"So the reinforcements are only the two of you?"
Bill confirmed it again.
Esdeath asked back, "Is there a problem?"
"No. Nothing."
Bill had long heard of the Empire's youngest general, a woman who had racked up terrifying achievements at an absurdly young age.
He knew very well what kind of weight the title "Empire's Strongest" carried.
And now she had obtained a Teigu on top of that.
Even before gaining a Teigu, she had carved out the horrific achievement of slaughtering ten thousand enemies on the battlefield against foreign tribes.
A small-scale situation like this was nothing he needed to worry about.
Besides, that overly talented student of his was here too.
As long as Noah controlled Hecatoncheires, these tomb guards had no chance of stopping them.
That was how far beyond the norm a Teigu's power was.
Counting Gozuki, there were three Teigu users here.
With that much combat power gathered in one place, losing was impossible.
The tomb guards were finished.
Bill handed the intelligence over to them.
Esdeath chose without hesitation to kill her way in from the area where the enemy was most concentrated.
At the same time, that was also the tomb guards' escape route.
She intended to fully enjoy herself before wiping them out to the last.
'What a terrifying woman.'
After making that comment in his heart, Noah did not choose to take the same route as her. Instead, he headed straight in from the front.
...
After learning that Gozuki and the children had already broken in more than half an hour ago, he immediately decided to take the main entrance.
If he went in now, the battle should be reaching its peak.
Or perhaps the battle had already ended, and he could simply pick up the spoils.
His purpose this time was to witness these so-called secret arts with his own eyes and obtain samples from those who possessed them.
If he could encounter someone like the opponent's chief or leader, that would be ideal.
As the leader, the other party would definitely hold the core of the secret arts.
That would save him a great deal of effort.
Noah used the materials around him and made a mask with Iron Smelting.
Since he might run into those children, and considering his agreement with Gozuki to use another identity, it was better to put on the mask first and act as Lamure.
At this moment, many traps inside the royal tomb had already been triggered.
The traps here came in all kinds of bizarre varieties, with plenty of different patterns.
Noah found them very interesting.
Just as he was admiring those traps, a dark-purple tongue suddenly dropped from above and wrapped around him.
Even after being suddenly bound, Noah's expression did not change in the slightest.
His gaze remained fixed on the trap before him.
The tongue tightened instantly after capturing its target, but it failed to lift Noah.
Instead, the tomb guard clinging to the wall pulled himself down with his own strength.
Only after hearing the man hit the ground did Noah slowly stand up and turn around.
He looked down from above at the "strange" human lying on the floor.
'Appraisal.'
"Oh, so it's a chameleon's ability? Aside from camouflage, you can also extend your tongue to capture prey. Interesting. So this is beastification?"
"D-Damn it."
The tomb guard lying on the ground saw Noah's complete lack of panic and his own miserable state, and frustration surged through him.
But there was one thing he could not understand.
Why had he been dragged down?
Just now, as usual, he had wrapped his tongue around his prey.
But when he tried to lift that prey up, it felt as if he were pulling against a mountain.
This kid had not moved at all!
"Hmph. That's right. But camouflage and catching prey with my tongue aren't all I can do!"
The tomb guard spat out a threat, and in the next second, his body swelled grotesquely.
In the span of two breaths, his body expanded until he was over two meters tall.
His savage muscles shone with a rock-like luster.
At the same time, his eyes bulged even further, becoming more like those of a chameleon.
Noah's eyes glittered with interest.
"Forty-five percent of the body has undergone beastification. Fascinating!"
"Fascinating, my ass! Die!"
The chameleon tomb guard swung his thick arm. His hand had already transformed into a sharp claw.
If it hit, the lightest injury would be a torn-open stomach.
But Noah had no intention of dodging.
He directly summoned his Device, Raven Feather, and catch the giant claw's attack with one hand.
Although Noah himself was not injured, the enormous force smashed him into the floor like a nail, causing cracks to spread across the ground.
Noah estimated that the opponent's strength far exceeded that of an ordinary Danger Beast.
Compared to Noah's calmness, the attacker's face changed drastically.
"N-No way!"
The tomb guard's eyes widened in disbelief.
Until now, no one had ever blocked his attack.
And he had not held back just now either. He had attacked with the intent to kill in a single blow.
Then, suddenly, he felt his claw being gripped by a "small hand."
The strength transmitted from that hand was unbelievable, so great that he could barely resist.
Noah casually tugged the giant claw toward himself and began observing it.
The tomb guard's huge body was yanked forward and slammed onto the ground.
In the next second, he felt an invisible force pressing down on his entire body, leaving him unable to even raise his head.
That force seemed as if it wanted to crush him completely and mix him into the world itself.
Was this… gravity?
Why?
There was actually someone in this world who could control gravity?
Crack.
The ground split under the crushing pressure.
The chameleon tomb guard coughed up a mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of crushed organs.
"L-Let go!"
Because Noah's movement had been too casual and careless, he had accidentally twisted the opponent's hand into a spiral.
The tomb guard screamed in pain.
Even his transformation was forcibly undone, and sweat poured down his face from the agony.
Seeing that, Noah released his hand. Before he could even speak, the tomb guard suddenly sprang up from the ground and ran off without saying another word.
He switched seamlessly from screaming for mercy to sprinting for his life.
Quite impressive.
Noah was stunned for a moment before chasing after him.
'Run, run, run, run, run! I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Where the hell did that monster come from? Is he really human?'
'Help, help, help, help!'
'Huh?'
'There was movement up ahead?'
The chameleon tomb guard quickly reached the source of the sound.
At a glance, he saw one of his female companions fighting an intruder.
But no.
This person was around the same strength as him.
Even if the two of them teamed up, they could not possibly defeat the terrifying monster behind him.
Not to mention she already had an opponent in front of her.
'Damn it.'
Why did he have to face such a terrifying enemy, while her opponent was only a little girl?
...
At this moment, Pony, who was the main fighter on this battlefield, noticed the chameleon's appearance, and her expression became a little more serious.
'Enemy reinforcements?'
She gave up the opportunity to press her advantage and carefully retreated a short distance.
This was to make sure both enemies remained within her field of vision.
When outnumbered, losing sight of the enemy was the greatest taboo.
Dad had always told her that.
So that was what she would do.
At that moment, the chameleon shouted, "Hey, Kashuk! Forget that little girl and run! There's something insane behind me!"
The female tomb guard fighting Pony was named Kashuk.
When she heard the chameleon's shout, she frowned and irritably looked past him toward the area behind him.
What?
There was no one there!
The chameleon's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.
Because he saw something so impossible and terrifying that his mind nearly froze.
T-That guy?
Why was he behind Kashuk?
Wasn't he behind me?
The chameleon hurriedly shouted at his completely unaware companion, "Kashuk, watch your back!"
Noah stood behind the female tomb guard named Kashuk.
With his speed, catching up to that chameleon only took the blink of an eye.
But while following him, Noah had happened to see the tomb guard on this side as well.
Out of curiosity, he had simply circled behind her.
"So, what can you turn into?"
What?
Because he used Weaver to erase things like resistance, sound, and scent, the female tomb guard had not noticed him at all until he spoke.
Kashuk instantly turned around, her gaze meeting Noah's through the cold mask.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Faced with someone who had suddenly appeared behind her, Kashuk immediately lashed out with a whip-like kick aimed at his head.
The explosive force of that kick even startled Pony, who was standing opposite her.
So this woman had been hiding her strength earlier!
Facing that sharp kick, Noah did not move at all.
When the gust swept past, Kashuk failed to process what had happened.
Because the opponent clearly had not dodged, yet she had still missed!
How was that possible?
At that distance, there was no way she could have missed!
Her leg…
Huh?
Where did her leg go?
Kashuk lowered her gaze to her thigh and saw blood spraying from the severed stump.
Most of the leg that should have been there had vanished.
"Ah, I accidentally cut the whole thing off. Let me see… you're a snake?"
Noah had made her lose most of her leg without making any visible movement.
That plunged Kashuk into terror.
This masked bastard!
Bad.
This was very bad!
She opened her mouth and unleashed her hidden trump card.
Venom shot out from her mouth at thirty kilometers per hour.
It was a poison potent enough to make a person lose mobility if it merely touched their skin.
If it came into contact with mucous membranes, it could kill instantly.
"Die, you freak!"
But before she could even feel happy about it, Kashuk, who had expected that move to finish him in one shot, saw the venom she had spat suddenly stop in midair for some unknown reason.
The expression on her face instantly turned into fear.
'Damn it. What the hell was going on?!'