NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43
Margaret’s arrival was unfortunately delayed. If it were up to her, she would have wanted to march swiftly straight to Harriet’s Territory, but problems arose in the area between Eramenia and the Audrich Empire.
When leaving the borders of Eramenia, Walter Hellhound had given a warning.
“Be careful not to be followed. Eramenia might have caught on to the fact that they are aiming to reinforce their Legion, so surveillance in this area will be intense. They may not be able to deploy a large army openly, but the movement of the princess could draw attention.”
Margaret understood the seriousness of Walter’s warning.
In the mountain area between the forests of Eramenia and the borders of the Audrich Empire, no human or fairy resides. Although the mountains aren’t treacherous enough to cause problems in crossing, they have long been considered a sacred boundary separating fairy territories from human lands.
In other words, these mountains are one of the few hiding places where the Demon King’s Army can lurk without worry.
Walter proposed that the main infiltration route for succubi into the stronghold came through these mountains, leading to several joint clean-up operations planned between the Audrich forces and the Eramenia army, all of which fell through due to practical issues.
The Audrich lacked the soldiers to maintain the borders, and Eramenia did not feel a significant military threat from the Demon King’s Army hiding in the mountains. The fairy forest was a strong enough barrier that it didn’t require protection from the mountains.
Lost in the forests of Eramenia, demonic creatures risk being silently killed by the Elf guard. Additionally, an unauthorized presence, especially a demonic creature lost within the sacred woods of Elves, has almost no chance unless they were to burn the entire forest down.
Thus, the Demon King also couldn’t carelessly send troops into the forest of Eramenia, and even if they wanted to observe the movements of the Fairy Kingdom, they would have to rely on reconnaissance units positioned within the mountainous regions. If Margaret were to climb out of the forest, naturally, the eyes of these units would gravitate towards the fairy princess who appeared.
“If that’s the case, isn’t it risky to move without a guard right now?”
“Honestly, if the situation weren’t so urgent, I would advise you to avoid the mountains and take the longer southern route. I also hastily killed five kobolds while crossing the mountains to get here. They have a keen sense of smell. If it’s just about throwing them off, it could take some time, but if we need to root them out, it’ll require effort.”
“We don’t have the time to detour south. We’ll have to push through to the west.”
“I don’t think it’ll become exceedingly dangerous, but still, be careful. Bernard has just recently faced an assassination threat. There might be some desperate members of the Demon King’s Army among the enemy trying to kill any of us.”
Margaret repeated Walter’s warning and slowly climbed the mountain. How long had it been? As Walter said, Margaret’s sensitive hearing began to catch the sound of approaching enemy footsteps. It was a noise and presence that ordinary humans, or even exceptionally skilled humans, wouldn’t hear. Even if they did, the sound was so subtle it could be mistaken for a bug munching on a leaf.
But Margaret, being an exceptionally talented elf lord, did not miss the sound of the kobold scratching at the ground.
Ears perked up, she focused on the sound. The enemy was roughly 200 meters away. From the sound of their footsteps, it didn’t seem there were many of them.
With those numbers, even if they aimed for Margaret’s life, it would only mean adding a few rotten corpses to the mountains. However, it was highly likely that they were just a reconnaissance team, so Margaret wanted to shake them off while moving rather than engage directly.
As Walter said, there was no guarantee that the Demon King’s Army wouldn’t seek revenge for the lich lord’s assassination. If it had been the meticulous Rose instead of the somewhat reckless Walter, she would have likely denounced Margaret for attempting to cross the mountains alone at such a time.
“Maybe I should have brought escorts after all…”
Margaret muttered, feeling unnecessarily anxious. But even if she had brought escorts, she wasn’t sure how far she could take them, and it seemed the best choice was to sneak through the mountains as discreetly as possible rather than burden herself with more baggage.
Considering that Margaret’s combat skills were capable of handling dozens of the most powerful elf warriors at once, having one or two escorts wouldn’t have significantly bolstered her strength.
Still, there was a reason she regretted being without escorts. It was simply that there was no one to keep watch in her place, and she had been dozing off almost every night wrapped in the banner of her legion.
Even while dozing, her sensitive ears were always perked, detecting every sound around her. Occasionally, when she would wake up unnecessarily to the sound of a squirrel, even the most charitable elf princess couldn’t help but feel irritated.
“At least it’s good that I brought the flag. It’s the only thing I have to cover myself.”
Margaret murmured as she wrapped herself in the green flag like a cloak. She was pressed for time and needed to move, but to shake off her pursuers, she was purposefully rushing down an erratic path and zigzagging around.
Naturally, her energy was depleting, and her body grew weary, but the greatest issue was that her efforts weren’t yielding any results.
Margaret’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of a group of kobolds moving nearby, no matter where she traveled. She considered escaping urgently down the mountains, but assessing the overall situation, it clearly wouldn’t be a wise decision.
For the first two days, Margaret thought the pursuers had an extraordinary tenacity in following her.
However, no matter how fast the kobolds moved, if she could still hear their footsteps everywhere, it dawned on Margaret that the reason was that the enemies were scattered all over the mountain.
While Margaret was wandering around the mountains, they couldn’t easily attack, but with this many, they would likely try to ambush at the moment she attempted to descend.
Even for Margaret, if surrounded by kobolds in the mountains, there was no guarantee she could come out unscathed. She tightly wrapped the flag around her and secured it like a cloak, drawing two daggers from her waist and strapping them in front of her boots.
Margaret lightly clashed the two blades sprouting from her boots, producing a metallic sound. The combat style of utilizing her feet was something she relied on when facing a number of enemies that couldn’t be handled with just her hands.
“The only remaining method is to take them out individually. They said it would take considerable effort to root them out, so this is the only option.”
Margaret perked her ears and began to lightly sniff the air around her. The disgusting smell of the kobolds was so strong she could barely distinguish it, but soon the elf princess could find the answers she sought in the flow of the air.
If she had no choice but to engage, it was combat wisdom to fight from a favorable position at the right moment.
Engaging from the mountainside was the worst choice. On an incline, it would be advantageous for numerous enemies, and Margaret might struggle to even maintain her footing.
Even if there was a risk of being surrounded in a tight space, flat ground with no slope was preferable.
The location Margaret preferred most for combat in hilly terrain was at the peak of a mountain from where she could shoot arrows at all her enemies, but there was no guarantee the enemies would attack if she waited at the peak.
Then, she needed to find a location that possessed the geophysical characteristics she desired, from where she could ambush and wait.
In the elf princess’s mind, that spot could only be one.
The enemies’ camp.
No matter how demonic they were, even kobolds needed a resting point. They were not a tribe that could simply graze on the mountainside and lie down to sleep.
Perhaps because winter was approaching, the weather in the mountains was becoming quite chilly. Margaret was satisfied to have covered herself with the flag without lighting a fire, but the kobolds, who almost wander around bare-skinned, certainly wouldn’t last without a fire.
Margaret decided to prioritize locating the enemies’ base for an ambush and began tracking the smell of smoke and evidence of fire. Shifting from prey to predator, Margaret’s movements grew swifter and more powerful.
In less than thirty minutes, she managed to find a camp on the mountainside where the kobolds were causing quite a ruckus, making noise as they gathered.
Kobolds, of course, but also some viciously-looking lesser goblins—mangled creatures a bit smaller than the orcs. Margaret stealthily approached the encampment of these goblinoids, drawing her swords, and launched a surprise attack.
It took barely a moment for the heads of two kobolds to fly off. As the two blades in her hands simultaneously struck down the two kobolds, Margaret gracefully moved her feet to knock down three nearby kobolds at once.
Startled, the kobolds each grabbed their weapons and sprang at Margaret, but the number of kobolds defending the camp was only a dozen. These beings, barely half her height, couldn’t even touch a hair on the elf princess with their coordinated assault.
Margaret fluttered her cloak and, in an extravagant motion, jumped into the air, cleaving a kobold in half. As the green kobold exploded in mid-air, its insides spilled onto the ground like a split watermelon.
Margaret grimaced at the foul taste of the demonic blood on her lips. She didn’t mind being drenched in the enemy’s blood, but having it enter her mouth was still somewhat unpleasant.
After dealing with the kobolds clustered at the camp, Margaret made no hesitation to kick over the central fire and destroy the makeshift dwelling that resembled a hut.
There was still one kobold caught sleeping unaware inside, which she pierced with her sword, ending its life. What seemed to be an improvised base camp that the kobolds had worked hard to create was instantly turned to ruin by Margaret’s destructive efforts.
This attack was sufficient to draw attention from the surrounding kobolds. Soon, a swarm of hundreds of demonic creatures, reminiscent of an ant horde, charged madly towards Margaret’s position.
Depending on the situation, even the elf princess could find it hard to face such numbers alone, but these unfortunate kobolds had picked all the wrong factors: the time, place, and circumstances.
This battle began exactly where Margaret desired, at the moment she wanted, dictated by her own will.
At the forefront, having easily slain two kobolds, Margaret stood still and waited until the kobolds completely surrounded her.
The creatures attempted to surround their enemy as per usual habit before hunting, but such a simple strategy would not work against Margaret.
That was because she was an elf whose strong suit lay in breaking through encirclements in close combat.
After putting her longsword into its sheath, she leaped into the air and stood upside-down while spreading her legs wide apart.
As if turning like a windmill, her legs rotated 90 degrees to the left and right, and any monsters that jumped towards her became mere chunks of meat falling onto their kin. As the sight of this unfolded, the kobolds began to back away, terrified, and Margaret seized the opportunity, drawing her swords once more.
The most orthodox way to break an encirclement is to wildly attack the weak point and create a hole in the enemy’s links.
However, Margaret wasn’t the one being surrounded; she was the one leading them into a trap.
There was no reason to create a gap in a formation she had led into. She killed the two kobolds to the west, then dashed north to kick the head of a nearby beast away. Without batting an eye, she sliced through an enemy coming from the east, then carelessly kicked away another opponent charging from the south.
It wasn’t just a matter of north, south, east, or west. Margaret’s fighting style allowed her to strike from any direction and any position, leaving her opponents bewildered without even the slightest clue.
When the monsters thought she wasn’t facing them directly and rushed in, at some moment, a blade would come flying in from an unknown direction to cut open their bellies.
Four blades were attached to her body. While she had only two eyes on her face, the two perked ears she had detected attacks coming from all directions, rendering her effective vision practically four-fold.
Having successfully engaged with her desired adversaries in the desired space, Margaret was more monster-like than the monsters themselves. As the corpses of the fallen kobolds began to pile up, the demonic creatures found themselves unable to approach the elf princess without stepping over their slain comrades.
Their belief that they had encircled Margaret was nothing more than a ludicrous misconception. The little goblins merely gathered around the execution site.
Elves surrounded by demonic beings were akin to prisoners waiting for their execution.
As a few kobolds dropped their weapons and began to flee, not wanting to leave any potential threats behind, Margaret swiftly retrieved her bow from within her green cloak and shot two kobolds simultaneously.
Of course, those attempting to retaliate in that narrow window were unable to resist Margaret’s feet, and they fell, their throats sliced open.
Watching the first fleeing kobolds succumb, the rest of the demonic creatures found themselves incapable of fleeing, nor did they dare to pounce on Margaret.
Yet, waiting idly wasn’t going to guarantee their survival. Before long, the elf who hung her bow back on her back and drew her sword was ready to charge right at them.
Slice, stab, throw, kick.
After a long massacre ended, Margaret sat down upon a pile of stacked kobold corpses that had accumulated to a suitable height.
The blood of the demonkind dampened her bottom, but having already been soaked in blood from head to toe, tired as she was, Margaret didn’t particularly care.
With dark shadows under her eyes portraying her fatigue, she took a moment to reflect on the devastation she had caused before letting out a deep sigh.
“At this rate, I’ll be late for my appointment.”
That was her impression as she glanced over the shattered corpses of the unfortunate kobolds.