TPOTLPIM Chapter 36

Asen had been hating the damp and ominously tightening eerie energy that had been creeping up on her since earlier.

Ever since setting foot in the Forest of the Demon God, this kind of energy had been swirling around the entire time. The knights didn't seem to feel this energy and behaved the same as usual, and even her relatives from the mage unit couldn't understand Asen, whose shoulders were trembling and shaking.

The deeper they went toward the center of the Forest of the Demon God, the more the forest's tree leaves took on a black color. Asen found even those black leaves spine-chilling.

"Asen! Pull yourself together if you don't want to hear that we regret bringing along an immature young lady."

Hans, a relative from a branch of the Odik family who had played with her since childhood, mischievously flicked Asen's forehead.

"Hans! How dare you flick a lady's forehead? And the way you talk is becoming exactly like my brother!"

Asen clutched her forehead with her hand and let out a cry of indignation.

"It's an honor to be told I resemble Lord Hadel. He's my role model."

When she had meant it as an insult by saying he resembled Hadel, Hans instead felt pleased and snorted contentedly.

"Shh, be quiet. Do you intend to summon all the demons?"

When Marcel approached Asen on horseback and cautioned her, Asen didn't even respond and turned her head to the side. Then she spurred her horse even faster and overtook Marcel.

Marcel could only watch Asen's retreating figure in bewilderment.

Ever since they had departed on this expedition together, Asen had consistently maintained such an attitude only toward Marcel. It seemed she had taken a dislike to him because Marcel had gone to probe her feelings when Hadel was confined in the imperial palace.

'I had no choice at the time since I was carrying out my duties!'

Marcel protested quietly to himself, feeling wronged. Looking at it closely, Asen Odik was truly vexing. She would cast healing magic on other knights around her even for minor injuries, but she wouldn't lay a finger on Marcel.

She responded quite amiably to other people's words and even seemed to play around quite well with that Hans guy or whatever just now, but he couldn't understand why she treated only him as if he were invisible.

Ah. After thinking about it, Marcel remembered one more incident where he had fallen into Asen's bad graces. When she had cast enhancement magic on Prince Crolyn, he had tattled about that fact to Hadel.

Now that he thought about it, there was one more thing. Even when he first met her through Cecilia's introduction, he had sneered at her as the troublemaker of the Odik family.

"Right, she has no choice but to hate me. Go ahead and hate me if you want."

Marcel muttered as if there was nothing to be done about it and spurred his horse forward.

Meanwhile, Hadel was sticking close to Teros's side, supporting him. This was both to help Teros and earn his trust, but it was also to show off his close relationship with Teros to the Odik relatives following in line behind them.

"Hadel, when demons attack, don't mind the imperial law and use all the magic you can. Tell Miss Asen to use all the magic that can help too. I'll keep the knight order's mouths shut."

"I trust only in you, My Lord."

No sooner had those words finished than the horse Teros was riding came to an abrupt stop. Hadel, who had been riding his horse beside him, naturally stopped next to him as well. Teros's gaze sharpened as he surveyed the surroundings.

Having sharpened his senses keenly through many wars, Teros could sense the danger lying in wait. Though invisible to the eye, an enormous number of something was encircling the knight order and mage unit. About the size of wolves. Probably demons. However, if they had no will to attack, there was no need to deliberately provoke them.

Teros focused all his senses on the movements he could feel. The demons weren't just quietly observing them. To tighten their grip on the knight order and mage unit, they were gradually narrowing their encirclement toward this side. Just dragging out time in this state would be useless.

Having finished his assessment, he drew his sword and shouted.

"Demons! Everyone attack!"

Kiaaaaak!

With strange cries, winged demons suddenly began flying toward the knights. A demon's claws pierced through the armor of a knight in the front and dug into his shoulder.

"Ugh, aaaah!"

The trained knights quickly took up their swords and shields and assumed attack and defense positions, but the mage unit, who had only been in charge of the rear even on battlefields, began to panic and fluster about at the demons flying at tremendous speed.

Clang—

The protective barrier Hadel had formed blocked the demon but soon broke. His protective shield was no match for stopping the demons, but it was sufficient to buy time to attack the demons. At the same time the protective shield shattered, Teros's sword sliced through the demon.

"Pair up with the knights who use swords! Don't think about attacking, use protective magic!"

Hadel shouted toward the mage unit.

Even if they tried using attack-type magic, it would be woefully weak against the demons. Since they had already cast enhancement magic on the weapons the knights possessed beforehand, it was better for the mage unit to be faithful to the role of buying time while leaving the attacking to the knights.

Kiek! Kieeeeek!

The demons' piercing screams rang in their ears. Teros was cutting down several demons in an instant with his sword. Before Hadel could even form a barrier, Teros's movements were faster. From the moment he grasped the demons' movement patterns, their speed meant nothing to him.

"Hadel! Go to the rear and help the other knights!"

At Teros's words, Hadel quickly wrapped a protective shield around himself and ran toward the rear.

As Hadel ran toward the rear, he witnessed an incredible sight.

He could see several demons falling from the sky like paper kites that had lost their strength.

"Hahaha!"

When he heard childlike laughter as if someone was having fun, Hadel identified who had caused this.

"Asen has lost her mind."

He began running to find her and stop her. Right now it was limited to dealing with demons, but if left alone like this, her magical power might go berserk in an unexpected direction.

Running to the rear, he saw Asen cheerfully shooting down demons with offensive magic.

Around her, there were no remaining knights or mage unit members. Since she was taking care of everything by herself like one person doing the work of a hundred, everyone had left Asen alone and gone to assist other knight units.

Hadel ground his teeth. What if something terrible happened to her when no one stayed by Asen's side?

Hadel carefully approached Asen's side.

"Asen! What is this? Why is no one by your side?"

"Hm? Brother. I told them all to go. I might cause damage if I use magic recklessly."

"Foolish child, your safety comes first."

Hadel stood beside Asen, alternating between offensive and protective magic as he assisted her. Asen looked at Hadel with wide, bright eyes.

"Sometimes I really don't know what you're thinking, brother."

"Just attack to your heart's content, you brat."

While attacking the demons, Asen felt thrilled. Until now, she had never once used magic in truly desperate situations. If anything was desperate, it was her training to learn magical power control methods, but that wasn't an issue that threatened her survival.

But now she was using magic instinctively without deep thought in a situation where her survival was being threatened. Magic used naturally without feeling the pressure that she must succeed actually had a better success rate.

"So this is what it feels like. Using magical power according to my will."

Watching her magic work as she intended, Asen smiled.

As the attacks from the knights and mage corps intensified, the demons stopped attacking and began to flee.

"They won't come for a while. Find a place suitable for camping. Mages, heal the wounded."

At Teros's command, several knights scattered to look for a suitable camping spot, and the mages began healing the injured knights.

"My goodness, Miss! How many demons did you take down by yourself!"

The knights who had witnessed Asen's tremendous magical power lined up one after another to receive healing from her.

"Hehe, I did the work of at least two knights, right?"

"Two? You did the work of ten!"

The good-natured knights appropriately praised the proud young lady. Asen blushed and smiled shyly.

"Wait just a moment, I'll heal you right away!"

She excitedly rolled up her sleeves and began healing the knights. Hadel, who was healing other knights, kept glancing toward where Asen was. What if she relaxed and made another strange mistake? But Asen cast healing magic accurately. The speed and effectiveness of her healing seemed far superior to before.

Perhaps bringing Asen here had been a stroke of genius. Hadel breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike the complicated capital full of people, this place was like a great training ground that taught Asen about real combat.

After finishing most of the healing, Hadel ran to Teros and recommended he receive healing magic, but he politely declined.

"It's fine. I'm not seriously injured anywhere, and it's not to the degree where I need healing magic. That aside, it seems your sister has learned a bit about how to use magical power."

"I need to keep watching her. When it comes to magic, she's such an impulsive child... By the way, My Lord. Are you sure you don't need healing magic? Even if you're not injured, you know it helps with recovery."

"Rather than receiving healing, I'd like to rest during that time. Go check if there are other knights who need healing."

Teros entered the barracks the knights had set up, leaving behind Hadel who was recommending healing once again.

Since the sun had begun to set westward and torches hadn't been prepared yet, the inside of the barracks was dark and desolate.

Teros threw off his cumbersome clanking armor and collapsed into a seat in front of a makeshift desk placed in the center of the barracks. No matter how steel-like his stamina was, dealing with endlessly charging demons was exhausting and tiring.

He took out something that sparkled finely from his chest and looked at it. That was the only thing that could make his current fatigue disappear. What he gripped tightly in his fist was the topaz bracelet Cecilia had given him on the evening of their wedding day. Breaking through the stuffy darkness inside the barracks, the blue topaz attached to the bracelet was casting a refreshing yet luminous light.

Was Cecilia doing well? Wasn't she lonely all by herself in the spacious Serin family estate? The blue light of the bracelet in his hand both comforted his mind and body, exhausted from dealing with demons, while at the same time pressing down heavily on his shoulders.

Even when her family had fallen into crisis, Cecilia hadn't freely clung to him and wept. He recalled her face that would often avoid his gaze in order not to show her sadness. How much worry had been hidden behind that gentle smile?

Looking back, he regretted not spending sufficient time with her while running around claiming to resolve the situation. He didn't even know whether he, awkward at consolation, had been able to lessen even a bit of her sorrow.

To make up for past regrets, he was determined to accomplish what he could do now.

"I'll definitely return with the Count, Cecilia."

Teros pressed his lips firmly against the topaz that resembled the color of her eyes and whispered.