly.

The spider, howling in agony as its flesh melted away, couldn’t regain its composure with Camila’s flames and Francesca’s potions striking it. As the potion touched the glowing, heated armor, it began to flake off, and the fiery heat burrowed deeper into the melted flesh, causing the spider even more anguish.

I set down my rifle and picked up the radio.

“What’s your status over there?”

Senior Lyudmila’s voice came through the receiver.

-“Almost there! Just about finished! One minute more, or maybe two!”

The Imperial Army was ready.

The giant spider, single-handedly ravaging the defense line, was thrashing in the snowy plains, while the horde of corpse spiders that was closing in on the gaps stood helpless before a wall of fire. The flames had slightly subsided, but they could likely hold for another two minutes.

Sweat trickled down from the heat, mixed with soot, streaming down my cheeks, and the damp, wet dress shirt suddenly developed holes, as if it had been hit by flying debris.

I watched as the giant spider stood up, firmly planting its feet back on the ground. Its bloodshot, red eyes glared at us.

“Camila! Francesca!”

“Yeah!”

“Get back now, it’s about to come!”

At my signal, Camila and Francesca fell back.

The giant spider tried to track us with its fierce gaze, but was hindered by a group of thugs that suddenly appeared.

Those thugs were the golems.

-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three golems burst through the mist across the snowy plains and charged at the giant spider.

Although the spider had been hit squarely by the main cannon of a tank and was still moving, the hefty golems, each towering over two meters, slammed into its legs with great force, causing even the villa-sized spider to collapse helplessly, reminiscent of a scene I had once seen in an old cinema.

The spider, having missed its prey, erupted in a furious wail, flailing its legs as it clawed at the golems.

Although its blade-like legs were swung with tremendous force, the golems firmly held their ground, refusing to budge from the spider’s reach.

The golems didn’t attack. They simply held the spider down, restricting its movements.

Even a mindless monster could sense something was amiss in this situation. The furious attacks resumed, but the spider seemed to have regained some dulled instincts, ceasing its leg swipes and scanning the surroundings.

But it was already too late.

I witnessed the second hand of the wristwatch surpass exactly two minutes.

“Camila, Francesca.”

I halted the attacks and grabbed the two people who had come close to me, throwing our bodies into the trench.

“Duck!”

-BOOM!!!

And an immense explosion shook the very earth.

The Imperial Army’s bombardment had begun.

 

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