C711
At that moment, when Jin and Dyfus teleported away from the battlefield, the remaining companions at the center of Rikalton were rescuing the prisoners.
"Ahh!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
Cries and sobs echoed along with words of gratitude.
For each fruit that was plucked, approximately 50 people were saved.
Although most of the fallen fruits on the ground only contained about 30% of surviving prisoners, there were still a considerable number of fruits trapped that showed no response even when peeled.
"I am Alisa Badger, commander of Tikan's defense forces. Head towards the direction where you see the light."
"I am Gilly McRolan, a member of the Vamel Alliance. Go towards the direction where you see the light. Those who can't move will need your direct help. It will be difficult, but please, move calmly."
"Hello! I’m Nodaav Sargent. Is any member of our fan club here? Oh, now’s not the time for that. Go there, over there. We came to rescue you!""I’m the leader of the Ghost mercenaries. Do you see the blue light over there? Find a way to get there. Our Magicians and Knights will protect you once you reach that place..."
Hell was here.
With such thoughts in mind, Jin's comrades ran tirelessly.
There were already hundreds of fallen fruits on the ground, and the trees near the castle continued to drop more.
The blue light gathering the prisoners was the colossal Record Magic window opened by Valeria.
She, along with Qwaul, Enya, and Hedo, was tasked with protecting the gathered prisoners and collecting information instead of directly participating in the rescue.
"Valeria, as soon as the signal flare was fired, Jin's energy suddenly disappeared. Does anything appear in the Record Magic window?"
"She's focused, so she can't answer! Wait a moment, let me read the Record Magic window and find out."
As Hedo relayed the message, Qwaul examined the Record Magic window.
As he said, Valeria was in a state where she couldn’t hear anyone's voice while extracting records from the entire battlefield.
"I found it. Through the power of Dyfus Runkandel and the Authority of the evil god, Jin has been transported to... Hmm, the name of the area he’s been transported to hasn't appeared yet. The letters are trying to form faintly, and it’s likely they will appear in the window over time."
Hedo felt a little uneasy about Jin leaving the battlefield, but he wasn’t too worried.
Unless the evil god himself moved, there shouldn't be any entity in Huphester capable of killing him.
'The Zipple and Kinzelo fleets are delayed. That means they are also facing the forces of the Evil God, including superhuman-class powers... It's unlikely that Jin can handle all of them. Is the Fourth Flagbearer drawing him into a one-on-one combat?'
More than a hundred prisoners had already reached the Record Magic window, and many more were crossing the distant field.
[It seems things are going too well, Hedo. The Chaos Army doesn't seem as formidable as expected], Quikantel said as she carefully placed a fruit on the ground.
"Saying that could cause problems, Miss Quikantel. Like now..."
Hedo unsheathed his sword as he spoke.
What he was seeing was the main gate of Rikalton Castle.
A woman dressed in black robes was emerging from there.
The Prophet, Ilina Runcandel.
Hedo immediately extended his sword's energy in her direction, but Ilina dissipated like mist and reformed, shaking off her clothes.
Hedo shrugged as if he expected it and lit a cigarette.
[Damn it, so it’s her. Judging by the situation, she seems to be the Prophet.]
The problem wasn’t combat power but the disadvantageous situation they were in.
They had to protect the prisoners while fighting, and there were still many unknowns about Ilina’s abilities.
[Heroes of the human world who came to rescue Rikalton. Are you enjoying the rescue mission?]
Ilina’s amplified voice slightly echoed across the battlefield.
Hedo fixed his gaze on her while his comrades struggled with the frightened prisoners, slowing the progress of the rescue.
[It seems you don’t have a good response. Well, I’ve prepared a gift for all of you!]
Clap!
As Ilina clapped, a circle appeared among the trees that had bound the prisoners.
They were "eyes."
Then, the tree trunks opened sideways, revealing grotesque figures with arms and legs.
[Crazy... So those trees weren't just trees, but some kind of monsters?]
When the creatures, which had appeared as trees, straightened their bodies, it became clear that each of them had a figure more gigantic than Rikalton Castle itself.
The areas where the fruits were attached looked like heads with tufts of hair, and when the legs, which had rooted in the ground like roots, stretched out, the monsters had bodies even larger than the graveyard giants.
[They are beings created with the help of the matriarch. You’ve encountered the graveyard giants, right? They are similar to them, except they have humans hanging from their fruit heads. You could call them a kind of talisman.]
In other words, there were limitations to attacking the giant creatures.
If they made a wrong move, their attacks could also destroy the fruits of the giant creatures.
[My head hurts. By the way, Hedo, that Prophet... doesn't seem to have the power to kill us.]
"I had the same thought."
While most of his comrades were immersed in a growing sense of urgency, Hedo and Quikantel calmly assessed the situation.
"It seems she’s trying to buy time with her maneuvers, making the prisoner rescue difficult. That’s probably why the Chaos Army is relatively small. If they attacked us with overwhelming numbers and chaos, the speed at which the prisoners would be consumed would be too fast, and they know we wouldn't have any reason to fight cautiously."
[It’s not about buying time for Dyfus to recover, who is already engaging in combat with Jin. But it seems her purpose is to disrupt the execution of the prophet. She must feel a sense of crisis, given the obvious spectacle she's putting on.]
"Tactically, it would be better to immediately abandon all the prisoners and advance to thwart her intentions. But that wouldn't be Jin's style, right?"
[You’re already talking like a true member of the Vamel Alliance. You adapt quickly.]
"Because I’m worried that if Jin suffers, Sandra-nim might go crazy. It’s also a risky move to charge forward and potentially fall into a trap. It would be better to respond calmly until the temporary allies arrive. The numbers have come to my mind approximately."
The giant beings started to advance.
Every time they moved, a dark, deep groan and an unpleasant sound of twisting trees filled the air.
One of them raised its fist toward the ground, aiming at Lata.
However, Lata easily dodged the attack and showed the scene of rescuing several prisoners who were thrown by the shockwave.
But not everyone could do what Lata did.
Those who lacked relative agility, like the younger division, had to prepare to suffer fatal injuries every time they dodged the weak beings’ attacks.
[Well, it seems that the encounter with the giant beings will provide you all with more exciting entertainment. Now I bid you farewell.]
With those words, the Prophet returned to Rikalton Castle.
"Miss Quikantel, please bring Yulian and the leader of the Black King mercenaries."
Quikantel quickly found them, as they were already on the battlefield.
[Yulian, you’ll be excluded from the ground prisoner rescue from now on. Instead, move with the leader of the Black King mercenaries and collect the fruits attached to the giant beings.]
Yulian dropped the fruits attached to the giant beings using his bow, and Valkas moved them near the Record Magic window.
Hedo planned to rescue the prisoners attached to the giant beings that way, using Yulian's aim and Valkas's strength.
"Leader of the Black King mercenaries, you don’t need to bring the fruits perfectly here. If you throw them from a considerable distance, I’ll catch them all. Also, they don’t need to be too precise. Even if you throw them slightly far from me, I can use Sword Wind to catch them."
"Understood."
Valkas momentarily doubted it was possible, but considering Hedo's incredible power, he nodded.
[Valkas will have it especially tough. While securing the fruits from the giant beings, he also needs to pay attention to protecting our allies.]
Except for Hedo, who was an extraordinary being, Valkas was the only 10-star in the group, so he also had to take on an important role in protecting his allies.
"Of course, but it won’t be too difficult for the leader of the Black King mercenaries. Because..."
Woosh!
Suddenly, Hedo stepped forward and swung his sword through the air.
The shining sword struck the wrist of the giant being that originally aimed at Mesa Milcano, making it miss its strike and stagger backward.
"That’s why I’ll cover the entire battlefield while protecting our allies right here."
Hedo couldn’t leave this place.
Once he moved, the lives of the gathered prisoners would be lost.
Furthermore, if the rescued lost their gathering point, it would create chaos in Valeria and Qwaul’s analysis.
[It’s true that you’re a monster, Hedo. I suspected something when you immediately came up with an answer, but you’re simply unstoppable.]
While his comrades marveled, Hedo felt remorse.
He thought that if he had faced Dyfus and Jin had been here, the Prophet wouldn’t have been able to carry out such a scheme.
They must have calculated those factors from the beginning and diverted Jin.
There were a total of eight giant beings.
Hedo didn’t miss a single one of their movements.
"Being unstoppable has its limits, as it's pure power. There will come a time when I reach my limit. Until then, we must hold out as long as possible while rescuing as many prisoners as we can until our allies arrive. We also need someone to infiltrate Rikalton Castle. I think Mary Runcandel, the Seventh Flagbearer, is suitable for that."
[I will relay the message.]
"Miss Enya, from now on, focus only on the rear guard. I feel I won’t be able to pay attention to the rear at all."
"Don’t worry, Hedo-nim!"
As Hedo provided long-range support several more times, his comrades could once again focus on rescuing the prisoners.
Hedo's sword aura continued to extend like a bright thread between Rikalton Castle and the gathering point.
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