Chapter 78: 1 (Part Two)

Chapter 78: 045 . Imperial Prince is Hunting Beasts -1 (Part Two)

-Ku-oooooh!

Redmoon crouched lower . The overwhelming rage it was feeling right now caused its black fur to change to red colour . Its whole body ballooned up; the muscles expanded and thick veins visibly bulged among the fur .

Redmoon had to lower its head due to how small the cavern was . Its eyes burned in rage while glaring at Hilda .

-A woman who knows no honour, I shall…!

Hilda closed her eyes . “Oh, the god of war Heim…”

Redmoon in unchecked rage rushed towards her position .

“Protect Lady Hilda!”

The dwarves quickly gathered in front of her and raised their spears .

However, Redmoon ignored them all . The spears mercilessly stabbed its whole body .

But the lycan, despite all the spears piercing its hulking body, viciously swung its arms amidst the dwarves and flung them all away .

Just before it could take an almighty swipe at Hilda with its claws…

“Grant a pair of swift legs to your faithful follower . ”

She opened her eyes and watched the lycan’s claws descend on her position . Despite the claws being a mere hair’s breadth away from touching her face, they were so slow .

She evaded them all in the blink of an eye .

She moved so fast that only afterimages were left behind in her wake .

Hilda dug into the lycan’s opening with the speed that far outstripped the undead monster’s .

“Grant your blessings of the battlefield on the spear of your faithful servant . ”

Divinity gathered on the spear’s blade .

Hilda stomped hard on the ground and thrust the glowing spear at Redmoon’s chest .

Staaab!

The spear’s blade pierced right through the lycan’s chest .

The wound expanded in a spherical shape with the spear at the centre before exploding, leaving behind a gaping hole .

At the same time, the dwarves standing by the sidelines thrust their own spears forward and stabbed Redmoon, forcing it back .

-Ku-aaaaahk!

Despite Redmoon stumbling backwards, Hilda still grumbled with dissatisfaction, “Can’t you just sit still? It won’t do to damage the stuffed animal meant to be a gift for his majesty . ”

-You! You monsters!

Redmoon alternated its glare between Hilda and Archbishop Raphael .

They were both monsters! They were even more insane than the Vampires, and to make matters worse, their strengths were superior to the undead too .

Only now did Redmoon realise it .

It finally realised why the Vampires were so frightened and chose to keep their heads down while hiding amongst the humans . It realised why even the Progenitors of Vampires dared not provoke the Imperial Family .

They were ruthless, insane, and absolutely dangerous existences, that’s why!

“So you’ve now become aware of it, undead? Indeed, we’re monsters . ”

Redmoon hurriedly looked behind after hearing the old man’s voice .

Raphael had just finished turning the other lycans into ashes and was now leisurely walking towards it .

“…Only by becoming monsters can we possibly hunt creatures such as yourself . ”

A sword of light penetrated into Redmoon’s back .

With divinity pervading its body, its spine began burning away . The lycan felt the scorching sensation of its back bones, intestines, and ribs melting away .

“Now choose . How do you like to die?” Hilda asked .

Redmoon gritted its teeth and shifted its gaze to the front .

Hilda slowly walked up to the lycan . “Will you become my stuffed animal? Or…”

Redmoon then looked behind it .

“Or will you burn to ashes?”

Raphael finished her sentence .

Sweat trickled down Redmoon’s face .

The two monsters were closing in on it .

Redmoon deeply sucked in its breath .

-Kuwaaaaahk!

After roaring out, it dashed towards Hilda .

She gripped her spear tightly and lowered her posture once more before digging into the incoming undead . “You’ve made the right choice . I congratulate you on becoming a new trophy!”

She and the dwarves stabbed their spears forward .

However, Redmoon used its arm to block the attacks .

The divinity-laden spear punctured its hand and the limb quickly exploded . Meanwhile, its whole body now resembled a hedgehog with all the spears sticking out .

An arm as tall as an adult human fell with a thud on the ground . But even then, Redmoon simply ignored both its lost arm and Hilda, and ran straight past her .

Hilda tutted unhappily . She never expected that the lycan would discard its arm in this manner .

Redmoon shed tears of blood . Ashes continued drifting away from the lost stump of its arm .

It madly dashed outside the underground tunnels to emerge outside, and into the disused and forgotten graveyard .

The lycans in the surroundings looked lost and confused by this scene, but they suddenly burst into flames and turned into ashes themselves .

Terrifying noises kept coming from behind as Redmoon ran away . The noises scared its already frightened mind even further .

-D-don’t kill me… Spare me…!

There was still a chance .

It must survive . Yes, it definitely must . It simply couldn’t afford to die like this .

-Don’t kill me… Please…!

It continued sobbing away while dashing through the forest . It turned its head briefly to look behind .

The two ‘monsters’ showed up by the mouth of the graveyard, glaring at Redmoon with eyes filled with madness .

The fleeing lycan’s eyes widened even further than before .

It even screamed as horror gripped its heart .

-Ah, ah, aaaaah-uwaaaaahk!

Inside the woodland called the red moon forest, the lycan was nothing more than a weak little beast .

**

(TL: In 1st person POV . )

This was a tale from a long time ago .

-All of you, start calling me Your Imperial Princess-nim!

The dwarves stared at a young human girl who happened to be even shorter than they were .

In fact, the girl couldn’t have been older than twelve, maybe thirteen years old at a push . She was grinning mischievously like a little troublemaker, maybe because of her young age .

She confidently placed a hand on her chest and announced proudly, all the while standing tall on her small frame .

-I’m the Theocratic Empire’s First Imperial Princess, Hilda Olfolse! I’m the noble personage that will become your master! Eh-hem!

It was rather mystifying to learn that such a young girl rescued these dwarves from slavery . What was even more puzzling was the fact that she was going to be in charge of this Hilda fiefdom temporarily too .

-So take good care of me from now on, shorties!

That was the first encounter between Hilda and the dwarves .

-I didn’t wet my bed!!!

One day, Hilda did wet her bed by accident .

She cried and protested, but the dwarves simply laughed away .

Naturally, she got angry and kicked them in the asses .

The dwarves then watched her master the ways of spearmanship .

Her shoddy movements eventually caused her to fall down on her butt . However, the dwarves helped her up every time that happened . Eventually, they crafted a spear that suited her physique better .

After reaching adulthood, she headed back to the imperial palace and stayed there for some time . She was tutored properly in the art of spearmanship while staying there . She was also granted all authorities related to Hilda fiefdom .

The dwarves bore witness to Hilda’s growth and development for many years .

She granted them freedom, and even prepared a place where they could call home as well .

To return the favour, they voluntarily served, looked after, and watched her grow .

In almost all the steps leading up to her adult life, the dwarves were there, guiding and helping her along the way .

And Hilda became the most precious person to all the dwarves .

Once I finished listening to Belrog’s tale, I kind of understood why they were so obsessed about her .

I looked at Belrog and spoke my honest impression, “What the heck, you guys were basically her dads . ”

Belrog flinched nastily and hurriedly shook his head . “Your highness! There’s the difference in stations to consider! Please be more careful with what you say . We were originally slaves, so you mustn’t even think about saying we’re her fathers! Especially more so when his highness the Crown Prince isn’t with us anymore . You must not carelessly utter those words out in the open . ”

Despite all of his protestations, he didn’t seem all that displeased by the term ‘father’ . I could simply tell by looking at the content grin etched on the dwarf’s face .

All around us were dwarves kitted out in silver-hued armours .

We were marching through the gaps between hard and dark-coloured trees at the moment . They called this place the red moon forest or something .

I asked aloud . “So this is the nest of the lycans, is it?”

“That is indeed so, your highness . ”

One of the Verdant Cross members responded to me . They scanned the darkened forest’s floor before unhesitantly heading in some direction .

“Since the lycans live here, can’t we just burn the whole forest down?”

“Regrettably, the trees found north of the forest are called ‘nordin wood’ . They are sometimes referred to as forged steel made out of wood, your highness . Not only do they possess the characteristics of resisting fire, they are also one of our most important natural resources . Their economic value comes only second to our mining operations . ”

Their toughness rivalled forged steel and not to mention, they were also valuable resources, he said .

Apparently, the lycans weren’t behaving this boldly a few months ago and it was business as usual back then . But after the Vampires practically vanished overnight, the lycans suddenly began unleashing their vicious side .

I looked around the area .

The Verdant Cross members were exploring the surroundings and rapidly advancing forward .

I asked another question to the Crimson Cross knight next to me . “You know, doesn’t it feel like we’re moving a bit too fast?”

“How so, your highness?”

“The lycan’s nest . I thought we didn’t know where it was?”

The Verdant Cross was moving really quickly .

The dwarves, the Crimson Cross, and myself were being guided by them into the forest .

A Crimson Cross member glanced at the Verdant Cross doing their thing and replied . “They are specialised in exploring forest environments like this one, your highness . They are most likely uncovering traces left behind by her highness’s abduction . ”

“Isn’t this still way too fast for that, don’t you think?”

“Their specialised field is different from ours, your highness . We are the judges . While we’re tasked with duties of torturing and uncovering the betrayers of our faith, and punishing them appropriately…” The Crimson Cross member glanced at the Verdant Cross group . “…They are the trackers . They focus mostly on the pursuit and hunt of the enemies, as well as collecting necessary intel . ”

Well, I could see that the Verdant Cross guys were agilely dashing over here and there before carefully scanning the ground and moving on .

I called out to them . “Oiii!”

One of the Verdant Cross members rapidly approached me and knelt down, bowing his head .

I asked him . “Do you really know where my sister has been taken to?”

“Yes, your highness . We’ve located her traces . ” He then pointed to a spot on the ground . “There, that’s a trace left behind by her highness . ”

I peered real closely at the ground before looking at a different spot .

For sure, there seemed to be a slight indentation there, but I couldn’t see much difference between that and the other bits of normal ground .

I glanced at the Crimson Cross guys for confirmation, but they also shook their heads as if they couldn’t tell either .

The Verdant Cross member nodded in understanding . “Such a trace is only recognisable to us, your highness . While stepping on the ground, one usually leaves behind a foot imprint that matches the surrounding nature . However, the trace itself is far too faint and there is a danger of it disappearing with the passage of time . Surely, even the lycans haven’t thought about such a thing, your highness . ”

It seemed that the lycans hadn’t considered the possibility of humans leaving behind their footprints as traces on these dried-up grounds .

It was then, a rather familiar stench assaulted my senses .

I urgently blocked my nose and frowned deeply .

I quickly shifted my eyes around and peered into the darkened forest . “…Get ready for battle . The bastards are coming . ”

I was right; a large red-furred lycan covered in wounds from head to toe was rushing towards our location while being accompanied by other blood-creations .

Fin .