Chapter 121
“It seems they’ve come to meet us. Looks like they decided to make the first move over there.”
“…I am ashamed to face you, Sir Karl. I wonder if I haven’t needlessly dragged you into our affairs.”
“In any case, I was the one who dug into this matter.”
As Karl and Godfrey were heading towards Amberg, a group of what looked to be at least 100 fully armed individuals on horseback appeared before them.
Although they came wearing masks, it was easy to tell where they were from.
Before the battle began, Godfrey urged his horse forward and spoke first.
“Brothers. I believe all of you know who I am. Just because you wear masks doesn't mean you can hide your actions from the heavens.”
Godfrey’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, yet it was exceedingly calm and composed.
“Think back to when you joined the Holy Knights and swore to fulfill your duties as knights, as faithful servants of God. I do not wish to stain my sword with the blood of my brothers! As you know, I am Godfrey of the Holy Knights! Brothers! Think! Who! Is truly walking the wrong path!”
At Godfrey’s powerful voice, the masked figures momentarily stirred.
“Do not fall for his wicked temptations! That man is a traitor who betrayed the Knights! Do not waver!”
The figure at the lead, seemingly having given up on hiding their identity, shouted thus and immediately started galloping towards the two men.
The members followed the leading figure, galloping their horses behind him.
“You must not kill them recklessly!”
Karl, who had decisively lopped off the head of the foremost attacker, spoke calmly while looking at Godfrey’s distressed expression.
“Still haven’t come to your senses? If we spare them, can we even reach the Holy Knights?”
In stark contrast to Godfrey, who barely advanced while passively blocking their attacks, Karl cleanly severed the attackers' necks with absolutely no wasted movements.
“Block my path, and you die. The truth will eventually be revealed. Then you will be recorded as discarded pawns used to cover up the stains of vermin. Failed ones at that.”
Some of the knights charging forward stopped at Karl's words.
They too felt burdened by attacking the Knight of the Lighthouse and Godfrey.
And that brief hesitation created a sufficient opening for Karl.
[Karl Meyer Style. First Form. Vortex]
A wind of golden aura raged, and those who couldn't escape in time were swept up in the vortex and fell to the ground.
“Are you going to keep standing there with that foolish look? Hurry and follow me.”
Snapping back to his senses at Karl's short remark, Godfrey spurred his horse, sticking close behind Karl.
“What are you doing! Aren’t those bastards getting away!!”
The leader of the mounted group hastily began to pursue Karl and Godfrey.
The pursuing cavalry behind him had dwindled from 100 to about 50.
***
The horses carrying Karl and Godfrey were moving swiftly towards Amberg, with the pursuing group behind them.
It was a distance that a swift horse could cover in 5 hours.
“Whose orders do you think those bastards received?”
“Wouldn’t it be Vice-Commander Massimo?”
“…Perhaps. If so, that would be fortunate.”
“It cannot be the Commander. Sir Karl, you know this too, don’t you? What kind of person the Commander is.”
“Yes, I know him well too.”
The man with whom I shared as many memories of fighting together in the East Continent as Karim was the Holy Knight Commander, Ricardo Baldini.
Knowing his upright character and firm will well, it was hard for me to imagine Ricardo being behind this affair.
“Sir Karim must have secured trustworthy members, and once the Commander understands the situation accurately, the matter will surely be resolved easily.”
“I wish it would be so too.”
[Quest: Rescue the Fallen Light]
Karl also wished things would unfold as Godfrey said, but strangely, the text of the quest window kept appearing in his mind.
***
“Commander, did you hear? Sir Godfrey and Sir Karl Meyer were attacked on their way to Amberg. There is definitely a traitor within our ranks!”
Karim Garcia spoke to Ricardo, expressing his anger.
“Sir Karim, please calm down first. With the skills of those two, they should have no problem reaching here.”
“No, Commander! Isn’t this enough! That Massimo fellow is a traitor! A traitor who sided with those elves!”
“How can you jump to conclusions so easily?”
Because Ricardo handled all matters fairly, Karim considered him more suitable than anyone else to be the Holy Knight Commander, but in a situation like this, it was incredibly frustrating.
The fact that he remained so composed even when Godfrey and Karl had just been attacked angered him even more.
“What will you do if something happens to those two because of this!?”
“Don’t you know Sir Karl? Is he someone who would be easily defeated just because he was attacked?”
“How can you not know that even Sir Karl could face difficulties if those pointy-ears attack?”
“Hoo… I will send additional reinforcements. To ensure they are brought back safely.”
“Please send me.”
“Sir Karim, must you not prevent internal confusion?”
“….”
Frustrated, Karim pounded his chest with his fist.
“Please send trustworthy men.”
“I will.”
Thus, Karim stomped outside, and under Ricardo's orders, about a hundred horsemen departed to rescue Karl and Godfrey.
***
After the initial attack, there were no further assaults besides the roughly 50 pursuers trailing behind them.
About 2 hours after they started moving, Karl and Godfrey were still maintaining a rapid pace.
“It’s too quiet.”
Just as Karl said, Godfrey too felt uneasy about the current silence.
If they were truly determined to eliminate the two, they wouldn't have ended it with just that one flimsy initial attack.
“Of all places, a forest.”
Although the returned elves were said to be different from the stories, there was one fact that clearly matched.
Their home ground was the forest.
Rustle rustle rustle.
No sooner had the brief thought ended than his senses detected the presence of a large group moving stealthily within the forest.
It was such a subtle movement that it would be difficult for anyone less than a Master to perceive.
“Sir Karl…!”
Godfrey, too, seemed to have trained diligently during the interim, as he appeared to sense the movement in the forest as it drew closer.
Rustle rustle rustle.
Just as the faint sound of the enemies moving seemed to get closer, about 50 attackers clad in green robes burst through the bushes simultaneously, lunging towards the two men.
[Karl Meyer Style. Fifth Form. Falling Flowers]
Karl, who had waited until they were as close as possible, swung his sword, now imbued with golden aura, occupying all directions.
Like petals falling in every direction—front, back, left, and right—the aura scattered.
“Ah…!”
An exclamation of awe escaped Godfrey’s lips.
As beautiful as his admiration suggested, the petals of aura, contrasting with their appearance, delivered hell to the attackers.
Papapapat!
Many of the attackers fell to the ground, various parts of their bodies severed.
‘Formidable…’
Despite the swordsmanship being worthy of admiration, Karl's expression, the one who created the scene, was not good.
The number of dead was roughly seven.
Far fewer than he had expected.
Even amidst those numerous consecutive aura strikes, a few managed to inflict wounds on Karl's side.
It didn't seem to be the daggers they held; it appeared they used some special magical incantation or hidden weapons.
‘Is it fortunate that Godfrey is unharmed, at least?’
It was fortunate that their initial target was focused on Karl; if they had concentrated on Godfrey, a more difficult situation might have arisen.
“Abandon the horses.”
[Unsummon Silver]
Karl used the new pet function provided by the system to send his companion, Silver, into the subspace.
Maneuvering on horseback was no longer feasible.
Not only was it a dense forest, but considering the types of weapons the enemies possessed, the chances of being hit while moving were high.
‘Bows, huh.’
The weapons slung on their backs were bows, the primary weapon of elves in fairy tales.
So some parts of the stories were true.
Karl raised his sword and heightened his senses as much as possible.
Beside him, Godfrey also raised his sword, placing his back against Karl’s.
“Sir Karl! Verdadera Destreza!”
Godfrey only said one phrase, but Karl immediately understood what he meant.
That was the reason why Karim and Ricardo could synchronize so well with Karl in the East Continent.
The moment the elves flew through the air towards the two again, the two men moved precisely in different directions.
And through the gap created between them, the elves surged forward.
“First Combination!”
The moment Godfrey shouted, the two men simultaneously took one step to the right and swung their swords forcefully in a rightward rotation.
Despite never having practiced together, the swords of the two stopped precisely at each other's waist level, cleanly slicing several elves in half.
“Second Combination!”
And simultaneously, the two crossed paths towards each other's direction, executing diagonal slashes.
Chwarararak!
A spray of blood erupted as fountains of blood spurted from the bodies of the elves along the path the two had traversed.
Verdadera Destreza was the unique movement style of the Holy Knights, seemingly irregular yet moving with perfect rules within a circle.
Karl was someone who had mastered this movement even more perfectly than the Holy Knights.
Godfrey, too, was a skilled individual who had trained the movement, which most Holy Knights had given up on, to its limits, allowing the two to execute perfectly synchronized movements without speaking to each other.
Booooom!
However, no matter how perfectly they synchronized to cut down their enemies, the problem was that the elves were also formidable.
Damage from exploding corpses in between and hidden weapons, whose origins were impossible to discern, were forcing injuries upon the two men.
And even as they fought fiercely, the pursuing cavalry was still rushing towards them.
“We must escape! We need to enter the mountains to shake off the cavalry pursuit.”
“But, the mountains… are the elves’ domain!”
“Being pincered is more dangerous!”
“Sir Karl, danger!”
Kwaaaaaang!
The moment Godfrey shouted, an elf detonated a corpse.
He momentarily enveloped his body with aura raised instantly to block the explosion, but damage was unavoidable.
“Godfrey!”
Knowing Godfrey wouldn't be able to escape the successive explosions, Karl quickly moved in front of him and once again enveloped his body with aura.
Kwaaaaaang!
“Sir Karl…! Are you alright!”
Bleeding from various places, Karl nevertheless broke through in one direction with Godfrey.
“Quickly!”
The two frantically fled the scene and began running into the mountains.
Behind the swiftly moving pair, the elves pursued them with equally fast speed.
[Karl Meyer Style. Fourth Form. Heavy Pressure]
A massive aura soared high into the sky and then crashed down towards the ground, striking the surrounding trees and earth.
While the pursuing elves were momentarily halted by Karl's move, the two dashed forward even faster.