The Lady Of The Red Moon (8)

At that moment, Kaiston abruptly halted his horse.

“Master…?”

“Shh.”

Kaiston half-closed his eyes as if focusing on something, then suddenly leapt down from his horse.

He helped her down from the horse and drew the scabbard that had hung on his back.

“Stay still.”

Before she could answer, he cloaked his sword with sword aura and severed the restraints around her wrists and ankles in an instant.

“It’s a giant worm. It’s so fast that even at full speed it can easily catch up to a horse.”

“Is it dangerous?”

He smiled softly at Liris, who asked in a trembling voice.

“Well. Are you scared?”

“I’m scared, but… with you here, I think I’ll be okay, Master.”

He watched her say that for a moment, then raised his hand.

Seeing his large hand approaching her face, Liris half-expected a little affection, but he cruelly pressed her hat down over her head.

“Don’t move. If you’re not confident, it’s better to at least keep your eyes shut.”

“Yes, I will.”

Kaiston turned his back to her.

His violet eyes fixed on a distant point beneath the earth.

He stood quietly with his sword lowered, not even raising a trace of sword aura.

He appeared as if he’d given up on everything, but Liris knew well that he couldn’t be like that.

Her heart began to race at the sense that something was about to happen.

Just as she was about to burst into a ragged gasp she could no longer hold back,

Kuwaaa!

a monstrous creature, huge enough to swallow several horses at once, burst up through the ground.

The worm-shaped thing opened its maw and lunged straight at him, intent on swallowing Kaiston, the horse, and Liris behind him in one gulp.

Although she had been advised to keep her eyes closed, Liris did not.

She opened her amber, luminous eyes wide and stared at her master’s back.

Silver sword aura gathered instantly on his sword, Pluto, creating the illusion that the blade itself was lengthening.

Whoooosh—!

Suddenly a storm of mana surged explosively around him and focused into a sharp point.

And at that moment, just as the giant worm’s gaping jaws tried to engulf him—

Slash!

Without warning, without any flourish, a silver light cleaved the space.

Liris couldn’t tell what had happened.

She only witnessed the strange sight of the world she was watching being sliced diagonally and collapsing.

He quickly sheathed Pluto back up and placed his left hand on the sword’s face, thrusting it forward.

“Hwang!”

Something like a membrane covered them.

Liris couldn’t see the transparent, immaterial force-field, but she noticed it because the thick green ichor pouring from the giant worm slid down that barrier.

Crackle…

A acrid smoke drifted as the surrounding ground blackened.

He felt a renewed surge of fierce energy flood his body as he held his stance.

A gale began to rise, but neither Liris nor his horse retreated.

His sword pulled back, then lashed out violently.

Kwakkwakkwak—!

The silver light drove through the worm’s ragged maw and sliced along its body, blowing the worm’s torso apart.

Kyaaaak!

A horrific scream echoed.

The thrashing body of the giant worm slowly disintegrated.

Thud!

The massive carcass collapsed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dark red dust.

Even that was stopped by the protective barrier he had raised and could not reach Liris.

Liris watched his back as he straightened and casually sheathed his sword, her heart pounding loudly.

It was truly overwhelming force.

There were very few knights able to take down a giant worm alone even in the Empire.

But to handle one this easily was something only the likes of Grand General Luther or the Imperial First Knights’ commander Baron could do.

Considering he was only thirty, it sent a chill of awe down her spine.

He stood still for a moment, checking that there were no other threats, then turned back to Liris.

“Let’s go.”

Perhaps put off by how brightly her eyes shone, he pressed her hat down over her head again.

“Giant worms aren’t that impressive.”

He helped her back onto the horse.

“Still, you were very cool, Master.”

His body paused at her words.

He stood like that for a moment, then made a small groan.

“You say the strangest things.”

Since he was already mounted, Liris didn’t notice that his face had flushed slightly.

Not long after they resumed riding slowly, they met knights coming out from the fortress.

“Commander!”

Vice-commander Saik had come out leading about twenty knights.

“Saik.”

Saik glanced at the giant worm’s corpse visible even from afar and spoke.

“You’ve already taken care of it.”

Because the boundary stones near Korum had sent a signal, five groups of twenty were out on patrol.

Each patrol was instructed to keep distance and scour the area near the boundary stones, joining forces to deal with any monsters encountered.

“Since we’re here, we’ll recover the carcass and return. You go ahead.”

At Saik’s words the other knights groaned and showed obvious disappointment.

“Vice-commander, that’s harsh.”

They had finally encountered the Commander’s ‘lady’ and now they had to part already!

“Just show your face once… Ugh!”

Saik smacked the back of the head of the young knight who spoke tactlessly and cleared the way.

But Kaiston shook his head.

“Let’s return together.”

The knights silently cheered at his words.

They knew well that their commander never left the field before his subordinates returned, but they hadn’t expected him to do so even for a woman.

From Kaiston’s perspective, protecting one woman wasn’t difficult, yet the knights felt oddly moved, as if he valued them more than her.

In any case, they were granted the brief privilege of observing the commander’s ‘lady’ up close.

“She must be short. She doesn’t even reach Commander’s chin.”

“Her hands are very small and pale. Her skin looks white too.”

“Can she even walk with those tiny feet?”

Saik shot a sharp glance at the chattering knights.

“You lot. How much more rolling around do you plan to do when you go back?”

“Heh heh. It’s fine. Even if we roll later, we can’t miss this precious opportunity!”

They declared resolutely.

“Exactly. After all, she’s Commander’s woman.”

“Good heavens. That’s really an odd pairing of words: ‘Commander’ and ‘woman.’”

Liris watched, astonished, as the knights chatted so casually with their commander right in front of them.

If they were the Imperial First Knights, it would have been unthinkable.

Wasn’t Kaiston both their commander and the Duke, the lord of the Grand Domain Sinal, a distant high noble?

But he seemed not to care in the slightest.

While the knights chattered, they neatly collected the monster’s carcass, and their commander watched in silence.

“Phew, it’s done. This one carries a poisonous ichor, so it’s troublesome as expected.”

“Yes. Train to fight them from a distance whenever possible…”

As he said that, Kaiston suddenly stopped the horse.

Without giving any orders, Kaiston turned west and began to gallop at top speed.

Saik and the other knights quickly mounted and followed behind him.

“Liris, I’m sorry. We can’t delay now.”

“I’m fine, Master.”

She answered, biting her tongue to stop herself from saying more.

He held her so tightly she pressed her face into his chest.

Listening to the uneasy thud, thud, thud of his heart, she realized that something had happened.

Not far off they found another giant worm sprawled out.

The closer they got, the stronger the foul stench in the air became.

“Commander!”

A gray-haired knight who had spotted Kaiston ran up to him with a pale face.

“Zik.”

Kaiston dismounted quickly and scanned the area around the giant worm with his eyes.

“During the clean-up it detonated itself…”

Zik ground his teeth as he reported.

Three or four knights closest to it, soaked in the poisonous ichor, lay unconscious in a ghastly state.

Saik and the arriving knights were left speechless.

Kaiston hurriedly pulled antidotes and superior healing potions from his magic bag.

He poured them into his men without hesitation, but their condition was too dire.

The giant worm’s ichor couldn’t be cleansed by ordinary antidotes in the first place.

Liris stood beside the horse and gazed at his back.

He would lose his precious subordinates.

He had already lost hundreds over the past decade and surely would again.

So the three or four knights about to die today wouldn’t be a monumental loss, perhaps.

Liris thought that if she pretended not to see it now, wouldn’t he recall this day later when her identity was revealed?

Would he resent her then, asking why she hadn’t saved those knights when she could?

But… it was too soon now.

She couldn’t yet say she had Kaiston’s heart completely, at least not enough to reveal her identity.

‘Not yet. Not yet…’

“Commander, it already seems too late.”

Saik grabbed Kaiston’s arm.

Perhaps knowing it as well, Kaiston slowly straightened.

The potion bottle in his hand crumbled into powder with a dry sound.

For a moment Liris turned and their eyes met.

At the instant she saw his once-bright violet eyes darkening to black, she stepped forward without realizing it.

The first step was slow, but the next was faster.

And the following step was faster still.

Soon she was almost running toward him—No, toward the knights lying behind him.

“Liris…?”

Without even heeding Kaiston’s puzzled look, Liris dropped to her knees on the ground.

“De Ruana Karta. Heal.”

A dazzling white light began to spread from her small body.

A flood of sorrow close to wailing and a chest-tightening joy poured out together.

A holy melody from nowhere captured their souls and made them kneel.

“Aaaaaah…”

“God…”

Someone murmured as if groaning.

“…exists.”

Yes, only then did everyone realize.

It was holy power.