"...Uh, uh? Why doesn't it get hit? Why doesn't it get hit!"
"It keeps coming even when hit! Wh-what, what is that! What is it!"
"It's Satan's chariot! Satan's chariot, I tell you!"
And as ti passed, they began to scatter in panic. Those who were standing on the fortress walls soon jumped inside and fled in a hurry.
It's a very obvious story, but whether it's a horse or a person, when there's a possibility of collision with the opponent, they normally slow down and change direction.
But that monster, that steel monster was different.
'That thing' ran straight toward the fortress.
And it accelerated even faster. Now its speed had beco so fast that it couldn't even be compared to a horse.
That unidentified object, which looked heavy just by looking at it, was rushing as if it would devour the wooden stockade that had been cut and erected from nearby inland trees, in lieu of rocks which couldn't be found.
The conclusion was clear, and.
That conclusion would co within seconds.
"R-run..."
BOOM!
The stockade was torn to shreds. The narrow moat dug in front of it was equally useless.
As if sothing had exploded, wood fragnts flew in all directions, and people trembled, frightened, curled up, and covering their heads.
So.
The Spaniards, who were montarily frightened, soon realized what had just happened. Cold sweat ran down their backs.
One side of the fortress had collapsed.
They had lost one absolute advantage of the defender.
In other words.
"Uwaaaah! Virginiaaaa!"
"For the Naless One!"
From the attacker's perspective, it was the optimal mont to start the battle.
"E-everyone, grab your guns! I said grab your guns!"
The Spaniards, finally coming to their senses, hurriedly picked up the spears, knives, and guns they had abandoned and got to their feet.
Similarly, hundreds of Englishn and natives rushing madly from afar also loaded their muskets and crossbows while shouting slogans.
"Long live Felipe! Long live Habsburg!"
"In-in the na of the Lord! So that we may sweep away th-those pagans, heretics...!"
The Spaniards didn't back down either.
They were battle-hardened soldiers of the New World. Though they had montarily panicked, they quickly recovered, loading bullets with trembling hands and lighting fuses with flints.
Muskets spewed fire from outside the range. No one was hurt. Thus, hundreds of people, about 1 kiloter apart, were preparing to kill each other.
Step.
And.
At the small sound that was heard, all the Spaniards turned their heads in astonishnt.
From inside the 'monster' that had torn through the fortress wall and was embedded there, scattering sand and soil everywhere...
Soone carefully walked out.
A man erged from the distorted innards of the monster.
He looked surprisingly fine, as if it was hard to believe he had been riding inside that monster.
==
Lucas Pastor barely controlled his trembling body as he picked up his hat that had fallen to the ground. He instinctively took his eyes off the Englishn rushing beyond that collapsed wall.
Instead, he turned his head toward where acrid smoke and a piercing sll rose.
And he raised his spear tip toward him.
Imagine a wooden building standing perfectly intact in the middle of a city on fire.
Recall a precarious stone tower that is the only one not collapsed in a world hit by an earthquake.
Look at wool that sits alone, not wet, when all the land is raining and soaked with water.
As a human being, one feels two emotions in such unnaturalness.
Lucas felt one of them.
Bizarreness.
A person with three eyes, a deer with ten horns, a dog wagging a snake-like tail.
And a person who is still uninjured and intact despite hitting the fortress with all his might.
Beings that make people shudder just by imagining them, making them realize sothing is wrong.
Such beings are not usually seen in ordinary people's daily lives. They only appear briefly in a midsumr night's nightmare or fleeting fantasy before scattering.
That's why Lucas unconsciously blinked. As if the being his spear tip was pointing at might scatter like a daydream.
But it wasn't so.
He was smiling at him. Even that seemingly warm smile made his skin crawl.
A being fundantally different from stands there, taking a form similar to mine.
Fearful.
Being overwheld.
I beco small before him.
I beco insignificant before him.
Before him, I, I...
He could feel that such emotions were being shared not just by him but by everyone else. He felt it so intensely that his skin stung.
And the sense of duty felt there barely raised his body and opened his eyes.
...A sense of duty to kill.
A sense of duty to kill the being in front of him, to kill that being absolutely different from himself, to banish it from this world.
"Ugh, uuugh..."
But his trembling hands wouldn't budge. No matter how endlessly he cursed inside, how endlessly he swallowed tears, and how much strength he put into his hands, they only trembled and wouldn't move an inch.
Toward him, the man walked.
Step.
"D-don't..."
Step.
"Don't... co..."
Step.
And the man smiles.
Finally, fear devoured all reason and will, bringing him to his knees. All of Lucas's struggles, all his shouts, all his screams were consud by his sobbing.
Hundreds of people surrounded him. Yet none of them moved to save or help him.
Everyone was frozen with the world.
From far away, the sound of Englishn and natives walking could be heard. The man gestured toward them to stop.
Behind his back, the sll of terrible things burning still crept up. Distorted tals shriveled like the skin of a dead demon.
"...You fear that."
Tienes miedo de eso... You're afrai...
Vaguely, strange sounds were heard, but his hearing seed paralyzed and wasn't working properly. His whole body was trembling.
And, as he snapped his fingers.
Swish.
Behind him, that tal monster lted away.
That bizarrely distorted monster, that tal object that had been emitting smoke...
Slowly...
What couldn't lt was lting.
Like a pile of snow in the sun quietly vaporizing and disappearing.
Just, like that, it was disappearing.
After everything disappeared, only the mark of blackened ashes remained.
"Wh-who... what on earth... are you..."
Lucas squeezed out the words, and.
The man answered briefly.
"Fear not."
Only then did his ears open.
No temáis.
Não temais.
Nolite tire.
Fear thou not.
Ne craignez point.
...
...
...
Thus, that phrase repeated over hundreds of tis in holy scriptures.
That command echoing endlessly from an angel's tongue.
That command ca to him as it ca to Hagar, to Mary, to Joseph, to Zechariah.
Lucas could not obey that command.
He was afraid.
Reviews
All reviews (0)