Episode 235 – It’s a Hunt (2)
The mont I saw Beneta in flas, I realized—I was too late.
“He moved even before the main force arrived??”
Kal had moved far quicker than I predicted, and the mont I saw the hellscape sprawled beneath the collapsed outer wall, I snapped back to my senses and began responding.
Was it the tension?
Without realizing it, my mouth had fallen open and my fists clenched tightly.
I shouted until my throat nearly burst, but my voice was swallowed by the wind, inaudible even to my own ears.
The fiery red image of Beneta burned into my pupils, and for a mont, it felt as if even ti could be controlled.
Burst Strike—my disposable ultimate skill that forcibly unleashes the body’s full potential.
The mont I grasped the situation on Fenry’s side, I activated Burst Strike without hesitation and charged toward the bastard who was moving with Nella as a hostage.
Crack—
“…Tch!”
With pressure so intense it felt like my bones would shatter, I reached the enemy’s side like a bolt of lightning.
I wanted to tackle him directly, but because of Nella, I had to restrain myself.
The enemy’s eyes slowly moved as he recognized .
Expressionless, clad in crimson armor.
The mont our eyes t—
KWAANG—!
My punch, empowered with the mastery of Quanru, smashed the knight’s head instantly.
As blood sprayed upward, I thought the surprise attack had succeeded.
I quickly reached out to pull Nella out of his grasp—but the headless bastard moved.
“…You maniac.”
The lunatic raised the sword in his grasp and aid it directly at Nella’s throat.
Too close.
I couldn’t recklessly throw another punch, so I instinctively reached out and grabbed the blade with my hand.
Clang—!
Pain twisted my face.
If it had been an Aura Sword, my fingers would've been sliced clean off like paper, but his sword was rely cold steel.
The blade halted just shy of Nella’s neck.
Drip drip drip—
Blood splattered across Nella’s face like a fountain.
It wasn’t her blood.
“Shit, that hurts!”
I glared at the bastard, clenched my fist, and drove it straight into his chest.
Crunch!
The enemy’s chest caved in, and he fell through the roof below. I snatched Nella out of the air and held her tightly in my arms.
The intense burn of pain made curse instinctively.
I glanced at my palm—blood gushed like a fountain from a wound so deep the bone was visible.
A small price to pay for rescuing Nella safely.
I wanted to check her condition, but there was no ti for that yet.
“Get down!”
At Fenry’s urgent shout, I reflexively rolled across the roof with Nella in my arms.
A chilling light sliced through the air, grazing my hair.
A green-hued sword strike.
Wiley’s Aura Sword.
Fenry had been holding him off, but he had quickly shaken her and charged toward .
As expected of a Wind Attribute, he was incredibly agile.
The pressure of a 5-star knight.
It was like being caught in a storm.
Fighting while holding Nella would be suicide.
I prepared to activate a second Burst Strike to dodge—
Kkang—!
—but the approaching Aura Sword was intercepted by a crossing Crow.
Fenry burst from the shadow between and Nella.
A shadow spell she hadn’t dared use while Nella was held hostage.
Shoving back, Fenry snarled between the clashing weapons.
“You bastard, you're fucking dead now.”
Above Fenry’s head, the shadow spirit Banri was summoned.
As sparks flew from the crossing of sword and crow, shadow thorns shot out from all sides to attack Wiley.
Kazhzhzh—!
The green Aura Sword tore through the thorns like a whirlwind.
The battle of 5-stars.
But Fenry had no intention of fighting alone.
With a snap of her fingers, the surrounding Roses fired their crossbows at Wiley.
A storm of thorns and sharp bolts rained down on him, and wounds began to open all over his body.
Fenry lunged into the gap.
Crack!
Her Crow tore through Wiley’s armor.
Blood sprayed from his back.
“Die!”
As she swung again to slice his neck, the air exploded in front of her, and Wiley’s form dropped beneath the roof.
Then—
KWAANG—!
He burst through the building wall and began fleeing down an alley.
“You think you can run away in my territory!? After him!”
The Black Roses fired their crossbows and gave chase, while Fenry lted into the shadows and urgently turned to .
“Nella?”
“She’s safe.”
“You’re late. You idiot! What were you doing out there!?”
There were a lot of emotions in Fenry’s final shout.
Beneta, where I had gone to rescue Lochter, a wanted man.
I had planned to return imdiately after the rescue, but I hadn’t expected to be away for this long.
“The lord’s castle is in danger.”
“I saw the signal flares. I’ve already sent reinforcents—it should be fine.”
“The walls?”
“No reinforcents went to the walls.”
The fiercest battle was taking place at the collapsed wall, but no ‘true’ threats were there to shift the tide.
I had predicted the location of the ‘real’ enemies and sent Hunt’s reinforcents accordingly.
My support for Fenry had been calculated—with Kal in mind.
Fenry exhaled softly and glared in the direction Wiley had fled.
“He’s heading for the ruined wall.”
“I’ll go after him. Has Kal been here?”
“Kal?”
As I healed Nella’s body with Sacred Power, a golden aura flowed from her.
Fenry gave a low groan, realizing sothing.
The traces of dark sorcery.
While she’d been occupied with Wiley, sothing had clearly happened to Nella.
Beeeeeeeep—!
“…Damn.”
An ergency signal from the Roses ca from the direction Wiley fled.
I wanted to check Nella’s condition, but I had to move now.
There was soone right in front of who could still act—Fenry bit her lip and turned to .
“I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Don’t worry. Go.”
She vanished into the shadows before the Roses could fall into danger.
Monts later—
Beeep– Beeep!
Whistles rang out across the city, stirring up confusion in the urban district.
So of the previously hiding non-humans began moving to support Fenry.
They seed intent on catching Wiley before he could join the wall forces—but that wouldn’t be easy.
I looked down at Nella.
Her face had gone completely pale.
I had only imagined a joyful reunion in Beneta, but seeing her suffering filled with pain.
‘I hope there’s no damage to her mind.’
There were no physical wounds on her body, but she was tainted by sticky sorcerous energy.
Especially her head.
Only I could treat this in her current state.
Carefully channeling Sacred Power, I focused on awakening her consciousness.
The dark sorcerer's energy was rapidly purified.
“…Mmm.”
A soft moan escaped her lips a mont later, and I gently shook her.
Her eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.
“Nella, are you okay?”
“Arthur…”
She was weak, but life had returned to her eyes. I sighed in relief.
Her gaze toward was familiar.
Relief—and joy.
She clearly needed rest, but given the urgency, I asked quickly:
“Nella, who did this to you??”
“...Ah, Kal. Kal was here!”
As I’d feared, Kal really had shown up.
She recounted what happened—how she was captured by Rengua during the escape and confronted Kal.
“The others! The girls—they’re in danger!”
She rembered the girls who were tortured by the knight. Were they dead?
It was hard to tell in her ntal state.
I sent the remaining Roses to check on the elves.
While Nella treated the survivors, still in a daze, one of the Roses approached .
“There’s sothing you need to see.”
Her tense expression made nod and follow.
She led behind the building—into the shadows.
There, I spotted sothing crawling slowly across the ground.
“This is…”
“We found it under the building. It’s still alive.”
The moving creature—it was the sa knight who had held Nella hostage.
Even with his head destroyed and chest crushed, the knight squird like a bug.
I stared at him with a hardened expression and channeled Sacred Power into him.
The knight, who had been twitching, abruptly went limp.
He reacted to Sacred Power.
Which ant—
He was imbued with sorcerous energy.
“…He wasn’t human?”
Impossible.
A non-human being had taken Nella hostage, coordinated with Wiley, and fought against Fenry?
“…Wait.”
The mont I saw his crushed red armor, a na flashed through my mind.
A human-shaped battle weapon, known as the concentrated embodint of sorcery puppetry.
“A Red Knight?”
An unbelievable assumption, but the more I thought about it, the more likely it seed.
A puppet—but not just any puppet.
‘If Kal was controlling it through subordinating domination, then everything fits.’
Seeing the ruined Red Knight filled with a chilling sense of danger.
Red Knights were Rengua’s masterpiece—revealed during Kal’s later battles with Demtor.
A being that should not exist at this point in ti.
‘Did Rengua’s awakening trigger this change in Kal?’
If so, Kal’s obsession with the research journal makes sense too.
If he created a Red Knight without the journal, I couldn’t imagine what he’d make with it.
We couldn’t give him any more ti.
“I’m entrusting Nella to you.”
I wanted to stay by her side, but everyone was risking their lives.
As the Rose nodded, I pushed off and began running.
There was only one person who could help locate Kal now—
I had to go to Fenry.
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