Chapter 171
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171
“You mean to subdue the Black Moth Queen before the Family Head arrives?”
“Yes. It’s possible, provided you follow my lead.”
Under normal circumstances, she was a formidable foe. However, if they moved according to my directions, we could take her down without a single casualty.
Once the queen fell, the leaderless swarm of Black Moths would scatter, sparing us from having to cut them down one by one.
“……”
Crossen’s expression was a mask of indecision.
Though he was more amicable toward me than the others, he couldn't bring himself to readily follow my command.
While Crossen hesitated, another knight barked an order.
“There’s no time to dither! Everyone, battle formations! Assume a defensive posture against the Black Moth Queen!”
“Just hold the line until the Family Head arrives!”
“Yes, sir!”
Following the knights’ orders, the soldiers reformed their ranks. Their earlier arrogance and defiance toward me had vanished, replaced by the disciplined defensive posture of elite soldiers.
Thud—!
They slammed their shields into the ground to anchor them, then leveled their spears over the rims. A shield wall, a formation reminiscent of a phalanx, took shape.
Fwoosh—.
A white flare streaked into the sky—a signal for reinforcements.
They were likely already on the move after seeing the red flare from the base camp, but this would confirm the urgency of the situation. It seemed their plan was to hold out at all costs until Aslan arrived with the main force.
I believed we could easily suppress the Black Moth Queen before Aslan got here, but instead of following me, they chose the safer, more familiar path: waiting for backup.
I nodded as I watched the soldiers lock their shields.
Well, it’s not a bad decision.
The distance between the expedition’s camp and our location wasn’t that great. If Aslan ran at full tilt, she could arrive in just a few minutes. Their judgment was that they only needed to buy time, even if it meant a few sacrifices along the way.
“Lord Roen, what should we do?”
At Ciel’s question, I shrugged.
“What else? For now, we support the soldiers and keep casualties to a minimum.”
Unlike the students, who would eventually follow my lead if I coaxed them enough, the Devalis soldiers were surprisingly stubborn. It made sense. They were veterans—hardened, headstrong, and confident in their own steel. They weren't about to take orders from an amateur like me.
Besides, having been stationed close to the Devalis estate, they were well-acquainted with Roen’s infamy, giving them even less reason to trust me.
So, for now, I would respect the knights' decision and adapt to their tactics.
The number of soldiers mobilized for this operation is twenty.
Four squads in total. Excluding my own group, that left about fifteen men. No matter how elite they were, it was a meager number to face the Black Moth Queen and her endless minions. Without help from me, Ciel, and Freya, several of them would likely fall before Aslan arrived.
I moved to prevent that.
Kieeeee—!
As we formed our ranks, the Black Moth Queen made her move. With a shriek that vibrated through the very air, she spat out razor-sharp threads.
Fwish—!
Those threads possessed enough force to punch straight through a standard steel shield.
“Everyone, fall back!”
Before the soldiers could be skewered, Crossen and the other knights stepped forward, deflecting the queen’s threads with their sword auras.
Clang—!
“Hngh.”
The impact was heavy enough to make even swords cloaked in aura hum with the vibration. While the knights parried the threads, the swarm of Black Moths charged the line again, sinking their mandibles into the shields.
“Ugh.”
“Stab them! Use your spears!”
“Dammit! They’re breaking through over here!”
The Black Moths clung to the shield wall, trying to squeeze through the gaps, their mandibles snapping relentlessly.
Crunch, crunch—.
The grotesque sound of insects chewing through tempered steel echoed across the clearing.
“It’s… it’s buckling!”
Crack—!
A Black Moth, having gnawed incessantly at one soldier’s shield, finally forced a fissure in the wall.
Kieee—.
Just as the creature was about to lunge through the breach to bite the soldier…
“Hah!”
Freya was already there, her blade a blur as she lopped off the Black Moth’s head.
Slice—.
The creature's head was severed cleanly by the blue aura gathered on her blade.
Swish—!
Freya followed up with a brilliant arc of her sword, and the swarm of Black Moths clinging to the shields shattered into pieces, raining down like morbid confetti.
Meanwhile, on the other flank, Ciel was performing just as splendidly. Every time she swung the gauntlets I had gifted her, Black Moths exploded.
Pop! Pop!
Ignoring the spray of green ichor, Ciel silently crushed every creature that dared to cling to the soldiers.
Squelch—.
I kept a close watch on the perimeter, using my enchantment magic to manifest spikes, impaling any Black Moths that tried to bypass the front line.
“……”
Time blurred. The pile of Black Moth corpses around the shield wall grew into a mound, yet the creatures continued their relentless assault. It was a war of attrition.
I frowned as I continued the slaughter.
This is becoming a stalemate.
Against a swarm of thousands, our forces numbered a mere twenty. If we kept getting pushed back by sheer weight of numbers, our stamina would eventually fail. One by one, the soldiers would tire, get injured, and die.
Of course, if Aslan arrived before the line broke, there would be no problem, but…
Aslan should have been here by now.
I bit my lip and glanced toward the base camp. Considering the distance and the speed of a Sword Master like Aslan, she should have arrived minutes ago. Since there was still no sign of her, something must have happened.
Something capable of delaying Aslan.
A thought struck me—this likely had something to do with the high-ranking demonic beast that had prompted this expedition in the first place. Sensing the shift in the situation, I made my decision.
“I have no choice. I’ll have to take it down quickly, even if I have to do it alone.”
The Black Moth Queen wasn’t the primary concern anymore. The priority was to kill her immediately and assess the larger situation. Respecting the judgment of the knights was one thing, but now it was my turn to step up.
“Ciel, Freya. I’m leaving the soldiers to you.”
Ciel and Freya nodded in unison. Entrusting the soldiers’ safety to my two reliable companions, I stepped toward the knights confronting the Black Moth Queen.
*
Fwoosh—.
With every stride, the forest blurred into a smear of green and brown. Upon receiving the distress signal, Aslan had set out alone.
Did the Black Moth Queen appear?
It seemed the queen had realized the destruction team intended to incinerate the entire forest. As the focal point of the colony’s hive mind, the queen possessed a high level of intelligence and situational awareness.
…I need to get there and end this, fast.
The knights and soldiers of the Devalis family were exceptionally skilled; in terms of raw power, they were more than capable of subjugating a Black Moth Queen. But that was a theoretical analysis. Real battles were full of variables. If they chose a defensive strategy and failed to land a decisive blow while being swarmed, the situation could turn catastrophic.
The best method was to strike the queen’s main body with overwhelming firepower, rather than their usual cautious approach.
It was then, as Aslan raced through the forest, folding space with her sheer speed…
“!”
Fwish—!
Something incredibly fast and sharp erupted from beneath the earth. Without panicking, Aslan gathered mana in her gauntlet and snatched the vine-like projectile out of the air.
Grip—!
“What is this?”
Planting her feet, Aslan yanked on the vine, pulling with explosive strength.
Crrrack—!
The ground heaved and buckled as a massive form was dragged into the light. It was a giant treant, half-buried in the mud, its wooden maw agape as if in a silent scream. It looked like a superior tree spirit, a Trentia, that had grown to a colossal size over millennia.
A Forest Guardian?
The treant appeared to be the ancient protector of this forest. However, it had clearly lost its sanity, likely due to corruption from demonic energy. Instead of the serene aura of a spirit, foul demonic energy poured from its bark.
The creature was no longer a guardian of nature; it had been twisted into a demonic beast. Was it because it had spent too long steeped in the miasma of the black mud? Purifying it would take a great deal of time and effort.
But she didn't have a second to spare.
Groooan—.
The Forest Guardian let out a pained cry and reached for her with massive, gnarled limbs.
“…My apologies, but I don’t have time to deal with you.”
Swoosh—!
Aslan drew her sword and lopped off the Forest Guardian’s head in a single motion.
BOOM—!
The moment her crescent-shaped sword aura made contact, the guardian’s head detonated. The withered, ancient wood burst apart, sending splinters flying like shrapnel.
Ughhh—.
With its head gone, the corrupted Forest Guardian began to sink back into the swamp. Just as Aslan sheathed her sword and prepared to move again…
Step—.
“…?”
Something ominous entered her perception. The sudden sound of footsteps made her whirl around. A middle-aged man was standing alone atop the black mud.
A civilian? Here?
It was impossible for a civilian to be beyond the barrier, in a place teeming with demonic beasts. And no human could conceal their presence from a Sword Master and get this close.
As Aslan narrowed her eyes in confusion, the man, dressed in a pitch-black suit, spoke.
“My, my, how cruel. To cut down the poor spirit that has protected this forest for so long with a single strike.”
Aslan focused mana into her eyes, and the man’s true nature was reflected in her pupils. He had the form of a human, but he looked as if he were crafted from glass, his insides transparently visible. Inside, instead of bones and organs, a mass of black smoke swirled.
At a glance, he looked human, but the thing before her was anything but.
A being that is fundamentally demonic.
The man exuded an aura similar to the corrupted Forest Guardian she had just dispatched, yet it was distinctly different. If the Forest Guardian had been corrupted against its will, the thing before her had willingly embraced that energy, becoming one with it.
Realizing his identity, Aslan slowly parted her lips.
“…Are you one of the Past Spirit Race?”
The middle-aged man smiled faintly.
“Indeed. We are the ones who rejected the twelve covenants made by the first emperor. A free race, liberated from the slave contract made with the gods.”
The man called himself free. Aslan scoffed.
“Hmph. To call yourself free when you’re just another’s vassal is absurd.”
With a smirk, Aslan leveled her sword at him. She glared silently at the man, who remained leisurely composed.
Is this the high-ranking demonic beast that established a territory near the barrier?
His power wasn’t on the level of the Twelve Honored Ones, but he seemed comparable to their strongest vassal or a second-in-command. Judging by his knowledge of ancient history, he was an old monster who had lived for millennia. He was a much bigger threat than a simple high-ranking beast, but in the end, he was just another target to be eliminated.
This one dies here.
Aslan gritted her teeth and drew upon the power of her Mana Hole.
Fwoosh—!
A blue aura, manifesting the image of a roaring lion, flared from Aslan’s blade. As she took a battle stance, the man shrugged.
“Hmph. Is that meager ability to manipulate mana all you gained from abandoning your race’s infinite potential?”
“What the hell are you rambling on about, you bastard? I don’t have time for this. Come at me.”
Fwoosh—!
As Aslan charged forward with a coarse curse, the man responded with a chilling smile.
“How foolish. Very well, I shall indulge you for a moment.”