Chapter 421: How to Live as a Wandering Knight (2)
Tuuuuuu-!
The sound of a horn rang out, announcing a monster invasion.
The entire town was in a panic.
It wasn't just a horde of bandits or a wildfire.
The enemy is monsters, not humans, and it's not a matter of stealing money, food, or shelter, but of immediate danger to their lives.
Moreover, the type of monster that is crossing the fence this time is a gnoll, a canine monster known for its large population and ferocity.
Grrrr...
Soon, bizarre things begin to flood into the town.
A voice that sounds like oil slowly boiling from a low temperature.
The sound of scratching in the parched earth.
Stooped back, vaguely bipedal walking, sharp teeth and claws, and hideously shiny eyes
A horde of gnolls, the most damaging species to humankind, has invaded the town.
The gnolls were also severely malnourished, their fur dry and lacking in shine.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and the saliva that dripped from their mouths reeked of greed.
The monsters are tired and weary of the Great Famine.
The ongoing drought has left them with nothing to eat or drink, and the wildfires that have raged across the empire have drastically reduced their living space.
The lesser monsters, unable to compete with the other monsters for food, have been forced to descend upon the human population in record numbers.
This group of gnolls here were swept away by the tide of fate.
Kyaaak-!
A gnoll began to ransack the house.
Cloth was torn, wood was broken. Everything that had been touched by human hands was being ravaged.
It stretched its long nose and tracked the freshest of the smells to the floor.
At that time.
...kwang!
The closet door shattered, and a man burst out from inside.
"Hey, get away from me!"
The man raised a pitchfork and brought it down on Gnoll's head.
kkig-
Gnoll was dead on the spot, with a shattered skull.
The problem was, it was followed by two, three, four, five, six... so many gnolls that it was pointless to count.
"Honey, run out the back door, go to the basement shed in the backyard!"
Before the man could finish his shout, the side door opened and a woman came running out with three children.
The man quickly caught up to her and ran after her.
Threatening the gnolls, who were excited by the smell of blood, with a pitchfork.
Backyard. A shed door to the basement is visible.
The man quickly opened the door and went inside with the woman.
Then.
"Uaaahhh- Mom!"
A scream erupted from behind them.
Before the man and woman could turn around, they realized who the scream belonged to.
Two children had entered the basement bunker, and where they all turned, there was a little girl who was just getting up after falling to the ground.
Her clothes were torn at the sides, and the blood was clearly visible staining them red.
"The youngest!"
The man shouted, but it was too late.
If they leave now, everyone will die. Closing this door as soon as possible is the only way to save his wife and the two remaining children.
What must it be like for a parent to give up their child right before their eyes?
"...."
The man and woman hesitated. Chewing on his lips, unaware that he was bleeding, he made a decision in that brief moment that he would regret no matter how many times he turned around in his life. ...BANG!
The door slammed shut. Reality is always unavoidable. And so it was with this closed door.
The girl cried out and fell to her knees, scratching at the door. So desperately that her fingernails were peeling off.
As her father had always nagged her, she should have put the nail sticking out of the side of the front door back in properly.
If only she had, she wouldn't have fumbled with her clothes on the nail just a moment ago.
But regret is always too late.
The girl cried out at the top of her lungs.
"Mom! Dad! Open up! I'll listen to you from now on! I won't cry, I'll eat less, I'll clean up after myself, and I won't fight with my sisters and brothers...!"
Unfortunately, it wasn't her parents and siblings who answered her plea, but the swarm of gnolls behind her.
keuaaag-
They lunged at the girl in the lead.
Just as she was about to scream.
peoeog-
A pitchfork stuck in the gnoll's mouth.
"Youngest, hurry!"
The man who had just opened the door fought off the gnolls.
The woman also came out carrying an armful of bricks from the walls of the warehouse and was glaring at the gnolls.
The father is strong. Of course, the mother too.
"Dad! Mom!"
The little girl ran backward, tears streaming down her face.
The father raised his pitchfork to face the gnolls.
But no matter how strong parents are, they are not stronger than the world around them.
Soon, the gnolls lunged at them, teeth and claws bared.
Buuk-!
Blood splattered as thick leather pants ripped open.
It was the beginning of a family's downfall.
...just then.
peoeog-
The father's feet grew lighter.
Gnoll's head, hanging from his pants, shattered like a watermelon.
"...uh?"
The place where the father's blank gaze was directed was towards the front.
Flutter-
A ragged blood-red robe fluttered in the dry wind.
The matte black plate armor was making an unpleasant metallic sound.
The Wandering Knight. He appears out of nowhere, standing tall above the ground, facing the gnolls.
"...There, there. Who are you?"
The father asked, but the Wandering Knight did not answer.
Instead.
kwag-
The long stick he was carrying on his back shifted in his hand.
peoeong! ppagag!
The heads of the gnolls around him exploded.
A blue spear blade was revealed within a piece of bandage that was torn with red blood.
The liquid aura that symbolized the Graduator was sticky, drawing a complex trajectory in the air.
Puff-puff-puff!
A movement without waste.
A skilled path forged by extreme battle experience.
It was the skill of a seasoned warrior who had seen countless battlefields.
The hood was lifted, revealing the face of the Wandering Knight.
Although he had a young face, he had a sense of authority and an appearance that was an appropriate mix of two things that are usually difficult to coexist.
His shoulders are broad like a bear's and his waist is lean like a wolf's.
His body was optimized for battle, except for the absence of his left arm. Even with his one arm, he boasted ghostly spear skills.
A single swing of his spear killed at least one enemy and crippled more than one.
peoeog! peog! udeudeug! peo-eog!
The sound of mincing meat and bones all at once. In no time, the backyard was covered in blood.
But the gnolls' messy groans were no longer audible.
The one-armed Wandering Knight, who had neatly cleared away the group of monsters, brushed the blood off his spear.
At that time. There was a hand pulling open the door to the basement.
It was the girl who had almost never made it inside a moment ago.
She called out to the Wandering Knight.
"Mister! who are you?"
"...."
"My name is Shammua, and I was wondering if you could tell me who my benefactor is?"
The Wandering Knight turned his head and looked back at the girl.
Whether it was fearlessness or gratitude, the girl's tears had been wiped away and she was looking at him with longing and curiosity.
The Wandering Knight was just about to open his mouth to say something.
Kyaaaaahhh-!
Grrrrr!
Kaung! Kaung!
The sound of gnolls screaming outside the fence.
Obviously, things aren't over yet.
The Wandering Knight took a short break and stood facing forward again.
And then.
A splatter!
The wooden fence shattered, and something huge burst into the backyard.
It was three times the size of a normal gnoll, its fur standing on end all over its body, stained an unusual black-green color.
Oil-like fluids were dripping from its bloodshot eyes, and a sickening stench wafted through the air.
<Poison Gnoll>
Danger Rating: A
Size: 3 meters
Found in: All continents
-Also known as 'Poison Gnoll' or 'Deadly Poison Gnoll'
This is an example of an abnormally evolved digestive system among gnolls.
Most gnolls feed on carcasses, but the poison gnoll has evolved the ability to accumulate poison in its skin and saliva from the rotting flesh of its prey in its stomach.
There is one gnoll in a colony of more than 300 individuals, and most seem to fulfill the role of leader.
Poison Gnoll. A variant of the gnoll swarm. They possess a strength and ferocity that no normal gnoll can match.
The family, thinking they were safe, cowered to the ground in fear at the sight of the Poison Gnoll's fearsome form.
However.
The one-armed Wandering Knight merely laughed dryly.
"...Poison Gnoll. Long time no see."
His voice was dry and short.
He radiated a blue aura that wavered like a tidal wave with his only arm.
The spear he held tightly rolled up did not budge.
Just before the girl behind him closed the door, drawn by her mother's torch, the Wandering Knight spoke.
"I belong to a vigilante group called Night Walkers. My nickname is a bit cringe, but it's 'Knight of the Night'."
"...!"
The girl's ears perked up.
The other side was a member of 'Night Walkers', a vigilante group rumored among the people these days.
One of the beings of urban legend who were said to lead the weary to a land of salvation, a paradise called the 'Ark'.
The one-armed Wandering Knight, or 'Knight of the Night' as he was known, smiled at the girl with a mischievous smile and narrowed one eye.
"Name's Tudor."
And when he turned his head back to the front, his expression was extremely cold and chilly.
"No last name."