Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

The fight on the border between Carvaluna and Carvalonea continued even after the day was over.

There did not seem to be an end to the Pagan Worshippers that appeared one after another from across the river.

Carvaluna and Carvalonea were rather small countries.

They were both parts of what once was a medium sized country, so both were much smaller now.

But even a small country like that housed many millions of people.

There was a likelihood that a large portion of those people had been turned to Pagan Worshippers.

Kurena continued slaughtering them as they approached her, using the light from bonfires and her own instincts to guide her.

Eventually their numbers started to wane.

Merus' Insect A summons, Queen Bees, and Beelings had succeeded in forming a line of defense.

The areas surrounding the two smaller fortifications had been cleaned of Pagan Worshippers by Merus, and the Rank A monsters that tried crossing the river were slowly turning against themselves thanks to the Insect A's Minion Stingers.

"O-over here please, masters Kurena and Kiel."

Merus was still busy setting up a formation to defend the fortifications throughout the night, but Kurena and Kiel had finished clearing the Pagan Worshippers around the main fortification and were led inside by the soldiers.

Gurrrr~

"I'm hungry."

They had reached the border at around noon, so the last time they had eaten was early in the morning.

Kurena had jumped off the Bird B summon to fight right away, not taking anything with her.

Kiel was carrying everything, so now Kurena asked him to give her some of the leftovers of the Horned Rabbit they ate the night before.

Kurena's efficiency dropped dramatically when she got hungry, so Allen always scheduled their meals to align with her stomach.

But if Dogora complained of being hungry, Allen would always tell him to bear with it for longer.

Because of that, Kurena had never really gotten this hungry since she entered the Academy.

"I'm sure we'll eat something soon. I'd assume they'll give us food at least, though they might even make a banquet."

Kiel was also exhausted after fighting for so long.

He answered being sure that they would at least feed them considering how much they helped.

"Ohh!"

Kurena held her stomach and continued walking forward, looking at the soldiers ahead full of expectation.

While her exchange with Kiel had been in a low voice, the soldiers heard her and twitched a little.

Many of them had been on the wall witnessing Kurena fight valiantly, resembling a warring demon or god.

They had been unable to even put a scratch on the A Rank monsters that towered nearly ten meters high, yet she easily cut them in two.

Her blade glided through them like cutting bread or a fruit.

They were taken to the one room inside the fortification.

Commander Muhan and nine other higher level soldiers awaited them there.

"T-thank you for coming, please come in."

Kiel stopped for a moment, looking around and admiring how spacious that room was, before being beckoned to go further inside.

Even Muhan's group looked nervous as they guided the two around the room.

They were grateful that they had rescued the fortification.

But both Kurena and Kiel possessed power that surpassed human knowledge.

Kurena trotted after Muhan's group happily, her sword dangling on her back.

Because it hung diagonally, the black Adamantite blade poked out at her side.

There was still blood clinging to it, which looked pitch black under the light of torches.

Ideally the soldiers wanted to offer to carry Kurena and Kiel's equipment for them, but they felt so much pressure from the two that made them stay back.

Some in the group would look at Muhan, their eyes saying "you do it."

His response was a look of "why me," followed by a loud gulp.

From that exchange Kiel assumed they were all probably of the same rank.

"I deeply appreciate you rescuing us today. I'm Lancopal Muhan, I presume I'm in the presence of some highly distinguished personages?"

Muhan chose to use the word rescue, not help, nor assistance.

Most of their current equipment came from the silver chests near the Iron Golem and the S Rank Dungeon, so it was all valuable and high level.

Not even the royal family of a small country would be able to afford such items, their monetary value exceeding ten thousand gold coins.

Kiel wore a pure white coat with golden patterns, and his staff had a huge scarlet gem encrusted in its tip, so Muhan assumed he was no mere commoner or even nobility.

"I wouldn't call myself that. I'm Kiel Von Carnell. And this here is Kurena."

Muhan had introduced himself with his family name, so Kiel did the same.

"The Carnell family?" said the soldier who had just refused to take the lead talking to Kiel earlier.

There did not seem to be anyone there who had heard of it.

It would have been weird for someone to know a noble family from Latash, a small country in the Central Continent, very far from Carvaluna.

But they did seem to be relieved hearing he was a noble after all.

Commander Muhan also looked a bit more relaxed.

Considering everything they had just gone through, they were about to believe they were some type of monsters as well.

Kiel was the team leader, so he thanked them for letting them while being careful to not agitate the soldiers.

It was true that they had rescued the fortification, but if he said one wrong thing it was possible they would get kicked out.

With how much power they possessed, it was possible for a misunderstanding to occur and them refusing to interact with the two.

They would never resort to violence though, so if that were to happen, Kiel and Kurena would have no choice but to move on.

Kiel remembered something Allen said when they split into three teams.

There's things only summons can do.

There's things only I can do.

And there's things that only people from the land can do.

Kiel felt like he understood what Allen meant with that after hearing what happened on Sophie's side.

Simply sending an army of summons everywhere would not resolve the issue at heart

Kiel began thinking what he could do on his side then.

There had to be something only he could do, and that was why Allen appointed him as team leader.

"Anyway, you truly were a huge help. The kingdom of Carvaluna will never forget this debt."

Commander Muhan led more than a thousand soldiers, so he did not necessarily speak with the tightest formalities to Kiel, who had likely lived less than half the time Muhan had, but he still seemed to be grateful from the bottom of his heart, and truly respected Kiel.

Muhan was also the eldest son of a noble family, which was how the role of commander was granted to him shortly after turning thirty.

"You really don't need to mention it."

Kiel felt like the conversation was straying too far from where he wanted it, so he tried to correct its course.

Guurr growl!!

There was a loud rumbling sound that could be heard everywhere in that spacious and large room.

Everyone looked at the source of that noise.

"""?!"""

Kurena, the perpetrator of that sound, was losing her mind.

Her face looked more dreadful than that of the soldiers as they were surrounded by countless Pagan Worshippers.

She cared not for words of gratitude or polite greetings, all she desired was at least a small bite of the meat inside the bag Kiel carried.

"My apologies. We departed in a hurry to get here on time, so we haven't eaten since yesterday."

It was true they hurried to get there.

But the only meal they had skipped was one lunch. Taking Kurena's dignity and the direction of the conversation into consideration, Kiel decided it was best to lie.

"Ohh I see, I'm really sorry. Go prepare some good food for them!!"

"Yessir!!"

Kurena thanked her own stomach for growling.

The other high ranking soldiers hurried to go somewhere.

"Actually our men are also waiting to celebrate this occasion, can I let them in as well?"

Kurena's eyes sparkled as she watched the soldiers leave the room, and Muhan asked if they could eat with them as well.

At the same time, more soldiers came, eagerly carrying tables and plates into the room.

They were clearly preparing for some sort of banquet.

Muhan's first action had been to thank Kurena and Kiel, but everyone there had already been planning a banquet.

"Sure, I don't mind eating together with you."

"Of course! We can all eat now!!"

It made sense, Kiel thought, they were going to celebrate successfully warding off the attack regardless of Kurena's hungry stomach.

But at least they were officially invited to join now.

As the tables were set, the two were invited to sit on the seats of honor.

After that the soldiers who had fought the most were finally let into the room.

"Oh, you were right. That's a Sword Saint. Her sword is huge too. D-do you think she'll talk to me?"

"Are you stupid!"

"I wonder if I could challenge her, or at least have a training match."

"Shut up already! I'll kick you out if you don't stop!!"

There were quite a few soldiers that had muscles for brains.

One in particular was obsessed with the idea of challenging Kurena to a duel, trying to insist on it to his superior.

If the duel happened and he managed to land a blow on her, he would become a legend amongst his peers.

Coupled with the successful defense of the fortification, he seemed to be in a good mood.

But the superior had seen Kurena's [Supreme Sword] Skill countless times that day, so he desperately held him back.

Seeing Kurena tirelessly swing her sword, they had mistaken her for a Sword Saint.

Sword Kings were seldom born, and the existence of a Sword Emperor was considered a miracle even amongst heroes.

Kiel recognized a few of them who had moved exceptionally well.

His method of fighting was always to analyze the movements of others, so every so often someone would leave a strong impression on him.

Muhan sat across from them, and made a brief victory speech.

It could have been longer, but he noticed Kurena salivating like a dog told to sit and wait in front of a hunk of meat.

Next he introduced Kurena and Kiel, and the banquet began.

A lot of things had happened, some better than others, but Kurena was thankful to her stomach's rumbling that things ended this way.

The initial frightful look on Muhan was also gone now.

No one could remain afraid after seeing Kurena stuffing her cheeks with roasted meat like her life depended on it.

"Either way, thank you, seriously. The army wasn't going to make it on time, so we thought we were goners for sure."

Muhan was still for a moment after saying that, remembering his experience being grabbed by the giant monkey monster.

He could not speak, recalling that.

"The army? So you really were just a small group here?"

The fortification could easily house ten thousand soldiers.

Maybe twice that if they pushed it a bit, but from what Kiel saw while flying around, there were only a few thousand soldiers.

"Yeah, the entire army is scheduled to gather here in two days, so you coming here really feels like a miracle."

The conversation slowly became about Carvaluna.

"To be honest, it's no coincidence we got here."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well, we're actually following a streak of light high in the sky. There's something we'd like to verify with you as well."

Kiel began to explain exactly what had happened there, and how to respond to it.