A dozen or so beastkin peeked their heads out from the closet, eyes wide as they covered their mouths. They looked somewhat thin and pale, but their physical condition didn’t seem too severely bad.
“Grrrrr…”
The rat demonic beast made an enraged sound as it roughly pulled out the short spear lodged in its forearm. Something that looked like tentacles wriggled from inside the wounded forearm, soon plugging the hole and restoring it to its original state.
This was one of the reasons why demonic beasts were difficult to deal with. Monsters simply ignored the pain of wounds, but demonic beasts recovered from injuries instantly. To inflict effective damage on a demonic beast, you had to cut off body parts—and even then, if you brought the severed part back to the wound, it would often reattach.
“I’ll handle this. You go over there and protect the people.”
Taeyon drew his sword and gave the order.
Facing a demonic beast alone was quite difficult. Normally, three or four knights would face one demonic beast. But if he brought Arkan to join him now and the demonic beast suddenly attacked the other side, that would be troublesome.
Just then, the demonic beast suddenly lowered its body and charged at Kaniel.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
CRASH! Taeyon’s sword and the demonic beast’s claws collided. What clashed with a harsh sound wasn’t simply sword and claws. Invisible force scattered in all directions, pushing away the dust.
In the meantime, Arkan scooped up the girl and Kaniel and ran.
The demonic beast reacted violently again. It pushed away Taeyon’s sword with both hands and thrust its head forward, trying to bite his throat with all its might.
When the nimble Taeyon pulled his body back, it immediately turned and rushed toward the girl.
“Arkan!”
Arkan tossed the two people he was carrying toward the closet. Fortunately, the beastkin inside the closet caught the shrieking girl and the rigidly frozen Kaniel.
Arkan swung his spear, trying to strike the charging demonic beast’s solar plexus. However, the demonic beast easily blocked the spear with its front paws.
Meanwhile, Kaniel quickly chanted a spell.
“<A barrier to protect allies…!>”
A hemispherical protective barrier completely enveloped them. Now, as long as his magic power allowed, they were safe. Kaniel checked his remaining magic power. The Orb of Light spell didn’t consume much magic power, and since the protective barrier hadn’t been attacked earlier, he still had plenty of magic power.
Of course, how long “plenty” would last was uncertain.
“Everyone, don’t leave this area!”
“What exactly is… this? Is it an ability?”
“Something similar. As long as you’re inside, you’ll be safe.”
I have to protect these people no matter what. So that Taeyon won’t get into trouble while worrying about this side.
Kaniel firmly resolved.
“Arkan, focus on protecting them rather than attacking!”
“Yes, Lord Taeyon!”
Taeyon rushed in to strike the demonic beast’s rear. The sharp blade exquisitely aimed for the joint area of the elbow. The demonic beast had no room to dodge. Because Arkan was thrusting his spear from the opposite side, coordinating with Taeyon’s movements.
In a crisis where its arm might fly off, the demonic beast turned its body and twisted the blade’s trajectory. The blade that struck bone couldn’t advance any further, and Taeyon had no choice but to retrieve his sword.
Just as he was about to attack again, the demonic beast crouched and ran on all fours, dodging to the side. Just when it seemed the demonic beast wouldn’t stop running, it suddenly climbed the wall to the ceiling. Its destination was the closet where the beastkin were hiding.
Even Taeyon couldn’t stop a demonic beast charging upside down from the ceiling.
BANG!! The demonic beast’s front paw struck down on the protective barrier.
“Kugh…!”
The protective barrier consumed magic power to block the impact. At the sensation of magic power suddenly draining away, Kaniel gritted his teeth.
It’s still okay. It’s still okay…
Fortunately, Arkan immediately rushed in. The demonic beast dodged the spear swung at its crouched body and began to face Arkan, making a threatening “grrr” sound.
It was a truly strange sight.
The demonic beast had its back to them as if protecting the beastkin. Taeyon couldn’t understand what this demonic beast’s purpose was to display such bizarre behavior patterns.
But analysis could come later.
First, he had to draw out that monster that might suddenly do something unpredictable. Taeyon had no choice but to use his ability, even knowing his ability wavelength was gradually reaching its limit.
CRACKLE—An electric shock that shot from Taeyon’s fingertips hit the demonic beast. At that moment, the demonic beast froze as if electrocuted, then its body began to tilt forward.
Arkan quickly swung his spear and sent the falling demonic beast flying far away.
“…”
Taeyon barely suppressed what felt like he would cough up blood. This was truly the limit now. If he used even a little more electric shock, his body would break down first, and next he would go berserk and become a monster that would destroy everything around him indiscriminately.
He reflexively glanced at Kaniel. His complexion had turned pale, as if blocking that earlier attack had been difficult.
It was natural, if you thought about it. Though it was only a single attack, it was an attack that would have ruptured internal organs and killed someone who wasn’t a knight if they’d taken it with their body. Rather, it was impressive that he’d blocked it despite not being a knight.
Taeyon slowly approached the demonic beast, which finally got up after rolling on the ground several times. That demonic beast was quick in its movements and had hard bones. Minor attacks were meaningless; even if he struck once, he had to stab the precise location.
The offensive and defensive battle between Taeyon and the demonic beast began again.
“Ah…!”
Taeyon nimbly dodged the demonic beast’s sudden kick. Kaniel let out a sigh of relief, but his hands were still trembling. Just because they’d escaped danger once didn’t mean they were safe.
“Why does it keep paying attention to this side?”
“Who knows… Maybe it thinks of the people it stole as its possessions?”
At Kaniel’s answer, Arkan made a groaning sound that suggested it was nonsense but he couldn’t quite deny it outright. Because the demonic beasts Arkan knew weren’t monsters that cherished their possessions.
Demonic beasts commanded anywhere from dozens to hundreds of monsters. And to gain the upper hand in battle, they would burn through monsters’ lives without a second thought. That’s how it had been in records for hundreds of years, and that’s how it had been in Arkan’s experience over the past few years.
However, unlike Arkan who found it difficult to abandon fixed ideas, to Kaniel it really did look like the demonic beast regarded the beastkin here as its own and was struggling not to be deprived of them. But since he couldn’t know whether a demonic beast’s possessiveness was like normal people cherishing things or devouring them, he didn’t argue more strongly.
“If Lord Taeyon gets hurt…”
“That won’t happen.”
“But…”
“If it’s really dangerous, he’ll use his ability like before.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Kaniel was convinced by those words, but at the same time wondered why he wasn’t using it now. It had been that way all along. Taeyon seemed reluctant to use his ability. He’d said there was a price for using abilities. What could the price be that he’s so reluctant?
Lost in such thoughts while tensely watching the offensive and defensive battle, Kaniel suddenly discovered something strange. Let’s say the demonic beast showing an attitude of being concerned about this side even while fighting was one thing. But while doing that, wasn’t it also conscious of somewhere else? Sometimes it would even hesitate.
‘…What is it?’
The fast movements weren’t clearly visible to Kaniel’s eyes, so he could only grasp the clue after concentrating for a while.
What the demonic beast was conscious of was light.
Specifically, Kaniel’s Orb of Light spell that was faintly illuminating this cave that originally had nothing but darkness.
‘Could it dislike light?’
Kaniel carefully tried moving the orb’s position. The direction the demonic beast was conscious of also changed.
It definitely disliked light!
Then there might be a way to help in the battle.
“Arkan, this place is fine now, so wouldn’t it be better to help Taeyon?”
“What? I can’t do that. I can’t disobey orders.”
“I can protect this place. So if the demonic beast rushes this way, you can just come back. Like before.”
Like before. Conflict appeared in Arkan’s expression as he recalled how they’d responded a moment ago. Certainly, with Kaniel’s protective barrier, they could buy time enough to lower the risk level.
If there were no one protecting the beastkin it would be one thing, but Arkan standing guard here now was a waste.
“Go, Arkan. I’ll do my best to protect this place.”
CRASH!! Taeyon flew through the air from the demonic beast’s attack. Taeyon, who spun gracefully backward while dispersing the impact, crouched and landed on the ground.
Taeyon’s clothes were torn here and there. Among them were places where skin was cut and blood was seeping out. On the other hand, the demonic beast didn’t have a single wound. It wasn’t that it truly hadn’t been wounded. Taeyon had landed several effective hits, but thanks to its unique recovery ability, they had healed.
