LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 18.1
Chapter 18: Northern Foes (3)
My firepower and the knights’ aura-heated swords began warming the cold, ashen battlefield.
The numerical disadvantage was countered by magic a century ahead of its time and swordsmanship even a century later no one could surpass.
BOOOM!
Crack! Zap!
ROAAARR!
Screeeech!
“Damn monsters!”
“Weren’t they supposed to be drained of strength and weapons after two months?”
The screams of terror came in place of words from the stunned enemies.
The rampaging monsters dwindled rapidly, and along with them, the imperial agents—estimated at twenty strong—and the ten warlocks from the Warlock’s Den had been reduced to less than half.
Victory was tilting in our favor.
“Huff… Huff… Huff!”
However, even Arina and her knights were visibly exhausted. They weren’t invincible, after all.
“Hey, Arad Jin.”
It was then that Doyle—whose name might have been real or an alias—called out to me.
“How many arrows do you have left? The ones that unleash magic with each shot.”
“Five.”
I answered without hesitation, then immediately fired one at a medium-sized monster advancing toward us.
CRACK!
This time, the arrow I fired was imbued with a mix of ice, wind, and water Magicstones.
ROARRRR…
The monster—a hydra—was instantly frozen from its torso to halfway up its neck. Its thick hide, muscles, and bones prevented complete freezing, but it was incapacitated for the moment.
“This makes things easy! Haah!”
Slash!
Taking advantage of the hydra’s sluggish movements, another high-ranking knight of Renslet, Sir Carrot, slashed through its necks.
“Four left now,” I said, reloading another magestone arrow and addressing Doyle.
“Understood. We’d better hurry.”
Doyle nodded and, without warning, headed toward where Arina was.
“…?”
Watching Doyle retreat from my position, I wondered if he was heading over to provide backup.
I shrugged it off and refocused on the battle.
One arrow, another, and then another were fired.
Before long, the undead monsters and warlocks had been completely eradicated. The imperial Sigma knights and mages had also been reduced to a mere handful.
The remaining enemies could now be counted on one hand: six knights and one mage, who appeared to be their leader.
These seven were now surrounded by Renslet’s knights.
“Sir Irina! Sir Dominic! I’m out of arrows!”
I raised my voice to inform the Grand Duchess and Balzac that I could no longer provide fire support.
“Understood!”
“You’ve been a tremendous help, truly!” Arina and Balzac nodded at me, offering small smiles.
Perhaps my genuine efforts during the battle had cleared some of their doubts. The suspicion and wariness in their expressions were notably diminished.
‘But why do those bastards look so calm?’
Despite their defeat being inevitable, the seven remaining Sigma agents appeared unsettlingly composed.
“……”
Their gazes, cold and unreadable, were fixed on Arina.
And then, in an instant—
Thunk!
Something unimaginable unfolded.
Doyle, who had been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Arina, suddenly turned and plunged his sword into her abdomen.
“!!”
“!!”
Everyone froze—Arina, Balzac, the other knights, and even me, watching from the golden carriage.
The sight was so surreal that words failed us all.
Had Arina been in peak condition, she might have been able to parry the attack. But after the immense toll taken by the barrier and the labyrinth, she was far from her best. Even with the stew I’d made and the weapons I’d repaired, she couldn’t be at full strength.
Above all, the limitless trust she had in her subordinate—the one she didn’t want to suspect—left her vulnerable to this fatal betrayal.
“Ack…!”
Arina collapsed, blood gushing from her abdomen as she coughed violently.
“Nooooo!”
Balzac’s anguished cry pierced the air.
“Why…?”
Seated on the ground, Arina stared at Doyle with disbelief, her eyes wide with betrayal.
“You traitor!”
Balzac hurled his hand axe at Doyle with all the strength of his enraged yet exhausted frame.
The speed of the throw was nothing to scoff at, enough to strike down most ordinary knights.
Clang!
However, Doyle deflected the axe with his blade, which he had just withdrawn from Arina.
Leap, leap, leap!
Then, as though his earlier exhaustion had been a ruse, Doyle darted nimbly away, crossing to the imperial side.
“Traitor!”
“A knight of the Frostblade, betraying his own!”
Sir Eote, Sir Carrot, and Sir Rosie glared at Doyle with seething hatred.
“Pfft.”
Doyle spat on the ground, his face devoid of any guilt.
“You’re… unbelievably persistent.”
His expression carried a mix of relief, irritation, and lingering frustration.
“When we first entered the barrier, I thought it’d all be over quickly.”
Pulling a black orb, the size of an eyeball, from his pocket, Doyle continued, “But you were too tenacious. Even as elite knights, you survived nearly two months without proper food.”
It seemed Doyle’s machinations had begun from the moment they entered the barrier.
“You have no idea how hard it was for me, do you? I had to starve myself to maintain this act! Not to mention skipping baths!”
He must have used that black orb to mislead them through the labyrinth, poison their elite horses, and disrupt their supplies.
“And just when I thought the end was near…”
His gaze shifted to me and the golden carriage.
“A supply-laden carriage, appearing in the middle of a barrier and labyrinth? What a joke.”