CHAPTER 44: THE BATTLE OF INVICTUS (8)

Iris was dripping with slime from head to toe. Her elegant outfit, now sticky, clung uncomfortably to her skin.

"Seriously, couldn’t he shut his f****** mouth?" she grumbled.

"You might need a tissue," Carla offered, handing hers over.

Iris eyed the tissue seriously. She wanted to refuse, but in the end, accepted it and dabbed lightly at the drool on her face.

"You should be glad it’s not acid," Carla remarked, trying to look on the bright side.

Iris sniffed coldly, shooting a dark glare at the giant serpent.

"If only... I’d have had a good reason to roast him."

"Is that... even possible?" Carla stammered.

Iris didn’t answer, but the way she stared at the enormous serpent was enough to make Carla shut up.

(Better keep quiet. She’s already pissed... One wrong move and... Yeah, better not even think about it.)

---

What Carla didn’t know was that Iris could see inside the Calamity’s guts. She could clearly spot the larva nesting in its stomach and the network of etheric threads converging into it.

(If it swallows me, will I end up in its stomach too? Or should I try to dig through its shell? No... too complicated.)

Truthfully, her thoughts were far bolder than anything Carla could have imagined. But Iris recalled Sirius’ words and decided to stick to the plan — especially since, for once, he had actually used his brain.

(Sigh... He’ll come out eventually anyway, so why bother overthinking it?)

With her mind made up, Iris leapt over the rubble, using the chaos to slip into the fortress building.

"Lady Iris!" Carla shouted.

"I’m going to freshen up. This side is all yours," Iris called back without stopping.

On the way, she briefly locked eyes with the Major. It lasted only a second, but that was enough for Iris to confirm her suspicions.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," she whispered under her breath before continuing on her path.

---

On the other side of the wall, two living beings stood face to face: Major Kraft, an Enforcer of Master rank, was seething with rage. He had watched helplessly as his proud fortress and his men danced in the palm of another’s hand. He had endured, refusing to act, hoping to lure the enemy into the open. He had already envisioned himself as the hero, cheered by his soldiers, as he swooped in at the last minute to save them... And now, some random young Awakened had succeeded where he should have.

The only thing that kept his fury in check was the Calamity before him. He had already claimed the right to mount its head among his trophies.

"State your name, so I’ll know what to carve beneath your head when I display it."

The giant serpent turned, lifting its head to loom over its foe, and declared in a loud, haughty voice:

"I am Count Albart. Entertain me, human, before I devour you."

The Major grinned furiously.

"A mere Count? A Count managed to shake Invictus this badly? How insolent... I’ll wash away this disgrace by giving you a long and painful death," he declared, slamming his spear into the ground and adding:

"Come, then. You’re not even worthy of being struck by my weapon, vermin."

"Shhhh..."

Count Albart, insulted at being called a vermin — though he fully embraced his pest nature — hissed furiously. His body swelled like an overinflated balloon. Then, at its limit, he opened his jaws wide: a swarm of pests poured out. Insects of every kind — flying, crawling — each one the size of a human. There were thousands of them.

"By my authority, I command you to kill!" Count Albart proclaimed.

The swarm obeyed without hesitation.

Well, for starters, they really didn’t need to be told to kill the humans in sight...

"Minors? With these numbers, he must’ve gathered every single one in the region," the Major observed, watching hundreds of Calamities charge toward him.

Unfazed, he clenched his fist and punched the air.

"Repelling Barrier."

A yellow, semi-transparent wall burst forth, flattening the pests charging him into pancakes.

The Major had just used his Resonance for the first time in this battle — the very one that had earned him the nickname Master of Barriers.

In a single move, he eliminated nearly a hundred Minor Calamities, each strong enough to rival a regular soldier in an average army.

The rest of the pests, having seen the massacre, scattered in panic, avoiding the Major like the plague. Why fight the strong when so many other humans were still on the menu?

"Where do you think you’re going?" the Major growled, trying to stop them.

Though they posed no threat to him, for the exhausted Enforcers still fighting, and the others too injured to move, they were a real danger.

But just as the Major prepared to strike again, Count Albart stepped in. He took the hit head-on. Though pushed back, he suffered no injury — his thick exoskeleton shielding him, just as he’d hoped.

The Major might have had the upper hand in rank, but as long as he underestimated him and avoided using full Master-level attacks, the Count could keep him busy long enough for their plan to succeed.

---

The swarm of pests charged the humans like flies drawn to filth. And yet, when they reached the ones infected by parasites, they veered off course, avoiding them entirely, as if recognizing them as kin. The infected didn’t move — they no longer had the strength to even panic.

When the swarm reached the site of the Enforcer battle, a wall of stone had already risen to meet them. Captain Bernard had kept a close eye on the clash between the Major and Count Albart. The moment he saw the pests emerge, he acted. He grabbed ten of his best available men to intercept the threat, making sure the others wouldn’t be trapped between two fronts.

Bernard then plunged into the fight, slicing through Calamities one after another with his rapier in a murderous frenzy. His men held nothing back either.

They weren’t fighting humans — so they showed no mercy, unleashing the full extent of their professional skills.

---

Meanwhile, inside one of the fortress buildings, Sirius and Lucy were standing in what looked like a vault filled with dusty old documents.

"How old do you think this plan is? The paper’s so ancient it’s practically crumbling."

"They’re the fortress blueprints, so... before construction. Over 80 years, maybe 100. No exact date, though."

"Would’ve been easier if they’d just marked an X like on a treasure map. Digging through all this is exhausting."

"Exhausting, huh? You’d know that if you were actually helping."

"Not my fault. These old papers might make me sneeze. And don’t look at me like I’ve done nothing. I did carry all that gold."

Sirius gave her a strange look but said nothing. He wanted to point out that it had taken her barely a second with her Resonance — but knew better than to start a verbal duel with her.

"By the way, why is there so much gold in a military fortress?"

"Well... maybe someone was planning for retirement."

Lucy gave a greedy little grin.

"He who goes hunting..."

"Loses his spot," Sirius finished.

The two burst out laughing greedily — until a voice interrupted them.

"So while I was almost eaten alive, mister and missus here were having fun?!"

"Oh, Iris! Took you long enough," Lucy replied.

She looked Iris over, then asked:

"Need a towel?" while conjuring one as if by magic.