Knight – Part 04
The encounter was sudden and straightforward.
Just minutes after entering the forest at the edge of the plain, the group stumbled upon three men. It was unclear whether they were scouts, lookouts, or merely wandering, but their situation was unfortunate. The men were standing side by side, laughing crudely while relieving themselves.
Both parties were caught off guard, locked in stunned silence.
The first to react were the three men. Without bothering to put away their humble manhoods, they turned and fled deeper into the forest, leaving a trail of urine behind.
Cecily, her face flushed deep red, muttered grimly, “I’m cutting them off.”
Her anger might have seemed irrational, but the humiliation of being forced to witness something she never wanted to see ignited an explosive fury from the very core of her being.
The men simultaneously turned their knees inward.
A high-pitched whistle sliced through the dappled forest, likely from the bandits. The underbrush all around instantly stirred. The untamed forest rustled, as if in response to the sound.
“Damn it.”
One of the members called for vigilance. The mercenaries positioned themselves back-to-back, weapons at the ready. Their knees were still tucked inward.
Lisa, meanwhile, hid behind Luke. Clearly annoyed, Luke folded his arms, showing no intention of fighting. Cecily had never seen him as a combatant, just someone she needed to impress.
She drew her sword. “Watch closely. With your right eye.”
Luke raised an eyebrow, but she ignored him for now. Cecily took deep breaths to steady her racing heart.
I can do this.
She had to. She gently touched the hilt at her waist, drawing strength from her father’s memento. She repeated the mantra in her mind: she could do this.
Something sliced through the air, pulverizing dried leaves drifting in the air, and struck one of the mercenaries in the thigh. Groaning, he fell on one knee. An arrow was embedded in his flesh.
“Get down!”
One of the members held up a piece of jewel steel and quickly chanted a prayer to invoke protection. A fierce gust of wind erupted from the steel, sweeping in all directions. The group crouched and closed their eyes as the wind roared, tearing through vegetation and bending trees.
A man fell from a tree. At the command, the mercenaries quickly restrained him.
“Where are the others—”
The question was drowned out by a beastly roar that reverberated through the forest canopy, numbing their eardrums. A vibrating shock rippled through their bodies. They covered their ears, grunting in pain. Seizing the opportunity, shadows emerged from the surrounding foliage.
Three beasts. In the dappled sunlight, their forms became clear. Though hunched low, they stood on two legs like humans, breathing raggedly. Their bodies were covered in black fur, and long, menacing canines protruded from their lips. Their massive arms and hulking bodies blocked vision, and their wide eyes showed no hint of reason, only madness. They resembled wild wolves standing on their hind legs.
Inhumans. Possessing human-like organs, yet were far from human.
The three Inhumans sprang into action. A fist as large as a human head struck the face of a nearby mercenary, slamming him head-first into the ground, instantly knocking him out. The beast then grabbed the head of another mercenary who had frozen in place. Letting out a shriek, the mercenary swung his sword upwards, but the creature’s thick hide deflected it easily. Brushing off the attack, the beast lifted the man’s body and swung him around with one hand. His body twisted unnaturally, knocking down the other mercenaries who were raising their weapons to help.
It was a one-sided slaughter. Renowned mercenaries from the Militant Nation and the Empire, and proud members of the Knight Guard of the Independent Trade City’s Third District were all being overwhelmed, falling one by one to just three beasts. They barely had a chance to fight back.
Blood splattered across Cecily’s cheek, jolting her out of her daze.
“What is this?” she muttered, stunned.
Cecily’s mind couldn’t keep up. It all happened too fast—one moment the beasts appeared, and the next the whole group had been incapacitated. She couldn’t fully grasp the situation. The scene before her felt unreal, and all she could do was watch. She hadn’t even lifted her sword.
“Ah.”
One of the beasts turned toward Cecily. Its wild eyes and savage features reminded her of the deranged vagrant she had encountered the day before. A chill ran down her spine. Primal fear gripped her.
“Ah.”
Before she knew it, her body was moving on its own. Her left foot stepped forward. Her training took over, and she executed the basic stances and movements she had learned almost automatically. With her left side leading, she swung a horizontal slash towards the beast’s temple—but it narrowly missed.
The beast ducked low, dodging the sword whistling past its head. It coiled like a spring and exploded forward. Cecily had her sword ready for another strike, but the beast’s fist struck her abdomen first. When she came to, she found herself rolling on the ground, covered in dirt, having smashed through the underbrush.
“Guh.”
Crawling and coughing, Cecily finally began to grasp the dire reality. They were on the brink of annihilation.
Everything was happening so fast. Too fast. She realized her earlier paralysis wasn’t because her mind couldn’t process things quick enough. Her legs had simply frozen in fear.
She glanced up and saw a beast towering over her, its massive fist raised high like a sledgehammer.
Please, no.
This couldn’t be how it ended. Her first battle, and she was failing miserably. She hadn’t accomplished anything, saved no one. And now it was over before it had even begun?
It felt so unfair, but it was too late. The beast’s fist came down. Cecily, still sprawled on the ground, shielded her head with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut.
…
…
…
Nothing. Just as she began to wonder what was happening, something round fell right beside Cecily. She opened her eyes and choked on her breath. It was the beast’s head.
A delayed gush followed, and Cecily was drenched in a large amount of liquid—blood spraying down on her from above.
Cautiously, she looked up. The beast’s headless body, spurting dark red blood from its severed neck, collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
What just happened? Cecily, covered in blood, frantically tried to make sense of it. She had been at death’s door, about to be finished off. So why did the beast’s head fall?
The answer was standing right beside her.
“Get up, Cecily Campbell. Or are you all talk and no bark?”
Cecily blinked, wondering if she was seeing things. There stood Luke Ainsworth.
He held his sword in a mid-level stance, his right side forward, his right hand gripping the hilt firmly, and his left hand lightly resting on the pommel. The sword, gleaming in the sunlight, looked brand new to Cecily. The surface of its curved, single-edged blade was adorned with wavy patterns, giving it an exotic, otherworldly feel that was unlike anything on the continent.
The blade dripped with what looked like the beast’s bodily fluids.
“Luke…”
Did he save her? For the second time?
“There you are.”
Men who had evidently been lying in wait now emerged, surrounding Cecily and her group. Each man had a scruffy beard and a filthy appearance. There were nearly twenty of them, armed with hand axes and daggers, forming a silent perimeter.
Had they planned to use the Inhumans to break their formation and then pick off the survivors? The momentum was entirely in their favor, but they were hesitating, sensing a shift in the atmosphere.
“Cecily, are you all right?”
While Cecily lay frozen on her stomach, Lisa came over and offered her a helping hand.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s all right now,” Lisa said with a cheerful smile. “Luke is getting serious.”
Luke leveled his sword horizontally and tapped the guard with his fist to shake off the blood.
“Lisa.”
“Here you go.”
Lisa handed Luke a cloth. He only called her name, and she instantly knew what he wanted. It was like they were in perfect sync. Luke used the cloth to wipe the beast’s fluids from the blade.
“Listen up, you lot.” Luke tossed aside the stained cloth—which Lisa picked up with a warning not to litter—and studied the bandits. “Don’t even think about running away.”
The bandits suddenly stirred. Then, out of nowhere, the roar of a beast echoed through the forest.
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