“Move faster!”
“We must reach the lord’s castle as quickly as possible!”
The knights who had received the message urgently urged the reconnaissance team. As they stuck close behind the rushing knights, Geon-joo approached Sa-yoon’s side and lowered his voice.
“It’s the wave, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“…I’m worried about Noah.”
“Worry about things worth worrying about. That little runt has quite the guts and stamina.”
If he was going to die from being caught up in just the first wave, he should have already been dead before Sa-yoon went to rescue him during the first reconnaissance. Considering the boy had stubbornly survived by hiding in the inner room even with that much fire, Sa-yoon dismissed the needless worry and looked at the knights with impatient eyes.
They’re too slow.
If he had used his skills to run, he would have arrived long ago.
Of course, the knights were probably going at full speed for them, but to Sa-yoon, their pace was far too slow. Even without using skills, he could easily overtake them with just an S-class’s physical abilities.
As he considered just closing his eyes and making a move this once, the lord’s castle came into view in the distance. The once sturdy and solid structure was now crumbling under the monsters’ attack.
“M-monsters!”
“Damn it, what the hell!”
It was easily over five hundred in number. The monsters in the lair they had just cleared out numbered around 150, but here there were 500. Given that dealing with the monster lair was only possible with Sa-yoon and Geon-joo’s involvement, it was clear that a horde of 500 monsters would be difficult for the knights and mercenaries remaining in the castle to fend off alone.
Moreover, this couldn’t be all of them. Even now, more monsters were emerging from the forest on the right, joining the black tide.
“Increase speed!”
The knights’ shouts grew louder as they recognized the gravity of the situation. Sa-yoon visually estimated the location of the sleeping quarters where he and Geon-joo were staying. The outer walls of the castle were crumbling, and monsters that had broken through the knights’ encirclement were climbing the castle walls. They hadn’t climbed very high yet, but if left unchecked, they would surely reach where Noah was. Sa-yoon looked at the knights and grabbed Geon-joo’s shoulder.
“You stay down here and reduce their numbers a bit.”
“What?”
“You said you were worried about Noah. Wouldn’t it be better if I go rather than you?”
It would be a hundred times better for him to go, being familiar with ambush and infiltration, than Geon-joo who didn’t have a single proper concealment skill. Given that this was a battle akin to war, the knights wouldn’t have time to notice the absence of a single mercenary. Especially if it was him. Even if they couldn’t see him, they would surely continue fighting, thinking he was battling somewhere.
Taking advantage of the chaos, he explained he would go to Noah, and Geon-joo, who he expected would oppose, nodded.
“You’re being quite agreeable.”
“…They’re weak monsters, aren’t they?”
“Do they look weaker than fire to you?”
“Well…”
Although he trailed off, Geon-joo’s expression clearly meant yes. It was the first time Sa-yoon had seen someone rate monsters lower than fire. Logically, rushing into a battlefield with hundreds of monsters couldn’t be less dangerous than entering a house engulfed in flames. Wondering if perhaps Geon-joo also had some sort of safety insensitivity, Sa-yoon took a deep breath as they approached the castle.
<Skill ‘Stealth (S+)’ is activated.>
A chill touched his lips. The sensation of his body melting into space was always a strange feeling that he couldn’t get used to, no matter how often he experienced it. For a moment, Sa-yoon blurred and then disappeared from his spot, causing Geon-joo to visibly falter. Sa-yoon moved behind Geon-joo, who was furrowing his brow as if trying to sense Sa-yoon’s presence, and spoke.
“If you can’t kill even a hundred, expect special training.”
“…!”
Geon-joo’s shoulders rose at the threat. Sa-yoon briefly observed Geon-joo gripping his sword as if steeling himself, glanced at the knights, then took off. Using spatial movement, he closed the distance to the lord’s castle in just two steps. Reaching the front of the castle for his final task, Sa-yoon felt the chaos of the battlefield where shouts and screams were indistinguishable, and drew two daggers, gripping one in each hand.
“Shoot down those climbing the castle walls!”
“Gather together! Don’t scatter!”
“They’re not that strong individually! If we group up and take them down one by one, we can hold out!”
“The reinforcements who went on reconnaissance will be here soon! Hold on!”
Shouts that wouldn’t have been out of place if screamed were heard from all around, and Sa-yoon weaved between them, counterattacking and dispatching monsters trying to ambush. Only after killing over fifteen monsters was he able to reach the castle wall. Placing his hand on the vertical wall and taking a breath, Sa-yoon raised one foot high, then kicked off the wall and leapt up.
As his body became airborne, he used air walking to run along the castle wall. Several monsters that had managed to climb the wall while the knights were distracted were ahead of Sa-yoon. He grabbed their napes and threw them down, then adjusted his steps, estimating the location of the room he shared with Geon-joo.
His steps were urgent as he roamed the towering castle wall. Because monsters were swarming from all directions to surround the castle, new ones appeared every time he turned sideways. Sa-yoon dispatched every monster that came into view and then witnessed a monster that had long since succeeded in climbing the wall breaking a castle window.
―Grrrr!
Crash!
The glass shattered with a sharp sound, and the monster leapt inside.
And then.
“…Gasp!”
A sound of someone startled, inhaling sharply, or hastily covering their mouth to hold their breath was heard. It was very faint, but with all his senses on high alert, Sa-yoon could hear it clearly. A familiar voice. It was Noah’s.
“…Unlucky brat.”
It seemed that the room a monster had just broken into happened to be their own. Still, thanks to that, he was able to find his room without spending much time searching. Whether this should be considered fortunate for finding the room quickly or unfortunate for arriving a step late was debatable.
Tat!
From the moment he recognized the room’s location, hesitation vanished from his steps. He kicked off the wall as if flying, leaping through space. Reaching the room the monster had broken into in one breath, Sa-yoon grabbed the broken window frame, forcibly changing direction to stop his body’s momentum forward.
Squeezing his body through the broken glass, he saw the black beast that had entered the room in its owners’ absence.
―Grrrr!
The monster turned its head, noticing Sa-yoon’s presence due to the commotion he made entering. In front of the drooling creature was a white bed, and Sa-yoon could see eyes beneath it.
This, too, was a familiar situation.
It was so similar to the scene he had witnessed ten days ago that Sa-yoon inadvertently let out a hollow breath. He shoved his knife into the mouth of the monster that charged without properly assessing its opponent.
―Keukeugek!
The monster that had opened its maw to devour its prey writhed in pain as the knife pierced its tongue. Blood flowed from its mouth. Clicking his tongue, aware that a young child was watching, Sa-yoon looked at the glittering eyes under the bed and spoke.
“Close your eyes, kid.”
“……”
“Keep them open if you don’t want to eat.”
There was no reaction, as if he hadn’t heard due to tension. When Sa-yoon softly called out, “Noah,” the boy startled, opening his eyes wide and turning his head left and right.
“I said close your eyes.”
Only when Sa-yoon spoke with irritation did Noah tightly shut his eyes. Sa-yoon looked at the seemingly confused boy with puzzlement before belatedly remembering that he was still in stealth. To the boy, it probably looked like the monster had suddenly been subdued when there was no one else in the room.
No wonder he’s surprised.
He had forgotten due to the urgency of the situation. Deciding to explain later, Sa-yoon, after confirming that Noah had his eyes firmly closed, plunged the knife in his left hand into the monster’s vital point and threw it out the window. The monster, stiffened by the two daggers embedded in it, fell helplessly without being able to offer any real resistance.
Kwaaaaang!
The sound of the fall was tremendous, having dropped from quite a height with strong force. The knights below could be heard murmuring in surprise.
Regardless, Sa-yoon was busy wiping his blood-stained hands on his clothes. He used his formless dagger skill to retrieve his blades that had been stuck in the fallen monster, then dusted off his hands. Noah was still faithfully keeping his eyes closed.
“If only I could leave you alone…”
Sa-yoon’s whisper softly filled the room that had just moments ago been in turmoil. At Sa-yoon’s distinctive tone, Noah slightly opened his eyes and looked around the room. The way he slightly rolled his eyes left and right made him look just like a frightened puppy. Clicking his tongue, Sa-yoon released his stealth and approached the bed.
The veins on the back of his hand stood out as he gripped the edge of the bed. Sa-yoon lifted the bed up with force and crouched down to look at Noah.
“…Ah.”
Noah’s eyes widened as he discovered Sa-yoon, who had released his stealth. It was hard to tell if he was surprised by Sa-yoon, who was smaller than regular mercenaries, easily lifting the bed, or if he was shocked by Sa-yoon suddenly appearing in the empty room. Sa-yoon smirked at the boy whose eyes had turned red.
“Did you cry again?”
“……”
“I’m several times scarier than that monster, yet you’re afraid of it and bold with me. Don’t you think your standards are off?”
As Sa-yoon spoke as if bewildered, Noah’s eyes trembled slightly. As if finally realizing that Sa-yoon right in front of him wasn’t some hallucination, the boy’s eyes filled with tears. Frowning at eyes that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment, Sa-yoon sighed and then extended his free hand that wasn’t holding up the bed.
“Come here.”
“……”
“Noah.”
At the call of his name, the boy’s stiffness from fear melted away, and he got up and rushed to Sa-yoon. With Geon-joo, who usually comforted the boy, not present, Sa-yoon had no choice but to embrace the child with an audible sigh.