The Attack
The day of the attack was no different from any other. A peaceful day without any commissions. As always, I taught lessons and checked the magic I'd set up around the forest. It was an ordinary day. The anomaly came in the evening. Just as Lana and I finished carrying the meal we'd prepared to the table. I felt it. One of my alarm spells had activated. It was set to trigger automatically if anyone entered within a certain range. Before I could even register the fact and react, the next alarm went off immediately after. My face hardened naturally at that. People had entered the forest a few times before. Of course, the alarms had sounded then too. But never had they gone off in succession like this. Soon the third alarm rang, and I was certain. Someone was coming here.
“Uncle…?” Maybe it was because I'd stopped mid-meal, but Lana called out to me with a puzzled look. Glancing around, I saw the other two staring at me as well. Meeting their eyes, I spoke in a heavy voice.
“They're here. Get ready.”
At those words, all three faces stiffened instantly. Over the two years we'd lived together, I'd repeatedly warned the children about the Dark Cult and its dangers. That they could attack this place at any time. And I'd drilled into them exactly what to do if that moment ever came.
“Grab your things and head straight to the basement……”
As I started giving instructions, I cut myself off and yanked my sword free. Shing! The blade sang as it left its sheath. BOOM! At the same moment, the wall behind me shattered. Without hesitation, I swung my sword. CLANG! A jarring metallic ring echoed as the object that had burst through the wall was deflected. It was a throwing spear.
ZZZING— My sword vibrated heavily from the impact of knocking the spear aside.
“Kyaaah!”
“Wh-what?!”
Lana screamed in surprise at the sudden situation, while Alice's eyes widened in shock. Damn it…! The distance from where the alarm had triggered to here was considerable. Yet they'd already reached us. They must have used some trick. Either tampered with the alarm or found some special way in.
Even as my face paled, I shouted, “Run! Quickly!”
I yelled without even looking back at the children. There was no time to hesitate. The enemy had already reached this far. We had to escape immediately.
That was when it happened.
“Can't let you do that.”
At the low voice and the presence rushing forward, I hurriedly raised my sword. Right after—BOOM! The wall completely collapsed as a man flew inside. Then he swung his sword at me. The entire sequence was lightning-fast. A speed so terrifying that most warriors wouldn't even react before their heads were severed.
CLANG—! Two swords collided, generating a gust of wind from the impact alone.
“Huh?” The man let out a puzzled voice, as if this was unexpected. “Didn't think you'd block that. You're no small fry, are you?”
He smirked with interest as he said it, and only then did I get a proper look at his face. He looked no older than his mid-twenties at most. Light brown hair and eyes. An appearance that didn't stand out from the ordinary. I didn't recognize him. At the very least, he wasn't someone who appeared in the game. That didn't mean I could relax, though. His skill level was anything but ordinary, despite his plain looks.
“Gunter…!”
Just then, I heard a voice calling my name. Julia. She rarely showed emotion. Her voice stayed calm no matter the situation. But now it carried unmistakable feeling. It was rare, but this wasn't the time to be pleased about it.
“Oh, so they are here.” The man grinned. His gaze was fixed on the three girls behind me. “Kya. Looking at them, they'll grow up to break plenty of hearts, won't they?”
His crude remark didn't fit the situation. Normally I'd have beaten his face to a pulp, but there was no time for that.
“What are you doing…! I said run…!!”
Still facing the man, I shouted.
“B-but…! Uncle…!” Lana cried out, her voice trembling with fear.
“Go!”
I shouted again without waiting to hear the rest, louder than I'd ever been before. I felt them flinch behind me. In all this time, I'd never once raised my voice at the children, let alone gotten angry or irritated. So their reaction made sense. It seemed my sincerity had gotten through, because I soon felt them moving. They were heading down to the basement through the escape route we'd prepared.
“Where do you think you're going?”
The man tried to move, but he couldn't. I didn't give him the opening.
“……Hmm.” He glanced at me like I was an annoying obstacle, then lowered his sword and crouched. He kicked off with his bent legs, trying to dash forward in an instant. Or rather, he would have—if I hadn't moved to block his path.
“……!”
I heard him suck in a sharp breath. He seemed quite surprised. But I had no intention of savoring that expression. After all, simply blocking him wasn't my goal.
Whoosh! I swung my sword at him. His eyes widened. It was only natural. My speed far exceeded anything I'd shown so far. There was no way he could react. I swung straight for his neck. A strike that would have cleanly severed it—if I hadn't twisted my body away at the last second. A sword sliced through the space where my head had been just moments before.
“Tch.”
I heard a tongue click, but I had no time to look. I quickly retreated to create distance. Only then did I see the sword's owner. A figure clad in pitch-black full-body armor that reflected no light at all. Judging by the build, it was a man. My face twisted into a scowl. Even though his face was hidden by the helmet, identifying him wasn't difficult. The armor itself revealed his identity. I'd never seen it in person before, but I'd seen it plenty in the game. It was the armor that symbolized the paladins of the Dark Cult.
It was only natural that my expression darkened upon recognizing him. The position of Dark Cult paladin wasn't granted to just anyone. Among the cult's followers, only a select few whose martial prowess and talent were acknowledged could join the paladin order. In other words, anyone wearing that armor was close to superhuman. The brown-haired man alone was already formidable, and now a paladin had shown up too. …They came with certainty. Between the man's earlier reaction and the arrival of a paladin—the cult's main fighting force—it seemed they'd come here with full confidence. Their objective went without saying. The situation wasn't good. If they hadn't been certain… or even if they had been, if they'd sent weaker forces, I might have considered wiping them out entirely. But with things like this, dealing with them looked difficult.
…No, I still don't know for sure. Their forces were strong, and paladins were terrifying, but they weren't at a level I couldn't handle. This should be manageable…… I already knew these two weren't the only ones. I could sense multiple presences outside the house. Even accounting for that, their forces weren't at a level I couldn't overcome. I could do this. Just as I was adjusting my stance with that thought—
“Sinner who obstructs the sacred path of the cult, your sin deserves a thousand deaths.”
I couldn't help but freeze at the paladin's sudden words. The phrase was far too familiar. A paladin wearing a helmet. If this paladin was the one I was thinking of… …There's no hope. Praying it wasn't him, I glared at the paladin. Whether he noticed my gaze or for some other reason, he raised his empty hand and removed his helmet. When I saw the face revealed beneath it, I ground my teeth hard enough to crack them. Ash-blonde hair, as if mixed with ash. Gray eyes that revealed no emotion. An aura so overwhelming it felt like staring at a razor-sharp blade rather than a person. He looked younger than I remembered, but there was no mistaking his identity. Roderick, the named paladin of the Dark Cult. A monster with unmatched talent even among the superhuman paladins of the Dark Cult. That monster now stood before me.
***
Tap-tap-tap-tap! They ran. The three girls kept running through the underground passage. They didn't know exactly how long they'd been running. They simply poured everything into sprinting forward.
“Huff, huff……” Alice and Lana's breathing grew ragged. Only Julia remained composed. But Julia's expression wasn't bright. Her face, usually so devoid of emotion, now showed clear feeling as she looked back the way they'd come. The emotion on her face was unmistakable worry.
“…Uncle, do you think he'll be okay……” During a brief rest to catch their breath, Lana muttered.
“…He'll be fine.” Julia answered immediately. “Gunter is strong.”
Her tone was the same as always, yet somehow different. It didn't sound like she truly believed it, but rather like she was hoping it was true.
“…Shouldn't we go back and help him now…?” Lana asked, her face filled with anxiety.
“…We can't.”
At that moment, Alice—who had barely managed to steady her breathing—shook her head firmly. “We'd only get in his way. That's why he made us run.”
Even in this situation, Alice's judgment remained cold and clear.
“…Let's keep moving.” After catching her breath, Alice urged them on. Lana and Julia looked reluctant, but they followed her words. They knew Alice was right.
…Yeah. This is the right call. As Alice moved her feet diligently, she repeated it to herself. This was the correct decision. Going back would only hinder him. So the best way to help was to get as far away as possible. Even as she thought that, Alice's heart felt heavy. Of course she wanted to go back. If it were up to her, she'd return right now to help that man. But she couldn't. At least I need to keep my head straight. This was her role. That man had said so himself.
— “Alice is level-headed, so I'd like you to help the others if anything happens.”
He'd said that once. So this was right. This was the correct decision. Even as she repeated it, Alice realized she'd been biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.
After some time advancing through the passage filled with worry and anxiety, they finally spotted a door. It was the end of this long tunnel, the door leading to their destination. Just as a small sense of relief began to appear on Alice's face—
Tap-tap-tap-tap! Footsteps echoed. Footsteps they couldn't possibly miss.
“Uncle…?” Lana turned toward the passage with hopeful eyes. It wasn't just Lana. Julia and Alice too. They looked back with expectant gazes, hoping to see a familiar face emerge. But that hope was cruelly betrayed.
“Found you!”
The figure that appeared from the darkness wasn't Gunter. It was the brown-haired man who had been chasing them.