CHAPTER 47: DANCE WITH A CYCLOPS

Within the mana-bearing chamber, Leon returned his sight to his own eyes, approaching the witch, who looked exhausted as if having run a marathon.

"It was successful," Leon assured her with a sigh of relief. "The invasion is halted."

Beatrice placed her hand on her forward, exhaling, "Good...That’ll hold for some time now. After the clean-up is done on the current forces, we’ll need to reconvene. Clearly, we underestimated what we’d be facing.

"Yeah, agreed," he said.

Beside him, the light-born knight stood idly as if awaiting his next command, to which he waved his hand, allowing it to de-manifest for the time being.

"Another aspect of your unique heritage, I take it?" Beatrice asked with a curious look.

"Ah, something like that," he dismissed, waving to her. "Alright, well–I’m going to help with the clean-up. Just pop into my head if you need something!"

"I see. Good luck, Lord Schoeller," the witch nodded with a knowing smile.

[Schoeller Warp]

From a quick look, the area he found most in need of assistance was the south area of the land, bringing himself to the forefront within a moment. As soon as he arrived to the fields enclosed by the towering mountains, the sounds of joyous laughter filled the air–

"Ha-ha-ha! More! More!"

–Through waves of unfortunate rat-faced fiends, it was the maid with scarlet pigtails that so happily swept her axe through them. The adventurers assigned to the same spot mostly watched in fear, not wanting to get in the gleeful maid’s way.

’That’s Ruby alright...Maybe it looked worse than I thought,’ he considered.

He approached, heading towards a rather timid adventurer who hardly looked older than fifteen, who hid behind his shield as a plump ogre beat at it with a club.

["Tomas Dirn"] [CLASS: Shielder] [Level: 12]

"Ah...! Get away!" The small-built tank cried out, tucking his body behind his own shield as his shaggy, brown hair shook with every strike to it.

"Hurrrrh–!" The green-skinned ogre laughed as it swung down against the shield.

As it raised its club for another swing, he dashed in with a clear opening, bringing his blade across its belly before it could protect itself. It collapsed onto its back, letting out a groan before going limp.

[EXP: +3,000] [60000/75000]

He swept the blood from his blade, looking towards the upright shield where only the strand of hair atop the timid, young man’s head could be seen peeking from the top, "You’re fine."

Carefully, checking over his shield, Tomas picked himself up with a sigh of relief, though in the very same breath grabbed his mouth before spewing out onto the grass, "Bleeegh...!"

"Err, if you’re not fit to fight, then you don’t have to," Leon suggested.

Tomas wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his beige tunic, shaking his head, "No, no...I’m fine! It’s just, that ogre was totally frightening, wasn’t it?! I might have peed myself a little..."

"Right, well...Try not to get pinned like that again," Leon said, giving a quick wave before turning away.

He headed towards the heart of the battle where the maid gleefully cut through the enemy’s numbers. From the joyous girl’s rampage, even some goblins attempted to flee, as one desperately sprinted away–

A needle piercing the side of the green-skinned fiend’s head, taking any life away as it slumped over.

Withdrawing the thin weapon, the butler of princely features coldly dispatched the fleeing monster, "You won’t get away so easily, not after attacking our home."

["Salvatore Mecalin"] [CLASS: Butler] [Designated Lv: 20]

Leon passed right through, only giving a quick nod to the butler, who gave a silent bow in return. Through what was left as a graveyard of monsters, he saw the maid sweep her axe through a pair of orcs, though another approached from behind.

"Haste!"

Imbuing his next step with a burst of speed, he crossed a dozen meters of grass within a moment, intercepting the orc’s mace that sailed for the maid’s back. He deflected the weapon, causing the joyous maid to finally turn around.

Before the orc could regain its balance, he swiftly cut it down, striking its throat with cold precision.

[EXP: +3,000] [63000/75000]

As the orc fell, he looked up before finding the maid practically flinging herself to him. There was no chance to stop the sudden excitement as the youthful maid wrapped herself around him, giving him an inescapable hug.

"Master! You came to see me?!" Ruby excitedly said, pressing her cheek to his.

["Ruby Harma"] [CLASS: Maid] [Designated Lv: 21]

It was like dealing with an overly clingy dog, though he didn’t quite mind the affection from someone as cute as Ruby, though the current circumstances didn’t call for it. He grabbed the maid’s sides, causing her to release a quick yelp as he removed her, setting her on the grass.

"I came because I thought you’d need assistance," Leon corrected her, looking around as only a few monsters remained, being confronted by the adventurers. "Looks like I was wrong, though."

The petite maid snickered, resting her oversized axe across her shoulders with her arms slung over the handle, "Well, I’ve got it all handled here!"

"Seems like it. Don’t give Salvatore too much trouble, alright?" He said, giving the maid a pat on the head.

"I won’t!" Ruby promised.

Across the battlefield, the tide had turned on the monsters remaining within the bounds of the isolating barrier.

In the western side, the last of a squadron of monsters met a greater force. A goblin rushed with a grin towards the black-haired maid, raising its dagger–squash. It was turned to red paste beneath the fall of a massive, ivory hammer, raised back into the air by the petite, silver-haired maid.

"Please be more aware of your surroundings, Emilia," the stoic maid advised calmly.

["Iris Galant"] [CLASS: Maid] [Designated Lv: 15]

Wielding curved daggers in each hand, the employee of short, black hair moved nimbly, evading the persistent swings of the orc’s axe. With a masterful technique, the maid spun around, delivering killing strikes to multiple of the monster’s vitals.

As it fell, the azure-eyed maid turned towards the hammer-wielding co-worker, "I will. Thanks for the assist, Iris."

["Emilia Blouse"] [CLASS: Maid] [Designated Lv. 14]

To the east, a crowd of refugees watched the one-sided show as the last monster among its squad was subject to a one-on-one brawl with the muscle-bound butler.

Augustus removed his top, revealing a frame finely tuned for battle, decorated with tribal tattoos as he smiled wide, addressing the cyclops, "C’mon! I’m fighting you man-to-man here, so don’t get scared!"

["Augustus Rune"] [CLASS: Butler] [Designated Lv: 26]

The one-eyed giant shook its head as its bottom lip trembled, stumbling back. All the while, the people watching cheered on the brawling butler.

"Get ’em, Mister Punchy!"

"Mister Punchy! You got this!"

"Go! Go!"

What started as a nickname formed by the onlooking children, even the adults joined the cheers which only served to stoke the flame within Augustus. The eldest maid sat in the camp amongst the others, taking a sip of her tea with a quiet sigh at the theatrics put on by her colleague.

With nowhere left to run, the cyclops of cracked, stone-like skin seemed to reasonably conclude that no matter how strong the "mere human" was, it was still well over five times his size. The one-eyed giant released a roar that sounded more like a drunken welch that shook the winds.

All of the onlooking refugees covered their ears, though the butler born to be a warrior rushed in with a dazzling smile.

"That’s more like it! Let’s put on a show!" Augustus yelled, leaping into the air as he met the cyclops at eye level with his fist pulled back.

The aftermath of the clash between man and giant was planted with the one-eyed head crashing into the field.