NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: (2)
“Kraaahh!”
It was impossible for the soldiers to endure the relentless assault as the knights did.
As the harpies who broke through the formation dragged away one soldier at a time, the number of soldiers started to decrease, and they faced a collapsing formation.
“If it continues like this… Is there any way to save at least Tarien?”
If Tarien was good at swordsmanship, the old knight would have thought of breaking through rather than holding his ground.
The problem was that Tarien’s swordsmanship skills were not on par with a novice knight.
Taking that burden and trying to escape from the center would be no different from a suicidal act.
“Right! That’s it!”
The old knight, who had been slaughtering the harpies with his sword, suddenly had a flash of insight and turned around to face Tarien.
Tarien, partly in a state of panic, was looking around with hazy, absent-minded eyes.
Ironically, even in that state, he firmly gripped the harpy queen’s head with both hands, refusing to let go.
“Tarien!”
“Huh… huh?”
“Pull yourself together! That’s the only way to survive!”
The old knight shook Tarien’s shoulders forcefully, waking him up from his daze.
Perhaps he felt hope upon hearing those words.
Tarien’s vacant eyes returned to their normal state.
“You mean… I can survive? How? Please save me! I want to get out of here!”
“First, calm down, Tarien. Do you still have the necklace that you received from His Highness on your last birthday?”
“…The necklace? Are you talking about this?”
When Tarien put his hand into the gap in his plate armor and took out the necklace, a beautiful piece with a small gem attached to it appeared.
“That’s a relief! Pour some Aura into it right away!”
“Aura? You mean I have to release Aura outside…”
“Just pour it in as if you’re letting it flow naturally! Hurry!”
“Oh, okay.”
Tarien was capable of using Aura in a small amount, and could not release Aura through his sword, but it was something he could do if it involved simply letting Aura flow into an object.
After a moment, the necklace, which accepted Tarien’s Aura, started to emit light.
Wooong!
A transparent yellow sphere formed, enveloping Tarien and allowing him to see both inside and outside.
“Tarien, listen carefully. This is an artifact that His Highness secretly gave to you, prepared in case of unforeseen circumstances.”
“An artifact? Why didn’t he tell me about it?”
Depending on the performance, magic artifacts could be very expensive items that even lower nobles would find difficult to purchase.
“What’s important now is that the activated artifact will protect you, Tarien. From now until it’s safe, never let go of that necklace!”
“Ah, I understand.”
The old knight, as if finally relieved, left Tarien behind and stepped forward, starting to take down the harpies once again.
However, he had overlooked one thing: the fact that Tarien was holding the harpy queen’s head.
“Kyaahh!”
The harpies had been targeting the harpy queen’s body from the beginning.
If the relationship between an orc lord and orcs was that of a king and his subjects, then the relationship between a harpy queen and harpies was that of a mother and her children.
To the simple-minded harpies, reclaiming their mother’s body from the humans was the most important task.
And that became the cause of the problem.
Screech!
“Screaaam!”
“Kkaaaah!”
The harpies that were scratching the sphere enveloping Tarien with their claws realized that their own strength was futile.
So, they resorted to another method.
“Uh… Ugh!! Nooo!”
As a sharp, piercing screech that didn’t belong on the battlefield echoed, the knights who were slaughtering the harpies turned around, sensing something amiss.
What they saw was the harpies, carrying the sphere and slowly flying through the sky.
“T-Tarien!”
If only the sphere were flying on its own, they could let it be, but Tarien, their master, was inside.
“W-What should we do? Should I deactivate the artifact?”
Tarien urgently asked, directing his voice toward the ground.
The old knight, with a furrowed brow, briefly pondered before nodding his head.
“Groan… Tarien! You must never deactivate the magic! I will definitely rescue you, so you must hold on until then!”
If Tarien deactivated the magic now, it was clear that he would be at the mercy of the harpies before falling to the ground.
For now, there was no other way but for Tarien to preserve the artifact and, with it, his life.
**** ****
Phwoosh!
“Ugh… There they are! The knights!”
“We finally joined up!”
They had cut through hundreds of harpies to move a mere 20 meters.
Nevertheless, the price of their efforts was finally reaching the center where the knights were.
“Phew… It was really close. But it seems like the enemy’s assault has weakened, doesn’t it?”
Uncle Jeff, who was catching his breath, looked around as if seeking confirmation.
Indeed, as Uncle Jeff said, there was a noticeable decrease in the harpies’ assaults at some point.
“But… why do the knights…”
After struggling to join forces, the state of the knights didn’t seem good at all.
It resembled the appearance of someone who had given up on life.
“Um… Sir Knight?”
Approaching the old knight, who was the most familiar to him, and speaking to him, the old knight finally regained his senses and looked at Kaiyan with sad eyes.
“Phew… It’s all my fault. I let my guard down like a fool.”
“What?”
Kaiyan couldn’t grasp what exactly was wrong.
The old knight, burdened with reasons unknown to Kaiyan, blamed himself, leaving him unsure of how to respond.
“They… They’re escaping!”
“We have to kill them all! We need to kill them all right now!”
“So, that’s why the assault weakened?”
Through the gap in the harpy horde that had opened up at that moment, the battle cries of the Panielun allied forces reached their ears, revealing the reason behind the weakened assault.
The harpies were fleeing now, and there was a high probability that it was because the harpy queen had been killed.
“Haah… Now I finally feel a bit relieved. With the harpy queen dead, we can consider the Panielun battle over, right?”
“Haha! Of course! Even if they were to attack again, what could they do with such a small number?”
Max, as if agreeing with my words, replied.
Although there were still a few more days until the end of the monster wave, the aerial monsters had suffered significant damage through yesterday and today’s battles.
On top of that, with the harpy queen gone, even if there were still fortresses, the Panielun coalition forces could easily fend them off.
“If we rest comfortably, this monster wave will be over in no time! Puhaha!”
“…That’s not the case.”
The old knight, who had his eyes closed, quietly spoke, denying Max’s words.
And at that moment, Kaiyan felt a shiver run through his entire body, accompanied by an ominous feeling.
“Could it be…?”
That ominous feeling strongly warned him not to listen to the words of the old knight.
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