On the other side, while Esdeath and the others were leaving, Takeru took Via and the others into Lute Village.
Seeing a skeleton monster look directly at a villager, at the critical moment, Takeru lightly swung his sword, separating the skeleton monster's head from its body.
"Via and Rifana, go guide the villagers to evacuate. Raphtalia and Filo, do your best to rescue the villagers!" After landing, Takeru spoke directly to everyone.
"Yes!" Hearing Takeru's orders, everyone didn't hesitate and quickly nodded.
"Are you injured? If you're okay, go with them to take shelter." Looking at the villagers, Takeru spoke directly.
"Brave One, I'm fine." After calming down for a while, the man stood up and shook his head.
"Good. You should also go tell the villagers to follow them to take shelter." Hearing his words, Takeru spoke directly.
"Yes." Hearing this, the man nodded again.
At this moment, on another side, other villagers were being surrounded by a large number of monsters.
These villagers could only barely protect themselves with pitchforks and hoes. Seeing this, Takeru made his long sword emit a strong light.
With one swing, all the monsters along the path were annihilated.
"It's the Sword Hero!" With Takeru's single strike, many villagers finally reacted, showing delighted expressions.
"Prison!" With a stomp from Takeru, a special, huge space rose directly in front of him.
"Listen up, everyone. Enter here to take shelter. Women, children, and the elderly first. Those capable of fighting can protect them from the outside." Seeing that he had captured everyone's attention, Takeru spoke loudly.
"Yes!" Hearing Takeru's words, everyone shouted loudly.
"Everyone, come in quickly! This is a shelter the Hero built for us!" Seeing this, some people shouted loudly.
Many people immediately took cover inside. Via and Rifana worked hard to maintain order.
Fortunately, although these villagers were scared, they remained rational and weren't selfish. They followed Takeru's words, letting women, children, and the elderly enter first.
Seeing everyone evacuating in an orderly manner, Raphtalia and Filo quickly cleared out the zombies, while Takeru froze the bee monsters in the air.
After all, they were very good materials, whether for manifesting Beedrill or Combee, these monsters were quite useful.
Actually, Takeru could have killed these monsters instantly.
But then, the villagers' gratitude wouldn't compare to the appreciation born from hard struggle. Also, this kind of wave was a very good training ground for Raphtalia and the others.
"Damn it! Stop! Stop!" In a corner, several ordinary adventurers wielding long swords were surrounded by a large number of Dimension Ghouls and Demonized Bees.
At the critical moment, several powerful water blades flew out, decapitating the monsters and saving the surrounded adventurers.
Seeing the monsters before them fall, the adventurers completely relaxed and collapsed on the ground.
"This is no time to rest. Go inside for shelter!" Looking at the three, Via shouted loudly.
"Y-yes! Thank you!" Hearing Via's words, the three said gratefully.
This scene occurred in various places throughout the village. Under Takeru and the others' rescue efforts, essentially no villagers died.
The worst injuries were those sustained at the beginning of the wave. Watching Takeru, Raphtalia, and the others' energetic actions, the villagers of Lute Village quickly began cheering for Takeru.
After Rifana and Via brought all the villagers who couldn't evacuate in time to the shelter, they stood guard at the entrance.
Raphtalia and Filo, seeing that everyone had been rescued, fought even more boldly. The rate of monster deaths increased again...
Takeru stored the large number of frozen monsters into his portable space. After all, even ghouls, which were just skeletons, could provide very good nutrients for the slimes.
Interestingly, as time passed, the rate at which monsters appeared above showed no sign of slowing down. At the same time, stronger and stronger monsters began to descend.
Soon, Takeru noticed a monster wearing what looked like iron armor. Its red eyes seemed utterly devoid of emotion. The spikes covering the armor indicated it was not simple.
Unfortunately, although this monster looked very fierce, it didn't even last a single exchange. Filo kicked it away. As it was staggering, Raphtalia dashed forward, cutting off its head in mid-air. Takeru casually stored it in his portable space.
"Amazing!"
"Fantastic, Sword Hero!" Seeing the huge monster easily killed by Raphtalia and Filo, everyone showed delighted expressions.
Just as everything was proceeding smoothly, several special lights emanated from the surroundings, collided in the air, and exploded, turning into a large number of fireballs that rained down on the village.
Almost instantly, a large number of monsters died under the fireball attack. Simultaneously, a large number of houses were directly destroyed and set on fire.
The villagers who had been cheering were stunned. After all, those were their homes. Everything had been fine just before. They could have held out until the end of the wave with minimal losses. But now, most of their homes were gone...
"Hahaha, we killed them all at once!" After the fireballs finished raining down, a group of knights walked in. The lead knight let out a wild laugh.
"Sword... Sword Hero!" However, when the many knights saw Takeru, Raphtalia, and the others, they were stunned.
"So the Sword Hero was protecting this place. We truly thank you for your efforts." Seeing Takeru, the lead knight put on a flattering smile.
"Yes, I was protecting this place just fine, but you've pretty much destroyed it. Didn't you consider the villagers' lives at all?" Looking at the many knights, Takeru spoke with anger.
"We're very sorry, Brave One. We were eager to eliminate the monsters here, which is why we released the fireballs." Hearing Takeru's words, although displeased inside, the knights could only continue smiling apologetically.
"So, as long as you eliminate the monsters, you don't need to care about the villagers' lives? Is that the creed of your knight order?" Looking at him, Takeru spoke again.
"Well... we're very sorry. However, our kingdom's knight order's mission is to eliminate monsters." Hearing Takeru's questioning, although the lead knights felt disdain for the villagers' lives, they dared not speak further at this moment.
"I see your attitude. So this is the so-called kingdom's knight order?" Looking at the lead knights' expressions, Takeru mocked lightly.
Takeru's agitation was partly because he was genuinely angry, and partly to lay the groundwork for his later judgment.
This very scene had already been recorded by a special camera Takeru had manifested.
"Takeru-sama, can I attack them?" At this moment, Raphtalia, also angered, came to Takeru's side and asked.
"Filo doesn't like them either!" Filo didn't hide her disgust either.
Hearing Raphtalia and Filo's words, the lead knights of the kingdom's knight order directly drew their long swords. If Takeru was going to attack them, they would quickly fight back.
"Sword Hero, I've already explained our responsibility. If you intend to make an enemy of the kingdom's knight order, then even if you are a Hero, we will not sit idly by. Everyone, draw your swords!" Looking at Raphtalia and Filo, the knight captain shouted loudly.
Hearing the knight captain's words, some people drew their swords without hesitation, pointing them at Takeru.
However, some people frowned deeply. They themselves had not supported using the fireballs in the first place, but they were just ordinary knights and couldn't change anything.
When faced with Takeru's reprimand, they didn't feel Takeru was wrong at all.
But now, it seemed they might even have to fight Takeru, which they were even more unwilling to do.
"Indeed, compared to dealing with monsters, you seem more skilled at dealing with humans. But I wonder if you can fight just as fiercely against those behind you?" Looking at the knights with their varied expressions, Takeru said calmly.
They didn't know that, although they might not be in danger of losing their lives, what they were doing now would have a tremendous impact on their future lives.
"What!" Hearing Takeru's words, the knights quickly turned around and noticed a large monster with a strong oppressive presence standing behind them.
Instantly, some knights who only knew how to profit for themselves chose to flee without hesitation, their behavior and actions even more panicked and disorderly.