My Demons

The bandits, tired of their frantic and futile assaults, paused and started putting some distance between themselves.

“Damn, he’s like a one-man ogre…” 

“That sword – isn’t that magic?”

“I thought I was mistaken…! But that’s blood magic!”

While they withdrew, they cast a quick look behind and their faces suddenly turned ashen. The bandits who had fled into the woods were now heading back in this direction.

It appeared there were easily more than a hundred of them.

Ha, just like a group of hounds.

“Grania. Grania!”

Because of our frantic running, Grania ended up somehow pinned beneath my foot. I nudged her a few times with my heel, but there was no response. Damn, she couldn’t be dead, could she?

Observing my actions, the bandits around us slowly began to gather, maintaining a safe distance. It appeared they were forming a circle, showing no inclination to charge directly.

Are they buying time? This is the worst.

“Phew…”

Preparing for the final charge,

Twang!

“Ugh.”

At the annoying sound of a bowstring, I immediately crouched and evaded the arrow. However,

“Huh?”

The arrow wasn’t aimed at me from the start.

“Ahhh!”

Looking up at the scream, an arrow with blue feathers was lodged in a bandit’s neck.

The man fell from his horse like a decayed log, still clutching the arrow.

Up until now, the thunderous sound of horse hooves, which had been drowned out by the clamor of the bandits, resonated across the plains.

I instinctively glanced back.

The bandits did the same. I heard a quivering voice.

“Look, look-“

“The knights!”

Filled with fear, a bandit shouted, and indeed, a line of knights was charging towards us.

The knights, shimmering blue in the moonlight, announced their presence not with shouts, but with the weighty thud of their horse hooves.

I, or rather, Kim Seung-soo, had never witnessed ‘knights’ in real life. A natural fact for someone living in the 21st century.

But despite my lack of experience, it was evident that those rushing towards us were knights. You could tell at a glance.

Though they were only sixteen in number, they were immensely imposing.

Large horses, impenetrable plate armor, helmets with faceguards, lances over 3 meters long.

Some even had armor for their horses.

To think that they could gallop so gracefully with a rider and heavy armor… Although I don’t know much, they must be high-quality warhorses.

The knights were gradually accelerating, yet their formation remained unbroken.

The gap was so narrow that if they reached out, they could touch the knight beside them. No one was leading or lagging behind.

Unlike me, lost in a scene out of a movie, the bandits displayed various reactions to the impending doom.

“Retreat to the river!”

“What kind of nonsense is that! If we let them go, the boss will kill us!”

“We’ll die now if we don’t retreat! And we’ve already let some of them go, what’s the difference!”

“Kagil! What about Captain Kagil!”

“Kagil is gone! He was defeated by the wizard!”

Then, another arrow soared through the air and pierced through a bandit’s mouth.

Observing it, only one knight among them wielded a bow instead of a lance.

That knight, positioned in the center of the formation, fired two more arrows, taking the lives of two more bandits. He was a remarkable archer.

Then, he holstered his bow and drew the longsword at his waist. Pointing the sword at the bandits, he let out a thunderous roar.

“Charge-!”

The booming voice surprisingly belonged to a young man.

Upon the young knight’s shout, his companions echoed and thrust their lances forward.

As the knights accelerated to full speed, a thunderous sound rang out like hail falling.

The bandits surrounding me were already terror-stricken in the presence of the knights.

In the end, the motley crew that had burst out of the forest and sprinted across the plains had no option but to confront the knights’ charge.

Well, to say they confronted it might be somewhat inaccurate.

They were utterly demolished, to put it more precisely.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

“Gurk.”

One of the knights impaled both horse and rider with his lance.

And yet, as if still possessed of vigor, the knight’s warhorse surged forward and collided with the stumbling rider, knocking him down.

Most of the knights, after thrusting with their lances, drew their swords and began butchering the bandits.

War hammers and axes were occasionally wielded, but the most impressive weapon was a massive two-handed sword.

“I am Ankir of Whitestone!”

The giant knight, who bellowed loudly, swung his sword with apparent ease, a blade that seemed to exceed 150 centimeters.

Whenever his two-handed sword caught the moonlight, bandit limbs and necks soared into the night sky.

Those daring enough to approach him were knocked down by the pommel or crossguard, their faces shattered by his fist. He moved like a swift bear, not a human.

The knight in the blue cape was also conspicuous. After skewering two bandits with his lance, he drew a sword resembling a rapier.

He wasn’t as imposing as Ankir, but he possessed considerable stature.

It seemed strange for a man of his build to wield such a light fencing sword, but…

“Hmm.”

Swoosh!

After witnessing his rapid strike, I had to revise my assessment. The sword shot out like a bullet, piercing through shields, hands, and into the enemy’s neck.

It wasn’t a precise strike targeting vital points but a forceful thrust that overcame obstacles and claimed the enemy’s life.

Every time the blue cape billowed, a bandit with a hole in his body tumbled to the ground.

No ordinary bandit appeared capable of stopping him.

Taking a moment to catch my breath and assess the battle, a knight approached me. It was the same knight who had been shooting arrows from the center of the charge.

From afar, I hadn’t noticed, but up close, he wore splendid plate armor adorned with gold accents on his shoulders and chest.

Moreover, his helmet resembled a lion’s visage.

The armor seemed oddly familiar…?

Just as I pondered this, the knight looked down at me and inquired boldly.

“Did you also come from South Harbor?”

‘You also’… He must have already met Ellen and Luke.

Though I felt a bit uneasy about his casual condescension, I nodded cautiously.

“…Yes.”

“Get on the back. I’ll make room.”

As I motioned toward Grania, pointing out her condition, the knight extended his hand.

“First, attend to my comrade.”

“Is she alive?”

“Ah,”

With a sudden realization, I quickly knelt and placed my ear near Grania’s mouth.

I heard faint breathing.

“Phew, she’s alive.”

“Very well. Load her onto the back.”

I swiftly picked up Grania and positioned her on the saddle as the knight shouted, “Randall!”

In response to the call, another knight rushed over, and I climbed onto his back.

“Yah!”

At the command of the knight with the gold trim, the knights who were still in control gathered together.

Except for one who was sprawled on a horse, supported by a comrade, they all seemed unscathed.

On the other hand, approximately half of the 150 bandits had been dispatched in that brief period, and the remainder were fleeing. It was an astonishing exchange rate.

The knight in the blue cape, having rejoined his comrades, cried out.

“Look at the forest! They’re assembling!”

As he spoke, the forest became increasingly illuminated by torchlight. Perhaps the leader or key figures of the bandit gang were driving their minions toward us.

Ankir, the colossal knight who was soothing his spirited horse, proposed in a resounding voice.

“Why don’t we eliminate them while we have the opportunity? Chances to face them on the plains are scarce!”

Some knights concurred with his suggestion, but the knight with the gold embellishments on his armor shook his head firmly.

“No! Our priority is to rescue these mercenaries! Everyone, head back to the garrison!”

“Yes!”

No one voiced objections. The knights swiftly organized themselves into a battle formation and began galloping northward.

Ankir, the knight in the blue cape, and the knights clad in plate armor brought up the rear, while the knight with the gold-trimmed armor led the way.

The pursuing bandits unleashed arrows, but their subpar bows couldn’t penetrate the thick plate armor.

On occasion, when enemies came too close, the knights would surge forward, dispatch them, and then return.

This sequence of actions occurred seamlessly, without any need for specific commands. These knights had clearly been coordinating with each other for a long time.

It seemed they had found the right place.

As I contemplated this, a strangely familiar sight came into view.

It was a garrison surrounded by carts placed sideways and wooden horse spears serving as an outer barricade.

In the center, a massive flag fluttered, bearing an embroidered golden lion standing on its hind legs.

The real-life realization of a landscape I had previously only seen on a 2D screen still felt novel.

My awe was interrupted by a thunderous roar that emanated from inside the garrison.

Then, dozens of arrows sliced through the night sky, and a low-flying arrow that grazed a knight’s helmet brought down the pursuing horsemen.

Having shaken off some of the horsemen, the knights entered the garrison through a passageway.

“Now, pull!”

At the sergeant’s command, twenty-seven soldiers pulled on the rope.

The wooden horse spears, which had been lying flat on the ground, elevated at an angle.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

“Damn!”

Four horses were impaled like kebabs on the sharp wooden stakes.

Before the horses’ pitiful cries could subside, nearby soldiers who had been on standby charged forward, thrusting their spears.

The horsemen who had barely halted their horses were skewered on the spears and met their demise.

“Fall back!”

“Retreat, retreat!”

Arrows continued to rain down on the hesitating horsemen.

Turning around, I saw crossbowmen with weapons slung over their shoulders on the fallen carts and archers standing behind them, endlessly releasing arrows.

The horsemen, who had sustained significant casualties in a short span, hurled curses and withdrew.

“Counterattack!”

“Set fire!”

The infuriated horsemen circled the garrison, shooting arrows and hurling torches.

Most of the arrows were deflected by the shields held up by the soldiers, but the torches ignited the carts and dry grass, rapidly increasing the inferno’s size.

“Damn, water! Bring water!”

“But we don’t have enough drinking water,”

“Enough with that excuse!”

Desperate soldiers shouted frantically, while the caged dogs also barked loudly.

Observing this, the knight with the gold-trimmed armor raised his commanding voice.

“Rimond! Where is Master Rimond!”

In response to his call, a figure in blue emerged from somewhere.

That’s… a water spirit, isn’t it?

The spirit, entirely composed of translucent water, took on the form of a naked boy. Instead of a lower body, a swirling water current extended, giving the impression of surfing through the air.

The spirit circled the garrison, extinguishing the flames, then ascended high into the sky and slowly spun. The swirling water current expanded like a billowing dress.

The moonlight refracted within the water curtain in a mesmerizing display.

Perhaps awed by this majesty, the horsemen circled the garrison a few times before eventually disappearing into the forest.

“Sigh.”

With the tension relieved, I let out a long sigh and slumped down.

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