{Chapter 35} Meeting Helga
The machete in her hand slashed down towards the ground, instantly cutting a small trench into the earth.
A sound that was instinctively repulsive to the human ear echoed, and the ground began to tremble violently.
Soon after, a stream of green, viscous liquid surged from the trench.
"Senpai, was that a Thread worm?" Louise, who had been following Anna to clear out magical beasts in the forest, looked at the ground with a mix of fear and disbelief. "There was no warning at all... How did you sense it, Senpai?"
"...Just intuition."
Although intuition had indeed alerted Anna to the presence of a mysterious creature moving near her feet, it was actually the simulator that had done the work.
Yes, Anna and Louise were currently in the forest, on a mission given by the Knights' Order to exterminate magical beasts.
It was also the day Anna would reunite with Helga.
Although Anna couldn't contain her excitement every time she thought about meeting Helga again, after numerous simulations, both voluntary and involuntary, she remembered the dangers they would face today and how to handle them.
For example, the clearly enhanced Thread worm she had just instantly killed with a skill.
Anna certainly didn't want to relive the "Mother of Thread Worms" drama in real life.
However, she recalled from the simulations that the worm's stomach contained many victims...
A faint yellow light glowed in her hand as Anna slapped it onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble slightly once more.
Then, the ground beneath her feet split open. With a light jump, Anna avoided the effects of her own skill.
"Wow... that's a huge Threadworm!"
As the soil parted, the corpse of an enormous Threadworm, nearly 10 meters long and 3 meters wide, was revealed to Anna and Louise.
Already dead, the worm's body was crushed by the soil, revealing a distorted carcass.
Using her sword, Anna gently sliced open the thick skin of the worm, exposing several lifeless, naked female bodies.
Although Anna had known about this from the simulations, seeing it in person still made her turn away in disgust.
"These women... were they taken by this worm to be used as breeding tools?" Louise's expression was equally grim. "This is utterly revolting..."
"Louise."
"I know, Senpai." Louise whistled softly, and a hawk descended from the sky.
She then stuffed a piece of red cloth into a small tube attached to the hawk's claw.
This was a hawk specially trained by the Knights' Order.
Besides assisting in combat, it could also serve as a simple messaging tool. They usually brought one along during patrols.
After watching Louise release the hawk, Anna took out a large red cloth from her spatial ring, tied it to a branch, and applied a simple magical mark to it.
"Let's move forward," Anna said, taking a deep breath of fresh air and refusing to look at the worm's corpse.
She motioned for Louise to follow. "We need to prioritize dealing with ongoing dangers."
Earlier, Anna and Louise had noticed unusual activity in a certain part of the forest, where birds were frequently startled.
As they approached, they could hear the sounds of battle.
Without a doubt, that was where Helga was fighting the two boars.
"Yes!"
Looking at Anna's retreating figure, Louise's eyes were filled with admiration and affection.
"Senpai is always so cool like this!"
"What did you say?" Anna, who was a bit ahead and hadn't heard clearly, turned back to ask.
"Nothing! I didn't say anything!"
Louise quickly caught up to Anna, and they continued their advance.
The forest around the town was usually devoid of large-scale human activity, so weeds and shrubs often obstructed the knights' movements.
Therefore, knights patrolling the forest typically carried a machete to clear these "obstacles."
In emergencies, the machete could also serve as a weapon.
However, without a spatial ring, carrying a full set of armor, a longsword, and the somewhat heavy machete would quickly drain one's stamina.
But ever since acquiring the spatial ring, this was no longer a concern.
‘Seems like those 100 achievement points were well spent.’ As Anna used the machete to clear the path ahead, she felt a sense of relief.
"Zap—"
Suddenly, a blue light shot from the direction of the ongoing battle.
Anna and Louise immediately ducked, narrowly avoiding the magical projectile.
"Was that an arcane missile?" Louise instantly recognized the blue light. "There's a mage?"
"Probably one of the combatants," Anna feigned ignorance. "Let's hurry and check it out."
They rushed toward the source of the commotion, moving swiftly through the dimly lit forest. Then, as they broke through the trees—
"Haah!!"
The mage's staff seemed to transform into a long-handled warhammer, and her slender arms suddenly unleashed tremendous force.
A demonic boar, still panting and charging toward her, was struck hard by the swing and sent flying, crashing into a tree and snapping it in half.
However, the attack seemed to have drained her energy.
Her deep yellow robe, somewhat cumbersome for combat, hindered her movements.
Even from a distance, Anna could see the sweat dripping from her tanned face.
"We're here to help!"
Anna shouted, stashing her machete in the spatial ring and drawing her steel longsword instead.
Without caring whether she was holding the sword correctly, Anna hurled the weapon at the other demonic boar.
The pommel struck the boar's head, causing it to stagger.
Anna quickly adjusted her grip and delivered a powerful slash, cleaving the boar in half before it could even comprehend what had happened.
The Demonic boar that had been sent flying earlier had just gotten back up when Louise charged in with her shield, slamming into it and sending it crashing into another tree.
Before the boar could recover, Anna finished it off with a strike from her hand-and-a-half sword.
With both demonic boars swiftly dealt with, Anna exhaled in relief. She stored her helmet in the spatial ring to catch her breath and turned to look at her long-lost childhood friend.
Helga, now seeing clearly who had come to her aid, was momentarily stunned before her face lit up with joy.
"Anna!!!"
Before Anna could react, Helga had already thrown herself into her arms…
Starcat
Review it on Novel updates. Hopefully we bring rating above 3.5/5 and for every review there will be 2 extra chapter.
Starcat
Starcat
Review it on Novel updates. Hopefully we bring rating above 3.5/5 and for every review there will be 2 extra chapter.