12. Opportunities are always in desperate moments
“Uh… That… Mr. Gracie! This way…”
Following the occasional bloodstains and sparsely engraved traces of battle, Max and his party of warriors, who were busy moving, stopped in a wide open space.
“The supply unit again…”
Wrecks and blood from wagons scattered here and there, and scars from violently scratched battles.
Max and Adrien, who were looking around with alert eyes, quietly lowered their weapons when no enemies were seen around them.
“It seems that there are no enemies around… Did you say Max? This kind of vigilance is originally the role of a scout. From now on, just do it yourself.”
“Uh… Yes… Sorry.”
Gracie, who had been leading the way with Max, approached the wagon with the hero to inspect the wreckage.
“This trace… Looks similar to the one before?”
“Hmm… It looks like there are some guys targeting the supply unit.”
The moment Gracie and the hero, who confirmed that the traces of the merciless massacre using the long range were engraved here and there, moved their steps to return to the party members.
“…To…”
At the faint voice coming from somewhere, the legs of the two stood still.
“…Gracy. I just…”
“Hmm… I heard that too.”
Gulp. Swallowing, I closed my eyes for a moment and focused my attention on hearing, and again a faint voice began to flow into Gracie and the hero’s ears.
“To… Give… To live… To…”
“…A survivor.”
“Are there survivors…?”
Unable to ignore the mournful voices that continued to be heard, Gracie and the hero moved their bodies cautiously to examine the inside of the wagon that was making noises.
“Save… Give… Save…”
The hero and Gracie peek inside the wagon with a wary eye.
“…What is that…?”
Inside it, a grotesque object resembling dough was wriggling and begging for help over and over again.
“Buy me… Give me…”
A spherical object wriggling ceaselessly like slime began to slowly approach the hero and Gracie.
“…Step back for now.”
After Gracie stepped back for a moment, the hero squirmed and cautiously stretched out his hand toward the grotesque object approaching him.
– Mulkeong
“Help…Give me…Live…”
“…It doesn’t look dangerous… But it doesn’t look like a monster…”
While he was carefully fiddling with the object, which had a soft feel that fit in his hand and elasticity like slime, Maya, who had come close to him before he knew it, began to take a closer look at the object the hero was fiddling with.
“…Monsters. No… The smell of monsters. It doesn’t. Rather than monsters. Rather…”
It is close to human.
The moment the thought flashed through Maya’s head, bright red light began to leak from the object that was wriggling in the hero’s hand and changing its shape over and over again.
At the same time, the scent of magical power spreads…
…No way?
“Hero!! Get that out of my hands!!!”
Maya panted, straightening her staff, and deploying protective magic, shouting at the hero.
“Uh… What is this?”
“Quickly throw it away!! It’s a trap!!”
At that moment, the object held in the hero’s hand flashed and shone and began to instantly attract the red magic power that had spread around it.
The moment when the hero realized that something was going wrong and threw the unknown object back into the carriage and it left the hero’s hand.
– Peruuuong!!!!!!!!!!
With a roar that shook the earth, the blood mist began to spread from the condensed red mana that exploded.
“Kuhhhhh also! Adrienne ass!!
“Hero! Warrior!! Are you okay?!”
“Collock..!! Ugh… Thanks to Maya… I’m alive…”
“Isabel! Come on, get a treat..!”
His life was saved thanks to the Maya’s protection magic that unfolded at the same time as the explosion and he twisted his body to avoid it, but the warrior’s condition was not so good as he received the explosion right in front of his nose.
Due to the wave of magical power that he could not avoid, the hero who grabbed his bloody side and began to grasp the surrounding situation while being treated by Isabel.
– Jeobeok Jeobeok
The blood-colored fog lifted little by little, and other figures appeared.
“Is it really the hope of the continent? To be able to survive even after being pustled with blood right in front of you.”
The sound of approaching footsteps died down, and soon the fog lifted.
“It’s been a while, warrior.”
“…Defal…!”
The party of warriors and Depal’s Lompalia Raiders, who surrounded them, glared at each other and quietly drew their weapons.
“There’s no such thing as a stumbling block, so I’m falling for such a shallow trap. Today, I’m going to cut the heads of the four b*tches and give them a gift.”
“If you want to try it, try it..!”
The blue spear held by Depal vibrated and trembled, and the holy sword drawn by the warrior also started emitting bright light as it hummed.
“…Uh… Dragon… Sir…?”
“…Max. Get ready for battle.”
Unexpectedly, Max had an arrow attached to his bow and instinctively noticed the gaze filled with intense intent to kill himself and his companions.
I am dying here. Do.
* * *
“What kind of grass grows taller than me? See, I want to set it on fire.”
As I quietly cursed at the grass that kept tickling my eyes, Robin, who was scanning the surroundings next to me, tapped me with his elbow and opened his mouth.
“…Senior. We’re getting closer. The distance is about 200 steps… The number… About 30 people are gathered. Is it a supply unit?”
“Well, if you detect 30 people at a time, it must be a supply unit.”
When I answered without hesitation as I pushed through the grass that got in the way, Robin tilted his head and expressed his question.
“But… What the hell… Is that child’s voice I heard earlier?”
“Do you know Nandle? Well, a high-ranking lady like our princess can refrain.”
The sons of noble families who usually come to gain practical experience are often placed in supply units or in the rear standby group rather than in the dangerous front lines.
I wonder if he took about 30 steps like that. Suddenly, pebbles on the ground rose slightly, and soon after, a huge explosion violently pierced my ears.
“Awesome…! This is…?”
“What… What…?”
Princess Alexis and I were dumbfounded and spoke in a bewildered voice. Royman, who had been standing firm despite the loud noise reverberating in his ears, took a deep breath and opened his mouth while holding the flail.
“…It seems the evil energy is paralyzing your nose. You need to move faster.”
“Uh… Yeah well… If you do that’s it… Princess Alexis, are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m just a little surprised…”
At a moment of embarrassment, we soon calmed down and put on a nervous expression, cautiously approaching the source of the sound, wary of our surroundings.
“…Fighting. Did you face a depal?”
We accelerated our steps at the sound of metal clashing weapons that could be heard in the distance.
As we approached the remaining distance of about 100 steps from the beings caught by Robin’s detection, the thick green hell split open and a flat plain suddenly opened up in front of us.
“…That’s…”
With the smell of blood piercing the nose, a bloody and fleshy battle was in full swing.
The Living Armors, who looked to be about twenty, and the Depals who were spearheading the enemies.
And…
“…Why are those b*tches here?”
The four-year-old warriors and thugs who were frantically taking back Depal’s double attacks came into my eyes.
What is it? Weren’t you chasing Argyle?
Since I was momentarily taken aback by the party of warriors who popped out of nowhere, I could see that the warriors and thugs were getting pushed back by the outnumbered enemy and Depal’s ceaseless series of attacks.
Looking at the blood flowing down his side, he must have been attacked…
…Should I help?
“…Hey, Royman. Should I just kill Depal and slit his throat at the end of the fight? It’s a bit silly to say this, but I don’t really have a relationship with the dragon…?”
In Royman’s seat, where he had just been crouching behind me, all I could see was the grass crushed by Royman’s gigantic figure.
What the heck, where did this bastard go?
I couldn’t hide my uneasiness and looked around to find Royman. Suddenly, Robin tapped me on the shoulder and pointed forward.
“Senior… Over there…”
I reflexively followed Robin’s fingertips and looked forward.
“…Oh, f*ck. Really.”
I spat out curse words and immediately ran towards Royman, who was standing facing Depal.
That asshole, for real!
* * *
“Kuh… Maya! When will Flame Storm be ready!”
The hero who received the spear of Depal shouted without looking back, but Maya, who had already focused on the chant, did not hear it.
‘Damn… Was that a trap?! This f*ck…!’
– Chaeng!
One more match came and went, and the warrior who distanced himself from Depal spat out bloody saliva.
It’s dangerous at this rate.
If you had noticed the trap… If you had noticed it and prepared for the raid… Wouldn’t the situation have been better?
Austin’s face suddenly came to mind in such a hero’s mind.
Austin’s presence, who always removed traps with a keen eye and gave warnings in advance, began to mess with the warrior, Lee Yu-jeong’s head once again.
“You can call it cowardly. If you don’t do this, it will be next to impossible to catch you…”
At her, Depal, who had an expressionless face unique to Argyle dolls, pointed her spear at her once again.
The hero felt that his side, which had barely stopped bleeding from Isabel’s healing light for a moment, was getting hot again, and grabbed hold of his holy sword with strength.
Short of breath, and feeling hot blood leaking from his mouth again, the hero once again confronted the Devil’s spear to buy time for Maya’s chanting.
The moment when swords and spears collided dozens of times, sweat and blood mixed, raising the heat of battle.
“…?”
I could see a priest walking out from behind Depal’s back.
“…What.”
Defal also must have felt the presence behind his back, so he distanced himself from the hero and then turned his head behind him and fixed his eyes on the priest.
Due to the sudden appearance of a third party, the battle between the Living Armor and his party was temporarily suspended.
“…Who are you? A hero and a companion?”
Depal turned the spear head and aimed the spear at the priest who suddenly appeared.
Depal’s senses were instinctively alerting him that the priest in front of him was in danger.
The silence subsided for a moment, and the priest, who did not respond to Depal’s question, raised his head and began to look up at the sky.
“…?”
At such bizarre behavior of the priest, not only Depal, but also the warrior and his companions tilted their heads and looked at the priest.
The priest, who continued to look up at the sky, soon lowered his head again, stared at Depal, and spat out words that didn’t make sense.
“…This is rare.”
“If you don’t want to die, get out of here. If you don’t disappear right away, I’ll consider you one of the heroes.”
Even with Depal’s threat, the priest did not back down.
The priest in front of me just slowly lowered his hand, holding the flail and bizarre-looking whip hanging from his waist in both hands, his eyes shining red.
As the viciously glowing flail came down with a creaking sound, Depal flinched in unknown anxiety.
The priest in front of me, who hadn’t shown any movement until now, finally began to take one step closer to Defal, holding his weapon in both hands.
“…He doesn’t want you dead. It’s rare.”
“…..What?”
“Like Bacchus, I will make you a body that cannot die even if you want to die.”
When the name of Bacchus, who suddenly disappeared a few months ago, came out of the mouth of the priest in front of him, Depal gripped his spear in a thrill he felt for the first time in his life.
“…He wants your limbs. Wicked one.”
As the grass behind the priest parted again, the spiked whip began to lash out.
Wow…for real…?