The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

As Mari’s group supported the seemingly dangerous knights of the Holy Sword Knight Order, Arisa’s group dominated the battlefield with magic and dispels, while skilled fighters like Kirsh and Louis pushed the knights back. Gradually, the tide of battle shifted in favor of Kurt’s group and the Holy Sword Knight Order.

However, in the center of the battlefield—the most intense area aside from the Masters’ duel—Albert was desperately swinging his sword, drenched in cold sweat.

“Kuh…!”

Even Louis, the vice-captain, had the skill to overwhelm regular knights, but Albert, the captain, was barely managing to defend against the enemy before him. The reason? His opponent was no ordinary knight.

Just as the Holy Sword Knight Order had Albert as its captain, the other two knight orders naturally had their own captains. Albert was facing one of them.

Clang! Clash!

“Albert! I’m deeply disappointed! How dare you abandon your loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Kuh…! I’m prepared to die! But… I haven’t betrayed His Majesty! This is the path of my loyalty!”

“Silence! Spare me your traitorous excuses!”

“Kuh…!”

Gritting his teeth, Albert focused solely on holding his ground, but fighting two captains of the same caliber was no easy task. He had managed to take down one of them early in the battle, but at the cost of sustaining significant wounds. Though not incapacitating, the bleeding worsened with each swing of his sword, and his vision grew blurrier.

But he couldn’t retreat here. If he didn’t face the knight captains, his subordinates—less skilled than him—would have to. Despite the favorable flow of the battle, Albert couldn’t afford to smile. The presence of the knight captains, though not on the level of Masters, carried enough weight to potentially reverse the tide.

Whoever stood last among the knight captains could either seal the victory or turn the tables. Albert couldn’t afford to fall here.

But despite his desperation, his body was nearing its limit. No matter how much stamina he had, the wounds and blood loss were taking their toll. He had already fought a fierce battle against two captains, taking one down. Biologically, he was running out of blood to maintain his sanity.

His vision blurred, and it became harder to grip his sword.

Clang!

Eventually, Albert dropped his sword. For a knight, losing their sword was a disgrace, but given his physical limits, it was inevitable.

“Kuh… So, this is where it ends…”

“I’ll offer your head to His Majesty and restore order to the Empire!”

At that moment, a pouch flew toward the two men. The knight captain reflexively sliced it in half, and as it split, a powder spilled out, covering him.

“Damn it! What is this powder?!”

He stepped back, trying to regain his stance, but the sudden event didn’t end there. The powder covering him began to glow faintly purple, and—

Meow~!

An out-of-place cat’s meow echoed from somewhere.

Swoosh.

Unnatural vines grew rapidly, wrapping around their legs and burning with an unknown intensity. The strong scent of flowers filled the air, followed by dizziness.

“What… what is this?! Ugh! Get off! Why won’t it cut?!”

The knight captain, staggering from dizziness, tried to regain his stance, but the vines were already climbing up his legs. He swung his sword to cut them, but instead of being severed, the vines grew thicker.

Soon, the vines tightened around his thighs, waist, and then his chest, choking him. They rooted into his skin, absorbing nutrients at an alarming rate, and soon, a blood-red flower bud bloomed, emitting a suffocatingly strong scent.

The knight captain was completely engulfed by the vines. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the red flowers blooming before his eyes, accompanied by a distant cat’s meow.

Meow~.

“…”

Albert, watching the knight captain fall, couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. The powder from the pouch had turned faintly purple, and the captain had suddenly convulsed before losing consciousness.

“Vines?”

Remembering the captain’s last words, Albert looked at his ankles. There were indeed plant vines growing there, but they were too weak to even grasp his ankles, let alone choke him.

“What is this…? Was it an illusion? Or am I seeing things?”

Already lightheaded from blood loss, Albert couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Meow~.

“Did you see that? I made them tremble in fear! I’ve shown illusions to mice and bugs before, but this is the first time I’ve done it to such strong people! I should ask Kurt to make me pudding as a reward!”

Meow~!

“Don’t worry, kitty! I know it was thanks to your hallucinogenic pollen! I’ll take responsibility for your功劳 and tell Kurt! Let’s have snacks together!”

Meow~!

What snapped Albert out of his daze was the voice of a young girl, utterly out of place on the battlefield.

“Why are you leaving out my magic? I weakened his mental defenses so the hypnosis would work easily.”

“…Ugh. Fine, I’ll share the pudding with Lakia too. Ugh…”

“I don’t need pudding.”

“Really?!”

The girl had blue skin, black reverse eyes, horns, and wings—like a demon. Behind her was a wooden deer that meowed like a cat, and further back, a pink-skinned Lizardwoman resembling an Uparupa he had once seen in Astram.

“…I must be hallucinating from blood loss.”

“Really? I controlled the range of my spell carefully.”

“Hmm. I didn’t use soul magic on him either. Was it you, kitty?”

Meow~!

The bizarre combination seemed like a hallucination, but their relaxed conversation gradually brought Albert back to his senses.

“Did you really defeat the knight captain? How…? No, this isn’t the time for questions. We need to help the others…!”

“No need. It’s almost over.”

As she said, looking around, the battle was nearly finished. Despite being outnumbered, the Emperor’s knights were almost all defeated, and only a few enemies remained. The Holy Sword Knight Order’s casualties were also less severe than expected.

The reason for all these variables was clear: Kurt and his group.

“…You’re truly strong.”

“Hmph. We were planning to fight on our own without your help.”

“…But we can’t let our guard down yet. Even if we’ve won against the knights, the most important Masters remain. No matter how many knights are left, if the Masters join the fight…”

But even in this hopeful situation, Albert didn’t lose his fighting spirit. The biggest obstacle, the Masters, still remained.

His vision was still blurry, and his hands trembled, but…

“I’m not dead yet, am I?”

“Then I’ll just keep swinging.”

Albert picked up his dropped sword, preparing for the battle against the Masters.

“Yep. That’s what I meant by ‘almost over.’”

“…Huh?”

Despite Albert’s warning, Lakia calmly shook her head and pointed to Kurt’s battle. Albert’s eyes widened in disbelief.

There, Kurt was piercing Newgoros’ arm with a blue aura. The sight of Newgoros’ severed hand flying through the air felt surreal.

“How…? Just a week ago, there was an overwhelming gap…”

“A week is enough for Kurt.”

Though hard to believe, it had happened.

“…Then we just need to defeat Duke Qualiac. Even if Marquis Delphine, the Empire’s third-ranked, can’t defeat the Empire’s strongest swordsman, with Kurt and us working together, victory isn’t impossible. I can see it… I can see victory.”

“No. We don’t need to help there either.”

“…Huh?”

At Lakia’s words, Albert turned his gaze to where Shail and Qualiac were fighting. What he saw shocked him even more than Kurt’s victory.

Before him was Qualiac, covered in minor wounds, and Shail Delphine, completely unscathed.

“Kuh…! Delphine!! Were you hiding your true strength?!”

“Hahaha. What fool would reveal their full strength while living among enemies? You should always keep about 30% hidden, right?”

“What…?! Delphine, since when did you plan to turn against the Empire?!”

“Hmm… Maybe longer than you think, Duke Qualiac?”

Qualiac’s swordsmanship was fast, strong, and precise. Even Newgoros’ cautious and seasoned swordsmanship paled in comparison. Perhaps even Kurt’s spearmanship.

But Shail Delphine’s rapier was on another level. His rapier moved like a living serpent. Unlike a regular sword, his rapier used special magic stones to adjust its hardness and elasticity in different sections, allowing for unpredictable movements.

Theoretically simple, but in a real battle between Masters, it was insane. Yet Shail calmly conversed with Qualiac while shifting the aura in his rapier dozens of times per second, making it bend and twist as if alive, targeting Qualiac’s weaknesses.

“The Empire’s strongest sword… the Emperor’s sword… This can’t be…”

Qualiac was being pushed back. The Empire’s strongest swordsman, once considered the world’s best, was being overwhelmed.

The match didn’t last long. Shail disarmed Qualiac and mercilessly slashed his exposed chest. Qualiac fell, and silence enveloped the area.

Two knight captains defeated. Duke Newgoros defeated. Duke Qualiac defeated. The remaining Emperor’s knights and the Holy Sword Knight Order members all fell silent.

Clang.

Clang.

One by one, the resisting knights dropped their weapons.

Even Albert hadn’t anticipated such a complete victory.

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