Chapter 62 – Raid (3)

The first strike was to be handled by Diana and me. As the first attack would maximize the effect of the raid, it was a mission that required skilled individuals who could take down at least one, or definitely two enemies. Naturally, that meant the two of us, excluding the two guards.

Unfortunately, no enemies passed under the tree where we were hiding. Such a convenient thing was unlikely to happen. The only good thing was that there were two guys about ten steps away from the tree where Diana and I were hiding.

They didn’t seem to be getting any closer, so we had to approach them. Without being detected, and as carefully as possible. After exchanging glances with Diana, I slowly climbed down the tree. It was a bit too far to attack from above.

After designating our targets with hand gestures, we quickly initiated the action. With a small thud as I pushed off the ground, I clearly saw the eyes of the guy turning around widen, and the moment his mouth was about to open, I plunged the ‘Frostfire Dagger’ straight into his neck.

“Kuh… ugh.”

Not a chance.
I quickly covered his mouth with my hand and finished lowering his collapsing body safely to the ground. Looking to the side, Diana had also finished her job cleanly. …I wondered if it was okay for a saintess to do such things, but this world was very lenient when it came to killing.

Not that I went around killing people I didn’t like, but at least there was a level of leniency towards killing enemies who attacked first that was hard to understand with modern common sense. It was a relief that Diana, who was supposed to be a saintess, wasn’t the type to talk about the ‘preciousness of life’ to an enemy who attacked first. I didn’t know whether to be glad or sad about this harshness.

My brief thoughts were interrupted by Diana’s gaze. Although two enemies had fallen, there were still three left, including the one holding the torch. They didn’t seem to know that their comrades had been attacked yet, so we had to take them down quickly in this gap…

“Yaaah!”

The two guards of the merchant, who had climbed up the tree, were closer to the enemy than we were, but they had been quiet since we were supposed to attack first. But after we attacked, they seemed to take it as a signal and suddenly jumped down from the tree, swinging their swords. And why the hell were they yelling like that!

“Enemies!”
“They’re over here!”

Those damn trolls! They managed to kill two enemies in one go by using the force of falling from the tree, but why the hell were they shouting during a raid? It’s not like they were announcing it to the whole neighborhood!

I quickly followed the fleeing enemy and tripped him.

“Heeik! P-please save me!”
“Shhh, be quiet. Who are you guys?”
“I-I don’t know! I’m just a mercenary! They said they’d give me money! Heeik! Really, really! I don’t know any… Krk!”

The sound of torches shaking and shouts echoing from all directions meant we had been discovered. I gifted the useless grunt with a dagger to the neck and quickly called the two guards.

“If we wait for the enemies to approach, we’ll just get surrounded, so we’ll strike first. If we can’t handle them all and new enemies appear, just buy us some time.”
“Understood.”
“And don’t make that damn yell.”
“……”

He looked embarrassed, as if he hadn’t done it consciously. Don’t make that cute face, you hairy old man. I’ll punch you.

I quickly lunged towards the closest enemy. Thanks to the stat boosts from buffs and items, I showed agility that was hard for ordinary people to follow, and sent a whisper to Cha Hyewon.

▶ Enemy encountered. Combat initiated.
▷ Just hold on. I’m going as fast as I can.

I glanced at the chat window that popped up in front of me and then just turned it off. No matter how fast Cha Hyewon was, she wouldn’t arrive before the battle was over. I should just focus on the fight.

“The enemy is here, kuh!”

I kicked away the body of the enemy who fell with a monotonous scream and dodged a spear that was shot with a sharp sound. With the sudden change of direction, the long hair of my wig fluttered in the air, making me feel like I was filming a movie.

“What a bitch!”
“You’re talking too much for a guy who’s about to die by a bitch.”

I approached him while he was retrieving the spear he had thrown, quickly turned the dagger in my hand, held it in reverse, and lightly grazed his neck. I kicked off the ground again, leaving behind a fountain of blood spurting from his severed carotid artery.

“Be careful! They’re not ordinary!”
“Blow the horn, blow the horn!”

They were in a panic, not expecting us to attack first. I had taken down two, and Diana had taken down two, but in the meantime, about six more enemies had joined them. What were the guards doing?

“Kuh! There, there are too many! I can’t hold on!”
“Fall back!”

The two guards, who were barely holding on against four enemies, looked like they were in danger, so I just told them to join us. Even a cat’s paw was better than nothing. …Damn it. The enemies were moving faster than I thought. I had to reduce their numbers as much as possible before they grouped up more.

About ten enemies had already gathered and were wary of us, making it difficult to break through, but I thought that if I hesitated, I would be surrounded by even more enemies, so I put strength into my legs.

“They’re coming!”
“Stab!”

I slid low to the ground, dodging the spears that three enemy soldiers in a row threw at once, and charged into their formation. Even if I was clumsy, I had been trained in combat by the best paladin of the order for 16 years, so this was nothing.

I swung the dagger I was holding in reverse, cutting the thighs of the two enemies in front, and then jumped to the side. The spear that the guy in the back row had stabbed landed in the spot where I had been just as I jumped.

I didn’t kill them, but I had severely cut their thighs, so two enemies were out of combat. It might be better to inflict serious injuries than to kill them.

“Tom! Jimmy! Damn it! Pull them back!”

As expected. Four enemies, including the one who was taking care of the injured comrades, retreated, just as they were trained. Now that the front line had collapsed, I would charge in.

“Ugh! You, you’re too fast!”
“Stay calm! Group up! Group up!”

The enemies, who had been reduced by half in an instant, were panicking and regrouping. Not a chance.

“Hey! You two, attack from behind too!”

I ordered the two guards, who were standing there blankly with their weapons, to attack, and the enemies’ formation, which was attacked from the front and back, collapsed. I took advantage of that moment to charge in again.

“Save our allies!”

A shout came from behind. There were five enemies left. Including the two injured and collapsed, there were seven, but the two who had lost their combat ability were out of the question. …I couldn’t let them join up like this. Why did I fight the enemies so hastily without considering my stamina?

It was to take them down individually as much as possible, but I couldn’t let the enemies group up like this. But if I told the two guards to stop them, there were too many new enemies. Quickly. I had to decide quickly. What should I do? …I’ll stop them.

After a brief pause, I turned around. I nodded to Diana, who I made eye contact with for a moment, and lunged towards the approaching enemies.

“Kill the bitch first!”
“Don’t kill her! There’s something we need to find out!”

It was good for me if they tried to capture me. The enemies, who didn’t know my skills yet, thought I was just a simple woman and swung their weapons passively.

I charged in, taking hits from the spear shafts, not the blades, and lightly swept my dagger across their necks. I kicked the writhing body, which was clutching at the spurting blood, and used the momentum to crash into the guy who was charging from the side, stabbing him in the stomach. Then I rolled and got up.

“…Crazy. Don’t let your guard down. She’s not ordinary.”
“Shield bearers!”

…Damn it.
Shields were difficult to deal with. I glanced around and saw a swarm of enemies had gathered. The number was… about 30. I had killed more than 10 so far, but there were more than I thought. Could I handle them all?

I saw the guys with shields coming out from among the enemies and immediately charged. If they formed a shield wall and pressed in, it would be difficult to deal with, so I would rather induce a melee.

“They’re coming! Block them!”

I ran to the outside, avoiding the guys with shields, and dodged the attack of the guy who was swinging his sword haphazardly. I swung my dagger in response. The reaction to avoid it was actually a poison, and the ‘Frostfire’ bloomed from the long gash on his face, and a small flame flared up on his face.

“Uwaaaah! Kkeueueuek!”
“Y-you vicious bitch.”

I was grateful if they were scared of me. I strode towards the enemy who was hesitating and stepping back after seeing his fallen comrade, and stabbed him with my dagger and pushed forward. I used the guy with the dagger in his stomach, who was half-floating in the air, as a human shield and broke through the enemy formation. I ran straight towards the guy who seemed to be the commander.

It would be much easier if I got rid of this guy who was giving orders. I threw the guy I was using as a human shield at the approaching enemies, and the moment I turned my gaze towards the commander, I met his cold eyes.

“Drop your weapon. If you don’t want to become a bolt target, bitch.”
“……”

Damn it.
I rolled my eyes and saw three crossbows aiming directly at me. …What should I do? It was impossible to dodge a crossbow at this close range. Maybe Irian could do it, but it was impossible with my abilities.

I could block it with a shield, but… could I kill all the witnesses? If they scattered and ran away, it would be difficult to kill them all.

But just in case, I secretly raised my divine power. No matter how much I wanted to hide my identity, it wasn’t more important than my life. If it got dangerous, I would just put up a shield and charge in.

“Can’t you hear me? Weapon. I said drop it, bitch.”
“It’s annoying to hear a bitch call me a bitch, bitch. Do you call your wife that too?”
“That’s rude. I’m unmarried.”
“Ah. Indeed. With that face, marriage would be impossible. I’m sorry, I hurt you.”
“Your mouth is amusing.”

Amusing? He was more composed than I thought. The guy who seemed to be the commander was surprisingly young. At most, late 20s to early 30s?

Unlike what I said, he was a handsome guy, so was he not affected by my saying he was ugly? I wanted to make him angry just because his expressionless face was annoying. Even though my body was a game character, my soul was that of a proud Korean, and I couldn’t allow myself to lose in a keyboard battle.

I didn’t want to go this far, but… I had no choice. I had to show him the Korean way of insulting.

“Amusing? Haha. Well, the way you keep calling me ‘bitch’ shows what kind of family education you had. Ah. You don’t call your mom ‘bitch’ too, do you?”
“……Hah. You’re a bitch who doesn’t know when to stop, even when I’m trying to humor you. Crossbow unit.”

……Damn it. Was I too much for a guy who hadn’t experienced the spiciness of Koreans? I hadn’t even started yet, and I had already drawn aggro to the max. This was… making my Korean pride surge.

‘I should use a shield, right?’

It was impossible to dodge the crossbows that were aiming at me indifferently, and I didn’t want to die, so what choice did I have? I turned my gaze and saw Diana, who had already finished off the stragglers and was fighting the main enemy force, had also stopped fighting and was looking at me.

She had been staring at me, so she immediately noticed my gaze and nodded slightly. She was telling me to use divine power, right? Since it was going to end up like this anyway, I had fought unnecessarily hard.

Thud thud thud.
At the same time as the sound of something running, the commander’s indifferent order to fire overlapped. The moment I was about to use a shield, something blocked my path.

“Angel-niiiiiim!!”

Thud.
The sound of something being repelled by a powerful force echoed, and the impact was transmitted to the body of the person who was hugging me.

“Merosi?”
“Cough, cough… Y-you remember… my name…”
“……”

What was this? Why was this guy shielding me?
Merosi, who had climbed down from the tree at some point, was blocking my path and taking the crossbow bolts for me. Blood was flowing down his mouth.

“Cough, cough. The life… that the angel-nim saved… I, I have repaid… it.”

His smiling face while coughing up blood should have been quite touching… but you did this for nothing.

“Kim, Kim Taehee… Emma Watson. M-may I ask for… a k-kiss… as my last request?”

I shouldn’t have told him my name.

“No.”
“……B-but it’s my last request?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Cough cough!”

Ugh, blood cough. It’s all over my face.
The enemies, who had reloaded their crossbows due to the sudden situation, were leisurely watching the situation. They had crossbows, so they were very confident.

“……Ha, haha. Y-you’re right. How could… someone like me dare to… ask an angel-nim… I’m, I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

The light in his fading pupils. Oops, did I take too long? I groped his back and grabbed the bolt that was deeply embedded and pulled it out.

“Keheok!!”

The flesh, muscles, and nerves that were pulled out with it looked very painful.

“……Are you a demon?”

Even the enemy commander muttered in disbelief. That was rude. I was just trying to save people.

“Heal.”

A pure white flash began to cover Merosi’s body. Merosi’s complexion, who had been looking at me until the end despite the pain, was improving in real time.

“…Divine power!? Were you a paladin!”
“Cough. A-angel-nim. I think… I’m going to die now. I don’t feel any pain. Thank you for… everything…”
“Stop talking nonsense and get up.”
“……Huh?”
“Get up and go over there.”
“……Ah, yes. Huh? Why can I get up?”
“Just go.”
“Yes!”

Everyone stared at Merosi’s back with bewildered faces as he got up with a puzzled expression and scratched his head as he walked away.

Then, all eyes turned to me.

“What. What is it. Do you have a problem?”
“……Fire!!”
“Shield.”