LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 83
Chapter 83. A Hair’s Breadth Crisis In The Wilderness
Rushing through the castle relentlessly. Ran while turning at several intersections randomly. Already completely lost.
Never encountered enemy soldiers for some reason. Passed by some lower-ranked individuals, but they screamed and ran away.
Anyway, if anything resembling soldiers’ voices were heard, I kept moving in the opposite direction, completely losing my position. Not heading towards tomorrow, but racing towards the day after tomorrow.
Which one is tomorrow?!
As punishment for thinking such nonsense, I jumped out in front of the soldiers who were loitering ahead of the corner.
“Whoa?!”
“Huh?!”
“A prisoner??”
Both parties were too abrupt, and it became a standoff. But they are professional soldiers. They immediately drew their swords and surrounded me in a semicircle.
“Who are you?!”
“A prisoner.?”
“Suspicious attire… doesn’t matter! Seize him!”
“Aren’t you going to kill him?!”
“This guy seems suspicious! He might know something, even if we have to lose our limbs! Seize him!”
“Roger!”
The soldiers echoed and responded.
This is not a joke.
The soldiers closing in on me, there’s no opening with these guys.
Perhaps things have gone too smoothly until now. I create a defensive aura with my breathing. It might be futile.
Are they cautious of my carbine? There’s no sudden attack. They must recognize it as a weapon.
The distance is too perfect. I can’t use the stun grenade. If I move carelessly, they’ll all pounce on me at once.
I can’t move.
Sweat drips from my forehead.
Do I have no choice but to use it?
Considering the remaining bullets, the carbine is useless. Probably I can only take down 2 or 3 people. The handgun won’t work either. Even though it’s live ammunition, aside from the fact that I haven’t practiced or loaded it, I can only take down one or two people at most.
The last resort is the light sword’s aerial tool.
If I take it out from the container and solidify the activation image in advance, I should be able to activate it as soon as I get it. Probably.
But that’s the same as killing all the soldiers in front of me. Can I take the lives of 12 soldiers?
Sweat pours like a waterfall not only from me but also from the soldiers’ faces.
When I aim the tip of the carbine at the soldier who approaches the closest with a slight movement, that soldier stops abruptly. We’re at a stalemate, lacking decisive moves.
“All right… you guys keep them busy, I’ll go out.”
“Captain?”
A man wearing remarkably fine decorative leather armor, who had been standing behind, draws his sword and slowly approaches.
Not a pushover.
It seems I’ve clashed with an elite unit.
The soldiers split left and right, and the man called the captain steps forward.
I have no choice but to brace myself.
Imagine it.
A light sword scattering like a machine gun across the width of the corridor. Probably, everyone would be minced in an instant. I hesitated for a moment imagining that.
That became a clear opening.
“Gotcha!”
I barely managed to stop the captain’s blade plunging towards me by lowering my hips with all my might. But the carbine, caught in the action, was easily cut apart as if it were made of paper, and I lost my balance due to the recoil and couldn’t brace myself.
Then, I was struck from behind by the captain’s knee and fell to the floor from the corridor. Furthermore, he pinned me down on top of me, and in an instant, my freedom got taken away.
Without hesitation, the remaining soldiers pinned down my limbs.
The captain, now free, stands up.
“Excellent job!”
“Hmph. It’s thanks to our daily training. Now, there are many things I want to ask you…”
“Huh?”
The captain, who had been pointing his sword at my throat, suddenly turned around.
“Amateurs.”
“Gyah?!”
A giant black rod suddenly sprouted from the captain’s chest. No, this is…
“Yaralai!”
Yaralai, who looks just like a Native American, pierced through the 12 soldiers like a gust of wind.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Yaralai, he’s too handsome.
――――
“Nuooooo!”
A roar echoed from the depths of the corridor.
“Is that voice… Hagg?”
It seems to be further ahead, at the end of a T-shaped intersection. Since there are clear screams mixed with the roar, Hagg is probably mowing down soldiers.
“Yaralai, why… no, why did you come to help me?”
“That’s right.”
To Yaralai, who lightly nods, tears threaten to fall.
“I’m glad… but why did you do such a foolish thing for my sake?”
Yes, even though he’s hired as a guard, I haven’t paid him yet, and there’s no reason for him to come to my rescue by picking a fight with the state.
“Friend, help, natural.”
“Friend…”
I was momentarily stunned, and my body froze.
Friend? We’re not that close to call each other friends. We’ve only known each other for a few days. While Yaralai might be a lifesaver to me, to him, I’m just a merchant he happened to meet.
To boldly call that friendship and come to my aid by storming the royal castle?
I can’t comprehend it.
But, what is this overwhelming joy welling up from inside me?
“Yaralai…”
“Come here.”
Unable to find the right words of gratitude, I hesitated to speak, but Yaralai ignored me and proceeded. Somehow, I feel a bit left behind.
Without any emotional scenes, I hurriedly followed Yaralai.
I made sure to load my SigZauer, of course, without cocking it.
I debated between the light sword and the Sig, but there must be a reason to have the Sig prepared in advance, despite the preparation required.
“Oh! You’re alive, Akira!”
When I turned the corner, blood splattered all over the corridor.
Ugh.
Chunks of flesh stuck to the walls, and Hagg’s hammer was also covered in blood. It’s so gross. I feel like throwing up.
“Akira-sama!”
“Huh?”
Because I immediately looked away from the gruesome sight, I didn’t notice the voice until it reached me.
“Akira-sama!”
Once again, I heard that voice, and someone rushed to me and hugged me. No, it’s clear who it is.
“Cherina?!”
Why?! Why?! Wha—?!
“Oh… thank goodness… you’re alive…”
Unable to comprehend Cherina’s tears, I could only respond with a bewildered reaction.
I can understand Yaralai and Hagg.
But why is Cherina here too? It’s too unclear.
“Cherina… did you get captured too?”
“Huh? …No, that’s not it.”
She looks up at me with swollen eyes. Quite close.
“I was at… no, with that bastard.”
Huh?
Cherina says with a smile, calling him a bastard.
What on earth happened? Someone, please explain!
“I’m sorry to interrupt your touching reunion, but if we stay here forever, we won’t be able to escape.”
Before I could calm down from my confusion, Hagg cut in.
“Oh, uh… but where should we go? And where are we?”
“This is the royal castle.”
“I know that much.”
“We’re in the central area of the castle.”
“Huh?!”
What kind of sense of direction am I having?!
In that situation, I guess it couldn’t be helped, but it’s too stupid to run straight into the enemy’s stronghold.
“Do you know the way out?”
“I know, heard from spirits.”
“How convenient.”
It seems Yaralai can hear the voice of the spirits, not radio waves.
“Anyway, escaping is the priority for now.”
Cherina also seems to have calmed down and takes a red chain in her hand, letting go of me.
“Miss! Over here!”
Melvin shouted. So you guys were here. The usual guards of the Veliero Trading Company are also here.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Questions later. Let’s go, Akira-sama.”
“Yeah.”
I’m all for running away, so I start running with them.
Yaralai leads, followed by Hagg, me and Cherina, Melvin, the guards, and others.
Yaralai effortlessly navigates through the maze-like corridors. The soldiers they encounter along the way are instantly killed by Yaralai and Hagg’s teamwork. It’s not that the soldiers are weak; these two are probably just too strong.
Although it’s described as instant death, they don’t seem to always kill, seemingly knocking out those who seem likely to faint. Perhaps the bloodbath earlier was because there were many elites in the central area of the castle, making it impossible to hold back.
“If we can get through the central hall…”
“There are too many soldiers.”
“Yeah. There are likely skilled ones too. It’s dangerous to pass through there.”
Cherina, Yaralai, and Hagg decide on the route. I don’t really understand, but there are many soldiers along the shortcut.
“It’s not easy to deal with the Royal Guard, huh?”
“I think it’ll be okay, but even if we have to deal with the Royal Guard, we won’t need to go out of our way.”
“That’s right.”
“Over here.”
After meditating for a while, Yaralai starts running again. It seems he was having a conversation with some spirits or something.
We start running again. But if we hadn’t learned wave energy manipulation, I shudder to think. By now, we’d probably be too exhausted to move.
Of course, fatigue is significant; my breathing is heavy, sweat won’t stop, and it’s tough going, but still.
“Here, Dwarf, break.”
“What’s this, an Elf ordering me around?”
“Efficiency, priority.”
“Damn Elves, always so bossy!”
Yaralai stops in the middle of the corridor and orders Hagg to destroy the wall.
“Hagg-sama, please.”
“Hmph, an Elf like you can’t do it anyway.”
Hagg prepares his massive hammer.
“I am the Iron Hammer… I crush everything before me with my iron hammer. I smash everything that stands in my way! I am the Iron Hammer!!”
With a roar, Hagg’s body begins to glow.
“Uwaaaahhh!”
With his shout, the hammer he swings down punches a huge hole in the white stone wall. Peering inside, the thickness of the stone wall is considerable, so it’s impressive that he smashed it with a single blow.
“Wow, Hagg, that’s amazing.”
“Hmph. If it’s me, it’s a piece of cake.”
“Barbaric, you lot, let’s go.”
Hagg seems somewhat pleased, but Yaralai breaks through.
“Damn it, don’t the Elves even know how to say thank you?”
“You, able, natural.”
“Hmph! You Elves are truly hopeless!”
“You guys… think about the situation…”
“Yaralai-sama, Hagg-sama, escaping is the top priority now.”
“I know that! Elf! Which way next?”
“…”
Yaralai points silently ahead.
Beyond the large hole, the castle courtyard is visible, and beyond that, the castle gate towers. A group of prisoners seems to have already arrived, and the area in front of the castle gate is in chaos.
“We’re breaking through!”
“Yeah!”
“Seriously?!”
“Let’s go.”
“Miss!”
“I… do we have no choice but to go?”
“I’ll protect the miss!”
“I was asked by the boss too!”
“Uwaaaaahhh!”
With Hagg’s roar, everyone rushes out at once. Yaralai leads the way.
Whether borrowing the power of the spirits or not, he closes the distance in the blink of an eye.
A soldier, still looking bewildered by the sudden intrusion, is pierced in the chest by Yaralai’s black needle. The prisoners who were fighting the upfront also froze in shock.
About 30 soldiers are guarding the castle gate and about 20 prisoners, along with about 20 corpses. They probably charged in with a death wish, but they couldn’t match trained soldiers and fell.
Perhaps the soldiers were too confident in their superiority; they had their spears ready, but suddenly they were infiltrated, and they were struck down with thick estocs.
“Uwaaaahhh?!”
The soldier next to him finally understands the situation and screams, but the next moment a black iron core sprouts from the soldier’s chest. As the soldiers fall with blood spraying, the soldiers are visibly shaken.
Then Hagg charges in.
“Take this!”
A huge chunk of iron is swung down onto another soldier’s head, scattering red fruit on the ground like a watermelon.
That’s why it’s so gruesome.
I slightly avert my gaze and make up my mind this time. I draw my SigZauer from its holster and fire. The soldier screams and falls, but doesn’t seem to be dead.
No, that’s wrong. I have to intend to kill!
I fire again. Another soldier falls.
Cherina and her guards flinch at the gunshot, but quickly regain their composure and throw their red chains like they’re stabbing. They hit the soldiers’ faces beautifully, drawing undulating trajectories. Their movements were serpentine. Must be the influence of the wave energy.
Within two minutes, the soldiers at the castle gate were either down or fleeing.
“Uwaaahhh!”
This time, Hagg swings his hammer at the closed castle gate. A striking sound that shakes the courtyard echoes, but the castle gate only warps. No, warping is strange.
“One more!”
A more intense sound than before, and it seems like Hagg’s body is glowing even more.
One side of the double doors warps and opens slightly.
“With this, it’s over!”
With a third explosion, the doors warp and open about a meter.
Seriously, Hagg, you’re too much of a monster. Is this the standard in this other world? I thought so, but prisoners staggering back or widening their eyes continue to appear, so Hagg is not the standard.
“Anyway, let’s escape now!”
I shout to both my comrades and the prisoners, and the prisoners, having regained their senses, rush ahead toward the exit.
“Let’s go! Akira-sama!”
“Yeah!”
And so, we managed to escape to the Veliero Trading Company.