novelraw Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Chapter 178 : Let’s Save Him First
“Kuh.”
Even amidst the thrilling pain felt in her side, Lauel forced herself to throw her body forward.
Pababak.
Since regaining consciousness due to the blade digging into her side, her head hadn't been working smoothly.
The judgments she made afterwards were almost all improvised.
Did her actions help Lord Muno, or did they hinder him?
She couldn't even determine that.
But one thing was certain.
- Lauel! Run! To the territory……!
Lord Muno’s voice continuously echoing in her head.
That she must obey that command.
The only fortunate thing was that her evolution direction was related to flexibility, vitality, and endurance, so she could endure this serious injury for now and move.
- My father? Although he’s a 5-Star, if it’s a short-term battle, he can even chop up a 6-Star knight?
That if she went to the territory, there was hope to resolve this difficulty.
‘The Lord, I must bring Lord Ryan.’
Of course, this included the impossible assumption that Muno would have to hold out while she traveled the long way to Drasen and back.
She forced herself not to think such ominous thoughts.
Only.
“Move!”
Stab.
“Kyaaack!”
Killing the Snow Trolls blocking her way and jumping over trees, she only headed towards the territory through the shortest route, retracing the path she came.
“The Lord…….”
Pababak.
“Kyaack!”
“……must bring him.”
Pew.
“Kreu?”
“Lord Muno…….”
Pew. Pew.
Stab.
“Kyaya!”
“……must be saved.”
Even with her mind going blank, she ran while constantly muttering to not forget that one goal.
In the meantime, she tried to reduce dealing with monsters to a minimum, but.
The Snow Trolls, who hadn't blocked the way since she devastated a group together with Lord Muno, were now annoyingly attacking her endlessly as if they knew she was injured.
When she thought she could barely see any of them.
“Kurwarara!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
The Gnoll packs, which had seemed insignificant, attacked again like a pack of dogs.
‘These sons of bitches…….’
Even the ones who didn't even show their tails after being slaughtered when she first passed through here had smelled blood and swarmed in.
Paa-ang!
“Kyaa……!?”
Thud.
Paa-ang.
“Ku, Kkeureuk……!?”
Jumping from tree to tree, she planted arrows only in the ones that looked like bosses.
The problem was that because of this, she was already running out of arrows.
‘Back then…….’
When she was subdued by the masked figures, it seemed she had dropped more than half of the arrows from the quiver at her waist.
‘It’s okay. Once I pass these guys' territory.’
She could just ignore the goblins that would appear afterwards and run.
Maintaining her concentration with just that thought, she passed the Gnolls' territory before she knew it.
‘Time…….’
How much time had passed?
It felt like more than a day had passed since she fled the battlefield, and it also felt like only a few hours had passed.
Forcing herself to think only of the goal while bleeding too much, her sense of time seemed to have become strange.
Honestly, her head was getting a bit fuzzy now.
Pababak.
Nevertheless, she kicked off the grass and faithfully ran towards her destination.
“Kyaack!?”
“Kireuk!?”
The cries of goblins began to be heard from all over the forest, but she didn't even want to pay attention.
Anyway, their crude bone knives or paralyzing needles wouldn't even pierce her leather armor.
Pababak.
Rather, she used those strange screams as a cheering song to add strength to her steps.
But doing so, at some point, she felt her legs giving out.
Thud-thud-thud.
Soon, she ended up rolling on the ground.
“Kyaaack!”
The goblins shouted in victory as if they had been waiting.
‘Ah. Right…….’
Only then did she realize that her armor was torn in many places due to the continuous battles.
It seemed rational judgment was becoming increasingly difficult due to blood loss.
But even amidst that, anger towards the swarming goblins boiled up instinctively.
“All of you……!”
Pabababak!
“……F*ck off!!”
She fired all the remaining arrows with her uninjured hand.
Thwack-thwack-thwack.
Goblins falling without even being able to scream.
Even amidst that, the few that attacked were finishied off by piercing their necks with arrow shafts.
Stab.
“Kku, kkeureuk?”
“By the likes of you…….”
Huff.
“My time cannot be…….”
Taken.
She tried to force her body up.
But no strength went into her legs.
‘No. I can’t…….’
She had to call the Lord and save Lord Muno.
Just when she felt her consciousness fading further in despair.
“……Brown skin! Are you perhaps Lauel!?”
A surprised woman’s voice was heard.
Firm, yet somehow feeling warm.
Raising her head with difficulty at that voice, she saw a female knight with long blonde hair tied back.
A strong-looking woman wearing armor like a red dress.
“Right……. I am, Lauel.”
“Why are you here! What about Prince Muno!?”
At those words, her consciousness cleared a bit more, and she remembered her goal again.
“Lord Muno, danger…….”
“What!?”
“Must go to Drasen…….”
However, the female knight didn't listen to her words until the end.
“Sir Hansen! Take out all the potions you have!! Right now!!!”
“Really, I don’t know if this is a trainee or a superior.”
Along with a grumbling man’s voice, a red glass bottle approached her eyes.
A precious healing potion that even she, who belonged to Aslan, had rarely seen, entered her mouth.
Gulp. Gulp.
“Wake up, please! Where is Prince Muno!!”
“In the first place, chasing while keeping a distance in this northern mountain range makes no sense…….”
“Shut up! Hansen!”
“Hey……. You, you do realize I’m the instructor, right?”
“Is that important right now!?”
“Damn it. The knightly order’s hierarchy…….”
Feeling the red liquid passing down her esophagus spreading throughout her body, her mind gradually became clear.
And the moment strength finally began to return to her legs.
Lauel sprang up from the spot.
“To the territory……!”
While shouting like that, she recognized the two people wearing red armor in front of her.
In the Iron Kingdom, red armor had a special meaning.
Unless they were fakes imitating them.
“Perhaps, Red Iron……?”
“Correct. We were moving under His Majesty’s order to help Muno Drasen. But coming here, to find you in the mountains…….”
“Follow me immediately!!”
There was no need to listen to the greasy-faced middle-aged man shrugging his shoulders until the end.
‘If they are Red Iron Knights, they can definitely help Lord Muno.’
Pababak.
Just as she turned and ran back in the direction she came from.
The female knight who had caught up next to her asked with shining eyes.
“Lord Muno is in danger, right?”
“Yes!”
Even while answering, it felt amazing.
Running side by side with herself who was sprinting with full power, yet speaking comfortably.
‘Was there such a person among female knights?’
As soon as that thought came to mind, several pieces of information combined, and a belated intuition struck her.
“Perhaps, Gale……?”
The female knight nodded immediately.
“Yes. I’m Karina. More importantly, how did the situation turn out?”
The moment she read the worry contained in those eyes, her steps seemed to slow down a bit without her realizing it.
‘Should I not tell her? If I send this person somewhere else…….’
Startled by herself having such an absurd thought, she put strength into her legs again.
“What’s wrong?”
“N, No. Lord Muno is being attacked by people who appear to be top-tier Magic Knights!”
Unable to face her directly, she just shouted and focused on running again.
The female knight’s voice immediately rose.
“Where is the direction!!? We have to find the way!?”
Turning her head involuntarily, the female knight’s worried expression came into full view.
That appearance made her have strange thoughts even in this urgent situation.
‘Similar…… to me?’
Her face was slender, and her body, with fine and elegant lines, looked sturdy without any flab visible.
A specimen of a female knight who didn't have a large build but looked strong in a different sense.
She was different from the famous beauties of the kingdom.
Except for skin color and hair color, she really looked similar to herself.
- Sir Muno’s taste is……!
Why did the words she occasionally heard come to mind at this moment?
“What are you doing!? Direction!!”
“Straight, it’s straight ahead!”
After reflexively answering the shout heard again.
With a ‘Paa-ang!’ sound, the female knight’s body disappeared from sight in an instant.
“Geez, that personality. Hah……. Then me too. Will you be okay?”
“……Yes.”
The middle-aged man with a greasy impression also passed her silently.
The face of the female knight who left first couldn't be forgotten from her mind.
‘Why did I…….’
Even for a moment, think such a cowardly thought?
And why is that woman so fast?
No matter how exhausted I am…….
Numerous thoughts flashed through her mind.
And soon.
She imagined the scene where that female knight saves Muno who is in a desperate crisis.
‘I hate it. That.’
That thought made her put even more strength into her body.
Paa-ak.
No matter how exhausted she was, she wanted to help Lord Muno. At least, she wanted to be more helpful than that female knight.
Gritting her teeth, she ran back the way she came.
But the person who should receive that help was not there.
* * *
“This is troubling. There are many traces of battle, but the parties involved have disappeared.”
“Look for them!! Carefully!!”
Karina, who shouted at Hansen, moved frantically and scanned the surroundings.
Among the smashed or fallen thick trees, traces of a fierce battle were rampant.
Two corpses that had rotted leaving only pure white hair, and blood pooled everywhere.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the blood wasn't only from the dead.
While searching the battlefield, a few metal fragments caught her eye.
‘No, it can’t be.’
Holding her pounding heart at the ominous premonition, she scanned the surroundings.
Eventually, she found the hilt of a greatsword with a red jewel embedded in it.
The red jewel decoration was new to her, but its shape was familiar.
Even the fact that its form was gradually collapsing proved that it was not a normal sword or artifact.
Clearly, it was a trace of that ‘Blade’.
“No!!!”
- Nooooooo!
The scream she let out without realizing it echoed loudly in the forest.
“Lower your voice, Karina. Don’t provoke the demonic beasts.”
Hansen’s point was valid, but ominous thoughts didn't leave her mind.
“There is no corpse. Calm down. Although I don't have expertise in tracking either, looking at this, one side ran away while fighting. This random horn bothers me, though.”
“……Yes?”
“Anyway, that much is certain. And circumstantially, the one who ran away must be the Black Knight.”
Hansen Royer, the ‘Knight of Perfection’ who was said to have no flaws in any aspect as a member of the Red Iron Knights, a senior, and her instructor.
His words were persuasive.
However, there was also a problem.
“The problem is, where did he disappear to…….”
She heard there were people with excellent tracking skills among the Red Iron Knights, but Hansen was not one of them.
To be exact, he was average.
“It seems like north or northeast, but I can’t pinpoint the direction. If we guess wrong, considering the time difference, the distance will widen significantly.”
Having no flaws in any aspect meant, in other words, having no exceptional talent.
That was a shortcoming Hansen himself mentioned.
“It must have been a few hours since they left here. If only we had found it a little earlier, we could have pinpointed it.”
“We have to find him no matter what. Absolutely!”
“……Oh boy. Now you’re openly acting like a superior.”
“S, Sorry, but still…….”
“Yeah. I know. That you have to save your lover.”
“N, No, we are not lovers!”
“What do you mean no. Then why are you jumping around like that?”
It’s really ‘not yet’.
She didn't bother to answer Hansen’s words.
Anyway, the feeling of wanting to see, no, save Muno was sincere.
Fighting a legendary monster somewhere, and fighting the Lightning Blade Sword in Aslan.
Not having seen him for a few months, she was so worried about that person who only went to crazily dangerous places.
But at that moment.
A familiar voice was heard.
“I can, find him.”
Huff. Huff.
The mixed-blood lady, who had been left alone after taking only a potion in an injured state, was looking at her while breathing heavily.
“If it’s Lord Muno, surely…….”
She immediately pointed out a direction to the north.
“He would have flown over the trees, wrapping iron chains around them. We just need to follow those traces.”
A feeling of relief came instantly.
“Lead the way. Catch your breath while doing so!”
“Yes!”
It might be a little delayed, but she decided to trust the woman who pinpointed the location at once rather than Hansen.
However, as she jumped onto the tree.
“By the way, is it true that you are not lovers?”
Tap.
The absurd question asked quietly while landing next to her made her frown for no reason.
In this situation, what on earth.
‘Come to think of it, that assassin who defected…….’
Only then did the rumor that she always stuck next to Prince Muno bother her again.
“Let’s say it’s something similar.”
The expression that darkened significantly at those words bothered her even more.
However.
“Then, you might become my Lord’s wife. I am Lauel. Please take care of me, Lady Karina.”
The subsequent remark was completely different from her expectation.
Lord?
“Let’s save Lord Muno first.”
“Yes!”
Pa-bak.
Even while kicking off the branches and moving north, Karina’s gaze couldn't help but glance at Lauel.