The great sword handled by the hobgoblins looming in front of us.

''Kook!''

In order to avoid it, I fly wide to the side and roll on the ground, even though I'm prepared to expose a huge gap.
A beat later, the sound of the great sword clashing with the ground echoes from a little distance, and I hear it, and I understand that I've somehow survived.
That there would be enough time for me to regain my poise for that great sword-bearing hobgoblin to come to my side.

'Korosare Nikitaka?'

You're kidding me. ...... The timing of this is so bad already!

......, but the relief I had at that moment was erased by the sight I saw as I looked up.

As my stance was severely compromised, the one standing in front of me was a hobgoblin with an axe.
That's right, I was so busy running away from the hobgoblin with the big sword that I had to roll, I had rolled right up to another hobgoblin.

''d*mn!''

Understanding this, I instantly try to stand up, but it was clear that I wouldn't be able to get up in time.
The hobgoblin laughed as if to mock me for such a bad move, and raised his axe.

''Gee!''

You okay, Marnell?

With a shout, it was then that Godz came out of the hobgoblins, who had somehow returned to the battlefield between the hobgoblins.
Godz's sudden intrusion caused a moment of confusion in the hobgoblin's actions.
And Godz did not miss the opening.

''Oraa!''

In the next moment, the great sword wielded by Godz smashes the head of the hobgoblin with the axe and bounces off its head.
At the sight, I finally realize that I'm completely out of danger for my life.
But I realized that I didn't have time to take a breath there.

Ignoring the body that screams at the forceful movement, I stand up while turning around to the back of my head and raise my big sword.
Then, just as I imagined, there was a hobgoblin with a large sword that was chasing me.

That too, in a posture where the great sword was swept away and the gaps were filled with Godz, with the great sword pointed at him.

''I'm the one you're dealing with, aren't I!

I swing my great sword at such a hobgoblin.
Just before my swinging large sword reaches its body, the hobgoblin notices my attack, but it's too late.

''Gigi?''

The large sword, which was too small to be brought back to block my attack, couldn't be brought back to prevent my attack, and the large sword slipped halfway down the hobgoblin's torso.

''Gi, ningen, korosanakeleva.''

Even though it was in such a state, the hobgoblin was still alive.
As a last-ditch effort, he tried to reach out to my face - and before he could reach me, the hobgoblin's head was pierced by God's great sword.

''Thank God!''

It's mutual.

I tell him briefly in a loud, Godz thank you that was uttered loudly enough to be heard on the battlefield.
Honestly, this situation was something I could have helped with, and it would have been only right for me to thank him, but now I didn't even have time for that.

'More importantly, the people of the city!

To a few adventurers, including Godz, I had told them to evacuate the people of the city and to leave the battle lines.
In other words, Godz's return to the battlefield means that whatever state it was in, it was settled.
I'm going to ask Godz for that report.

'The ...... evacuation has been abandoned. I'm back with the injured now.

What Godz told me was not good news.
I bit my lip silently at Godz's words.
The possibility of not being able to evacuate, that was not a situation I could ever imagine.
At any rate, as far as the noise around us is concerned, this isn't the only place where something is happening.
Besides, it's a wild group of adventurers in this city.
In the current situation where we don't know what's happening, it's no wonder that Godz and others have decided that it's better for them to stay here than to leave the people of the city to them.
Having made that decision, I stopped holding Godz back.

'All right. Go.

"Yeah, I'll take care of it. You can only fight those hobgoblins I mentioned earlier.

I know. I'm not gonna play this game with my dick in my hand.

Hearing my words, Godz runs to the front line without saying anything else.
I've decided that if Godz is in the front line, the people of the city won't be harmed right now, as long as he's in the line of fire, and that's what I'm going to do with a small amount of relief on my face.
But that relief was quickly drowned out by anxiety.

...... I knew I could never trust the safety of that security.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm still engaged in a fierce battle with hobgoblins.
The hobgoblins currently fighting in front of me were unusually strong.

In addition to their obvious intelligence, they were probably stronger than mid-tier orcs, and on top of that, they were numerous.
A battle with such hobgoblins, it was only a matter of time before we were defeated.

The return of the gods who were trying to evacuate the city's people would help the battle situation somewhat.
The fact that I can currently afford to look around is proof of that.
Still, I was sure that I was going to be jittery.

''If they hadn't reduced our numbers so much at the beginning of ......

At first, because I didn't know what the hobgoblins were capable of and challenged them to battle, many of my friends were severely wounded and unable to fight.
If it weren't for that, I bite my lip hard, unable to shake off that thought even though we were in the middle of a battle.
If all of us had been here, the situation would have been better, because I am convinced that it would have been better.
My regret wasn't the only regret I had.

...... No, at least if I had my armor in place.

I let the words slip out as I stared at my hands, my clothes bare.
Yes, even now I wasn't fully clothed in armor.
That's because I hadn't had time to put on my armor, partly because I was giving orders to my friends at first.
Because of that, I hadn't been able to go to the front lines as a tank.
It was only useful for stalling the hobgoblins that had come through my fellow warriors.
I stared at the hobgoblins evasively, saying that if I had at least worn armor, I could have managed this stalemate.

'Wait for ......,'

...... It was then that I noticed an uncomfortable feeling.

A battlefield that appears to be rigid.
Seeing this, I open my mouth in dismay.

...... Why is it that things haven't changed as if they were just a moment ago?

Yes, the battlefield that I currently see was as if the situation hadn't changed.
Despite the fact that quite a few adventurers, including Godz, have returned.

Yes, just as if the battlefield was in a stalemate, as if someone was in control.

'Hey! Something's wrong with ......

I notice this and open my mouth to tell my friends about it.

But by then it's too late.

"Okunerae. "Ok, nerae.

Nah!

The words uttered by the hobgoblin in the back.
I yelled out at that, and at the same time I finally understood what the hobgoblin was trying to do.

Inside the building behind us, the injured and the city's people are lurking in the building.
That's what the hobgoblins were looking for, stalling the battlefield and buying time.
All in order to kill more humans.

''Don't let them get to the back!

The moment I realized this, I ran to the hobgoblins, shouting out loud.
This is not the time to be saying that the lack of armor is dangerous.
You have to prevent the hobgoblins from acting at all costs.
It's a good thing that you're able to have a good idea of what you're doing.

...... But the thoughts of those friends did not connect with each other.

It's a good thing that the hobgoblins have begun to make their way to the back of the building with an unparalleled vigor.
The attacks of the adventurers, including me, took the lives of several hobgoblins, but that was it.

''d*mn it!''

Unable to stop their momentum, the hobgoblins ignore us and continue on to the building in the back.
I contorted my face as I pictured the people of the city being slaughtered in that scene.

The only adventurers in that building are the injured and the healers, people who are almost unable to fight.
In other words, the moment the hobgoblins set foot in that building, absolute sacrifice is a given.
Even if we are able to annihilate the hobgoblins in the end, if we use that building as a battlefield, a lot of injured people and people in the city will be dead by then.

...... Even though I understood that, there was nothing more I could do.

The hobgoblins moved closer to the building, their outstretched hands unreachable.

What passes through my head is the image of the boy I had held my sword back this morning.
The boy was the first apprentice I had ever had.

...... but even that boy can't save himself.

''──!''

That's when I realized this and despair covered my face - and that's when it appeared with an explosion.

............ Huh?

Something that landed on the ground, crushing the head of the hobgoblins as they marched into the building.
For a moment I didn't understand that it was a person.

"...... just barely, huh?

I finally recognize it, the moment it told me so.

I understood the familiar voice, and the identity of the person who appeared in front of me, and stood there in a daze.

That person to me - Mr. Lausto opened his mouth with a serious face that was different from his usual appearance.

Thank you all. I'll take care of the rest.

In that moment, I realized that we were saved.