Although the fire was intense, it still could not burn down the barricades within a few seconds. This didn't make much difference to the guards on the other side, though.
Screams broke out all around. Some had their eyes burned up, others had their lungs and gullets scorched because they inhaled the flames. In the end, all of them fell like flies. The only guards to survive were the ones at the sides, because the ones in the center were no longer breathing after being consumed by the flame.
"W-we're doomed!"
The words nobody wanted to say escaped from Bona's mouth. His movements thereafter were remarkably fast, as he threw down his spear and discarded his helmet, all to let him flee faster.
The remaining guards were stunned. They had considered retreating, of course, but none of them had embraced the idea as completely as him.
Bona ran away with a speed that was hard for human beings to describe. The surviving guards looked on slack-jawed as Bona's back faded into the distance.
However, his flight was abruptly halted by a demon falling out of the sky.
The swollen-bodied demon flew without wings, and landed squarely on Bona's back, making a croaking noise as it did. Bona cried out in pain. Though it could have killed him easily, the demon did not do so. However, in light of what it did afterward, it was definitely not out of mercy.
The demon opened its mouth and swallowed Bona whole. Its distended belly hardly changed even as it ingested him— no, there was a new swelling, with a human face on it.
Though it was hard to tell, it looked like it belonged to Bona.
Even though the sound of the barricade being torn down reached their ears, the guards did not move. So much for being an obstacle; against demons, it was little more than a pile of matchsticks.
The demons who broke through the barricade encircled the guards. A strangled cry came up from them, for they knew they would certainly die here.
It was answered by the laughter of the demons, mocking the guards' foolishness.
One of the guards looked to the sky, praying for his god to save him.
What answered him was something else entirely.
He saw a group of strange-looking people flying through the air. Two of them were supporting a third, who was wearing jet-black plate armor. He was wrapped in a crimson cape and carrying a gigantic sword in each hand.
"Throw me."
Though they seemed far away, the voice carried clearly over the distance.
The two flying supporters released their grip. The dark warrior picked up speed, as though he had been pushed forward by some force from behind, tracing a trajectory downward that ended in the middle of the road. He skidded across the ground as though there were no friction, only managing to brake after chopping off the head of a hellhound in passing.
Both sides paused to watch this outrageously dramatic entry. The silence was deafening.
"I am the adventurer Momon. Fall back. I'll take over."
At first, the soldiers were unable to comprehend what the warrior of darkness had just said to them. Then, the howls of several hellhounds brought them back to reality. He was the savior that they needed.
"Hellhounds… that's all of them? Even twice the number wouldn't be enough!"
The hellhounds sprang at the dark warrior Momon from all sides. In seconds they had enveloped him, forming a cordon from which there was no escape.
Even if one tried to parry them with a sword, he would be torn apart by the surrounding hellhounds. Even if one tried to kill the attackers directly, he would still be mauled to death by the rest of the beasts. Being hit by a leaping hound's charge would break one's balance and leave him unable to defend against the attacks that would follow.
This was a brutal strategy that leveraged on superior numbers to win.
The anguish on the face of the guards was only natural, but none of them knew what true power was.
The gigantic swords slashed and killed, displacing air in their wake.
Everyone present was speechless.
That was a single attack. A normal person would only have been able to bring one hound down at most. However, just as the sword-wielder was no mere human, that stroke was not something a mere human could do. That single blow cleaved through four of the seemingly invincible hellhounds that the guards had no hope of defeating. Momon turned with the momentum of his swing, though he had slightly lost his balance because he had used all his strength. There were still other hellhounds left, and now it seemed impossible for him to avoid their attacks.
Even though he wore a suit of sturdy plate armor, the hellhounds had sharp teeth, and claws that could rend steel. And there would be no way to survive unscathed after being attacked by that many hellhounds.
In the guards' eyes, they imagined their would-be savior taking countless wounds before them.
However, that was far too presumptuous.
Momon did not try to force himself back into balance, but turned with the momentum. The crimson cape fluttered, like a cyclone of fire. With graceful steps that almost looked like dancing, Momon stepped lightly upon the ground, while his swords spun in a horizontal sweep from left to right, roaring as they went.
The remaining hellhounds were cut apart, their bodies flung far into the distance by the power of his swings. Any hellhounds who could still move were long gone.
"Just… just two hits?"
The murmuring from one guard represented the words in their hearts. Or rather, after seeing the majesty of this display, they had nothing else to say.
"Next up… Devourers and Gazer Devils, huh. How boring."
After muttering to himself, Momon strode over to the demons. There was no caution or wariness in his footsteps, as though he were walking through a park. Normally, the guards would have called out to him to stop, but after seeing his prowess, nobody could even think of doing that.
The only thing mere mortals could do was watch the back of a great warrior as he went to work.
Unable to bear the encroaching pressure that came from the man approaching him so casually, the red-eyed demon roared and leapt at him.
One flash.
The dismembered parts of the corpse flew in all directions.
Momon had not broken his stride for even a single second. He continued walking, as though the red-eyed demon had never existed, with an ease like he was alone in the wilderness.
"…Incredible…"
As though reacting to the guards' words, the Devourer opened its maw. It was like the jaws of those snakes which could open up and swallow their prey whole. In its depths, one could see the flickers of fires within. The tormented expressions intensified on the faces pressed out from the inside of its body, and theirs were the screams of souls condemned to a fate worse than death.
The Devourer could consume the souls of its victims to produce a wail that would terrify and kill any living creature.
However, before that, Bona and the Devourer's head were both chopped off.
The thrown sword fell on their heads and lodged deeply into the earth.
"There's no problem if you kill it before it can wail."
With that, Momon walked over and wrenched his sword out of the corpse.
In just over ten seconds, he had exterminated the demons the guards thought were impossible to beat.
The guards cried out. It was the joyous sound of men who had been granted a miraculous reprieve from death.
Though bathed in praise, Momon took no notice of it and instead spoke calmly to the guards.
"…After this, I will be moving to lead the adventurers' counterattack. You fellows need to hold the line for just a little longer. Well, I guess since I've already taken these guys out, the next wave won’t be coming so soon. Nabe, Evileye, you can come get me now."