—Wake up, princess.
—Cover her lips, just in case...
—And what about the big guy? Do I wake him up too?
—Wait, maybe...
Vlex barely opened her eyes when she started to wake up. At that moment, she could feel a salty-tasting, sour-smelling hand pressing on his mouth.
When she regained his sense of reason, the first thing she realized was that they had entered territory they hadn't seen until now. Exactly, a dark forest. And from the way her body was shaking back and forth, it was obvious that the carriage was going at a higher speed, a speed that he hadn't shown in the entire trip, until now.
—Wake up, you useless bitch!
—...?
—Barban, you idiot, don't yell! I can't measure the distance with your mindless moans.
—Hey? W-where are we...? We arrived?
As Vlex was about to begin an intrepid charge of questions filled with anxiety and surprise, she noticed Valyn staring at her as she placed a finger to her lips and called for silence.
But this display of cordiality was not the only alarming thing.
Barban, the Orc who had just called her a "useless bitch" was peeping at the back of the carriage with his gladiator axe. Vlex's eyes did not miss the subtle expression of discomfort on the Orc.
But the most surprising thing about the situation was the mysterious man sitting in front of her. The guy who had ignored her the entire trip, the same one who seemed to be constantly meditating, the one who at this moment, in his unmarked position, was holding the hilt of his sword for the first time in the entire trip…
What exactly was wrong with how even the imperturbable adventurer Bell Cranel would hold the hilt of his sword?
The wind created by the speed that the beasts in front produced every time the old Geodon whipped them made Bell's entire robe shake.
The muscular old man groaned noticeably as he looked at both sides of the makeshift road. The Orc, with an evident tone of nerves howled:
—What the hell was stopping you from taking the long road, if in the end we're going to pay the same?!
—It's not my fault! My contacts told me that this road had not been attacked in the last month! —Geodon's voice shared Barban's anger, and he responded without looking back.
—For heaven's sake... we're screwed. The incompetent of your companions were paving the way and leaving the trail!!
The Orc was clenching the hilt of his weapon in frustration, his brows furrowed to a point where the Orc's expression was devilish.
—Girl, get down on the ground.
—H-huh...?
For the first time on the entire trip, Bell had spoken. Vlex wasn't particularly surprised by this, but by the fact that his first words had been directed at her and even more so, were orders.
Bell's voice under his robes was demanding, demanding that she obey. And it was obvious even to Valyn and Barban, who also didn't hide their interest as they turned around and gave Bell a sidelong glance. They had evidently been intrigued the entire trip by the mysterious adventurer who had traveled with them.
Vlex's legs trembled as she crouched on the carriage floor.
The atmosphere of the place was now tense, there was not a hint of mischief or vulgarity.
"We're surrounded. But I can't count their numbers. They'll be using a deflection spell. A deflection spell... Only a level 7 wizard is able to cast that..."
If Bell's guess was true, it meant that there was only one way to survive this situation...
However, his senses were clear and told him that the ambush radius was already made and he was in the center of danger.
In part, this was what he deserved, because he should have prevented the carriage from going this way or at the very least, got off it much earlier, but he had been drawing on impure mana from the entire trip, which had naturally kept him busy.
The main course had been served, and it seemed that the carriage and its passengers were the guests of honor...
Right now, he could stop the carriage manually, but Geodon was lashing his beasts of burden hard as sweat ran down his frown. With the carriage at full speed, interrupting this was like putting a piece of wood in the wheels.
Although he couldn't see or understand what kind of enemies surrounded them, the only thing out of character for Bell was that they were vastly outnumbered. However, since he did not know what kind of danger the enemy ranks made up, the scheme did not shake the recesses of his mind.
The reason was simple, there was no human being stronger than him in the entire Imperial region.
—S-sir... you, won't you come down with us...?
When Bell heard Vlex's trembling voice, he lowered his head and saw her holding a protective amulet. Surely it belonged to the ruling God of the religion she worshiped.
Bell looked back, not answering, and now he could tell that the surroundings outside were not only darker, but also eerily quiet... Beyond the herd of beasts of burden, Vlex's silent prayer and the Barban's recurring complaints.
—And? How many? Say something!
—...
—Hey, are you deaf?! How far are they? Where can we expect them from? Something! Tell us any shit, anything!
—I have no idea...
—Huh?
—I said 'I have no idea'. I don't know.
Valyn looked outside intently, like an animal tracking her prey, only this animal had its ears down and did not want to hunt...
—When I cast my tracking spell, something interferes... Although I'm sure there's something out there, something or someone knows I'm here, trying to break into their fort to get information, and so they divert my spell... How do they do that?
—Who the hell cares how they do it?! Aren't you supposed to have the Assassin Class?
Barban's tone was one brimming with contempt and scorn, this caused the woman's pride to quickly bruise, forcing her to lose her engagement on the task.
—Say exactly what you imply, you dirty green coward.
—Why do you bother? It's the truth. You said your level was this and that, and now you're this incompetent?
—Damn green... you think I'm Level 6, you scum? Do you think I can work in a moving fucking carriage, listening to your miserable voice and your complaints of a whore in heat?!
—Save your dysfunctional marriage problems for another time! Decide what we will do! —cried Geodon in an anxious voice.
—Stop the carriage! —Barban said.
—No! Go on! —Valyn contradicted.
As fast as Barban spoke, Valyn cut him off. Geodon had been about to pull the reins, for even he understood that they had no escape and that at this speed, they were in more danger in the carriage than on the ground.
—I knew you were a crazy bitch...
—Be quiet! Do you think you're going to win when we stop and get surrounded in seconds?
—Oh, now it's an ambush? A minute ago you didn't even know who you were, and now it's an ambush? Admit it, you're upset because I've been ignoring you all this time. You have fallen for me!
—You'll be stupid!!
—S-enough!
Like the whistle of a bird in a stream, Vlex's voice cut through their shouts.
You are the only one with the Assassin Class and we are going to trust you, but you need to be accurate. Mr. Barban, I trust that you want out of this situation as much as I and all of us, right? —After seeing Barban bow to the ground, grudgingly implying that he agreed not to argue further, Vlex continued— There's no use strategizing up here blindly. We need to stop and see who or what is our enemy, only then will we know how to get out of this.
—I think the same as the young lady, however, here in front I don't see a very comfortable place to park!
Vlex bit her lower lip at this, but she didn't give up, not now that she had gained an adrenaline-fuelled courage.
—It would help us a lot if you could just tell us if they're riders!
That way, Vlex could better understand if the enemy was human or not. Since a monster with a mount was rarely seen and if such was the case, it meant that that monster was rank S…
An S-Rank monster was the equivalent of an army of one…
—Old man, slow down in case we have to leave in an emergency! —said Barban suddenly.
—Understood!
Barban's face went white as he looked down at the standing woman.
—What the hell do you think you're doing?! —Barban yelled as he reached out a hand to lower her to the ground. But she completely ignored him, surveying the surroundings.
—Geodon, you can brake!
It looked like they weren't being followed, at least not by hair.
—I said lower your head!
—You are idiot? They are not following us on horseback, no archer would have the ability to hit a shot at this distance and in any case...
It happened then.
Psh!* *Psh!*
Like petals falling from a crimson rose...
—... aNnd iN aaanY caSsssssseh...
His words were mixed with saliva and drowned in his own blood. His shoulders began to shake uncontrollably and his body lurched as she spun to the ground, at the feet of the silent adventurer's metallic boots.
Bell slowly lowered his head, as if he were a stone statue, and looked at the convulsing woman at his feet. Her body trembled for a few seconds before her eyes bulged and exploded like air bags.
Valyn was dead.
Before vomiting, Vlex's expression crinkled beyond recognition as she saw the two metallic arrows protruding from Valyn's throat and forehead.
Barban was petrified, with a pale face.
—Silly woman...! —Geodon spat in anguish.
—Datinos...?
But a voice brought the two lost passengers out of their trance. Bell's voice and hus black-gloved hand picking up the metal arrow.
"The Datinos originate from the natives to the North. What is this projectile doing so far to the South?"
The Datinos were mana-powered magic arrows, through this, one understood that to fire such a projectile, the archer must be a master hunter with a significant mana source.
But what Bell really wondered was why an arrow made on the other side of the continent, which belonged to a tribe of indigenous people with a culture just as secretive as that of the elves, had allowed something so valuable to come out of their hands and now was used here for such impure purposes.
—That woman… T-that woman, did she die? But seconds ago she was talking to us. H-how is it possible...?
Barban was still in shock and when Vlex approached Valyn's corpse to receive answers, they both noticed the same thing.
A huge shadow was making its way over his heads, the imposing Barban made a fool of himself before him.
Bell suddenly stood up and raising his sword to the sky, he nailed it to the floor of the carriage, piercing the thin wood and plunging the edge of the weapon more than 1 meter into the ground. The wagon tilted and then overturned.
—Whoaaaah?!
Vlex was thrown into the air like a rag doll.
Barban suffered the same fate. Before he knew it, he too had gone flying. When he reached for his gladiator's axe, he could see Geodon drop the reins of the beasts, who had received two arrows, and throw himself to the side of the road.
The wagon flipped over and the trio was sent into the air.
And to have been the cause of all this, Bell landed safely on the very spot where he had pierced his sword.
Before he could release a string of insults and curses towards Bell, Barban felt something under his body in the mud. Before he could get to his feet to recover from his fall, a pitch as dark as coal began to encircle his body and soon, a bony hand gripped his neck.
—...!
His screams were drowned out, he didn't even have time to fight back. His weapon was useless and in less than a minute, the tar had induced him to the ground.
"Nightmares?" Bell asked to himself.
In his eyes there was no fear that Vlex and Geodon suffered from a distance, as they watched as Barban and his titanic body were consumed from head to toe.
Suddenly, from the place where Barban had disappeared, a black mass began to take the shape of something. It was as if he was harnessing the Orc's body to feed himself… But as he was taking shape, a dull piece of metal sliced him in half.
Bell with his sword had prevented the complete transformation of the monster.
—Help! Please, help me!!
Bell turned around as fast as he heard the scream. Vlex was on the ground on all fours, resisting on his account the tar at his feet and the two skeletal hands on her neck that pushed her down.
Due to the distance at which they had been shot, she was too far away. And furthermore, the path from him to her had become a dark sea of skeletal hands reaching out from it.
But Bell swung his giant sword to his right, lowered his body to his knees, leaned forward, and then cut the air swinging his sword to the left. With this, his feet were lifted off the ground at inhuman speed and the synergy of the slash sent him flying forward.
Quickly the mana that circled his legs pushed him towards Vlex. He gently pushed the mana into his right hand and grabbed Vlex's outfit by the neck. To stop his speed, he plunged his sword into the ground again and smacked his back against a dry tree.
It seemed that the Vlex had lost consciousness from the speed bump.
But under this situation, Bell was wondering about more than just the safety of the young enchantress.
"Where is Geodon."
The old man had jumped long before Bell stopped the wagon. But his doubts were cut off abruptly.
—The relic. Hand over the relic. The relic. Hand over the relic. The relic. Hand over the relic.
Endless voices shouted the same thing in unison.
—The relic. Hand over the girl. The relic, Wiene.