Chapter 54

Chapter 54 – Chapter 8: Excavation #3

"This-! Why did you have to say that?”

“You are the one who asked!”

In-gong screamed at Carack after seeing the mini-map . There weren’t just one or two red dots . There were more than 30 dots coming from different directions .

Almost all of them were casios . There were some drake ogres mixed in but not many .

'Remnants of the enemy forces?’

In-gong raised his head and looked around quickly . His companions, who had been setting up a camp, hurriedly pulled out their weapons as the casios and drake ogres came running .

It was an unreasonable guess since the monsters didn’t have any identification marks, but In-gong felt like they weren’t the ones who had fought at the same temple . It was because they were running like crazy with a purple aura surrounding them .

“Don’t panic! Get ready for battle!”

Ferocious Eyes cried out fiercely . The centaurs held spears instead of bows and Delia blew a whistle to gather the dracos .

For the past three days, In-gong’s party had never been attacked by an enemy . They had just found the corpses of the casios and drake ogres occasionally .

In-gong finished organizing his thoughts . Now wasn’t the time to think leisurely . Like Ferocious Eyes said, it was time to prepare for battle .

Carack threw down the pile of firewood and picked up his dwarf axe . In-gong quickly opened his inventory and equipped Earth Quaker .

‘Dragon Blood!’

A reaction came as soon as he opened the power of a dragon humanoid . Earth Quaker cried angrily as it emitted a red and yellow light and In-gong’s white aura grew like oil had been added to fire .

However, that wasn’t all . In-gong raised Earth Quaker and gave a loud shout,

“Green Wind! Magic!”

He called upon the support magic that Green Wind had used in the battle against Mustafa!

However, unlike his expectations, nothing happened . In-gong looked urgently toward his waist . Green Wind had a temporary home in a small piece of wood, so her voice was heard from it .

'Master, it is impossible . I don’t have the strength right now!’

In-gong understood immediately . Green Wind had spent most of her power making a substitute of herself . He hadn’t thought she would be so weak that she couldn’t use her secondary magic, but now wasn’t the time to think about such things .

'I will do it myself!’

[Battlefield Protection Lv1]

[Grassland Reclamation Lv1]

It was the secondary magic that Green Wind had used in the battle over the small temple . It was level one, so it wasn’t as powerful as before, but it was better than nothing .

A green wind wound around In-gong’s limbs and his body felt lighter . At that moment, Green Wind exploded,

‘H-how? Master, how can you use my magic?’

Instead of replying, In-gong gave Protection of the Wind and Grassland Reclamation to Carack . Green Wind’s devastated voice was still buzzing at In-gong’s ears .

'T-this is my presence . . . !’

The image of Green Wind in his head flopped down weakly, but he couldn’t afford to worry about it right now . The centaurs at the edge were on the verge of collapsing under the casios .

In-gong raised a dwarf dagger with his left hand in order to use Below the King’s Flag . However, before he could do so, screams rang from before him .

"Kyaaack!”

There were four women in the group and In-gong’s gaze headed toward Delia who was riding a draco .

In-gong rushed out hastily after hearing the screams while Daphne screamed as huge monsters dived down from the sky .

Many things flashed through his head instantly .

The monsters, geist – a flying humanoid monster with the wings of a bat instead of two arms, were a vampire species that sucked the blood of their prey .

It went without saying that their goal was Daphne . A geist grabbed at Daphne with sharp legs .

In-gong immediately activated Aura . Explosive running speed unique to Beast Authority was triggered and In-gong moved in between Daphne and the geist, swinging his fist without any particular aim .

‘Explosive Power!’

In-gong fist struck the upper body of a geist . He had used the skill urgently but the strength was enough .

The body of the geist, that had been floating in the air, flew out a few meters and slammed into the ground . In-gong also lost his balance and fell to the ground, but it was only for a moment . In-gong’s body recovered quickly and he rushed toward the geist . The geist was a man with a huge body, over two meters tall, but his body was light because he was a flying person .

In-gong had to finish it in one blow . A geist’s most powerful close combat weapon was his large wings and sharp claws at the tips of his wings . The two wings were made of a special leather that was excellent in defense . Additionally, the battle could drag on for a long time if the geist flew up .

In-gong struck the geist’s chest once again . In-gong’s explosive power rushed out and cracked the geist’s ribs; Earth Quaker was breaking his body . Blood spilled out as his chest literally caved in and he died .

In-gong breathed roughly . His aura was exhausted due to the explosive, but he could still afford to use it due to Dragon Blood .

“Kiaack!”

It was Daphne, not the geist . Daphne was shaking on the ground while Carack was standing in front of her . Thanks to In-gong’s spell, Carack was surrounded by wind as he swung his axe at the geist rushing toward Daphne .

"Prince!”

“Fire Arrow!”

In-gong heard Carack’s call and instantly cast a spell . A fire arrow extended from In-gong’s left hand and flew straight at the head of a geist . The person blocked the fire arrow hastily with his wings .

The fire arrow exploded against the wings, but it was only a level one magic . So, there was only smoke and soot .

However, In-gong’s intention from the beginning had been to seal the man’s movements . Carack’s weapon was a large battle axe and not a fist, like In-gong’s . It wasn’t long before it hit the wings .

Carack swung the axe like a cleanup hitter and smashed the geist . The geist screamed and fell onto the ground . Carack stepped forward and took the geist’s head off with his axe, just like he was splitting firewood .

"Kuraha!”

Carack raised his head and gave a battle cry . It wasn’t a boast but to warn against any other flying geists .

After confirming that there weren’t any more geists, Carack turned and approached Daphne who was panting on the ground .

"Young lady, are you okay? Can you stand?"

Carack asked impolitely without honorifics but in a kind manner . He stretched out a hand toward Daphne .

Daphne stared blankly before nodding slowly .

“I-I’m okay . I can stand . ”

Daphne swallowed her saliva and grabbed Carack’s hands . Carack then pulled Daphne up at once . Instead of intervening in the battles occurring elsewhere, it seemed like he was devoted to defending Daphne .

Daphne gazed at Carack’s trustworthy back and started to chant a spell . She used a druid magic unique to dryads .

When In-gong saw this, he went into a strange mood .

'What is this? There is a strange sense of deprivation . ’

In-gong had tried to save Daphne and it was In-gong who had prevented the first attack .

Yet, what was that gaze? Shouldn’t she be gazing like that toward In-gong?

‘Perhaps, she doesn’t like younger people?’

Or was it the shaky leg effect?

However, the important thing right now was Daphne’s inexperience in battle . The Daphne that In-gong had known in Knight Saga wouldn’t have frozen up like this before an enemy .

The gap in time between Year 512 and Year 513, which was the start of Knight Saga, seemed to be bigger than expected .

‘Master, it isn’t the time to be thinking! The battle hasn’t ended yet!’

Green Wind’s voice woke In-gong up and he looked around . Ferocious Eyes had a blue aura around him as he dealt with the drake ogres and casios while the centaurs were fighting fiercely .

Just like the battle against the Red Lightning tribe, Felicia didn’t attack directly but restricted the enemy’s movements with various spells . The casios slipped on the grass while the drake ogres sank deep into the ground .

In-gong decided to support Ferocious Eyes . Delia was next to Felicia, so Felicia would be fine .

“Carack! Watch Daphne!”

“Understood! I will protect her!”

While Daphne stared excitedly at Carack’s back, In-gong rushed into the crowd of casios . Green Wind whispered into In-gong’s ears .

‘Master, I will strive to be helpful even without my power . ’

It seemed to be an extension of what happened earlier . She didn’t want to hear ‘Yes, you are useless!’ There was slight depression in her voice but In-gong dismissed it . It was because the group of casios was right in front of him .

The number of casios, drake ogres and geist was nearly double that of In-gong’s party, but it was an almost one-sided battle due to Felicia and the overwhelming combat power of Ferocious Eyes .

Once the fighting ended, the casios were literally wiped out . On the other hand, there were no deaths in In-gong’s party .

After confirming that the last casios had fallen under the hands of an elite centaur spearman, In-gong took a deep breath . The battle time itself was short, but he had a lot of fatigue because he had to focus on the battle .

Dragon Blood ended and Earth Quaker was returned to his inventory . Then he belatedly recalled Green Wind’s words .

"Thank you, that was great help . You were very helpful . ”

‘Thank you for telling me that . Although you are a bit harsh, Master is a good master . ’

In-gong laughed after hearing her voice mixed with relief, resentment and gratitude . She had lived alone for many years, so she seemed to have a lot of pride .

After finishing talking to Green Wind, In-gong headed towards Daphne and Carack .

"Daphne, are you okay?"

Daphne responded quickly to In-gong’s question .

“I’m okay . Thank you for saving me . ”

Her movements and voice were stiff, so it seemed like the effects of the battle were still with her .

“I’m glad that you are okay . Can you help with the treatment of the injured?”

“I understand . ”

Daphne ran instantly towards the centaurs . Although there weren’t any casualties, there were some injuries that could cause death or loss of limbs if not treated .

As Daphne left, Carack spoke to In-gong,

"I didn’t know that this was her first encounter . ”

“Huh?”

"That young lady said it . She was in shock throughout the battle . "

Daphne was 16 years old . The children of the demon king usually performed missions from their early teens, but the children of the concubines were different . If they didn’t volunteer, they didn’t need to participate in any combat missions .

In-gong watched Daphne as she used recovery magic on the centaurs . Certainly, signs of shock could still be seen .

"Your eyes are good . ”

"You must have noticed quicker . ”

Carack smiled and looked In-gong up and down . It seemed like he was looking for any signs of injuries . Then a voice was heard from behind In-gong and Carack .

"Shutra, should I be jealous that you protected Daphne?”

The owner of the voice was Felicia . In-gong shrugged and replied,

"Delia was next to Noona . ”

Both Delia and Felicia laughed . Felicia moved closer to In-gong and said,

"Your strength was great . Did you become stronger?”

“Thank you . ”

During the three days traveling together, In-gong had told Felicia about Earth Quaker . There was a high possibility of a combat situation in the north . Therefore, he couldn’t avoid using Earth Quaker as that would cause a sharp decline in his combat strength .

In-gong had thought of some excuses, including that it was a relic of the 5th Queen . However, in the end, he told her honestly that it was a weapon he had found in the same dungeon as the Thunder Light Anvil . He omitted that it contained Enkidu’s strength but it was still the truth .

At first, Felicia seemed somewhat upset but that disappeared when In-gong apologized sincerely .

In fact, what he had done was quite common among the children of the Demon King .

As a specialist in ruins exploration, Felicia had gone to many sites and secretly taken many relics . She couldn’t persecute In-gong for something she had done as well .

Felicia was more upset that In-gong had hidden this fact, that he had acquired Earth Quaker, from her .

There were factions among the royal children and subtle alliances between the different factions . Of course, it wasn’t really important but information was often hidden .

Felicia didn’t want to be in that type of bad relationship with In-gong and it was the same for In-gong as well .

‘I am glad that it turned out well . ’

He was determined to form a close relationship with Felicia .

While Felicia and In-gong were exchanging regards, Delia and Carack were speaking to each other . Ferocious Eyes neared the four people .

“9th Prince, 6th Princess, once the wounded soldiers are treated, we should move . ”

It definitely wasn’t good to stay in one place after being attacked .

"Yes, let’s do that . I will leave this place to Chief . ”

Ferocious Eyes’ gaze moved from Felicia to In-gong . In-gong nodded and Ferocious Eyes ordered the centaurs to leave .

After 30 minutes of traveling, the group set up camp next to some collapsed stone walls .

Naturally, In-gong and Felicia were next to Ferocious Eyes . Felicia spoke first .

"Those guys, they were covered in a purple aura?”

"Does Noona know what it is?”

Felicia folded her arms at In-gong’s question and replied,

"I can’t say outright but . . . It was a really ominous aura . It felt like I was facing a curse magic . ”

“Curse?”

"Yes, a curse . Thanks to the purple energy, they became stronger, but their health was being exhausted . It is like raising strength by reducing life expectancy . Their emotions were also mentally neutered . . . It can only be seen as a curse . ”

Felicia was a competent magician, but she couldn’t figure out anything else .

In-gong looked at Ferocious Eyes .

"Ferocious Eyes, it seems like the ones who fought at the temple aren’t the only ones . ”

"I thought so as well . The geist are monsters that are hard to find on the Enger Plains . ”

There were more monsters apart from the ones who attacked the small temple . Perhaps, there were also more monsters, like Mustafa, who could use the purple energy .

Ferocious Eyes closed his eyes and said in a heavy voice,

"Maybe there will be a second attack . ”

Usually, the casios would come all at once, but everything was different this time .

In-gong recalled the group of casios he had met on the first day he arrived at Enger Plains .

The appearance might have been a strategic move for the centaurs to head in the wrong north-west direction, instead of going to the north-east where the small temple was .

If so, such an action wouldn’t have been directed by Mustafa . There was a bigger pattern behind Mustafa .

‘And there is one more thing . ’

How did they figure out the true value of the small temple? The centaurs, who lived on Enger Plains with Green Wind as their guardian, hadn’t known about it .

In-gong had many questions . Felicia pressed a hand against her temples like her head hurt and spoke to Ferocious Eyes .

"It is worth going a bit further north, but what about defense?”

"I will send a few people back . The warriors of the other tribes haven’t been dismissed yet . ”

After the casios were blocked, the tribes were going to scatter back to where they lived . However, now wasn’t the time for that .

"Go to the north . We should go at least to the Northern Limit Line . Something will be there . Right now, we need information . ”

Felicia said and In-gong nodded . They had no intention of running away .

In-gong had to find White Eagle in the north and obtain information . Raising his head, In-gong looked towards the north .