Chapter 68: Meanwhile, the Hero's Party...[R-18]
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 68: Meanwhile, the Hero's Party...[R-18]
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it! I knew this would happen!’
Tina gritted her teeth, swinging her sword frantically.
The Hero's party was currently being pursued by enemies.
Their location, needless to say, was the heart of the forest where the demons had established their base.
‘This plan was impossible from the start! The Knight Order knew it, too!’
Leon's plan had been simple.
They would charge through the forest on their own and take the head of the demon executive.
...He wasn't entirely wrong.
The demon executive in question was a magician.
If they could just take down the core of the enemy's defense, the fight would essentially be over. That much was true.
But how?
If it were that simple, why had the Knight Order spent days and nights focused on just holding the defensive line?
Obviously, because taking the executive's head was difficult.
Unless the enemy was a complete fool, they would thoroughly protect their commander.
And Leon had just tried to charge straight through.
This was the result.
- The Hero is over there!
-Get them! They're completely surrounded!
-Don't kill them! The order is to capture them alive!
Demons were everywhere in the forest.
From behind, all manner of pursuers closed in, loosing arrows and magic.
‘...At this rate, we won't last long.’
Tina was at the very rear of the Hero's party.
Leon broke through at the front, Claire the Saint supported him, and Rose the archer kept watch on all sides.
And Tina, the swordswoman, was tasked with guarding the rear.
Needless to say, it was absolute hell for her.
She had to keep up with her fleeing comrades while simultaneously fending off every attack coming from behind.
Even so, their escape was painfully slow.
‘Ugh, these dead weights!’
If Tina were alone, she could have escaped somehow.
As a swordswoman, she excelled in close combat, and being a Beastman, she was confident in her ability to navigate the forest.
But Rose was half-useless, and Claire the Saint lacked even basic stamina.
“Haah! Haah!”
After running for so long, bitches like them quickly reached their limit.
Claire, in particular, was naturally slowing down.
‘We should have been out of here long ago. With no other support, if we get surrounded now, we’ll be annihilated.’
The Knight Order had participated in this operation only half-heartedly.
Their only involvement had been at the very entrance to the forest.
The rest was basically, ‘Go on in and figure it out yourselves.’
‘...Well, I guess I can understand why.’
Since Leon had forced the plan through against their judgment, they were in no position to demand the knights' full participation.
The Knight Order had already clashed with the demons several times.
They must have realized how unrealistic this operation was.
In fact, they had told him it was impossible multiple times.
But Leon, for whatever reason, had been overconfident and launched the operation without any support.
‘...It’s probably because the enemy is a magician.’
Leon couldn't help but feel an inferiority complex toward Lee Hyun-woo.
She could understand that feeling.
Wasn't Lee Hyun-woo indisputably one of the strongest magicians in existence?
It was only natural to get jealous when the friend right beside you was held in higher esteem than you, the Hero.
The problem was that he expressed this inferiority complex by looking down on all magicians.
Just look at what happened now.
The moment he learned the enemy was a magician, he’d boasted that he could handle it alone, as if to show off.
Confidence was a good thing.
But underestimating the enemy was another story entirely.
The result was their current situation, on the verge of being wiped out.
“Over here!”
“Get the Saint first!”
“Aah!”
Enemies lying in ambush sprang from the side.
Their target was Claire, who was positioned awkwardly in the middle.
Healers were always the number one target to begin with.
And seeing her so defenseless, it would have been strange not to go for her.
“Tch!”
Tina clicked her tongue and forced her body to move.
She swung her sword, deflecting the first attack.
Then she immediately kicked another approaching demon square in the solar plexus.
“Ugh! You Beastman bitch!”
The demons were certainly not easy opponents.
The one whose initial ambush had failed immediately swung his sword.
Tina met his blade with her own.
Perhaps realizing she wasn't as easy to break through as he'd thought, the enemy didn't show an opening as carelessly as before.
-Clang! Claang! Kaang!
Swords clashed in the air again and again.
This was an opponent she would have had to face with caution even at full strength.
But now, she had already expended a great deal of stamina breaking through enemy lines and protecting the team.
The sword felt much heavier than usual.
‘Damn it, to be this out of breath already.’
Was this the result of slacking off, caring more about her nights in bed than her swordsmanship?
She even felt like her condition was worse than it used to be.
After fighting for a while longer, Tina finally managed to knock the sword from the demon's hand.
“Hiek!”
The flying sword narrowly grazed past Claire's face.
She had secretly hoped Claire would catch it, but expecting that much from that bitch was probably a luxury.
Tina immediately followed up with a kick to the demon's jaw, sending him flying.
“Hoo! Hoo!”
He wasn't the type to go down that easily.
But she couldn't afford to waste any more time here.
Regretfully, she skipped confirming the kill and kept moving.
“Pant, pant! Hey, Tina! What do you think you're doing?!”
Just then, Claire suddenly shrieked.
...Fucking hell, why is this bitch acting up even in a situation like this?
“Hah! Haah! Can't you... hoo! Fight more carefully? I almost got... haah! Hit by that sword!”
“Like I have the luxury to worry about that! Dodge it yourself!”
“Wh-what did you say? Do you have any idea how important I am?”
“I don't see how a woman who freezes up at the sight of a single sword could be of any use.”
“I-I am one of only 26 Saints in the Church. Haah! I'm on a completely different level from a common Beastman like you!”
“What?! Did you just say that to my face?!”
“Both of you, knock it off! Don't you realize we're all about to die?”
Finally, Rose, who had been frantically shooting her bow nearby, shouted.
Truthfully, she was just as annoyed, but she knew that if they started fighting amongst themselves now, it would be the end.
Tina and Claire weren't oblivious to that fact either, so despite the lingering animosity, they refocused on the battle.
‘...Not that it’ll change anything.’
She could feel their pace slowing even more than before.
No, it was more that the time spent fighting was increasing compared to the time spent moving.
For a party trying to escape, this was not good news.
It meant the encirclement was tightening.
‘There's no end to this. We need a game-changer.’
And of all things, the enemy executive was a magician.
They must have deployed a significant number of soldiers.
On top of that, their opponent was none other than the Hero.
From their perspective, capturing the Hero would be a tremendous achievement.
It wouldn't be strange for the executive to come out and lead the charge personally.
No, it was only a matter of time.
‘We have to break through the encirclement before the executive shows up!’
Steeling her resolve, Tina continued to swing her sword.
She hadn't joined the Hero's party to die a dog's death in a place like this.
She was going to be the legal wife of the Hero who defeated the Demon King.
At the very least, she had to make a handsome fortune and return to her village in style.
“Pant! Pant! Wait a minute!”
How long had they been running?
Claire stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air.
“I-I can't run anymore! Haah! Haah! I really think my heart is going to explode!”
“Hey! We don't have time for this! We'll die if we don't go a little further!”
“I still can't run! I just can't!”
Rose, who had been urging Claire on, clenched her jaw tightly.
If not for the situation, she looked ready to rip Claire's mouth off.
To be honest, Tina felt much the same.
She was only tolerating her because they needed every last person, even a useless bitch like her.
Deep down, she wanted to just cut her down and be on her way.
Besides, it was also true that things would get much harder without a Saint.
Tina gritted her teeth and yelled.
“We're all going to die if we stay here anyway! This is the time to squeeze out every last drop of stamina you don't have and escape! Didn't you say you wanted to become a High Saint someday?!”
“I still can't run! I was saving this for the very end, but... I guess I have no choice now.”
“...You have a way out of this?”
She was a dumbass bitch who just lewdly shook her ass while calling herself a saint.
But she was still a Saint officially recognized by the Church.
Well, the fact that there were over 20 of them, and they were all basically treated as High Saint candidates, meant it wasn't that big of a deal.
Still, she was a Saint in the Hero's party, for what it was worth.
She might have a hidden holy relic or a trump card up her sleeve.
“Hoo! I've been saving this just for a time like this. It seems I'll have to use it here.”
“I get it, so whatever it is, use it fast! We don't have time!”
As Rose shouted, Claire focused her mind.
Soon, a brilliant white light erupted from her.
The intensity was greater than anything Claire had ever shown before.
Even Tina, who hadn't been expecting much, found her eyes widening.
‘What kind of miracle is she about to perform?’
Super Recovery, which could restore all stamina and mana in an instant?
Or a holy magic spell powerful enough to wipe out the entire area?
It could even be a powerful defensive barrier.
Whatever it was, it would be a great help in breaking through this situation.
Finally, Claire finished her chant and shouted.
“Teleport!”
“......”
“......”
With a brilliant flash of light, Claire and Leon vanished.
Leaving only Tina and Rose behind.
The color drained from the faces of the two women, whose hopes had just been soaring.
“Th-that fucking biiiiitch!!!!!”
In the dark forest, as demons charged toward them, only the despairing, furious screams of the two women echoed into the void.