38 – Assault

Hide the young warrior’s body for later retrieval, grab his sword and move on.

His powerless steps staggered and his vision faltered. I hear tinnitus in my ears, and mana is still frozen and cannot be operated.

It’s stupid to walk around the limbs in this state, but I can’t stand still because I’ve seen the death of a young warrior who didn’t even leave a scream.

The thought of saving even one more person by adding even a weak force clings to me, so I take a staggering step.

When I walked for a long time with a staggering step, I heard the sound of footsteps instead of the cries of the monster.

The sound gradually gets closer, and the owners of the sound show their faces. Ten or so armed warriors and a dozen handmaidens.

The ladies-in-waiting looked fine, but the warriors looked miserable. Cracked weapons and armor stained with black blood. And those with big and small injuries.

Just by looking at it, I could guess what had happened. They must have encountered monsters, and they must have fought while protecting the ladies-in-waiting.

“Meet Confucius.”

The oldest-looking warrior comes forward and takes a bow. Looking at him, I slightly raised the sheathed sword and opened my mouth in the northern warrior style.

“Looks like you encountered a monster.”

“That’s right.”

“So, are there any dead?”

“Two deaths have been confirmed.”

My mouth is dry at those words. Since there were roughly 30 warriors who followed them on an escort mission, one out of 10 had already died.

“No, there are three of them.”

With that said, the atmosphere becomes a bit gloomy. In a slightly gloomy atmosphere, the young warrior opens his mouth.

“Could you tell me your name or how you look?”

“He was a young warrior with brown hair and many freckles.”

“Jose…”

I chew on the name that came out of the young warrior’s mouth. Instead of running away from death, he chews on the names of the warriors he fought against and engraves them in his heart. Create a tomb in your heart and open your mouth.

“Does any of you know the location of the supply depot?”

They and I won’t be able to last long, so we need potions and extra weapons from the supply depot.

“I know.”

A warrior with a mustache steps forward.

“I was heading there, and I met Confucius.”

“Right. Then I will accompany you.”

“All right.”

Follow the warrior with the mustache. Shortly after moving, the warrior who had shown his respect as a representative approached.

“Confucius, are Lord Soga and Her Highness safe?”

“I don’t know. I tried to go up to report the current situation, but I couldn’t check because there was a wall between here and the upper floor.”

“okay.”

Silence comes after the man’s words, and we move our feet silently in the silence. As I walked like that, a door a little bigger than the other rooms appeared. We opened the door and went inside.

Plenty of spare spears, swords, maces and shields. And boxes that I don’t know what’s inside come into my eyes. We grabbed extra weapons and opened the chest.

It’s not generous, but it’s not that low, and a small amount of intermediate potion. A generous amount of bandages and splints. And based on the number of people now, food that could be enough for 15 days.

It’s not bad. These are sufficient materials for maintenance.

We distributed potions, those with severe injuries took the potions immediately, and those with minor injuries used bandages. Since I belong to the former, I poured the potion into my mouth.

The bitter aroma and taste fills the mouth and throat, and pain comes to the wounded area. At the end of the pain that came, the wounds that restricted his actions disappeared. The vitality lost along with the wounds returned a little.

Maintenance is almost over, and you need to decide what to do next. Will you go looking for people who are away? Or, would he wait on the stairs leading to the princess’s room?

If you think rationally, waiting on the stairs is the right thing to do. By now, the rest of the people should have more or less grouped together, and they too will head for the stairs or move around to join them. And since it must be the same group as what happened now and the instigator of the raid, they will find the princess.

I think so, but since I’m not the one with the authority, I need to get their consent. To get their consent, I approached the most senior-looking person.

“I’d like to discuss future actions, is that okay?”

“Please speak comfortably.”

He said so, but his expression didn’t look very good. It deserves it. Not even a member of the same knights, and a 20-year-old kid saying this. I just know that since I’m Iris’ fiancé, you’re respecting my words.

“I think it’s good to occupy the stairs leading to the princess’s room and wait, but what does Kyung think?”

“I was thinking that too.”

Judging by the expression on his face when he said that, it doesn’t seem like he was forced to agree.

“I’m glad you think the same. Then, I will ask you to tell me this story.”

He nodded and called the people together.

“After the maintenance, we will occupy the stairs leading to Her Highness’s room, and prepare for an unforeseen situation. If you have any objections, speak up now.”

After his words ended, silence came.

“Then I understand that there is no objection.”

After his words, he finished the maintenance and moved on. When I moved quite a bit, I felt a sense of difference. I encountered the second monster, and I haven’t met another monster since. Although the mana-sealing monster was formidable, it was too weak to attack the imperial palace again with this amount of water.

it’s so annoying No matter how much I think about it, the thought that it’s a smoke screen or that there’s something else lingers in my head.

As I walked with the thoughts running through my head, I arrived at the stairs. A group had already arrived at the stairs. Fifteen warriors and about twenty maids. Most of the personnel currently residing in the Lily Palace have gathered here.

Twenty-five out of thirty warriors gathered, and three died. The two unconfirmed are most likely dead. My mouth is watering at that thought again.

When I was feeling bitter, I heard the cry of the beast. That cry was somehow bizarre. A grotesque cry approaches, and we draw our weapons and wait for it.

The grotesque cries disappeared, and the owner of the cries appeared with a heavy step. A wolf’s face that resembled a person strangely, and a body with black thorns that moved like a living creature. The look is familiar. It looked similar to the monster I saw in the snowfield. At that thought, he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Everyone beware! That guy is a guy who doesn’t get cut even if he uses an aura. And the blood is poisonous, and the thorns are also dangerous, so be careful! Handmaids, go upstairs as much as possible without touching the red wall.”

After my words, the beast kicks the ground and runs. We dodge the monster’s charge, enclosing it wide.

“He’s a strong guy, so those in front don’t take the attack and let it go!”

Saying so, I settled down on the side of the monster. I put the sword I had taken out earlier into the scabbard, took out the mace I had prepared earlier, and swung it. A heavy repelling force is transmitted beyond the swinging mace. I chose a mace instead of a sword that couldn’t be cut, but it doesn’t seem to mean much.

While thinking so, the body does not rest. The free-moving tentacles were slashed with difficulty, and the attack continued.

As the attack continued, the monster’s cries grew louder. Proportionately, our shouts grew.

“If you let go of the attack, don’t overdo it and get back!”

“Don’t focus too much on the attack, be aware of the tentacles!”

Along with the voices of those who seemed to be veterans, the sloppy flow began to align. The flow rushes in and out like waves. The flow gradually becomes faster and stronger. As the flow gradually intensified, the monster’s struggle intensified.

In the intense struggle, an empty space is created in the flow, but others fill the empty space and continue the flow. The flow of fluid movement continued, and the monster’s movement slowed down. The slowed movement made the flow rougher and stronger.

The mighty monster gasped for breath as it gradually grew stronger and vomited blood. The flow was interrupted by smoke rising from the blood. The flow was broken, but it didn’t matter because the monster had lost the power to resist any longer.

Another flow was created from the cut off flow, and that flow choked the monster. The monster could not overcome the flow and collapsed.

We stab the weak parts of the fallen monsters, and announce the end of the battle. After I said the end, I was able to calm my rough breathing and my beating heart.

When we, having won the victory, try to rest, the smell of blood flows down. I look up at the smell. Blood flows down from the top of the stairs, and the blood covers the monster’s corpse. Black smoke billowed out from all sides and covered the monster’s corpse.

Blood and smoke intertwined to form a dark red orb. An ominous and alien aura emanates from the sphere.

“For the great Scarlett’s wish!”

With that sound from the top of the stairs, the maid jumped down toward the sphere. The maid’s body touched the orb and exploded. The bursting blood and flesh lingered and covered the sphere. Red light emanated from the orb covered in blood and flesh.

Red light encroached on this place, and cracks formed in the sphere. The cracked sphere split open, and a woman came out. Dark red hair and eyes the same color as blood. Black clothes with the pattern of the Church of Armis inverted. And the momentum that seemed to press down on this space.

Instinct screams at all of it to run away. The body, out of control, tries to follow its instincts, but the body does not move.

When I am having such a bizarre experience, a woman who has taken over the space with only her momentum looks at me and opens her mouth.

“I came to pick Armis’ flowers, but there seems to be someone more precious.”

The woman speaks incomprehensibly and smiles eerily.