Hubert kept a neutral face, but his mind was in turmoil. They needed to hurry back to the kingdom to reclaim his lord’s position…
That’s when Sylvia spoke up.
“The horses don’t look well. We can’t continue together in this condition. And the complexion of the prince and the knights isn’t great either.”
Sylvia washed the horses with water magic and provided them with water to drink. Seeing the horses eagerly lapping it up, she felt sorry for them. She took out plenty of hay from her spatial bag and floated it in the air with wind magic. She fed the horses roughly chopped carrots directly.
“Overworking them like this, what will you do later? Without horses, mobility decreases, and it becomes harder to confront monsters.”
Karl blinked slowly at Sylvia, who was firmly stating her point. Sylvia then took out fruit and vegetable juice she had prepared earlier, pouring it into wooden cups for Karl and the knights. She also took out pancakes made in skewer form.
“Have a snack for now. You haven’t eaten anything, have you?”
Karl unconsciously took a skewer and bit into it. It felt like he needed to follow her words.
“Mmm!”
The caramel syrup was plentiful, sweet, and the texture soft. The taste melted in his mouth, making Karl’s eyes widen.
The juice made only from pineapple, apple, and carrot juices was refreshingly cool and filled with sweetness and a refreshing feeling, making one feel invigorated. Though it wasn’t enough to fill one’s stomach, it was still regrettable not to have more. He earnestly wanted more.
Sylvia glanced back to check on Felix, who hadn’t spoken a word, worrying her. Noticing her gaze, Felix, who had been glaring at Karl with a frosty look, softened his expression.
His warm gaze made Sylvia’s cheeks flush. Felix turned to Ethan, who had come closer, and said,
“We’re planning to head to our destination… Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay with the nation’s knight squadron?”
Ethan hesitated at his words. While it seemed wise to return, something felt unresolved. Thibault’s expression was similar, feeling as if letting the benefactor go might mean they’d never meet again.
Felix wanted to leave all the nuisances behind and quickly return to the kingdom with Sylvia. The king of monsters was bothersome, and so was everything about the Black Dragon. He just wanted to live peacefully with her.
As Ethan hesitated to answer, someone shouted,
“There’s someone over there!”
The direction pointed to was the center of the monsters. A woman shining in gold amidst the swarm of dark monsters was visible.
“A woman?”
Karl muttered in surprise, gazing at her.
Sylvia watched the woman approaching them effortlessly, not attacked by the monsters. It seemed as if she was protected by them. Watching this strange phenomenon with narrowed eyes, suddenly, the monsters began to attack.
Rustling and approaching from the ground, Felix started to annihilate the approaching monsters with fire magic. The few that he missed were slashed with his sword as he swiftly maneuvered.
Sylvia, holding onto the saddle handle, intently watched the approaching woman. But the more she watched, the stranger it felt. She seemed human but oddly different. Then, the woman spread her wings. As the woman with golden hair took flight, people screamed,
“What is that!”
The woman, who appeared to be human, had eyes filled only with a pumpkin-like yellow glow. She fluttered her wings rapidly, flying towards them.
“Felix!”
Startled, Sylvia called out to him, using her magic. She created a whirlwind to block the front, and the tail struck the wind barrier hard. Watching the woman, no, the monster, persistently attacking them, Felix had a realization.
‘That’s the king of monsters.’
No one had ever seen the king of monsters before. There was no known information about its appearance, but the actions now were telling.
‘It changed its direction after heading towards the Black Dragon. It must have felt mine and Siri’s magic.’
They felt the two drawing on the Black Dragon’s magic. Why the king of monsters wanted the Black Dragon’s magic was unclear…
“Good. Let’s take care of you as well on our way.”
Felix unleashed his full magic power and charged forward.
“Siri! Duck down!”
Seeing Sylvia flatten herself, Felix swung his sword. Flames erupted around him, and ice spears poured down like rain. Blade-like winds whirled, capturing the swarm of monsters. He attacked the monsters with water like rain and lightning magic.
Felix’s magic prowess was exceptional, but watching Sylvia cook had improved his adaptability. He used two or three types of elemental magic simultaneously in various ways to capture the monsters.
The king of monsters, Tenebris, released its tail to spill poison. Felix deftly parried with his sword and changed direction. As he had expected, Tenebris followed Felix and Sylvia.
“Your Highness!”
Hubert, pale-faced, followed. Dennis, Henry, and the knights fought off monsters and followed the sound. Hearing them, Karl murmured softly.
“Indeed… there’s no way it could be anything but a mercenary group.”
It was a fact unknown to the common folk. Karl recognized Felix’s black hair and eyes at a glance. The Capitis royal family was a secretive one. Not only did they not engage in public relations, but even the nobles of the same kingdom seldom saw them, it was said. It was due to a disease that was genetically passed down among the royalty, or so he had heard.
Karl, while slicing through a beast with his sword, unleashed snowflake magic. It was a unique magic passed down only among the Caudatismum royal family. Although it appeared beautiful to the eye, the snowflakes were highly acidic. The skin of the beast that came into contact with the snowflakes burned and smoked.
Screeeeeeeech, squeeeak!
Making strange noises, the beasts glowed. The beast that had first been mistaken for a human persistently followed Felix and Sylvia. All the things attacked by Tenebris were poisoned, so Felix couldn’t get close.
But, it was absolutely impossible because of Sylvia.
Swinging a large sword, he ignited flames. The flames following the sword burned Tenebris’s tail.
Screeeeaaaaaak.
Sylvia was startled and looked up at the sound of Tenebris, which sounded almost like a human scream.
“Sylvia!”
In an instant, Tenebris shook off the flames and turned its tail towards Sylvia’s face. She could see the venom-coated stinger flying towards her face, but Sylvia was too shocked to either duck or evade.
Felix blocked the stinger with his sword. Just then, Tenebris descended quickly and grabbed Felix’s arm with both hands. The powerful armor made by the Black Dragon was torn apart as if it were mere paper.
“Ugh.”
The claws flew towards his exposed flesh and dug in. At the same time, Tenebris extended its long teeth, attempting to bite into Felix’s forearm.
Sylvia froze, petrified by the scene unfolding before her eyes. It was only after seeing the white forearm being bitten that she screamed.
“Felix!”
Thump! Sylvia struck Tenebris’s face with a vine. The creature, larger than Felix, was sent flying backwards. Red blood mixed with black as it flowed from the torn forearm. With a distraught expression, Sylvia then glared fiercely.
Without a moment’s pause, Sylvia ascended. The vines she had grown surrounded Tenebris, endlessly climbing upwards. Attempting to fly away, Tenebris was confused and bumped into the vines here and there.
As Sylvia climbed, she unleashed water magic, raining down. She continued to attack, turning lightning magic into a current. The water and current followed Tenebris, riding the amplitude.
Screeeeeeeek!
As Tenebris screamed, the beasts on the ground climbed the vine tree. Among them, some beasts couldn’t resist the scent of the flowers and fell, while others stubbornly climbed up, creating a bizarre spectacle.
Felix, after roughly cleaning the poisoned blood, followed Sylvia.
“Your Highness!”
Hubert called out desperately, but it didn’t reach his ears. Only the safety of his companion mattered to him. Felix called out her name with desperation. Even being momentarily apart made his fingers tremble.
“Sylvia!”
Sylvia, not hearing his voice, solidly blocked above, preventing the king of the beasts from flying any higher.
“Everything’s irritating!”
She muttered curses.
“Looking like a queen bee! Who dares to bite someone’s arm!”
She took out all the salt she could find, dissolved it in water, and rained it down like a shower. Then, she created daisies, lupines, clovers, calmyas, asters, poppies, and eryngiums, throwing them haphazardly into the vine tree that had grown like a cage.
As she inserted everything the beasts hated, she increased the current. The current, moving along with the water, formed a peculiar pattern within the vine tree.
Screeeeeeeek!
Tenebris, as if angered, slammed its body into the tree, flapping its wings. Felix easily knocked down the beasts that were coming out from below.
“What if you go alone!”
Felix scolded her, hugging the warm body that had momentarily been away.
“What if you get hit by a stinger!”
While blood was still flowing from his forearm, Sylvia glared at Felix, who was getting angry over something that hadn’t even happened, as if he couldn’t even see his own arm.
“You’re the one who got poisoned!”
Sylvia retorted sharply, covering her teary eyes with one hand. Felix wanted to comfort her gently, but just being close to the king of the beasts made his heart race uncontrollably. He shouted with a voice filled with uncontainable emotions.
“I’m okay! I’ve developed a resistance to the poison, so I’m fine! But you’re not!”
His face, which had been unperturbed when his own forearm was bitten, was now pale and stricken with fear.
Sylvia bit her lip, glaring at him with tear-filled eyes. Seeing her like that, Felix found himself at a loss for words.
Screeeeeeek.
Tenebris continued to slam its body into the vine tree. Its wings became tattered, and holes began appearing all over its body. As Sylvia flew higher, Felix followed.
She called to the Black Dragon in her heart, as Felix had taught her before. Riding an unfamiliar sensation, she experienced a strange communion. The sound of another heart beating pounded in her ears. Her gaze, gathering magic power below her diaphragm, momentarily darkened.
Felix couldn’t take his eyes off her. He memorized every gesture, every glance of hers. After maximizing water and lightning, Sylvia struck down.
Along with the vine tree burning from the lightning, Tenebris, which couldn’t come out, started to fall, screeching bizarrely. The beasts clinging to the tree were burned without a trace.
People couldn’t close their mouths, watching the high tree, resembling a cage, burning with yellow light.
Lucino was no different. During the heat of battle, upon following the strangely cleared path, Lucino froze in place, seeing from afar the turquoise hair and the tree burning with yellow light.