The trees swayed in a manner reminiscent to waves on a vast ocean, foretelling the coming of something terrifying, as purple mist lingered beneath the deep sky.
Lily could apparently hear the heartbeat and breathing sound of each individual samurai. It was as though the sound of the wind and all the other noises had been oppressed. The world had entered such a strangely quiet state.
Those happy-go-lucky samurai who were dancing near the bonfire earlier had already changed gears into ironhearted warriors. Their aura caused one to feel intimidated. The men who were raised in these dark times were completely undreamed of by the modern people who live in a time of peace!
They were fearless and not afraid of dying, even if they might become a threat to Lily because of Dijon’s order, she still couldn’t help but feel respect for them!
Being resolute and firm didn’t equate to strength. Their opponent this time was just too powerful. Apart from Dijon and Yagyuu Munesaki —the only two High-Tier Sword Saint in their group— everyone else knew their chance to return alive would be next to nothing if they were targeted by the Demon Hound. Even so, they still didn’t show any fear and fully intending to fight at the risk of their life!
Exactly because of that, Lily viewed these lower-class samurai in high regard. Regardless of one’s strength and innate skill, all lives were equal. Being strong or weak played no parts in one’s bravery!
Of course, be that as it may, Lily was not foolish enough to rush to the frontline to confront the big monster. Everyone had their own distinctive goal in this fight. This was a battle with the Hojo clan’s reputation on the line, it wasn’t her fight.
“Whoosh—!”
The vague silhouette of a silver shadow jumped out from the dark thicket a few dozen meters away. Instantly leaping across the night sky and lunging itself at the flank of the samurai camp.
“Here it comes!” shouted Dijon, who stood at the very center of the battle formation. However, by the time most of the people noticed the silver shadow, it was already too late.
“Crack—!” The inhuman sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones already could be heard when they finally got a clear picture of the demon.
“Ahhh—!” One of the samurai let out a blood-curdling screech. “Pfff—!” As the fuzzy silver shadow turned its head, the upper body of the samurai was torn apart and flew towards the night sky along with a trail of blood.
Lily was finally able to make out the figure of that demon at this time. That was an enormous white hound with bloody fangs. Its body length was well over eight meters, even the height was close to three meters!1
Not to mention a dog, this was several times bigger than any of the carnivorous animals Lily had ever seen!
‘So, this is the Superior High Ranked monster, the Demon Hound?’
Its nose was squinched up due to the tearing motion from earlier, frightening sharp fangs could be seen in between lips. The pupils in its amber-colored eyes contracted into vertical lines. While looking into the Demon Hound’s eye2 from afar, Lily could feel for very soul quivering in fear.
“Kill—!” Few of the nearby samurai raised their swords and frantically rushed at the Demon Hound!
The Demon Hound was still gnawing at the upper half of the already dead samurai. It suddenly turned around and sped in a straight line like a white tornado. Its white tail that was as thick as a tree trunk knocked down several samurai en route. Then it lowered its center of gravity before leaping into the air once more. This time, it landed in the middle of the samurai camp and took down two samurai with it.
“Crack—!” And yet another few unfortunate samurai received a fatal bite before being tossed into the sky.
“Pfff!” The nearby samurai struck the Demon Hound with their katanas and managed to wound it slightly, dying its white fur with a tinge of red.
When the Demon Hound took into the sky once more, Lily more or less noticed two terrible wounds on the Demon Hound, one at the flank, another at the side ribs. They hadn’t healed yet and every time it made a reckless motion, black blood would leak from the wounds. It seemed to be old wounds that got worsened over time. And precisely because of that, the Demon Hound was more vicious than ever. In all likelihood, it was suffering from intense pain just for engaging in battles!
After tearing apart a few samurai, the Demon Hound lifted its head to glower at Hojo Dijon. After all, when a monster reached this height, they’d already possessed wisdom on par with humans. It let out a bark with a smug face and jumped backward to hide in the forest just when numerous bows were aimed at it. It took on Dijon’s group by surprise, killed several of their elite samurai, and then retreated without a second thought!
Then at this time, a pack of Specter Wolves suddenly appeared and flanked the opposite side. It would appear that the Demon Hound was taking command of the operation!
“That white Demon Hound must be the one commanding them! Demon Hound has intelligence on par with humans, no, maybe even higher than most people,” Lily guessed while hiding at the back of the battle formation.
