Chapter 250: Ignition, Closed Path

Together with a few Leopardkin soldiers, we headed for the left flank.

And on the way to the place where the messenger said he saw “that”……

[Ahh…..]

The messenger stopped in his tracks.

[ ! ]

Seeing what was in the distance, the female Leopardkin beside me gasped.

Covering her own mouth with both hands, she stopped in her tracks.

The gasp she took in———— wasn’t able to make out of her mouth because of the shock she must be feeling now.

[Ahh…… No———- Eh, ahh….. What is that……]

[N- No way…… Don’t tell me……]

[Leopard King-sama…… That is… That is———— What is that……]

Flies……

……Bzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzz……

buzzing…..

……Bzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzz……

around.

[————……………..—————]

Effective.

This sure is effective.

Yes, it’s effective.

Seriously.

…………………..

Whether it’s fear…

Or anger…

If fear can make us lose our will to fight, that’s good for them.

If anger can make us lose our composure——— that’s good for them too.

Either of the results is fine for them.

Well, I see.

That’s right.

This is possible.

They can certainly do this.

As long as they’re willing to do this……

As long as they can make this possible……

As long as they’re aiming for such results……

And so, they did this.

They would go this far huh.

They would even do something like this……

[NIKO-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—————–!]

[……Quick.]

[ ! ]

I turned towards the soldier who’s in charge of emergency treatment.

Then, I held out my hand towards him.

[Scissors.]

[Y- Yes……]

[Everyone!]

Snapping them out of their trance, I called out to them.

[Quickly cut them loose!]

They were walking in groups of dozens or so.

The Dragon Light Army.

Leading their group, Niko, had a board hanging from her neck by a string.

It was as if———– it was a message board.

Her hands were tied, and her feet had weights chained in them.

They were dragging them along with them.

Some of them even had arrows stuck in their bodies.

Others even had daggers.

However———- what was even more horrible than those……

——–were those things that had been stitched on their bodies.

Hands……

Arms……

Tails———-

Perhaps……

Those body parts……

They were from dead Dragonewt soldiers.

Those body parts were dismembered from the corpses.

And those body parts, towards the survivors———–

To their arms……

To their legs……

Inside their mouth……

Somewhere on their body……

With thick threads———— or perhaps, with strings……

They were firmly stitched on their bodies.

Some have had their eyeballs gouged out……

Some of them even had their eyelids sewn, making them unable to close their eyes.

They were probably aiming for such a state.

That they would go towards the central flank, where Gio and the others were.

Snip!

Making sure that it would affect their wounds, we use our scissors to cut the strings loose.

As we cut them loose, I ascertained something.

[Pigimaru, any presence in the surroundings?]

[Piggiiii!]

It seems like Pigimaru doesn’t sense anyone nearby.

If that’s the case, the enemy probably isn’t nearby.

“Distract them with Niko and the others, and then attack us when an opening appears”

It seemed like———- there was no need for me to worry about that for the moment.

[Pii…… Piigiiiiiiiiiiiii……………]

Pigimaru was shaking with anger.

As they cut them loose from the strings, some of the Leopardkin soldiers were sobbing.

There were some who were vomiting to the side.

Kachin!

[———-Bel… ze… gia…]

Niko had been “biting” on the tail of one of her kin’s tails.

It was like it was used as a mouth gag.

Now, that tail had just been cut loose from her mouth.

With a situation like this, I don’t care whatever name she calls me with.

[What happened?]

[We went after it.]

Kachin!

[The Divine Beast?]

[Some of the Dragon Light Army said “If we can just catch him, we can end this war”…… Ignoring when I stopped them, they went after the Divine Beast. I just couldn’t let them go through with their decisions alone. And thus, this result…… is because of my negligence in failing to ensure that your prior warning was followed…… There shouldn’t have been any reason for us to chase after them.]

Kachin!

She couldn’t abandon them huh.

Looking at her closely, Niko was trembling.

Fear seems to have taken over her body and consciousness.

However, she firmly tried to convey all the information she acquired.

[Fly King…… Can you please not condemn them? They just didn’t want…… for more deaths to occur anymore. They just wanted everything to end here……! That’s also why, I had also——— been part of this too——— ……After all… after all­———–]

From the clear, unclouded eyes of her dragonic eyes.

Tears began spilling out……

Four Warlights Kokoroniko Doran.

The way she spoke was that of a warrior.

She has an