A Betrayed Master Will Not Return

31 – The Wobbly Leg Effect (2)

Hundreds of demons visible outside the carriage window.

Seeing them, Renée began to feel a complex mix of feelings.

The sight of these creatures, appearing more terrifying than the fish she had previously seen, running in droves,

Along with a deep tension for her, it also sparked a slight sense of anticipation.

“This is a real battle….my first real battle! If I am acknowledged through this opportunity, I will continue to stay by my master’s side…”

Gerald was greatly disappointed when the order came to retreat.

However, the inevitable situation felt both a crisis and a golden opportunity to her.

-Thunk!

As if responding to her expectations, a demon trying to break the carriage door and crawl inside.

Flashing countless chilling eyes, the creature began to thrust its repulsive tentacles towards this direction.

“Heeek!!!”

Shrieking, Nico started hacking at the demon’s head with an axe.

Despite her trembling appearance, there was no mercy in her attacks, and the demon’s head began to split apart like firewood.

Nico vigorously fought off the demons attempting to enter the carriage.

Watching her like this, Leone saw an opportunity to kill the demons with her own hands, rather than Nico.

At that moment…

“!”

A demon quietly started to squeeze through the half-broken door on the opposite side.

Instead of alerting Nico, Leone drew her prepared dagger.

And…

-Swish!

Leone swung the dagger infused with magic, severing the demon’s tentacles.

She then sharply shouted, still looking at the demon’s head that had not fallen, trying to crawl into the carriage by any means necessary.

“Die! You filthy demon…!”

Leone aimed her sword at the demon’s eyes, starting to glow with a violet light, intending to stab it.

At that moment…

-Beeep…

“Huh?”

An abrupt, bizarre sound pierces the air.

With a feeling of tinnitus drilling into his consciousness, and his ears growing muffled, Leone feels his strength draining from his body.

The only sound that manages to penetrate through is a singular one.

-“Hmmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~~!”

An ominous humming of a demon’s melody.

As the sound intensifies to the point where his ears feel completely blocked, Leone starts to feel an intense headache and a surge of fear replacing his earlier determination.

“Ah… Aah….!”

Eventually, Leone drops the dagger he was holding and slumps to the ground.

Then, an unspeakably horrendous sensation overcomes him.

From a bottomless abyss…

Overwhelmed by the feeling as if he might die at any moment,

Leone begins to shake with fear and clutches his head.

Towards the defenseless Leone, the demon slowly stretches out its tentacles.

Concealed within the head of an octopus, the grotesque mouth is revealed as the demon att

The gunfire shot from above blew off the head of the creature that was about to swallow Leone whole.

“Leone! Are you okay? Wake up! Hurry!”

“Ah…mas…master…”

Gerald shook her body urgently.

Leone regained consciousness and spoke towards her master, who was shaking her body.

“I’m… I’m okay, I’m awake.”

“…Hah… Thank goodness it seems you’re not seriously injured.”

Gerald breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Kinu, who was standing beside them, unsure of what to do.

“I… I’m sorry, I lost sight of things for a moment.”

“There’s no time to apologize now. We’ll go up again, so don’t make the same mistake.”

“Yes! I understand, Gerald!”

With that, Gerald hurriedly resolved the situation and immediately climbed back up onto the carriage.

Feeling more like a burden than a help in this situation, Leone could only lay down and sleep behind Niko, who was more actively trying to protect her.

*

The devil hunters swung their guns and weapons, trying to fend off the demons approaching the carriage.

However, as the fallen ones were quickly replaced, the demons charged towards the carriage with even greater force.

-“Hng~ Hng~ Hng~!”

A demonic chant that didn’t match the urgent atmosphere,

but at the same time, made the chilling sound even more eerie.

Furrowing her eyebrows at the sound, Gabrielle aimed her gun at the head of the demon jumping onto the carriage.

And.

-Bang!!!

A bullet that accurately pierced the guy’s skull.

Despite its terrifying appearance, the guy seemed surprisingly frail and rolled on the ground with just one shot.

As a result, about three or four demons collided with the guy’s body and rolled on the ground.

However,

In a situation where not dozens, but hundreds of demons were rushing towards them, this level of attack was like pouring a bucket of water into a lake, not even leaving a trace.

“Argh! This is never-ending! Jeanne, figure out something quickly!”

“I know, stop nagging! If someone sees you, they’ll think you’re the queen… for god’s sake!”

-Bang!

In the meantime, the guy who had stuck to the side of the carriage,

But before Gabrielle could act on this,

A bullet flying from behind burst the guy’s eye.

The guy fell off the carriage due to that blow.

Then, in the girl’s ear, the voice of the man who was maintaining composure even in such a situation…

Gerard’s voice started to be heard.

“Don’t worry about your surroundings and focus on completing the magic.”

“I understand, Master.”

“Gabrielle, concentrate only on the front. I will protect your flank.”

“T-Thank you… Leader.”

Despite its simple meaning, the teacher’s words strangely resonated with Gabrielle.

Meanwhile, regardless of Gabrielle’s state,

Jeanne gathered as much magical power as possible into the palm of her outstretched hand, aimed at the demons.

And…

“＜Angel Hand＞!”

With the incantation, Jeanne clenched her fist.

At the same time,

-Pakagagak!!!!

The bodies of the demons at the forefront were explosively blown away as if by an unseen force.

A single strike that instantly brought down the momentum of the charging demons.

Not missing the opportunity, the carriage picked up even more speed.

As a result, the carriage successfully shook off the pursuing demons by a hair’s breadth.

As they watched the demons gradually recede into the distance, the devil hunters were finally able to catch their breath.

“Good job. I’ll go check on Leona’s condition, so please stay on guard for a moment.”

“Yeah, leave it to me, Master.”

“Understood.”

With that, Gelert, who had returned to the carriage, left the two people who sat hesitantly on the roof of the carriage.

As the urgent situation passed and a moment of relief washed over them, the two felt their strength drain from their bodies.

“Sigh… Thank goodness. It could have been dangerous. I was really concerned when they came up to the underside of the carriage…”

“It was thrilling. It seemed like the number of demons was mercilessly decreasing, just like the previous fish and those guys.”

Honestly, if they were the past girls, they would have been quite old-fashioned and still remained.

Not only was it a problem that there were a lot of them in numbers, but they also had special abilities that the bastards possessed.

If you meet the eyes and eyes in the guy’s head, you receive a mental pressure along with auditory hallucinations.

If you don’t attack the guy’s eyeballs quickly, it can lead to fatal consequences.

Fortunately, during their rush on the highway, such mental attacks were impossible, and thanks to their weak durability, they could deal with each one without any major problems by detaching the guys who had stuck to the carriage without giving them any gaps.

Even so, if they hadn’t maximized their skills through three weeks of training with Geralt, they would have undoubtedly suffered significant damage in the recent battle.

Thus, with the evaluation that even a simple skirmish was not easy,

They checked their guns and swords again and calmly spoke.

“Maybe… it could be because we’re getting closer to a full-scale battle with Laphlus as the master said.”

“Laphlus…”

Gabriel furrowed her brows slightly at that name.

Then, she put the sword she was holding back and stared at the direction of the forest where the demons were no longer visible, speaking.

“Well… that could be, but that is a matter for later. For now, let’s just focus on Kale’s matter.”

“Yeah… that’s probably the right answer for now.”

*

The carriage barely arrived near Kale.

There were a few demon attacks during the journey, but they were relatively successful in overcoming them more smoothly than when hundreds of them swarmed initially.

However, at this very moment,

The Devil Hunters who arrived in Kale were faced with a different problem than the demons.

“Ah… no, how can they be so audacious.”

The walls of Kalle in front of her.

Looking at the flags of the Britannian Empire fluttering above, Gabriel expressed genuine anger unlike her usual self.

“W-what should we do? Shall we just go back like this?”

“You know that’s not possible after seeing the situation just now. Besides, we can’t just leave Kalle like that.”

Behind them, the demonic squids from earlier were wriggling around,

And in front, there were the soldiers of the Britannian Empire, practically occupying Kalle.

In a way, it was a situation similar to being surrounded from both sides.

However,

Regarding this matter, Gellered calmly spoke to the girls.

“For now, let’s go.”

“What? Go… do you mean to Kalle?”

“Yes, don’t worry, just follow me.”

“Um… sir…!”

“Leader?”

“Ho… hoeee…”

Not hiding somewhere, but confidently moving forward along the road, Gellered.

Feeling concern about this fact, the devil hunters showed a little hesitation,

But only one person,

Just like Leonne, without a hint of hesitation, started walking behind Gellered.

“Le… Leoni?”

“What are you doing? Hurry up.”

Leoni, who follows him without a trace of doubt towards the teacher.

Upon seeing that sight, the other three felt uneasy, and for the time being, they left the maubu (sledgehammer) and followed him towards the direction of the castle wall.