The Extra Wants To Live

Billford commanded, "Throw the bait."

As he slowly advanced toward the rope, the soldiers carrying the slings on their shoulders opened the entrance to the sling.

Despite being smoked, the meat, rotting during the rainy season, emitted a terrible stench. The soldiers all frowned but acted silently, without complaint.

They tied the rotten meat to a nearby tree with a long rope and hurled it with all their might into the pond.

With a splash, a ripple appeared in the calm swamp. Then, they tied the remaining meat to another tree to create a path that would lure the opponent into shallow water. Billford and the soldiers stepped back a little, standing motionless, waiting for a reaction.

No matter how well Billford and his soldiers fought, they could not battle in a swamp over three meters deep.

The water had become so deep because the villagers had dug deeper to accommodate more fish, and now, something sinister seemed to have settled in.

"I must warn you to adjust the water depth after the water level goes down this year," Billford thought.

Slapsh….

After a long silence, a small splashing sound was heard. Gentle ripples spread across the swamp. Billford moved slowly, holding the spear he had tucked at his side, resting it on his shoulder.

Something rose silently above the swamp. A pair of protrusions appeared, then after a while, they retracted again.

Billford thought it was snow.

"It looks like a nose."

The soldier holding the net whispered in a small voice. The art of casting a net required skill. He was born and raised near the river, so he had a fair amount of knowledge about such types of beasts and monsters.

"Of what?" Billford asked.

"Crocodiles and lizards and things like that breathe like that," the soldier answered Billford's question. The sound subsided for a moment. Then, the ripples spread again in the pond.

Choaaaa…

It seemed like something was eating the rotten meat.

"Get ready," Billford whispered, and the soldiers braced their spears at his words.

Then it came close to the rope tied to the tree and, in one breath, came out onto the land.

Choaaaah!

Billford and the soldiers were a little… no, quite embarrassed. If it was a monster that lived in water, Billford thought it would have a body suitable for swimming.

He imagined it would have a flat, long body like the crocodile or lizard the soldier had just mentioned.

But the monster that emerged from the deep pool stood before them in a form beyond imagination. It literally stood up.

Billford felt a chill as he saw the huge monster, three meters tall, walking on two legs with a stooped back, staring at him with wide, surprised eyes, just like himself.

It resembled a crocodile but had a relatively short snout, large scales densely covering its entire body, and forearms thicker than the waist of an adult male, which were threatening.

And above all, intelligence could be sensed from its wide-open mouth in bewilderment and the bright yellow eyes that searched the world.

Lizardman… no.

They weren't usually that big!

"Get in line!" Billford shouted.

"Understood!"

The soldiers moved in unison at Billford's command, quickly coming to their senses. They spread out wide to the left and right, forming a circle around the unidentified monster.

Between the soldiers aiming their spears, the soldiers holding nets stood tensely, ready to throw their nets at any moment.

Choaaa! Choaaa!

The monster looked around. The thick tail, which was up to two meters long, moved around, creating waves. The forelimbs—or rather, hands that resembled human ones—were wriggling uneasily.

Billford approached the creature slowly, his spear aimed at it. If they scared it too much and it went back into the water, they might lose it.

He didn't know where this monster came from, but it could easily wipe out the surrounding villages.

"I must kill it here," Billford thought.

"Crunch. Crunch."

The monster, which looked like a mix of crocodile, lizard, and human, made a sound with its mouth closed and its neck puffed out.

The bright yellow eyes, having just recovered from their confusion, stared straight at Billford, who was slowly closing the distance.

Billford, who had studied monsterology from Azgoth, felt uncomfortable and threatened by the creature looking straight at him.

A characteristic of reptilian monsters was that their eyes were located on the sides, making their vision in front of them not very good.

So if you engaged in close combat directly in front of the monster, it would turn its head here and there to look straight at you and then back away.

The sides were within sight, and the tail was threatening from the rear, so it was better to fight from the front. The best way to kill reptilian monsters was to attack them by controlling their actions.

But this creature stood on two feet like a human and looked straight ahead with both eyes.

Its high vantage point provided excellent depth perception, and it could judge distances well.

'It's terrible!'

Billford aimed his spear with a cold face but was inwardly astonished.

At first glance, the creature looked like it couldn't be wounded by normal weapons due to its scales, and it seemed incredibly strong.

It was a bipedal creature but had a tail, so it was difficult to knock it over; it had good balance, making it not easy to attack from the side or rear. Its strong jaws would crush and break anything it caught.

What if those human-like hands could hold weapons?

'He can easily kill three or four trolls by himself. To kill him without mana, I would need a siege weapon,' Billford thought.

Although it was classified as a medium-sized monster by size, its danger level could be considered between medium and large.

"Never approach. Focus on hanging the net to impede its movements while I tie up its feet."

Instead of responding to Billford's soft voice, the soldiers slowly changed formation. And when Billford got close enough to the creature, the monster bared its teeth before he could.

"Krrrrr."

It seemed like a threat, perhaps. The moment Billford thought that, the monster suddenly rushed at him with explosive force.

But what was visible was not the creature's front but its back.

'Tail!'

Billford used his mana in one breath and jumped up.

Choaack!

The log-like tail swung around, spraying water. It was so fast and strong that, for a moment, all the water flew away, revealing the bottom. Because it walked on two legs, it could quickly swing its tail by turning its body.

This one looked like a Lizardman.

Before Billford could even land, the monster rushed in through the flying spray. It approached by swinging its tail and circling around, then immediately dug in and swung its clawed hands!

"Ugh!"

Billford could read the creature's movement from its first motion. Billford had been spinning his body since he jumped. Before the monster could put any strength into its large hand, Billford swung his spear with all his might.

Phew!

The monster's swinging arm suddenly stopped in shock. Its waist turned, and its shoulder was pushed out, stopping it.

Choaaaah!

Billford landed hard on the swamp floor and was pushed five meters away. Before he knew it, a longsword was in his hand.

The spear was lodged in the monster's hand, and despite all Billford's efforts, it had not penetrated completely.

"Throw it!" Billford commanded.

"Chat!"

Charruk!

At Billford's command, the soldiers cast their nets with all their might.

He stepped forward, turned his waist, and shook his arms as if throwing the contents of a basket. The net spread out and flew away, covering the monster that had stopped walking.

The numerous hooks of the net dug into its scales and held it tightly.

"Kkaaa!"

"Catch him! Catch him!"

"Hang in there!"

A total of three nets were hung, and fifteen soldiers were pulling them with all their might.

But every time the monster shook its body as if it was uncomfortable, the soldiers would rush in and fall down here and there. At best, they wouldn't last even ten seconds. But for Billford, a moment was enough.

Choaack!

By the time the water had filled the spot he had pushed away from the swamp bottom, Billford was running with his sword slung over his shoulder.

At his every step, a hole opened in the swamp, and a spray of water rushed in. In an instant, Billford was right in front of the monster.

Kuung!

The powerful step of his foot pushed away the water and hit the swamp bottom.

Because he created the impact with a perfect transfer of force rather than a crushing blow, his feet transferred the force to his upper body without digging into the soft ground.

A series of blows that flowed like water and hits the swamp bottom.

A series of blows that flowed like water and hits the swamp bottom. F g

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