The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

Kang!

Kang!

As if accustomed to combat, Leon’s blade thrusts upward from below Arisa’s blind spot.

Arisa barely dodges the sharp attack and tries to counter, but this time, Fione charges at her from the opposite side with a dagger.

Reluctantly, Arisa blocks Fione’s dagger with her own, using the recoil to create distance and reposition herself.

“Kkh…!”

“Miss Arisa!”

The battle began boldly, but the situation wasn’t favorable for Arisa’s group.

Though it was a 2v2 fight, their opponents were slave hunters who had hunted non-human races before being imprisoned.

These two were specialists in human combat, honed through real battles, and their skills were not inferior to Arisa and Liche’s.

No, they were even a step ahead.

The only reason Arisa’s group could hold on was because the slave hunters’ skills had dulled from their time in prison.

In fact, Fione, the female slave hunter, had only been defeated after Mari, Karina, and Serena ganged up on her.

Moreover, the party composition wasn’t favorable either.

Having only two members, with one being a mage, didn’t make for a balanced team.

Arisa had to bear the pressure of both opponents alone, as Liche had to stay in the rear.

If only Yuri had been there to make it a trio, things might have been better, but unfortunately, Yuri was absent due to her precarious attendance at the academy.

The battlefield was barely holding a fragile balance.

But that balance didn’t last long.

As mentioned, the only reason Arisa’s group could hold their own was because the slave hunters’ skills had rusted.

And through this battle, their senses were being sharpened once again.

Kang!

Kang!

“Kyahat!”

The clash between Leon’s prosthetic blade and Arisa’s dagger continued precariously.

As Arisa’s dagger tangled with Leon’s blade, it twisted in a clever direction, pushing her dagger aside and plunging toward her chest.

Caught off guard by Leon’s skillful move, Arisa panicked and rolled on the ground to avoid the blade.

But while that move might have momentarily saved her from Leon’s attack, it shattered the precarious balance, and Leon moved in to finish her off.

“Miss Arisa! The heart of the Everlight family…!”

Of course, Liche couldn’t just watch. She quickly began casting a spell to save Arisa.

Whoosh!

“Kheuk…!”

But her spell never completed to protect Arisa.

Fione, whose combat instincts were also reawakening, rushed at Liche and struck her abdomen before the spell could finish.

“Hoh. Look at this? That wasn’t just any magic—it was Wizard-style magic. This girl’s a non-human too, huh?”

“Kkh, kkh…!”

“Miss Liche!”

“Where are you looking?!”

Whoosh!

“Kyaaak!”

To make matters worse, Arisa, already in a disadvantageous position, lost focus upon seeing Liche fall and was struck by Leon’s attack. In an instant, Arisa too fell, rendering their earlier struggle meaningless.

“Hoo. They were perfect for getting our combat senses back.”

“Not only a Dark Elf but a Wizard too. Lucky us. Hehe.”

“A Wizard? Ha! No wonder she was hanging around non-humans. Only non-humans stick with non-humans.”

Having completely subdued Arisa and Liche, the slave hunters looked at them with the eyes of butchers ready for slaughter.

“Well, now that we’ve got some merchandise to sell, let’s leave this city quickly.”

“Right. Staying too long won’t do us any good.”

Just as the two were about to be helplessly taken by the slave hunters…

…

…

Thud.

“…Huh? Did you hear that?”

“What sound?”

Thud.

It was the sound of footsteps.

Footsteps mixed with the clang of metal.

Yes.

Like the sound of an armored knight walking.

“…A knight?”

The slave hunters turned their gaze toward the source of the sound and soon saw its owner.

It was a figure in pure white armor emerging from the ruins of the Ancient Empire.

“Why from the ruins…? There was nothing like that inside…”

“Who are you?! Don’t come any closer!”

The slave hunters, on high alert, immediately prepared for combat.

But their actions were ultimately meaningless.

Because.

“What the—?! Where’d it go?!”

“…Above, above…!”

Crash!!

By the time they had prepared for battle, the knight had already vanished from their sight. Fione, the more skilled of the two, realized a beat too late that the knight hadn’t disappeared but had leaped above them, landing between the two with a tremendous impact.

“Damn it!”

Leon, panicked but skilled, swung his blade at the knight who had taken his position.

“….”

But the knight’s sword was already there, blocking Leon’s strike at the crossguard, preventing it from advancing further.

Then, with a deft twist of balance, the knight’s sword rode up Leon’s blade.

It was a technique several times more refined and skilled than what Leon had shown Arisa earlier.

“Eek!! Let go!!”

Realizing he couldn’t win in skill, Leon desperately twisted his body to escape the knight’s sword.

But the knight’s blade pursued him relentlessly, and instead of striking his neck, it severed his arm.

“Kyaaak!! My arm!! My arm!!”

“Leon!! You bastard!!”

The knight had cut off Leon’s arm in a single exchange.

Enraged, Fione charged at the knight, but even she was no match.

Fione unleashed a menacing crimson aura and swung her dagger with terrifying force, but all her attacks were easily blocked by the knight. Soon, she too fell, bleeding like Leon.

“….”

The sudden intrusion of a third party.

And their overwhelming combat prowess.

But what truly shocked them wasn’t that.

“Why… how…?”

“This can’t be…!”

The two stared at the knight with expressions of horror, as if they’d seen a ghost.

Their faces were even paler than when they’d faced the slave hunters.

Of course.

Thud.

Thud.

“….”

The pure white knight walked silently toward the fallen Arisa and Liche.

“Why are you… no, how are you here…?”

“We… we definitely defeated you…”

No, the pure white armor.

The pure white golem.

Yes. The one who had effortlessly subdued the slave hunters, who had given them so much trouble, was one of the three golems that had guarded the depths of the ancient ruins.

The strongest of the three, the one Kurt himself had to defeat.

Looking back, there had been hints.

The slave hunters had escaped only half a month ago.

But the traces found near the ancient ruins were over a month old.

There were footprints but no signs of sleep or meals.

It could have been the work of an expert erasing their traces, but there was another possibility.

A being that didn’t need sleep or food from the beginning.

And the presence Kurt had sensed near the ancient ruins but couldn’t identify.

If it were just two slave hunters, Kurt wouldn’t have missed that presence.

Kurt’s ability to detect presences was at a level where he could sense any living being, unless they were of a transcendent level.

Yes. If they were living beings.

And the one that fit all these conditions.

A being that had slumbered in the ruins, requiring no biological activity, leaving no traces or presence.

Thud.

“….”

The golem in the form of a pure white knight stood silently before the two, raising its sword.

“Kyaaak!!”

The two screamed, clinging to each other.

They thought they’d dealt with the slave hunters, only to encounter something far worse.

It was like escaping a wolf only to enter a tiger’s den.

Or in this case, the tiger had come to them.

The two closed their eyes, imagining the terrible pain that was about to come.

But one second passed.

Three seconds passed.

Five, ten seconds passed, and the expected pain never came.

Finally sensing something was off, they opened their eyes to see the pure white golem kneeling on one knee, its head bowed, holding its sword at waist level.

Like a knight swearing loyalty to its master.

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