A superior demon beast, indeed. Surprised, Leticia quickly opened the door.
“Julia, a superior demon beast has appeared? What are you talking about?”
“Your, Your Highness?”
Julia looked at Leticia with a horrified face.
“Your Highness, how on earth.”
“Julia, first answer my question. Did the sound of the drum just now mean an attack by a superior demon beast?”
“Well, it did mean that.”
“The king is in the fortress!”
“Yes, so I was about to head that way…”
Julia couldn’t finish her sentence. She muttered as if she had seen a ghost.
“The wound on Her Highness’s neck has healed…”
Julia rubbed her eyes wildly, wondering if she was seeing things.
“Julia, what about Tenua? Where is he?”
“How on earth…”
“Don’t tell me he’s still in the market? It’s correct that he left Heden, right?”
“Tenua? Who is that…”
Julia, with a confused expression, suddenly snapped back to reality.
“If you mean Tenua, are you talking about that crazy black man who attacked Her Highness earlier?”
“Right. Is he still in Heden?”
“He is in Heden, but…”
He was being beaten to death by Banessa in a frenzy.
“You don’t have to worry about him.”
“Why?”
“Well… That’s…”
It was hard for Julia to explain. How could she explain that Banessa, on the verge of death, suddenly generated white flames and subdued Tenua?
“Banessa is handling it well, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Banessa? Banessa is holding off Tenua by herself? Is that possible?”
“Yes. Because the opponent is in a combat-incapable state.”
Leticia was even more startled. Tenua was in a combat-incapable state. She couldn’t believe it.
“Anyway, you don’t have to worry. Just in case, I have other knights on standby.”
Julia found herself at a loss for words again.
On the bed lay the flame she had seen somewhere.
It was the very flame that had been rising from Banessa’s fingertips.
The white flame looked at her like a sullen girl.
Julia was terrified by the thought she had just had.
‘The flame is looking at me? What kind of crazy thought is that?’
Leticia asked the confused Julia.
“So, Banessa is okay? He’s not hurt? He’s not overdoing it?”
“Yes. Perfectly fine…”
Julia muttered blankly, her mind still captivated by the white flame.
“Thank you for telling me, Julia. I’ll go to the fortress now.”
Dealing with the superior demon beast was more urgent than dealing with Tenua, who had already been subdued.
Leticia reached for the shawl hanging on the coat rack to cover the bloodstains.
“I’ll borrow the shawl.”
If Dietrian saw the bloodstains, he would be greatly surprised.
It wouldn’t be easy, but she wanted to hide the wounds Tenua had inflicted as much as possible.
The merchant, just as absent-minded as Julia, nodded in confusion.
“Thank you.”
Leticia quickly draped the shawl over her shoulders and made sure it didn’t slip. Then she put the ball of cotton flame she had left on the bed into her pocket.
“Julia, you rest here. Don’t worry about the fortress. I’ll see what I can do.”
Leticia grabbed Julia’s hand once and then hurriedly left the hospital building. Julia, watching her back in a daze, suddenly came to her senses.
“Your Highness! It’s dangerous! A flying demon beast has attacked…”
And when she followed out. What was in front of her was the back of Leticia, standing tall, and the white flames engulfing the body of the demon beast.
***
“Your Highness! Disaster has struck! Her Highness has collapsed!”
When Dietrian heard these words from the merchant, he felt as if he were dreaming.
“The wound on her neck is especially severe. The bleeding is very severe, and she is unconscious!”
The demonic beasts flying in the sky, the drops of dark red blood falling from his sword, the dry desert whipped by sandstorms. All of it seemed like a lie.
“What?”
He barely managed to ask that much. The merchant burst into tears.
“Trying to block the attack of the assailant alone, and then…”
His legs gave way. Unknowingly, he staggered and took a couple of steps back.
“Your Highness!”
“Out of the way.”
Barely regaining his senses, he hurriedly ran towards the castle gate.
The knights, seeing him approach, quickly opened the gate. The time it took for the door to open felt eternally long.
That was when it happened.
“Aaargh!”
A desperate scream pierced his consciousness.
Dietrian whipped around.
One of Heden’s knights was being dragged away by a flying demonic beast, bitten on the arm.
Struggling not to be dragged away was not easy.
“Argh! Let go! Aaargh!”
The flying demonic beast that appeared this time had extremely thick skin.
It was difficult to deal with unless one was a knight who could use sword energy.
Dietrian desperately looked around.
Regrettably, none of his subordinates had the leisure to save the knight.
“Damn it!”
Dietrian’s face contorted.
Hesitation was brief.
A dense black sword energy blossomed on the white blade.
He quickly ran and swung his sword at once.
Screech!
With a terrible scream, the demonic beast’s neck was cut off. Hot blood splattered on his cheek.
The knight being dragged fell to the ground, pale-faced and staggering.
“Gasp, huff. Thank you, Your Highness.”
“There’s no time for thanks. Snap out of it. Get up!”
Dietrian grabbed the knight’s arm and pulled him to his feet.
Then he cursed.
“Yulken!”
“Your Highness!”
“Go to the hospital with him right now! Check on Leticia’s condition yourself! Hurry!”
No, it should not have been Yulken going to the hospital, but him.
He needed to see Leticia with his own eyes.
Because she was his wife.
Because she was his person.
Because she was the woman he loved!
But he could not.
Because he was the king.
Because he had to protect the people here.
The demonic beasts attacking Heden were not ordinary foes. Beasts twice, thrice the size of those usually seen had swarmed in.
If Dietrian, the best at wielding sword energy, were absent, it would cause a significant problem for their forces.
It was obvious that innocent lives would be lost.
Leaving them and going to the hospital would not improve her condition.
No, on the contrary, it would have been harmful.
If the last line of defense fell and the demonic beasts overran Heden’s walls, even Leticia would be in danger.
Knowing this, Dietrian felt like he was going mad.
The woman he loved was fighting for her life somewhere out of his sight.
He couldn’t maintain his sanity at all.
Yulken understood Dietrian’s feelings better than anyone.
Thus, he urgently shook his head at his command.
“Your Highness! Leave this place to us and go yourself! It would be better if Your Highness personally checks on Her Highness’s condition…!”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Yulken!”
Dietrian exclaimed sharply, swinging his sword.
A demonic beast attempting to pounce on him from behind spilled its blood in that very pose.
“There’s no time. Move!”
Even as he spoke, his thoughts were filled only with her.
He felt like he would lose his reason and run to her at the slightest lapse in concentration.
As soon as Yulken entered Heden, the city gate closed.
Staring deathly at the firmly shut gate, Dietrian gritted his teeth.
It felt as if his intestines were being torn out while he was still alive.
He turned around with all his might and ran swiftly.
“Screech!”
The demonic beasts charging fiercely at the fluctuating sword energy fell lifelessly.
And he kept cutting, over and over again.
The corpses of the demonic beasts piled up endlessly on the desert.
The yellow sand was entirely stained with their dark red blood.
Yet, there was no end to them.
‘Something’s wrong.’
By this point, the demonic beasts should have been retreating in fear.
But that wasn’t the case.
It was as if someone was controlling the demonic beasts.
The moment he thought of that, a name suddenly came to mind.
‘Could it be, Josephina?’
The emissary of the goddess could control demonic beasts.
There had been an unusual invasion of demonic beasts in Heden.
In the midst of that, an assailant attacked Leticia.
What could that mean?
‘Damn, that demon!’
It was Josephina’s doing, orchestrating such a deed to attack Leticia.
The fact that he had only come to this realization now was absurdly frustrating.
‘I’ll kill her!’
Flames sparked in his dark eyes.
If Josephina were before him, he would have killed her in the most brutal way, taking as much time as possible.
‘If anything happens to Leticia, I will surely kill that demon!’
It must never happen, but if she never opens her eyes again.
He would immediately rush to the empire and kill Josephina.
He couldn’t afford to care what happened afterward, nor did he want to.
His duty as a king now meant nothing to him.
Sending Yulken to the hospital was the end of his patience. And at that very moment.
Boom, boom, boom.
The drums sounded.
Dietrian whipped his head around.
He then widened his eyes.
From afar, a monstrous scorpion as large as the city walls was approaching.
Its brown shell shimmered in the sunlight.
Its massive pincers were large enough to sever a human’s limbs in an instant.
Enoch, standing by his side, murmured with an expression of disbelief.
“Your Highness, that, surely…!”
Dietrian’s face contorted terribly.
“It’s the demon of the desert, Valenos…!”
A beast that should not be here, that should not exist in this place, had appeared.
“Enoch! Snap out of it! Prepare the fire arrows! Only those who can wield sword energy stay! Those who cannot, return to the castle! You’ll only be in the way!”
Valenos’s thick shell could never be penetrated by ordinary swords.
Knights who couldn’t wield sword energy were useless here.
They would only meet their demise.
Indeed, even for those who could wield sword energy, the situation did not improve much.
Eliminating Valenos with human strength required a readiness for great sacrifice.
Without the power of a goddess, the favor of dragons, or the magic of the Mage Empire, it was inevitable.
If things continued as they were, most of the knights would either die or suffer severe injuries.
Everyone present knew this, yet no one fled.
‘We must buy time.’
Instead of confronting Valenos head-on, they needed to delay it somehow.
Behind them was Heden.
There were countless people and Leticia.
If the knights abandoned Valenos, everyone in Heden would die.
“Everyone, stay calm! We must keep our wits about us to protect the people of Heden! Form the second battle formation for facing superior monsters!”
“Understood!”
The knights capable of wielding sword energy moved swiftly and orderly at his command.
Dietrian rushed to the front of the triangular formation.
Valenos was slowly but surely advancing towards Heden.
Surveying the terrain, Dietrian’s face twisted in frustration.
‘There’s nowhere to lure Valenos.’
The demon of the desert, Valenos.
Valenos was as strong as a superior monster on dry land, but not on wet ground.
In the desert, its claws sharper than a knife struggled to move in moist earth.
As vulnerable to moisture as it was, even a small spring could lure it, trapping its movements.
But in front of Heden, there was only bone-dry land.
Not even a small puddle was to be found.
‘We must somehow stop Valenos here. We cannot afford to be pushed back.’
A tense atmosphere filled the surroundings.
And then, suddenly.
The wind blew.
It was so strong that it was hard to keep one’s eyes open.
Yellow sand soared into the air.
Dietrian closed his eyes and quickly turned his head.
Soon after, someone lightly stepped on the ground behind him.
As Dietrian slowly opened his eyes, he hesitated.
It was because of a familiar scent that brushed against his nose.
It belonged to someone who should not be here.
At the very moment he thought it was surely a mistake.
He felt a presence behind him.
Then, slender arms suddenly wrapped around his waist.
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