Chapter 135

====[Damien’s Past]====

“Damien, my child… I’m sorry, there are still so many things I need to teach you…”

Lying on her sickbed, Damien’s mother shed bitter tears, worried about her son who would soon be left alone. She imagined the thorny path her son, so different from others, would have to walk.

At that time, Damien couldn’t understand the deep sorrow and maternal love filled with pity in her words. He only understood that his mother’s life, like his father’s, would soon be extinguished, and he was left pondering how to survive.

The chances of a young child surviving alone without adult care were incredibly low. Even at his young age, he could sense that.

“Damien. Remember what I’m about to tell you… It’s important, very important.”

“Yes.”

Her voice was so faint it seemed it might break at any moment. Damien listened intently, not even daring to breathe.

“It’s okay if you don’t understand others’ hearts… Instead, watch them closely… and imitate them. Don’t get caught. You can do it.”

Damien nodded, as if to say he would. He didn’t know why he had to mimic others, but there was no reason to refuse his mother’s last wish.

“And… live by helping others. Like the knights. Then… others will protect you too.”

As she caressed his cheek, these were her final words.

“My son, you will surely… become a great knight.”

With those last words, Damien’s mother passed away. Damien stood quietly by the bed, staring at his mother’s hand that had fallen from his cheek for a long time.

—-

A long time had passed since then, but Damien still followed her last words. Like an obsession.

He meticulously observed how people expressed their emotions… and imitated their expressions and actions to hide his own strangeness. He protected their lives with all his might and survived by receiving help from those who thanked him.

It certainly worked quite well.

The village children who had once shunned Damien began to change their attitudes as he started mimicking their expressions, and eventually, they even clung to him to win his favor.

Even Milia’s parents, who initially saw Damien as a burden, began to care for him tenderly after he risked his life to save Milia.

He still couldn’t understand people’s hearts, but he felt he knew how to gain their favor.

Like his mother’s last words, to become a great knight. Like Emperor Carolus and the Twelve Knights, whom everyone praised endlessly.

====[Battle Against the Cursed Mother]====

The Cursed Mother’s cheeks swelled up. She was ready to spew the acidic fluid she had sucked into her mouth.

Freide and Milia’s pupils dilated in horror. In this life-or-death crisis, Damien, who had recklessly charged forward again, seemed to have no way to escape.

Damien hastily laid his greatsword flat to shield himself. But covering his entire body with just the blade of a greatsword was impossible.

Freide, who was using all her strength to hold down the monster’s arm, couldn’t respond to this situation.

Milia urgently drew her bow. She intended to attack the Cursed Mother’s chest once more.

Then the monster turned its head. Not towards the void, but straight ahead.

Towards Milia.

“Huh?”

Milia let out a bewildered groan. The Cursed Mother was staring straight at her. Its maw was slowly opening.

The Cursed Mother’s target had been Milia all along. Even if it meant being beheaded by the human male’s greatsword, it intended to take that annoying female, who had aimed at its chest multiple times, with it.

“Oh no…!”

“Milia!!”

A stream of liquid shot out. Like a thrown spear, it flew in a straight line, with the force of a waterfall.

Milia’s reflexively shot arrow melted like a snowflake.

‘Damien…!’

Faced with sudden, unavoidable death, Milia closed her eyes without realizing it.

– Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind lifted Milia’s bangs. The ground beneath her feet shook abruptly.

The death she had prepared for—no, the death she hadn’t even had time to prepare for—didn’t come.

Milia opened her eyes again. A familiar black iron plate was twisting in front of her.

It was Damien’s greatsword.

The black iron, struck by the acidic fluid, emitted thick smoke and melted like candy. Milia, who had narrowly escaped death, hurriedly moved aside.

“Ahhhhh!”

The Cursed Mother, its decisive strike blocked, let out a roar of rage. It wasn’t over yet. It had failed to kill the female, but now the male was unarmed.

It would take him down…!

The Cursed Mother opened its maw wide. Its jaw dislocated, and the skin around its mouth tore down to its neck. The monster’s mouth stretched as if it could swallow a person whole.

The Cursed Mother raised its head.

Freide gritted her teeth.

Thanks to Damien, Milia survived, but Damien was now in danger of being eaten.

Letting go of the chain wrapped around the monster’s arm, Freide leaped as well.

The saw blade swung in mid-air dug into the corner of the monster’s mouth.

The deeply embedded saw tore through the skin and lodged into the jawbone.

At the same time, Milia’s last arrow aimed for the monster’s chest.

But this alone wasn’t enough to stop the Cursed Mother.

Sensing its end, the monster had even given up defending its chest.

“Not yet!”

Freide shouted fiercely and launched herself.

Using the saw’s handle as a pivot, she leaped once more in mid-air using only her arm strength.

Freide’s body soared.

The saw reached near her ankles.

Freide stomped down with all her might, as if slamming the saw.

The blade dug deeper, and the Cursed Mother’s head tilted slightly downward.

So far, it went as expected.

The next part was the problem.

The freed monster’s arm targeted Freide’s back.

The chained axe entangled with the sword gleamed sharply.

Freide, off balance, couldn’t evade the attack.

Damien, who had thrown his greatsword, and Milia, who had run out of arrows, seemed unable to help Freide.

“Ugh…!”

Freide twisted her body to at least avoid a fatal blow.

The Cursed Mother sneered and swung its sword.

As Freide braced for the impending pain-

A lightning-like flash pierced the monster’s arm.

Its remaining arm was torn off helplessly.

The severed wrist still gripped the sword.

Milia sighed in relief.

It was her hastily shot arrow that saved Freide’s life.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an arrow but a dagger.

Though the trajectory was a bit off due to the unexpected usage…

Thanks to that, the dagger’s blade didn’t just pierce the monster’s wrist but tore it apart.

“Ah… Aaaaaah!!”

The Cursed Mother wailed in agony.

Freide sneered coldly.

In that moment, Damien’s outstretched fingers touched the monster’s horn.

The sensation of tiny fingers squirming in his palm.

Without even feeling disgust, Damien climbed over its head.

His target was on the monster’s furry back.

Among the old weapons embedded in the Cursed Mother’s lower body, there was one greatsword.

Standing on the monster’s back, Damien grabbed the hilt and pulled it out with all his might.

A black bloodline spurted from beneath his feet.

Despite being embedded in the monster for so long, the blade was still sharp.

‘This will do…!’

Damien raised the greatsword high.

Jumping from the monster’s back, he spun and slashed down.

The arc sliced vertically through the Cursed Mother’s head.

Deep enough for the blade to touch the ground.

Black blood gushed like a fountain as the monster’s upper body split in two.

Its severed entrails spilled out.

=================

“That leap attack. It finally worked once, huh?”

Not a flea, but does it have some instinct to jump?

At least against monsters, not humans, it’s worth trying, but it’s still a technique that needs careful timing.

“Even after almost dying just before, he jumped again. I thought his legs would snap.”

Freide also muttered, seemingly fed up.

Damien’s shoulder twitched as he listened from the magic stone.

“Well, it was a pretty fun story. I lost track of time listening.”

Listening to it, it seemed like they would have lost if even one of the three wasn’t there.

Damien, who blocked the curse with his body. Freide, who held and endured the enemy. Milia, who cut off the enemy’s movements at critical moments.

Even though it was their first real battle, they seemed to work well together.

At this rate… I can probably move separately for a while after bringing in a priest or magician.

As long as I avoid dungeon-related requests that might have unexpected variables.

“Taking down the Cursed Mother with just three of you, saying it was tough wasn’t an exaggeration.”

“Actually, the toughest moment wasn’t then, but at the end, when we were running from the landslide.”

Hearing the word “landslide,” Milia shivered even in her sleep.

Well, it was a nightmarish scene.