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Chapter 44
Seeing the strange form, Daphne remembered the monster they had first met while looking for Jacquette.
It looked like a mix of several different monsters.
Daphne quickly realized this wasn’t a normal form.
Theophanes’ serious expression confirmed it.
Although he looked slightly surprised, Theophanes immediately struck the hesitant monster with the sword in his hand.
He destroyed its core, and the monster slowly disappeared.
[It smells like many monsters, but there’s only one? What does that mean?]
Ponti asked seriously.
“It’s one monster made from other monsters fused.”
[What?]
“The head of a wolf monster is attached to the body of a bird monster.”
[How is that possible…]
Ponti muttered that he had lived a long time but had never seen such a thing.
Theophanes climbed back onto Ponti, still deep in thought.
But it didn’t last long.
“We need to find the child quickly. Let’s go.”
At Theophanes’ words, Ponti ran again.
Running toward the energy, they could see a large group of people gathered even from afar.
[Daphne!]
As they got closer, the connection grew stronger, and they heard Iverno’s voice.
It seemed Iverno hadn’t been attacked.
Iverno was using his small body to hold up a protective shield, protecting the children, Helio, and the others.
“Jacquette! Iverno!”
“Mom! Dad!”
Daphne called out, and the child’s voice trembled from inside the shield.
[Mom? Dad? Wow, the kid’s a little grown already. Breaking the rules, huh?!]
“This old man… is now the time for jokes?”
[Krhm.]
The strange monsters they had seen earlier were constantly ramming against Iverno’s shield.
Even when they hit it, they weren’t hurt.
This reaction was different from the monsters that hit Ponti’s shield.
Each divine beast’s shield seemed to work differently.
Ponti ran quickly and stood with its back to the shield.
As soon as it stopped, Theophanes jumped down and quickly dealt with the monsters.
Daphne, coming to help him, had heard how he closed the gate, but she couldn’t remember it at all.
Yet, strangely, she could recreate her bow as if the sensation remained in her hands.
Theophanes glanced at her while facing the monsters.
Daphne held a bow that was different from before—a smaller bow, more curved than the one she had used to close the gate.
A form of bow not seen in the Empire.
Theophanes recognized it. It was the same type as her first bow.
So why had she used a different form before?
He tried to think about it, but the monsters didn’t give him a moment.
He had to deal with them first.
Piercing the cores destroyed the monsters, slowly making them vanish.
Thanks to their teamwork, the monsters trying to break the shield disappeared instantly.
[Waaah!]
Iverno finally let out a cry he had been holding in and lowered the shield.
With the monsters gone, the people inside relaxed. Some gasped, then soon cheered.
Soldiers began gathering again toward the noise.
[Daphne!]
Iverno flew toward her, but she dashed past him straight to Jacquette.
[So unfair…]
Iverno turned and flew after her with a tearful face.
Theophanes checked that Jacquette was safe and began taking care of the aftermath as a lord.
He took injured soldiers to a nearby medical tent and examined damaged buildings.
It was unusual for a lord to handle this personally, but Theophanes seemed very familiar to the residents and soldiers.
Suddenly, a dangerous sound cut through the wind.
“Wait!”
Like before, a spinning monster rushed toward them.
It was so sudden that Theophanes couldn’t react in time. The divine beast’s shield wasn’t enough.
Seeing this, Daphne panicked. The monster was aiming at her and Jacquette.
She hugged Jacquette tightly, curling herself to protect him.
Helio stood in front of them.
Theophanes quickly summoned a tree trunk in front of Helio.
The monster flew straight into it, unable to stop in time.
Impaled on the trunk, it twitched but couldn’t move like before.
Seeing the monster stopped right in front of him, Helio exhaled slowly.
He half-turned to look at Daphne.
“Are you okay, Duchess?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Daphne exhaled and relaxed her tense body.
Then, from behind, the wolf-headed monster bit Helio’s shoulder before he could dodge.
“Ugh!”
Knowing the children were watching, Helio clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming.
With a swish of his sword, the monster’s head went limp and fell to the ground.
Helio’s shoulder was drenched in blood, and his clothes were torn, exposing a deep wound.
“Bring a clean cloth, quickly!”
At Theophanes’ shout, people moved immediately.
A soldier handed him a white cloth.
He pressed it tightly against Helio’s shoulder to stop the bleeding.
Helio’s legs gave out, and he slowly sank.
“Don’t lose focus.”
Theophanes said, pressing the wound. Helio nodded silently, holding back any sound.
“Brother… ah…”
Daphne turned at the child’s voice.
She grabbed Michael’s shoulder and pulled him close with Jacquette, keeping the children from seeing.
“Wait! I need to see if my brother is okay!”
“No, Michael.”
“No, I have to!”
Michael tried to push her away, but she refused to budge.
Even crying Jacquette stopped when he heard Michael’s trembling voice.
“No, you can’t see, Michael.”
It could be traumatic for the children to see such a wound.
“Ponti!”
Daphne called urgently.
Ponti came over and blocked the children’s view with its large body.
“Please, don’t let him see!”
“Later, okay? I’ll let him see later.”
Michael’s struggling weakened. He grabbed Daphne’s sleeve and sobbed.
“Michael…”
Jacquette hugged his crying brother cautiously.
“Bring a stretcher, quickly!”
Soldiers moved in formation and placed Helio on it.
They wrapped his wound tightly to prevent it from reopening, then lifted the stretcher.
“Dante! Help Palamon clean this place. Keep people out of the corrupted area. Purification will happen tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
Theophanes loaded Helio into the least-damaged carriage.
“Go to the manor, quickly!”
“Yes.”
He then told Daphne, “We need to go to the manor, too. Ponti, you know the way, right?”
[Of course.]
Theophanes looked at Daphne.
“I’ll ride with Jacquette.”
“Okay.”
He lifted Daphne onto Ponti first.
Then he lifted Michael, who looked up tearfully at him.
“How is my brother? Is he okay?”
Theophanes nodded.
“He’ll be fine if treated quickly. Don’t worry.”
Michael sniffled.
Theophanes placed both children on Ponti’s back.
“Let’s go!”
They started running fast.
