Free Web Novel“Damn it!”
Rotisha cursed inwardly. Landing hard, she steadied herself on the ice, crimson eyes locked on the direction the monsters surged. The veins on her hand, clenched tight around her spear, stood out starkly.
Thrown clear of the monster tide by the elf girl’s freakish strength, she felt no gratitude at all.
By all rights, the one still standing there, fighting, should have been her—the Hero.
“Haa...” Rotisha exhaled a long breath, stifling her frustration. But Aislin was right.
If humans appeared among the enemies to come, then as a nonhuman elf, Aislin couldn’t act recklessly without risking violation of the alliance treaty. At such a time, only a Hero with the prerogative of “strike first, report later” could move.
Casting one last look at the elf girl as she began transforming into the silver deer, Rotisha lifted her spear and sprinted back the way they’d come. She vaulted over deep cracks in the ice with ease, her movements as light as a bird in flight.
That missing human child? Rotisha wasn’t worried. She didn’t believe that the one holding the post of Minister of Armaments in the Human Alliance would exaggerate something like this.
Aislin gripped a long, eel-like monster in her hands. Just seconds ago, its teeth—sharp enough to tear through iron—had been savaging her arm, its body writhing madly as it tried to rip flesh away.
But with divine blessing coursing through her, fully deified, her body’s toughness had reached terrifying heights, rivaling Heroes with defensive authorities.
The eel-beast was mindless, nothing but fangs and muscle built to bite and rend. Even with its skull in her grasp, it still lunged, trying to pierce her palm and slither back to the water.
Aislin squeezed. Bones shattered in a chain of cracks, and she flung its limp body back into the depths.
The black waters shimmered with pinpricks of eerie blue light—beautiful, deadly.
These monsters had dwelt in this place for countless ages. Now, they were converging, lured by the golden blood dripping from Aislin’s wounds. To them, that blood was an irresistible beacon.
Aislin let the wound bleed, refusing to close it too soon. Surrounded by swarming monsters, she walked with deliberate calm, stepping across the shattered ice into deeper waters.
Then, she stopped.
Half-elf, half-silver-deer, her form glowed with divine silver radiance that traced every line of her body. Her beautiful face was expressionless.
She looked back toward where the Hero had gone. The sky was still black. The broken ice mirrored silver glimmers, while beneath flowed a river of ghostly blue light. The world seemed inverted, suspended upside down, breathtaking.
...
“C-Captain! Something’s wrong! Something’s terribly wrong!”
A wave of shrieks rose aboard the Starbell Lily, as though they’d seen a ghost.
“What now?! Did the auxiliary magic cannon jam? Are the magic crystals drained dry?”
In the control room, the captain rapped his knuckles impatiently against the table—thump, thump, thump. “Or is it those damned golden-armored knights again, charging off against orders into the monster tide?”
“It’s none of that.” The thin first mate wiped sweat from his brow, voice trembling with both excitement and dread. “It’s... it’s... the monsters! They suddenly all pulled back!”
“Who retreated?” The captain scratched his ear, his expression twisting. “You realize false reports in battle are punishable by hanging?”
“It was the monsters! The monsters!”
The first mate leaned forward over the table, shouting hoarsely. “Our sailors and knights were being overrun, but then—suddenly—the monsters all turned, like answering a summons, and rushed away like a receding tide. Every last one!”
“All of them?” The captain shot to his feet, disbelief on his face.
“All of them!” the first mate bellowed. “The monsters are gone! Not a trace left!”
“Move! Take me out on deck!”
The captain’s voice cracked with urgency. Striding to the hatch, he pushed it open and stamped against the blast of cold air.
The deck was packed with people, celebrating as though they had won the battle outright.
Taking the spyglass from the mate, the captain scanned the ice outside. Sure enough—aside from the scars of battle, not a single monster remained. Even the mist had thinned.
“Look, Captain!” the mate cried, wringing his hands, wild with relief. “So... should we still wait for the Heroes to return?”
“Wait!”
The captain stroked his chin, his tone iron. “Of course we wait. For all we know, this sudden retreat means the Heroes struck deep, smashed the enemy’s core! If we sail now... heh...”
He let out a cold chuckle. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
“You’re right, you’re right! I was too rash...” The mate bent low, nodding rapidly. His humble tone pleased the captain.
“Go settle—”
The captain’s order cut off mid-sentence. His mouth gaped wide, the spyglass frozen in his stiff arm. His eyes stared in shock.
At the same moment, cheers erupted louder at the front of the deck.
“The Heroes have returned!”
Someone shouted it, and instantly the crowd was swept up, frenzy exploding into jubilant cries.
But the captain’s face turned ashen. The spyglass trembled in # Nоvеlight # his grip.
“It’s over... of the Heroes... only one has returned...”
