The situation turned out to be worse than expected. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

After a week's journey, Rusia and I had already made our way through the Assyrian forest, and at the first village we arrived, we were met by villagers who had fled north, and they had heard that the Kingdom of Tayek had officially declared war on us three weeks earlier.

In addition, according to the villagers, Tajek declared war on our country only after they attacked two stronghold castles on the border.

So I didn't dare to stay longer, and hurried to the imperial city with Rusya, who was already showing her tiredness.

War broke out three weeks ago, shortly after Sakura's departure, and since the boat was sailing along the ocean currents on the way back, Sakura must have arrived at the Imperial City by now, right?

Not sure how it is now? As the four main forces, has the Wind Cavalry Regiment set out? Will Sakura go with her? Or continue to stay in the city as the princess's bodyguard?

You've got to catch up.

But......

"Can you still hold on?" Looking at Rusya, who had been beating her spirits in her arms, I was very distressed.

"Uh-huh......" replied Rusya feebly.

After sitting on a horse for several days in a row, she must not be able to stand it......

"Now, do you want to suck blood to replenish your strength tonight?" I asked.

"What are you and me...... Rusya said weakly, "Are you addicted to my bloodsucking?" ”

"You can still complain, it seems to be fine." I lovingly reached out and touched her head.

Recently, Rusya has been getting a lot better.

In the past, she was too inferior because she was a demon half-breed, and she used to be unhappy every time she mentioned blood sucking, and she was always careful in front of me, and she was finally able to take the initiative to complain to me.

It should be regarded as a sign that she is beginning to gradually forget the sadness of the past and become relaxed, right? That's nice.

I smiled with relief, not feeling like I was using any more effort in my hands.

"Woo~~~ It hurts!" Rusya looked up and looked at me reproachfully with her golden eyes, "Lacey? What are you laughing at? ”

"It's nothing," I didn't hide my smile, and grabbed her head harder, "I'm happy to bully you~"

"Woo~~ bully me! I regret coming out with you, I should have gone straight home yesterday......"

"I want to go home......"

Indeed, as she walked through the forest, she only glanced at the hut by the lake in the forest from a distance.

She must still like to live quietly by the lake, right?

Alas, thinking of this, I gave up bullying her and gently stroked her long hair instead.

"Ruthia......

"Huh?"

"When everything is over, let's go home together!"

"Hmm!" Rusya nodded happily.

"Huh...... Well? I smiled and raised my eyes, surprised to find a strange figure standing not far ahead.

Where did it come from? I haven't seen it yet.

The man was shrunk in a black robe, and stood silently in the middle of the narrow path, motionless, until we approached to find that he was facing us wearing a yellow bark mask, and the holes that should have exposed his eyes were pitch black. Eerie, eerie.

"Rusya, stay here, I'll take a look." I stopped my mount and jumped off the horse with her.

"Lacey, be careful. He's weird! Rusya nervously summoned the scythe, "I'm a little scared......"

"Hmm." I walked forward slowly.

"Hello!" Less than three meters from the masked man, I stopped and greeted, "What are you doing here?" Need help? ”

He didn't answer. Still standing there silently.

I swallowed nervously and spat, quietly gripping the hilt of my sword behind my back.

There is no murderous aura.

No, nothing should be said.

Having fought many times, I've long been accustomed to feeling the breath of my opponent.

Nabar would emit a murderous aura, and Balkuf was domineering, but the man in front of him had nothing but his slightly heaving chest telling me that he was still breathing.

No hostility, no murderousness, nothing.

However, the person in front of me, who had nothing, exuded the pressure that made me feel frightened.

It seemed like I was facing an abyss, or an infinite black hole, more like a ...... The Grim Reaper, a Grim Reaper far more terrifying than Nabal!

"Hello! We're passing through here, and if you don't have anything to do, can you let us pass? I asked again.

"Giggle...... The masked man in front of him suddenly let out a hoarse and strange laugh, and then slowly stretched out a withered yellow and thin hand from his robe.

In that wizened hand, he held a rusty sword!

"Dead ...... Die...... Die! The masked man said hoarsely and lunged at me.

It's so fast!

I hurriedly took a diagonal step, dodging his blade and unleashing three horizontal slashes - "Meteor Sword* Break!" ”

But my sword only touched his robes, and he dodged and leapt straight into the air—

"Good! Meteor Sword * Rush! "With a flip of the sword in my hand, I directly unleashed five spurts at the masked man in the air - how do you dodge in the air?!

However, I was confronted by countless sword shadows, yes, countless sword shadows!

I've never seen such swordsmanship, only to see the man constantly rolling and moving in the air, the speed is amazing, his hand holding the sword is constantly stabbing and retracting, it seems that all the false stabbing moves leave a large number of sword afterimages in the air, and he condescendingly pressed at me with these countless afterimages!

Fortunately, the five consecutive spurts collided with the sword shadow and slightly hindered the speed of his fall, and through this gap, I hurriedly jumped back-

However, the masked man still rushed towards me with a sword shadow wrapped in his sword after he landed. It's still blazing fast!

It's too strong!

"Lacey! Come back! Enchantment! Rusya shouted anxiously behind her.

I fled backwards in disbelief, rushing headlong into the earth's barrier that Rusya had unfurled.

There was a clanging sound behind him, and the masked man who was following him frantically stabbed his sword at the barrier that stood in his way.

"Lacey, are you alright?" Rusya held me up with a pale face.

In just a short moment, the cold sweat was already soaking through my clothes, and I shook my head weakly and looked at the masked man who was constantly attacking the enchantment, "It's okay - can the enchantment hold it?" ”

"Well, but not too long," Rucia looked at the barrier worriedly, "Lacey, what to do?" ”

What about "well......"? What else can I do? Facing the masked man with overwhelming power in front of me, let alone resisting, I couldn't even catch his moves, and I was at a loss to see the masked man's sword outside the enchantment getting faster and faster.

The only thing that would work was for me to hold him down and give Rusya a chance to teleport away with a scythe, but with Lusia's character, she would never abandon me.

"Rusya, release the enchantment in a while, I'll drag him down, and you can teleport to the forest with a scythe!"

"But Lacey, you ......"

"It's okay! I'll catch you when I start teleporting. ”

"Hmm." Rusya hesitated and nodded.

"Good! Preparing to unleash the enchantment—huh? ”

The Masked Man seemed to realize that he couldn't break through the barrier in a short time, and after a lunge, he took a few steps back, and just as Rusya and I were stunned, he made an even more surprising move - he actually stabbed the rusty sword into his chest with his backhand!

"Ahh Rusya couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

Before Rutha could finish speaking, a raging fire suddenly erupted from the masked man's body, and it burned to ashes before our eyes!

“……”

"How...... What's going on? I muttered in disbelief, "In the end...... What happened? ”

No one answered.

A cold wind is blowing.

Only Rusya and I stared blankly ahead, watching the pile of white ashes that had once been the Masked Man drift away in the wind......

End of Chapter 3