Chapter Twenty-One #5
Though the knights charged and hacked at the monsters with astonishing speed, the trolls seemed oblivious to the damage.
Aghast, Maxi’s heart sank as she watched the trolls’ wounds heal in an instant.
Reading about the phenomenon had done nothing to prepare her for seeing it in action.
She could not believe that humans were any match against such terrifying monsters.
When a troll began crushing the soldiers’ mounts with an iron-spiked hammer, Maxi could not bear to watch any longer. She squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the urge to hurl. Idsilla clung to her in terror as the gruesome sounds of battle spiraled around them.
At that moment, Duke Aren’s distinctive voice rang out.
“Reinforcements have arrived! Everyone, keep your wits about you!”
Mustering her courage, Maxi managed to open her eyes. Clouds of dust made it difficult to see what was happening on the other side of the barrier. Clashing steel, whinnying horses, and shrieks that sounded like boars being slaughtered swelled in a petrifying chorus.
Suddenly, a group of knights on warhorses galloped through the billowing dust like a raging storm. The knights’ armor glinted in the sun as they charged directly at the trolls.
Still huddled with the others behind the barrier, Maxi’s eyes darted in every direction as she strained to comprehend the chaos of the battle. Despite the exhilarating appearance of the knights, it was difficult to tell which side was winning in this living nightmare.
All around, knights threw hooked chains that wrapped around the trolls’ enormous bodies like nets.
The monsters bellowed as they resisted against the steel chains, their earsplitting roars reverberating through the air.
They thrashed their massive limbs as if to smash the earth beneath them, and the ground shook violently.
The knights ruthlessly plunged long spears and hooks into the bound trolls until they were only weakly resisting, then they cut off their heads.
Maxi forgot to breathe as the fierce battle unfolded before her eyes. Despite her horror, she was unable to tear away her gaze from the truly overwhelming sight of death and destruction at every turn.
She did not know how long the battle continued, but eventually, the dust around them began to clear. Less than half of the troll horde remained standing. Like herdsmen driving cattle, the knights skillfully drove the monsters into a corner.
Duke Aren’s powerful form emerged from the settling dust. “I think we have the situation in hand now.”
Before long, the heavy haze of dust abated, and Duke Aren motioned to the hierarch. Immediately, the barrier surrounding the clerics began melting into the air.
Maxi let out a shuddering breath. Even when the soldiers came to tell the women that the battle had ended, their limbs refused to budge.
“It is over. Go tend to the wounded.”
It was only after the knights impatiently pressed them that the women slowly made their way to the battlefield.
Maxi’s insides twisted with horror as her eyes flickered to the troll carcasses strewn on the ground.
The soldiers went about removing the monsters’ armor, revealing the full extent of their ghastly appearance.
Dark green swamp-toad skin covered their burly bodies, and their faces matched descriptions of the devil in the Holy Scripture.
They had big, hooked noses; yellow teeth protruding from thick lips; sparse, long black hair; and sagging cheeks.
As she stared at a fallen troll, Maxi belatedly realized that its head was not attached to its body. She quickly looked away, her vision blurring as a wave of nausea crashed over her.
“Hurry up and help transport the wounded!” ordered a knight. “Bring those in critical condition to the high priest. Gather those who can walk in a separate area for emergency treatment.”
Numbly, the women began to move in unison. Maxi tried to collect herself and rushed to the injured soldiers. Some had died on the spot. Maxi averted her gaze from their trampled bodies and focused on finding survivors.
Two out of three men were still alive, though it remained to be seen whether they were fortunate enough to have survived.
After meticulously assessing their wounds, Maxi decided to heal some of them with magic.
A female cleric using magic would be a strange sight; she furtively glanced around before she started, but no one paid her any mind.
The soldiers were busy removing the armor from the dead trolls, while the female clerics had their hands full treating the injured alongside the hierarchs.
Once she had confirmed that no one was watching, Maxi used her healing magic more actively.
Seven patients later, however, she found her mana quickly depleting.
She gauged her mana levels and surmised that any more healing would lead to mana depletion.
The other female clerics were transporting the wounded, and Maxi began to help with that instead.
Those in critical condition were brought to the hierarchs, who healed them with divine magic. Those with less serious injuries like fractures and flesh wounds were taken to a tent that had been hastily set up for them.
The knight overseeing the tent said in a stern voice, “We cannot heal all of you with magic, but we are only a day away from Serbin Castle. We will rest briefly after everyone has been tended to, then set out immediately. I pray that you will persevere until then.”
The wounded nodded in grim silence. The female clerics swiftly removed the soldiers’ armor and began cleaning their open wounds.
Following the clerics’ lead, Maxi helped the soldiers who could not move on their own take off their gear. She then collected water in a pail to clean their wounds.
Watching the men groaning in pain made her feel guilty.
If she had more mana, she could have easily healed such minor wounds in the blink of an eye.
However, she knew it would only cause more trouble if she were to overwork herself and collapse as she had in the past. Pushing the thought from her mind, she applied special salve on their wounds and dressed the area with bandages of torn linen.
Some of the lacerations were serious enough that Maxi had to stitch them closed as Ruth had taught her.
Though there were some soldiers who were horror-stricken at the prospect of having their flesh sewn with needle and thread, most allowed it without complaint.
After applying a decoction to numb the area, Maxi carefully stitched the long gashes.
She had just finished a suture and was dressing the wound when she heard a soldier cry out a short distance away.
“There are more injured here! I need help moving them!”
Maxi put down her roll of linen and hurried toward the source of the voice. She froze when she spotted a troll crushed beneath a rock.
The soldier impatiently called to her as she stood paralyzed. “Why are you just standing there? Quick, help carry that one!”
Two soldiers lay unconscious next to the troll. Left with no other choice, Maxi reluctantly approached them. She swung the arm of one of the injured over her shoulders and shakily lifted him. The soldier who had called for her carried the second man on his back.
They started to make their way back to the tent when suddenly, a thud boomed behind them. An ominous chill ran down Maxi’s spine. A dark shadow loomed over them, and she turned to see blazing red eyes glaring down at her.
Her legs shook uncontrollably. Although the urgent instinct to flee flashed through her mind, her body seemed to have turned to stone.
The nearly severed head still dangling from the troll’s neck began to seethe and reattach itself.
The monster bobbed its head to check that it was fully healed.
Then, without warning, it began to charge.
The unconscious soldier slipped from Maxi’s grasp as she fell to the ground, completely petrified.
At that instant, a large hook flew through the air and landed right in the troll’s throat.
The seven-kevette giant lurched as it was rapidly dragged away like a fish on a hook.
The monster thrashed its arms and roared with fury, but the knight standing atop a nearby rock did not budge.
He gave the chain a powerful yank, and the monster shot into the air along with a massive cloud of dust.
Maxi could not believe her own eyes. With another swift motion, the knight flung the monster, which was three times his size, onto the ground before swinging his sword over its head.
The troll’s enormous skull almost split clean in half like a pumpkin.
It was such an unrealistic scene that Maxi could not even react.
“Don’t you know how to check for a dead troll?”
The stupefied soldier came to his senses as the knight’s cold voice lashed out like a whip.
“M-My apologies, sir,” mumbled the soldier, hanging his head.
The knight clicked his tongue and jerked his chin toward the tents. “Take him over there.”
The soldier, still carrying the unconscious man on his back, promptly obeyed.
Although Maxi wanted to follow him, she had no strength left in her legs.
She could only stare up at the knight, her face ashen.
The man appeared so impassive that it was difficult to believe he had inflicted such brutal blows to the monster just moments ago.
Like a cat, the knight gracefully leaped down from the troll and wiped the blood from his sword. His dark blond hair glistened like gold in the sunlight.
Maxi stifled a groan. The knight who had saved her was none other than the commander of the Temple Knights, Kuahel Leon.
“Is something wrong? Are you hurt?”
When the knight turned to look at her, Maxi quickly looked down.
“N-N-No, I am…all right,” she stammered, keeping her voice as low as possible.