"Sir Knight, a child. That monster still has a child it took with it..."
Just as Samael and Mari stepped forward to treat the soldiers, the garrison commander grabbed his savior's arm and pleaded with him.
I'm not one of the Knights of the Round Table...
Mistaken for someone else yet again and forced to boost another person's reputation, Samael no longer had the energy to complain.
But time was short, and the Ancient Serpent could not be bothered to argue. Leaving Mari to handle the aftermath, he stirred his Ether and chased out of the town first.
Out in the wilderness, Samael pushed his Mana to full output, moving like a bolt of lightning. His narrowed serpent eyes swept across the surroundings, and with his night vision, every trace nearby entered his sight.
Thanks to the tracking skills he had once learned from Chiron, as well as a serpent's sharp senses, even after the monster changed directions and hid several times, the Ancient Serpent was not shaken off. Following the trampled grass and plants, along with the lingering aura left along the way, he stayed locked onto his target.
"Think you can run? Stay right there!"
Before long, Samael saw the monster sprinting across the wilderness with a child in one hand. He swung his sword, sending out a blade of light that sliced toward the creature's ankle.
"Hiss!"
But as the edge approached, the black shadow sank into the softened soil like sludge.
Boom!
The sword beam lost its target and slammed into the ground, carving a deep, glaring trench as grass and shattered stones exploded into the air.
Amid the spreading dust, the black shadow that had narrowly escaped emerged from the shade a hundred meters away.
But its body had already shrunk by nearly half.
Clearly, dodging that fatal strike had cost the monster dearly.
So you can do that too? I really underestimated you lot!
As Samael muttered, his brows drew together. He stomped down and accelerated again, crossing in an instant the hundred meters the monster had struggled to open between them. Though he moved later, he arrived first, standing at the fork ahead and cutting off the creature's path.
"Awoo!"
Seeing the human chasing it already right in front of it, the mist around the black shadow boiled violently, and it immediately let out a shrill howl.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
At the same time, rustling came from the nearby woods, and answering howls rose and fell one after another.
In the blink of an eye, black monsters emerged one after another from the shadows cast by the surrounding bushes. Fearless of death, they charged at the powerful pursuer, buying time for their own kind to escape.
This really never ends!
Samael swept his sword around, knocking aside several sharp claws condensed from black mist, and could not help frowning.
The monster seized the opening, circled around the battlefield, and rushed toward the dense forest ahead.
At last, it had escaped that demon's grasp.
The crimson light in the black shadow's eyes pulsed violently. Its sludge-like body seemed to gradually melt into the darkness beneath the trees as it drew closer to the forest.
Hiss!
Then a sharp whistle suddenly rang out. A ghostly blue spear of light, like a thorn, shot from the dense forest, pierced straight through the monster's chest, and brutally pinned it to the ground, dragging it dozens of meters.
The black monster instantly crumbled into ash, scattering into a fluffy pile on the ground.
At the same time, the falling swaddling cloth was gently lifted by an invisible breeze. Carrying the sleeping infant, it flew toward the dense forest and landed in the crook of a pale, slender arm.
Did Mari get here that quickly?
The Holy Sword pierced through one of the black monsters, clearing his view ahead. Noticing the change, Samael stared forward in surprise.
No, that wasn't Mari...
The next moment, the Ancient Serpent's gaze froze, and astonishment crossed his face.
Amid the rustle of disturbed grass and leaves, a figure slowly walked out from the depths of the forest. She wore a blue-black crown shaped like branching antlers, an elegant blue-black gauze dress, and a black veil over her face, with silver hair falling over her shoulders.
She was like cold moonlight illuminating the deep darkness.
"Thus far, and no farther. Filth such as you, shatter!"
In a cold murmur, the silver-haired woman raised a blue-black wand tipped with a cross-shaped prism and lightly pointed it forward.
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
In an instant, blue-black Magecraft arrays formed above the other battlefield, drawing in the vast moonlight and condensing it into beams of ghostly light that dropped from the air, pinning dozens of black monsters in place.
So she's an ally.
With the threats around him swept away, Samael's tense muscles quietly relaxed. His grip on the sword hilt loosened a little, and he rose before walking toward the mysterious woman who had appeared.
"Are you a knight here to investigate this matter?"
The mysterious Magus hesitated for a moment, then handed the child to Samael.
"Does every thankless job like this have to be handled by the Knights of the Round Table? I'm just a traveler passing through Cornwall. I saw these monsters attacking the villagers, so I helped out. What about you, Miss Magus?"
The Ancient Serpent smiled helplessly and gave a half-true answer.
"That direction... Cornwall was attacked too?"
The silver-haired Magus's brows drew together, and she instinctively frowned as she murmured.
"Too?"
Samael immediately caught the strangeness in her words, his gaze turning still.
The silver-haired Magus looked up at the unnamed swordsman and spoke with a frown.
"I came from Camlann. Quite a few infants have gone missing there over the past few days..."
"Hiss. Then this might not be an isolated case?"
Samael clearly realized the possibility and drew in a slight breath, his expression turning grave.
Perhaps the situation was even worse.
When you see one cockroach in the house, there may be a thousand more hiding in the dark.
These black monsters could turn invisible and briefly move through shadows, making it very difficult for ordinary people to detect their intrusions.
And there was a fair distance between Camlann and Cornwall. Yet he and this female Magus had run into each other because of similar incidents.
That meant similar trouble might be appearing across all of Britannia.
"Miss Magus, if you don't mind, how about we team up and enter this forest together to take a look?"
After thinking for a moment, Samael took the initiative and extended the offer.
"Good! Leave the child to me. You lead the way!"
The silver-haired Magus nodded seriously, accepting with surprising ease. She even seemed faintly impatient.
Things had gone unexpectedly smoothly. Samael paused for a moment, then quickly recovered and tactfully walked in front, cutting through the branches along the way and searching for a path straight into the depths.
The Magus with the black veil followed closely behind Samael, step by step.
Faintly, Samael noticed that whenever he brushed aside spiderwebs or drove away insects, snakes, and the like, the breathing behind him seemed to grow a little quicker. Even the sound of her pounding heartbeat became unusually clear.
Wait, she didn't go in before because she was scared of these things, was she?
Realizing he had somehow become a convenient tool, the Ancient Serpent could not help the corner of his mouth twitching. He glanced back at the aloof face beneath the black veil and shook his head helplessly.
Tsk, women...
After they had walked for some distance, the twisted shrubs like the claws and fangs of monsters finally thinned out, and there were far fewer insects, snakes, and small animals as well.
But just as Samael was about to quicken his pace, a pale arm reached out from behind and clutched tightly at his clothes.
"Wait. She... she's biting me..."
The silver-haired Magus, holding the infant girl in her arms, bit her cherry-red lip as she stared helplessly at the little girl who had woken up, burrowed into her chest, and was grabbing, scratching, and crying.
Smack!
Samael noticed the astonishing curves faintly visible beneath the blue-black gauze dress and raised a hand to slap his forehead.
The child had been put through hours of ordeal. She was hungry and wanted milk...