All We Need Is A Minute

[00M : 00D : 00H : 00M : 00S]

In an instant, the countdown elapsed, as light emitted outside the walls. There, countless heroes emerged along with their companions.

[00M : 01S]

One second had passed since they were suddenly teleported, all of them saw the large group of monsters from the distant forest.

Though, their attention quickly shifted upon hearing the loud roar from central part of plaza inside the city.

[00M : 05S]

Around five second, the Boss Monster finally emerged that caused the earth within the city to quake.

Few people panicked.

Some of the small buildings fell.

Fortunately, there were only few casualties.

The heroes outside, however, were all alarmed when they noticed that the Boss was inside the city and not outside.

They all felt hopeless for the people.

[00M : 08S]

As soon as three seconds passed and hit it's mark, the heroes began to prepare for the worse.

Some were still thinking about the people inside, but they knew that they couldn't do anything about it.

All they can do now is survive.

Survive and hope for the people inside to be able to live.

And thus, they raised their weapons.

[00M : 15S]

Inside the city, standing before the big monster in a form of a wolf before him, Saber was walking towards it.

Each of his steps echoed throughout the whole area.

It only took the Boss and it's pack less than a second to notice him.

Suddenly, they all felt a heavy tension coming him that caused some of the packs to fall on their knees, feeling the dread from the man before them.

[00M : 23S]

A loud explosion happened below the clock tower, causing some of the pieces of it to fall towards the monsters.

Some of them got squashed, while some barely escaped uninjured.

Though, Saber remained unfazed and ignored the falling debris, while walking towards the Boss.

[00M : 34S]

Outside the walls, just when some of the monsters were nearing the heroes, a loud explosion came from below that made the whole ground shake violently.

A huge hole appeared, causing some of the monsters to fall within it.

Little by little, they were reduced in numbers.

[00M : 46S]

Soon enough, the monster outside were reduced until 40% of their original numbers.

Although confused, the heroes, along with their companions were truly glad about this.

Just like that, in just a couple of seconds, their morale went to the top as they prepared remaining monsters they have to fight.

[00M : 50S]

The fight outside the walls started.

[00M : 56S]

"Sigh..."

[00M : 57S]

At this moment, Saber opened his lips and began to speak.

"To be honest, I can't make the monsters fully disappeared with my current strength..."

[00M : 58S]

Suddenly, a bullet came from the sky and hit the Boss off guard.

"The only thing I can do now is reduce the casualties..."

[00M : 59S]

While the Boss was staggering and trying it's hardest to remain standing, Saber looked at it with an impassive expression.

"I'll deal with you later..."

[01 : 00]

Out of the sudden, the Boss disappeared.

*****

(Saber POV)

An hour earlier.

As I reached my destination, I spotted Otuko holding hands with Reina. The little girl was adorned in a cute outfit—an ensemble of a blouse and skirt, complemented by blue shoes that matched her clothes. However, what caught my attention was the top hat perched atop her head.

Reina's hair had undergone a transformation, now styled into a bob with a single lock jutting outward to her right, contrasting with the tilt of her hat to the left.

She looked like a miniature noble lady.

...Wait, did she get a haircut?

"Papa!"

Quickly noticing me, Reina let go of Otuko and sprinted excitedly toward me. I scooped her up under her armpits, lifting her high.

Eh... Is she crying?

"What's wrong?" I inquired.

Sniffing, Reina pouted her lips and replied, "I had a bad dream." Her eyes locked onto mine.

"A bad dream, you say...?"

"Yes! Papa, you looked scary in that dream!" Her response made my lips twitch. Glancing at Otuko, she merely shrugged, as if silently conveying, 'Deal with it.'

"....Ahahaha," I chuckled awkwardly, closing my eyes momentarily.

While contemplating my response, I gently lowered Reina to the ground. Before I could utter a word, she spoke up, "Papa, Big Sis Otuko mentioned that we'll be escaping the city later..."

I remained silent for a moment, then nodded, prompting her to continue, "What will happen to the people...?"

Her unexpected question caught me off guard.

"That..."

I struggled to find an answer.

What would unfold was beyond my control—no, that sounded wrong.

Perhaps, letting events unfold as they were meant to be was wiser than meddling in an inevitable course.

The death of these people would serve as a catalyst, fostering unity among the kingdoms.

If I were to intervene now, I feared—

"Papa."

Gazing up at me, tears welled up in Reina's eyes. She clutched my shirt, pleading, "Please save them..."

Ahh...

Having a cute daughter is really hard.

...

..

.

"We're changing strategy."

"...What?"

Reaper's confusion echoed in the room as my sudden change of plans left her bewildered.

"We'll be reducing their numbers to lessen the casualties that will happen.... That way, the possibility of the people here surviving will increase." Saying this, my gaze shifted towards Reina, seated alone on a wooden chair.

"How are we going to do that? It's not like we already—"

"I've already came up with a plan."

"..."

Before Reaper could even finish, I cut her sentence short by taking out a map and placing it on top of the wide table.

"If I'm guessing correctly, we'll be able to reduce the monsters for about forty to fifty percent on the outside, while annihilating everything inside."

I placed some pins on some of the certain area that needs to be barricaded, "Occiditis, you can handle blocking these areas."

Turning to Solis, I pointed toward the O mark on the walls. "Solis, assist people in evacuating through the escape route we created."

Upon hearing this, she momentarily became silent. Solis questioned, "How did you even come up with this so fast?"

To which I replied, nonchalantly, "Just using my brain."

"..."

"Anyways! I need Odium to stay inside a building to shoot the boss. It doesn't matter if it gets killed or not; injuring it will suffice, and the other heroes can handle the rest." I lightly slammed my hands on the table.

"How can the heroes handle it if it's inside the city?" This time, it was Occiditis who asked.

"Hehe..."

Smirking, I responded, "We'll bring it outside."

"How...?"

"We'll use someone."

"...?"

While she was wondering who the person I meant, I turned my eyes to Otuko who had been silently listening to the conversation since the very beginning.

'Otuko, you're up with the task, right?' I asked using via telepathy.

Her expression turned sour, 'How do you expect me to handle such thing!!?'

Rolling my eyes to the side, I proceeded to ignore her reaction. 'Well... Just do whatever you can like teleporting it above the sky... I know you have that kind of ability to do it.'

'Wai—'

With that, I closed our quick conversation to return to others.

"Otuko can handle those things," I asserted, locking eyes with Occiditis.

"I said, wait a goddamn minute!" Otuko couldn't hold back any longer, walking forward and slamming her hands onto the table.

However—

"We have no time."

"JUST. DO. IT."

I gave her no room for argument.

Feeling the tension intensifying and the stares of the others, Otuko closed her mouth, shooting me a teary glare.

"I hate you!"

"We can change that later in bed, darling~."

"...I'll get my revenge on you later!"

With that, Otuko stormed out of the meeting, stomping her foot in anger.

As she disappeared through the door, I sighed and redirected my focus to the remaining members.

"Reaper, use the bombs I provided to destroy the clocktower. We can utilize the debris to eliminate the monsters."

"What if they—"

"I'll personally ensure they stay in place."

"...."

After a few silent exchanges, Occiditis, Solis, and the others nodded.

Observing this, a slight smirk formed on my lips.

"Any questions?"