Chapter 75
Chapter 75
"Camille? Why, what’s going on?"
"Um... I think it’ll be faster if you come out and see for yourself."
At Camille’s urgent voice, I stepped down from the carriage. Then I looked at the scene unfolding before my eyes.
Only then did I understand why Camille had called me in such a panicked tone.
"The bridge has completely collapsed."
The bridge that connected the roads had entirely crumbled. On top of that, the stench of blood stabbed at my nose, and the area was littered with corpses.
"What happened here?"
Camille spoke with a grave expression.
"It looks like a battle broke out. The bridge seems to have collapsed as a result of that."
Below us was a sheer drop.
At a glance, the cliff looked to be at least 30 meters deep.
To cross to the other side, the bridge was essential. The gap was quite wide. But it wasn’t as though we could call in an engineer to build a new bridge right this moment...
‘If only we had just one mage in our group, this would be easy to deal with.’
It was frustrating.
If we wasted time in a place like this, the mission would practically be a failure.
‘I could probably cross it alone, but…’
That would mean nothing.
I needed to think of a solution.
"Camille. What do you think? What should we do?"
"Some of us, including you and me, could probably get across even without a bridge... but the others wouldn’t make it. And summoning an engineer to rebuild the bridge would take too much time..."
She shared the same thoughts as me.
"Should we try looking for a mage nearby?"
That wasn’t a bad idea, but to move this many people, we’d need a mage of considerable ability. The odds of finding one like that in the vicinity were very low.
Just then, Attica came out from the carriage and jumped into my arms.
"Daddy! Daddy! Cecil is bullying meeeeee!"
"Attica. When did I ever bully you? I just asked you to call me Mom. You usually say it just fine, don’t you? Come on, give it a try. Mom."
"Your eyes are scary, Cecil!"
At that moment—
A solution flashed through my mind.
"Attica."
"Hmm?"
"Could you help Daddy out a little?"
Attica beamed brightly and answered.
"If it’s a favor from Daddy, I’ll do anything! Attica will help!"
"Really? Thank you, Attica."
Attica smiled so adorably and proudly that I couldn’t help but lovingly stroke her hair.
Camille, who had caught on to my plan, asked,
"Young Master. Don’t tell me…"
"Yeah. That’s exactly what you think."
My plan was to use Attica. More precisely, her true form. Though she now took the form of a little girl, her real body was that of a giant dragon. There was no need for a bridge—if we rode on Attica’s back, we could simply fly across.
"Attica, can you return to your original form?"
"Yep!"
When Attica released her polymorph, a massive red dragon appeared. And even this wasn’t her adult form. She was still in her growth stage, which meant she’d grow even larger in the future.
I loaded the group and the carriage onto Attica’s back. Attica carefully took flight, and we were able to reach the other side safely.
The members of the Harlan Mercenaries were frightened at first, but once they reached the other side, they began handing Attica all sorts of snacks as thanks.
"Thank you, Attica! Thanks to you, we made it safely!"
"Yeah, Attica, it’s all thanks to you! Here, eat this!"
"If only all the dragons in the world were as kind and cute as you. You adorable thing."
Attica, who had already returned to her human form, smiled brightly as snacks rained down on her from all directions.
While I had been busy training, the Harlan Mercenaries had grown quite close to Attica. I could feel it clearly now—everyone living in the annex was slowly becoming one united group.
‘While I wasn’t paying much attention, Cecil and Camille must’ve gone through a lot.’
They were reliable comrades in many ways.
Soon, Camille and the Harlan Mercenaries would formally become part of my knight order.
‘Of course, that’s only if they pass the evaluation.’
Proving oneself was only natural.
Becoming a knight of Winterbell was a great honor, but it came with a burden befitting that name.
Knowing that, the Harlan Mercenaries were pushing themselves to the bone every day.
Thanks to Attica, the journey continued without further incident.
After about three hours of travel—
The horses neighed loudly, and the carriage came to a sudden halt.
Sensing something was wrong, I quickly got out of the carriage and scanned the area.
At that moment.
A massive arrow appeared before my eyes.
Someone had fired a shot from somewhere!
Relying on instinct, I twisted my head to avoid it, then struck along the trajectory with my blade.
"Keugh!"
A scream rang out from far away. One of the Harlan Mercenaries shouted urgently.
"Ambush! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
"Scan the surroundings! Eliminate the enemy!"
An ambush? What the hell was this all of a sudden?
Closing my eyes, I focused on sensing presences—figures were everywhere. At least several hundred, by my estimate.
This was Winterbell territory.
For a bandit group to appear so blatantly here...
Something was definitely off.
Still, figuring out what could come later. For now, resolving the situation took priority.
"You crazy bastards."
Fwooooosh!
Even the arrows fired by this supposed bandit group were imbued with aura.
"Aaaargh!"
One of the mercenaries was hit by an arrow. I quickly issued orders and had the wounded transported.
"Take out the archers first!"
"Arrows are coming from all directions!"
"Focus, you worthless idiots!"
"Aaaargh!! Please spare me!!"
Arrows poured down from the sky. I launched off the ground and swung my sword rapidly to deflect them.
The magical energy imbued in each arrow was far too powerful to belong to mere bandits. Though I wasn’t going all out, each arrow I deflected left my hand stinging.
‘Don’t tell me... these bastards are Zephyr?’
There were multiple archers of at least Eighth Star level. Considering that most ordinary bandit leaders capped at around Fifth Star, the probability of them being Zephyr was high. Only Zephyr could command this level of talent.
"Dieeeeee!"
I cut off the head of a bandit who was screaming at the top of his lungs.
Slice.
The blue aura etched into the tip of the Behemoth Sword released a chilling frost. Without hesitation, I turned my head and pierced through the chest of the bandit standing next to him.
Thud.
"Keugh."
They died without even leaving last words. Even as their comrades dropped dead before their eyes, the other bandits showed no signs of faltering.
‘Well-trained.’
At this point, it was hard to dismiss them as mere bandits. These were a properly trained military force.
And they—
"Ran Winterbell has been found!"
"Everyone, prioritize eliminating the target!"
They were aiming for me.
From the beginning, this ambush had been all about killing me.
Camille shouted in panic.
"Young Master! Please fall back!"
Fall back? Me?
I gave a cold, bitter smile. It was a laugh born out of sheer disbelief. If I had intended to run away from a bunch of bandits like these, I wouldn’t have drawn my sword in the first place. After all the hellish training I’d gone through, turning tail against scum like this was something I simply couldn’t accept.
"I’ll tear you all to pieces."
Dozens of bandits quickly surrounded me. Since I was their objective from the start, they didn’t care if their comrades died—they focused solely on me. Even the archers in the distance were aiming only at me.
Fwoosh!
Even now, an arrow brushed past my hair. Each one of these arrows, infused with magic, was practically a bomb.
"Kill him! If we take him down, we’re set for life!"
"Kuhahaha! What a jackpot! Scream it loud, Black Tiger Clan!"
"Kyieeeeeeeee!!"
Black Tiger Clan? I had assumed they were Zephyr, but hearing them speak, it seemed they were from a different group.
It was surprising to learn there were other bandit groups aside from Zephyr that had manpower and scale on this level.
‘Well, if Zephyr were this easy to run into, I wouldn’t need to get involved myself.’
Surrounded on all sides, I didn’t feel fear—just scorn. Sure, they were strong for bandits, but the difference in level was absurd.
Four of them lunged at me with spears. Their joint attack showed signs of training.
‘Not bad. Their coordination is solid. Are they really just bandits?’
But to me, it was no threat at all. No matter how polished the teamplay, it meant nothing when the gap in skill was this wide.
Slice.
Behemoth, radiating a blue aura, swept through in a beautiful arc, neatly slicing the spears they were holding.
"Shit!"
But what they hadn’t realized was…
It wasn’t just the spears that had been cut.
"Kegh!?"
The four bandits who had charged at me all clutched their necks at once. More than two-thirds of their necks had been severed, and blood gushed like fountains.
They hadn’t even realized my sword had touched their throats until the moment they were cut.
"…Fuck. He’s way stronger than the rumors said."
"Who cares? He’s just a human like anyone else! Screw Winterbell! You get stabbed with a blade, you die all the same! Don’t be scared—just go for him!"
"Screw it! Fuck it! You die, I die!"
Though they flinched for a moment, the remaining ones quickly steeled themselves and charged at me with renewed ferocity. Greatswords, daggers, sabers, spears, shields, bows—every kind of weapon came flying at me.
"Too slow."
To their eyes, I probably looked like I wasn’t even moving. But that was a massive misunderstanding. To me, their sword paths were crystal clear. I could see exactly where and how they were going to strike.
"Bloodfire Acceleration."
Activating the enhancement magic, I accelerated my entire body. My heart began to pound like mad, and it felt as if time itself had stopped. Everything around me seemed frozen, but in reality, it was just moving incredibly slowly.
But my own speed remained the same as ever.
From their perspective, I might as well have vanished entirely. Speed is relative, and their perception simply couldn’t keep up with me.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
A storm of blood swept through. For me, it was no different than calmly walking up to frozen targets and driving a blade into their hearts.
"W-What the hell is this!"
"Kegh!"
Even a five-year-old child could do it.
"We couldn’t even see him move…"
"Goddamn it…"
Of course, from their perspective, it would be like witnessing a ghost.