CHAPTER 45

Deathworm.

One of the remnants of the fallen dragon.

A monster that usually roams underground, occasionally revealing its body above ground when breathing.

Contrary to its colossal and gruesome appearance, their nourishment originates from the minerals in the underground or fertile soil, a form of ground energy.

"Something's not right! Deathworms aren't originally carnivorous!"

However, the scene unfolding below was completely contrary to common knowledge.

Hiiiiing-

Kwaaahh!

Wild horses scattering in all directions from the Deathworm's attacks.

The pitiful screams of the horses were being drowned out by the sticky blood. The deathworm's slimy body, stained with red blood, looked eerie.

"······Mount up, everyone!"

Having assessed the situation, Rutger loudly shouted to the knights.

Whether the current situation defied common sense or not was irrelevant. The important thing is to be where you need to be and do what you need to do.

That, undoubtedly, was the duty of those tasked with a mission.

"Protect the pilgrims! We must rescue them!"

As Rutger's words ended, Vlad swiftly climbed onto the cart, watching the knights move with terrifying speed.

"Forward!"

"Advance!"

"Follow Lord Rutger!"

Following Rutger's command, Bayezid's knights spurred their horses and rushed down the green hills towards the hellish scene below, stained red with the blood of the wild horses. To save the pilgrims.

Amidst the confusion of pilgrims, unsure of what to do, the once quiet green meadow echoed with the screams of the Deathworm and the horses' hooves

Peter had sent his son here, prepared for this unforeseen moment. 

The arrangements made by the family head, prepared for any contingency, were shining like the flag of Bayezid hanging high on a pole at this moment.

"······He's just a young lad! A creature born not long ago!"

Dorothea, riding her horse, continued to observe the Deathworm without pause. She knew precisely what her role was.

"It's still young, not fully grown in size or with tough skin!"

Upon Dorothea's explanation, Rutger turned his head to look at the Deathworm. 

The death worm, which was still constantly chewing and devouring the horse carcasses, was not as big as he thought, and above all, it had pink, smooth skin.

The Deathworm was still young, it had not yet developed its hard outer shell.

"······."

While Rutger was riding his horse and checking the situation, Vlad was also observing below from the constantly shaking cart.

Unlike Dorothea, the boy focused on the herd of wild horses fleeing from the Deathworm rather than the creature itself.

[I sense the energy of a spirit. These are not ordinary horses.]

'A spirit...'

The white snake Vlad had seen in Deomar came to mind. The entity that had provided him protection.

[Don't worry, I'll lend you my world.]

"Alright."

Vlad's quiet response was swallowed by the creaking sound of the swaying cart.

"Hu······."

Vlad lowered his posture as if in prayer, closing his right eye.

'······!'

Then, with his left eye, he opened the world of voices.

Hiiiiing-!

A vivid world.

The world of voices, displaying more than a hundred colors compared to his world, illuminated the appearance of the horses.

A herd of wild horses being eaten, trampled, and falling to the ground.

White smoke could be seen drifting like fog from the neighing horses.

'What is that?'

Shimmering white smoke.

However, it was too faint to take shape, dispersing into the air.

For some reason, Vlad felt a sense of pity.

[Look at the black one.]

'······.'

Following the voice's advice, Vlad turned his gaze to a jet-black horse that had just caught his eye.

The creature, who seems to be the leader of the group, tirelessly roamed around to draw the Deathworm's attention. 

However, the Deathworm paid no heed to the creature's pitiful gestures, focusing solely on the sweet flesh.

This scene overlapped with a day from the past, and Vlad bit his lip.

'Horn?'

When Vlad turned his gaze as the voice said, he saw something that others might perceive as only faint mist. But to him, it existed in a distinct form.

[It seems that those horses are mixed with unicorn blood.]

White horn.

On the forehead of the entirely black horse, a white horn stood like a moon in the sky.

As the boy gazed at the faint horn, the scent of lemons from that day wafted from his armor.

※※※※

'What's that?'

Dorothea's gaze, riding her horse, was momentarily captivated by something.

Something sparkling on the forehead of the young Deathworm.

From there, an eerie energy that only mages could sense was emanating.

The young Deathworm was reacting to it.

"Lord Rutger! The Deathworm is tilting its head!"

"Pilgrims! It's looking at the pilgrims!"

"······Damn it!"

An abrupt situation.

Only a short time was given.

Rutger's black eyes emitted a sharp light.

"Dorothea! What is the Deathworm reacting to?"

As the leader of the group and the mission, Rutger had the responsibility to make the best judgment.

"Th-the Deathworm doesn't have eyes or ears! It only reacts to vibrations in the ground······."

"Find a way to guide that thing, Dorothea!"

Rutger quickly gestured, dividing the group of knights, leading only a few with him as he charged towards the location of the Deathworm.

"You guys, get down! We're short on horses!"

In response to the knights' shouts, Potree and Vlad promptly dismounted from their means of transport.

It was a natural decision.

The pilgrims, who were moving in silence, would have no way to escape this situation without the help of the knights.

However, Deathworm, which has a speed that can catch up with even wild horses, will not easily let go of its target once it has captured it.

Rutger had to solve two problems at once.

Kraaaaah!

The young Deathworm, which had been savoring the corpses of the horses, tilted its body towards the pilgrims with something sparkling on its forehead.

The wild horses fleeing and the pilgrims in front of them.

Everything the Deathworm wanted or someone desired was right in front of it.

Kraaaaah!

With a ferocious roar, the Deathworm leaped towards the pilgrims.

"Damn! Why now!"

"Run!"

The Deathworm, which had just swallowed the wild horses moments ago, suddenly showed interest in the pilgrims in front of it. 

The situation demanded immediate resolution rather than analyzing the reasons for this sudden change.

"Divert its attention!"

Following Rutger's orders, the knights charged towards the Deathworm. 

While the knights mingled with the herds of wild horses and tried to block the Deathworm's advance, Rutger quietly raged.

Common sense was being violated and the situation was moving in a strange way.

If so, someone must have artificially created this situation.

"How dare you to invade my father's land..."

A knight, inheriting the blood of the prestigious Bayezid in the north, closed his left eye.

※※※※

In the distance, the knights approaching the group of pilgrims seemed insufficient to handle the situation all at once.

"We're in big trouble!"

"······."

Vlad and Potree, having lost their horse and cart, watched the situation from the hill while protecting Dorothea.

"Blondie and Chubby! I told you to block the wind!"

Although they had moved a little, Dorothea's voice came flying from behind them.

While Vlad and Potree were protecting Dorothea, who was now sitting on the ground and creating an imprint to divert the Deathworm as Rutger said.

"Vibrations, vibrations, what color was the imprinting spell..."

Small vials lined up like spills on the ground. They were small vials filled with things that looked like paint, as if an artist was preparing to paint.

Dorothea moves them around and prepares her magic.

Every time her lips trembled as she quietly chanted, every time her hand touched the vial as she carefully held it, the small vials on the floor sparkled and found their own color.

Kwagagagaang!

'What the hell!'

Vlad, who had been silently watching her preparations, felt a scorching heat on his face.

A fierce heat emanated from a distance, a concentrated flame sweeping through the air along with the Deathworm.

"It's Lord Rutger!"

Feeling the intense aura even from this distance, Potree instinctively raised his hand, but Vlad could only stare with his mouth agape as he was overwhelmed by the force that seemed capable of setting his world ablaze.

It was a world clearly distinct from his own.

[It is shallow. He hasn't prepared properly.]

However, although the young Deathworm lacked a sturdy outer shell, it resisted Rutger's intense strike with its tenacious endurance.

Kraaaaaah!

Thud, thud, thud-

Despite Rutger's powerful blow, the young Deathworm only let out a scream and hastily burrowed into the ground.

Even though it was young, the fact that he was able to inflict at least a small injury was an achievement.

[...It's become difficult. Even a skilled knight can't do much against an enemy underground.]

The recent powerful blow from Rutger was not enough to incapacitate the Deathworm immediately.

A moment of silence.

Then, complete stillness.

In this vast plain where nothing moved.

Thud, thud, thud-

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, and cracks appeared.

The slowly widening crack was leading somewhere.

"Damn!"

"Follow it!"

A place where pilgrims are.

At the same time, it was also a place where wild horses that had run away were breathing out their weary breath.

"Dorothea..."

"What!"

"We need to hurry."

Watching the situation from the high hill, Vlad realized that Rutger's furious attacks alone wouldn't resolve the situation.

"It's almost done!"

"If it's almost done, give it to me."

Vlad turned his head and looked back.

"I told you to wait!"

Turning his head to look back, Vlad saw Dorothea, who had dipped her tail in strangely colored paint and was engraving an imprint on paper.

".... Are you using your tail?"

"It's the unique method of the beastmen!"

As someone who had never seen a mage cast a spell, it was an oddly acceptable scene.

"It's done!"

Dorothea finally completed what seemed to be a hand-sized piece of paper, holding it up. The imprint glowed momentarily in the sunlight and then regained its original color.

"Give this to Rutger. The method of use is to rub or cut the paper against the target like with a sword or something."

[Too late.]

However, the crack created by the Deathworm was already extending straight toward the place where the pilgrims were.

The movements of the herd of wild horses trying to escape from afar and the knights carrying the priests were becoming more urgent.

"It might be too late..."

"Get on my horse!"

At Dorothea's words, Vlad turned his head to look at Potree.

"I-I'll give it a try!"

Dorothea was exhausted from hastily imprinting, and Vlad was unable to ride the horse.

In this situation, the only person who could have delivered this paper to Rutger was Potree. 

[Even if you ride a horse, it'll be too late. You should not think that the deathworms under the ground have the same speed as the deathworms on the ground.]

"······It seems too late to go now."

Dorothea did her best, but the time given was too short.

So, it wasn't fair to blame her.

"So what do we do!"

Dorothea was sitting on the ground, her blue lips trembling.

"······"

Vlad knew.

There was only one way to deliver the paper to Rutger in time, and that was him.

"I'll go."

"You can't ride a horse!"

Vlad moistened his lips with his tongue and walked away.

In the opposite direction from where the knights had gone.

Thud, thud—

Pebbles kicked by his toes rolled incessantly, falling down below.

It wasn't a cliff, but it was a steep hill that looked too harsh to descend recklessly.

It was a steep hill that could never be climbed down on horseback.

"Since this is the only way, there's no other choice."

Vlad, who had never been caught once even when he was a pickpocket in his early days, knew it wasn't a piece of cake.

"If I go down here, I can reach it in time."

The fastest way to reach the destination was a straight line, as he well knew.

Not a single guard caught Vlad as he ran through the streets, over walls, and through stores. And now, it would likely be the same.

"It's almost a cliff here!"

"Tell the knights later."

Vlad spoke as he walked, leaving behind a trail of rocks rolling down.

The blond boy seized Dorothea's imprint.

"I didn't really mean not to take the peanuts that day."

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy's blonde hair swayed towards the dizzying hill.

"Hey!"

Dorothea looks down the hill to find Vlad, who has disappeared.

"Uh..."

There, she saw the figure of a boy swiftly descending the steep slope, as if he had wings.

"...He said he couldn't ride a horse."

Vlad, who was supported by the Bayezid family and sponsored as the most promising squire, held the imprint created by Dorothea in his hand, shining brightly.

※※※※

[Slowly! Slowly! Put strength on your tiptoes!]

"It's too noisy, and I can't concentrate!"

Having received Dorothea's imprint, Vlad was carefully maneuvering down the nearly vertical hill.

It was through the movements that Vlad learned, risking his life, that if he didn't eat today, he might die tomorrow.

'I probably didn't need to go to this extent.'

In the first place, a man named Rutger was in conflict with Josef over the position of head of the family. 

Moreover, all the knights here were elites belonging to the Bayezid family. Therefore, there was probably no need for Vlad, who was just a squire, to step forward like this.

However, Vlad wanted to do this.

First, he wanted to give a blow to Rutger's knights who were ignoring him and Josef.

Second, it was because of the black horse struggling to protect the group from the disastrous attack of the Deathworm.

'Animals messing with human feelings.'

Vlad knew it well—How does it feel to have your nest destroyed by a huge, uncontrollable world?

The helplessness of that day was like a wound deeply embedded in his soul.

The boy, who hated being nothing, ran down the hill, defending his current actions.

"Ugh!"

Perhaps he was lost in thought for a moment, because of a slight misstep, Vlad ended up slipping down the steep slope.

[Roll your body into a ball!]

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Vlad rolled down the hill with a loud noise.

However, despite rolling violently over the rough ground and colliding with rocky mounds, Vlad seemed unusually unaffected by the impact.

If the boy had opened his left eye and looked into the world of voices, he would have known that his armor was shining white.

The protection of the white snake was watching over him.

"······."

And below the hill, someone was watching the glimmering that Vlad couldn't see.

The black horse, who had been tirelessly running around to save his herd, was also panting.

In the horse's eyes, the boy was shining white.

A star shining white.

A white star that was burning itself white, falling down the hill.

In the world of the black horse, Vlad's figure was shining brightly.

The white star was leaping toward the moonless night.