## Chapter 559 – The Little Match Girl
“Let’s chase after them.”
At my words, Winia and Hildegard moved.
Even if nothing else, the fact that two people were heading out somewhere was a great opportunity to whittle down the enemy’s forces, as well as a chance to collect various pieces of evidence.
—Rustle, rustle.
We immediately cleaned up our spot and followed them, taking a slight detour. Since this was a high-altitude area to begin with, there was little chance of being discovered.
It would be simple to ambush them when they got further away from the cave.
—…
—…
As if they knew nothing, they walked along, chatting amongst themselves. What on earth was in that bag?
They were carrying weapons, but not the kind of equipment used by those preparing for war.
Just what kind of bastards would pair up and come out into a snowy mountain where Sasquatches might be lurking?
Does that mean they’re skilled?
No, if they were skilled, they would have noticed our presence.
“Winia, can you take care of it quietly?”
“One is for me. The other one, Darkie, you have to do.”
“I’ll signal you.”
The slope was about 6 meters high.
We could easily climb down quickly from that height. They still hadn’t noticed our presence.
When they rounded a curve, I signaled Winia.
“Winia, based on the direction those bastards are going, take the one on the right. I’ll take care of the one next to him.”
Winia nodded silently and began to chant in a low voice. With a magical aura, an ice arrow began to form in the air.
Nothing beats this for solving things quietly.
“Darkie.”
Winia called me after completing the spell, and—*Whack!*—I immediately kicked off the ground and raced down the slope. I kept my mouth shut. This was a stealth operation.
I just ran forward with my sword raised.
“…?”
“What…?”
At that moment, they turned to look this way.
In that instant,
—*Crack!*
The ice arrow, flying faster than I could move, pierced the temple of the dazed bastard. It was a truly instantaneous attack. He probably died without even realizing he was dead.
“Oh, ohhh!!!”
The surviving one, seeing this, was shocked and tried to run away, but there was no way he could escape my speed.
—*Thwack!*
I instantly closed the distance and plunged my sword into his back.
“How dare this bastard show me his back?”
“Kuh, kuh-heok…!”
There was no need to use sword energy. Like sticking a fork into canned peaches, the sword lightly pierced through his back and emerged from his chest.
Is he an Alien?
“Kuagh…!”
“Shut up.”
In that state, I reached out and grabbed the back of his neck as he writhed in agony.
“Wild Night Blood Jade Hand.”
—*Snap!*
As I put all my strength into my grip, I felt his neck bones break. In that instant, the strength drained from his body.
I immediately grabbed the ankles of the two dead bastards and dragged them away.
“Darkie, did you kill him for sure?”
“Yeah. Winia, Hilde, check around for anything. I’m going to search these bastards’ pockets.”
I asked them to keep watch and dragged the corpses to a place where we could take cover. Hildegard rubbed her eyes and cleaned up the bloodstains a little. What a smart kid.
“Hmm.”
Other than being bald, there was nothing particularly special about them. First, I skillfully stripped off their black clothes and searched their pockets, and things started to come out.
“This is…”
He was wearing something like a necklace. Like dog tags used in the military. On the coin-sized disc, there was a familiar symbol engraved.
“These fucking bastards.”
They were indeed cultists.
It was the symbol of the cultists that Elise and I had been so desperately searching for.
This proved that they were cultists. Other than that, they only had weapons, but since there was a bag, I had them check that too.
—*Rattle.*
I immediately turned the bag upside down and spread its contents on the ground.
What fell out of the bag were things like books, wooden tools, sculptures, and maps… nothing special.
“…”
First, I checked the book. The writing inside was something I couldn’t read. It seemed to be scribbled haphazardly, but there seemed to be some kind of regularity to the characters… this was suspicious.
“Winia, Hilde, come and take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“What is it?”
When I showed it to them, they also shook their heads. They said it was a script they had never seen before. Anyway, I got something good.
“And this necklace. Winia, you’ve seen this symbol before, right?”
“They’re cultists.”
“Hmm… I don’t know the symbol. I don’t know much about human religions.”
That’s a shame.
I immediately erased the traces as best I could, took the bag, and buried the corpses in the snow. It was perfect. No one died today.
“Darkie, what are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to poke around. If the guys we sent don’t come back, they’ll realize something happened. Let’s go before that happens. Two of them are dead, so it might be okay.”
“Are you really going? Darkie, I think it’s a bit dangerous.”
“If it’s dangerous, we’ll just pull out. I’ve already checked all the escape routes.”
Their level was nothing special.
Even if a truckload of those guys came at me, they couldn’t kill me.
They were probably just low-level grunts.
In my memory, the higher-ranking cultists all had grotesque appearances. And from my experience, the only cultists I had trouble with were Blink and the dagger master who used shield magic in the underground waterway.
Overall, I thought it was worth a try. If there were any real experts among them, they wouldn’t have been so thoroughly beaten by the Sasquatches. The one magician who put up a fight was probably the most threatening.
“Then we’re pulling out immediately if it gets dangerous.”
“Don’t worry. It’s always been like that. You trust me, right?”
“Sigh, I have to trust Darkie. Let’s go then. I’ll just shoot a Flame Arrow first and run away if anything happens.”
Shooting a Flame Arrow into the cave would be truly devastating. I know Winia’s full power, so that’s why I’m saying it.
We climbed back up the slope and moved to secretly approach the cave.
“Winia-nim really seems to love Katt-nim.”
“What?”
“Hehe, it’s just that. I’m so jealous.”
“Ugh… don’t say weird things, Succubus.”
“Yes, yes.”
Such embarrassing small talk.
We arrived at the place where we had been monitoring the cave for the day. Nothing much had changed. The traces in front of the cave hadn’t changed either.
—Rustle, rustle.
We immediately went down slowly towards the cave. What we were about to do was infiltration, ambush, or escape. I never doubt my judgment. If it works by poking around, we push through, and if it doesn’t, we escape immediately.
As soon as we arrived at the cave entrance, I stuck close to the side and opened my mouth in a low voice.
“Hilde, can you keep watch here?”
“Yes. I will. Just trust me.”
“Of course I have to trust my Demon Friend. Let’s go in, Winia.”
There were no signs of people near the cave entrance.
I moved in front of Winia with my sword drawn. Neither Winia nor I opened our mouths, but we moved forward, feeling only each other’s presence.
—Extreme vigilance.
—Throbbing heart.
It was dark, but the far end was bright.
The light meant that they were doing something over there. Whatever it was, there would be no negotiation or conversation with them.
We would kill them if we could, and run away if we couldn’t.
We slowly approached it.
When I turned around, Winia was aiming her staff and staring ahead. Her eyes were already those of a skilled hunter. She was indeed a reliable magician. A woman with a wealth of practical experience.
If I don’t trust Winia, who would I trust?
There wasn’t much in the cave passage. Only sounds coming from the other side… eventually, we approached the place where the light was coming from.
—Muttering, muttering.
—Murmuring.
—Rustle, rustle.
There was a short staircase of about five steps, and people in black clothes were moving below. We stuck right next to the entrance. In that state, we slowly poked our heads out and spied inside.
“…”
These bastards had created something like a laboratory in the cave.
Eight people and one bizarre being were each moving about. Some were carving something bloody on a workbench, others were scribbling something at a desk, and someone was sprinkling water on an altar.
Above all, that “bizarre being” disturbed my mind.
“…Guaaa.”
The horned skull-headed scarecrow was covered with extremely thin, black leather.
It was a bizarre shape, like a human skull model covered with a tar-like film. The humans didn’t seem to care that they were in the same space as that crazy demon bastard. They were indeed demon conspirators.
Anyway, a demon.
I grasped that in just 5 seconds and hid again.
There were only a total of “nine” people inside, including the demon.
And they hadn’t noticed us.
—Fiddling, fiddling.
I immediately touched Winia’s hand and signaled her to fire a Flame Arrow. She nodded silently and began to chant a little away from the entrance.
—High-speed incantation.
The magic she said she had learned recently.
It increases mana consumption, but it makes the incantation speed extremely fast. If I opened my mouth here, the bastards inside would all hear me. Then we would be discovered. But if we have to chant anyway, it’s better to do it quickly like this.
At least we can hit them once before being discovered.
“Flame Arrow!”
Winia’s shrill cry echoed through the cave, and at the same time, a fiercely burning arrow of flame flew into the laboratory.
—*BOOM!!!*
And at the same time as the familiar explosion, screams erupted.
“Kyaaaaaaack!!”
“Uwaaaack!”
“W-What! What’s going on!”
“Intruders! They’re over there!”
Flames clung to various places with the explosion.
The fire began to spread to the workbench, bookshelves, desks, chairs, and the altar, causing serious chaos. In the midst of all this, one bastard who was hit head-on turned into charcoal, and two others were going crazy because sparks had flown onto their clothes.
“Verde!!!!!!!!!!”
Aiming my sword at that chaotic scene—
“Hooray!!!!!!!!!!”
—I shouted.
“Holy Knights, charge!!!”
Purely to cause confusion, I shouted and at the same time revealed my armor and tried to go inside. Whatever it is, you’ve all been exposed. The Holy Knights are coming, you fucking assholes.
It was enough to give that “impression” in the midst of the chaos.
“H-Holy Knights!!!”
“Has this place been discovered!!!”
“Verde’s dogs are here!!!!”
These bastards can speak our language.
And from their reaction, they were definitely cultists. Above all, the same symbol was engraved on that altar. Anyway, the confusion increased because they thought the real Holy Knights had come.
“R-Run away! We’ll stop them!!”
The bastards, while terrified, drew their swords and rushed towards me.
“Waaaaaa!!!”
“Die, Verde’s hunting dog!!”
They didn’t seem to have good skills. There were only four of them rushing at me. —Then.
They’re fucking pushovers.
“Dieeeeee!!!”
“Hehehe, these fucking cultist bastards! Verde-nim and Eisermarte-nim are with us!!!”
—Dejaaaaaaaat!!!
Shouting with spirit, I rushed towards them. The laboratory space was quite large, so there was enough room to swing my sword! I immediately drew up my mana and unleashed the ultimate of the Real Combat Sword Technique that I had been training in!
“I won’t forgive disloyalty!!!!!”
—*Slash!*
The Life-Giving Sword was a sword that saved people, but it was also a sword that killed.
The Real Combat Sword Technique never tolerates cultists, and the trajectory of the swung sword is an invitation to hell.
The very moment when the Life-Giving Sword transforms into a Murderous Sword is when the flame of life goes out!
“Kuh-haaaaack!”
“Kya-hack!”
At the same time as the greatly swung sword emitted a brilliant sword energy, the bodies of two bastards were cut apart, scattering blood.
“Die, cultists!!!”
—*Thwack!*
Immediately following up with a thrust from the sword-swinging stance, I pierced the chest of the third bastard, and the last bastard bravely swung down a one-handed sword.
—*Clang!*
“What!”
Of course, I had my trusty gauntlet. I raised my arm and simply blocked the blow, then reached out and grabbed the bastard’s face.
—*Squeeze!*
In that state, I concentrated my inner strength and unleashed the power of my grip,
“Wild Night Blood Jade Hand.”
“Byoooooooong!!!”
With a bizarre scream, the bastard’s face crumpled and drooped.
My grip strength has become monstrously strong these days.
“…”
“…”
It didn’t take even 10 seconds to kill four of them.
“Hehehe, long live Verde. Cultists. If you surrender now, I guarantee immediate death. Surrender, you are surrounded.”
What remained on the scene was the bizarrely shaped demon, and the other three.
“…So it’s the Holy Knights. Have we been discovered by Verde’s followers?”
The one who seemed to be the strongest among them stepped forward with a long sword raised.
What are the demon and the other bastard behind him?
“Run away. I’ll buy you time.”
“…Your sacrifice will be valuable. If you survive, let’s meet again there. Goodbye, then.”
Next to the demon stood a woman with snow-white hair. Despite wearing the cultists’ unique black clothes, her figure revealed that she was a woman. What the hell is this bitch?
—Gyoooo…!
What was most unusual was that the woman was holding a baby Sasquatch with blue fur.
What the hell are these bastards!
“You fucking bastards! What the hell are you?!”
—Zwaaaaaack!!
In that instant, purple light burst out from the demon’s eyes. I thought it was some kind of magic, but following the trajectory of the light, a strange purple gate was created, and the demon calmly walked into it.
It was creating a gate like a beam projector!
“…”
The white-haired woman holding the baby Sasquatch also glanced at me once and headed into the gate.
These fucking bastards!
“How dare these bastards run away!”
“You’re fighting me, Verde’s follower.”
As I was about to rush out immediately, the cultist swordsman with the long sword raised blocked me.
“You bastard!”
He’s strong!
“It’s your mom, you son of a bitch!”
“What?”
