10
Chapter 10
What happens if you wander around alone at night emitting a blue light?
The answer: you get shot by an arrow.
Thump!
I turned my head at the sound of something heavy bouncing off.
Swoosh— thwack!
An arrow sliced through the wind, grazing my ear before lodging deeply into the tree behind me.
The battlefield was already pure chaos, but for that brief moment, I completely spaced out, as if time had stopped.
I had barely steeled myself to step into the fray, yet a single arrow sent me collapsing right back down.
"Wh... where did that come from...."
I looked around, but I couldn't spot the archer hidden in the darkness at all.
The terrifying thought of dying so pointlessly sent shivers down my spine.
I hurriedly pushed more mana into my Water Shield, forcing the shield to expand.
The defense might have increased with its size, but the mana consumption was no joke.
I poured in almost all my remaining mana, but the shield only grew slightly larger than my head.
It was a rather disappointing size for combat, but it was the best I could do right now.
Huddled behind the shield, I caught my breath and surveyed the battlefield, where a fierce clash was still underway.
We had successfully reduced Arnold's gang down to four, but we lost an ally in the process.
Granted, they weren't exactly real allies, so it wasn't a huge deal.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
Someone in the dark, somewhere in the forest, was continuously shooting arrows.
At first, I thought it was the mercenary who came with us, but he had already fallen in battle.
And the incoming arrows were clearly targeting only our side.
"Is that... backup for Arnold?"
Drek, who had returned at some point, muttered while peeking out from behind a tree.
His gaze was fixed on the darkness across the forest, just like mine.
"No, look over there."
Baldic pointed with his finger.
Arnold was also hiding behind a tree, frantically looking around.
It seemed he hadn't figured out where the arrows were coming from, either.
"They're getting hit, too. That's not Arnold's crew."
In short, a third party.
They must have been hiding somewhere around here from the start, only making their move now.
And now that the tide was turning, they were finally showing their true colors.
They probably judged us to be the biggest threat right now.
It was obvious who was to blame; there was no telling how many requests the broker had handed out.
The other groups seemed to have caught on as well, gradually moving less as they warily eyed each other.
Before we knew it, the melee had morphed into a tense standoff.
"If we step out now, they'll target us first."
Baldic said in a low voice.
I quietly regulated my breathing and wiped my dry lips.
If we step out now, we'll get shot by an arrow and it's over.
But if we just sit here doing nothing, the battle will quickly turn against us anyway.
Just then, Drek quietly spoke up.
"Can you use any more magic?"
I shook my head.
"Aside from the Water Shield... I don't have enough mana."
Truth be told, I barely knew any other spells to begin with.
Baldic looked at us thoughtfully before speaking cautiously.
"Then... can you use that shield to cover us a bit?"
I blinked.
"With the shield?"
"Yeah. We just put that shield in front and charge straight in."
Baldic pointed off into the distance.
"Let's just grab that bastard Arnold and run."
I looked hesitant.
"But the shield isn't that big...."
"You don't need to cover everything."
Baldic continued.
"Just briefly. Just enough to get us over there. We're only looking for an opening."
To avoid the incoming arrows, Arnold was completely isolated, and he wasn't far from here, so it didn't seem entirely impossible.
"Hmm...."
Drek looked down at the shield.
The wooden shield was already cracked in several places from the brief fight.
"...It won't be easy."
"What exactly is easy about our current situation?"
Baldic sighed, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Still... if we're only going after Arnold, it's not like there's no way at all."
An idea popped into my head.
"By any chance... could we get some water?"
"Water?"
"Yes."
"Water... There should be some dropped nearby."
At his words, I scanned the area and spotted a few canteens near the corpses scattered across the battlefield.
Suddenly, Arnold's voice rang out through the darkness.
"Hey! You sons of bitches, how about we just go our separate ways?"
Having survived two brutal clashes, he was still going strong.
No, he even sounded brazen, as if he were enjoying the situation.
The battlefield had entered a brief lull due to the arrows flying in from somewhere in the dark, but he wasn't about to miss the chance to stir things up.
"I have no idea why the hell you're doing this, but you're only going to screw yourselves over at this rate!"
His tone. His expression.
It certainly wasn't the attitude of someone completely clueless.
'He must know it's about the ring.'
If it was important enough not to let go despite the danger, there was definitely something about that ring.
"Is there really a need to listen to that nonsense?"
Baldic said in a low voice.
"Even so, if we go out now-"
Just as I was about to argue back,
"Screw it! I'll just go and come back."
Baldic cut me off and threw his body forward.
"Baldic!"
I shouted, but he was already darting out from behind the tree.
His small frame quickly dug into the dark battlefield.
For a brief moment, the jutting shadow weaved through the bushes and corpses like a phantom, heading straight for the target.
Thump!
The sound of a bowstring echoed again.
Swoosh- thwack!
An arrow flew through the darkness.
But this time, its trajectory was off.
Did he dodge it?
Holding my breath, I stared in the direction Baldic had gone.
His silhouette quickly snatched up two canteens scattered on the ground.
"Got them...!"
And soon, he threw his body back into the bushes at the edge of the battlefield.
A leap and retrieval done in a flash.
It was an astonishing display of senses and reflexes.
I thought he had returned safely.
"Are you okay?"
I approached him as he collapsed to the ground gasping for air and asked, to which he handed over the canteens while panting.
"Something like this... is nothing."
As soon as those words left his mouth, blood dripped from his shoulder.
"...Blood! Baldic, you got hit by an arrow!"
A short, sharp arrowhead was protruding from his left shoulder.
Drops of blood were slowly flowing down from the tip of the arrowhead.
"Damn it... crap, you're right. If only I hadn't hurt my leg back then."
Baldic muttered a small curse and furrowed his brow.
"Still, I can keep moving with just this."
He forced a smile as he spoke.
However, his face was already turning a pale white.
The wound must have hurt, as Baldic hurriedly laid down. Trying hard to hide the pain etched on his face, he attempted to catch his breath for a moment.
I was worried about his condition, but there was something more pressing right now.
Behind the bleeding Baldic, Drek slowly stood up.
His eyes were still fixed on the darkness.
"...."
I focused on my Water Shield once again.
As I opened the canteens, the water inside was smoothly sucked in.
The stream of water became part of the shield and slowly expanded, but once it barely passed the length of my forearm, it stopped growing.
'Damn it, were two not enough.'
I needed more water.
I was thinking of going to grab more canteens again, but at that moment, Drek opened his mouth.
"That is enough. Let's go."
"...Will it be okay?"
We decided to execute what Baldic called a blind rush, or rather, a head-on charge.
The plan was for me to charge ahead holding the Water Shield, while Drek followed behind me to block enemy attacks.
It seemed like madness, but it was the best option we had in this situation.
Baldic was practically out of the fight.
We were the only two left.
I raised the Water Shield high.
Although I had made the shield big enough to cover almost my entire upper body, a wave of fear still washed over me.
The feeling of pushing through the middle of the battlefield brought an unimaginable amount of pressure.
But I wasn't alone.
Behind me was Drek.
If it wasn't for his reassuring presence, I wouldn't have even dared to try.
"We go on three."
I heard Drek's low and firm voice.
I took a deep breath and emptied my mind.
'I can do this.'
One, two.
"Three!"
I put strength into my legs and sprinted forward.
Thump!
The sound of a rebound rang out the moment I kicked off the ground.
They were definitely aiming for us.
Swoosh- thwack!
An arrow grazed past, scraping the dirt.
Fortunately, the reload seemed to take a while, allowing us to run without threat for a brief moment.
Thump!
Swoosh-
Soon after, a second arrow flew at us.
Clang!
The arrow deflected off the shield with a sharp metallic clang.
The impact pushed my arm back and smashed hard into my nose, but this was no time to care about minor pain.
Arnold was standing right in front of us.
The glare he shot at us was cold and unwavering.
He was standing his ground behind a tree, without a single shield to hide behind like us.
Thanks to that, we were able to reach almost right in front of him.
"Son of a bitch, fuck. The good days are all gone."
Seeing us practically right under his nose, Arnold muttered with a sigh.
Even so, he slowly raised the sword in his hand.
"...You have a foul mouth."
Drek said in a low voice.
Now, a clash was unavoidable.
I tightly gripped the shield.
Pushing my mana to the limit, I compressed the Water Shield to make it even harder.
Perhaps it was because I squeezed out too much mana.
Or maybe it was the aftermath of smashing my nose into the ground earlier.
I felt something warm flowing from my nose.
Arnold still showed no signs of backing down.
He lightly twirled his sword, adjusting his grip and strength.
"Huu...."
I took a short, sharp breath.
And threw my body forward.
Thud!
Kicking off the ground, I thrust the shield straight ahead.
I intended to strike Arnold's upper body just like that.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
In a flash, Arnold swung his sword sideways, deflecting the trajectory of the shield.
The shield was pushed away powerlessly, and my balance wavered.
He wasn't one to miss such an opening.
Swoosh!
Arnold's sword sharply cut through the air, aiming straight for my side.
I instinctively twisted my body to dodge it, but.
Rip!
It tore through my leather armor and grazed my skin.
'Ugh- he's fast!'
It happened in an instant.
But I wasn't going to just take it lying down.
I raised the shield with all my might and pushed forward again.
Thud!
The shield heavily struck Arnold's shoulder.
"Kugh...!"
Arnold lost his balance and stumbled a step back.
I couldn't miss this opening.
"Drek!"
The moment I shouted, Drek was already moving.
Swoosh-!
His dagger sliced through the air like lightning, aiming for Arnold's waist.
Clang!
However, Arnold reflexively twisted his body, blocking the blade with his chainmail.
It was partly thanks to his gear, but his reaction speed was incredible.
"Not bad...."
Arnold chuckled and raised his sword again.
Our plan to end it in a single strike had failed.
'At this rate, it'll drag on....'
And that would put us at a disadvantage.
The third party shooting arrows from the forest could make their move again.
My mind raced quickly.
Just then.
Thump!
Swoosh- thwack!
Another flying arrow struck my shield dead center.
Splash-!
The Water Shield shattered into pieces, bursting into a spray of water.
The form maintained by mana dispersed, leaving my upper body instantly exposed.
"Ugh...!"
My arm stung. At the same time, fear washed over me.
Facing him without a shield was practically suicide.
Arnold's sword dug in sharply once again.
I barely managed to roll out of the way, but a shallow cut opened up on my forearm.
'Fuck...!'
Drek tried to attack from behind, but Arnold aggressively lunged at me instead.
'I have to create an opening somehow-!'
My breathing grew ragged.
My mana was almost completely depleted, and there was only one thing I could do now.
A handful of water scattered on the ground, and every last drop of my remaining mana.
I pulled the remnants of the water soaking into the earth up into the air.
Swish- as I waved my fingertips, small but dense water droplets floated into the air.
[Condensation]
I scattered the coalescing droplets in my hand directly at Arnold, who was right in front of my nose.
On a battlefield devoid of sunlight or moonlight, in the darkness where only flickering lights danced, the water droplets blinded his vision.
"What is this...!"
A moment of confusion.
There was someone who wouldn't miss that brief moment.
Drek made his move.
A short but sharp one-handed thrust.
Arnold tried to raise his sword to block, but
I appeared from behind and grabbed his body, dragging him down.
"Ugh! Get off-"
That brief interference broke Arnold's balance, allowing Drek's dagger to perfectly pierce its target.
Thwack.
"Gah-!"
Arnold collapsed, clutching his neck with an agonizing groan.
Leaving Arnold crumbling to the ground, we quickly hid our bodies behind a tree.
It was time for the arrows to fly. I didn't even have a shield to protect me anymore.
For a long time, I lay flat behind the tree, my heart pounding in my chest.
I held my breath in the air thick with the mingled scents of blood, dirt, and damp sweat.
Bizarrely, however, no more arrows flew after Arnold's death.
Into the silence that had settled over the battlefield, the sound of someone trudging—step, step—echoed from behind the trees.
...Who is it?
My mana was depleted, and my body wouldn't listen to me properly.
Clutching my dagger with trembling hands, I waited for the sound to get closer.
Just then, a familiar voice reached my ears.
"...Is everyone alive?"
It was Baldic.
A wave of relief washed over me.
He must have stopped the bleeding himself, as a bandage was wrapped around his shoulder.
"...Is your shoulder okay?"
"Of course. Something like this will heal in a day!"
"That's a relief."
"Did the archer run away? I should've caught him!"
"Probably...."
While we were chatting, Drek appeared holding something small and shiny.
It was a ring embedded with a deep blue jewel.
When did he grab that?
Did he go in alone and fish it out?
Maybe he was being considerate in his own way.
Along with the ring, he had a set of chainmail slung over his shoulder.
The bloodstained chains clinked and swayed.
"Oh! Is it finally over?"
Baldic said with an expectant voice as he looked at the ring.
"It's only just beginning."
Drek's curt reply oddly added a sense of reality to the situation.
Right, it's not over yet.
Above all, it was unknown whether the remaining mercenaries in the back would just let us go.
To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, we slowly backed away with Drek's small shield at the front.
As we cautiously retreated while keeping an eye on our surroundings, we ran into someone who had stayed behind.
"What the? Where did everyone go."
Aside from us, there was only one survivor.
He was sitting on the ground bleeding, staring at us with hollow eyes.
Whether his stamina had given out, or his spirit had broken first.
He was merely sitting there.
He wasn't a traitor, and there was no reason to kill him... but letting our guard down was always a mistake.
I glanced back.
It seemed he hadn't just been sitting idly while we were fighting.
There were traces of a struggle scattered all around.
What was stranger was the fact that everyone else—the other survivors—had completely vanished.
Only one had survived. The rest were all gone.
All that remained were a few corpses that had been stabbed to death, and a turquoise corpse lying face down with a blade stuck in its abdomen.
...Turquoise?
In that instant, a chilling sensation swept down my spine.
"Run!!"
Drek shouted sharply.
At the same time, something came rushing out of the forest, rustling through the leaves.
"Damn it, are we too late!"
"Shit, what is this!"
I reflexively drew upon my mana.
[Water Shield]
However, my mana was already completely bottomed out.
A hollow shield, barely retaining its shape like a mere husk, hovered over my hand.
Baldic let out a heavy breath and stepped back, while Drek raised his shield and moved to my side.
"They're swarming from behind, too!"
"There's... way too many of them!"
Plop-
Something dropped from a tree.
A small, scrawny figure.
"Kiek!!"
It was a Goblin holding a spear.
And behind it,
Two, three... no,
A horde of more than ten appeared.
"What the hell is going on...!"
I frantically looked behind us.
The path we had just taken.
Even from beyond there, Goblins were crawling out.
"We're surrounded."
Drek's words were short and resolute.
"God damn it. How did they know about this place?"
Baldic gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tight.
"They weren't targeting us."
Drek turned his head.
"From the very beginning, this entire forest was a trap."
Only then did it all make sense.
Why the others had vanished without a trace.
They hadn't run away.
They had been eaten.