The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 52

Alban had selected a total of six knights.

All were from the royal family and followed Alban’s firm orders without complaint. Alban was the only one who spoke as they retraced the mountain path they had just passed.

He, whose true intentions were hard to fathom, seemed quite excited as he explained the upcoming operation.

“This is a so-called surprise attack.”

Alban shrugged his shoulders as if he were a great strategist. Yulania forcibly remained silent. What could she possibly object to in this situation, being dragged along by the wrist?

“You all saw it earlier, didn’t you? That leader sitting at the very back of those bastards. We just need to go around to the back and take him out.”

Alban continued to chatter, looking thrilled.

“Then I’ll become a hero of the nation.”

Yulania desperately took deep breaths. However, Alban paid no attention to her condition. He gripped her wrist and roughly pushed her along the mountain path. The snow underfoot was melting and soft, and sharp stones were exposed here and there. Yulania tried not to fall, but eventually scraped her ankle on a rock.

“Ugh…!”

A groan escaped her lips, but Alban didn’t look back. Instead, he dragged her along at an even faster pace. As they continued their march, small scratches multiplied near Yulania’s white ankle.

Seeing this, Vihan leaned forward a couple of times. He looked as if he would snatch Yulania away at any moment, but Yulania quietly stopped him with a gesture.

‘I mustn’t provoke him any further right now.’

Bearing the stinging pain in her ankle, Yulania silently followed.

About an hour passed.

The frozen branches swayed, making an eerie sound, and then something stirred ahead.

“Looks like a scout?”

Alban muttered nonchalantly. Yulania’s heart sank. A medium-sized demon pushed through the trees and revealed itself.

“Sister, go after it quickly.”

Alban urged her. Yulania gripped the Holy Stone with trembling hands. However, unlike her desperate feelings, no light came out.

She clutched the Holy Stone tightly, praying earnestly, but the desperate emotions from the hundreds of demons overwhelmed her mind, making it impossible to sort out her feelings.

Anxiety, fear, helplessness.

All those emotions were tangled together, preventing the Holy Stone from reacting. In the meantime, the demon was getting closer and closer.

Grrr, grrr.

The growling sound struck her ears.

“What are you all doing! Get rid of it quickly!”

Alban shouted. The royal knights hurriedly drew their weapons and rushed at the demon. But without any proper mana users, they couldn’t defeat the demon; they only managed to wound it and provoke it further.

The demon became increasingly agitated, and after looking back several times, it finally stared directly at Yulania, let out a loud roar, and fled somewhere. A suffocating silence fell. Yulania cautiously said,

“Alban, let’s go back now. I think it’s dangerous.”

But Alban laughed as if she were joking.

“What are you saying, Sister? We’ve come all this way. Look at that thing running away with its tail between its legs. We can do it.”

“I don’t think it ran away because it was scared of us…”

Yulania shook her head and added, but Alban dismissed her words lightly.

“Or, as I said earlier, should we report this?”

Yulania bit her lip with a hardened expression. Her wrist was grabbed by him again, and the group entered the increasingly dark forest. And it wasn’t long before something happened.

The snow underfoot had become mushy, making it difficult to walk. Sensing something slithering closer, Yulania instinctively cowered.

“…!”

The medium-sized demon that had fled earlier reappeared. And that wasn’t all. Behind it, two small demons and another medium-sized demon were following.

“Reinforcements, I see.”

Vihan gritted his teeth and muttered. Yulania’s mind went blank.

‘It went to call its comrades!’

The medium-sized demon growled and lowered its body. This time, unlike before, it showed no signs of running away; it was clearly filled with murderous intent. Yulania instinctively gripped the Holy Stone.

But as the demon stared intently at her, an even greater panic overwhelmed her than before. The fact that there were no proper combatants here also played a part. Santia’s absence was felt painfully clearly. Her fingertips felt frozen, and her heart pounded as if it would burst.

The Holy Stone glowed weakly, but it didn’t form a clear barrier as usual.

“…”

Yulania took a step back. But Alban was still nonchalant.

“It’s nothing. Just a few more kids came along.”

He gestured to the knights.

“You guys, surround them and take care of them. Don’t waste time.”

The royal knights hesitated and raised their weapons. But they, too, could feel it. The demons before them were different from before. As the knights approached the demons, Yulania took one step, then another, backward. But there was nowhere to escape.

The royal knights didn’t fight as well as they thought they would. They may have learned how to deal with demons in theory, but the reality was different.

After clumsy movements, the knights barely managed to deal with one small demon each. And even that was only possible because Vihan barely managed to block the demon that was rushing towards Yulania.

But as the medium-sized demon bent down and charged, one of the royal knights lost his balance trying to dodge, and his chest was pierced by the demon’s claw-like forefoot.

The sight of red blood scattering slowly passed before her eyes.

“…!”

The battle turned into hell in an instant. It was an expedition that had fought countless battles until now, but had endured without a single casualty. The reality of death fell before her eyes so suddenly.

And that was the signal. The demons became even more excited. The negative emotions emanating from them could be felt even though they were invisible.

Fear. Anger. Madness.

As those emotions spread through the air, the surrounding demons reacted violently. They puffed up their bodies, bared their teeth, and poured out hatred with their whole bodies. Yulania felt as if she were standing in the middle of a raging storm. The vortex of negative emotions surrounded her, making it impossible to breathe. A heavy, sticky fear pressed down on her whole body. She tried to grip the Holy Stone, but her fingertips felt numb and her mind was blank.

Vihan hurriedly shielded her and knocked away one of the demons, but that, too, had its limits. More and more demons were gathering around.

Yulania tried to step back but lost her footing and fell into the snow.

“Ah…!”

Soon after, a fragment flew from somewhere and grazed her leg. Blood seeped out along with a stinging pain. Yulania swallowed a scream and examined her leg, which had been stabbed by something. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t put any strength into her leg.

Her vision was blurry. She felt suffocated by the fear that something was about to pounce on her.

The only thing that filled her blank mind was one being.

‘Santia.’

The black-haired man filled her mind, which was devoid of any thoughts or words. Perhaps he would appear like a miracle. Perhaps he would embrace her warmly as always. As she faced the fear that was close to panic, irrational thoughts followed.

“Sister! What are you doing?! Do something!”

Alban’s shout struck Yulania’s ears. He was spinning around in place by himself, then exploded in annoyance at her, who was nearby.

“This situation is all because of you!”

Yulania looked up at him from her distant vision. Alban’s face was distorted with fear. But that cowardly anger was not heard by Yulania.

One of the medium-sized demons was approaching her slowly but surely. The demon’s eyes were filled with savage anger and hunger. Yulania stumbled and gripped the Holy Stone.

“Please, please…!”

But the Holy Stone only flickered. The round barrier that had protected her before did not appear. Soon, the demon’s claw-like forefoot soared.

At that moment, Yulania closed her eyes tightly.

All sounds seemed to disappear.

With a thwack that cut through the air, a tearing, horrific scream followed.

And then a soft breeze blew from somewhere and brushed Yulania’s cheek.

The scent that wafted to the tip of her nose calmed her mind before she could even consciously recognize it. A heavy scent mixed with the acrid smell of blood.

And a low voice, trembling with rage, echoed softly. Her mind, which was on the verge of collapsing, was barely held together by that one voice.

“What in the world is going on here?”

It was the voice Yulania wanted to hear the most.

Support