Chapter 68: Meanwhile, The Hero’s Party

“Damn, damn, damn! I knew this would happen!”

Tina swung her sword frantically, gritting her teeth.

At that moment, the Hero’s Party was being pursued by enemies.

Their location, unsurprisingly, was deep in a forest that served as a base for the demon tribe.

“It was an impossible mission from the start! The Knights Order knew it all too well!”

Leon had a simple plan.

They intended to break through the forest using their strength alone to behead a demon tribe executive.

…It wasn’t entirely a bad idea.

The demon tribe executive was a sorcerer this time.

If they could eliminate her, the linchpin of the enemy’s defense, the battle would essentially be over. That much was true.

But how exactly?

If it were that easy, why had the Knights Order focused on defending their lines for days and nights?

Obviously, because taking the executive’s head was challenging.

If the enemy wasn’t foolish, they would guard their commander meticulously.

And yet Leon had tried to break through recklessly.

This was the consequence.

“There’s the hero over there!”

“Capture them! They’re completely surrounded!”

“Don’t kill them! We have orders to capture them alive!”

Demons swarmed the forest.

Behind them, not only were there all sorts of pursuers, but arrows and magic flew as well.

“…We can’t last much longer like this.”

Tina was protecting the rear of the Hero’s Party.

Leon led at the front, with Saint Claire assisting him, and Archer Rose was keeping watch in all directions.

And Tina, the swordsman, was tasked with covering the rear.

Needless to say, Tina’s role was the most challenging.

She had to fend off all attacks from behind while following her swiftly moving companions.

Even under these conditions, their escape was excruciatingly slow.

“Ah, seriously, these burdens!”

Tina could have possibly made it out alone.

She excelled in close combat as a swordsman, and being a beastman, she was adept at navigating the forest.

But the dim-witted Rose, and even Saint Claire, lacked the most basic stamina.

“Heck! Heck!”

As those women ran for a while, they quickly reached their limits.

Claire, in particular, began to slow down naturally.

“We should have escaped long ago. Now, without any support, being surrounded means certain death.”

The Knights Order had been hesitant to join this operation.

Their support was only at the beginning when they first entered the forest.

After that, it was like they said, “Go in and figure it out on your own.”

“…Well, I do understand.”

Since Leon had forcefully advocated for the operation, it felt awkward to request their full participation.

The Knights Order had already been involved in several skirmishes.

They must have realized the operation was unrealistic.

In fact, they had advised multiple times that it was unfeasible.

Leon, however, proceeded with the operation, claiming he didn’t need support because of some confidence he had.

“…It must be because the enemy is a sorcerer.”

Leon couldn’t help but feel inferior to Lee Hyun-woo.

That feeling was understandable, though.

Lee Hyun-woo was one of the strongest sorcerers, indisputably so.

“It’s natural to feel jealous when your friend, a hero, is overvalued compared to you.”

The problem was that Leon channeled his inferiority complex into disparaging sorcerers.

Even now, it is the same.

As soon as he learned the opponent was a sorcerer, he boasted that he could handle it alone.

Confidence was good.

But underestimating the enemy was another matter entirely.

And that underestimation had led to the current dire situation.

“Over here!”

“Target the saint first!”

“Kyaaak!”

Enemies lying in ambush leaped out from the side.

Their target was Claire, awkwardly positioned in the middle.

Naturally, a healer is always the primary target to eliminate.

In such a defenseless state, it would have been odd not to focus on her.

“Tch!”

Tina clicked her tongue softly and forced her body into action.

She parried the first attack with her sword.

Then, she immediately kicked another foe in the abdomen as he approached with a kick.

“Kugh! This beastwoman!”

The demons were certainly formidable adversaries.

The one who had failed the initial ambush swung his sword without hesitation.

Tina countered and swung her sword yet again.

Perhaps they realized that this opponent was not going to be as easy to defeat as they had anticipated.

This time, the enemy didn’t show any easy openings like before.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their swords clashed repeatedly in mid-air.

This was an opponent who required caution, even under the best circumstances.

Now, the effort of breaking through and protecting her team had significantly drained her stamina.

Her sword felt heavier than it normally did.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Damn, I’m already out of breath.”

Perhaps it was because she had recently focused more on her personal life than her swordsmanship.

Her condition seemed to have deteriorated.

After a prolonged fight, Tina finally managed to knock her opponent’s sword from his grasp.

“Eeek!”

The sword flew through the air, narrowly missing Claire’s face.

Inwardly, she had hoped Claire would catch it, but that was probably expecting too much from her.

Without hesitation, she kicked the demon in the jaw, sending him flying.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

He wasn’t the type of opponent to be easily defeated.

However, they couldn’t afford to linger any longer.

Reluctantly, without confirming the kill, she moved on.

“Pant! Pant! Hey, Tina! What are you doing?!”

Suddenly, Claire’s shriek pierced the air.

……Damn, why was she panicking now?

“Pant! Pant! Can’t you… Hoo! Be more careful? I almost got hit by that sword!”

“How can I afford to be careful in a situation like this! You should be able to dodge it yourself!”

“What, what did you say? Don’t you realize how important I am?”

“A woman who freezes at the sight of a sword and is utterly useless… I fail to see your importance.”

“I, I am one of only 26 saints in the church. Ha! I’m of a different class than an ordinary beastwoman like you!”

“What?! You’ve said enough now!”

“Both of you, stop it! Don’t you realize we’re all in danger of dying?”

Finally, Rose, who had been frantically shooting arrows, shouted.

In truth, she was just as irritated, but she knew fighting amongst themselves here would be their end.

Although aware of this, Tina and Claire also focused on the fight despite their emotional rift.

“…Though this doesn’t seem like a situation that will improve.”

They felt their speed slowing down even more than before.

No, the time spent fighting rather than moving had increased.

For those trying to escape, this was not good news.

It meant the encirclement was tightening.

“We can’t go on like this. We need a breakthrough.”

Especially since the opposing demons included a sorcerer.

They surely had a significant number of soldiers deployed.

And their target was none other than the hero.

From their perspective, capturing the hero would be a tremendous achievement.

It wouldn’t be strange for the executive to come out personally.

In fact, it was only a matter of time.

“We must break through the encirclement before the executive arrives!”

Determined, Tina kept swinging her sword.

She didn’t join the Hero’s Party to die a dog’s death in such a place.

After defeating the Demon King, she dreamed of being the hero’s official consort.

At the very least, she wanted to make a grand contribution and return to her village.

“Pant! Pant! Just a moment!”

After running for a while, Claire stopped and gasped for breath, holding her knees.

“I can’t run anymore! Haah! Haah! My heart feels like it’s going to burst!”

“Hey! There’s no time for this! If we don’t go a bit further, we’ll die!”

“Still, I just can’t run anymore!”

Rose, who had been urging Claire, clenched her teeth.

If not for the situation, she looked ready to tear her apart and kill her right there.

Truthfully, Tina’s inner thoughts weren’t much different.

They only tolerated the useless woman because they needed her.

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to slash her and keep going.

Especially since without the saint, things would be much harder.

Tina gritted her teeth and shouted,

“If we stay like this, we’ll all die! You have to muster whatever strength you don’t have and escape! You want to become a great saint someday, don’t you!”

“Still, I can’t run anymore! I’ve been saving this for the end… but it seems I have to use it now.”

“…Do you have some sort of plan?”

She might be a fool and a saint who only shook her hips indecently, but the church still officially recognized her.

Well, being a saint out of more than twenty and essentially just a candidate for great saint wasn’t that impressive, but still.

She was a saint of the Hero’s Party, after all.

She might have some hidden relic or secret technique.

“Hoo! I’ve been saving this for a time like this. I guess I have to use it now.”

“Just use whatever it is quickly! We don’t have time!”

Urged by Rose, Claire concentrated.

Soon, a bright white light burst forth.

The intensity was greater than anything Claire had shown before.

Even Tina, who had little expectation, was taken aback.

‘What kind of miracle is she going to use?’

A super recovery that instantly restores all stamina and magic?

Or a holy magic powerful enough to sweep the area?

Or perhaps a strong shield.

Whatever it was, it would greatly help them break through this situation.

Finally, after completing the chant, Claire shouted,

“Teleport!”

“……”

“……”

With a bright light, Claire and Leon vanished.

Leaving just Tina and Rose behind.

The color drained from the faces of the two, who had been filled with anticipation.

“This, this damn bitch!!!!!”

In the dark forest swarmed by demons…

Only their cries of despair and anger echoed emptily.