Chapter 55 (1/2)

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Chapter 55 – Demon (Part 3)

”No. I will not leave this girl alone. I know it's dangerous, but I won't run away.”

”But Laura, you could get hurt.”

”It's a demon, ya know? Its target is this girl and us adventurers. You shouldn't get yourself caught up in this too!”

Despite Paul and Louis' pleas, Laura refused to give in. Seeing how tightly she hugged Evelina, Oort guessed that she had grown attached to the avian girl. Oort examined his left arm, which had been healed with magic, while listening to the argument unfolding in front of the house.

”It looks like your injured arm will be fine.”

”Yeah, thanks.”

Oort turned to the smiling, young man in magician's robes. He was the sole magician among the knights who were sent here. The golden amulet engraved with a pentagram hanging from his neck signified his status as an Imperial Court Magician.

”I'm glad it healed up well.”

Oort turned back towards the three people who were arguing.

”Seems like they couldn't persuade her.”

”Yeah, looks like it.”

Having given up, Paul and Louis dejectedly walked away, leaving Laura standing there defiantly.

”Well, I guess such a young kid would have gotten in the way during combat, so we needed someone to look after her anyway. But we can't guarantee her safety.” The magician peered at Laura and quietly clicked his tongue.

”How surprising. I thought that the Imperial Magicians were all just prideful sn.o.bs. I didn't think you'd admit to the possibility of failure.”

”Haha, good one. But just between us…” The magician lowered his voice and said, ”The ones who get sent to battle aren't exactly high-status. We're essentially commoners. Well, there are exceptions, but…”

”I see.”

The magician led Oort to the gra.s.sy plains adjoining Laura's fields. They were planning to fight the demon on the plains to minimize any damage to the surrounding area. As they walked beside each other, Oort felt several gazes upon him. The stares came from the five knights keeping watch on the plains. Upon receiving Oort's news about the demon, the Adventurer's Guild immediately requested for aid from the Knight Order. But their only reinforcements were merely five knights and a young magician.

Wait a minute! You're up against a demon, right? What were they thinking, sending so few people?! shouted Lilia the receptionist when she had found out.

Oort hesitantly asked, ”…Do you think we have enough people to win?”

”I guess it'd be great if we could win with just us,” replied the magician with a troubled expression.

Demons who served under the Demon Lord were split into three cla.s.ses based upon strength. The Demon Dukes, Marquis, and Counts were the strongest demons. Demon Viscounts and Barons formed the second cla.s.s while Demon Knights and Demon Soldiers were the third cla.s.s. Demons who held a rank of Count or higher possessed their own names. The higher their rank, the stronger the demon was. Once, long ago, a Demon Duke appeared and brought a thriving civilization to ruins.

In the present, five hundred years later, the border between the humans and demons had reached the country just northwest of Lemmroussell. Despite this, the only people in the Empire who felt any sense of crisis were the people who lived near the northwestern border and the soldiers on the front lines. To those deep in the heart of the empire, it was just a remote issue on the level of fighting off random monsters. Having never felt the flames of war, the Empire decided it was enough to simply send a few knights to the warfront whenever they were asked to support the continental war effort.

”Well, here's what the higher-ups think. Demons don't just randomly appear, even on the front lines, so your information must be faulty. They paid more attention to the fact that the demon looked like a giant kobold than the fact that the demon had the name Veldaroth. This case is unprecedented, so it's not too surprising that they didn't believe you,” shrugged the magician, clicking his tongue a few more times. Oort guessed that the tongue-clicking was a habit.

”We may not be much, but as much as we don't want to, we'll give it our all.”

”We'll be counting on you.”

The two men looked on as the sun set over the horizon. The sky was dyed blood-red. The three-day deadline was over, and the third night was coming.

The sun had set, and dusk had arrived.

”Big Brother…”

The adventurers standing a small distance from the knights were the first to notice the disturbance. Laura hugged Evelina tightly to her chest. They had decided that they should come along, since they would have been in danger anyway, even if they had stayed back at the house. Leti's gaze was fixated on a single corner of the fields. She clung tightly onto Wynn. There was a pitch-black shadow in that corner.

”What the h.e.l.l? There's only this many of ya?” Veldaroth sneered as his body materialized from the shadow.

”That's no kobold!”

”That's a demon… It's definitely not a kobold!”

”d.a.m.n higher-ups! It's all because they didn't read the report!”

Wynn could hear the knights' groans in front of him.

”Y'all underestimated me. Hey. Are ya sure ya understood that this was gonna be a fight for yer lives? I ain't lettin' any of ya go, yanno?” Ignoring the panicked knights in front of him, Veldaroth issued a death sentence to the adventurers behind them. The same suffocating pressure from their last encounter enveloped the adventurers. The knights standing between them were not spared from his intimidating aura. Bone-chilling fear penetrated everyone present, causing them to shudder.

”T-this is…”

Is this it? Stopped with only his bloodl.u.s.t? Oort raised his s.h.i.+eld as if trying to ward off the intimidating pressure. He glanced at Leti next to him. The girl was curled up, hiding behind Wynn's back.

Did she also feel this same bloodl.u.s.t last time? Oort was impressed by the girl's mental fort.i.tude. A more feeble-minded person would've lost consciousness by now. Although the battle-hardened knights and adventurers had shrunk back, they were still conscious. Oort noticed that Laura hadn't succ.u.mbed to the pressure either. She continued to hug Evelina tightly, enduring that fearsome bloodthirst. However, enduring was all they could do. Everyone, including the knights, were frozen in place, barely able to keep themselves from being overwhelmed.

Everyone, save for one.

Oort saw something move from the corner of his eye. Wynn strode forward, unsheathing his sword to point it at Veldaroth.

”…Som-someone like you… There's no way you'll win!” he boldly declared, red-faced as he protectively moved Leti behind him. His words freed everyone else from Veldaroth's spell.

”Tch! The enemy is a demon! We've prepared for this! Draw your swords! Move according to plan!” the magician ordered, leading the knights.

”I seek strength!” the knights chanted in unison, and their bodies were enveloped in light.

”Oh frozen ice, take form!” chanted one of the knights, and ice formed at Veldaroth's feet. At the same time, a spike sprouted from the ground and stabbed at Veldaroth's chest. The sharp tip would have penetrated through a normal human with ease.

”Oraoraora!” Veldaroth swung the same giant club he had last time. The magically formed spear was smashed to bits, sending shards into the air. The three knights who weren't chanting closed in. Their manimbued swords cut silver arcs through the debris.

”There was no impact?!”

”Hey, up here!” Veldaroth had jumped high in the air, and then his club came swinging down onto the three knights. There was a crash as the club smashed into their s.h.i.+elds.

”They blocked it!” Oort exclaimed in surprise. The knights were able to endure the blow that had broken his left arm. Veldaroth was knocked back by the recoil from the blow, and tried to regain his footing.

”Oh l.u.s.ter of Steel! Rend the void with a thousand blades!” chanted the magician when he gathered enough mana. Veldaroth crouched into a defensive stance as countless glittering metallic shards appeared and rained down upon him.

”Whoa…” Someone's amazed voice reached Wynn's ears as he watched the battle breathlessly. Leti was also timidly watching the battle unfold from behind his back.

So strong! Amazing! So cool! The knights Wynn so admired were now fighting right before his eyes! His heart danced. The attack that the adventurers hadn't been able to endure didn't overwhelm the knights. Instead, they had even been able to repel such a strong blow.

”I knew it! Knights really are the strongest!” Wynn boasted to Leti, unable to contain his excitement. ”So so awesome! I want to be just like them!”