Chapter 38
“Someone else?”
Sensing something suspicious, Luna quickly dug the magic stone from the inside of her pocket and poured mana into it.
Just as her heart began pounding wildly, a sinister presence stealthily reached toward her.
“Aaaah!”
Crackle.
“Shit! What the—! Ugh!”
Luna grabbed a shard of glass and the magic stone charged with electricity that she had in her hand and hurled them at the intruder with all her strength.
The magic stone shattered, sending electric sparks flashing and lighting up the dark surroundings. The figure she glimpsed was cloaked in black, a person whose face was full of scars. A mysterious intruder had entered the mansion.
Luckily the floor was wet, which amplified the stone’s effect. Seeing the intruder lying there as if paralyzed, Luna instinctively grabbed another magic stone and threw it.
Zzzzzzt!
“Waaah!”
A strong current enveloped the intruder’s body, electrocuting him. The man writhed in pain and screamed before collapsing.
Luna’s heart slammed; her breathing came out ragged. Her eyes felt as if they would pop out of her head.
“What happened? Where did the guards go? Grandpa—grandpa?”
Thinking of her grandfather, Luna staggered out of the dining room.
Chaa—chaang—clang!
Beyond another window, the sound of blades clashing thundered, as if confirming that something terrible was happening.
At first one clash, then three. There were so many clashes it was impossible to count.
“What the hell is this!”
Luna’s face and head went pale at the surreal scene that had suddenly unfolded before her.
Her legs trembled and felt weak, but she ran without stopping toward her grandfather’s room, which was a fair distance away. Of all directions, she saw another shadow at that end.
“There! Grab her!”
The strange silhouette became a group and shouted loudly, dressed the same as the intruder who had attacked the dining room.
Gasping, Luna clenched the remaining magic stones in her pocket and smashed one forward. When it burst, the gathered electricity spread across the floor like a pool that would electrocute anything passing through.
“What the—! I was told that woman can only purify, she can’t do anything else. What’s going on!”
One of the attackers who had dashed toward Luna yelled angrily. The pack of beasts that had surged forward like pigs trapped in a pen hesitated stupidly before the electrified pool.
Not missing the chance, Luna ran in the opposite direction. If they caught her, everything would be over.
“Is it more than one? Why is this happening!”
Crash! Bang!
A troubling sound came from behind and she turned.
“Huh!”
The men hurled nearby furniture to create shallow footholds. A makeshift platform formed and the mob that meant to kill her pursued.
“No!”
Luna let out a high-pitched scream and ran desperately. No matter how skilled the hired guards were, the sheer number of attackers made them seem helpless.
A woman in simple indoor shoes and a trained group of swine-like attackers ran in the same direction. Luna’s light pink hair fluttered; in an instant it got caught between two outstretched fingers.
“Aaagh!”
Shreek—
Whoosh—swoosh!
“Waaah!”
At that moment.
The wrist that had grabbed Luna’s hair was severed. A fountain of blood spurted as the man who had seized her arm howled, clutching the stump.
“Milady! Are you all right? This way!”
A knight’s urgent voice called to Luna.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect things to turn out like this. I’m a knight of Bahir.”
“Bahir…”
“Cover your ears and stay behind me.”
The knight pointed his sword at the remaining attackers and began to subdue them swiftly. The honed blade cut through flesh with vivid clarity as it advanced. The metallic, choking scent of blood saturated the mansion.
Hiding in a corner, Luna clamped her hands over her ears and trembled. Hearing the name Bahir brought the Grand Duke to mind, and her chest surged with a wave of anguish.
Her eyes stung; mist gathered and blurred her vision. Just thinking of him filled her so completely that her chest ached and burned.
“We need to get out of here quickly.”
When about five or six of the attackers had fallen, the knight called to Luna.
“Wait! My grandfather is in the opposite direction.”
“If you mean the baron, he’s already escaped.”
The knight avoided her gaze and hemmed and hawed like a liar.
“Do you have anyone else with you?”
“Yes. So we must get out now. To be honest, there are so many who broke in that even we don’t know what will happen.”
When asked whether there were companions, the knight firmly nodded and readjusted his grip on his sword. A fresh roar of attackers pressed toward them.
“There’s no time. Move!”
Luna hesitated but then took a step forward. She worried about her grandfather, but lingering here would only slow the knight and risk both of them.
“The back gate is already blocked. The only way is to break through the front gate. The woods around here are thick; we’ll run toward the square where we can call for help. Do not leave my side!”
The knight explained what to do as they hurried outside.
“All right!”
The stench of death that had suddenly surged into the air left Luna stunned. Still, she steeled herself that she would survive and meet her grandfather again.
She had been clawing at life against the curse—dying here absurdly would be unacceptable.
Her teeth clenched and determination sparked in her eyes. The two resolved people opened the mansion door and stepped out.
Outside the mansion, the intruders swarmed like flies on a carcass. Some of the bodies nearby looked mutilated—wings cut off, eyes gouged, crawling and groaning like something malformed.
Those were the results of the knights fighting outside. There were only three Bahir knights, including the one leading Luna.
From the mob’s edge, Luna recognized a man sitting calmly on horseback watching the scene.
“Count Mond!”
Luna’s face went paler than the moon.
The count’s heavy-lidded eyes landed on her and he recognized her. He raised his bandaged hand and ordered, “That woman is the target. Capture her and bring her to me.”
Luna clamped her mouth shut.
I knew it! I knew they’d come… If only I’d come one day earlier!
The men surrounding the count glared at the knights as if they might kill them and seize Luna right then.
“Breaking through the front could be difficult. Maybe one of us should take the lady and run…”
“What about the rest of the knights? We’ll all return together to the north.”
“I didn’t think they’d swarm like this. We’ve sent a messenger; we should hold out until our lord arrives, shouldn’t we?”
“…”
The knights, outnumbered, murmured one by one, and with each word the advancing enemies fell. But the sheer number of threatening beasts overwhelmed them.
A shadow fell across the faces of the divided knights. One who had argued to all go back shot Luna a resentful look—almost blaming her—while guarding her flank, as if saying, “We can’t all die here because of you.”
Luna fiddled anxiously with the remaining magic stones in her pocket. Even if she threw them, they would be of little help against so many.
If only I could fight properly. If only I could use magic correctly…
“Hey! Miss!”
At that moment, a big man appeared against the wall.
“The guardsman?”
“You survived? Whew, when they came back I thought I was a goner.”
“They came back? Where were you? If it weren’t for the knights here I’d be dead!”
Luna, venting her indignation, clung to the big guardsman with a mixture of relief and reproach.
The knights eyed the suddenly appearing burly man suspiciously and pointed their swords at him. With attackers all around, now a burly mercenary? They eyeballed him from head to toe.
The guardsman paid them no mind and told Luna, “Where do you think I was? I went to evacuate Baron Adéret first. Don’t scold me like that.”
“Really? Is Grandpa okay?”
“Of course. I brought a carriage, so let’s run together to it.”
Luna exhaled quietly as she felt the money she had spent on hiring guards finally pay off.
The best plan isn’t always just one thing. She hurried to the knights and shouted.
“I’ll run to the square with the guardsman. If I stay here it makes fighting harder, right? I don’t want anyone to die. Let’s all meet at the square. Can we do that?”
