Chapter 321

An ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to pull it, but the steel bow bends as lightly as a reed.

Milia, who has reached the level of a master, had strength that surpassed the average of master-level knights from the start.

Now, with anger so intense it could dye her mind black, she has reached a level where even the top-tier masters can’t win in a contest of strength.

Dozens of silver flashes poured down like a torrential rain.

With the momentum to tear apart the audacious snow leopard who coveted another’s man piece by piece.

“What the hell is this!”

Abigail, who had been stunned by the sudden appearance of the girl archer and the intense killing intent she emitted, finally narrowed her pupils in shock.

Her narrowed eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

A barrage of arrows, shining like starlight, completely blocked the front, while from the side, a greatsword larger than her own height was being swung with ferocious force!

“These guys…!”

Jin, who had perfectly timed his attack, unleashed a pincer movement with the greatsword and silver arrows. No matter how skilled she was, there was no way to dodge both simultaneously.

Abigail gritted her teeth.

‘Better the silver arrows than Jin!’

Having made her decision in an instant, Abigail threw herself forward in a roll.

If she had to take one hit, it was natural to choose the less dangerous option.

– Thud!

The greatsword, missing its mark, gouged into the uneven surface of the fortress wall, slicing through it.

The power was incomparable to when she couldn’t control her strength. A chunk of rock, severed from the wall, plummeted to the ground.

Abigail, pushing herself up from the ground, looked forward again.

The arrowheads were already right in front of her. There was no time to dodge these.

She swung her arms wildly.

– Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing incessantly.

Deflected arrows embedded themselves into various parts of the fortress wall.

“Kyaaaa!”

With each arrow she deflected, metal fragments scattered.

The thin steel couldn’t withstand the impact. Deep cracks formed on her twin blades.

Subsequently, arrows slipped through the trajectory of her twin blades and lodged themselves into the snow leopard’s body.

“Grrr…!”

White fur began to stain red.

Abigail’s body started to be pushed back by the impact. The cracked blades twisted and broke.

– Crash!

Flying steel fragments. The twin blades, unable to withstand the impact, shattered like glass. Abigail gasped for breath.

“Damn it…!”

Abigail, now holding only the hilts of her twin blades, tried to fend off the arrows with her claws, but her short claws couldn’t deflect all the arrows.

There was no time to pick up a new sword.

Six flashes of light pierced her upper body in succession.

“Kyaaaak!”

Her face twisted in pain and anger.

The silver arrows crushed muscles and bones as they penetrated, leaving her unable to move properly. She was just being pushed back by the impact.

Her claws gouged deep scars into the fortress floor.

“Damn brats-!”

Abigail’s pupils shook violently.

Her vision flipped. Her legs were now stepping on air.

“Don’t think this is the end!”

A venomous scream filled with malice.

The snow leopard Suin, now like a hedgehog, fell from the fortress wall.

—-

It was a monumental moment as an ally’s master took down a great warrior, but Freide couldn’t rejoice.

The situation on her side was far from laughable.

“Grrr…! You, beast…!”

Noah’s expression twisted violently.

A voice trembling with pain. His mouth was smeared with overflowing blood, and the corners of his eyes twitched as if in convulsions.

“Gah!”

Just as he was about to say something, a burst of blood vomit drenched his face red.

His weakened hand lost grip on the sword hilt, trembling helplessly.

Agony as if he had swallowed lava. Four claws were lifting his abdomen!

It happened in an instant, with no chance to react.

Oleg’s axe throw, aimed at the brief moment when the holy light dimmed between miracles.

As Freide barely blocked it and was slammed into a corner of the fortress wall, the snow tiger’s claws were already in front of the holy knight. Not even giving him a chance to invoke a protective miracle.

“Why that face? Isn’t it time to meet your god? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Oleg smiled as he brought his face close to Noah, who was trembling like a skewered kebab.

“So go with a smile. Like this.”

The laughter of a predator before its prey. His jaws opened wide. Drool dripped between his sharp teeth.

“Sir Noah!”

Freide, who had been knocked down, screamed as she charged towards Oleg.

But it was already too late.

“Your god is waiting for you to come. In my belly!”

A shadow fell over Noah’s face.

His complexion turned to despair.

“Stop-!”

Before Freide’s spear, thrown with all her might, could reach Oleg—

– Crunch!

The tiger’s teeth crunched through the holy knight’s skull.

—

The jaw strength of the great warrior was on a level that could chew through a human skull like a snack.

With a sickening sound, Noah’s entire face was carved away as if sliced off.

Only the back of his skull remained. A fountain of blood gushed from the cross-section, drenching Oleg’s face.

Oleg licked up the half-remaining brain with his tongue, swallowed it, and blocked the spear flying toward Noah’s headless body.

Freide’s spear tip lodged itself into Noah’s torso, stopping it in its tracks.

“You, you, you bastard—!”

“Stop barking so loudly. I’m in the middle of a meal.”

Oleg, who had been munching on Noah’s face, kicked Freide away.

Freide snapped the spear shaft to block Oleg’s leg, but the difference in strength was obvious, and there was no way to stop herself from being sent flying backward.

In the moment of collision, she managed to slash Oleg’s leg with her serrated blade, but due to her unstable posture, the wound wasn’t particularly deep.

Freide, who had been flung away, rolled across the ground.

Her armor was covered in dust. Blood seeped through her gritted teeth, and her cheek, scraped against the rocks, was torn open, revealing the flesh inside.

In that moment, Oleg turned his gaze to assess the battlefield.

‘…This isn’t a favorable situation.’

It was a bloodbath where blood washed over blood.

One of the human high priests had lost their life, and countless knights lay dead, but the beastmen weren’t faring much better either.

Of the seven great warriors, only four remained.

Valentin had died, Lyudmila was critically injured and unable to fight, and Abigail…

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

She was screaming as she fell.

Seeing Vasily rushing over to catch her, it seemed he would manage to save her, but considering the silver arrows embedded all over her body and the impact of the fall, it was clear she wouldn’t be able to continue fighting.

‘Is this as far as we go…?’

Oleg could feel himself nearing his limit.

It still seemed like it would take some time for the gates to break, and as a result, the only great warriors left on the walls were him and Nazar.

On the other hand, the enemy’s masters had increased by one boy, bringing their number back to four.

If things went wrong, it was obvious they would collapse like dominoes before Viktor and Vasily could even join them.

‘If it becomes three against one, that fox brat will just die, and then I’ll have to face four masters alone for a while…’

It was impossible. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t take on four masters by himself.

‘…I should retreat after all.’

Lyurik, too, was unable to overpower the beastman devourer, stuck in a fight where he was endlessly consuming his regenerative abilities.

Oleg’s mind began to lean toward retreat.

If he and Nazar died here, even if Viktor and Vasily joined, the odds of victory weren’t high. Besides, even if they won after his death, it would be pointless.

‘The problem is, there’s no excuse to pull out now… Hmm?’

As he looked around, his eyes fixed on the horizon.

‘That’s…!’

A faint smile crept onto Oleg’s face as he narrowed his eyes and stared in that direction.

The perfect justification was coming to him on its own.

—

Oleg leaned over the inner side of the wall and took a deep breath.

“Your Majesty—! We must retreat—!!”

His roar echoed loudly.

The cry of the snowfield tiger drowned out the noise of the battlefield, reaching Lyurik’s ears.

“What nonsense are you spouting, Oleg!”

Lyurik, who was in the middle of blocking Jin’s sword, shouted without even turning his head.

From his position fighting inside the walls, he couldn’t see the situation outside, so Oleg’s sudden suggestion to retreat after they had already half-taken the walls sounded like pure nonsense.

“It’s Paleun’s reinforcements! You might not believe it, but their backup forces are approaching! If we stay like this, we’ll be surrounded and annihilated!”

Oleg pointed toward the horizon and shouted.

It wasn’t visible to Lyurik yet, but the beastman warriors on the walls could clearly see it.

In the direction Oleg pointed, a group of knights was charging through the snowstorm.

The raised banner of Paleun. The sound of hooves galloping through the snow. And at their forefront, a face that was all too familiar.

The ruler of the north.

Valdemar was approaching.