Chapter 107

Shaking her head lightly, she inspected the wound on her leg again.

“Something to apply pressure with….”

If this continued, she would likely die from excessive blood loss.

She looked around, but nothing suitable came into view.

“My clothes….”

Taltos offered the silk tunic he wore under his jacket.

It wasn’t sanitary, but that didn’t matter. Secondary infections could be treated with divine power.

However, Taltos’ tunic was already soaked in blood and couldn’t be used.

After a moment of hesitation, she turned to Eched.

“Eched, take it off.”

Eched’s clothes would be cleaner than Taltos’.

Without a word, Eched removed his outer garment and swiftly stripped off his tunic.

“Here.”

Handing over his tunic, Eched stood half-n*ked before her.

For a moment, she squinted as if blinded.

Why did it seem like the sun always shone on Eched?

Anyway, she tore the tunic into long strips, fashioning them into makeshift bandages, which she used to firmly wrap Taltos’ thigh.

“Ugh.”

Even though she tried to be gentle, Taltos groaned in pain.

“Bear with it.” 

She said coldly, tying the cloth quickly.

The once-white fabric turned red in an instant, but it was far better than the earlier sight of blood dripping uncontrollably.

“For now, Sir Taltos, it’s best if you retreat from the frontlines.”

“Yes.”

Taltos, realizing he wasn’t in any condition to argue, nodded in agreement.

Their next task was to move Taltos to a safe location.

She glanced at his massive frame.

Despite his love for alcohol, Taltos had an exceptionally muscular body, devoid of any fat.

His heavily built physique hinted at his weight.

Imagining the struggles ahead, she hesitated.

Finding a safe place in this area wouldn’t be easy.

Even the campsite had been attacked by monsters, so it didn’t seem like a viable option.

In that case, perhaps staying where they were would be safer.

This place was originally the lair of the salamander they had killed.

According to what she had read, salamander lairs were rarely invaded by other monsters.

As long as the other monsters didn’t realize the salamander was dead, the likelihood of an attack was very low.

They would be safe until creatures came to feed on the salamander’s corpse.

She turned her gaze toward Sir Taltos.

Sensing her stare, he blinked.

“You’re looking at me as if you want to leave me behind.”

Well, it wasn’t a thought she hadn’t entertained.

When she didn’t respond, Taltos’ eyes wavered violently.

“Are you really considering leaving me behind, Chief? Commander?”

“Of course not.”

She wasn’t that devoid of humanity.

Her only concern was whether even Eched could handle the burden.

“Eched, do you think you can manage?”

While supporting Taltos was one thing, engaging in combat with monsters while doing so would undoubtedly be dangerous.

“Ha….”

Hearing her concern, Taltos let out a sigh, seemingly exasperated.

“What? Do you have a problem?”

“……”

Taltos, lips tightly shut, shook his head.

He appeared to hold back his words, as if afraid she might truly abandon him.

‘Getting hurt really changes a person’s demeanor.’

There was no time to waste on jokes. She dismissed her teasing thoughts.

Eched supported Taltos, and they prepared to descend the treacherous rocky mountain.

Whoosh—

A sound of something soaring through the air was followed by a flash of light in the sky.

It was a signal indicating the arrival of reinforcements.

Ah… finally.

Relief washed over her as she saw a glimmer of hope.

With the thought that safety was near, her steps down the rocky slope became lighter.

She even felt a bit excited at the prospect of joining the knights after descending the mountain.

But that hope was short-lived.

The scattered rocks on the slope began to gather, forming a massive shape.

“A golem….”

Unlike other monsters, golems were ancient creatures created through dark magic.

To find one in a place like this….

Roar—!

The stone golem stomped toward them, shaking the ground with enough force to destabilize the mountain.

Running away wasn’t an option; even standing upright was a struggle.

“Move!”

Eched pushed Taltos toward her.

She stumbled briefly but quickly regained her balance and fled to the side with Taltos.

“Commander…!”

Eched faced the massive golem alone.

The golem’s gigantic stone fist collided with Eched’s slender blade, sending red sparks flying.

Eched deflected the fist and swiftly severed one of the golem’s arms. However, as expected of a creature formed by magic, the stones reassembled, restoring the arm.

The only way to kill a golem was to destroy its core.

The core’s location varied for each golem, but it was always in a spot difficult to reach.

As the golem moved erratically while fighting Eched, she scrutinized its body.

She checked beneath its arms and legs, but the core was nowhere to be seen.

That left only one possibility….

“Eched, it’s on the sole of its foot!”

The core was in a spot impossible to see unless the golem fell.

To destroy the core, they first had to topple the giant creature.

Eched, while fending off the golem’s attacks, calmly maneuvered it toward a large rock behind it.

The rock was too big for a human but just the right size to trip the golem.

The golem, unable to resist Eched’s attacks, retreated until it stumbled over the rock and fell with a thunderous crash.

Eched didn’t miss the opportunity.

He dashed forward and struck the exposed core on the sole of the golem’s foot with a single, decisive blow.

The massive stones that made up the golem’s body crumbled away, leaving only a pile of rubble.

“Ha….”

Relieved that yet another battle was over, she let out a faint laugh, both from exhaustion and amazement at Eched’s incredible strength.

“As expected of the Commander!”

Sir Taltos, too, looked at Eched with awe and admiration.

But there was no time to celebrate.

A shadow fell over them, prompting her to look up.

Wyverns filled the once-clear sky.

Realizing the situation, Taltos instinctively moved closer to her.

“Chief, stay close to me.”

“But Sir….”

She looked at Taltos with concern.

Despite sweating profusely, Taltos didn’t loosen his grip on his sword.

The wyverns’ wingbeats stirred up fierce winds, and with them came an attack.

Massive beaks and razor-sharp talons descended upon them.

Wyverns typically carried their prey back to their nests to feed.

Having identified her and Taltos as prey, the wyverns were waiting for an opening to strike.

One moment of carelessness would mean being captured.

She used all her strength to fend off the wyverns’ beaks and talons with her dagger.

But it was impossible for an injured man and a novice to hold off the relentless attacks for long.

In a brief lapse of focus, she was caught in the talons of one wyvern.

As the wyvern took off, she was quickly lifted far from the ground.

Eched and Taltos, now mere dots below, were surrounded by monsters.

“Shaterian!”

“Chief!”

Their voices calling out to her grew faint.

‘Am I going to be carried to its nest and eaten?’

At that moment, another wyvern approached, opening its beak to grab her leg.

Had the wyvern holding her not twisted its body, her leg might have been torn off.

Her heart pounded wildly.

The second wyvern, undeterred by its failed attempt, stayed close, waiting for another chance.

If it managed to grab her leg, she might be ripped apart like a piece of paper.

Her face turned pale at the thought.

She had dropped her dagger when the wyvern grabbed her.

All she had left was her divine power.

Placing her palm on the wyvern’s rough, stone-like talon, she channeled a surge of divine energy.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air, followed by the wyvern’s pained screech.

In that moment, it released her.

She began to plummet.

The rapid change in perspective made her dizzy.

Oddly, she felt at peace, as though she wasn’t falling at all.

For a fleeting moment, she considered the inevitability of her death.

‘At least falling to my death is cleaner than being eaten alive.’ 

She thought, absurdly trying to comfort herself.

She had heard that people who fall from great heights often die of a heart attack before hitting the ground.

Perhaps it would be less painful than smashing her head open.

With such thoughts, she lost consciousness.

***

‘Shaterian…!’

Eched had eliminated all the wyverns in front of him and desperately reached out toward the rapidly disappearing Shaterian.

But it was already too late.

Shaterian had been captured by the monster and was already soaring high into the sky.

Waking from a disturbing dream, Eched opened his eyes.

He had only briefly closed them while perched atop a tree, and nothing around him had changed much since before he had fallen asleep.

Haltonea Forest.

Eched was now deep within the true habitat of monsters.

It had been three full days since he entered this forest to search for Shaterian, who had been taken away by a wyvern.