The Extra Wants To Live

To be clear, Carl was now only a commander who assisted, provided distraction, and made tactical decisions.

The main characters were Catherine and Billford.

The female screamed in pain and sorrow.

In the brief moment when the male was attacking once, Billford swooped in and cut off all of the female's right fingers with one stroke.

The male reacted too late, wrapping his arms around the female and chasing away the billfish with his tail.

"Shhh! Shhh!" The male backed away frantically, making threatening noises.

But to the ruthless humans, it sounded like the tantrums of a cornered rat. They were very dedicated to protecting their females. There was only one female in this forest, so if they lost her here, reproduction would be impossible.

The male also realized belatedly that his reaction was not the right behavior, and he backed away hesitantly, hiding the female behind him.

But it was a sin to ignore such a huge and obvious weakness.

"I'm going after the female again. I'll keep shaking her, so gradually accumulate damage."

"Yes."

It was better to leave the female alive rather than kill her because she had no ability to protect the male and was only a nuisance.

As Carl took a detour to aim for the female again, the male's nerves became tense, and he looked around frantically.

Because of the structure of his two eyes that faced forward, it was easy to attack him in situations where he couldn't see behind or to the side.

The male looked confused as to which side he should attack as Carl and Catherine fell apart. Carl and Catherine were judged to be threats, while Billford was judged to be somewhat less dangerous.

Carl continued to circle around the female, swinging the longsword in his left hand, only lightly scraping away the monster's scales and causing a little bleeding without causing any serious damage.

The male had to use all his strength to fly away from Carl, thinking that he had to protect the female, and even as he quickly grew tired, he was gradually injured by Catherine and Billford's attacks.

The positions kept changing as the male continued to run away and fight, but as the battle dragged on, soldiers eventually joined in.

"Don't attack, just surround the area loosely!"

Carl bit at the soldiers preparing to cast their nets.

If they cast the net now, it would only be a hindrance.

The male monster was desperate to protect the female.

He had to continue to cling to a hope that did not exist, to fight in vain, and to get hurt.

If the soldiers joined in and set up nets, the male might decide that he had no chance of winning and run away, abandoning the female, or he might risk everything and jump into the fray.

Carl was gently provoking the male's heart as he struggled to protect his mate, making him struggle endlessly in the swamp called hope until he finally drowned himself.

It was as if treating a human being, in a horribly mean way.

The fact that this worked meant that this monster's intelligence was far superior to what was previously assumed and that it also had excellent sensibilities.

The soldiers were not oblivious either, so except for those with nets, they were busy moving around with their spears out in the distance, preoccupied with confusing the monster's eyes.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

"Wow!"

Soldiers circled around, swinging their spears and shouting.

While the monsters' eyes were spinning around frantically, Catherine, who had dug in, swung her sword in front of the male, and the moment the male reacted, Billford rushed in from the side and deeply cut the creases of his left knee, where the damage had accumulated.

Thud!

"Shaaaaah!"

The monster finally got down on its knees and roared. It wasn't a scream of pain. It was a cry full of frustration and anger that was difficult to bear in this situation.

"Hoo!"

Billford backed away, threw away his chipped sword, and pulled out his treasured spare sword. Catherine also drew a new sword to match.

Now it was time to show their face. They would inflict a fatal wound with their intact swords and take the monster's life.

"Just wait a moment."

It was perfect timing, but strangely enough, Carl ordered them to step down instead.

He also did the same, even though he had thrown away the tattered sword he was holding in his left hand and drawn a new one.

As the only sound was the soldiers' screams, three humans surrounding the two monsters moved slowly.

"Aim for the little guy!"

Then suddenly, Carl's scream rang out like thunder. It was unclear who the order had been given to, but at least everyone knew it wasn't directed at them.

Thanks to Carl's demonic charisma, those under his command were able to perfectly carry out his orders as Carl intended.

"Kuaaaah!"

So, Diline, who had just joined and was hiding from the monster's eyes and waiting for an opening, was able to attack without hesitation. Diline let out a loud roar and flashed a large true two-hander.

To the monster, human weapons looked like teeth or claws, and the newly appeared Diline, holding a true two-hander that gleamed in the sunlight, looked very threatening.

Some of it was his own judgment that made him understand the situation, but others clearly conveyed Carl's intentions.

Diline realized that he had to target the female in order to kill the male, and he did his job admirably.

"Shhh!"

The male turned his body to protect the female with his eyes wide open. Even in the midst of all this, it swung its tail to protect its back and sides, blocking attacks.

But with Carl, Catherine, and Billford all exposed to his flanks and rear, no matter what he did, he could not avoid death.

To kill the bastard more reliably, Carl made a bold decision.

He used all the mana he had to move faster and more passionately than he had ever done before, and he pulled out a short one-handed sword with his right hand, which he had pretended was injured and unable to move.

When Catherine and Billford saw Carl rushing in, they didn't jump up or back down to avoid his tail.

Carl's physicality surpassed that of a normal mana user. In a situation like the present, in order for Carl to use his power most effectively, he had to fully utilize his powerful physique.

Recklessly, yet with careful calculation, Carl rushed toward the root of the monster's desperately swinging tail and blocked it with his whole body.

Kwaaaang!

The tail of the giant monster collided with the human, and it sounded like some kind of catapult had hit the wall.

Carl's sword was completely shattered into pieces. The sheer force of the impact broke Carl's wrists and arms and twisted his knees and ankles.

But Carl never lost control of his body. Pain couldn't stop him. Carl acted with cool judgment and firm decision.

Instead of holding on until the very end to avoid his body crashing into the ground, he took enough of the impact with his body and then lifted himself up without resisting the force.

If his body had hit the ground, the tail might have swept over it and torn him apart.

As Carl's body floated away, soldiers rushed in to catch him. Although it was not possible to completely stop the male's tail, it was enough to reduce the force and create a gap.

Catherine and Billford dodged the attack by diving inside the flailing tail.

Puck!

Shhh!

Catherine dug into the left flank of the male monster behind him and stabbed him with her sword diagonally, while Billford leaped onto its back and cut off its relatively weak neck.

The male defended the female even with his heart pierced and his throat cut.

As he held the female tightly in his arms and threatened with his mouth wide open, bleeding, Diline leisurely retreated and distanced himself as if his fierce momentum was a lie.

The male died shortly after, but his bright yellow eyes still shone brightly and glared at the humans surrounding him. However, he could not protect the female left alone any longer.

The female was easily killed by the combined efforts of the three knights.

"Lord Carl!"

"Search the area and find the eggs! Quickly!"

After clearly cutting off the monster's breath, Carl, who was lying on the ground, shouted an order to those running toward him.

His body was covered in wounds, but even if he just stayed like this, he would be almost completely recovered by tomorrow. And with Milton here, he should be fine by today.

It was more urgent to deal with all of the monster's eggs than to deal with Carl's body, which would recover quickly and leave no aftereffects.

There was no way they would have laid their eggs outside. They would have buried them somewhere or made a nest.

When moving eggs, they must search and dispose of all traces before they disappear.

Even though his limbs were completely destroyed, Carl was able to get up with the help of his soldiers and started walking toward the puddle where he suspected the creatures had laid their eggs.

Carl, who was completely battered, didn't change his expression at all.

Rather, the faces of the soldiers supporting him were distorted in even more pain.

Even though both arms were broken and his knees and ankles were twisted and wobbly, he could still walk. Beyond respect, they felt a sense of awe mixed with fear.