Chapter 125

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Yuren and Helia were the first to discover a heart.

Using her dragon senses, Yuren quickly located it. Her fist smashed through the wall, pulling the heart out.

The pulsating organ was far from a human heart. It resembled a twisted, thorny vine.

As Yuren prepared to destroy it, Helia suddenly darted forward.

Yuren was startled by the unexpected move.

Helia swung her sword, slashing the ground.

Helia Style Single Sword Advance Slash.

Wherever her blade landed, there was flesh.

The quivering flesh, reacting to Helia’s attack, quickly retreated.

Then, it reformed.

The flesh vanished, replaced by a suit of black armor. While similar to the kingdom’s armor, it was much larger and heavier than anything she had seen in the palace.

‘They’ve already found a heart.’

“This thing …!”

“It must be a guardian protecting the heart.”

“So, they’re not going to make it easy for us.”

“Yuren, go find the next heart.”

Helia stopped Yuren, who had been about to attack the armored guardian.

While she didn’t want to admit it, Yuren was far better at locating the hearts, likely due to her dragon senses.

It was more efficient for Yuren to search.

Yuren, understanding, nodded her head and moved on.

The guardian, now facing Helia alone, scoffed.

He found it laughable that a small child would dare to challenge him.

“You intend to face me alone?”

“There’s no need to say anything.”

“What …?!”

Helia’s crimson eyes flashed menacingly, devoid of mercy. Then, the guardian saw it.

His own head, severed, rolled on the ground.

For Helia, this wasn’t even a challenge. Her age was irrelevant. She had to become stronger to stand beside her teacher.

She couldn’t be held back here. This was a mere obstacle to overcome.

As Helia dispatched the guardian, the others also located hearts.

[Can you hear me?]

“Yeah! Loud and clear!”

[That’s good.]

They had anticipated the need to communicate while separated and had prepared accordingly.

Cluna had provided artifacts that allowed them to communicate with each other, like walkie-talkies.

[It would be great if we could communicate while separated.]

It had been Hans’s idea.

In a world where messenger birds and signal fires were the norm, his suggestion had been a welcome innovation.

Ruby and Cluna had collaborated to create the communication devices.

While their range was limited and the magically-powered devices were prone to interference, they were sufficient for basic communication.

Ruby stopped where she was. She had found one of the seven hearts.

While she wasn’t a builder herself, her Dwarven instincts allowed her to sense irregularities in the fortress’s structure.

She had located a heart almost as quickly as Yuren. But naturally, guardians appeared to protect it.

Unlike Yuren, Ruby faced a horde of skeletal monsters.

‘Helia defeated a guardian?’

[Yes, she did.]

‘This is insulting.’

Helia had faced a powerful guardian, while she was stuck with skeletons?

Ruby’s actions reflected her indignation.

The hammer in her hand began to glow with intense heat.

She swung the flaming hammer, obliterating the skeletons in a single blow.

Clara, receiving the report from Ruby, quickly assessed the situation.

‘There are seven hearts, and the strength of the guardians varies.’

‘The guardian Helia faced must be stronger than a monster.’

‘Why would they deploy their forces unevenly?’

‘Two possibilities: they lack manpower, or the hearts have different levels of importance.’

The latter seemed more likely.

Clara relayed this information to the others, allowing the Royal Knights to move more efficiently.

They were all striving for one purpose.

To serve their Commander, Hans.

‘The strength of the enemies varies depending on the heart? Please let me face the weakest one!!!’

Oblivious to his unit members’ dedication, Hans prayed for the weakest enemy.

While he didn’t want them to be injured, he needed to conserve his Time Stop ability.

Ideally, Cluna and Yuren would face the strongest opponents. They were the strongest members of the Royal Knights.

Even Bayard could handle a formidable foe.

He was more concerned about Helia, Clara, and Ruby. While skilled, they were physically weaker than him.

So, when he received the intel from Cluna, his first wish was to encounter the weakest enemy.

Ruby’s skeletons seemed to be the least threatening.

‘But where are these hearts?’

The other unit members were already finding hearts, while he had yet to locate one.

The reason was simple, he hadn’t ventured deep enough into the fortress.

Ares’ Bridge was even more horrific up close.

Flesh and entrails formed the walls, and the floor was a tangled mess of tendons.

The sight was so disturbing that Hans couldn’t bring himself to explore the deeper parts of the fortress like the others.

He had been sticking to the outer areas. But he couldn’t stay there indefinitely.

‘I’ll have to go in eventually.’

There were seven hearts. With the numbers perfectly aligned, he couldn’t be left out.

While few hearts had been found so far, he might be the only one empty-handed later.

‘Should I use Time Stop then? No, even then, the cooldown might prevent me from destroying all seven hearts at once.’

Just then, the courtyard where Yuren had landed with the unit members began to writhe, taking shape.

Hans, startled, turned to look.

[You’ve found me. As expected of the Commander of the Royal Knights.]

It resembled a giant toad, its brown skin oozing mud. It was undoubtedly the Mud Guardian.

Hans clicked his tongue.

“Are you the Mud Guardian?”

[Indeed. A glorious title bestowed upon me by my lord.]

“By ‘lord,’ you mean the Blood Demon?”

[How dare you utter that name so casually!!!]

The Mud Guardian’s rage shook the fortress.

Hans, feeling the tremors, realized that this was indeed the true Mud Guardian.

‘But why did it appear now?’

He quickly deduced the reason.

The Mud Guardian had been hiding in the courtyard. This meant a heart was hidden there as well.

It had been hidden in plain sight, making it difficult to find. But Hans, the Commander of the Royal Knights, had been lingering nearby.

The Mud Guardian must have perceived him as a threat.

‘Shit, I’m screwed.’

🚨 Important Notice 🚨

); }

[The Commander has encountered the Mud Guardian!]

[He needs backup!]

[No! Hold your positions!]

[Don’t get in his way.]

As if to add insult to injury, Cluna announced his encounter with the Mud Guardian. And any hope of assistance was swiftly shut down by Helia.

Helia had reasoned that staying put and guarding their positions was more helpful to the Commander than intervening.

She was right.

The problem was that Hans was terrified.

“Shit! Help me!!!”

Ignoring his pleas, the Mud Guardian attacked, gathering the surrounding flesh and engulfing Hans.

He could only stare in horror, his body unable to keep up with his mind.

He had assumed Time Stop would activate automatically if his life was in danger. But then…

Vwoom!

The holy sword at his hip reacted. A pure white light erupted from the blade, filling the area.

Hans, bewildered, could only blink his eyes.

When he regained his senses…

[Gah…!!!]

The Mud Guardian was collapsing before him.

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[Translator Notes]