Skeleton Knight, in Another World Volume 5 Chapter 22

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Tajiento’s Collapse」Part 1

I sighed as I looked over the city of Tajiento from a building’s roof.

“Just where did Chiome-dono go? …… I have no idea.”

I occasionally used 【Dimensional Step】to investigate the nearby area while muttering complaints. I also took note of the multiple fires springing up all over the city.

Whenever I found one of the armored undead, I would attack them from the rooftop with magic, all the while wondering just how many of them there were. I’ve must’ve crushed more than a hundred of them by now.

I also killed another giant along the way.

While it was more difficult without any allies, victory was easy to obtain once I had an opening to use 【Sword of Judgement】.

The effort was minimal, but the effects were optimal.

While I was thinking about things like that, Ponta suddenly started to bark.

“Kyun!”

“Hmm, what is it, Ponta?”

I looked around as I asked that question and found another giant.

Since I had a good view from the rooftops I could easily locate giants.

However, the situation on the ground was unknown for the most part.

Since most of the buildings in Tajiento were three stories tall, the six-meter tall giants couldn’t hide in the buildings’ shadow, but with my line of sight being reduced to one city block it was difficult to tell what was going on.

There were situations where a roof had been destroyed, impeding my progress. Other times the roof would collapse under the weight of my armor and I would land in an attic.

I went totally silent as I observed the giant, and began to think running along rooftops in full-body armor wasn’t the best idea.

With that thought in mind, I concentrated on the giant’s exposed back.

“【Dimensional Step】!”

I covered about three-hundred meters to get within range of the giant’s back and launched a preemptive attack.

“【Sword of Judgement】!!”

A sword of light appeared from beneath the giant’s feet, impaling straight through its backside until the tip could be seen through its mouth.

When the sword of light shattered, the giant’s body tilted forward and fell off the roof to the streets below.

But I could tell from here that it was still breathing a little. What vitality.

However, my worries were for naught since a group of armored undead arrived to deliver the killing blow.

“……I have no idea what these guys’ objective is.”

Initially, these armored skeletons had been attacking the soldiers and citizens of Tajiento.

My first impression had been that they were attacking Tajiento, using the commotion caused by the black giants that Chiome’s friend Sasuke had lured to this place as a cover

There was the possibility that Sasuke himself had planned the assault on this city, but there was still the question of how he ended up becoming an undead after he disappeared.

The only thing I knew for sure was that he was Chiome’s former companion.

If someone had brought both the giants and the armored skeletons into this city, they shouldn’t have attacked each other.

There’s still the possibility that things didn’t go according to plan.

If you released both tigers and wolves to attack the same target, there was always a chance they would fight each other instead.

However, occasionally I would see a group of armored skeletons allow the citizens to pass by without attacking them.

Could they have been humans that were just wearing the same type of armor?

Still, I never hesitated at all to cast a spell against someone in armor whenever I saw them mercilessly cutting down humans or beastmen. Just what on earth is going on in this town?

After the armored skeletons had finished off the giant, they began searching for other prey.

I tore off a roof tile and dropped it in front of the group

The tile loudly shattered once it hit the stone street below. While it did catch their attention for a moment, they quickly continued moving down the street.

The way it looked like, there were no humans at all inside.

Although they reacted to the sound they didn’t stop to confirm where the sound came from.

“This is just getting more and more confusing……”

I had to but that thought on hold when I heard the roar of another giant.

The sun had nearly set and dusk had already set in.

When the giant roared again, the screams of humans followed after it.

Ponta began to shake her tail furiously on top my head when she heard the giant’s roar.

I turned my head in the direction Ponta was facing to locate the roar’s source.

What I saw was a major street leading toward the center of the town that housed a large estate.

A huge compound that held two buildings which soared into the sky. While the structure and sizes were a bit different, the building reminded me of one I seen in the Eastern Empire, Leibnitz.

That building build was probably the Hiruku church. The memory of when I used summoning magic near one of those was still fresh in my mind.

There were several giants walking along the street leading to the church.

Even though they were the size of a wheat grain from here, there were people running away from the giants on that street. I looked away from them and glanced up towards the sky.

Once night completely set in it would become much more difficult to use transfer magic here.

My original purpose was to take advantage of the chaos in this city to free the beastmen slaves, but this city would suffer untold amounts of damage if this many giants were left to their own devices.

No, the damage had already been done and was continuing to spread. From here, I could see seven giants making their way toward the church.

After letting out a large sigh I raised the 『Sword of Holy Thunder』 and grabbed the 『Holy Shield of Teutates』 with my left hand and tested its weight.

“Kyun!”

Sensing the upcoming battle, Ponta quickly moved from atop my head and wrapped herself around my neck. Her tail ended up blocking my right eye, so I made a quick adjustment.

“Let’s go…”

With one last sign, I invoked 【Dimensional Step】 and transferred to the roof of a building close to the church and took a look around.

The church was probably the largest building in the city and surpassed the churches on the Northern Continent in terms of beauty.

The most distinctive part of this church had to be the tall wall built around it.

I haven’t come across a walled off church in this world before. I remembered that churches were meant to have open and welcoming environments.

Well, this was a different world after all.

The church had probably been the designated evacuation site when the city was still being built.

The people that were chased by the giants rushed into the church’s gate as pandemonium broke out around them.

The black giants that ran after the people would catch the slower runners and dance around as they threw them into their chest mouths. I could hear the unpleasant chewing from here.

Just watching this scene made me feel ill.

Those that fled inside the church’s wall weren’t able to find the safe haven they’d been looking for.

One of the giants who had been chasing the people swung it’s stone club down on the church’s wall with all its might.

The screams were deafening.

The giant that collapsed the section of the wall began to trample the humans that had taken shelter there while laughing.

While I couldn’t see what was going on that far beyond the wall, the screams and curses that reached my ears conveyed a vivid image.

When I looked down at my right hand I realized that I’d started trembling at some point.

This gruesome spectacle was frightening me. How?

When I remembered what I had done to help that little boy and his mother, I stabbed my sword into the roof, took off my helmet and touched my face.

There wasn’t the usual coldness of hard bone there.

What I felt was definitely skin.

The effects of the hot spring’s water were still active.

The reason I was freezing up…… was because my sense of fear had been restored along with my body. By restoring my body I’d cast aside my ability to act.

I started to clench my fist a few times to steady my nerves.

No matter what high specs my body had, they were useless unless I had to will to use them. A self-mocking chuckle slipped from my lips.

“Kyun?”

Ponta uncoiled herself from my neck and gave me a worried look.

“…… It’s nothing, Ponta. This should be good experience. I’ve been training my heart should I ever come across an enemy in this state……”

I attempting to comfort Ponta and myself when I said, then hit the sides of my helmet after putting it back on.

“……Okay.”

Pulling the 『Sword of Holy Thunder』 out of the roof, I began to pick different skills and strategies to use in the upcoming battle.

I decided to attack the giant standing slightly apart from the others first.

The surprise attack was the basis of strategy after all.

…… Now that I thought about it, the first fight I took part in was the surprise attack I launched against a group of bandits.

While I had an abundance of abilities, I could only gradually acquired the experience necessary to use them.

I selected the spot behind the giant, raised my sword, and invoked my spell.

“【Dimensional step】!”

I transferred behind the giant, onto the roof of a nearby building, and tried to keep my sword steady enough to invoke a skill.

But before I could do anything, the loud voice of a male could be heard from the church.

『Hahhahahhaa!! You have the audacity to break in my house and destroy it?! 』

The voice resonated in the bottom of my stomach, creating a strong feeling of uneasiness.

Even though the voice itself sounded rather childish, it only added to the eerie feeling.

“I was already furious!! Everything will be shredded!!”

After the weird and childish voice had spread through the area like a wave, another section of the church’s walls was suddenly blown away.

The people that had been running around chaotically to escape the giants, were now focused on the huge shadow that approached from the other side of the wall.

What emerged from the cloud of dust was an ugly, misshapen mass that joyously laughed as it began slaughtering the giants one after another.