Chapter 133: From Acceptance To Chaos (2/2)

The change happened right at that moment.

The first thing Loren could sense was a sweet aroma tickling the back of his nose; it felt just like a flower’s nectar was mixed into the air. Loren reflexively covered his mouth with a hand, but he couldn’t stop breathing.

“Wh-what is this?”

Noticing that Karl’s confused voice seemed to be strangely faraway, Loren beat at his chest. Every time he breathed in the heartburn-inducing air, a haze shrouding his consciousness. Loren fell to his knees.

It also appeared to affect the cavalry; some began to fall from their horses with a confused expression on their faces.

“Loren-san, are you alright?”

He couldn’t help breathing but every time he did, his consciousness became hazy. Loren could feel an alarm bell ringing somewhere in his head, telling him to run away from this place immediately. But his arms and legs just wouldn’t do what they were told.

Just when he thought how ugly it was to be like this, Lapis, who was standing beside him, put her hands under his arms and helped him up. The tone of her voice was unexpectedly calm.

“Things seem to have become strange again.”

Even though she was talking right next to him, her voice also seemed to come from a distance. It was just like getting drunk on some strong wine. Loren desperately shook his head to maintain his consciousness, but the drunkenness became stronger every time he breathed; so that just standing by himself became a difficult thing.

“Lapis… Are you alright?”

“Yeah, of course I am. Won’t you praise me?”

Lapis said with a grin. As Loren staggered on his feet, she kept a hand on his waist and lent him a shoulder to help him stand. But he couldn’t even reply to that; his consciousness had begun to dim.

“What about Klaus and the others?”

“Seems like the ladies are no good. They have all gone down. Klaus-san is… amazingly, he seems fine.”

“The cavalry…”

“All are no good. Most have fallen from their horses and just lied there.”

“Is that… so…”

He couldn’t collect his thoughts at all; just breathing had become a rough thing to do.

Loren suddenly became very aware of Lapis’ body pushing against him. As he grasped her free hand for a moment without really knowing what he was thinking, he got a punch to his face. The pain radiating from his cheek and the taste of blood inside his mouth woke his mind for just a moment, and his awareness immediately turned hazy again.

“Just what is this, really…?”

“Well? This… seems to have become a critical situation.”

Lapis’ tone changed, which signaled Loren once more that they were in a really bad situation. But even as he thought about options, the sweet scent pouring into his mouth and nose scattered all thoughts away.

“A poison…?”

“I don’t think so. To be able to penetrate Loren’s protection that easily, the culprit seems to be quite brutal.”

Lapis answered. She looked around and quietly clucked her tongue.

“And, we’re surrounded.”

Numerous human figures began to emerge from the shades of the trees. Where had that many people hidden up until now? They looked like villagers and soldiers, and their appearances and genders varied. They slowly walked up, grabbed the immobile soldiers that had fallen from their horses and dragged them into the depth of the forest.

Would the horses panic and go on a rampage? Strange, wondered Lapis, while casually waved her arm at an approaching human figure. The head of the figure that had been trying to grab her was shredded just by that action, with the pieces flying up and disappearing into the trees. Blood squirted up from the headless body.

The scent of blood woke Loren’s mind a little.

“Run…”

“It’s difficult to. Klaus!”

Lapis called and Klaus, who was keeping the girls up, turned around. His face was painted with surprise: at the unfamiliar expressions on Lapis’ face or at the change of the situation, no one knew.

“Can you run?”

“I-I’m not sure. I can’t leave the rest behind.”

“You’re right. Let’s see if we can use the horses for transportation.”

“What about the soldiers?!”

“Let’s abandon them. It’s impossible to save everyone anyway.”

Lapis hurriedly gave Klaus instruction, and he immediately began to load the unconscious girls on the back of a horse that wasn’t shifting around.

Lapis kicked down one approaching figure and grabbed the collar of another and shoved it into a tree. Then she lightly lifted Loren, who was still leaning on her shoulder, to a horse’s back and nimbly sat astride it herself.

“It’ll be nice if we can escape by running away, but that must be impossible.”

“Where can we run to?!”

With three people on a horse, there was no more space for a rider. Klaus had no choice but to take the reins and pulled the horse along. Lapis shrugged at him.

“Well, where to, I wonder? Away from here at least. Let’s go.”

“Understood. I’ll leave the destination to you!”

Lapis wondered what to do if the horse wouldn’t run, but it obediently broke into a run with a light kick to the stomach. In order to keep up with the horses, Klaus activated a on himself and followed her with enhanced speed and vigor.