Golden strands of hair at the edge of her bangs fluttered gently in the breeze.
Under the clear moonlight, they reflected a nearly sacred, cold luster.
Lortisa stood silently, blocking Viss’s front.
Her slender figure now felt like an insurmountable mountain.
She didn’t glance at any of the Silver Moon Knights lined up ahead in their gleaming armor.
Instead, she slightly tilted her head, revealing her profile, and in a voice so cold it lacked any trace of warmth, she asked Viss behind her:
“Are you okay?”
Everyone who witnessed the young soldier captain crush the Moon Silver Arrow barehanded was struck into a deathly silence.
Murphiana, collapsed on the ground, parted her lips slightly, her eyes filled with shock and confusion nearly overflowing.
Yet amidst the subtle feelings, seeing the figure of the young soldier captain brought a sense of salvation that eased the suffocating pressure in Murphiana’s chest.
Only Viss let out a long breath of relief, his face showing a smile of release without a hint of surprise:
“You came just in time. Even a second later, it would have been bad. But… didn’t we say thirty seconds before? How did you arrive in just ten? That’s much faster than expected.”
Lortisa’s gaze never left Viss.
Confirming that the most important person still had the presence of mind to joke, and was indeed uninjured, she calmly explained:
“I meant the slowest speed—thirty seconds.”
She then took a small black box from the side pocket of her light armor.
The curious device, barely half the size of a palm, emitted a constant “beep beep beep beep” that sounded particularly noisy in the overly silent forest.
—In fact, it was a “pager.”
Originally summoned from “Prayer” alongside the mobile phone,
In this world, the phone was a functional item with a visual menu to assist in processing information.
But this pager was rather useless, at best able to connect to the phone and receive the most basic signals.
As a byproduct, it mostly gathered dust at the bottom of the magic pouch.
It was only occasionally taken out during coordinated actions as a tacit signal for splitting up, masquerading as a smoke signal whistle or something similar—making it somewhat convenient to use alongside the phone.
Before the operation, Viss had actually handed two items to Lortisa.
A blue vial of oral solution to enhance mental resistance—she confiscated that;
But she accepted the BB pager responsible for receiving phone signals.
Although it couldn’t send complex messages, the two had agreed that in case of urgent support, they would send a direct pager signal.
Lortisa silenced the pager’s beeping and put it back in her pocket.
“The main force… the hunt you’re in charge of over there, no problems?”
Viss pushed himself up from the ground, slowly standing and brushing dust off his clothes, lowering his voice.
“I came alone. The others went to support the central infantry. There’s a breach in the defense, and the Aberration surged in more than expected.”
Lortisa said this as her gaze pierced the young noble knight leading the cavalry on horseback at the far end of the hill.
“Sorry for causing you to abandon your post.”
Viss scratched his head awkwardly.
He had intended to stick to the plan as much as possible, but unexpected events kept piling up.
“Having to rely on you to save me again…”
“—Don’t say that.”
Lortisa finally turned around, her emerald eyes softened faintly, serious as she looked at him.
Watching the two talk as if no one else was there from a distance,
Especially catching the slight movement where the young soldier captain stepped half a step closer to the mercenary,
Norsen’s expression instantly darkened, more uncomfortable than if he had eaten something foul.
Though he was the youngest knight commander of the Knight Order of the Silver Moon,
The most outstanding inheritor of the Silver Moon magic,
The undisputed next head of the Duke Higriwell family,
The kingdom’s pride, a genius of divine talent, an unquestioned Celestial Dragon—
The crushing frustration overwhelmed all his honor and pride,
as if someone were stomping repeatedly on his noble dignity.
Yet despite this, he did not wipe the humble smile from his face.
“Everyone, hold your position!”
Norsen suppressed his anger and gave orders to the equally bewildered knights behind him.
He then adjusted his collar, took a deep breath, and rode his horse alone to the clearing at the edge of the forest.
“Captain Lortisa, what are you doing here?”
Norsen stopped about three steps away, forcing a smile mixed with surprise and delight.
Lortisa didn’t look at him directly, only casting a cold glance from the corner of her eye.
The chill in her gaze was like ice.
Norsen’s composure nearly faltered.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth and shift his gaze to Viss:
“Ah, Mr. Viss, it’s truly a relief to see you escape unscathed.”
“Is that so?”
Viss smiled back, though the expression was as fake as a mask; the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and a hint of malice crept at the corners of his mouth.
“Didn’t expect it, did you? Neither did I.”
“Indeed… we didn’t expect the Soul-Eating Lord to break through the first defense line and chase directly after you. The situation just now was truly urgent.
To prevent the Soul-Eating Lord from advancing further and to stop it from fleeing, the knights had no choice but to shoot on sight.
We had already prepared to rush in for rescue after the first round of fire suppression… Yes, Murphiana ran out of the woods earlier under my orders and then returned as backup for the operation, right, Lady Murphiana?”
Norsen explained as best as he could while signaling to the female knight still slumped on the ground nearby.
Murphiana shuddered violently, her face pale.
She understood the hidden command beneath the voice,
Raised her head, and met those gentle blue eyes that were more terrifying than anything else.
One must never disobey a superior.
This was not just a knight’s code and duty,
but an irresistible reality.
The Heinetionshu family, long stripped of its former knightly glory, would be crushed like an ant if targeted by the high nobility.
Yet Murphiana felt as if her throat was being strangled.
Her once clear red eyes clouded over, unconsciously turning toward Viss.
—The mercenary who should have been executed by orders but escaped the Soul-Eating Lord’s clutches with him, and had just sheltered her under a rain of arrows.
The obedient knight found herself unable to act.
On one side was her superior who undoubtedly intended to abandon her but whom she could never disobey,
On the other was the mercenary who saved her life and gave her a chance to live on.
Murphiana’s lips moved but no words came out, caught in extreme turmoil and struggle.
At the moment the atmosphere froze—
“““—Haibardura!!!”””
A heavy, mournful wail echoed as if from the depths of hell.