Chapter 1710: Daring Escape

Chapter 1710: Daring Escape

The Chalice Knight resembled a human wearing a tattered suit of ancient armor that had turned green from rust. He towered at around two and a half meters of height, but seemed even taller because of the deer antlers attached to his closed helmet. The rusty helmet itself was fashioned to resemble the snout of a snarling beast, with deep darkness nestling in the crack of its visor.

There was moss growing here and there on the battered armor, and a ragged cloak, too weathered to retain any color, hanging from his shoulders like a torn banner.

The creature was holding a frightening battleaxe in his hand, its blade large and heavy enough to easily split a human in two.

The Huntsman... was like a dead knight that had crawled from under the roots of the forest that had claimed an ancient battlefield, ghastly and imposing enough to make Rain shudder.

Worse than that, the dark crack of his visor was already staring directly at her.

Her souls seemed to squirm under that gaze.

'Crap.'

Rain nocked another arrow on the string and prepared to draw her bow...

But before she could, the Huntsman had already reached the base of the tree that served as her sniper nest.

His dreadful battleaxe rose and fell. That dreadful strike was enough to make the mighty trunk of the ancient tree explode into a hurricane of splinters, obliterating a whole swath of it.

But, a moment later...

A sharp arrow fell from above and lodged itself into his knee. It struck precisely at the narrow gap between the bottom of the abominations's cuisse and the top of his poleyn — which were the armor elements responsible for protecting one's thigh and knee, respectively.

A pretty decent shot, considering the situation.

But Rain did not have any time to celebrate, because the tree was already toppling... and she was falling with it.

After a moment of weightlessness, the rope tied around her chest drew taut, and she found herself flying through the air.

If there was one thing her teacher had told her, it was that one should always leave themselves a path of retreat. Rain had never considered that climbing a tree would protect her from an Awakened Demon, so she naturally prepared a way to escape.

In this case, that way was swinging on a rope and flying between the trunks of terribly tall trees at breakneck speed. She had not carried a sizable length of silk rope all the way here in vain, at least.

As the wind whistled in her ears, Rain thought:Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

'This is going to hurt...'

She really did not know if she would be able to escape his axe long enough to accomplish her goal.

'Run... run!'

Gritting her teeth, Rain did the unthinkable... she tossed away her bow. That was a terrible loss — not because he was afraid to lose it, but because the quiver of arrows she had hidden up ahead would be useless without it. But she had to sacrifice something, and her javelin seemed much more useful in a battle against such a large foe.

As for her sword... well, her teacher had given it to her. She would never discard it.

She felt incredibly lucky about leaving her coat and armor on the outskirts of the forest.

'Run, goddamn you!'

Rain did not have eyes on the back of her head, but she could feel the ground trembling, and hear the branches snapping behind her. In fact, the Huntsman was barreling directly through the trees, snapping the mighty trunks like matches. It was as though an unstoppable, inescapable behemoth was pursuing her, getting closer and closer. He was already no more than a dozen meters away.

A dozen meters... ten meters... six meters...

Rain's heart was beating wildly in her chest.

But then, finally, the trees receded, and she escaped into a vast open space.

That... was where she had wanted to fight the demon.

'Be more prepared. Control the battlefield, know the terrain, learn about the enemy. Take the initiative and don't make any mistakes. Have a clear mind and deadly resolve.'

That was the recipe for winning a battle against a demon... any battle, really.

So, this was the battlefield that Rain had chosen.

The open space in front of her was a swamp that hid in the depths of the forest.

Currently, it was frozen over, the treacherous depths encased in a layer of ice. The ice was covered by a thin carpet of snow.

Rain was light enough to walk on the ice without falling under its surface.

The Huntsman, though...

With his frightening size, heavy armor, and dreadful battleaxe, he was going to have a bit of a problem.

Feeling death approaching her from behind, Rain did not waste a single moment and stepped onto the hidden ice.