Book 9: Chapter 33
Philes panted. He stood at the entrance of the cave and anxiously shouted, “Your Majesty, if we have to continue defending, we might not be able to keep it up!! It is as if there is no end to them. They keep coming one group after another as we kill them! Your Majesty, if we do not leave now, we will not have the energy to leave!”
With the girl in my arms, I asked in a shocked voice, “Why are there so many?! Could it be that they’re not a small pursuit team?”
“I am not sure. In any case, they keep coming wave after wave. We have no idea where they come from while the snowfall is too heavy, and they are exploiting our disadvantage!”
The guide from outside then ran in and hastily reported, “Your Majesty, we must leave quickly! It looks as though a snowstorm is coming. If we do not leave now, we will be trapped here!”
Karana looked at me. I clenched my teeth. I pulled the young girl into my arms then wrapped the both of us up tightly with the overcoat. I then used a rope to affix her firmly to my chest. Then, I stood up and said, “Let’s quickly return now, then. With waves of anthropoids coming the way they’re coming, I’m starting to think that this isn’t a simple hunt. I’m worried that Socina is in danger. If it’s this hard to detect them coming and going, they might be hiding in the vicinity of Socina.”
Karana nodded. She didn’t say anything, but I could see her anxiety in her purple eyes. I know how much she loves Socina, so naturally, she desperately wanted to return when her Socina City is under threat. I want to wait a bit longer, but it doesn’t look as if that’ll be possible.
When the guards outside heard that we were retreating, they let out sighs of relief. Although my men didn’t suffer any casualties, they were out of energy, and therefore couldn’t continue fighting. We quickly mounted our horses. I saw the corpses piled up on the narrow mountain path.
‘Are they the anthropoids?’
They’re pretty similar to what I imagined. They’re furry and wrapped in simple clothing. Their heads resemble the heads of wolves. However, they didn’t stand out when compared to humans. They had firm flesh and thick skin. If my guards’ swords weren’t high-quality swords made by elves and they weren’t trained by Nier, we really may have suffered heavy casualties.