Right after Gareth and Brienne were ambushed.
“Draw your swords!”
We immediately assumed battle stances.
Were the ones who had been attacked okay?
No, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga—!
The ground was still shaking, and spikes were erupting from below.
“Scatter!”
It seemed staying grouped up was not an option.
Deline shouted and was the first to break away.
…Fine, they can handle the rescue.
Kwa-ga-gak—!!
For now, I had to deal with these spikes.
I leaped onto the roof of an abandoned house, dodging the thick spikes shooting toward me.
Then—
Kugu-gu-guung—!
The spikes pierced straight through the house.
Just where were these things coming from?
As I scanned my surroundings, pondering that very question—
[How dare you rampage in my domain!!!]
A thunderous female voice echoed throughout the entire forest surrounding the ruins.
Right after that—
The trees trembled, and even more massive spikes shot up from the ground in all directions.
…So these spikes were tree roots?
More importantly, was the woman who just shouted one of the devil worshippers?
And quite the skilled mage at that.
Kwa-ga-gang!!
Meanwhile, other spikes pierced through the abandoned house, and now, it looked like it was on the verge of collapse.
Let’s see…
I briefly checked on the other knights and Sienna.
They were all dodging well.
Even Vern, the knight who had opened the underground passage earlier, hadn’t moved from his spot.
I was curious about what he was planning.
“Haaah!”
With a loud shout, he cleaved a spike in half with his greatsword.
“Oh…”
Well, since they were tree roots, I suppose they could be cut.
They were thick, but still manageable.
I was about to jump down and start cutting them myself when—
Tchaaaaak—!!
A massive amount of dark red liquid sprayed from the severed spike.
Was it acidic?
It splattered everywhere, almost as if a blood vessel had been cut.
“Damn!”
Vern quickly raised his cloak to shield himself and lowered his stance.
But in that moment, another spike shot toward him at high speed.
Swish—!
I immediately jumped down from the roof and slashed through the incoming spike.
Pak!
Before the acid could splash, I kicked the severed part away.
Ha—this was troublesome.
My armor would provide some protection, but if too much of that liquid got on me, it would be a problem.
Sizzle—
I turned my gaze toward Vern, who was still crouching under his cloak.
“Are you alright?”
“Thanks, rookie.”
Fortunately, it seemed his cloak had taken most of the damage.
Vern stood up, shaking off the acid, which was now emitting smoke.
“Still, I’ll need a new cloak.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
Even though it was a specially treated magic cloak, there was only so much it could endure.
The engravings were already gone, and the color had faded.
Kwa-ga-gang—!
Judging by the way spikes were still shooting up, returning to get a replacement wouldn’t be easy.
Boom!!
Dodging another incoming spike, I leaped high into the air.
Alright, let’s see.
The devil worshipper responsible for this must be nearby, right?
There’s no way they’re doing this from a distance.
I shifted my focus, searching for the area where the spikes were most concentrated.
If there was a caster, the magic in that area would be the strongest.
As I observed the knights dealing with the spikes—
Kwaaaang—!!
I spotted Deline slicing through the spikes that had surrounded Gareth and Brienne.
…His attacks were immense.
Was that Rush?
The spikes were being blown away in chunks.
The other knights were handling the situation with ease, so despite the sudden ambush, the crisis didn’t feel as severe as it could have been.
The initial attack had been the most dangerous part.
Now, all that remained was to locate the mage and take their head.
With that in mind—
As soon as I landed back on the ground—
Boom!
I channeled Aura into my feet and sprinted straight toward the forest.
Having observed from above where the spikes were most concentrated, I planned to start there.
“Go get ’em, rookie!”
I heard Vern’s shout from behind me.
…Did he figure out what I was about to do?
Well, these people were all veterans.
They must have already been formulating their own countermeasures.
Regardless—
The closer I got to the forest, the more spikes flew toward me.
Whoosh!!
I twisted my body to dodge an incoming spike,
but the moment I moved, another one sharply adjusted its trajectory to follow.
…Their movements were getting more precise.
That was good news—it meant I was getting closer to the mage.
Whirr—
I twisted mid-air, dodging another spike, then used it as a foothold to propel myself forward again.
Since I was up against a mage, I needed to conserve my techniques as much as possible.
I focused on dodging efficiently while closing the distance.
Then—
Rumble… BOOM—!!
The ground trembled, and an enormous root burst forth.
…What the hell is that?
Unlike the previous spikes, this one was swinging to completely swat me away.
Crash!!!
Getting hit would be devastating, so I spun my body and barely managed to evade.
Twinge—
A sharp, chilling sensation ran down the back of my head.
I turned just in time to see another spike flying straight at me.
‘Track.’
I activated Track immediately.
Just as I was about to use Fleet to dodge—
Whirl—!!
Even in the slowed world of my technique, I caught sight of three axes flying rapidly toward me.
Then—
Thud! Crack!
The axes struck the side of the spike all at once.
Whoosh—!!
The force of the impact altered the spike’s trajectory, and it just barely grazed past my head.
…Nice one, Sienna.
Thanks to her, I saved a Fleet use.
“Rain! Above!!”
Just as I was about to move again, Sienna’s voice rang out.
Above? Look up?
Following her warning, I lifted my gaze.
Between the towering trees—
A figure came into view.
“Okay.”
So there you are.
I immediately kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
“You filthy knight!”
Realizing I had spotted them, the mage shouted and stretched out their hand.
The surrounding branches twisted unnaturally and shot toward me like deadly spears.
Grip—!
I stepped on the nearest tree trunk—
And activated Vision Track.
In the slowed world—
Sharp, elongated branches flew toward me with lethal intent.
And within that slowed vision, I could faintly see something new—
A more vivid red mist, clearer than before.
Ever since my efforts in the mountain range,
I had spent months honing my Vision Techniques.
Now, I no longer needed preparation.
I simply launched myself forward.
At blinding speed, my body shot past the treetops and into the open sky.
Then—
“Kuh… Kuheuk…!”
A gasping, suffocating sound rose from below.
I glanced down—
The mage’s head was already severed from their body.
“My barrier….”
“Was way too thin.”
Afraid of being detected, they had kept their barrier weak.
At that level, it wasn’t even a challenge to cut through.
That much is enough to cut with a single sword.
After that.
Thud!!
As I landed, I drove my sword through the severed mage’s head to finish the job.
Even after being decapitated, they had still been speaking, which was unsettling.
“I… I will not forgive this…!”
Even with my blade lodged in their forehead, the mage continued to spew words before disintegrating into dust.
…Looks like I didn’t fully finish them off.
Still, at least for now, they were gone. The spikes lost their momentum and collapsed to the ground.
“Not bad, rookie!”
“Thank you.”
“Enough chatter. Let’s go check on the others.”
Together with Vern, I made my way to where Gareth and Brienne had been.
“Gareth! Stay with me!”
Something must have happened inside that spike-covered area.
Brienne was in relatively good shape, but Gareth… his armor was partially melted.
“Is he alright?”
“He’s still breathing,”
Deline removed Gareth’s helmet—
Acid had seeped through, leaving the inside in a horrifying state.
“Damn it…”
“We need to get him to a healer immediately.”
Though Gareth was in bad shape, he was still alive.
The knights remained composed, assessing his condition and deciding their next move.
“He… he protected me…”
“Brienne, calm down. He’s still alive, isn’t he?”
Brienne seemed to be panicking, but the other knights were steadying her.
They would handle it.
Meanwhile, I turned to Sienna, who was standing beside me—completely unscathed.
“Miss Sienna.”
“Yes?”
I was curious.
“How did you spot the mage’s location?”
“Ah… My eyes are pretty sharp.”
“Pretty sharp, huh?”
“I’m especially good at spotting things in forests.”
…That’s new information.
Did she develop that ability from growing up in the northern forests?
“Thanks for the support. I was able to take them down quickly because of you.”
“Oh, it was nothing… All I did was run away.”
“You had a bad matchup—it couldn’t be helped.”
With her expertise in throwing weapons, she wasn’t suited to dealing with those spikes.
Though, if she learned Vision Rush, it might be a different story.
…I should push for that.
Once we return to the estate, I’ll bring it up with Lowell.
Convincing the Margrave himself is an option too, but…
That would be terrifying.
“More importantly, are we heading back to the city now?”
It was decision time.
We had been ambushed while trying to escort two survivors.
Since this was a stronghold of the devil worshippers, there was a chance more enemy forces were hiding in the forest.
But leaving entirely would mean abandoning the children underground.
Rationally speaking, the best course of action was to leave them and head to the city.
That would minimize overall losses.
But—
“We’ll leave three here. The rest will take Gareth to the city and call for the Viscount and reinforcements.”
Deline chose to stay and protect the children.
“Who’s staying…?”
“Me and the two rookies here.”
“Rookies?”
“Yeah. From what I saw, they can handle themselves.”
“…True.”
I hadn’t expected him to leave me and Sienna behind, but the other knights seemed convinced after seeing my performance.
“Alright, we’ll move quickly.”
“Be careful transporting Gareth.”
“Understood.”
The knights departed for the city with Gareth, leaving just the three of us in the ruins.
