Chapter 120: Chapter 7: Warmaiden Ikumi [1]

[Ikumi POV]

The eastern parts of Sherwood Forest.

Ikumi was leading a group of forty frost hares as they cleaned up the enemy groups, a bunch of imps and small tribes, as she looked different from the past.

Her pretty white hair seemed to have grown longer, now tied in half-braids down her cheeks and a ponytail at the back to avoid it getting in the way during combat.

"Vema, how many squares can we conquer today?"

She looked back at her old friend from the village wearing leather armour with a chainmail dress protecting her vitals and holding a spear and shield.

Most hares came in three types: the sword, spear and archer.

Swordsmen chose to wield longswords with small round shields fixed to their bracers or gauntlets but no longer blocked the heavy blows and fought in a style more of dodging and countering rather than tanking blows.

While spear users held a medium shield normally of leather or other light materials, sometimes a wood found in Sherwood was quite durable and light.

They were the ones who took the brunt of damage and attacks, using their legs to pivot their hips and thrust the enemy after blocking heavy blows, trained by Lancelot himself when not busy to find the ideal pace, range and force to lunge.

"We have ten more items available, and only six outer zones of Sherwood left to conquer, but one was said to have an Ogre encampment that Lady Guinevere planned to deal with using Tiamat and her archers."

Vema was a regular frost hare with soft grey fur and blue eyes, but she had once shared a bed with Lancelot at the behest of Ikumi, who wanted her friend to grow stronger, and she did.

Now a little weaker than Meru, her abilities were greater than those who were her equal before she was flooded with Lancelot's demonic essence.

"Let's deal with the four furthest away and prepare to take everything before night."

The frost hares were originally a race that loved to work hard and got obsessed with their jobs, fishing, hunting and crafting in their previous world and only held back by their acute sickness and weak disease resistance.

'Lancelot, I want to show how much I have grown thanks to your tender love and care.'

Her rabbit ears flopped side to side happily as she thought of all the praise she might get for clearing the entire forest.

Since the new girls began to increase, she felt a strange tightness and pain in her chest; each time she saw Lancelot with other women, it made her want to kick them away, kidnap him and hide him in a place nobody but Marimo could find him.

'Marimo said my feelings were jealousy, something all growing women would feel seeing our lord with other pretty women.'

'Marimo helped me, told me that I was at an important stage as a frost hare... I should take time apart from master and consider what Ikumi wanted most.'

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Ikumi knew she wanted Lancelot the most; he had saved her life and taken her virginity. She had seen him fight against great enemies while trying his best to make all of his hares strong so they could protect themselves.

But Marimo's words made her realise she needed to decide what she desired most.

Was it strength?

A loving husband like Lancelot?

Or to prove herself to him, show him her growth?

Ikumi wasn't stupid, but in the past was merely too immature and mistook many feelings and actions. She knew Lancelot cared about all his hares, wanting to ensure everyone grew well and safe.

But Marimo said if Ikumi truly wanted something more with Lancelot, he had to become stronger both in body and mind and become his equal instead of relying on him constantly.

'Marimo is like my mom...'

'Mother?'

Ikumi never remembered hers clearly, having lived alone with Vema since she died because of illness. She rarely recalled what it was like to have a mother... but Marimo had a motherly air about her, caring and helpful.

'Marimo will have master's babies soon; why does it not feel tight when I think of her with Master?'

Her ears perked up at a roar interrupting her thoughts; when she looked back, all the hares jumped in sync.

The archers were the most deadly type, jumping onto the thick branches with their longbows fully drawn, using their powerful thighs and legs like anchors to keep them on target, naturally swaying with the branch in the breeze.

"Vema, get the spearmen and swordsmen ready for battle! It's goblins."

Ikumi had not only grown mentally and emotionally in the past few weeks, but her greatest improvement was combat, and leading the frost hares like second nature as her body hopped between several trees and took the lead point, her fingertips pointing towards the distant goblins, with several ice lances spiralling around her fingertip.

"Fire!"

As Ikumi gave the command, thirty ice lances shot out, whistling through the woods like homing missiles, hitting a line of goblins riding wolves, instantly killing ten and injuring others who fell off their mounts or were too close. Sёarᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

At the same time, following like a flowing tide after the raging storm, arrows from above-pierced goblin heads as the hares took this chance to hop through the trees, firing multiple shots into the unsuspecting lines, causing chaos.

'Good!'

"Switch, spearmen go!"

Instantly, every hare was protected by a thick layer of ice; Ikumi had taught all the hares in her unit everything she could do.

Double kick, leap, ice lance and frost shield.

Now, her entire unit could do all roles, switching from bow to spear to sword fluidly, and all of them were taught kindly by her over several months and adored her more than family.

Spearmen hopped down from trees, landing on wolf riders, shattering their frost shields and crushing most of the survivors with this brutal technique, then stabbing their spears forward, piercing goblin vitals through weak armour as the swordsmen cut through any survivors that tried to regroup.

Within minutes, none survived as Ikumi hopped down from the tallest tree with Vema landing perfectly at her side, giving orders to check corpses and gather loot.

'Goblin stones... worthless trash, let's leave these to the troops as bonuses.'

'They like to trade the shiny gemstones for the silky shampoo and body wash that Master found for us; he even sells it so cheap.'

Goblins were low-tier monsters, often used by demons to cause trouble or as cannon fodder; the stones dropped by goblins were useless yet easy to obtain.

Normally worth a few copper or silver, but not quite worth Avalon coins.

"Hurry, clear this square, and claim it in the darling name!" Ikumi accidentally slipped her affection towards Lancelot, but none of the hares complained because they all felt the same about him.

These girls were the first few summoned to Avalon by him, and almost all had spent considerable time beside him.

Ikumi conquered four of the six remaining squares of the border Sherwood forest and the eastern lands beyond like this.

Until finally reaching a large goblin tribe fortification.

It was an impassable fortress created by combining crude logs into a solid barricade. The walls were sturdy enough to withstand minor assaults without worry, as a wooden gate with crude iron spikes acted as another defence.

It housed at least sixty goblins and two hobgoblins inside.

"Captain Ikumi, what should we do? There are too many to risk losing lives?" A hare asked with a panicked face.

This fortification was not normal within Sherwood Forest. Ikumi could see the markings from the ogres who held the territory further beyond and felt conflicted.

With such a small force, ambush tactics and blitz assaults went amazing, but things became problematic against heavily armed and armoured foes in fortifications.

"Have everyone position themselves across the tallest trees and wait for my signal; send for Vema and Zirrel to come to me."

The hare nodded and hopped away through the woods like a fleeting shadow.

Within minutes, Vema returned with Zirrel; the archer class hare was another of Ikumi's childhood friends and was the fastest among hares after Lancelot taught them sprinting techniques based on athletic runners from his home world.

"What do you think would be best?" Ikumi looked at the two women, who had difficult faces, knowing exactly how much this meant to their captain.

Zirrel pondered briefly and suggested, "Can we bypass it and leave? There are ogres further along."

But Ikumi rejected her suggestion instantly.

"We must claim all Sherwood and its borders before Lancelot returns; if we fail him now, what will people think of us as?" Her stubborn tone caused the two women to sigh helplessly as she had been fixated on Lancelot and proving herself since she began to mature, her height now taller, hair glossier as she looked like a white-haired version of Marimo.

"What if we rain down on them with magic and don't close the distance while constantly moving around the trees with arrows and magic until their numbers are cut down?"

Ikumi's foot tapped the ground as her ruby eyes narrowed, clearly thinking seriously.

Verma added, "If we use mana shields, the losses will minimise; it might take some time, but if we cycle between magic and archery, then none of the girls will become exhausted."

Ikumi agreed and turned to Zirrel with a confident smile, "Find positions where there are fewer places for them to take cover in the fort and the branches are thick to hide our figures. If we aim from the skies, the goblins won't know where to look or predict which direction next."

Zirrel saluted cheerfully, happy Ikumi took her opinion seriously, then leapt high into the canopy like a bouncing bullet before disappearing within seconds.

Ikumi raised her hand and gathered frost energy in her palm, creating a small ball of spinning ice lances, which Vema copied shortly behind.

"Alright, girls, watch Vema and follow her example. Shoot whenever Zirrel gives the signal; focus firepower on Hobgoblins first, then goblins!" Ikumi said with a fair voice, somehow loud enough to be heard by every hare in the woods as their ears danced with cute flops.

The hares began copying Vema as they drew mana into their palms to create icy lances, unlike Ikumi's advanced techniques, which only Lancelot and her could use.

Many failed, only creating watery darts that hurt a little but weren't lethal against goblins wearing metal helmets and chainmail shirts.

But eventually, all had created at least three icy lances.

"Prepare for battle," Vema uttered with her deep voice.

"GoblinJagd!"

Ikumi's call summoned a huge avalanche of ice to flood the goblin fort as their ice spears blotted out the skies.