Ch.162Chapter 162

2 Even though the air had already turned cold due to the Princess’s power, it now became frigid enough to freeze everything around us.

No one present seemed unaware that the cause lay in the confrontation between our knights and the bandit horde.

After maintaining silence for a long while, the Knight Commander finally broke the lengthy stillness.

“…Before I capture you all, I’ll ask one thing.”

“Fine by me. What story could I possibly refuse to tell someone who’ll soon be heading to the afterlife?”

Their unyielding exchange made me swallow dryly.

The Knight Commander let out a derisive laugh at the words of the apparent bandit leader, then stomped her foot forcefully. Despite the snow-covered ground, I could feel a slight tremor.

“Such confidence. Very well, I’ll ask now.”

The Knight Commander gestured vaguely toward the bandits with a flick of her chin.

“What’s your motive?”

“What nonsense is this?”

“I mean your motive for causing this mess. Gathering your forces to attack Rondan at this precise moment can only be interpreted as dissatisfaction with our efforts to contain the Outer God.”

The bandit leader gave a vile laugh at the Knight Commander’s words.

But she wasn’t finished yet.

“For you lot who live on this snow-covered land of death, wouldn’t stopping the giant of the snow mountains be good news? Surely you don’t prefer freezing to death immediately.”

When the Knight Commander finished speaking, the bandit leader burst into loud laughter as if he’d been holding it in.

But from the reactions of those around him, it was clear his laughter held no pleasant meaning.

As the Knight Commander watched with a serious expression, the bandit leader stopped laughing and pointed at us with a twisted smile.

“Well, look at the champion of justice. Yes, from your perspective in the warm regions, you’d think that way. That we’re living uncomfortably.”

The bandit leader raised both arms high like a fanatical priest.

“What nonsense. I hope you don’t defeat the giant of the snow mountains.”

“What?”

“We like this snow.”

The bandit leader’s expression became almost manic.

“We like the current chaos caused by the Outer God. We like the plundering we can do in such chaos. We like that this snowy landscape is practically our territory. We like robbing those who get stranded. We like that we can rekindle our firewood with their warmth. We like that we can sleep and live anywhere.”

As the bandit leader continued, the expressions of the knights, led by their Commander, grew increasingly disgusted.

Their selfishness and twisted greed were causing the knights profound discomfort.

Of course, I felt the same way.

“When we find someone collapsed in the snowstorm, crawling on the ground, we feel good about having survived. The catharsis of prolonging our lives by plundering from such people gives me an indescribable feeling.”

“Nonsense.”

“We had something in common with The Huntsman’s followers. They also hope the giant of the snow mountains doesn’t fall. If the Outer God disappears, The Huntsman disappears too. Do you understand how it feels to lose the object of your admiration? Do you have even the slightest understanding of how it feels when the absolute being you worship, you revere, vanishes?!”

The bandit leader looked up at the sky with exaggerated gestures.

“The calamity of the snow mountain giant is like a blessing to us. In this land killed by that Outer God, we felt life. In this land filled with cold by that Outer God, we felt warmth. Do you think we’ll let you stop that blessing?”

The Knight Commander’s expression contorted into one of profound disgust, unlike anything I’d seen before.

It meant that even the spirited Knight Commander couldn’t accept such fanatical ideology.

“You’re disgustingly selfish.”

“Even passing dogs and cats think the same as us. They’re just weak, while we’re strong. Have you ever once thought about investigating their true nature? If you seriously confronted their cruelty, could you still love them?”

I realized further dialogue would be pointless.

Apparently sharing my thought, the Vice Commander suddenly raised her greatsword and swung it forcefully.

The massive slash generated by her Meditatio cut down several bandits, but was blocked by a defensive formation created at the shout of a Huntsman follower—though it was merely using several people as meat shields.

The Vice Commander’s sudden action would naturally be interpreted as such.

“I see you can’t understand what I’m saying. Fine, you’re all going to die anyway.”

As soon as those words fell, the Knight Commander roared.

“Knights, charge!”

The battle cries of bandits and knights filled the surroundings.

#

Massive forces were pouring toward us.

Perhaps this feeling is similar to witnessing a tsunami rushing at you.

Unlike the previous major bandit invasion, the orderly approach due to The Huntsman’s followers created a different kind of overwhelming sensation compared to the previous disorder.

Nevertheless, the Knight Commander and Vice Commander didn’t lose heart.

The knights’ morale didn’t falter.

Rather, like Vikings seeking Valhalla, the knights displayed an almost manic joy as they cut down the bandits.

“Die!”

“Argh!”

There was no way the combat ability of professionally trained elites could be similar to that of untrained rabble who had merely survived in the wilderness.

But the problem lay in their overwhelming numbers.

As the saying goes, “There’s no defense against a group attack.” Even a professional knight would be helplessly beaten if six ordinary people ganged up on them.

I received her help to resolve this.

The divine being happily waving her hand while riding on my shoulder.

“Fighting!”

“…They can’t hear you, you know.”

“Oh, is that so? How embarrassing.”

Faura was enthusiastically cheering in her own way while busily retrieving food from some mysterious space.

It was fortunate.

She had mountains of what she called “failed attempts”—though they were actually high-quality foods—that she had made with me in mind.

Faura’s food has positive effects on humans.

Wounds heal immediately, weak willpower strengthens, and insufficient strength is replenished.

I had felt these effects when I was beaten to a pulp during training with the White Mask.

And it was like witnessing a miracle when I forced one of Faura’s foods into the mouth of a knight who was on the verge of death from a critical wound.

The grotesque wound that stretched from his right shoulder to his left pelvis, inflicted by a bandit, healed instantly—a phenomenon reminiscent of a divine miracle.

But I couldn’t be complacent with just this.

Since it only healed wounds, if I was even slightly late and a knight died, it would all be meaningless.

“Everyone! Target Raedan Tanthyn, not the other knights! There’s a foul smell coming from the food he’s distributing!”

When the leader of the followers shouted this, all the bandits’ attention turned to me.

It might have been overwhelming to have such numbers focused on me alone.

But this was all part of the plan.

“Wings! He’s spreading his wings again!”

“After him now!”

I accelerated using the dragon wings, dodging them here and there.

I deliberately maintained low-altitude flight, as flying too high would make the knights targets again.

But with me drawing their attention, the knights actually had an easier time.

“While Tanthyn leads them on, we’ll attack them from behind!”

“Yes, understood!”

As soon as the Knight Commander gave that order, the knights unanimously pursued the bandits who were chasing me.

As a result, those trying to kill me unfortunately found themselves surrounded from both sides.

“No, don’t!”

Their despairing screams rose, but it was already too late.

I approached the bandits, creating gusts with my dragon wings, feeling something burning vigorously in my mouth—something Izmiya had injected too excessively.

The bandits saw the flames coming from my mouth and tried to flee in panic, but there was no way they could handle my speed empowered by the divine being.

I spewed the energy building up in my mouth directly at the bandits.

Brilliant rainbow-colored flames engulfed the bandits all at once.

“Keeeeek!”

I heard the bandits’ screams from extreme burning pain, but to my eyes, they just appeared to be rolling on the ground, covered in rainbows.

The knights rushed toward those I had subdued and began to capture them one by one.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Eventually, even the bandit leader who had been so imposing found it too difficult to handle and began to flee while ordering a retreat. Some of the bandits followed his orders and began to withdraw.

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

The Knight Commander shouted, but the remaining forces blocking our way made that difficult, as if they had coordinated beforehand.

The Knight Commander gritted her teeth in frustration, but even this much would be enough to protect Rondan from their threat.

As the situation was more or less resolved, the Knight Commander shouted:

“Victory is ours! Knights, you fought brilliantly!”

Cheers loud enough to shake the heavens erupted all at once.