6. Fleeing
"It's been so long, why hasn't Carlos come out yet? Could something have gone wrong?" Nick Williams looked at the dark smoke cage not far away, his expression tinged with worry that he couldn't quite hide.
The horned beast let out a low growl, kicking its hooves restlessly.
"Don't worry, my lord commander, please trust in Mr. Carlos's abilities."
Standing beside Nick, Archbishop Ansel adjusted his pale golden robe and offered reassuring words. Yet, his gaze towards the black smoke was not as calm as his speech.
"It seems that the Archbishop has great trust in Mr. Carlos," Nick paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, "We are truly indebted to you this time, Archbishop. Without your powerful miracle suppressing that monster, making it unable to move, Carlos would have had a much harder time. Thanks to both of your efforts, we were able to secure victory so smoothly."
Archbishop Ansel seemed displeased upon hearing this, his wrinkled face frowning slightly as he pointed towards the chaotic battlefield in the distance.
"Commander, you call this smooth?"
"Archbishop, you jest," Nick replied with a bitter smile, "We all know that facing an Abyssal Monster of such terror, to only suffer these losses, I believe we are very fortunate. I have already ordered the monks to contain the spread of the Abyssal Mire, at least in terms of ensuring the safety of the surrounding towns, we have achieved a complete victory."
There were many human towns and villages around this land, and for this reason, the Holy Church took this operation very seriously. They had evacuated the populace half a month earlier, and not only had they dispatched Carlos to battle, but they also required Archbishop Ansel to coordinate with him.
"What about the fallen knights? How do you plan to handle that?"
Battles with Abyssal Monsters were different from the usual suppression of bandits or quelling of rebellions; they were exceptionally brutal. Only a few knights were left with whole bodies, most were devoured, leaving not even ashes behind.
"They are heroes," Nick said softly.
Archbishop Ansel nodded at that. That was enough; he believed Nick knew what to do.
Just as he was about to speak again, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't help but cough violently.
"Archbishop, are you alright?"
Nick quickly stepped forward to support him.
"It's nothing, it's nothing," Ansel waved his hand, "I'm old, and my body can't take much activity anymore… When I released the first Holy Lance, I was aiming for the creature's right leg, hoping to immobilize it. But my old eyes failed me, and I hit its right shoulder instead. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I might have been done for today… But to tell you the truth, there was something odd about this Abyssal Monster. Did you notice, Nick?"
"Please, speak plainly, Archbishop."
"I just felt that this creature wasn't as ferocious as before. I noticed it hesitating, even seeming like it was… thinking about something. I think that's also why we were able to end the battle so quickly."
"Is that so? It's my first time facing the Abyss directly, so I don't have a clear impression. But now that you mention it, that creature indeed didn't seem like the kind that acts solely on instinct… Do you have any concerns, Archbishop?"
"Concerns might be too strong a word, but…"
Before Archbishop Ansel could finish, a sudden burst of white light erupted not far away, startling the two men who immediately looked up.
The slowly writhing black smoke cage suddenly began to spin faster and rapidly contracted inward. Then, the ground cracked with a "crack, crack" sound as numerous thick ice spikes, each as tall as a man, shot up, and the temperature of the air plummeted. Even from a distance, one could feel the piercing cold, and the knights closest to it had frost forming on their armor.
"All troops, on my command! Fall back and form up, prepare for battle!"
Nick charged forward on his horned beast.
With a soft "puff," a ball of black smoke tinged with white light burst from the cage and flew out.
"Carlos!!" Nick shouted towards the direction of the smoke, but there was no response.
His heart sank rapidly.
After breaking through the cage, the black smoke ball trailed a long tail of flame and flew more than ten meters before dispersing into a cloud of smoke on the ground. A white figure dashed out from it, not stopping for a moment as it sprinted into the distance.
Carlos!? No, that's not right, the figure is too small, it's not Carlos, who is it? What's gone wrong… It seems to be escaping?!
"Archbishop! Please check on Carlos's condition! Second and third squadrons on the right wing, follow me in pursuit!"
Nick made a quick judgment of the situation and bellowed an order, chasing after the figure.
…………
"Pant… pant…"
Running, non-stop running, running with all the might one could muster.
To my surprise, this body, though it seemed frail, was much stronger than I had anticipated; I could run incredibly fast. My right hand clutched the cloak tightly around my body to prevent it from flapping wildly, and with my left, I pulled down the hood of the cloak over my head. After covering a good distance, I didn't feel particularly exhausted, much stronger than when I was a man.
Back then, I was engrossed in work, sometimes staying at the company for over ten hours, often working overtime into the night, with no energy left for exercise, and a big belly even at a young age.
The voices of the knights seemed to be growing fainter behind me, and my heart was filled with secret joy. It's over, it's over! I've escaped!
In the last moments within the black smoke, although I didn't understand why the swordsman hesitated, his hesitation bought me time. I successfully reestablished my connection with the black smoke and even sensed the cold presence I felt when enveloped by the Abyssal Mire.
It seemed to be a power that could allow me to wield frost.
For now, I could only release it haphazardly, with no idea how to control it. But the sudden burst of black smoke and frost was enough to throw him into disarray.
And then that bearded swordsman was frozen solid on the spot. I'll never forget the look of utter misery on his face, hahaha, so happy!
You bullied me, hmph.
With an irrepressible smile on my face, I couldn't help but turn my head to look back, but I completely forgot that due to the significant height difference between Carlos and me, the cloak wrapped around me was too long. Because of my twisting motion, the hem of the cloak once again dragged on the ground, and then I stepped on it.
At this moment, I was running with all my might, so fast that I couldn't even scream before I flew out just like when I was hit by the holy spear before.
"Thud," "thud," I fell to the ground and bounced up, rolling countless times before lying still.
The phrase "extreme joy turns to sorrow" was perfectly interpreted by me at this moment.
I lay face down on the ground, in so much pain that I couldn't catch my breath for a long time. Slowly propping myself up, I pushed aside the cloak to take a look, and saw that my arms and calves were covered with scrapes of varying severity, with a large patch of skin grazed off at the knee of my left leg, which had swollen up significantly, with a large bruise seeping blood spots, causing me to gasp in pain.
"Done for…"
It took a while before I got over that bout of breathlessness. Not bothering to curse, I got up with a mix of rolling and crawling, limping and continuing to jog forward.
The trees around me gradually increased, and a little further on, I could see the vast forest of towering trees.
My goal was there.
This fall had delayed me too much, and I could already hear the "trot trot" of hoofbeats not far behind me. At this moment, there was no longer the previous sense of triumph, and I was anxious, running for my life, but the fall injury on my knee had slowed me down too much.
The hoofbeats grew closer, and a shout came from behind.
"Don't think of running!!"
The clanging sound of a weapon being drawn rang out.
I was instantly alert, leaning back and sliding to the ground. As I fell, a sword light with the sound of wind swept over my head.
That was close! I broke out in a cold sweat.
My body slid forward a short distance with the momentum, and before I could adjust my posture to stand up again, a sense of danger struck once more.
I quickly rolled on the spot, and where I had been just a moment ago, there was a "thud." Turning my head, I saw the knight commander, his eyes fierce, pulling his short sword out of the ground.
A massive beast flashed out from behind him, its low growl mixed with heavy panting, and it charged at me with its horns raised.
I was terrified and immediately jumped to the side, while a cold white mist burst from my body. However, due to the lack of time to adjust my posture and the pain in my knee, I slipped, and the position I jumped to was off, barely avoiding the beast's horns but still being hit and sent flying.
"Ugh—"
I spun twice in the air before "thump," landing on the ground with a muffled groan.
This hit made me see stars, and my body felt like it was falling apart with pain everywhere. I didn't know if I had broken any bones.
Without bothering to get up, I hurriedly looked back, and the beast lay on the ground as stiff as an ice sculpture.
"Who are you?! Where's Carlos!? What have you done to him!"
The knight commander had just been blown back several steps by the sudden cold wind, and now with a slight chill emanating from his body, he pointed his short sword diagonally downward and strode towards me.
I showed him a fierce expression, my wide hood covering most of my face, unsure if he could see it.
What could I possibly do to that bearded scoundrel! You should ask what he did to me!
Seeing that the knight commander was about to close in on me, I crouched on the ground and swung my right hand at him.
"Crack crack crack crack—"
Countless icicles rose from the ground beneath my feet, sending a sky full of frost towards the knight commander's square face.
The knight commander rolled to the side to avoid the thick icicles that shot up from the ground, his left hand glowing purple as it brushed over the short sword, which suddenly "hummed" and lit up with dazzling light.
At the same time, I heard a mix of footsteps and shouts not far away, realizing that if I didn't leave now, it would be too late.
"Stay!"
The knight commander took a big bow step, his short sword glowing purple and held horizontally at eyebrow level, bent his knees, leaned forward, jumped, his body eclipsing the sun as he loomed over me like a mountain.
Why must you push me so! Must it be a fight to the death?!
With a fierce determination in my heart, black smoke billowed from beneath my feet, and my arms, wrapped in a bright ice-blue frost mist, leapt up to meet the knight commander.
"Crash!!"
"Thud."
The heart-stopping collision was over in an instant, and the knight commander's body was already filled with tiny ice spikes, half of his body encased in frost and ice, as he was sent flying high.
"Captain—!!"
Someone was shouting not far away.
I lowered my head to look at the short sword embedded in my abdomen, stumbling on my feet.
The forest was within reach.
Once I entered the forest, they would have no way to catch me.
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