NOVEL NEXT Chapter 83.1
Stage 3-16. Carrying Hope
“Great work today as always, Vice Captain Ragnika!”
“Yeah. With this, even Captain Lily should be satisfied. You all did well out there.”
“Then… can we expect you to treat us today, Vice Captain?”
“Fine. But only after we finish today’s training menu.”
“““Ehhhhh?!”””
There’s a chorus of boos from behind, but no one is genuinely upset.
These men and women are the soldiers I’ve personally trained, tough and unyielding. I’m confident none of them would give up over something like this.
Having been promoted and given my own squad, we were returning from a mission hunting nearby magical beasts.
I expected to return with my cherished subordinates to the knights’ barracks and have another ordinary day flow by.
“Alright, let’s report quickly. For the sake of some fun time lat—”
The words died in my throat as I saw it.
The floor, walls, and ceiling of the barracks were all stained a deep red.
“What… is this…?”
“Is that… blood?”
The soldiers behind me froze in shock, their faces pale with dread.
Knowing that panic would only worsen the situation, I shouted instructions.
“Everyone, draw your swords! Those with little combat experience, head to the royal palace to report this! The rest of you, search the area in pairs. If you find the perpetrator, raise the alarm immediately! Move!”
“““Understood!!”””
Regaining their composure at the last second, the soldiers scattered and rushed into the barracks.
Once they had gone, I began my own inspection.
What I encountered was a nightmare.
The dormitories, the training grounds, the dining hall.
Everywhere, the corpses of Holy Knights lay strewn about.
Amid the carnage, there was one figure still moving.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“What… what are you doing…?”
I desperately wanted it to be a mistake. A bad dream, and I was still in bed.
But my pounding heart and the nauseating stench of blood confirmed the grim reality.
“What are you doing, Captain Lily?!”
Her movements stopped abruptly. Slowly, with an eerie, doll-like stiffness, she turned to face me.
Her once-silver hair, now dulled and matted with dried blood.
Her once-fair skin, mottled with grime and crimson stains.
Most of all, her ruby-red eyes, which I had always admired, were now lifeless.
The one who had slaughtered the knights, attacking them with a blank expression, was none other than the person we all revered.
“Guh—!”
“…”
Captain Lily lunged toward me, her sword striking with a weight that felt as oppressive as ever.
“Captain! Answer me! Why would you do something so horrible?!”
“…”
“Why?!”
No matter how many times I asked, she didn’t reply. Her sword was her only answer.
“Gah… Raaaah!”
Desperately parrying her blows, I managed to force her into a blade lock.
The woman before me was like a corpse come to life, radiating the stench of death.
The brilliance that had once defined Lilishane Spride was completely tarnished.
Was she under some kind of spell?
But no magic I’d ever heard of could control a person so thoroughly. And someone like her falling victim to such sorcery was unimaginable.