READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 162
The air had turned icy, as if transformed into a sheet of ice by the power of the Princess, even though everything was already cold.
It seemed that no one among us — at least those present — was unaware that the cause lay in the standoff between our Knights and the bandit group.
After a lengthy silence, the Knight Commander finally broke the tension.
“…Before I capture you all right now, I have one question to ask.”
“Well, why not. What tales could a man about to part with this world share?”
The exchange was so terse that I could almost feel my throat going dry.
The Knight Commander let out a derisive chuckle at the words of the apparent leader of the bandits and stomped the ground hard, almost like feeling the shockwaves despite being covered in snow.
“You’re quite spirited. Alright, now let’s get to it.”
The Knight Commander gestured vaguely towards the bandits.
“What’s your motive?”
“What kind of ridiculous question is that?”
“I mean the motive behind this nonsense. Trying to gather your forces to ambush Rondan at this very moment can only be interpreted as dissatisfaction with the Outsider.”
At the Knight Commander’s words, the bandit leader sneered with a despicable smile.
But the Commander’s words weren’t done yet.
“Isn’t it good news for you lot to be able to stop the Giant of the Snow Mountain? Or do you prefer to freeze to death right away?”
As soon as the Knight Commander finished speaking, the bandit leader erupted into loud laughter as if he had been holding it back.
But I could tell from the reactions of those around us that this laughter wasn’t jovial.
As the Knight Commander remained stone-faced, the bandit leader suppressed his laughter and twisted his face into a grimace, pointing at us.
“Ah, you’re a real paragon of justice, aren’t you? Of course, you’d think that way living comfortably in a warm region. As if we lived uncomfortably.”
The bandit leader raised his arms high as though he were a fanatical bishop.
“What a laugh. I don’t want you lot to defeat the Giant of the Snow Mountain.”
“What?”
“I like it here in this snow.”
As the bandit leader’s expression turned almost crazed, he continued.
“We enjoy the chaos caused by the Outsider. We relish looting amid such disorder. This snow feels like our domain. Preying on the lost ones is delightful. With their warmth, we can rekindle our fires. We like being able to sleep anywhere and live anywhere.”
With each word the bandit leader spoke, the expressions of the Knights, led by the Commander, began to wither.
Their selfishness and twisted greed were clearly irking the Knights.
And I felt the same way.
“Even if we find someone crawling on the ground weakened by the blizzards, we enjoy the feeling of having survived. The catharsis of looting from such people, living off them kept me feeling indescribably satisfied.”
“Bullshit.”
“There was common ground with the Hunter Followers. They also wouldn’t want the Giant of the Snow Mountain to fall. If the Outsider disappears, so do the Hunters. Do you understand at all what it feels like to lose your object of admiration? Do you grasp the feeling of seeing your revered, overwhelming absolute disappear?!”
The bandit leader made exaggerated gestures as he looked up at the sky.
“The calamity of the Giant of the Snow Mountain is a blessing for us. In this land, where the Outsider has killed, we’ve felt life. In this land overwhelmed by cold because of the Outsider, we’ve felt warmth. Do you think we’ll let you stop that blessing?”
The Knight Commander’s face twisted into an unprecedented, stark expression of disgust.
It was a fanatic ideology that even the boisterous Commander could not accept.
“You’re horrifically selfish.”
“Even passing dogs and cats share our sentiments. They’re just weak, while we are strong. Have you ever once thought about examining their existence? If you were to face their brutality earnestly, would you still love them?”
I realized that further conversation was pointless.
It wasn’t just my thought; the Deputy Director suddenly lifted his great sword and swung it dramatically.
A massive slash attack, manifested by Meditatio, obliterated a portion of the bandits, but it was halted by a barrier formed by a Hunter Follower’s cry — which was, after all, nothing more than a human shield.
The Deputy Director’s sudden action would obviously be seen that way.
“You’ve spouted nonsense I can’t even comprehend. Well, they’re already dead anyway.”
As soon as that remark fell, the Knight Commander roared.
“Knights, charge!”
The cries of both the bandits and the Knights filled the surroundings.
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A massive force was pouring down upon us.
Could it feel similar to witnessing a tsunami approaching?
The difference from the previous massive bandit offensives was the orderly approach, courtesy of the Hunter Followers, which imparted a different kind of overwhelming feeling compared to the earlier chaos.
Yet, the Knight Commander and Deputy Director didn’t lose heart.
The morale of the Knights remained high.
In fact, like Vikings pursuing Valhalla, the Knights looked insane with a joy that seemed almost delirious as they slashed through the bandits.
“Die!”
“Gah!”
There’s simply no comparing the combat effectiveness between elite warriors and scrappy street fighters.
But the issue lay in their overwhelming numbers.
As the saying goes, “quantity has a quality all its own”; no matter how skilled a Knight might be, if six ordinary people pounced on them, they wouldn’t be able to do a thing and would just get beaten.
I sought her help in order to alleviate this.
The Divine being who, even now, was riding on my shoulder, waving her hands cheerily.
“Let’s go!”
“…You’re not helping.”
“Oh, is that so? How embarrassing.”
Paura was enthusiastically cheering on, while diligently pulling out food from the unknown space.
I was grateful, though.
The “failures” she had made with me in mind — though honestly, they were superbly crafted meals — were stacked high like a mountain.
Paura’s food has a positive effect on humans.
Wounds heal instantly, weak mindsets become stronger, and lacking strength is replenished.
I had felt its effect when being pounded to a pulp while training under the White Mask.
And when I forced a severely wounded Knight on the brink of death to consume the food from Paura, it felt miraculous.
The grotesque wound stretching from my shoulder to my hip, inflicted by a bandit, healed in no time at all, resembling a divine miracle.
But I mustn’t get complacent with just this.
It only healed wounds, so if I were even slightly late and a Knight died, it would all be meaningless.
“Everyone! Focus on Leydan Tanton, not the other Knights! There’s a foul smell coming from that guy’s food!”
When the apparent leader of the Followers shouted that, the bandits turned their targets all at once upon me.
Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer weight of numbers might have made me feel powerless.
But this was all part of the game.
“Wings! That guy is unfolding his wings again!”
“Chase him down immediately!”
I spread the wings of the Dragon and accelerated to dodge the bandits left and right.
If I flew too high, the Knights would end up being targeted again, so I kept my altitudes low on purpose.
But with me attracting attention, the Knights would have an easier time.
“While Tanton distracts, we will strike from behind!”
“Yes! Understood!”
The Knight Commander immediately gave that command, and the Knights began to chase after the bandits pursuing me.
Thus, the ones that had been chasing me hastily found themselves surrounded.
“Oh no!”
Their desperate screams erupted, but it was already too late.
I created a gust of wind with the wings of the Dragon and approached the bandits, feeling the fiery heat from whatever Zumiya had overly infused into me now blazing from my mouth.
Seeing the flames emerging from my mouth, the bandits were taken aback and tried to flee, but there was no way they could match the speed granted by the Divine.
I unleashed the gathered force from my mouth upon the bandits.
A dazzling swirl of rainbow-colored flames engulfed them all.
“Gyaaaaah!”
I could hear the bandits’ screams from the intense scorching, but all I saw were those wrapped in a rainbow and rolling on the ground.
The Knights charged towards those I had subdued and began to overpower them one by one.
“Retreat! Fall back!”
Eventually, even the once-mighty bandit leader seemed to find it unbearable and started to shout for retreat.
Some bandits heard the leader’s command and began to back off as well.
“Leave not a single one behind!”
The Knight Commander shouted that, but due to the remaining forces blocking our way, it wasn’t easy to follow through.
The Knight Commander ground her teeth in frustration, but at least this effort would secure Rondan from their threats.
As the situation began to wrap up, the Knight Commander shouted.
“It’s our victory! Knights, you fought splendidly!”
A roar that felt like it could shake the heavens sounded out all at once.