It was morning when the people of Caelhart heard the sound of a roar that made the ground tremble.

If it were any other kingdom, they might have panicked, but this was Norvaegard. The sound of a monster could be heard every now and then.

Still, based on how the ground trembled, the monster must be close. The normal people of Norvaegard quickly headed to the designated areas created in case of war or monster attacks.

The reaction was fast and orderly. Shopkeepers abandoned their stalls without wasting time. The guards helped guide the elderly and children. Carriage drivers pulled aside to clear the streets.

A few mages from each tower and the royal knights were looking for the source of the sound. As they were looking around, suddenly several dozen monsters appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

Several dozen ogres appeared, and unlike their usual brown skin, these ogres were red and were twice as large as regular ogres. Each one of them was wielding a giant mace.

For a brief moment, even the royal knights and the mages froze.

Monsters appearing this deep inside the capital without any warning was already impossible enough, but ogres of that size and color appearing, this was looking more and more like something deliberately done by someone.

The Iron Wolves unit came equipped with the newly developed rifles. The royal knights charged in while the Iron Wolves and mages provided support.

The clash began at once. The royal knights met the red ogres head-on, aura flaring around their bodies as steel and monster flesh collided in the middle of Caelhart’s streets.

Their swords bit into the ogres, yet unlike normal ogres, these ones did not fall so easily. Their red flesh was tougher, their muscles denser, and every blow of their giant maces carried enough force to break through even a royal knight’s aura mantle.

Behind the front line, the Iron Wolves knelt and fired in practiced volleys.

The newly developed rifles barked one after another, their shots punching into the ogres’ shoulders, throats, and eyes. Some of the monsters staggered, while others roared and kept charging despite the bullets lodged in their bodies.

At the same time, the mages from the various towers began casting. Fireballs, stone spears, and wind blades flew through the air in quick succession.

Explosions rang out between the buildings. One red ogre had half its head blown apart by a spell from a Red Tower mage, yet even then its body continued forward for several more steps before finally collapsing.

It was then that they noticed that the ogres that didn’t die from the wounds they had were healing faster than normal.

Cuts that should have slowed them were closing before the knights’ eyes. Bullets lodged in their flesh were being forced out by swelling muscle. Even burns left by magic began to knit over with unnatural speed.

"Do not let them recover. Destroy the head or the heart," one of the royal knights shouted at once.

Hearing that order, the royal knights changed the way they fought. Instead of trading blows directly with the monsters, they began to move with greater caution, aiming for cleaner and more decisive kills.

The Iron Wolves also shifted their aim higher, their next volley going not for shoulders and chests, but for the eyes, throats, and skulls of the charging red ogres.

The mages quickly adjusted as well. The first exchange had already told them that ordinary spells would not be enough.

The ogres’ flesh was too resilient, and whatever abnormality had changed them was allowing them to push through pain that should have put them down.

It was at that very moment that the ground started shaking, and a nearby house was destroyed. The house did not simply collapse; it exploded

Stone, timber, and glass burst outward in every direction as though something inside had forced its way free with overwhelming violence.

The shockwave alone sent dust rolling across the street and made several nearby horses rear up in panic. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Within the wreckage, a hideous monster appeared. For a brief instant, the battle in that part of the street seemed to pause.

Even the red ogres, who had been roaring and smashing their maces into stone and steel, looked almost small compared to the thing that had stepped out from the collapsing house.

It rose from the wreckage with terrifying slowness, one heavy step at a time, its massive weapons dragging across the ground and leaving deep grooves in the stone road. Then it lifted its lion head and roared.

The killing intent the new monster emitted made even the raging red ogres halt their movements for a second.

The Royal knights, the Iron Wolves, and the Tower Mages instantly knew that the monster was the most dangerous, but with their current numbers, they wouldn’t be able to deal with the ogres and that huge monster.

Most of the Iron Wolves were out on the field killing monsters, and during an emergency like this, with possible unknown enemies around, the Tower Masters and the more powerful knights would be protecting the royal family.

It was then that they noticed someone was still out in the street. Amid the chaos, with guards shouting orders, mages chanting spells, and the red ogres smashing through stone and steel, one civilian had not made it to safety in time.

She had likely been trying to flee when the first house exploded. Now she was lying on the stone road near an overturned carriage, one of her legs pinned beneath a broken wheel.

Her hands clawed helplessly at the wood as panic filled her face. Dyr’s snake head was the first to lock onto her, its slit pupils narrowed. The ram’s head was shaking, and the lion’s head lowered slightly, and the monster’s entire body shifted in her direction.

One of the royal knights noticed at once. "Damn it!" he shouted.

He tried to move, but two red ogres were in front of him, their maces crashing down in wild swings that forced him back.

A mage from the Green Tower turned and began casting, trying to send a thorny spear toward Dyr, but before the spell could be completed, one of the red ogres smashed a nearby wall apart and hurled a chunk of stone at the mages’ position. The spell broke apart, and the mages in that position were forced to scatter.

The Iron Wolves also saw the woman in danger. Three riflemen tried to target Dyr, but the red ogres charging their line made that impossible.

If they took their eyes off the red ogres even for a second, the front would collapse, and the red ogres would break through into the district behind them, where the civilians were hiding.

It was then that they made a decision to sacrifice the woman for the safety of the majority. They didn’t like it, but what other choice do they have?

Dyr finally made a move. The cleaver in one hand rose slowly at first, but once it reached shoulder height, the motion became terrifyingly fast.

The snake head hissed, its neck stretching toward the trapped woman, while the ram head shook violently as if eager to crush her the moment the first blow landed.

The woman’s face went pale as she saw the monster approaching her fast. Her hands clawed uselessly at the broken wheel, pinning her leg, but the carriage would not move. She tried her best, wanting to even tear her leg from her body.

The royal knight who was nearest wanted to save the lady, but the red ogres in front of him made it difficult.

As the cleaver of the monster went down, the woman closed her eyes, awaiting death, it was then she felt a warm embrace. Was this perhaps Lady Velmira’s embrace, she thought, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a handsome young man carrying her.

Alexander had arrived on time and was able to redirect the falling cleaver and carry away the lady who was pinned to the ground.

Of course, she did not come alone. The sound of more powerful gunfire echoed through the streets as they bombarded the red ogres. Lucen and his Thornefang, alongside Lysette and her people, had arrived on the battlefield.

"Are you alright?" Alexander asked the lady, as Cael, Nina, Ryan, and Mina engaged Dyr.

The woman could not answer immediately. She was still staring at Alexander in a daze, as if her mind had not yet caught up to the fact that she was still alive.

Alexander quickly carried her away from the immediate path of Dyr and set her down behind a broken section of stone wall where two city guards were helping move the civilians.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

The woman trembled, then gave a weak nod. "Y-Yes."

"Good. Then follow them to safety."

The woman stared at him for one brief moment longer, then nodded again. Before she could even thank him, Alexander had already turned around.

Lucen was dealing with the red ogres with relative ease. As long as you blow up their heads, they will no longer be able to heal. As for piercing their heart well, as long as there’s a chance, the red ogres were able to heal from even that.

"Hey, Leader. Are you not going to help those kids?" Harlik, who had fired another round at a nearby red ogre, asked.

"No, that’s their battle to deal with," Lucen answered as he threw an iron sphere at a charging red ogre.

"Then, how about the mastermind of this incident? Are you going to let him escape?" Harlik asked another question.

"We’ve known each other for a long time now, Harlik. Do you really think I would let someone like that escape from my grasp? I already sent Robert to capture the rat."

"Heh... I guess that was a foolish question." Harlik showed a small smile as he spoke.

Lucen, who had just used his trench gun and pulled the trigger in the open mouth of an ogre, blowing its head to bits, looked at Alexander’s group.

’Now let me see, how a hero faces such a beast.’