CH 73

It’s hard to believe. 

Serdel looked at Dell again.

The Tawl Wolfs indeed become strong enough to be called the rulers of the forest when they become adults, but he’s still a child.

‘He just used the energy of this place to build up his body.’

But can he use the power when he becomes an adult?

“They’re slowing down! Don’t miss the opportunity that Young Lady’s beast made!” 

Everyone shouted ‘Waaaa!’ to Falden’s call.

[Woooooooo—!]

Dell’s howling, which had put a lot of force on his shoulders, grew deeper and louder the more he did. 

Now, the dark energy has been lifted quite a bit, and although they are still inferior in number, the momentum of the situation has become more favorable to their side.

Blenn, who took a wide step, swept the orcs away with a Mana stream as long as a whip.

Kwaaaaaaaaak! 

It cut down a few trees along with dozens of orcs. 

Whoosh—!

‘If it goes on like this, it’ll end quickly!’

She clenched her fist naturally.

[—Woooooooo!] 

But Dell seems to have reached his limit.

Dell’s howling, which he was spitting out despite his redding face, weakened over time.

Like a balloon deflating from a small hole, his body size decreased and he eventually returned to his original stature. 

[Wooo—.]

The boy with a reddened face and his tongue sticking out barked out a groan at Serdel’s feet. 

Huk, huuk, huuk. 

“Hey! What a great brat. You’re such a great boy! Hey, you did a great job!”

Dell’s ears perked up when he heard Redan’s stormy praise.

His appearance was cute and unique, so Serdel bent over and hugged him.

She was glad that she had brought Dell.

“Great job, Dell.”

She gently swept his hair sticking to his forehead and was about to get up.

Saak! 

With bleak energy, a dark shadow glistened not too far away.

She swallowed dryly from the shudder that ran down her spine.

Serdel’s head stiffly turned upward.

The balck fog had condensed into a huge circle right before Serdel’s eyes.

Like a black hole, it spits out monsters instantly with a deep echo.

Large enough to fit even giants, she soon saw a huge form coming through the dense fog, eyes protruding like a frog with pressed nose and lips. 

She could feel a huge source of magical power, looking closer she could see it was coming from a circular shield hanging in the center of the Raunel’s forehead.

The dark energy emitting from the object looked like long black nails piercing anything they could grasp, just looking at them was enough to know a single touch was poisonous.

“….”

It was a giant Raunel being manipulated by a mutated monster.

“Serdel—!”

Surprised, Redan straightened his sword as he stood in front of Serdel.

Just before he jumped at the monster, Serdel quickly found and tore a scroll with a strong but harmless wind spell.

As soon as the scroll was ripped a strong wind blew directed by Serdel. The wind pushed back Redan, Siri, Damon, and the wizards trapped in the shield.

Only Serdel. She was the only one left on the frontlines.

“Serdel!”

“Lady!”

Both Redan and Siri screamed out.

The two immediately tried to rush to Serdel, Terra shot several arrows at the Raunel’s forehead, face, neck, and chest as it lumbered closer and Serdel tore several attack magic scrolls as soon as she could. 

Suddenly, dozens of ice spears manifested in the air and were hurtled towards the creature’s chest.

She also shot a short burst of dry lightning at the Raunel’s head.

Daang! 

But nothing was helpful.

Most mutated monsters had high mana resistance.

So, unless it was magic that a high-level wizard had directly designed, there was nothing she could do with such weak scrolls. 

She forgot about it for a while because she was agitated.

‘Damn it! I only end up wasting a scroll!’

As soon as it touched that punk’s skin, Serdel chewed her lips as she saw the ice spear and dry lightning that had turned into puffs of air.

Even the arrows that Terra had shot were caught deftly. Terra chose arrows with higher strength, speed and elasticity and aimed at it again.

Shot—.

The Raunel caught one arrow, but the other two arrows were stuck in its thigh and stomach, respectively.

But that’s it.

To the Raunel, with its thick leathery hide, this was the equivalent of a bug bite.

Terra, who couldn’t handle mana, was unfortunately unable to deal with Raunel effectively.

At that, Serdel clicked her tongue and tried to move the energy in her body.

Baaang! 

“Kyaaaak!”

“Oh my, the child was hit!”

“Oh my gosh, what is that driver doing? Isn’t  he getting off? Don’t you have to check the condition of the child first?” 

Startled. 

Serdel, unknowingly, raised her head to meet Raunel’s eyes at the sound of familiar words flowing into her ears.

The disgusting eyeballs rolled around.

No. Don’t look.

Don’t look into those eyes! 

Even though she was muttering hard inside, she couldn’t take her eyes off of it once her gaze met its.

Instead, she was intertwined more deeply.

At the same time, reality seemed to be moving slower around her, and the sounds around her felt distant.

Baaang! 

“Kyaaaak!”

“Oh my—”

Instead, the only thing that appears repeatedly is the terrible memory of that day, beyond the glass-like eyeballs.

“…Oppa…”

Her older brother who is dying after being hit by a car.

Her older brother who says something to her. 

Then, the sound of ‘Boom!’ that started again hardened her whole body.

‘Wake up!’

This is a hallucination.

Raunels show their opponents the most painful memories through their eyes and then swallow the accumulated ‘desperation’ when the prey’s heart is exhausted.

In the end, it used their memories and turned the opponent into an idiot.

Baaang! 

Biting her lips to the point of bleeding, Serdel resisted, trying to escape the monster’s evil spell. 

On the other hand, she was angry.

To think that the end of the most important person in her life is being mocked in this way.

Endless anger burned her heart.

‘I’ll never leave you alone!’

With this in mind, she barely managed to spread the eight-pointed star in her mind.

At the same time, Radun’s energy accumulating in her body started to flutter, creating four rings in her heart.

Serdel’s lips twitched.

The completed spell encircled her body.

Whoosh!

The ground on which she stood dimmed slightly.

She fired a sharp soil sword like a spear  through the thick sand dust that had risen around it and slashed the Raunels right leg.

Slash—!

The monster’s body, which lost its balance, leaned with a terrifying crashing and groaning sound.

Meanwhile, the monster swung its black nail like darts out. 

Just before reaching Serdel, light burst from her pendant. 

[The red hawk senses hostility]

[The power of the shield that traps the hawk is activated and protects the owner.]

A reddish opaque membrane visible only to her surrounded her like armor.

It was different from a normal shield.

‘Uhm?’

But there was no time to be amazed.

‘Huh?’

It’s because her body had been pushed to the side and held by someone.

It was— none other than Blenn who was now attacking the monster. 

It was as if he saw her in the middle of a battle and ran to her.

There was blood overflowing from his shoulder that was scratched by the Raunel’s fingernail.

“B, Blenn?”

He rolled on the ground several times while holding her. It must have been painful, but he didn’t utter a single groan.

Instead, as soon as the rolling stopped, he immediately got up and held her carefully in his arms.

Then, he raised his hand, holding his sword forward, and looked out for Raunel.

Even though that brat lost one leg, it didn’t lose its momentum.

Instead, it tried to lie down and crawl to this side, relying on one front and one back foot. 

Slaaash! 

The body was split in two from the back before the monster even got far.

The torn body was scattered.

Her eyes met with the man who had sliced through the thick layers of flesh and bone with ease.

Black hair fluttered in the wind, and the black eyes, like obsidian, shone in the dim light. 

“Duke Blendard—.”

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

Smiling and apologizing, he was Belters.