Vol 1 Chapter 55 (1/2)

Chapter 55

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 .

“Grrrah!!!” 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!”

Spears of fire, wind, and earth took shape and flew at the demon one after another . In the darkness, silver flashes of mana could be seen all around Veldaroth . Each time Veldaroth moved to attack, the magician fired a strong offensive spell at him . After each spell, the knights would immediately follow up with an attack . Their coordination was impeccable .