Memories that usually didn’t come to mind when moaning and groaning with a bandaged head tended to suddenly resurface at unexpected moments. Before falling asleep, Azwin briefly recalled the things Gerald had said.
Gerald said he had already been tempted. At first, she thought it was just a joke, but it didn’t seem to be.
‘Since when? It wasn’t just my feelings alone? If that’s the case, it really didn’t show.’
He also said he had already fallen for her when Azwin first said she liked him.
‘And when was that?’
Unable to fall asleep despite being tired, Azwin was hit with those memories as soon as she saw Gerald’s face hurriedly waking her up the next morning.
On the day the five White Wolves ‘officially’ met Her Majesty the Queen for the first time, Gerald said this:
‘Do we have to transcend the relationship between men and women to become White Wolves and Guardian Knights? I couldn’t ask Master directly, so I’m asking Your Majesty. Does Master Quain have to live alone forever?’
At this rude question, Quain was flustered and Sanadiel laughed like a child. Sanadiel pondered a bit and deferred the answer to Quain.
‘You answer, Quain. Do you regret that position now?’
Quain had never been seen breaking his own pace, but he was troubled by that question. While he was preparing an answer, Sanadiel said,
‘I thought if anyone were to ask this kind of question, it would be Azwin. But Gerald, it’s really unexpected.’
Gerald just shrugged.
Quain said,
‘To answer that question, I can’t help but speak of my past, Your Majesty. It’s not desirable to show my weak side to my disciples.’
‘These kids won’t abandon their respect for you even if they see such a weak side. And I also want to know about your past.’
‘While foreseeing everything, does Your Majesty insist on hearing it from my mouth?’
Quain sighed and continued,
‘I don’t know how to explain it in a simple and symbolic way while maintaining the dignity of a Master to satisfy Gerald’s curiosity. But, Gerald. Yes, I can say this much. I also had someone I loved. However, that person I loved doesn’t love me now, and I also didn’t hold onto that feeling for long. The embers of that momentary feeling still remain, but they don’t burn like in my youth. Now, I love Her Majesty the Queen. I love every moment I spend with her.’
Azwin cheered and said,
‘Master and Your Majesty suit each other.’
Sanadiel burst into laughter.
‘It’s a pleasant confession for me too.’
‘But Your Majesty loves Aranthia, and my current love is ultimately just a short-lived, forgotten one-sided love. The moment I retire, I will forget that love, pass this duty to one of you five, and meet another love that will determine my destiny.’
Quain looked tired like a teacher who had finished an hour-long lecture.
‘Was that an answer, Gerald?’
Sanadiel asked with a smile.
‘It’s difficult. If you put it that way, I don’t qualify as a Guardian Knight.’
‘Regarding Guardian Knights, even I find it hard to predict. The qualification will also be something one of you five suddenly realizes one day. Saying it’s me.’
Sanadiel neither denied nor affirmed.
After the audience ended, Azwin immediately grabbed Gerald and made a fuss, saying, ‘Who’s the woman you like? Is she among the maids? You always ignored me, but in the end, you had another woman.’ Gerald called her ‘chatterbox’ to her face and didn’t entertain her jokes at all.
‘Was it since then? Was the one person he pointed out back then actually me?’
It was the day Azwin first gained the position of White Wolf. Actually, becoming a White Wolf within the Wolf Knights wasn’t a big deal, so it was just a simple congratulatory party with drinks.
Azwin, who went to find Gerald alone on the veranda, said drunkenly,
‘It’s great. We’ve risen to the position we wanted. We’ve reached a level similar to Loyal’s.’
Gerald looked up at the night sky without replying. Gerald’s face, receiving the dim candlelight seeping out from inside and the moonlight shining down from outside at the same time, looked very mysterious.
Even though she was drunk, the fact that she remembered this clearly meant there was a possibility that it was somehow embellished or a false memory. However, Azwin clearly remembered that Gerald’s tone was sad.
‘Are you happy? I’m not really.’
‘You told the other Wolves it was good.’
‘It’s true that it’s good. But now that I think about it, it’s not all good.’
‘Is there a problem?’
‘It’s a woman problem.’
‘Oho, it’s a consultation. I’ll solve it all. Tell me.’
‘No. Keeping this to myself and digesting it is what a man does.’
Azwin laughed and rested her head on his shoulder as he leaned on the railing.
‘Being serious doesn’t suit you. You should always tell me funny jokes like you used to. Those Wolf bastards are talking about swordsmanship again. So boring.’
‘A funny story? Azwin, will you marry me? Bake bread for me every morning. I want to see your face falling asleep next to me every night before I go to sleep.’
Azwin laughed upside down and kissed Gerald’s cheek.
‘You cute thing. Yes, yes. Baking bread is too much, so come to my room every night and fall asleep looking at my face. I’ll always keep the door open for you.’
Azwin said that and fell asleep leaning on the railing. The next day, she was lying on the bed, moved by someone.
“So, was that not your joke then, but serious?”
Azwin said. Gerald, who was about to rush to the entrance with an axe in his hand as soon as he woke her up, stopped and looked down at her.
“What’s a joke and what’s serious? Are you going to ask riddles in this urgent situation?”
Only then did Azwin return from memories to reality and pretended to be half-asleep, quickly asking,
“Sorry. I confused it with a dream. What’s going on?”
“Enemy. We’re surrounded in front of the cave.”
“What? Didn’t you say we’d move at dawn?”
“It happened just before waking everyone up to move. Hurry.”
Azwin immediately grabbed the weapon next to her.
There was another memory. The first person she met at the Wolf Knights’ first test was Sheyden. However, the first person to approach her after passing was Gerald. And the person who stuck by her side throughout the few months of the second test was also Gerald.
‘Maybe he had a good impression of me since then. Did I tell him I liked him back then? No. I didn’t waste such words on any man after joining the Knights!’
Azwin hit her head with her shield.
‘Hey, this guy, now’s not the time to feel proud about that. If it’s simply that I don’t remember, it’s not that he didn’t fall for my temptation, but that I didn’t notice.’
Regardless of the urgent atmosphere around her, Azwin was perplexed.
Rontlos’ subordinate soldiers were pressed against the cave entrance, holding weapons. Rontlos was shouting, looking outside. Replies came back from outside in the Lemif language.
Gerald asked, lying down so as not to reveal himself at the cave entrance. It was his opinion that it would be better not to let them know that there were Ugehs here as much as possible.
“Lemifs from Tachisel’s side?”
Rontlos answered,
“Yes. It appears so. And the one talking to me is Redward, the Excelon Knight leading them.”
“Redward, Redward…”
Gerald repeated the opponent’s name a few times as if memorizing it and asked,
“The commander who ambushed us before must be that bastard too, right? Now they’ve even blocked the cave. Be careful, Rontlos. That bastard must be very skilled in this kind of local battle. First, what are their demands?”
“If we hand over the Pupubai, they will release the rest. They say they will release them. They say they will guarantee the Pupubai’s life too. That’s what they say.”
“This is like saying they’ll spare your life if you hand over your heart. It’s a trap.”
“Whether it’s a trap or not, it’s a demand we can’t follow.”
“He’s saying that knowing you won’t agree to negotiate.”
Rontlos closed his mouth tightly and groaned.
“Let’s escape through the exit we found yesterday.”
Gerald suggested.
“No, we can’t.”
Rontlos grabbed Gerald’s arm.
“At least I can’t. I can’t do it.”
He shouted in Lemif language outside while still holding Gerald’s arm. Then he told Gerald what he had just said in human language.
“I just told them to give us time to think.”
Rontlos let go of Gerald’s arm and quietly continued,
“The subordinates and I will buy time here. You and Azwin take the Pupubai and go that way you found yesterday. Go that way. Leave the rest to Gider and the dragon’s sanctuary…”
Azwin angrily interrupted him.
“Don’t even mention Gider. What are you thinking, deploying such a tactic?”
“There’s no time, Azwin.”
Rontlos continued in a persuasive tone.
“The Excelon Knights, especially that one named Redward, fights incomparably better than our Lemifs. He is well-versed in combat knowledge. But if we leave the entrance like this and run away through the opposite exit, they will notice. Of course, they will follow, and with our mobility, we cannot shake them off. We can’t shake them off. He is someone who predicted our retreat even in a forest full of trees and hid troops. You know that. You’ll know.”
Gerald also disagreed with Rontlos’ words.
“Then let’s do the opposite, Rontlos. Azwin and I will take care of this place. You escort the princess.”
“Don’t look outside, Gerald! There’s no need to emphasize that you are here. Listen to me till the end. You have to listen.”
Rontlos shook his head strongly and continued in the strongest tone he had heard so far.
“I am here. I have to be here. That way, they will also think the Pupubai is here. They will think so. Then I will buy as much time as possible here. And I will fight until the last moment. This is my Gider.”
“Does your Gider recklessly sacrifice lives?”
Gerald asked in a firm voice.
“Sacrificing one’s life for something greater is the Gider we value the most. If I can protect the Pupubai by sacrificing my life here, I will be truly happy.”
Azwin, unable to listen anymore, grabbed Rontlos’ collar.
“Shut up!”
The startled Lemif soldiers reflexively pointed their spears. Rontlos immediately stretched out his hand to stop his subordinates. Azwin said,
“You’re selfish, Rontlos. Do you think it’s glorious to save Sermei with sacrifice? Then what about Sermei’s feelings?”
Azwin pointed at Sermei with her finger and continued,
“What are you going to do about that child? Do you think that child who will remain alive with your sacrifice will be happy? Is it enough if only you feel at ease? Shut up and leave here with Sermei. Gerald and I will defend this place. No, we will kill that Excelon Knight you fear so much right here.”
Sermei approached to stop the two.
Rontlos quietly looked at Sermei and said,
“Let go, Azwin.”
Rontlos gently commanded her. He grabbed Azwin’s weakened hands, lowered them, and slowly continued,
“The relationship between me and the Pupubai is a hierarchical relationship that is difficult for even the Lemif world to understand. Can you understand? The Pupuba… no, Sermei is my monarch, my daughter, and my lover. Can you Ugehs understand this relationship and give advice about it? I’m not unaware of the reason for your anger. It’s not that I don’t know. But now, do that. It would be good if you do that.”
He let go of Azwin’s hand and said one last thing.
“I know of your confidence, but now do as I say. Do as I say.”
Rontlos stroked Sermei’s face, which was soaked with fear. Sermei closed her eyes and accepted his touch. No words were exchanged, but Sermei already seemed to know everything as she was shedding tears.
“From the moment Sermei was born, I devoted my everything. I have devoted. This child is my everything. I entrust such a child to you. I am entrusting her. So make sure to protect her. Azwin, Gerald.”
Azwin couldn’t accept it. She wanted to keep arguing and wanted to send Rontlos with Sermei. But Gerald grabbed her hand and pulled her.
“Let’s go, Azwin. Buy as much time as possible, Rontlos.”
“That’s why I’m here. I entrust the Pupubai to you.”
Gerald walked ahead holding a torch, and Azwin followed behind, carrying a backpack. But Sermei didn’t leave Rontlos’ side until the end. Shedding tears, she reached out her hand to Rontlos. Rontlos tightly grasped that hand and said,
“Tpod kvai, my hiti. Tpod.”
Rontlos let go of that hand and shouted to the Excelon Knight, Redward, outside the cave.
“Ep nuvmadut, Excelon Knight.”
Sermei slowly stepped back and ran towards Azwin. Azwin grabbed her hand and ran. At the last moment, arrows flew into the cave, and Rontlos shouted to the soldiers.
“Gov Larunton!”
The soldiers also shouted along.
“Larunton!”
“Larunton!”
☆ ☆ ☆
At first, Sermei ran while sobbing, but before long, she stopped crying. Soon, she wiped the tears on her cheeks and urged Gerald. Gerald had been walking slightly slowly, considering her. In a way, it was a sudden change, but Azwin understood Sermei’s heart.
‘To uphold the oracle, everyone decided to sacrifice for her, who is at the center of the oracle. No matter how scared, she can’t delay her steps alone while crying. But knowing doesn’t mean it happens that way. Sermei is stronger than she looks.’
Sermei ran. Even after seeing the person she loved determined to die for her, she didn’t hesitate. Because she loved him, she didn’t cling and say she would stay together, but abandoned her loved one and ran.
Behind Sermei running after Gerald, Azwin felt the strong will of the Princess of Larunton. She wiped her tears that couldn’t be suppressed and flowed out several times with her sleeve, but she didn’t slow her pace.
When the torch was about half burnt, the exit with white light coming in came into view. Azwin took out the Lemif rope Naizdak from her backpack and handed it to Gerald. He grabbed the end of the Naizdak and went up first, exiting through the hole.
Azwin held one end of the Naizdak and waited. Sermei was looking up at the outside of the pit with tear-glistening eyes.
‘Should I comfort her that Rontlos will be alive? Forget it. That knight is said to be the most evil among the Excelon Knights. You shouldn’t have hope. It will only increase despair.’
Gerald, who had gone up first, shouted from above.
“Okay. Come up.”
Azwin offered her back to Sermei. Sermei got on her back and tightly hugged her neck. Azwin tried pulling the Naizdak hard. It stretched long but stopped at a certain point.
Azwin embraced Sermei, pulled the Naizdak she was holding with one hand as much as possible, and then jumped up the wall in one breath. The bouncing force was stronger than expected, so the moment they popped out of the entrance, their bodies floated several steps above the ground. Sermei let out a small scream.
Azwin let go of the Naizdak as she landed on the ground and rolled her body once to protect Sermei. Gerald, who was holding the other end of the rope and enduring, was startled and dodged as the Naizdak Azwin released whipped his face like a whip.
“Whoa, that surprised me.”
The sunlight was dazzling, so Azwin and Sermei stood still for a while.
Gerald collected the Naizdak and brought it over.
“Let’s take it. It might be useful again.”
Gerald said.
Azwin tightly wrapped the rope around her waist as he said. Sermei was breathing roughly with her head down. The area around her eyes was red and swollen from wiping her tears several times.
“Will he be alright?”
Azwin asked Gerald deliberately without mentioning Rontlos’ name.
Gerald answered while rubbing out the torch with his foot.
“If I were the enemy, I would choose to capture rather than kill a big shot like him.”
“It would be nice to tell that to this kid.”
“She’ll endure it alone. He said his princess is a very strong warrior. Like you. So leave her to overcome it on her own.”
“You’re both too cruel.”
Azwin held Sermei’s hand and asked,
“Sermei, where should we go now?”
Sermei looked around and tilted her head. She spoke something to Azwin in a very confused manner, but it was incomprehensible. Even Gerald, who had spent several days with the Lemifs, only knew a few words, so there was no way he could understand what she said.
[Loaku og Le-Hopet! Saknadil.]
“Lapruhopt? Laplehopt? Saknadil? Uh, so you’re talking about that dragon, right?”
Sermei repeated the same thing several times, then impatiently pointed to her ear with her finger.
“Does your ear hurt?”
Gerald asked.
Azwin hit his shoulder.
“Are you kidding? This seems to mean she hears something. We can’t have a forehead-to-forehead conversation in this situation, it’s frustrating.”
Sermei also looked frustrated, then drew a picture on the ground with her finger. It was very poorly drawn, but Azwin roughly understood what it was.
“Ah, I remember. Le-Hopet Knadil! And pointing to the ear means…”
Azwin thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
“It must mean she hears the dragon’s voice. As a princess and a maiden, that should be possible! So where is it?”
Sermei pointed in the opposite direction from where the sun was rising. In the direction she pointed, there was a knight in a black robe.
Sermei slowly closed the finger she had pointed with in a hurry. Gerald pulled the axe he had slung over his shoulder and held it by his side, and Azwin also stood protecting Sermei.
“Well, that guy is holding out at the entrance here. If we didn’t encounter him by a tremendous coincidence in this vast forest, it’s intentional, and behind him, there must be troops prepared to shatter our exposed plan, right? That guy named Redward, he’s amazing. He even calculated this and surrounded us?”
Azwin muttered and gripped her sword.
Gerald said,
“You two go first. I’ll take care of him.”
Azwin refused.
“No, I’ll do it. Gerald, you take Sermei and go.”
“Let’s just do it together. It’s not a competition now…”
“Ah, right. It’s a habit.”
Azwin and Gerald stepped forward at the same time. Azwin reached out her hand to Sermei and signaled.
“Stay still here.”
In the meantime, the black knight got off the black-furred beast with bared teeth. And he leisurely pulled back the hood of the robe he was wearing. A helmet glinting with black metal was revealed.
“I heard there were Ugehs who killed Karindelp, is it you two?”
The black knight opened his mouth.
Gerald scratched his chin and said,
“You can speak the human language, huh?”
The black knight burst into laughter.
“Didn’t you come from Acrand? Then you don’t know who I am even after seeing my armor?”
“Are you bragging about your famous knight order?”
Azwin retorted.
Then there was a rustling sound from behind, and the sound of a group rushing in was heard. They seemed to be the Lemif soldiers this guy had brought. Sermei hurriedly stuck close to Azwin’s back.
“I don’t mind if you attack together. I’ll allow that much.”
The Excelon Knight lightly swung his raised sword.
‘It won’t be simple arrogance.’
Azwin signaled to Gerald with her fingers. The enemy soldiers had already gotten quite close. There was only one chance.
The two White Wolves charged in at the same time, swinging their swords and axes. Seeing the attack accurately aimed at the neck and chest, the Excelon Knight didn’t dodge and rushed in, deflecting Azwin’s sword. And avoiding the axe aimed at his chest, he rammed Azwin with his shoulder.
The black knight’s blade flew towards Azwin’s neck as she crashed into a tree. The sword that narrowly missed, cutting off short hair strands, stuck into the tree.
Azwin swung her sword while rolling her body to the side. The opponent knocked away her sword with his iron-clad back of his hand, then pulled out the sword stuck in the tree. That sword aimed at Azwin again.
Just as Gerald was about to charge from behind, Azwin shouted,
“Go first, Geri.”
“Let’s do it together.”
“Protect Sermei. It seems the place where the dragon lives isn’t far.”
“There’s no need to forcibly split…!”
At that moment, translucent blue blades poured down on Gerald. Gerald hurriedly swung his axe to knock them away. The shattered blades fell down with a thud and burned away with blue flames.
Azwin looked beyond the tree. Lemifs began to appear one by one. One of them was a sorceress. Azwin urgently said,
“Geri, do as I say. Protect Sermei. I’ll follow.”
Gerald pulled Sermei by the hand and sent her behind his back, then said again,
“Don’t do this, Azwin. Are you trying to sacrifice yourself too?”
“Sacrifice? Are you crazy? I said I’ll follow. I’ll test my ‘Gider’ against this guy. You advance. There may be enemies in the forward direction too. Be careful.”
Gerald was confused.
Azwin finally gave a thumbs up.
“Trust me.”
“Okay. If you don’t come after waiting, I’ll just go.”
“As if I wouldn’t go?”
Even while having a short conversation to send Gerald away, Azwin was constantly focusing on the opponent’s sword. Gerald grabbed Sermei’s hand and ran into the bushes. His figure soon disappeared.
The Lemif soldiers arrived. Azwin was quickly surrounded. But it was as intended. By wasting time trying to capture her like this, Gerald and Sermei could buy time to escape. Azwin was confident in fighting to endure.
‘This guy also played for time just now. He’s amazing. He simultaneously blocked Gerald’s and my attacks. Not only that, but he even counterattacked.’
That knight commanded something in Lemif language to the sorceress who led the soldiers rushing in from behind. The Lemif woman was sending a cold gaze at Azwin.
‘That bitch must be the sorceress who threw the blue light spear?’
At his command, the Lemif woman led the soldiers to chase after Gerald. In the end, only Azwin and the Excelon Knight were left in front of the small cave exit.
Azwin asked,
“Sending them all away, do you want to have a formal match?”
“You had not bad skills. There’s no need to tie up troops here just to catch you alone.”
“Going to regret it?”
“I am Holten of the Excelon 1st Knights. I don’t regret the opponent in front of me.”
“I am Azwin of the Aranthian Wolf Knights. I mainly make my opponents regret it.”
Holten nodded with a smirk.
“I had a hunch you weren’t from a shoddy knight order.”
“You’re not Nathan either.”
Holten flinched and asked,
“…How do you know his name?”
“I heard it from the Lemifs. Where is that bastard?”
Azwin threw the backpack she was carrying to the side and only held a shield and a sword.
“You don’t need to know.”
“Well, I guess so.”
The footsteps of the Lemifs had completely faded away. Only the unique sounds of the Sky Mountains forest remained, and silence flowed between the two.
Azwin took a few steps to the side and asked,
“By the way, the Lemifs obey you well. How did you train them like that?”
“It’s not impossible if you act like a ghost and instill fear like a ghost for 10 years. Hmm, this pointless talk is getting long. Raise your sword, Knight Azwin.”
Holten also walked in step with Azwin’s steps and spoke.
Azwin tapped her forehead with the side of her sword.
“Oops, I forgot. How should I chase after Gerald after killing you? I can’t get a sense of direction here.”
“You’re worrying for nothing.”
“How do you find your way in the Sky Mountains?”
“We gained such power.”
“Why don’t you teach me a bit?”
“The price is a bit high.”
“How much? Two silver coins?”
“Your life.”
“You really don’t know how to negotiate.”
The start of the attack was Azwin, but it was Azwin who was being pushed back by Holten’s counterattack after blocking her attack. If he was that fast even wearing armor, how fast would his attack be after taking it off? It was so fast she didn’t even want to think about it. His attack seemed to stop, then continued, and when she put all her strength into her shield, thinking he would swing with full force, he stopped the attack. She had fought many left-handed opponents, but this guy’s movements were almost ambidextrous.
Azwin, who usually pushed through with her own style regardless of what kind of attack the opponent made, couldn’t properly deploy her own attack even once.
‘I can’t keep up, damn it.’
Even if she barely dodged the attack and tried to thrust her sword, it wasn’t enough to penetrate the armor hidden under the black robe. Holten seemed to know that too, as he didn’t even block minor attacks. She slashed his chest with the blade several times, but it only bounced off. Then she would have to pierce through the armor or joints with a big attack, but Holten was waiting for Azwin’s movements to get bigger to make such an attack.
Azwin was pushed back a few steps, then jumped up, stamping on the tree behind her, and stabbed the guy’s helmet with her sword. However, as if he was waiting for it, Holten easily blocked the attack and grabbed her neck with his other hand, headbutting her with his helmet.
“Ugh.”
Her vision turned white and she couldn’t see anything for a moment. Holten’s sword aimed at her neck. Azwin almost reflexively blocked it with the sword in her right hand, but was hit in the forehead again by Holten’s helmet.
The pain was secondary, she couldn’t see in front of her. Azwin gritted her teeth, blood flowing out, and just closed her eyes. She timed the sword flying at her neck with her body’s senses and blocked it. And immediately, she pressed her shield against Holten’s helmet, obscuring his vision.
“Get off, you bastard!”
Azwin shouted, pushing the helmet with her shield, and with her floating foot, she kicked Holten’s chest. Holten lost his grip on her collar.
‘He wasn’t hit. He was just startled by the sudden attack. If I don’t keep moving, he’ll counterattack.’
After landing on the ground, Azwin rolled to the side. Holten’s attack once again grazed above her head. She covered her head with the shield. Her whitish blurry vision seemed to be coming back a little, but blood got in her eyes and they closed again.
The sound of the opponent approaching much more boldly than before was heard.
‘That bastard must think he’s taken away my vision. Then his attack direction will be simpler.’
Azwin pretended to charge with her eyes closed and pushed her shield forward, rushing into his embrace. Holten gripped his sword with both hands and swung, as if to blow away Azwin along with her shield. With a loud sound like it was breaking, the shield flew far away. But Azwin, who should have been behind the shield, was gone.
“!”
Azwin had raised her shield above her head and ran almost on the ground. If he was wearing a helmet, he wouldn’t be able to discover an enemy at this angle.
Azwin’s sword, swung up from below, pierced through Holten’s helmet and stabbed his chin. Holten fell back without a single scream. Even in his dying moment, he tried to reverse the swung arm, but the sword had already lost its target.
Azwin couldn’t get up, just sitting for a while. She barely managed to open her eyes.
‘If that bastard hadn’t let his guard down at the end, I would have died.’
Her hand trembled again.
‘I’ve never had an enemy like this, why do I keep being like this? I’m not afraid of dying. I’ve never been. If someone stronger than me appeared and killed me, I could have accepted it. But now I don’t want to do that anymore.’
Gerald’s question came to mind.
‘Can you die for me?’
Azwin answered yes, and Gerald said that’s why it can’t happen. Now she seemed to understand. As a White Wolf, Azwin could die for Gerald. But now she couldn’t do that anymore. Rather than making Gerald, who would be left alone, suffer, she had to suffer alone.
“I can’t die. Because Gerald will be sad.”
Azwin muttered, pulling out her sword from Holten’s fallen corpse. And she looked in the direction Gerald and Sermei were presumed to have fled. Her vision was blurry. She rubbed her eyes with blood in them and focused again.
‘Is that the right direction?’
After clashing with Holten several times, she had completely lost her already lacking sense of direction. So she just closed her eyes instead.
‘Sermei, call me one more time. Entrusting myself to Gider, I will find you.’
Azwin opened her eyes again and ran.
‘Sermei, call me. Keep talking to me so I can find you unconsciously.’
Instead of Sermei’s voice, an eerie energy chased along her spine.
Azwin fell flat on the ground. A huge pillar of fire swept over her back. Looking back, a black-skinned female Lemif with her hair tied back was stretching out her hand. It was the woman who had talked with Holten earlier and led the Lemifs. As she shouted something, the Lemifs who were hiding rushed in.
“Knighthood will be Holten’s wish too.”
Azwin ran without fighting. Arrows flew from behind and shouts chased her. At the end of the escape route, a cliff with a split bottom was holding out. The floor was filled with only pitch-black darkness of immeasurable depth. The other side of the valley was so far that even ten Naizdaks combined wouldn’t reach it.
‘So this is the Hup.’
The crevice of the cliff was getting wider and wider going north, and narrower and narrower going south. At one narrowing part, a suspension bridge was laid. That seemed to be the only passage to cross here.
Azwin ran towards the bridge. As she got closer to the suspension bridge, the metallic sounds and screams echoing on both sides of the cliff grew louder. It seemed a battle was also taking place in front. The Lemifs and the sorceress were still chasing from behind, and the same guys were also gathered at the passage leading to the suspension bridge. The battle was taking place none other than in front of the suspension bridge. Gerald was standing guard in front of the bridge.
Azwin charged into the middle of the Lemif crowd. The Lemifs, who were only paying attention to Gerald’s axe in front, fell at once to Azwin’s sword that appeared from behind.
Azwin ran with the blade pointing down. The Lemifs in the direction she was running fell one by one. The fallen Lemifs clutched their cut Achilles tendons and knees, screaming.
As Azwin penetrated through the Lemif crowd to reach Gerald, the crowd split in two.
Azwin held up her blood-dripping sword and looked around. Gerald, who had fought Holten and ran all the way here, was more exhausted than herself. Sermei had already crossed the suspension bridge and was waiting for the two on the opposite side of the Hup.
It was clear that Gerald had continued a fight with high stamina consumption while protecting Sermei and holding out until Azwin arrived here.
Azwin quickly analyzed the situation and commanded Gerald,
“Cross first!”
As always, the command authority during battle was with Azwin. Gerald followed the order without delay.
“Got it. Follow right after.”
Gerald quickly crossed the shaking bridge as if running on flat ground. Azwin blocked all the rushing spears with her shield and swung her sword threateningly so they couldn’t approach. However, what she was actually paying attention to was not the Lemifs gathered, but the sorceress quite far away.
The Lemif woman raised both hands and took a strange posture. A blue light began to gather at her fingertips.
Azwin swung her sword wide to briefly drive back the soldiers, then stuck the sword in the ground. And she picked up a spear dropped by a Lemif on the ground and threw it at the sorceress preparing something from afar. The spear that flew through the Lemifs whooshed past the sorceress’s side.
The startled sorceress stopped what she was preparing and hid.
“How dare you!”
Although she let go of her sword for a moment, no soldier dared to charge at Azwin during that time. She pulled out the sword stuck in the ground again, aimed it at the Lemifs, and stepped back. Looking back, Gerald had almost reached the end of the bridge.
‘Great. Now I just have to cross first and then cut off the suspension bridge…’
At that moment, Azwin saw something pitch-black approaching from the right side of the bridge.
It was the largest bird’s talon Azwin could imagine. No, it was also a lizard’s talon. Anyway, a foot surrounded by black scales the size of a baby’s palm each flew towards her. Azwin jumped back and the talon grabbed and tore the rope of the suspension bridge.
Gerald, who was almost done crossing, lost his balance as the bridge swayed. The bridge was cut, and Gerald threw his body towards Sermei, who had crossed first and was waiting. The other part of the suspension bridge that was holding on also broke off and fell under the Hup.
Azwin rolled on the ground once, then hurriedly looked back at Gerald’s side. Fortunately, he was crawling up the cliff with Sermei’s help.
The only way to cross the Hup had disappeared.
From the other side of the cliff where the bridge was cut, something like a black bird’s leg came up and stuck its talons into the ground to secure itself. Soon, the other leg followed, and a wingless black dragon crawled up towards Azwin’s side. Even the Lemif soldiers on the same side retreated far back in fear.
Azwin also held out her sword and shield for now, but she was so intimidated by its size that she gaped her mouth.
Azwin recalled the name of the monster Rontlos had told her.
“So this is a Kagua…”
The huge dragon raised its front legs in front of Azwin, supported its sturdy two legs on the ground, and stretched its body long. It felt like a 2 or 3-story building was blocking the front.
Azwin muttered, feeling more wronged than scared,
“Uh, wait. Do I have to fight this now?”
The Kagua didn’t even give Azwin a chance to think and struck down with its front foot. The ground shattered, and the broken dirt mound was dragged up by the black foot and scattered in the air. She dodged, but the force strong enough to shatter the ground was so strong that she was pushed back and hit a tree with her back.
“This is foul play. To fight a monster of this level, you should at least give me a 4-meter spear and a war horse to ride!”
Azwin shouted at the Kagua, leaning against the tree. The Kagua’s attack, having no reason to go easy, continued, and Azwin dodged by throwing and rolling her body. Countless trees were smashed in her stead. Sticky tree sap splattered and wood fragments scattered in all directions. She tried hiding behind rocks too, but the Kagua lifted the rocks whole and threw them towards the cliff.
Even though she didn’t take a single direct hit, Azwin was injured all over her body. She couldn’t even properly hold her exhausted body and leaned against a tree again.
The Kagua looked down at Azwin with bright yellow eyes. From behind the tree, Azwin also glared at it, only sticking out her head. When the Kagua growled like a beast, Azwin also growled back at it.
“Place two Wolves to capture that thing’s movements. Give me a weapon that can cut its neck. One made by Lergo. The fight comes after that. That’s how it’s fair.”
The Kagua took a deep breath. It seemed like all the surrounding air was being sucked into the Kagua’s mouth. Azwin shook her head several times.
“Hey, hey, hey. Isn’t that the ‘thing’ I only heard about? Don’t do that. You should give me a shield to block it. Of course, one made by Lergo.”
The Kagua, having gathered its strength, opened its mouth wide towards Azwin. The pouring black flames pushed down several nearby trees, including the one Azwin was leaning on. The aftermath of that force wasn’t limited to just a few trees. Dozens of Lemif soldiers who were unfortunately dodging in that direction were swept away by the black flames.
The area touched by the Kagua’s breath turned black and burned, creating a rarely seen large path in the Sky Mountains. The creature stood on its hind legs, holding up its front legs, and walked slowly while looking around.
Azwin was standing behind a tree, close enough to hear the Kagua’s breathing. She untied the Naizdak tied around her waist and made a knot.
‘Hunting Rule #3: No beast in the world has the power to protect its eyes.’
Azwin smiled, repeating those words to herself.
‘Come to think of it, when the teacher told me to memorize those words, I rebelled, saying no beast could stand against my sword. Well, I guess he didn’t have the confidence to explain to a thoughtless, doubtful, and ill-mannered child that there are monsters like this in the world?’
The moment the Kagua turned its back, Azwin threw the knotted Naizdak. The moment the Kagua’s neck was caught exactly in the round loop of rope, Azwin pulled hard, leaning her body back. The Naizdak became a snare and tightened around the Kagua’s neck.
The startled Kagua looked back. She pulled the rope as taut as possible.
‘Since I jumped that much even carrying Sermei, my body alone should be able to fly above that thing’s head.’
Azwin endured to the end, and the moment the angry Kagua grabbed the rope with its hand, she launched her body, taking her feet off the ground. Her body shot up into the sky as if being sucked in.
The jump wasn’t aimed exactly at the Kagua. Azwin’s body was headed towards a tree next to the Kagua. She kicked the tree with her foot and changed direction. Using the next tree she reached as a jumping point, Azwin was floating in a position higher than the Kagua.
The Kagua, unable to find Azwin who had suddenly soared up, still had its gaze directed at the ground. Azwin fell towards the Kagua’s head, swinging down her sword.
The blade sank deep into the Kagua’s eyeball. The Kagua screamed and swung its arm at its face. Azwin was hit squarely by that arm and fell into the air. Still, she didn’t let go of the sword. So the blade stuck in its eyeball was forcibly pulled out. From its eyeball, a hazy liquid, not blood, dripped out following the trajectory of the pulled-out blade.
Azwin hit her back on a thick tree branch and spun twice in the air, hitting her chest against a tree. Next, she fell on the ground, starting from her waist. For a moment, it was so painful that she couldn’t even breathe, but there was no time to rest.
The Kagua, writhing in pain, found Azwin with one eye open. Its eyeball, dripping blood while glaring, was terrifying.
The Kagua put its front foot on the ground and charged towards Azwin.
Azwin turned her body and ran. Before long, an immensely deep cliff appeared. She stopped and checked the other side of the cliff. Gerald could be seen waiting on the opposite side. He held up his axe, and Azwin nodded. That much of a signal was enough.
Azwin turned around with her back to the cliff. The Kagua ran at a fearsome speed, gradually raising its upper body. She ran towards the Kagua instead. The Kagua swung its front foot as if scratching the ground, and Azwin jumped up to avoid it. At that moment, the Kagua swung its other arm.
Azwin’s body got caught on the sharp front foot and flew weakly like a doll thrown by a child. But at that moment, she grabbed the Naizdak still hanging on the Kagua’s neck. The Naizdak stretched long in the direction Azwin’s body was flying, becoming thinner in thickness and extremely taut.
Azwin didn’t let go of the Naizdak even while rolling on the ground. She sprang up, gripped the sword, and leaned her body back, relying on the rope pulling her body mercilessly. She twisted the rope once around her hand to secure it.
‘Don’t break. Endure at least one more time…’
Even though she blocked with her shield when the Kagua struck with its arm, it didn’t seem to help much. Every joint in her body ached as if they had all fallen off and reattached. The wound on her forehead from being hit by Holten’s helmet, which had barely stopped bleeding, bled again. Blood flowed down her forehead and dripped from her chin.
“Hunting Rule #9: Don’t show weakness in front of prey… Ah, was that #8?”
The Kagua, having lost one eye, stood tall with its back to the cliff. The Kagua brought its hand to the rope around its neck. Azwin said in a small voice that only she could hear,
“Now, Gerald. Now…”
The Kagua suddenly grabbed the end of the rope and pulled Azwin hard. The moment it pulled the end of the rope, Azwin pulled the rope with all her might. The Naizdak became so taut it was almost about to break, then strongly contracted, pulling the lighter side.
Azwin’s feet lifted into the air and were terrifyingly sucked towards the Kagua. The Kagua also didn’t miss it and raised its front foot. However, the raised front foot couldn’t be swung at Azwin. The Kagua hunched its back with a gasp.
Gerald’s axe, thrown from the other side of the cliff, was stuck in the back of the Kagua’s neck.
During the extremely short time the Kagua paid attention to it, Azwin’s body had reached right in front of its face.
‘You said a sword you made could even kill a dragon, Lergo?’
Azwin thrust the sword into the dragon’s neck without a big motion and pulled it out. In pain, the Kagua flailed its front feet and slowly fell back. The Naizdak tying its neck automatically tied the Kagua while spinning round and round with Azwin as a weight. While spinning, she stabbed the rib area close to the heart one more time. Although it spewed out pain, there was little reaction, so it seemed the Kagua had already met its end the moment she stabbed its neck.
As the Kagua fell, its heavy weight rang out with a thud on the ground. Azwin collapsed on the Kagua’s chest, then sprang up in case it had a seizure or resisted.
‘Is it over?’
Unintentionally, Azwin ended up standing on the chest of the fallen the Kagua.
The Kagua’s chest, still breathing, repeatedly rose and fell. But soon the movement disappeared.
At that time, Lemif soldiers approached from near the trees about twenty meters away.
‘Damn, it’s not over. Now I have neither the strength to fight nor the stamina to run away.’
Azwin only looked at the enemies with eyes that seemed tired to death, still holding the rope tied around the Kagua’s neck.
Azwin got off the Kagua’s corpse, glancing at the Lemifs. They didn’t try to attack her yet.
Azwin held a black blood-stained sword in one hand, and with the other hand, she pulled the axe stuck between the Kagua’s neck and back. It was stuck in too deep to come out with one hand.
‘Geri, this guy is strong. To stick it this deep from that distance.’
Azwin had no choice but to put the sword on the ground, grip the axe handle with both hands, and pulled it out while pushing the Kagua’s back of the head with her foot. Blood from the Kagua splattered once more from the pulled spot.
‘Can I reach with my strength?’
Azwin held the axe and shouted to Gerald on the opposite side of the cliff.
“Throwing it!”
Azwin spun around once in place and threw the axe towards the sky with all her might. The axe, drawing a smooth parabola and rotating, stuck in a spot about five steps away from where Gerald was. It was a position that barely crossed the cliff.
‘Phew, done it.’
After doing that, she had no strength left to stand. The Lemifs approached from behind, muttering, but she left them alone.
Still, they didn’t attack Azwin.
“Azwin, I’ll think of a way to cross over. Wait.”
Gerald shouted.
“No, just go. This is it for me.”
“I said I’ll go.”
“No.”
Azwin squeezed out her voice and continued,
“Go, these guys won’t be able to cross here either, and you won’t be able to cross here. So at least buy time this way and finish the job when you do. Take Sermei… take Sermei where she needs to go.”
Azwin looked back at Sermei and Gerald, who were standing still, for the last time. They were too far to read their expressions.
‘What expressions are they making? Are they sad? Are they angry? Are they suffering?’
Azwin was very curious.
“Go. Don’t worry about me.”
Gerald hesitated. In her blurred vision, Gerald’s face looked like a different person.
‘Is it time to die? Why does that guy’s face look like someone else?’
For some reason, words someone else had said, not what Gerald had said, suddenly came to her mind.
‘If you want to do it, just say you want to do it.’
Life’s motto. To have no regrets, enjoy everything!
Azwin didn’t touch anything that wasn’t fun, and once she touched something, she did it with all her might. Doing so was more enjoyable than giving up what she was doing and finding something else fun to do. So for her, endurance wasn’t bitter, and success was thrillingly sweet.
‘But who said those words to me? Was it the teacher? Was it Gerald? This saying was a motto I carried around since my mercenary days, so it’s not Gerald. But why did he say something similar in the cave back then? Ah, who cares who said such a stupid thing? Let’s only think about Gerald now.’
Gerald shouted so loudly that the deep valley of the Hup echoed.
“Then wait. I will definitely go rescue you after taking Sermei.”
“Okay. I shall wait politely until I open my eyes with the kiss of a knight on a white horse, Your Highness.”
Azwin shouted with the last of her strength. She sighed heavily and lowered her head. Sleep poured in frighteningly, making it hard to stay awake.
Gerald’s joking voice came as if in a dream.
“If the knight saves the princess, they have to get married. The ending to such a story is always that.”
Azwin burst into laughter. When she raised her head, Gerald was already out of sight. She muttered in an inaudible voice,
“Let’s do that, Geri. Come save me. If we both survive…, let’s get married. I’ll propose. Anyone can be the Queen’s Guardian Knight. It’s not us. We can just live here if we survive. Sermei will find us a house. She’s a princess, so she must be rich, right? If the two of us have a child, that kid will be the strongest. Right?”
Azwin sat down, exhausted.
The sound of approaching footsteps was heard. A black knight wearing a black robe inside out was standing with several Lemifs.
For a moment, Azwin mistook him for the dead Holten coming back to life. Like the black knights in Camort.
Next to him was the Lemif woman who had been tormenting Azwin with magic all along. She was a black-skinned woman adorned with jewelry all over her body.
“I can’t believe it. I heard you defeated Holten in a head-on battle and thought it was a lie, but now I even get to see the Kagua’s corpse.”
The knight in black armor continued in a familiar voice.
“After being in the Sky Mountains for a long time, is my head finally showing me absurd delusions, or is this woman in front of my eyes the wrong one? Who are you?”
“I’m a White Wolf of Aranthia. A junior of the knight order that smashed your knight order 10 years ago.”
Azwin answered indifferently. She wanted to speak threateningly yet playfully like usual, but she didn’t have the energy for that now.
He said,
“While I was on the battlefield, Excelon never lost. It seems Lontamon chose Aranthia as the next route after Carnelock. Just like a foolish king. Using such an unreasonable tactic, it’s no wonder they were defeated.”
Azwin tilted her head at what he said.
“Weren’t you the Excelon Knight of the continental conquest war? Then what about the Excelon led by Captain Welch?”
“He was the second one to replace my real captain. The Excelon Knights you know were probably just criminals who wanted to be exempt from their crimes.”
“Second? Criminals?”
Azwin thought this was another strange thing to say, but he didn’t answer readily.
‘I’ve recovered the strength to get up.’
Azwin clenched and unclenched her fist, then sprang up from her spot.
‘I can kill one and die.’
That knight took off his robe’s hood like Holten did, revealing his helmet.
“You want to fight?”
He asked.
“Well, it’s not like you’ll let me live even if I get caught here, right? What’s your name?”
“Redward.”
‘Not Nathan.’
Azwin had somehow come to feel no fear even for those other than Nathan. Redward quickly drew his sword and extended it to Azwin’s face.
“I acknowledge that you defeated Holten, but with those injuries, what can you do…”
Azwin knocked away the sword in front of her eyes, jumped into the opponent’s embrace, and rammed her shoulder. She thought he would fall back, but Redward endured the weight. And he pushed her away and swung his sword.
Azwin staggered back as if about to fall, then swung her sword wide again. Redward unconsciously blocked all her swinging sword.
That was the limit. Azwin sat down not because of the opponent’s counterattack, but because her legs went limp. Redward also didn’t bother to counterattack and waited for her to collapse on her own.
Redward kicked Azwin’s stomach as she sat down. She clutched her stomach in pain. Next, he stepped hard on her back.
Azwin buried her face in the dirt. An unfamiliar humiliation arose, but the strength to endure the weight of the armored man and get up had long evaporated.
“Your tenacity is amazing.”
He said.
“Should I apologize?”
Azwin said with her cheek stuck to the cold ground.
“No. I’ll have to take you.”
“Where to?”
“To Captain Victor.”
Redward took his foot off Azwin’s back and gave orders to the Lemifs. The soldiers cautiously approached and tied her up. She let them do as they pleased and asked,
“Wasn’t the name of the captain Welch?”
“He is the captain of the Excelon 1st Knights.”
“Then who is Nathan?”
Azwin asked.
“I don’t know how you know that name, but it’s not a question I’ll answer.”
“Then that’s that, what are you going to do by taking me?”
“I’m taking you to ask what to do, so I don’t know either.”
Azwin sighed heavily and glared at Redward.
He smirked and continued,
“Do you think the two who just ran away will survive? Abandon hope. Let me tell you one thing, the Kagua you killed was the youngest one we had. The strongest one we have is chasing after those two who ran away beyond the Hup. And do you think we can’t cross that valley? There are plenty of ways.”
It felt like her heart was shriveling up. It was rather fortunate that she couldn’t even be surprised because she had too little strength.
Azwin was dragged away by the hands of other Lemifs. Walking for several hours in that state, Azwin was certain that Sermei’s prophecy would definitely be wrong.
‘I’ll die of exhaustion like this being dragged away before I die by the knight named Nathan…’
As expected, Azwin fainted before the night passed. One of the bastards carried her on his back. Later, she was transported on a black-furred beast. She vomited several times in the middle and burst into a cough, unable to breathe. But contrary to expectations, she survived.
Azwin opened her eyes again, still tied with ropes. It was another Lemif village.
‘A place I’m seeing for the first time. But I think I know where it is. It must be the home village of the Fvoe Lemifs who have been consistently attacking us.’
It was Tachisel.
–TL Notes–
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