Chapter 35 Part 1 – The Royal Guards rush in with a battle cry while Solomon, one of the five heroes, begins moving in the darkness.

Captain Matzo’s voice roars,

「Arrows!」

All the arrows flew towards Gallam, the prowling demon dog.

As expected, all of the arrows flew at once directly at Gallam…and they all bounced to the ground.

Second and third waves of arrows flew in rapid succession and the results were the same.

The archers couldn’t believe their eyes.

It was no use…the dog’s hide was so strong it was untouched.

A hundred shots would have done no damage to Gallam.

The dog slouched on as if the arrows were simply rain, straight ahead.

「The dog is aiming for my child! I’ll be fine, so move to protect her!」

Mother shouted, shooting an arrow directly at the dog’s eyes.

As expected, the dog shook his head and knocked down the arrow with his jaw.

「Eyes! Focus on the dog’s eyes! Support the Duchess!」

And so the guards also shot all their arrows at the dog’s face.

「Bow tech, snake slither!」

Mother’s divine attack, an unavoidable shot of six arrows, flashed through the air.

The Royal Guard roared in admiration, but Gallam breathed deep and roared back with a bellow that shook the ground.

All the arrows shot by mother and the guards, flew in waves to their target, but were hit by the shock of the air and jolted as they flew. Many of them hit, but none could penetrate the dog’s hide and simply bounced off.

「No! The arrows were knocked off course! No matter how close you shoot, with a shock like that, they won’t penetrate!」
What?! A sound defense barrier?

My mother moaned at missing her shot at Gallam, as the dog appeared more and more monstrous, while the veteran Royal Guards of Hydrangea shouted in astonishment.

Even so, the attack seemed to annoy the dog considerably.

When the dog roared, you could see his muscles and bones creak from the stress.

「Son of a bitch! You can’t mock us! You haven’t seen our fangs yet either! Spears! Get ready! Prepare the secret attack!」

The knights and horses screamed at rushed in as if to drown out the anxiousness we all felt.

Gold rivets and embroidery shimmered on red and blue torsos. The decorations of the horses flapped as they galloped.

Matzo’s loud voice sounded out, even over the sound of the horses and men,

「Pierce him! With our fangs!」

「「「Yeaaaahh!」」」

The knights screamed in a mass in return as the earth shook again.

Their spears all lowered diagonally as they rushed forwards.

I swallowed in fear.

I knew that Matzo was going to order a spear attack that would ordinarily send an infantry running.

The vision of them mowing down an army can only be understood by someone that’s seen the phenomenon before.

Almost like a giant wielding a spear flying forward to peirce his enemy… and with a horse’s strength and speed added, that’s what it looked like.

When it was done on a battlefield, the enemy scatters, the infantry then fills in the gaps and overruns the enemy troops…that’s battlefield strategy.

Even if you gird yourself in the strongest armor and think yourself safe, the crush of the horses will lock you in your destroyed armor and your bones will be broken…that’s how powerful the horses were.

「Pierce the beast with one spear after another, the beast that killed our three revered warriors! Let him know what valuable men he has stolen from us!」

And the men were encouraged by Matzo’s words.

They all had lance rests, simply rings that were snapped into the base of the saddle that jutted out diagonally to the right of the knight. They simply lifted the spear horizontally to attack.

「Stab through! To avenge the death of your friends! Pierce his flesh! Show him the revenge of the Guard!」

And so Gallam moved slowly to avoid the attack of the three horse groups that rushed together in formation at him.

「Even if the arrow doesn’t strike, I can stop his movement! Watch for the sign! Snake slither!」

My mother had detected something in Gallam’s behavior and shot a group of six arrows.

The archers behind her shot theirs as well.

The arrows flew over the knights towards Gallam’s face…the dog again took a deep breath to avoid the arrows.

「Now! Spears! He can’t move while he roars!」

「Understood!」「Okay!」

The lead group accelerated in and followed the words of my mother.

The roar again knocked the arrows from their paths, but there was no power left to stop the rush of the cavalry.

The speed and the weight of the horse broke through the dog’s roar and three spears pierced the demon dog Gallam.

The skill of the cavalry could be seen by their speed of attack directly after the arrows…the closer they charged in, the better their attack was.

It was the finest spear warriors that hit the dog first.

The spear was attached to the lance rest, allowing the man and horse to attack as one while not shaking the movements of them together. Two of the three spears hit the dog’s body and there was a terrible noise, sparks scattering from the contact point between the sheet metal near the dog’s ear. The other spear hit the dog’s neck. The dog was not penetrated, but there was a shock that rattled his body and made him shudder.

Behind the first attack on the shaken dog was three more horses barreling in.

And three more spears hit the beleaguered dog.

The dog again was jolted, while three more knights attack…starting an endless revolution of attacks.

Each group of three poured in like equine lightning at the dog, then scattering in all directions for the next push.

It was such a fast onslaught that I feared they might collide with each other, especially at night, but they were so courageous and skilled, they had no problem.

The huge frame of the dog bounced in the air after each group attack…that group then retreating, looking for another charge to charge in.

Sparks scatter as every new group collided.

The dog became something like a billiard ball knocked around the garden by countless cues.

This was the mass spear attack that I had seen many times at court balls and demonstrations.

And it can be used in actual battle…

「This is the Hydrangean Royal Guard’s special attack! The TRIDENT!」

Matzo said, proudly.

Ah, the three pronged spear…the Trident.

Or more like three spears hitting at once…it sounds cool!

「Trident! Spiral Hell Attack!」

I was shocked.

The first and second names are completely different.

Almost like some old professional wrestling name I heard before.

「Once this technique starts until the end, the enemy will beg to be buried in the ground! But it will get hit over and over by the power of our horses! The dog can feel its power in his bones! Even if an enemy can take one attack, it can’t move to avoid the next. And then it gets hit again and again until it’s crushed!」

Matzo said, proudly puffing out his chest.

When a boar gores and lifts a hunting dog, it may survive to die at the end of the hunt. Even though the outside of the body looked safe, the shock damages bones and internal organs. The impact itself spreads through the body, rupturing things inside.

This Trident Spiral Hell Attack whatever had a similar effect.

It was a terrible technique…and was terribly named, too, I guess.

Gallam tried to twist himself to avoid the attack of the spears as well, but the shock of being hit made him slow, and he was hit relentlessly over and over.

It was like a shark that twisted and jumped from the water to dislodge a hook, just to be hit by men throwing harpoons from all directions.

「Whoa! This Royal Guard is strong! I’ve never seen such strong men outside the Lawless Crew! He’s getting weaker! We’re going to win!」

Bradd said excitedly as he clenched his fist.

「Not just that, but that dog probably inhaled the heat and it tore through his lungs. When he roared he lost all of his oxygen and his body couldn’t cope. No freedom to move. He can’t move like he wants to, but a beast like that probably feels no pain…but it will still feel our vengeance.」

Captain Matzo calmly said.

「The Duchess and you have robbed him of his power…don’t think we’ll take credit for it.」

And that’s the other scary part of the Royal Guard.

Even though they are the strongest men…they never allow their power to go to their head.

「And you, little hero…did you say you’re one of the Lawless Crew?」

Bradd clamped his mouth shut and mother was about to say something, but Matzo just laughed and shook his head.

「If you want to keep your identity secret, I won’t say anymore. We respect other warriors, and we would never hurt anything we respect.」

Meanwhile, the relentless assault continued and the demon dog was tossed around like a rag.

His limbs, before moving so violently, were now sluggish and the vitality had disappeared…the dog looked like just a lump of hide.

His tongue lolled out of his mouth and shook every time a spear pierced him…he couldn’t breathe properly.

But the spearmen did not allow the dog one second of rest.

The dog attempted to drop and rest himself while the spearman bounced him in the air again and again…the death of the dog was only a matter of time.

「You were stuck when that trident formation came at you, son of a bitch…You’re done for. But don’t stop until you’re sure he’s dead. And just in case, please, Duchess and you others, stand behind the tree trunk, and behind me.」

Matzo said, urging all of us who were behind him.

「…is there some connection you have to that dog?」

Matzo asked Mary, whose eyes were swollen from all the crying she had done.

「…that dog…killed my…son…」

A tear ran down her cheek, and Captain Matzo took a breath.

「I’m sorry…did I open old wounds? I apologize…if you’d like you can hit me in the back.」

And so, with his back to us, he apologized to us.

「…uh…okay…」

「Come on! I don’t have all day!」

Matzo said as he backed up to her.

「Here!」

Mary, who was holding me with both hands, headbutted his back instead of punching him.

Matzo shook a bit more than I expected from her daring blow.

「…that was a good hit! And I hope that will relieve you from bringing up such sadness!」

Then there was a terrible sound.

His helmet flew off as blood flew from his cheek.

He had punched himself as well.

Then he grinned as he wiped his blood from his cheek.

「I promised to multiply that pain a million times when I hit that demon dog. Even your son in heaven will hear the strike! I know he was a cute one, like you. Please forgive me for my rudeness.」

He said in a deep, gentle voice, while Mary raised her face and pressed her forehead against his back again.

「…yes…! Please! Good luck!」

When I lived my previous 108 lives, that was the back, stronger than a rock, that protected me.

「Good! I will do as you wish! My name is Matzo Jedit Noel Valentine, the Captain of the Royal Guard! I will crush that demon with this fist so you will smile again! Guys, sorry to come late into the fray, but I’ll add myself to the fight!」

Then his muscles swelled to their limit.

Wait, are you going to jump into the middle of those horses to punch the dog?

And as the battle continued, I heard an owl hoot in the distance somewhere, as if it was reporting to someone.

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