Chapter 73: Kingdom of Caerleon (10)

It was a gruesome event that happened before my eyes. The poor knight got blown into pieces, revealing its organs and blood gushing out from its body. Some of those crimson fluids splattered on my face, bathing me with the gooey stench of fresh blood.

I widened my eyes when Fenrir killed her first prey in front of me. I told her to contain her excitement, but she did not listen. And now, we had to pay the price of making an enemy of the kingdom.

"What have you done?" I asked Fenrir, but my voice never reached her ears.

Fenrir revealed her claws stained with the scarlet liquid, while growling at the corpse. She continued looking around, hunting for anyone standing in her way.

Regardless of her frenzy, I wanted to save Fenrir from anger. I wanted to be there for her side like I did to Merleen. Despite getting nothing in return, I still wished to help her. I may be nothing to her, but she was still a friend in my eyes.

And Fenrir saved me when I needed her the most. She kept my heart beating again when I lost my pulse. That girl was the one who brought me inside her shelter, taking the risk to harm her village.

If I were in her position, I would have fended everyone away, regardless of their species. But Fenrir saved me. And it was not just me. Fenrir also saved Merleen.

It was time for me to repay my rent.

I had learned a lot from losing Afenos and the villager's trust…. I did not want to lose those again.

"Fenrir!" I shouted, while leaping from the ground.

Within a few seconds, my body became light as a feather. When I glanced at my side, my sword glittered like the northern star, shading some hope in these crucial moments. And when the fight broke out, I remembered the words that the shadowy figure said to me.

"The sword eats away your good intentions and uses it to boost your strength. That is your sword. That is Clarent!"

Those were the words that the mysterious voice said about my sword. And now, I proved those sentences true.

Just like the meaning behind those phrases, my sword granted me enhanced strength and speed. Everything around me became slower than usual, except for my body. My system also notified me about the increased health and arcane capacity I received from the sword.

The burrowed power strengthened me to free Fenrir. Since I wanted to use these abilities to bring back Fenrir, the sword obeyed my wishes.

"Fenrir!" I yelled once again, while raising my sword.

My blade's surface stood between the claws of Fenrir and the bastard sword of another knight. If I had remained the same from before, I would have blasted away by now. But I didn't.

I kept my posture and shielded the two from their attacks, forcing them to move apart. The two of them landed safely on the ground, glaring at each other and my figure.

After a few seconds, Fenrir shifted her gaze and leered in my direction, accompanied by a fierce growl that sent shivers down my spine.

"Why are you helping them?!" Fenrir shouted, and launched herself towards me.

I blocked her attack and yelled [parry]. I did not want to wound her, so blocking her blitz was the wisest choice I could make in this situation.

But that did not stop Fenrir from assaulting me. Her anger drifted towards my figure as she slammed her hands against my sword. Although Clarent gifted me with these enhancements, Fenrir was five times more powerful than me.

Fenrir gathered more speed each second in a fight. That was what I observed on this battlefield. She planned on prolonging this fight, considering that I still had human stamina compared to a monster.

"Fenrir, you're fighting the wrong enemy!" I exclaimed, but the wolf girl never listened.

As soon as she charged straight towards me, Merleen cast a blinding light that enveloped the room.

Despite the shining light, the illumination never affected my eyes. The entire room briefly got painted into white and reverted to its usual safe.

But those seconds were enough to render Fenrir unconscious on the ground. Despite Fenrir's feral battle, she collapsed after witnessing the light cast by Merleen.

"How did you do that?" I asked Merleen, who also had a perplexed expression carved on her face.

"I-I don't know! I just wanted to cast some light to disrupt the whole scene!" Merleen retorted, while hiding her shivering hands.

Everyone inside the room got blinded for a few seconds. Those status ailments also revealed themselves on top of their names while using my system. This blind illness would fade off around a minute before everyone could see once again.

[Blinding light activated!]

[All creatures that Merleen considered as enemies would receive the debuff from the spell]

Since Merleen trusted me and not Fenrir, she cast her protection to me from the blinding light. That was the explanation I needed when the spell reached out inside the castle.

I snatched Fenrir's unconscious body, Merleen, and the Merchant away from the castle. There was no time for me to spare since the place got them crawling with knights and mages. Even on the outside, we might meet some of them who wanted to ambush our team. I did not have to carry the Merchant, since I barely even know the guy. However, based on the king's conversation, Merchant had something in mind that made the royalty pissed, creating an argument between them.

I wanted to understand their conversation, considering that it was the spark of their strife. But for now, escaping from this citadel was our utmost priority. Since we already grabbed everyone, fleeing from this place should be a piece of cake.

Well, that was what I thought when some guards, including the king, woke up from their spell. And those numbers written on the system immediately changed, as if updating new information inside of me.

[Caution! Those armours worn by the Kingdom of Caerleon have negation spells from ailments. Creator: Merchant].

"YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT RIGHT NOW?!" I screamed, while cursing the system inside my head.

When I scanned the area, the system did not mention that detail. And now that those knights woke up, my system dared to warn me.

"Merleen, can you cast any spells...like, right now? Anything would be fine," I asked.

Merleen shook her head and answered, "I-I don't think so. I don't want to kill these people!"

Now that I realised it, Merleen could not control her magic power. Although she understood some Science from me, those elements might explode if she used them against these people.

Merleen resorted to creating barriers surrounding us. Since we could not go for offence, defence became our ally.

Merleen waved her hands and conjured a mud wall at every angle. She used the ground as our walls, with the stones as reinforcements for the barrier. She even added some blaze surrounding our shell, pushing melee weapons away from our shield. Merleen also added some dazzling ice on the floor, with extra layers of icicle shards floating outside the rock. When I asked Merleen about those icy sticks, she just told me it looked cool on this set-up.

"But how can we see them outside?" I asked Merleen, while tapping the walls from the shell.

Merleen tilted her head for a few seconds before giving me a straight answer. "Can't you feel their presence? I realised every human has heat signatures. If I make this rock, I could feel their presence beyond this point. But it's too difficult for me to control it, for now, Arthur…. Sorry."

"We have twenty enemies inside this castle and…. thousands of them outside. Since my blinding light ability did not travel that far, those knights outside the gates had no effect from my spell," Fenrir continued.

I did not even explain heat signatures, but this girl understood it. The fire covering the walls outside helped her concentrate on her surroundings. Although Merleen could barely sense the enemies right now, it was enough to understand their movements.

"But how about me? How am I supposed to know their attacks?! That solves nothing!"

Despite the big brain move of Merleen, I could do nothing to track our enemies. Those heat signatures only helped Fenrir, but not me. And I doubt that heat signature ability was a tough concept to grasp, except if we were inside a cave.

"I have an idea!" Merleen shouted once again, and clasped her hands.

My eyes widened as a hole emerged from the hole, revealing the enemies on the other side. As soon as the mages and archers witnessed our position, they attacked us with their full force, intending to kill us. But before those attacks could even land on my skin, the wall closed and protected us.

The king ordered his awoken men to seize us after witnessing our shield. It was their first time seeing such a bizarre way of protecting someone inside using a combination of spells.