Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 28

Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 28

“What, what the……?”  

Liliana slapped his other cheek with the palm of her hand.  With a sharp popping sound, his head swirled around again.  When he lost consciousness for a moment from a pain he had never experienced before, Lilliana wasted no time and began to tie him tightly using the rope she had been tied up in.

“Did you think that a medicine made with black magic would work on a Saintess?  You are so stupid, Ian Alphonse.”  

She pretended to be calm, but Liliana was also surprised.  The unpleasant medicine he fed her lingered in her system and then quickly disappeared, perhaps because of her holy powers. Lilliana did not miss the opportunity and pretended to be affected by the drug as she intended to keep Ian off his guard.

She wasn't sure if her near-gambling plan would succeed, but she thought this was the only possible method.  Fortunately, Ian was fooled, and she was able to get the ropes untied and subdue him.  

Astonished at the strength of her holy powers used when hitting Ian, she tried to keep her wits together and succeeded in tying Ian up. 

When she regained her thoughts, she remembered the presence of the Black Wizard, who had handed Ian the medicine bottle. Liliana looked up, but Fenrir, who had witnessed her easily overpower Ian, had already run away. Lilliana grabbed Ian by the collar, shook him, and questioned him. 

“Tell me where the exiled prince is!”  

“Cough...…  It's already too late.  If anything went wrong, he decided he would break the seal.  He did not want to be the only one to go down, cough!”  

Hearing his unexpected words, her hand that grabbed him by the neck lost strength.  Ian laughed at Liliana, whose pupils were shaking, and opened his mouth.  

“Ha, the empire is now over.  You will be with me forever in Hell.”  

Liliana's expression turned cold.  As he was sprawled on the floor, she completely loosened her grip on Ian's collar and punched him in the face.  

“Only you will go to hell!”

Every time she remembered his attempt to rape her at the Count's House, she wanted to crush that smug face.  Feeling relieved as he collapsed with a nosebleed, Liliana ran outside to let the others know that Prince Calix was about to break the seal.  

Without even noticing it, dawn was already approaching. She wanted to get out of the forest quickly but she knew that Noel, who would have found out about her kidnapping, would be looking for her. If she acted prematurely, their paths might not overlap. Liliana decided to wait at the cave’s entrance. 

“Lily!”  

After waiting for a while at the entrance of the cave, she saw a large figure running while calling out to her from afar.  Lilliana ran towards him and took a big breath as she hugged his wide chest. As his refreshing scent brushed the tip of her nose, she could feel his heart beating like crazy with tension gradually calming down.  

"Are you okay?  I’m sorry…….  I, I shouldn't have left my eyes off of you.” 

With a distorted face, Noel gently caressed Liliana’s cheeks. Seeing him in pain, she shook her head, tightly hugged him and consoled him. 

"I’m okay.  I could protect myself.  And besides, the Goddess was also protecting me.”  

She was sure that the Goddess was protecting her.  Although she had been kidnapped, she was not seriously injured, and was even able to find out about Prince Calix's plans. 

Besides, when she thought of the holy power used when hitting Ian, she felt like she catch a monster with her bare fists.  

“Noel, we have to go to the gates of the demon realm quickly.  The exiled Prince is trying to break the seal.”  

His expression heavily darkened when she told him what had happened in the cave.  Noel carried her in his arms and left the forest. Deputy commander Raphael, who had organized a search party to find them, approached.  

“You are safe, Saintess!”  

“Raphael, I need to borrow your horse.  Quickly go to to her highness and give her my message.” 

Noel took over the horse and whispered to Raphael, who ran straight away with an anxious expression.  Noel picked up Liliana and sat her in front of him, holding the reins firmly.  

“You may get a little dizzy.”  

"I’ll be okay.  Let’s go.”  

Liliana's hair fluttered in the cool morning air of dawn.  

As they frantically raced the horse and passed the border of the Alten Forest at the northern end, she saw the red land where the gates of the demon realm were located.  When they raced down the high hill and looked down at the gates of the demon realm, they saw three or four shadows that looked like dots in the distance.  It was Prince Calix who came with black wizards to destroy the seal.  

Noel, who was sprinting towards them, immediately stiffened for a moment at the unusual vibration of the ground.  Perhaps the running horse also sensed an uneasy aura, so he slowed his pace and neighed.  

“Noel, that’s it.”  

In the distance, she could see the ground cracking little by little.  The gap between the cracks was as black as endless darkness.  Before long, the eyes of the demonic monsters that began to pop out one by one from the crevice turned to them.  

"Shit."  

“Noel, quickly!”  

“Grab on tightly.  Lily.”  

Noel took the both reins into one hand and held his sword in the other.  The resonant sound of the sword with the Aura and the Holy Power raised the tension.  He increased the speed on the horse to a sprint and slashed the attaching monsters while shouting. 

“Calix Abel!  Stop!”  

As they increased in speed, the small figure gradually became larger.  With the distance closing in, their voices reached the figures. The man who was looking at the black wizard who was looking shocked at the gates of the demon realm turned around. Although the man had his face covered, murky golden eyes flashed at them. 

“Just my luck that Noel Klein is here! And you also brought someone else along. Is that bitch the Saintess?”  

When Calix beckoned, the black wizards lined up.  Liliana tried to pull herself together being in the midst of a group of the Prince and his men poised to attack her from the front while there were demons creeping up on the side. 

“Stop this instance.  If you unlock the seal, you won't be safe either!"  

“Ha……  I know that much.  If I can't have it, I'll completely destroy this empire."  

Liliana, realizing that he was not a person who would listen to them,  spoke softly to Noel.  She wasn’t sure he alone would be able to block them, but now was not the time to dwell on such things. 

“Noel, I have to go to that magic circle.”  

“……  Don't look back.  I will protect the Saintes so that not even a single hair of yours gets touched.”  

"Please……  please stay safe.”  

“Her highness is coming soon, so don’t worry too much.  If you count to three, I will drop you off, so run without looking back.”  

Liliana nodded her head slightly, and Noel wrapped his arms around her waist and began to count, whispering one and two.  As soon as he counted to three and lifted Liliana down, the black wizards began to attack.  However, the sword clad in the Holy powers and aura assisted in repulsing all attacks on the Saintess.  

Liliana slammed into the ground desperately, forgetting how to breathe.  Dark waves were emitted one after another from the magic circle the black wizards had created to destroy the seal.  

Liliana, who was close to the magic circle, gathered her energy in her two hands and took her palm to her magic circle.  

“Ugh.”  

In an instant, she could feel her energy draining away.  At the same time, the wavelength of the magic circle gradually decreased.  After clenching her teeth and breaking the magic circle, she placed her hand directly on the cracked ground beside her.  She had never learned how to seal it off, but she knew intuitively that all she had to do was send her powers here.  

Soon a white light surrounded her.  The Saintess shining in the middle of the red and dry land, she shone bright enough to be seen from afar.  

Lilliana could see that she had little left of her stamina, which always seemed to overflow within her.  She squeezed out the rest of her energy with all her might. The cracked ground gradually came closer together.

"A little bit……  little bit more."  

As the power in her heart was exhausted, a bloody smell came from her throat and blood trickled down her bitten lip.  She groaned through her teeth and pressed on. Just a little more...…, a little bit…….  

Meanwhile, Noel glanced worriedly to where Liliana was, knocking out all of the attacks aimed at her.  

As if he instinctively sensed threat, he slashed through the demonic monsters who were trying to approach her, and blocked the black wizard’s attacks and firmly guarded Liliana.  

Despite the rush of attacks, Calix was quickly being defeated and began to backtrack.  

Just at that moment, in the alert ears of sword master Noel, he could hear the hooves of horses from afar.  Evgena seemed to be leading the knights.  As soon as Noel relaxed for a moment, the last remaining Black Wizard's last attack exploded.  Hundreds of arrowheads of black smoke rained down upon Noel, but his sword moved like a wave and destroyed them all.  

"Damn!  How can’t you get just one man!"  

Calix's ripping shouts of anger spread through the air.  At the same time as Noel struck the last arrowhead and fired with Aura at the wizard, Calix approached Liliana and fired his dagger at her.  

"No!"  

She felt a large shadow covering my back.  As the weight that was both cozy and heavy wrapped around her, a familiar body scent surrounded her.  Liliana face slightly turned around with blurred vision and convulsed in shock at what she saw. 

“…… Noel?”  

He took a deep breath and held her tightly. as if he couldn't let go.  As she turned around and embraced him, a dagger lodged in his back pierced her eyes.  When she turned her head, she saw Calix lying on his side bleeding from the sword that Noel had thrown.  

Lilliana embraced Noel with trembling hands and pulled out the dagger. Perhaps it was a dagger with poison, but the wounded area was black and flowing with flood. 

She pressed her shaking palms against the affected area. The wound...… quickly...… needed her energy.

She struggled to concentrate on her palms, but her energy, which had already been depleted, faded away with flickers of a flashing light. She couldn't control the trembling of her hands.  Her tears continued to flow without stopping.  

“Noel……  no…… no."  

Noel was saying something to her but her hearing cut off. Maybe it was because she had forced out all her holy powers. A squeezing pain in her heart spread all over her body.  Liliana gasped as she wept, and then lost consciousness.  

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com)

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