Ch.9898. Green Monsters in the Blizzard (4)

Whoosh!

It wasn’t the sound of the biting cold wind striking my skin.

It was the sound of wind erupting as my spirit magic activated.

As the magic manifested, a damn cold breeze swept over my entire body.

I removed the fur hat that was swaying and moving in the wind, interfering with my movements, stuffed it into my quiver, and readjusted my sword.

I temporarily slung the bow over my shoulder. The sword seemed better than the bow right now.

“KUWAAAAAK!”

…I really can’t ignore that impressive vocal capacity.

Frowning at the creature’s thunderous voice assaulting my eardrums, I took a step forward.

Crunch! Crunch!

My footprints remained on the deeply piled snow.

Just as my footprints were about to intersect with the Orc’s…

I moved, trusting my body that had become exceptionally agile thanks to spirit magic.

“Hup!”

I twisted my body sideways just before the Orc’s fist could reach me.

Whoosh- Hearing the sound of the Orc’s fist cutting through the air, I slashed my sword horizontally without hesitation.

Slash!

The creature lost its balance and fell after its knee joint was struck.

I drove my sword into its falling head.

But this alone wasn’t enough.

An Orc’s vitality is as tenacious as a cockroach’s.

I twisted the embedded sword and pulled it out to sever its windpipe more quickly.

“Phew.”

I’ve dealt with the most urgent Orc for now.

I elegantly twirled my sword to shake off the blood while scanning my surroundings.

A hellish scene of pandemonium.

The demons of hell were green-skinned monsters, and those being roasted and boiled by the demons were our party members.

I need to move more urgently.

I immediately called out to Sione.

“…I’ll move right away. Are you ready?”

Nod, nod.

Sione silently bobbed her head.

If that’s what she wanted, I began to dash without hesitation.

First, let’s handle the most urgent situation over there.

Whoosh!!!

A whirlwind swirled around the tip of my arrow.

The arrow shot with Dead Release pierced the head of an Orc that was about to pulverize Flora.

“Ah…!”

Flora saw the Orc die instantly as its head was pierced right in front of her.

She looked toward the direction the arrow had come from with wide eyes.

Our eyes met briefly.

‘Flora is safe.’

The fact that she was staring blankly was proof enough that she was unharmed.

I searched for the next person in danger.

A woman who ended up fighting closest to the Orcs simply because she was holding a shield.

She was struggling while spewing every curse word in existence in a husky voice.

As much as I wanted to shoot another arrow right now to save her—

‘…It won’t be easy to hit with an arrow like this.’

Between the obstacles around her and the considerable number of Orcs…

The trajectory the arrow would need to follow to hit the Orc posing the greatest threat to her wasn’t readily apparent.

“I’m going to run. Would you like to hold hands?”

“Hands?”

“If you fall midway, it would be difficult to protect you.”

“…Then I’ll accept your offer.”

I grasped Sione’s empty left hand.

I couldn’t feel the warmth of her hand.

We were both wearing leather gloves anyway.

As soon as I took her hand, I quickly dashed across the snow field.

“Uwah!”

With Sione’s startled voice in the background, I ran quickly until I finally found an angle suitable for shooting an arrow.

There was no hesitation.

My mana, improved through numerous quests, still had plenty in reserve.

I simply shot another arrow with Dead Release.

The moment I saw the arrow fly firmly and embed itself in the back of the Orc’s head I was targeting.

Swish!

An arrow flew right in front of my eyes.

‘There’s only Sione in this direction.’

Wondering if she was determined to kill me, I turned my head to check Sione’s expression.

Fortunately, rather than showing disappointment that I wasn’t hit, she was pleased that she had successfully hit something other than me.

“Ray, be careful!”

With Sione’s words, I felt a viscous killing intent from my side.

“Oh, sh…!”

I dodged by throwing my body aside, avoiding direct contact with the killing intent.

Whoosh!

After evading the creature’s arm, I nocked another arrow to my bowstring.

To send it accurately in one shot at close range, I increased and increased the mana output. At the moment when the small whirlwind became a fierce vortex that began to tear through the air.

I released the bowstring without hesitation.

Crack!

The arrow pierced the Orc’s stomach. But that wasn’t the end.

The raging vortex exploded in the creature’s stomach.

The powerful wind blades thoroughly shredded its insides, and this was not a level of pain that an ordinary Orc could endure.

“Tsheeek…!”

As if astonished, or perhaps lamenting.

It breathed its last while staring at me with bulging eyes.

“Haah….”

The technique just now seemed to consume more mana than I expected, leaving me feeling considerably drained.

However, even so, there was no time to rest leisurely.

“This is really driving me crazy.”

Because I spotted a dark green monster charging at my master.

I continued fighting without rest to protect my master.

Swinging my sword and shooting arrows frantically, my mana soon began to show its limits. The exhaustion symptoms started to appear due to the rapid mana consumption in a short time, but I endured by gritting my teeth.

In this chaotic situation, if my legs gave out, I would obviously be trampled to death by Orc feet. And even after killing so many, there were still quite a few Orcs left. If I collapsed from exhaustion now, who would protect Sione?

That’s when it happened. The moment my vision suddenly blurred and strength drained from my body.

“Ray!”

Sione’s nervous cry struck my ears.

It was understandable. When her slave and exclusive attendant was in danger of being pulverized by an Orc’s fist, what master could remain calm just watching?

My mana, though greatly increased through quests, was still insufficient for using spirit magic in earnest. This mana deficiency finally tripped me up in the worst situation.

“Tsheeek!!”

An Orc whose leg I had personally crippled. As if sensing this was its chance, it approached me while making all sorts of noises.

And finally, when the creature’s arm came within reach of me.

Whoosh!

A massive green fist shot straight at my face.

“…Damn it.”

I leaned back, but at that moment when I was muttering a curse after missing the timing.

Whoosh!!

Crack!!

“Tsheeeek…!!”

A spear flew from somewhere and pierced the Orc’s arm. The creature’s punch was deflected by the force of the spear. Fortunately, I was able to avoid the worst-case scenario of the monster’s fist connecting with my beautiful face.

…But there wasn’t a single spear user in our party.

How on earth could this have happened? As I focused my blurred vision to see who had performed such a feat.

“…Aria Allenar?”

I saw Aria Allenar, the second daughter of Marquis Allenar whom I had seen at the royal palace banquet and on Adelheid’s coming-of-age day.

I had heard she would arrive at the territory soon, but what timing.

Aria seemed to have brought another spear besides the one she had just thrown at me. She twirled the spear in her hand once, scanning her surroundings.

Her jet-black eyes were directed at Flora.

She changed her stance as she twirled her spear.

As a colorless, chilling energy rippled in her black eyes, Aria completed her javelin stance.

Unlike Siabel, Aria was still at the level of a sword user. But as if that was enough.

She shot her spear silently, without a hint of doubt in her mana-enhanced spear tip and physical abilities, holding her breath and taking a small step forward.

Whoosh!!

Aria’s spear flew through the snowstorm.

The long spear, shot in a straight line, ultimately pierced the heart of the Orc that had cornered Flora.

As I quietly observed her actions, Sione had rushed to me and embraced me as I sat on the ground.

“Ray, are you alright?”

Sione’s armor was covered in blood.

Then I noticed the sword in Sione’s hand.

She who had been using only her bow all along, as if lacking the courage to approach the Orcs closely.

Judging by the thick bloodstains on her sword, she seemed to have somehow wielded it to kill an Orc.

‘Wait, Sione killed an Orc with a sword?’

I looked at the fallen Orc behind the path she had run from. It had been butchered, with stab wounds all over its body.

I desperately wanted to ask how she had managed to kill an Orc alone with just a sword.

But for now, I simply remained in her embrace, quietly watching Aria.

Dozens of people appeared behind Aria Allenar.

Aria spoke indifferently to them as they formed an orderly formation.

“The situation seems unfavorable… let’s clear them all quickly.”

Boom!

The moment the mage joined the battle, the situation was resolved in an instant.

* * *

After the situation ended, I approached Siabel with Sione’s support.

Siabel was soaked in blood.

It was an inevitable result.

When dozens of Orcs attacked and an individual had to fend them off, how could one avoid the blood splattering from everywhere?

As a result, Orc blood had dried and stuck to various parts of her armor, and it was hard to find a spot in her platinum blonde hair that wasn’t red.

And Aria Allenar, who had approached Siabel at some point, took in her appearance roughly and gave a hollow laugh before.

Then she quietly whispered to herself.

“…She looks absolutely insane.”

Unfortunately, no one present failed to hear her whisper.

And no one could deny her words.

In the end, not even Siabel herself.