'Where did Miss Madilith go?' Hofir looked around the hall franticly after gaining so distance from the knight.
There was no sign of Madilith anywhere.
He could keep track of her even while helping the others fight the knight so her scent vanishing was obvious.
Why did her scent vanish anyway? It's like she was teleported away or moved so fast that Hofir's senses couldn't pick her up.
She couldn't be hiding in the hall even if there was plenty of coverage to hide behind. Hofir would've still sensed her.
"Oi, lunkhead!" Bradwyn slapped Hofir on the side of the head after running up to him, "Focus on protecting ! I'm trying to cast a buff with a long incantation!"
"..." Hofir didn't respond. He continued looking around the hall for any sign of Madilith.
Arthur and the others were still fighting the knight. The knight wasn't sparring anyone, even going after Sabrina who wasn't even fighting with them but instead healing the party.
Toldur had to protect both Anais and Sabrina from getting attacked by the knight, leaving the archers vulnerable. Luckily the archers were quite nimble and kept their distance while choosing when they fire their arrows—proof that they've fought monsters this powerful before.
Since their normal arrows weren't working—since the knight's armor was too hard to penetrate—they had to resort to stopping the knight's movents using freezing arrows that makes the floor both slippering and freezes the knight's feet to the floor even if just for a few seconds.
"Miss Madilith is missing..."
"So what? She probably ran off to hide sowhere since she's such a coward—too scared to face anything without her precious Evelyn by her side. This hall is huge so she could be hiding behind one of the pillars or under the white sheets." Bradwyn said with a shrug.
Hofir knows that but since it was coming from this guy Hofir wanted to punch him instead of agreeing with him. The other thing is that he would've slled her if she was still here.
Arthur appeared in front of Hofir, "Hofir, I need your support! This guy is crazy strong! If I use my full power now then I won't have enough in reserve to fight the Blight King!"
"Arthur... Miss Madilith is missing..." Hofir responded.
"Huh? Does that an you can't sense her?"
"Her scent is gone."
Arthur closed his eyes for a second before opening them, "An energy signature is missing," He looked around the hall, specifically at everyone fighting the knight, "It looks like everyone besides Madilith is here."
He then frowned, "I'd go look for her but I can't let you guys fight this guy alone—"
"I'll go." Hofir spoke up, "I swear I'll bring her back."
Arthur's eyes slowly widened before he smirked, "I know. Be careful, alright?"
Arthur then vanished. The next mont an explosion resounded and the knight was sent flying into the ceiling by a beam of golden energy.
Hofir looked at the door on the other end of the hall. He began walking towards it.
"H-Hey, where do you think you're going!?" Bradwyn grabbed Hofir's arm, "No one will be here to protect if I try to use my spells. May I remind you, I'm still in the middle of finishing an incantation for a buff!"
'If you were as competent as Miss Sabrina then you wouldn't be taking this long to finish the incantation.'
Hofir wanted to say that but didn't have the confidence to voice his thoughts.
Instead he opted with the following:
"...Then co with . Miss Madilith might be injured. She can handle other magicians quite well but she has no way to stop those creatures besides casting a barrier to protect herself. The monsters will surround her in an instant. If she does cast a barrier then she won't hold out for long."
Bradwyn frowned as he looked back between the fight going on behind him and then back at Hofir.
"Y-Yeah, you're right. We need to make sure Madilith gets back safe, hahahah."
"....."
Hofir ignored Bradwyn and looked towards Arthur.
Arthur mouthed the words, "Good luck" when their eyes t. Hofir silently nodded before walking over to the door.
Coward, cursed Hofir inwardly as he glanced back at Bradwyn who was following him. But this is a good outco regardless, even if he didn't intend for it to happen like this.
"We're going to that door over there." Hofir pointed to the other end of the hall.
"Are you crazy!? That knight will catch up to us in no ti if we try and run for it!"
As Bradwyn ntioned before, the hall is huge. It was almost 100 ters long and half the length in width. Be that as it may, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the knight would subdue them with a lightning spear or so other attack.
He could hold his own against a party that can take down an S-class monster; if he wanted to kill Hofir and Bradwyn right now then he would do so in an instant.
Alas, he was too absorbed in teaching Flora and Arthur what it ans to be a noble and virtuous knight.
"—Such diocre swings! How dare you wield a weapon ant only for those with the will to beco one with their swords!?" He relentlessly pursued and attacked Flora and Arthur. Instead of just fighting on the floor, he was moving around a lot(jumping and levitating), which made it hard for the archers to hit him with their arrows.
"Let's use this chance to go there," Hofir picked Bradwyn up and threw him over his shoulder.
"O-Oi, what are you—" Bradwyn was about to say sothing before Hofir bolted towards the other end of the hall with incredible speed.
"Ack!" Bradwyn groaned when Hofir crashed with his legs planted firmly into the wall, "Warn next ti, you bastard!"
Bradwyn hit him in the back of the head with his staff.
A vein popped up on Hofir's temple but he didn't say anything to Bradwyn.
He helped Bradwyn get on the floor. The two of them looked back.
The knight was still fighting Flora and Arthur, not focusing on Hofir and Bradwyn at all.
"Let's go." Hofir turned the doorknob to the door, "Hm, locked."
He pulled back his fist, "Umph!" and broke the door in pieces.
"Y-You go first." Bradwyn stood behind Hofir.
Coward, cursed Hofir under his breath.
Contrary to what Hofir was expecting—a dark room with sinister air surrounding it—the room beyond the door boasted a majestic grandeur that he had only ever seen in castles.
A nave, its size even besting the hall they just left.
Two long isles of benches were on either side of the nave, with tinted glass windows shining all sorts of colors from above onto the marbled floor. The walls of this nave had an eerie resemblance to mirrors. Crystal chandeliers hanged from the ceiling, which chinked with each movent as it swayed.
The clean marbled floor reflected all that light that shone from above, onto the walls which resulted in the light bouncing around the room, creating a beautiful rainbow when they shined through the chandeliers.
Hofir could feel a powerful pressure coming from the other end of the nave, specifically from the platform where a throne stood.
A full set of armor was sitting on that throne, its helt sitting on its left thigh plate.
Looking down its legs...
A girl was laying there on the floor; her glasses laying next to her, broken. Countless treasures and artifacts surrounded her and the throne.
Hofir quickly bolted towards the throne.
It suddenly felt as if ti slowed down. Every hair on Hofir's body scread at that mont.
A creature walked out from behind that throne, revealing its ghastly appearance.
It had empty eye sockets but Hofir could feel it looking at him.
Three human-like wraiths were growing out of its back, giving it a hunched posture.
Two of them—the woman-like figures suddenly moved, embracing the body of the creature and covering the hole in its stomach.
The priest-like man was holding onto a book of so sort.
The monster's body was covered in runes at that mont, releasing a blood red mist from its body which made it even more nacing.
"W-What the fuck is that!?" Bradwyn shrieked, "I-I'm getting out of here! Fuck that little bitch!" he turned tail and ran towards the door.
A magic circle appeared on the ground, and a portal opened within it.
A figure ca out of that portal.
Bradwyn shrieked again and ran towards Hofir this ti.
Ignoring him, the legless creature lowered itself to the ground with its forehead on the ground:
"Please forgive my failure to eliminate them, My King! I called for every one of your creations to co to the cathedral but all of them have been wiped out by so mysterious individual! I am not quite sure if the individual is with these vermin! Please forgive this humble Lungcan for his failures!"
It was hard to tell who this blob of flesh was talking to. Maybe it was talking to that creature dragging a spear around? Or was it talking to the knight(if there's even a body in there)? Hofir wouldn't be surprised if there's a knight walking around with no head. All that's missing now is a horse for the headless knight.
In any case, Hofir had to prepare to take Madilith and flee. He wasn't confident in fighting that creature that was slowly walking up to him.
It wasn't even exuding any killing intent but his instincts were telling him to avoid the fight. His instincts had never let him down.
Hofir was about to make his move but stopped when the blob behind him spoke again.
"Ah—you are here for that sweet little angel resting her head on the boot of my king? Do not endanger your lives by grasping a fla barehanded. You will only burn yourself."
"...What?" Hofir glared at the blob.
"Rotten apples—is that the saying humans use to describe a troubleso situation? It is quite ironic to compare one with the outer appearance and mannerisms of a sweet girl to that of a rotten apple—a troubleso individual. Alas, my words are true; you will only be planting seeds in the wrong soil, effectively ensuring death to all the seeds before they can even sprout. Who is the soil and who is the seed, I wonder?" the blob floated around the nave keeping its distance from Hofir. Hofir's eyes followed its every movent.
"What the hell is that flying testical sack yapping about? And why aren't you killing it!? Make yourself useful for fuck's sake!" Bradwyn screeched in Hofir's ear.
"What are you....? That thing, the knights, the hordes of monsters..." Hofir asked the blob.
He wanted to confirm whether what the insectiman said was true.
The monster suddenly ca to a stop when it heard Hofir say that.
It dropped its spear and looked at its hands.
Its hands shook.
Its mouth agape but no sound leaked out.
The monster touched it face. An expression of what seem to be anguish appeared on its empty eye-socket face.
"—We are the creations of His Majesty, the King of Curses. You stand in the room where it all began. Where we—His creations ca to be," the blob ignored the screaming monster and continued talking when it approached the knight armor, "I was once the lungs of my King, giving him fresh air and dispelling toxic carbon dioxide from his body. Cursama was in here before the Great Curse was cast on this world."
The blob picked up the helt.
'Cursama? I don't think I've heard that na before.'
"She truly does embody the foul nature and terrors that plagued the the King of Curses. Feeding off the lifeforce of individuals through their dreams, granting them a life they want until their dreams end. She spreads her powers amongst the people around that individual, playing with their destinies. My lord was very sadistic and cruel but such barbaric nature is uncouth for the creation of a mighty King."
"...This Cursama... Does it get stronger the more people it feeds off of?" Hofir asked carefully.
"The question should not be how powerful it can beco. The question should be: who's next?" it laughed eerily.
"....."
"When that question is answered, then you must choose: trust or death." The blob picked up a coin and looked at both sides of it, "It all cos down to how much the person ans to you. Is their dream more important than their comrades? Well, you will never know since you will die today."
"I've heard enough. I'm taking Madilith." Hofir was about to transform but recalled Madilith's words.
-"Please don't transform again..."
He clenched his fists in silence. With a determined expression and forgetting his decision to flee, he walked towards the monster, ready to fight it head-on if it stands in his way.
....I'll save you from whatever dream you've been imprisoned in.
....I'll find a way to remove this mark even if I don't know what it is or what it does.
...How does it affect another person's destiny?
It doesn't matter.
I'll save you, Madilith...
My beloved...
But first....
Hofir ca to a stop.
"W-What are you looking at for!? Attack the damn monster!" Bradwyn noticed that Hofir was looking at him.
His claws retracted.
His fangs grew longer and bigger.
His head turned into that of a tiger.
"O-Oi, what are you—" Bradwyn tried to back away but all he could do was stare frozen in fear as Hofir's claws aid right for his throat.
There wasn't even a scread nor a yell for help.
Bradwyn's body collapsed after his head was sent flying. It landed behind one of the benches.
Hofir's mouth grew even larger before he picked Bradwyn's headless corpse up and shoved it down his enlarged throat. The sound of bones crushing reverberated in the nave.
The monster quietly watched as Hofir consud his own comrade.
This taste of skin... This texture of at... This taste of blood...
It was sothing he hadn't tasted in years. Hofir gleefully consud the remaining limb of his forr comrade before his wild eyes turned to the monster.
Sohow the Beast Lord Stripe's silhouette overlapped the dead king.
Hofir's golden eyes turned a bloody red. He got on all fours. His fangs dug into the floor like a hot knife through butter.
Screw [Beastification]. He'll unleash all his power even if he goes berserk.
Maybe it was the taste of human flesh that made him incapable of rational thought at that mont. The only thing he should be doing at this mont was saving Madilith.
But it won't hurt just to let his power run wild, right?
Hofir appeared in front of the dead king in an instinct. However, the next mont he was send flying to the side.
"Uack!?" he crashed into the wall.
"—Stay down, beast. It's my duty to eradicate evil."
He heard a woman's voice.
What the... How strong was this woman that she could subdue him in just one hit?
'Madilith...' his mind felt groggy.
Hofir could see a woman wearing a purple dress and a knight helt confront the beast. It wasn't even a few seconds later that the dead king was sent flying through the ceiling and the blob monster was crushed with overwhelming power.
The female knight jumped through the ceiling, following the dead king to finish the job.
Hofir collapsed on the floor. It felt like every bone in his body was broken.
He crawled towards Madilith.
The dead king's armor began disappearing into dust.
Hofir took hold of Madilith.
While holding her in his arms, he pleaded.
"Please wake up..."
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