Ch.114Chapter 114 – Struggle

What on earth had happened?

That was the first thought that crossed my mind as soon as my hazy consciousness awakened.

-Thud

Ludger’s right arm, which had been flying through the air, fell to the ground.

The sound of a chunk of meat hitting the earth.

For some reason, that sound, which couldn’t possibly be loud, felt overwhelmingly so.

I quickly pushed aside Sera and Christina, stood up, and drew the sword that had been hanging at my waist all this time, then threw it.

Despite the sudden attack, the platinum-haired man easily deflected the sword.

And just as I grabbed Ludger’s shoulder, the man’s sword began to swing down.

-Clang!

“Sorry, but I’m not going to let you go.”

“Are you the Saint of the Harti Order?”

The platinum-haired man immediately began to engage with Aria, who had lunged at him.

Taking advantage of the opening, I pulled Ludger’s shoulder and hastily retreated.

“Ughh…!”

Ludger groaned, seemingly just now realizing his arm had been severed.

I dragged him back to where Sera and Christina were.

“Mr. Kay?!”

“Benefactor, are you finally coming to your senses?”

Sera and Christina immediately began treating Ludger while questioning me.

But this wasn’t the time to force myself to recall vague memories.

Ludger’s injury was the urgent matter.

“Will he be alright?”

“…As a temporary measure, yes.”

While I was pulling Ludger away, Sera and Christina seemed to have recovered his severed arm.

They were pressing it against the cross-section of Ludger’s cut arm.

However, Christina’s expression wasn’t particularly reassuring.

-Clang!

“Kyaah!”

I heard Aria’s voice.

Looking back, I could see the man swinging his sword at her.

And I watched as the pauldron of the armor Aria was wearing was torn off.

“Good heavens.”

That armor hadn’t broken even when a dragon charged or struck wildly.

Yet this man was easily destroying it.

Eventually, I saw Aria sacrifice one of her gauntlets to forcibly break away from the platinum-haired man and create distance.

It seemed virtually impossible for Aria to subdue him.

“Where’s Beatrice?”

“Over there…”

I immediately shook my head after looking in the direction Sera pointed.

“Somnuuuuus!!!!”

I could see Beatrice using magic while shouting like that.

And I saw Somnus, whom I had seen before, and a red holy knight facing off against her.

In that situation, Beatrice wouldn’t stop.

It was obvious she would madly rush at Somnus alone.

We couldn’t expect her help.

“Damn it…!”

I had lost the halberd I carried while fighting the dragon in mid-air, and I couldn’t recover the sword after that man deflected it.

I couldn’t do anything against an opponent who had defeated Ludger when I didn’t even have a weapon.

We were essentially cornered.

‘First, evacuate the three of them.’

I needed to get Ludger, who couldn’t fight, along with Sera and Christina, away from this battlefield.

If they stayed and were taken hostage, I would be even more helpless.

“You all, take Grandpa Ludger and run…”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I quickly ducked at the sudden voice.

A greatsword swept just above my head.

Rolling on the ground and getting up, I saw a casual-looking man resting a greatsword on his shoulder, looking down at me.

“Your armor’s all broken and you don’t even have a weapon. What do you think you’re going to do?”

“Who are you?!”

I stood up and clenched my fists.

I saw Sera getting up behind me, but I raised my hand to stop her.

The man sneered at me and spoke.

“Hakan. General of the New Kingdom of Trigaena.”

“What’s your purpose?”

I noticed Sera and Christina moving slightly behind me, taking Ludger with them.

Sera was looking at me with a face that seemed about to cry.

‘I need to buy time somehow.’

Thinking of that platinum-haired man who was still cutting through Aria’s armor, every second counted.

I needed to buy enough time for Sera and Christina to retreat to safety.

“Well, I came on an expedition to take the dragon’s heart, but…”

The casual man, Hakan, pointed his sword at me—or more precisely, behind me.

“There’s something I need to take from that old man. Special orders from the Regent, you see.”

“What…?”

“Hey, what do you think I’d want from a Paladin of the Jeolei Order as a general of the New Kingdom of Trigaena?”

The man smiled slyly as he spoke.

“That holy relic.”

Ludger’s holy relic.

The man declared that he was after that weapon, which could transform into any weapon.

“Now, excuse me!”

The man immediately tried to pass by me.

Naturally, I couldn’t let him.

I quickly tried to trip him, but he jumped into the air, avoiding my leg.

“Perfect spot for a leg!”

As I jumped backward, his greatsword came crashing down like a guillotine where my leg had just been.

“Holy Arrow!”

“Oh?”

While I was dodging his greatsword, Christina’s arrows made of holy power began flying toward Hakan, as if she had been preparing.

Hakan swung his greatsword to deflect those arrows.

Then his eyes fixed on Christina’s staff.

“Well, well, could that be a holy relic too? I’ve never seen it before.”

His eyes gleamed.

“Maybe I’ll take that as well.”

He seemed to have a keen interest in holy relics.

His eyes twisted with greed as he focused on Christina’s staff.

Sera didn’t miss that momentary opening.

“Clay Wrap!”

“What the hell is this?!”

With Sera’s shout, something that looked like mud rose from the ground.

It trapped the man inside and transformed into a sphere.

“Mr. Kay! Hurry!”

Glancing at the mud sphere, I saw a sword protruding from inside.

The man seemed to be trying to cut his way out.

Fortunately, the mud appeared to fill in the gaps whenever it was cut, preventing Hakan from escaping.

“I can’t hold it for long!”

At Sera’s cry, I quickly approached the two, hoisted Ludger onto my back.

Sera held onto him while Christina pulled my arm, guiding the direction.

“This way!”

I could see a passage leading inside the castle wall ahead.

And in that moment, the mud sphere was torn apart.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Hakan shouted and began chasing us.

Just then, something passed between him and us, something fell to the ground, and someone landed.

-Boom!

“Somnus!!!”

“Mr. Hakan, I think I need your help.”

What had passed between us was Somnus.

The one who had landed was Beatrice, who had been fighting above.

And beside her, the red holy knight who had been fighting alongside Somnus was lying on the ground.

“I’ll kill you for sure, you bastard!!”

Beatrice was still spewing hatred and rage toward Somnus.

And Somnus hid behind Hakan.

“Damn it, why are you using me as a shield?!”

“I’m counting on you.”

“For what?!”

Hakan was yelling at Somnus.

Soon, he slung his greatsword over his shoulder with an annoyed expression.

“Who are you? Get out of my way!!”

And I saw Beatrice charging toward the two of them.

While she was distracted, we quickly entered the castle wall.

+

Inside the castle wall, there were storerooms for weapons and rooms that served as simple resting places.

We retreated to the nearest one, opened the door, and sat Ludger down.

“Mmm…”

His face looked somewhat peaceful.

With Christina’s emergency treatment, his arm was being reattached, but he could no longer be an effective fighter.

Leaving him, I quickly surveyed the room.

“Something that could be used as a weapon…”

“Mr. Kay, you’re not planning to fight, are you?”

I nodded at Sera’s question.

“Why…?”

“Because even if we can avoid the platinum-haired one, that Hakan guy will definitely come after us.”

With luck, Beatrice might have eliminated him along with Somnus, but we had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Above all, Beatrice’s attention was focused on Somnus, so Hakan might slip past her.

In short, we didn’t have much time.

I was quickly looking around the room, searching for something that could be used as a weapon.

-Thud

“I’ll buy us some time.”

“Sera?”

What on earth was she talking about?

I thought Sera might be joking, but her eyes were dead serious.

“Sera, jokes aren’t…”

“Mr. Kay, you’d say that someone needs to buy time, even if it’s just to allow the others to escape, wouldn’t you?”

She was right.

But it wasn’t something I had ever said out loud.

“Mr. Kay… you look fine now, but you nearly died. And Ludger lost his arm.”

Sera said this and then looked at Christina.

“Chris needs to go with you to monitor your and Ludger’s conditions. So that leaves…”

“No.”

I rejected Sera’s intention outright.

In response, Sera glared at me and shouted.

“What do you mean, no?!”

“Because you’ll be in danger.”

“I’d rather be in danger!”

Sera approached me.

Looking closely, her face was on the verge of tears as she looked up at me.

“I can’t bear to see you in any more danger…”

How could I convince Sera?

What could I say to make her understand?

My mind briefly turned to that question.

Somehow, I needed to make her give up this idea.

-Tap tap

At that moment, a sound came from outside.

“Where could they have gone?!”

Hakan’s voice could be heard.

He was making a racket, as if hitting the wall with his greatsword, and getting closer.

‘Do all the worst predictions have to come true?’

Beatrice wouldn’t have been easily defeated.

Clearly, Hakan must have passed her off to Somnus again and slipped past her.

That’s what I decided to assume.

If that wasn’t the case, we would have heard Somnus’s voice too.

If Somnus had come as well, it would have meant everything was over.

“…Damn it.”

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that the current situation was serious.

There was no way to defeat that guy here.

I needed to figure out what to do.

Above all, I needed to find something that could be used as a weapon.

“Cough…! Urrrgh!”

“Ludger, sir?”

Ludger coughed up blood once and then began to clear his throat.

Quickly rejecting Christina’s attempt to wipe away the blood, he looked at me.

“…You’re planning to fight, I see?”

“Yes.”

Sera immediately glared at me, but this wasn’t the time to appease her.

Hakan’s footsteps were growing louder by the second.

There was no more time.

“Cough…, ahem.”

After coughing a few more times, Ludger looked at me.

And he spoke.

“…It seems you need a weapon.”

“But there isn’t one. I’ll have to…”

Unfortunately, this room was made for rest.

If it had been an armory, it would have been fine.

But we had entered the nearest room because of Ludger’s condition, so it couldn’t be helped.

I was thinking I’d have to tear something from the room to use as a weapon when Ludger pulled me toward him.

“Ludger?”

“Huff, cough, that’s a relief. It seems you’ve completely returned to your old self.”

Ludger looked straight at me.

“I don’t think I can fight anymore.”

“That’s…”

“Because of this arm. It’s obvious I won’t be able to properly hold a sword anymore.”

Ludger said this while showing his severed arm.

Wrapped in white cloth, it was limp against the cross-section of the arm.

“Paladin Ludger ends here today.”

“…Don’t say that. First, we need to survive…”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. A way to survive.”

Ludger handed me his sword.

“Take it.”

“I…”

“Take it.”

Ludger spoke quietly.

“I can no longer fight as a Paladin, can I?”

“Your arm, when it heals…”

“You talk too much.”

Ludger started coughing again.

Meanwhile, his sword stuck into the floor.

“You want everyone to return alive, don’t you?”

“That’s…”

Ludger looked straight at me.

It was a look that seemed to make me recognize the current reality.

“If everyone is to return alive, don’t you think you should bet on this now?”

Ludger quietly offered the sword.

After a moment’s hesitation, I looked at Sera and Christina’s faces.

Sera, still looking tearful, who had shouted that she didn’t want me to get hurt.

And Christina, who could be annoying at times but always earnestly cared for me when I was injured.

“…Damn it.”

I carefully gripped the sword hilt.

“I don’t know what will happen.”

It’s all or nothing.

Whether Ludger’s holy relic would accept me or not.

With Ludger smiling painfully behind me, I tightened my grip on the sword.