Chapter 158: Chapter 158
The news that the Lord Protector of Pendia, the Demon Knight of Alto, had single-handedly raided and burned the royal palace of Ajun and slain the king spread across the entire northern region in an instant.
In response, the newly crowned King Meleo declared that he would mobilize every warrior in Ajun to hunt down this monster.
With a massive bounty placed on his head, lords from all over began by mobilizing their standing armies and drafting en masse any men who prided themselves on handling a weapon to launch patrols.
Hundreds of thousands of these men, clad in thick fur garments and armed with clubs, hand axes, and the like, spread across the central and western regions of Ajun.
In fact, it was fair to say that virtually all adult men in those areas had been mobilized.
However, the pursuit that began in this manner ran into obstacles right from the start.
“What is this?”
“They say it’s an order passed down from the royal palace.”
“I don’t know how to read. Read it for me instead.”
At the illiterate warrior’s words, someone who had learned enough to read at least a few lines took the document, narrowed his eyes, and read it aloud.
“When pursuing… at least two hundred people must be gathered together. Upon discovery, stall for time and request reinforcements?”
“What, two hundred people?”
“We’re going to catch a man, not hunt a dragon.”
Those who grumbled that the higher-ups had issued an absurd order as usual came to learn the reason before long.
It was because several dozen bounty hunters who had confidently set out in pursuit were all slaughtered and torn apart.
The survivors trembled in fear as they recounted how the Demon Knight had charged at them holding a blue-gray spear in one hand and a mace in the other.
Saying that even when dozens of them attacked simultaneously, they were completely no match for him.
Only then did they realize that the story of him single-handedly burning the royal palace, killing the king, and massacring over a hundred royal guards was no mere rumor.
Absurd as it seemed, a human who seemed possible only in the exaggerations of bards actually existed in the world.
Not long after, even a baron lost his life.
Known by the moniker ‘Knight of the Western Lake,’ he was a renowned warrior himself who commanded three knights and a hundred elite troops, yet he was slain absurdly easily in the Demon Knight’s raid.
Relentless raids and casualties mounting like falling snow.
Only then did the warriors of Ajun realize that the prey and the hunter had been reversed.
Somewhere in the endlessly sprawling mountains, fields, and forests beyond the villages and cities, a single monster lurked, hunting them down.
“Gather the soldiers. Tell them to station themselves around the castle.”
“Pardon? But the royal command is…”
“Do you want to die following that? Do as you’re told!”
Now, instead of scattering their soldiers, the lords prioritized defending their own fiefs and castles, gathering their troops close.
Thanks to this, the raids naturally quieted down, but before long, all traces of Shan were lost.
Since they moved in groups of hundreds rather than scattering thinly, and mostly hunkered down in cities or towns, there was no way they could form a proper encirclement net.
Nor could the royal court blame them for this, as they themselves had deployed a significant portion of their hastily assembled forces to protect the capital Tizal and the royal palace.
Dozens of knights, hundreds of cavalrymen, and thousands of trained and untrained warriors roamed about, arresting anyone with green eyes whenever they spotted one, putting hoods over their heads, and inspecting them.
It was out of fear that Shan might conceal his identity and enter the capital again.
“The food supplies are already exhausted?”
“The men are exerting themselves roaming around, so they’re eating much more than usual, sir.”
Furthermore, side effects from conscripting such a large number of people began to manifest.
After all, when people roamed outside instead of idling at home, wasn’t it natural that they had to be supplied with that much more provisions?
To begin with, Ajun did not have abundant food like those warm southern realms.
As lords everywhere voiced their complaints, King Meleo soon offered an alternative.
“Rather than searching the entire snowfield, we shall pre-empt the routes he might use to escape. Reinforce the surveillance forces at the western port, the two gateway cities, and the border near the Demonic Realm.”
In any case, as long as the bastard didn’t escape from Ajun’s territory, an opportunity would arise.
Since the bastard was human after all, he would eventually tire out if he kept fighting and fleeing.
Moreover, winter in Ajun was utterly desolate, making it difficult to find food in the forests or mountains.
Starving as he was, his whereabouts would eventually be exposed when he raided villages for food, and a new encirclement could be formed then.
Yet surprisingly, the Demon Knight Shan Barendil vanished without a trace.
Neither along the western coast, nor in the two gateway cities leading down to Libert, nor at the eastern Demonic Realm border did anyone report seeing him.
Now, to the people of Ajun, his existence was becoming something akin to a phantom out of folklore.
A green-eyed grim reaper who arrived on horseback in the dark of a blizzard night, harvested lives, and disappeared.
Perhaps in the future, people in the northern regions would threaten sleepless children by saying that the green-eyed demon would snatch them away.
As they fretted day after day over failing to capture Shan, good news finally arrived for the first time.
“Your Majesty, a suspicious group has been spotted.”
“A suspicious group?”
“Yes. A group of six or seven was confronted in the region adjacent to the Blade Mountains in the southeast. However, the knight who served as the local lord of that region was reportedly slain while trying to restrain them.”
“It’s Cassia! Don’t tell me they intend to cross the Blade Mountains?”
To think they would attempt to cross that rugged mountain range of all places?
Ridiculous as it seemed, when he thought about it, it was a far more sensible method than single-handedly raiding the royal palace.
Realizing that he had been caught off guard due to his fixed preconceptions, Meleo clicked his tongue.
In truth, this was a method that no one in Ajun had even conceived of.
That was how notoriously high the infamy accumulated by the Blade Mountains was.
“Shall we dispatch an army?”
“Have the local lords of that region actively patrol the vicinity of the mountains. And mobilize those who were blocking off the eastern Demonic Realm region as well!”
While reallocating a portion of the troops defending the capital would make it even more certain, he did not wish to choose an option that might compromise his own safety.
Though he would not admit it himself, the fear of Shan, who had raided the royal palace, was still deeply ingrained in his bones.
*
After escaping from the capital, Shan rode west along the highway for about half a day.
Since he moved by switching between two Horais warhorses (already renowned for their exceptional stamina) whenever one grew slightly fatigued, their speed and endurance far surpassed those of ordinary warhorses.
Just as dawn was breaking, someone blocked the path in front of him as he rode intently.
When Shan came to a stop, a young man bowed with a surprised look on his face.
“Greetings, Lord Protector!”
“Are you from the Grey Cloak?”
“Yes. But how are you already here… isn’t this a Horais warhorse?”
“They were in the royal stables.”
Only then did the Grey Cloak member realize how Shan had been able to cover dozens of kilometers so quickly.
“What a relief. It’s fortunate I came out early, or we might have missed each other.”
If he had stepped out right at the agreed time due to the cold, Shan would have already passed by this place.
Without a communication device, contacting him in that event would have been extremely troublesome.
Praising himself for coming early, the man led Shan to a hideout near the highway.
There, large quantities of dried meat, fish, and stacks of hay to feed the horses were piled up.
Looking at the supplies that had been prepared after prior consultation, Shan nodded.
“Thank you.”
“This is nothing at all. For the Arcane Queen!”
At Shan’s words of gratitude, the man replied thus and bowed solemnly.
To the mages here in Ajun, Cheryn’s existence was virtually akin to a realm of faith.
They prayed that Pendia would one day conquer Ajun, allowing them to explore magic to their heart’s content.
As a bonus, it would be even better if their share in such conquest endeavors was large enough to bring them great benefit.
At the hideout, there were also two horses to replace fatigued ones, but since they could not compare to the Horais warhorses, it was decided that he would take those back instead.
After all, taking care of four horses alone would be difficult.
Once he loaded the supplies onto the back of one of the two warhorses, Shan no longer had any worries even about supply issues.
As for water, he could simply melt the snow scattered across the world to drink, or break open a nearby frozen stream to drink from.
Thus, after completing his resupply, it was a continuous series of combat and flight.
Leading his two horses, Shan moved between mountains, streams, and forests, smashing several of the pursuing parties that were small in number.
“Aaaaaah!”
“He’s coming! It’s the demon!”
“Run!”
The group of several dozen semi-peasant warriors who had charged in with confidence screamed together and fled as soon as he stabbed and killed the lead few.
Killing them was truly a matter as simple as harvesting wheat in a wheatfield.
Groups of fairly well-armed bounty hunters or mercenary bands were a bit more difficult than that, but as long as he stayed sharp while fighting, even they posed no danger.
“King’s assassin! I shall slay you here today and execute justice!”
The time he found somewhat difficult was when he defeated the band of a strange fellow who called himself the ‘Knight of the Western Lake.’
Slaying the enemy commander was not as difficult as expected, but with over a hundred armed troops under his command, Shan felt quite exhausted.
Moreover, unlike the previous mob of foot soldiers, those bastards did not even flee.
“Kill the Alto bastard!”
“To the land of the Goddess!”
“Become a martyr!”
The crowd charging with fanatical shouted reminded him of the royal guards he had fought in the royal palace.
“Fine, I will send you all to the Goddess!”
Shan also roared back as he shattered the heads of those charging at him.
After the long battle ended, Shan gasped for breath while looking over the lined-up corpses.
Indeed, fighting over a hundred elite troops while pouring out Fighting Spirit indiscriminately without the Blessing of Vitality was no easy task.
Thus, several days passed as he smashed the pursuing knights and soldiers before fleeing.
Seeing that the enemies were gradually roaming about in groups of three or four hundred, Shan ceased his raids from that point onward.
If he fought in a hit-and-run manner, it was not impossible to fight them, but as their numbers grew, there would naturally be many archers shooting arrows, and it would be troublesome if the horse he was riding got hit.
In any case, these horses currently lacked proper barding.
Contrary to Ajun’s expectations, having already been supplied with ample food and hay, he traveled for days on end without making contact with people at all.
When sleeping, he looked for places like caves to sleep the two horses inside while he himself slept wrapped in his cloak at the entrance.
Thanks to the Cloak of Temperature Regulation he had received from Count of Shedil, he was able to sleep outdoors in winter Ajun without his body suffering.
Thus, hiding by day and riding by night, Shan circled far to the north and northeast over about a week to avoid others’ eyes before heading toward the southeast once again.
This was to rendezvous with the rescue team, who should have fled to the vicinity of the Blade Mountains by now.
How long had he traveled like that?
Around the time he felt the need to confirm his position because he was no longer even certain where he was, he happened to spot a passing band of a dozen armed soldiers.
Charging straight over to slay them and taking a few as prisoners, Shan opened his eyes sharply at the new information.
“They’re heading toward the Blade Mountains?”
“Y-Yes! They said the Princess of Pendia is over there, so if we capture her, we can get a bounty…”
Should he have drawn more attention in the west after all?
Shan let out a quiet sigh of regret, decapitated the soldier who had obediently handed over the information, and rode hard on his two warhorses.
*
“Damn it, retreat! Retreat!”
At the foot of the Blade Mountains, Hakan gasped for breath as he watched the fleeing band.
He felt his hand, which had been gripping his sword tightly, trembling violently from exhaustion and muscle pain.
Although archery was originally his specialty, it had been a long time since he had already used up all his arrows.
He was not the only one in poor condition.
Colun and Abras, who had fought on the front lines, were drenched in blood all over their bodies, and the mage Bezel had injured one eye and had it wrapped in bandages.
Priest Lysac, who had been treating the two of them, also showed clear signs of fatigue from repeatedly casting healings and blessings.
The one in relatively better condition was Aran, who had been carrying Princess Cassia on her back and protected from behind, yet she too had several arrows lodged in her shoulders and legs from using her own body to shield the princess.
Once they had a moment to spare, she would likely have to cut open the wounds, extract them, and receive healing.
‘I knew this would be hard, but it’s even more dangerous than I thought.’
On the night Ajun’s royal palace burned, the rescue team successfully extracted Cassia and escaped by climbing over the castle wall using installed ropes.
On top of that, hoping the enemy might be fooled, they had captured a maidservant, placed her as a double, and set the prison on fire.
Fortunately, thanks to Shan setting wild fires across the western side of the palace and drawing everyone’s attention, they had been able to leave the capital smoothly.
To exit the castle wall, they had used a secret passage directly provided by Zad, the leader of the secret society.
Though he did not know secret passages leading into the royal palace, he at least knew the routes used by smugglers traveling through the outer wall of the capital.
Afterwards, they continued to head covertly to the southeast after being supplied with horses and food prepared in advance by members of the Grey Cloak.
Just as at the royal palace, thanks to Shan roaming through western Ajun, they had been able to reach the vicinity of the Blade Mountains without major issues.
The problem arose after they arrived in the vicinity of the Blade Mountains.
“Huh, it’s the misters we saw back then!”
“The lady’s here too!”
While moving along the path they had come by, the rescue party happened to run into the young children of the village they had visited after first crossing the Blade Mountains.
Apparently, as the weather was gradually softening, they seemed to have secretly slipped out of the village to play on the mountain behind it.
“What… should we do about this?”
Priest Lysac looked back at his companions with a troubled expression and asked.
In order to keep their tracks from being discovered, naturally anyone they encountered had to be eliminated.
In fact, everyone who had been unlucky enough to run into them while traveling covertly along the roads up until now had been killed and buried.
But they were hesitant to harm young children… especially children they were acquainted with from having stayed as guests in the past.
Just as everyone was hesitating, Hakan drew the sword at his waist with an expressionless face.
“I will handle it.”
Hailing from the steppes where losing a fight meant killing everyone taller than a cart wheel, he was relatively accustomed to killing children.
Not that he particularly enjoyed doing so, but if necessary, he could become as cruel as required.
A moment later, after burying the dead children, the rescue party moved on with guilt-laden expressions.
Unfortunately, however, there was one child who had come out late, and that child was secretly hiding and watching it happen.
Upon the returning child reporting this, a deadly pursuit soon began involving the knight who ruled that village, armed soldiers, and bounty hunters alike.
Plopping down to sit, Colun grumbled softly.
“Damn it, should we cross over first on our own?”
“That’s absurd talk. Crossing the Blade Mountains without the Lord Protector is impossible. Even if we did cross, in this state of our bodies, we’d all end up as monster food on the way down.”
Abras retorted sharply as he wiped the blood from his face.
All they could do right now was wait for Shan to return and join them as quickly as possible.
Since they had already disposed of even their horses to climb the mountain, finding another escape route was completely out of the question.
Fortunately, the foot of the Blade Mountains was terrain advantageous for hiding or for a small group to face a large number, and though their equipment was somewhat poor, each of them was an outstanding warrior.
Had that not been the case, a mere six people could never have held out against hundreds of pursuers.
However, as raids continued one after another, the situation of the rescue party gradually deteriorated.
The swords they had brought were broken, so they had seized and used enemy weapons multiple times, and their food supplies were gradually running low.
At this rate, they likely would not be able to hold out for long.
Just as everyone wore somber expressions, a shout resounded from down below.
Colun gritted his teeth and spoke.
“Damn it, have they come again? Let’s avoid the area for now. We need to recover even a bit of strength…”
“Wait.”
The mage Bezel motioned for everyone to be silent and cupped his hand to listen.
Before long, they realized that what resounded from below was not just shouted, but screams mixed in as well.
Someone was fighting down there.
“Don’t tell me…?”
“Has he come?”
The members of the rescue team looked down the mountain with expressions mixed half with expectation and half with anxiety that their hopes might be dashed.
Hakan sheathed his sword and spoke.
“I’m in the best condition right now, so I’ll head down to check.”
“Be careful.”
After nodding at Colun’s concern, Hakan quickly descended toward the origin of the sound.
Even though it was still the outer fringe, as expected of the Blade Mountains, the terrain was so rugged that even a distance of a mere few hundred meters took several minutes to traverse.
Arriving at the battleground at last, Hakan widened his eyes at the scene unfolding before him.
It was because dozens of corpses (a mix of mercenaries, peasant levies, and properly armed regular soldiers) were strewn across the clearing.
“Ah…”
Several soldiers were sent flying with a roaring boom.
While Shan swung his mace with his left hand, he brandished A Thousand Shapes with his right hand.
The supple soft sword accurately targeted and slashed relentlessly at the relatively poorly armored enemies mixed among the heavily armored soldiers.
Despite wielding two completely different weapons in either hand, the way they harmonized perfectly was like an elegant dance.
Before Hakan could even leap down to assist, the survivors screamed and fled down the mountain, practically rolling as they ran.
Drenched in blood to the point of bathing in it rather than merely being stained, Shan caught his breath and looked up at Hakan.
“Your Grace!”
“You’re safe, fortunately.”
Watching Shan grin, Hakan unwittingly bowed his head.
At the relief of having finally survived, and the awe he felt looking upon the warrior before his eyes, he felt as though tears might well up.