Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 286

The forest was completely enveloped in darkness.As he ran after Diana, the tragedies that occurred here and there suddenly appeared out of the darkness without warning.

Wherever he looked, he saw dead enemies with arrows stuck in their heads and hearts, and ghoul corpses slaughtered by elf warriors.

Llewellyn wasn’t so weak that he would feel sick just because of the corpses, but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

He quite liked this quiet forest.

“I can see it!”

Diana, who was running ahead, shouted.

A group of people could be seen fighting in front.

Shekhinah and several elven warriors were surrounded by a considerable number of enemies.

Llewellyn shouted.

“You go first!”

“All right!”

Diana, who had been keeping in step with Llewellyn, rushed out.

The moment the enemies noticed Diana’s approach and turned around, the Knight Captain’s sword flashed.

The enemies that had been pressuring the elven warriors were instantly slaughtered and crumbled to the ground.

Taking advantage of the gap, the elven warriors quickly cornered the remaining enemies.

After the situation was finally sorted out, Diana looked at Shekhinah, flicking off the flesh from her sword.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, there’s no problem. Thank you.”

Shekhinah sighed and nodded.

“What’s the situation outside?”

“I left it with Helen.”

“Then I guess there’s nothing to worry about.”

Shekhinah nodded at Diana’s answer.

“While I was briefly held back, I lost sight of the two guys holding the fake spirit stones. I don’t know what they’re up to, but we need to stop them as quickly as possible.”

“Let’s just keep chasing them.”

Diana and Shekhinah nodded at Llewellyn’s words.

They started chasing their enemies again.

As the corpses of the enemies dealt with by the warriors who had gone ahead began to fall, Shekhinah’s keen hearing picked up the enemy’s presence.

“They’ve strayed from the path and gone into the forest. I’ll guide you.”

Shekhinah took the lead.

They left the well-worn path and entered the rough forest, but their speed did not slow down at all.

Llewellyn also desperately followed them.

How far did they run? Shekhinah cried out to those who followed her.

“Archers, go up in the trees! The enemy is not far away!”

“Yes!”

The warriors disappeared in an instant.

Shekhinah also began to use her magic power.

“Fire Spear!”

Spears of flame burst out around her in an instant.

It seemed that the elves had the keen sense to detect enemies from far away.

Diana shouted.

“Are they in front?”

“Yes!”

In response to Shekhinah’s answer, Diana charged forward without asking any further questions.

Following this, a spear of fire was fired, tearing through the darkness of the forest.

!

The magic that flew in with a sound like wind being cut mercilessly struck the enemy’s back as he was about to put down the fake spirit stone.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

A scream burst from the ghoul’s mouth.

At that moment, Diana’s sword, which arrived a beat later, flashed.

As soon as the screams stopped and the ghouls’ mouths opened, their necks fell to the ground, and their magically affected bodies were burned to ashes.

Those with only heads remaining looked like they wanted to say something, but Diana crushed their skulls without any mercy.

!

Black blood splattered across her uniform.

“…The more I look at them, the more unpleasant it becomes.”

In front of Llewellyn, a monologue that could not be said aloud came out.

These beings, neither dead nor alive, were clearly against the will of nature and God.

‘Maybe they…’

Perhaps they wanted not only to create immortal soldiers, but also to fill this land with beings that opposed everything about God Luce.

They even wanted to deny life that was born in a world dominated by light.

After a brief moment of distraction, Diana began to search her surroundings.

Soon after, Shekhinah and Llewellyn arrived, and she was able to retrieve the two fake spirit stones lying nearby.

“Found them.”

Diana struck the two spirit stones with her sword, knocking them together to gather them in one place.

The spirit stones, emitting ominous red lights, rolled uselessly across the floor.

“Should we destroy them?”

“No, there were orders not to destroy them recklessly. It might be under a trap spell. I will take them back as is.”

In response to Llewellyn’s question, Diana took a handkerchief out of her bosom.

Her intention was to wrap the fake spirit stones in it and retrieve them.

Just as she was about to bend down, Shekhinah, who had been watching the spirit stones, grabbed Diana.

“Just a moment.”

“Yes?”

As Diana stopped and turned around, Shekhinah shouted urgently.

“Both of you, get as far away from them as possible!”

“…!”

Diana, sensing danger, grabbed Llewellyn by the scruff of the neck and leaped backwards.

As soon as the two people’s feet left the ground, the spirit stones began to emit a bright red light.

“Shield!”

The two hid behind the magical shield that Shekhinah had deployed.

!

In a split second, a huge explosion swept through the surrounding area.

After a while, the vibration died down and the three people raised their heads again, looking shocked.

The ghouls’ bodies disappeared without a trace, and a huge pit appeared where the spirit stones had been.

The thick trees that had stood firm until just a moment ago were now broken and lying in disarray on the ground, with dirt and sand scattered everywhere, floating through the air.

If they had been even a little late, they would have certainly been turned to dust.

With his hair standing on end, Llewellyn mumbled absentmindedly..

“Crazy… wasn’t it a trap that would activate if it was destroyed?”

“I guess they made some more improvements in the meantime.”

Diana answered calmly.

Shekhinah looked back quickly and let out a short sigh of relief.

The explosion did not seem to have affected the area where her subordinates were stationed.

But it was still too early to relax.

Shekhinah, who had read the fluctuating magic again, suddenly raised her head.

“What now?”

Rumble, rumble.

The ground they stood on began to vibrate slightly.

The edge of the large pit gave way, sending rocks tumbling down.

The three of them looked around with their bodies tense.

Then suddenly the vibration stopped.

A few seconds of hellish silence passed.

A bright red summoning circle appeared around a giant pit.

“…!”

Red particles quickly gathered above the summoning circle engraved in the middle of the dark forest.

The red particles began to flutter and gradually formed a large silhouette.

Diana and Shekhinah hardened their faces and readied their weapons.

Llewellyn also took out a magic stone from his pocket and adjusted his grip on his sword.

After a while, the large mass of red light suddenly dispersed, and in its place was a giant snake coiled up as if it were made of darkness.

“…What is that?”

Diana responded blandly as Llewellyn let out a weak laugh.

“It’s a homunculus.”

“I didn’t ask because I didn’t know.” Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel·fire.net

Ignoring the prince’s small complaint, Diana took a step back.

The snake with its red eyes flashing looked like a mountain.

She had to tilt her head all the way to look up at its head, and its single red eye looked larger than that of an average person.

“…Is this thing alive?”

Shekhinah asked blankly.

It was a question that was natrually bound to arise when encountering a homunculus for the first time.

But Diana and Llewellyn couldn’t provide an answer to that either.

Because they still haven’t come to a conclusion.

While they were momentarily overwhelmed by the huge presence before their eyes, they suddenly heard a young voice from behind them.

“Oh my, was that a bit too much for a signal flare?”

It was clearly a place where no one had been present until just a moment ago.

They turned around in surprise and soon discovered a girl of petite build.

“They even blew away the kids we were moving.”

The girl tilted her head and checked the explosion scene.

As she moved, her beautiful elven face and her blond hair, which sparkled even in the darkness, swayed.

It was Jiklin.

Shekhinah murmured.

“This person… is a traitor to the Fog Forest tribe.”

“Traitor? How about calling me a pioneer instead?”

Jin grumbled, pretending to look dissatisfied.

It was obvious without anyone telling them that she was the master of that giant snake homunculus.

Shekhinah, whose face was distorted by the misconduct of her own kind that she had witnessed firsthand, suddenly noticed something floating around Jin’s shoulder.

Her face turned pale.

Llewellyn, who noticed the change, cautiously called out to her.

“Shekhinah?”

“…What?”

But instead of giving Llewellyn an answer, Shekhinah turned to Jiklin and asked her incredulously.

Jiklin tilted her head curiously.

“What?”

“Why…”

Even as she spoke the words, Shekhinah stuttered, as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“Why is there a spirit next to you?”

“Ah, this kid?”

Jiklin pointed at the small being hovering over her shoulder.

“It looks like you can see it. I guess it’s because we’re the same kind, huh?”

Shekhinah couldn’t take her eyes off the spirit hovering around Jiklin, listening to the youthful voice that seemed to be humming.

A particle of light in the shape of a small bird, often found in the Elf Forest, was flapping its wings as if it was guarding Jiklin.

“Her name is Rita. She was born from a spirit stone. I guess with all the experiments, her consciousness awakened earlier than expected.”

Jiklin continued speaking lightly.

Llewellyn and Diana, who had been looking back and forth in puzzlement at the two elves talking into the air, also realized the situation belatedly.

Diana, whose lips had been quivering, finally opened her mouth to speak.

“…Are you talking about a real spirit? Not a fake spirit stone or something?”

“Yes, that’s right. It even seems like she really follows that kid.”

Shekhinah tried to answer calmly.

The real spirit stone that had not yet been retrieved from Jiklin.

The spirit born there took Jiklin as its master.

Jiklin tapped the little bird’s beak as if it was cute.

“She listens well and works hard, so I decided to raise her. I also gave her a nice body as a gift.”

“…”

This was out of the ordinary.

It was nonsensical that the elf race, which follows the laws of nature, could create such monsters. And on top of that, a newly born spirit was guarding her.

Shekhinah grit her teeth.

“You will be executed right here and now.”

“Hehe, if you can, try it. Is this the way your apprentice knight spoke?”

Jiklin laughed heartily, imitating Arendt’s tone.

“I’m in a really good mood because I’m out for the first time in a while. I’m sure that snake feels the same, and Rita too. Since Roger gave his permission, I’m going to enjoy myself to the fullest while I can.”

“…”

Her clear green eyes formed a pleasant curve.

“And you, Prince, I’ll make sure to spoil you a lot. But you will have to pay the price for daring to play with the holy artifact that Lord Nike himself made.”

“Holy artifact, my foot. You’re kidding, right?”

Llewellyn spoke, barely able to keep his stiff lips from curling up.

“Go ahead and try it. The bones of that damn reptile are right here.”