Chapter 20 - Escape 2
I couldn’t afford to be found. Since I was on a rocky trail, I moved aside and hid behind a boulder.
The light drew closer every second. Soon enough, I heard horses’ hooves.
My curiosity got the better of . I peeked at the light source and discovered a cavalry team rushing through the path. Everyone wore yellow and carried banners with a golden mouse and fire torches.
Those banners were familiar to . They served under Zoli. I bet they were from the ambush site I had avoided, and they were following our tracks to et up with Zoli’s main force.
The cavalry team passed by. I left my hiding place just as the last of them was 200 ters away. I looked towards where Lenitia might have gone.
The light I had spotted southwest of here was moving toward the cavalry team.
Was she stupid? Or was that Lia acting as a decoy?
I had no idea. Since it wasn’t my business, I turned around and resud my journey.
That was my mistake.
As soon as I looked back, I ca face to face with another team of infantry in yellow uniforms. They were also moving in the dark.
"SHIT!"
"ENEMY!"
I didn’t know how many there were, but my brain stopped functioning. My muscle mory took over, and I made a wide arc with my spear, sweeping horizontally.
My iron spear glowed red, releasing a horizontal fla slash. The fire ring expanded outward and illuminated everything around for a brief second.
Surprised faces of rough-looking n, whose torsos were split in half, ca into view. A wave of hot wind blasted outward and left behind a vacuum of cold air around . Another flash revealed a second shockwave, which sent n in yellow clothes flying. So turned into fireballs midair.
After using up my musou attack, exhaustion hit like a hamr. It sobered up, and I ca back to my senses. My iron spear felt as soft as jelly. I had no choice but to discard it.
The surviving n ahead lit torches to find , even though they didn’t need them. Several dead bodies and severed torsos were already on fire.
Because it wasn’t wise to fight an unknown number of enemies in an open field in the dark, I kicked up so dirt and ran backward, using the sa trail as the cavalry until I reached the previous boulder. I slid to the side and got off the road.
"BE CAREFUL! THAT’S A MUSOU KNIGHT!"
I heard the commotion. Judging from their voice, they were as surprised as I was since they had never been trained to fight a musou knight. However, their captains or lieutenants might have.
Instead of heading west, east, or south, I moved north into unknown terrain. The shadow of a tall cliff in front of caught my attention. My adrenaline transford into a monkey as I leapt to the cliff and started climbing.
I couldn’t see anything on the cliff, but my hands kept reaching for sothing to grab. Fortunately, my body was thin, and I had built so strength after eating spawned food. Using arm strength alone, I managed to climb three ters.
Soon, my arms lost strength. I took a break mid-climb and looked below while I fetched a piece of dumpling in my shirt to replenish my stamina.
The pursuers were scanning the area, searching for . None of them had looked up yet. It was only a matter of ti before they noticed .
I have two options: either relocate imdiately and risk detection, or feign inanimate stillness and let them pass. However, if I lingered any longer, they might spot my shadow’s movents.
I made my decision to move.
I looked up. The top of the cliff was roughly two ters away.
With a surge of motivation and adrenaline, I pulled hard. My hands reached for any rocky surface and pulled up. This made think of a certain climbing ga.
The excitent and dread of being discovered must have triggered sothing in . My hands grew sweaty, and the rocks slipped.
Using my free hand, I pulled my knife from the belt sheath and stabbed it into the rocky cliff as a hold. Then, I pushed for another half ter.
"UP THERE!"
Well, shit. I must have made noise.
The commotion from below urged to push harder. I let go of the knife and stepped on it. Using it as a foothold, I jumped up and grabbed the top ledge. With another pull, both elbows got on top of the cliff.
CLINK.
Sothing hard hit my back. Probably an arrow.
I had no luxury of looking back. I lifted my legs and rolled.
I was out!
While rolling, I caught a glimpse of multiple arrows flying upward. Every shaft missed .
That was close.
But it wasn’t over. I couldn’t stop here.
With only one knife left as my weapon and an empty musou bar, I couldn’t challenge an army. I turned around and looked for a path to leave.
The dieval era was certainly a challenging ti. Visibility was limited solely to the illumination provided by their torches. Nevertheless, that could be used to determine the enemy’s position.
I shifted my attention to the most shadowed section and proceeded with caution. But I stopped almost instantly.
There were eyes. Gleaming eyes, staring at from the dark.
Oh, co on. Out of the frying pan, into the fire?
One of them walked out of the dark. Whatever it was, it looked small... like a chicken.
Gleaming eyes? Chicken?
"CAAA!"
It was one of Cow-Cow’s buddies!
"What are you doing here?!"
"CAAA!"
More crows erged from the darkness. They waddled away, but one poked my leg.
"What is it?"
"CAAA!"
It turned around and ran.
Did it want to follow them?
Whatever. There was no alternative available to . I followed the crows and their red eyes.
From below the cliff, I heard horses’ neighs and loud commotion. The cavalryn must have arrived to search for .
"FIND THAT MUSOU KNIGHT, OR YOU’RE DEAD!"
That wasn’t the way to encourage your n, dumbass.
I stopped paying attention to my pursuers.
The crow chickens were so dark they blended into the night, and I could barely keep up with their walking speed. Fortunately, they kept looking back, showing their glowing red eyes.
After walking for half an hour, we trekked down the hill and stopped in front of a cave. The crows made way for to enter.
This gave PTSD. I hoped the oxygen level in the cave was sufficient.
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