Chapter 25 — The Captain of the Royal Knights is supposed to have a fiancée…18
Warning: Slightly gore-y
As the horse ran towards the direction the village chief pointed to, the number of destroyed buildings and trees gradually increased. And once they came closer to the riverside, they spotted the head of the baal that was bigger than a one-story building.
“Over there!”
In a small open field, Rossa and a few other people were fighting against the baal. However, the villagers were out of breath and the baal wasn’t even fatally wounded. In fact, Father was healing some of the collapsed men from afar. The situation didn’t look good.
While Rossa faced against the baal upfront, the other villagers were also attacking it, but magic and physical attacks didn’t seem to have any effect on the overpowered demon that had fallen into a rampage. At that moment, the baal opened its mouth that took up half of its face.
“Crap, It’s about to release another howl!”
Even though the villagers resumed their attacks, the damage wasn’t much. But, as expected, the baal got irritated and was about to kick around its surroundings. Rossa and the others were already exhausted and if they heard the Demon’s Howl, they would faint if they’re careless. And once that happened, the situation would become truly disastrous.
(Dad!)
Ruth knew that shallow magic attacks wouldn’t cause much damage, so he cast an even stronger spell on his arrow than before and drew his bow. As he held his position, light gathered around the arrow and a high-pitched metallic sound rang out from the arrow wrapped in that bright light. Because of the power, his right hand became scorching hot. The silver bracelet on his wrist rattled as though it was answering to Ruth’s wishes.
The baal that had its mouth opened moved slightly--
“RUTH!”
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
The second he released his hand, there was an explosive noise and the arrow shot out from his bow. Ruth was blown backward from the recoil and fell from the horse. Daniel also lost his balance from the sudden movement and he tumbled down along with his horse.
“UUUOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“...Yes!”
Ruth got up and there was blood flowing from the hole in the baal’s shoulder. Moreover, he was able to stop the Demon’s Howl and the monster only released a cry of pain.
Because of the recoil, he missed his original target but he successfully dealt a huge amount of damage to the baal’s arm.
(We might be able to defeat it if we keep this up…! Ah--)
However, the bow in Ruth’s hand had snapped in half and couldn't be used anymore. The iron arrow was able to withstand the impact, but it looks like the bow wasn’t.
Ruth looked around in search of another bow, but he couldn’t find another that was better than the one he had.
(There’s no other choice…!)
Ruth took a bow from the ground and ceaselessly began to fire away arrows at the now slightly subdued baal. He didn't infuse as much power as earlier, but it should still be enough to keep it in check.
Ruth moved closer to the baal as he was firing the arrows and he happened to see Rossa with his face pale as a sheet.
“Ruth, what are you doing!?”
“I’m here to help you out!”
“Don’t be stupid, hurry and get away from here! That baal is on a rampage--GYAAH!”
“DAD!”
Something grabbed Rossa from behind and he was flung into a nearby building. Even though he was the biggest man in the village and had a strong physique, he was thrown as if it was a child’s play. Ruth felt himself break out in a cold sweat.
He realized the fact that the baal might just destroy everything he held dear to him. For the first time, he felt that fear engulf his entire body.
“Rossa! Are you okay!?”
“...I-I’m alright…”
But when he heard Rossa respond to Father’s voice, Ruth felt blood returning to his paralyzed arms and legs. Despite that, his mind was still blank from shock and he couldn’t move as well either.
“You bastard, look over here!”
The villagers fighting alongside Rossa began to attack the baal. A sword enveloped in flames slashed through the demon, but it was only able to cut through a thin layer of its skin. While another person released a large lightning strike, the baal was unaffected and its tail absorbed the impact.
No one had the means to fatally injure it.
“OOOUU!”
“UAAAAA!”
The baal released a cry in a fit of anger and it swung its tail and arms, sending two approaching villagers flying. Those two were thrown even farther back than Rossa and soon fell to the ground.
(Ah... no…)
“UUUUUUOO--!”
The baal let out a victorious roar. It walked towards the collapsed Rossa and picked him up with one fell swoop of its hand. It looked at Rossa as it held him up like a doll and opened its mouth.
(Stop…)
“UUUUUUUUOOO…”
“You want to eat me first, huh? Do it then. I’ll cut you up from the insides!”
(No, this can’t be happening…!)
Rossa didn’t have an ounce of fear on his face but when he saw Ruth, he let out a fatherly smile and quietly whispered, urging him to escape.
(N-NOOOOOOOO!)
That moment, something inside of Ruth’s mind snapped.
“AAAAAAAAHHH!”
“R-Ruth, stop!”
Ruth pulled out his knife from his waist and held onto it with both of his hands as he channeled all of his powers into it. He instantly ran towards the baal and stabbed right into its defenseless stomach.
“UUUUUUUUOOO!”
The large knife, buffed by magic, pierced deeply into the baal’s stomach and it released a pained bellow as blood spurted out.
(If I just cut upwards, this should be enough for a fatal wound.)
Ruth concentrated all his power in the knife as he did earlier with the first arrow he shot. A strong light converged into the blade piercing through the demon's belly and an enormous pressure fell into Ruth's shoulder. However, the knife was stuck inside the baal and didn't budge. This was the same as last time.
(I knew it, I’m not strong enough by myself…!)
Despite having received a power buff, he was still an ordinary person. He knew it was reckless trying to defeat a rampaging baal, who also had a powerful hardening ability, with only one knife.
“Ruth, run!”
“Ruth!”
Ruth heard Rossa, Daniel, and Father’s voices. He clearly saw the baal’s tail aiming towards him. But, no matter what, Ruth didn’t want to run away.
If he did so, he would lose everything he cared about.
(Alec, I don’t want to lose anyone! I want everyone to live-- ALEC!)
As Ruth gritted his teeth in preparation for the impact, the bracelet Alec gave him changed to a gold color and a ringing noise came out from it. As if Alec was responding to him, Ruth immediately tightened his grip on his knife and raised his voice.
“--Alec, lend me your power!”
As soon as he yelled out Alec’s name, something gold wrapped around his entire body. The knife that was firmly stuck inside the baal’s stomach earlier easily sliced through its body as if it was cutting through cloth--
“OOOOOOOUUU!”
The demon’s stomach was suddenly cut open and as blood splattered out, it released a cry. When Ruth stepped back with his knife, he was in a daze and didn’t fully grasp the situation yet. However, that feeling only lasted for a second before he soon made his next move.
“UUUWOOOOO!”
After slicing upwards with his knife, this time he moved to slice it sideways. Just like earlier, the knife in Ruth’s hand effortlessly cut open the baal’s stomach. A massive amount of blood spurted out and its internal organs flew out from it. Without a moment’s delay, Ruth went in for another attack.
“UUUOOOOOO--!”
Agitated by its own body being cut up, the baal turned towards the hand that was holding Rossa, but Ruth soon sliced off that entire arm.
The baal lost both of its limbs and while it was left armless, Ruth dashed towards its body and stood in front of its three blood-shot eyes.
“DIEEEEEE!”
He immediately swung his knife downwards towards the middle of the three eyes. Ruth broke its skull and he felt something burst open.
“UU...UOO!”
The baal, who had its head split into two, trembled and resisted, but stopped moving shortly after. It crashed down, taking Ruth along.
“Haa, haa, haa… is… it dead…?”
Ruth got down from the baal and still had his knife pointed towards it for a while, but the golden light surrounding his body soon disappeared. His body felt the weight of exhaustion hit him all at once and he fell face forward.
(My arm…)
He couldn’t feel his upper limbs, almost like they were completely gone.
“R-Ruth!”
He seemed to hear his name being called, but because of his hazy consciousness, he couldn't identify who was calling him. Ruth heard footsteps running towards him and he saw Daniel’s face but his body was in excruciating pain that he couldn’t manage a reply.
“You...this...this sort of! Your arms…!”
With his foggy consciousness, he saw Daniel’s pale and shaken expression. Just as he suspected, something really did happen to his arms.
“Father, Father! Hurry, Ruth is--!”
“T-This is…”
Father ran over and he clasped his hand over his mouth at the sight of Ruth. When Ruth saw the grim look on his face, he casually thought to himself that it must not be anything good.
“Father, please…”
“Daniel, and Ruth, I apologize... but to this degree… my power isn’t…”
“D-Don’t say that! Father!”
“What’s wrong, Ruth!? Ruth!”
Just as Ruth saw Rossa’s worn-out face, Rossa’s expression was filled with nothing but affection as he cried and called out, “My dear Ruth.” However, even if Ruth wanted to comfort him, he couldn’t move his body.
(Ah, could it be from the effects of that light...it looks like it ended up terribly…)
The reparations for such a terrifying power that allowed him to easily slice through the baal must have put Ruth's body in an awful state.
Just like that, Ruth got a grasp of what had happened to himself.
“With such a large body, don’t cry like that. It’s quite irritating. Here, step back.”
A voice was heard from behind the three men and someone who appeared out of nowhere walked towards Ruth. And that person sat right beside Ruth and furrowed his white eyebrows.
“Ahh, this is terrible...good grief. He should also know that an ordinary person’s body couldn’t handle his powers…”
The person muttering, Jio, said such things as he held his hand over Ruth and began chanting something. Ruth's whole body instantly became slightly lighter and he could breathe easier.
“You did well, Ruth. However, you overdid it a little. If I wasn’t here, we would’ve had a grim situation in our hands.”
“Gr...im…?”
After Ruth finally had some semblance of mobility, he asked a question and Jio let out a small sigh.
“...Well, blame it on my disciple. You should stop talking now as well.”
“Jio…”
“What is it?”
“Is...everyone safe…?”
When Ruth asked the question he’s been most concerned about, Jio let out a loud laugh.
“They’re safe, they’re safe. There doesn’t seem to be any deaths and I’m unharmed from head to toe. That’s why you can rest for a bit.”
“Rest…?”
“Close your eyes and rest well. When you wake up, everything will be back to normal. You’ll be fine as the ordinary innkeeper's son.”
“I see…”
Relieved after hearing that everything will be back to normal, Ruth let the drowsiness immediately well up in his body.
“It would be nice...if Alec is there too when I wake up…”
Jio furrowed his eyebrows in a slightly troubled manner after hearing Ruth’s mumbles. That was the very last thing Ruth saw before he lost consciousness.
MARY: Please support the author by buying the novels here and let me know if you see any mistakes! Hahaha sorry for the wait~ Man, what a intense chapter. Don't worry Ruth, Alec will be coming back for you very very soon ヽ( ´￢`)ﾉ