Moonless Night (2)
Death Worm.
One of the remnants of the fallen dragon.
A monster that usually burrows underground and occasionally exposes its body to the ground to breathe.
Unlike their gigantic and hideous appearance, their staple food was minerals in the ground or energy from the fertile soil.
“Something is strange! “Deathworms don’t naturally eat meat!”
However, the scene unfolding below was completely different from common sense.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow
_
Wild horses are scattering in all directions due to the death worm’s attack.
The pitiful screams of the horses were being eaten away along with the sticky blood.
The death worm’s slimy body, stained with red blood, looked eerie.
“…Everyone go horseback riding!”
After looking at the situation and making a judgment, Rutger shouted loudly to the knights.
Whether the situation in front of you is beyond common sense or not is not important.
The important thing is to be where you need to be and do what you need to do.
That will be the duty of those who have received the mission.
“Protect the pilgrims! “We must rescue them!”
As soon as Rutger finished speaking, seeing the knights moving quickly, Vlad also quickly climbed onto the cart.
“Advance!”
“Forward! Follow Rutger!”
Following Rutger’s orders, Bayezid’s knights began running down the green hill.
To a hellish scene stained bright red with the blood of wild horses below.
To save the pilgrims who were panicking and didn’t know what to do.
The sound of the death worms’ cries and the sound of the knights’ horses’ hooves were echoing across the quiet green grassland.
Peter sent his son here for this moment that he never knew would happen.
The arrangements made by the family head, prepared for any contingency, were shining like the flag of Bayezid hanging high on a pole at this moment.
“…It’s a young guy! “It’s something that has just been born!”
Dorothea was busy observing the death worm while riding a horse.
She was someone who knew exactly what her role was.
“Both the size and the skin haven’t hardened yet!”
At Dorothea’s screaming report, Rutger turned his head and looked at Death Worm.
The death worm, which was still constantly chewing and devouring the horse carcasses, was not as big as she thought, and above all, it had pink, smooth skin.
It was a young individual that had not yet developed the death worm’s hard outer shell.
“……”
While Rutger was riding his horse and checking the situation, Vlad was also observing below from the constantly shaking cart.
The only difference from Dorothea is that the boy was seeing a herd of wild horses running away screaming instead of a death worm.
[I can feel the spirit’s energy. These are not ordinary words.]
‘Spirit….’
The white snake I saw in Deirmar.
The person who had sent protection to him appeared in Vlad’s mind.
[I’ll lend you my world.]
“Okay.”
The loud, creaking sound of the cart drowned out the boy’s quiet answer.
“Huh…”
The boy lowered his posture as if praying and closed his right eye.
‘……!’
And I opened my left eye to the world of voices.
Heeeeeee-!
A world with vivid colors.
The world of voices, which seemed to have about 100 more colors than the boy’s world, was reflected in the words.
A herd of wild horses being eaten, trampled, and falling to the ground.
White smoke could be seen drifting like fog from the neighing horses.
‘What is that?’
Sparkling white smoke.
However, they are so pale that they cannot form a shape and end up dispersing.
I don’t know why, but Vlad felt sad about it.
[Look at the black guy.]
‘…….’
Following the advice of the voice, Vlad looked at the pitch-black horse that had just met his eyes.
A guy who seems to be the leader of the group and constantly runs around, attracting the attention of the Death Worm.
However, despite his pathetic gestures, the Death Worm did not even pay attention and was just greedy for the sweet flesh.
It seemed like a scene that overlapped with the scene of one day, and Vlad bit his lip.
‘horn?’
When I turned my gaze as the voice said, there was something that Vlad saw.
To other horses, it was just a light fog, but to him, it existed as a single form.
[It looks like those horses have unicorn blood mixed in.]
White horns.
In the center of the all-black guy’s forehead was a white horn that seemed to float like the moon.
The lemon scent of that day wafted from the boy’s armor as he gazed at the faint horn.
※※※※
‘What is that?’
Dorothea, who was riding a horse, suddenly caught something in her gaze.
Something sparkling on the young Deathworm’s forehead.
From there, a strange energy that only a wizard could feel was flowing out.
The young Deathworm was reacting to it.
“Lord Rutger! “The death worm rears its head!”
“Pilgrims! “I see pilgrims!”
“……shit!”
Sudden situation.
All we are given is a short amount of time.
Rutger’s black eyes gave off a sharp light.
“Dorothea! “What does a death worm react to?”
Rutger, the mission leader and leader of the group, was a man with a duty to use his best judgment.
“Deathworms have no eyes or ears! “Only by vibrations in the ground….”
“Find a way to induce that. Dorothea!”
Rutger quickly divided the group of knights into two with a wave of his hand and rushed to where the Death Worm was, leading only a few knights.
“You guys get down! “Words are not enough!”
In response to the knights’ shouts, Portli and Vlad quickly gave up their means of transportation.
It was a natural decision.
The pilgrims, who were moving in silence, would have no way to escape this situation without the help of the knights.
However, Death Worm, which has a speed that can catch up with even wild horses, will not easily let go of its target once it has captured it.
Rutger had to solve two problems at once.
Wow!
The young Deathworm, who had been savoring the corpses of the horses for a while, leaned towards the pilgrims with something sparkling on his forehead.
Wild horses running away and pilgrims in front of them.
Everything Deathworm wanted or anyone else wanted was right in front of me.
Wow!
A death worm leaping toward the pilgrims with a ferocious roar.
“shit! why!”
“Run!”
Why did the Death Worm, which had been devouring wild horses just a moment ago, suddenly show interest in the pilgrims in front of me?
However, now, resolving the situation is more urgent than analyzing the results.
“Get attention!”
The knights attack Death Worm following Rutger’s instructions.
While the knights mingled with the herds of wild horses and tried to block the Death Worm’s advance, Rutger quietly raged.
Common sense was being violated and the situation was moving in a strange way.
If so, there must be an artificial problem that created this situation.
“How dare you in my father’s land….”
Bayezid, a nobleman of the North.
The knight who fully inherited that blood closed his left eye.
※※※※
From afar, knights could be seen approaching the group of pilgrims, but as expected, there seemed to be not enough horses to move at once.
“We’re in big trouble!”
“…….”
Vlad and Portli, who had lost their horse and cart, were watching the situation from the hill, protecting Dorothea.
“The blonde and the fat one! “I told you to block the wind!”
Dorothea’s voice came flying right behind me even though I only moved a little.
As expected, she was currently sitting on the floor, creating an imprint that could attract the Death Worm as Rutger had said.
“What color was the engraving of vibration, vibration, vibration…”
Small bottles lined up as if pouring on the floor.
They were small bottles filled with things that looked like paint, as if an artist was preparing to paint.
Dorothea moves them around and prepares her magic.
Every time her lips trembled as she quietly recited, and every time she touched the hand that carefully held the bottle, the small bottles on the floor sparkled and found their own color.
Kwagagagaang-!
‘What a bastard!’
A rush of heat rushed to Vlad’s face as he watched her prepare for a while.
The brutal heat felt from afar.
A flicker of intensely condensed flame was burning the air around it along with the death worm.
“It’s Rutger!”
Portly raised one hand without even realizing it due to the strong force that was being transmitted to this point, but Vlad just opened his mouth as if the force was threatening to set his world on fire.
It was a world that felt distinctly different from my own.
[It’s shallow. I didn’t prepare properly.]
However, although the young Death Worm did not yet have a strong exterior, it endured with tenacity and durability.
Wow!
Knock knock knock –
despite Rutger’s powerful blow, it just let out a single scream and hurriedly dug into the ground.
Even though he was young, the fact that he was able to inflict at least a small injury was an achievement.
[……This has become difficult. No matter how good a knight he is, he won’t be able to do anything about the enemy in the ground.]
It seems that Rutger’s strike just struck wasn’t enough to neutralize the death worm in one go.
A moment of silence.
And still.
In a situation where there is not a single thing moving on this wide plain.
Tap, tap,
tap, tap. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and crack little by little.
Where is the gradually cracking path heading?
“shit!”
“Follow me!”
A place where pilgrims are.
At the same time, it was also a place where wild horses that had run away were breathing out their weary breath.
“Dorothea….”
“Why!”
“I think we should do it quickly.”
Vlad, who was watching the situation from a high hill, realized that Rutger’s fighting efforts alone could not resolve the situation.
“It’s almost done!”
“If it’s almost done, give it to me.”
Vlad turned his head and looked back.
“I told you to wait!”
There was Dorothea, who had dipped her tail in strangely colored paint and was engraving an imprint on paper.
“…Do you use your tail?”
“This is the unique way of the beast people!”
As a boy who had never seen a wizard perform magic, it was a scene he could only imagine.
“done!”
Dorothea lifted up a piece of paper the size of her palm, seemingly having finally completed it.
The engraving shined momentarily in the sunlight and then regained its original color.
“You can give this to Rutger. The method of use is to rub or cut the paper against the target. For example, a sword or something.”
[It was late.]
However, the crack created by the death worm was already extending in a straight line toward where the pilgrims were.
The movements of the herd of wild horses trying to escape from afar and the knights carrying the priests were becoming more urgent.
“I think it’s late…”
“Ride my horse and go!”
At Dorothea’s words, Vlad turned his head and looked at Portli.
“will do……. “I’ll give it a try!”
Dorothea was exhausted from suddenly engraving, and Vlad was unable to ride a horse.
In this situation, the only person who could have delivered this paper to Rutger was Portli.
[Even if you ride a horse, it’s too late. You should not think that the death worms in the ground move at the same speed as the death worms on the ground.]
“……I think it would be too late even if we go now.”
Dorothea did her best, but the time given was too short.
So you can’t blame her.
“Then what should I do!”
Dorothea was sitting on the floor, her blue lips trembling.
“…….”
Vlad knew.
There is only one way to get this paper to Rutger, who is chasing the Death Worm, in time.
“I’ll go.”
“You can’t ride a horse, right?”
Vlad moistened his lips with his tongue and walked away.
Towards the opposite direction from where the knights went down. The boulder
that
I hit with my toe was rolling and falling down without stopping.
It wasn’t a cliff, but it was a hill with a scary angle that made it hard to go down.
It was a steep hill that could never be climbed down on horseback.
“Because this is the only way. “There is nothing we can do.”
Even when Vlad was pickpocketing as a child, he was never caught.
Even though my body was naturally flighty, I knew it well.
“If you go down here, you will reach there in time.”
The fastest way to reach your goal is a straight line.
Not a single guard caught Vlad as he ran through the streets, over walls, and through stores.
And it will be the same now.
“This is almost a cliff!”
“Tell me well about it to the drivers later.”
A blond boy holding Dorothea’s imprint as if taking it away.
“It really wasn’t my intention not to receive peanuts that day.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the boy’s blonde hair swayed towards the dizzying hill.
“hey!”
Dorothea looks down the hill to find Vlad, who has disappeared.
“Uh…”
There was a boy running down a steep slope as if he had wings.
“…I heard you were born with it.”
A top prospect paid attention to and supported by the Bayezid family.
The imprint made by Dorothea was shining white in the blond boy’s hand.
※※※※
[Slow down! slowly! Strengthen your toes!]
“It’s so noisy that I can’t concentrate!”
Vlad, who received Dorothea’s imprint, was moving steadily down the almost vertical hill.
It was through the movements that the boy learned, risking his life, that if he didn’t eat today, he might die tomorrow.
‘There is no need to go out like this.’
In the first place, a man named Rutger was in conflict with Josef over the position of head of the family.
Moreover, all the knights here were elites belonging to the top of the Bayezid family, so there was no need for him, who was only a squire, to go out like this.
But Vlad wanted to do this.
First, he wanted to give a blow to Rutger’s knights who were ignoring him and Josef.
The second was because of the pitch-black guy who was trying to protect the group from the disaster-like attack of the Death Worm.
‘The subject of animals disturbs people.’
Vlad knew better.
How does it feel to have your nest destroyed by a huge, uncontrollable world?
The helplessness of that day was like a wound deeply embedded in the boy’s soul.
The boy, who hated being nothing, ran down the hill, defending his current actions.
“Ugh!”
Maybe I was thinking about something else for a moment.
Because of a slight misstep, Vlad ended up slipping down the steep slope.
[Round your body!]
“Ack! Aak!”
A boy rolling down a hill with a loud noise.
However, even though he was rolling violently on the rough ground and hitting the rubble, Vlad strangely remained unaffected.
If the boy had opened his left eye and looked into the world of voices, he would have noticed that his armor was now shining white.
The white snake’s protection was protecting the boy.
“…….”
And even at the bottom of the hill, there was someone who was looking at the sparkle that the boy could not see.
A pitch-black guy who was out of breath and running around non-stop to save the group.
The boy was shining white in the horse’s eyes.
A star shining white.
A star falling down a hill, burning itself white.
In the pitch-black world of horses, the boy’s appearance was reflected like that.
White stars were jumping into the moonless night.
