Reincarnated as an SSS-Ranked Blacksmith Who Refuses to Forge Weapons-Chapter 141. The Calamity Unleashed

Chapter 141: 141. The Calamity Unleashed
The alarm bells rang louder now, and their desperate ringing echoed all over Meridian. People who had been celebrating a moment ago were now running in all directions, screaming and pushing as panic spread like wildfire.
People ran into poles to get away quickly, and the festival lanterns swung wildly. People walked on decorations and turned over food carts.
"Get out of the city center, everyone!" A guard’s voice cut through the noise. "Go to the outer districts! Don’t go near the palace!"
Greg watched as families held on to their kids, old people had trouble keeping up, and merchants left their stalls without a second thought. The Calamity’s roar broke the silence of the night once more, and another part of the palace fell apart. People had to cover their faces because dust and debris flew out.
"Come on, Greg, we have to go!" Lylia pulled on his arm, but he couldn’t look away from the damage.
The Calamity came out of the palace ruins in full, and it was now at least twenty-five feet tall. Its body had changed, becoming more defined and scary. Armor plates that overlapped made up its chest and limbs.
It had swords sticking out of its shoulders like spines. Axes and maces were on its arms, ready to be used or absorbed as needed. Its eyes, which were swirling purple, silver, and red, looked at the people running away with a predatory intelligence.
Lady Rosalina stood at the entrance to the palace, where her ceremonial sword had long since disappeared. She only had a broken pike shaft now, which she had taken from a guard who had fallen. Her formal dress was torn and dirty, but she still stood like a warrior.
"Stay behind me!" she told the Royal Knights who were still there and hadn’t run away. "We’re staying here until the civilians are out of the way!"
When the Calamity turned its giant head toward her, Greg could have sworn it smiled. With each step, the creature made a loud noise that broke the stone beneath it.
Rosalina ran at them. It was a brave and desperate choice.
With all her strength, she thrust the pike shaft at the creature’s chest, hoping to hit a weak spot between the armor plates. The wood broke apart like kindling when it hit. The Calamity didn’t even blink.
Instead, it hit her with a casual brutality. Rosalina flew through the air, her body flopping around like a ragdoll before hitting a decorative fountain thirty feet away. The stone basin broke from the impact, sending water flying everywhere.
"Lady Rosalina!" Lylia screamed and ran toward her mentor right away.
"Wait, Lylia!" Greg ran after her, with Elwen and Hilda right behind him. Hammy was making a lot of noise on Elwen’s shoulder.
Agatha’s laughter broke through the noise. She stood on top of a wall that was partially falling down, and her beautiful dress was somehow still clean despite the damage. "There it is!"
"The power of your beloved Royal Knight! So powerful and all... Wow! Isn’t that so cool!?" Agatha said it with sarcasm.
She spread her arms wide and spoke to the people who were running away. "Look at your protector, people of Meridian!"
"Look how easily she falls! This is what the crown has been keeping from you! They can’t be beaten! They don’t have all the power! People are just people, and they break!"
Greg got to the fountain where Rosalina was lying down. Lylia was already kneeling next to her, looking for wounds. The woman was awake but in a lot of pain where blood was dripping from a cut on her forehead.
"Don’t move," Lylia said, her hands soft but professional as she looked at the damage. "You could have broken ribs."
Rosalina gasped, "I’m fine," but her wince said otherwise.
She tried to sit up, but her left arm was bent in a strange way. At the very least, the shoulder is dislocated because it might be broken. "The civilians... are they..."
Greg looked around the square and said, "Still evacuating."
"Most people had left by now, but some were still there, some frozen in fear and others helping the hurt... but that thing is going to follow them if we don’t do something."
Rosalina had to work hard to focus on him. "You are the blacksmith, Greg Greyson. The one who won’t take weapons."
"That’s me," Greg said with a frown. "Though I’m starting to regret that stance right about now."
"Don’t," Rosalina said firmly, and then she coughed. "Your way of thinking is correct."
"That thing only eats weapons. Every blade strengthens it." She grabbed Greg’s arm with her good hand, and even though she was hurt, her grip was surprisingly strong. "But there is a way... a way to stop it without weapons."
"What way?" Lylia asked in a hurry.
Rosalina said, "The Elite Royal Knights... who were known as the king’s private guard."
"They know how to fight threats that normal weapons can’t handle, like magic. But they aren’t here. They are stationed in different areas."
The Calamity roared again, and Greg looked up to see it heading toward a group of people who were running away. It raised one giant arm, and weapons stuck out all over it.
"How do we get them to come here?" Greg asked. "That thing won’t wait for us to send people!"
Rosalina fumbled with her ripped dress and pulled out a small compass, but it wasn’t like any compass Greg had ever seen. The needle didn’t point north, but it spun around slowly in circles, and the face was covered in complicated runes.
Rosalina pressed it into Lylia’s hands and said, "The locator. It can follow the Elite Knights no matter how far they are..."
"But it has to be turned on from their main office, the resonance chamber. Once the compass is turned on, it will lead you there."
"Where is the main office?" Hilda asked, still holding her pickaxe tightly despite the chaos.
Lylia’s eyes got bigger as she realized what was going on. "I know where it is."
"The old fort in the western part of town... Before I became a full Royal Knight, I trained there."
"Yes," Rosalina said. "But you can’t walk through the streets."
"The Calamity will find you. Three blocks north is my safe house, and there are tunnels that go straight to the basement of the fortress."
"Old smuggler routes that were used again."
"A system of tunnels?" Elwen said it again. "That plan might work because the creature wouldn’t be able to see us."
"You need to hurry," Rosalina said, her breathing getting harder. "After you turn on the compass, it will show you where the two Elite Knights are closest to you."
"Come back here with them. They are the only ones who can fight something like that without giving it more power."
"How about you?" Lylia asked, her voice full of worry.
Rosalina said, "I’ll slow it down... Buy you some time! Now go!"
"Lady Rosalina, you’re hurt!" Lylia said. "You can’t do that by yourself."
"I’m not alone," Rosalina said, pointing to the dozen or so Royal Knights who had gathered nearby. "And I’m not asking you for permission, Lylia."
"I’m telling you what to do, and it’s an order from me! Good Royal Knights take order!"
"Take care of yourselves. Look for the Elite Knights, and... stop that horrible thing!"
The Calamity was now moving, stalking the people who were running away with a terrifying purpose. With each step, the Calamity approached a blocked-off street, where people struggled to navigate the narrow passage.
"Now is the time to go!" Greg said, "Get up," and he was already pulling Lylia to her feet. "She’s right! We can’t help anyone if we’re dead."
Lylia looked torn, moving her eyes from Greg to her mentor. At last, she nodded and held on to the compass. "Don’t you dare die, Lady Rosalina."
"Not a chance," Rosalina said with a weak smile.
Then her expression hardened. "Knights! By my command! We will protect Meridian from any chaos!!!"
They ran straight towards Calamity with the determination to protect Meridian and the innocents.