Chapter 273: Unexpected Power

I was under the impression Rweche wasn’t known for its military might. What the hell happened in the meantime?

‘This is nearly on par with the Imperial army in their prime…’

Their strength and ferocity are considerable. The confidence burning in their eyes reminds Dan of the Imperial army under Eudoardo Deserte’s rule. He’d only glimpsed it during the Eight Years’ War – the aura of a force that would crush everything in its path. Seeing it in these soldiers, Dan frowned.

‘Just the two of us… this might be tough.’

“I have to get to Sir Deon! Get out of my way, you human bastards!”

Oh.

Now that I think about it, the demon beside me isn’t a physician, he’s a berserker.

Ben, still huffing, finally charged at the men blocking their path, swinging his medical bag. Each swing of his bag resulted in snapped necks or exploded heads. Some were even sent flying.

Even so, they only faltered for a moment before their eyes hardened again, weapons raised. It looked like breaking through would still take a while…

‘Somehow, we might actually make it.’

How long would it take?

Ben had already charged into the fray. Knowing it was practically impossible to find another way now, Dan sighed, tightened his grip on his sword, and followed Ben into the chaos.

***

“How many hours has it been?”

“About three hours now.”

“…He’s a Hero for a reason, I guess.”

He’s a monster, plain and simple.

Lindel looked disgusted.

Deon Hart, dodging fatal blows with minimal movement, charged forward, ignoring his injuries. Heroes scrambled back to evade his swinging daggers, only to see his hands suddenly empty – weapons vanished as if by magic.

At first, they were bewildered, but they knew now. From somewhere far off, they could hear the sounds of someone dying.

‘Even in this chaos, he’s steadily picking off the ranged heroes…’

Meanwhile, all his wounds had healed completely. The human side shuddered at the realization that any damage they inflicted was instantly undone.

And they were all certain of one thing: without the Lofty Knights as a weakness, they’d be in far worse shape.

‘Deon Hart’s nerves must be stretched to the limit by now.’

All these irritations must be stressing him out.

‘If only his temper would snap and he’d make a mistake.’

They hadn’t just gathered close-combat specialists; they had ranged support well-prepared too. They were making sure Deon Hart wouldn’t get the chance to run wild.

Whenever Deon Hart tried to kill the close-combat heroes, arrows and daggers flew to intercept him. If he aimed daggers at the ranged heroes, the close-combat fighters would swing their weapons to disrupt him.

If he got even slightly distracted by the fight and distanced himself from the Lofty Knights, the heroes would instantly target them.

“Captain, maybe it’d be better if we just died…”

“Shut it.”

One of the knights, unable to bear their helplessness, cautiously spoke up. A sharp voice cut him off instantly.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Deon deflected the hail of arrows with his daggers, but one pierced his side. He ripped it out, crushing the shaft in his hand.

“There’s a limit to how much nonsense you can spout just because you have a mouth.”

…….

“Just keep dodging the ranged attacks like you’re doing. I’ll handle the rest.”

You too, stay put.

He pressed down on the flowerpot wriggling at his side. As if reading his mind, it went still.

Deon slowly exhaled, regaining his composure. He picked up his weapons and reset his stance. Seeing no sign of fatigue in him, the heroes sighed, deflated. Meanwhile, Lindel, lost in thought as he watched Deon and the Killer Knights, subtly raised a hand and flicked his fingers.

……!

A barrage of ranged attacks rained down.

Not at Deon Hart, but at the Killer Knights.

This attack on the knights felt different, far more focused. Deon whipped his head around. A long sword grazed his neck from behind, but he ignored it. His wide, red pupils were shaking like the aftermath of an earthquake.

“You…!”

“Captain! We’ve got this! Focus on your own fight, Captain!”

“We’re alright!”

The knights who’d dodged, dragged others to safety, or deflected attacks with their weapons waved to show they were okay. Seeing that none were dead or badly hurt, his red eyes finally steadied.

Lindel, who had been watching everything with narrowed eyes, stroked his chin.

‘This is… stronger than I thought.’

The weakness is working better than expected?

If played right, we might be able to turn this against him and kill him. He glanced at the heroes who’d fallen back to protect him.

A quick signal passed between them, and those who understood nodded almost imperceptibly. Only then did Lindel raise his communicator.

“Everyone.”

Instantly, all eyes turned to him, locking with Deon Hart’s.

His cold, curving eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease in them.

Regardless, the merciless command came.

“Kill the Killer Knights first.”

……!

He’d said, ‘everyone.’

Meaning ranged and close-combat heroes alike should target the Killer Knights first.

It was a complete shift in tactics. Before, even when targeting the knights, they’d still keep up a minimal offense against Deon Hart. Deon’s eyes widened in shock.

Daggers and arrows rained down on the knights. Close-combat heroes, pressing their advantage against the already struggling knights, swung their weapons.

“No…!”

“Kkyaaaek!!”

Deon spun around, panicked. The carnivorous plant, silent until now, shrieked a warning, but Deon was too distracted to hear it. Then, thunk—!

A blade plunged into his back and ripped through his belly.

“Captain!!”

“Ah.”

Only then did he realize what he’d overlooked.

There were still heroes guarding Lindel Riner. They hadn’t joined the fight, so he’d dismissed them from his calculations.

Seizing his hesitation, more blades pierced him in quick succession. But instead of turning to face them, Deon chose to lunge forward. It was a desperate move.

‘They can’t die.’

They couldn’t die. Not them.

As he ran, the blades that pierced him either tore free or were dragged along, still embedded in his flesh. He could feel the carnivorous plant thrashing its vines behind him, desperately trying to swat away the weapons aimed at his back, but he didn’t look back. He just threw himself forward.

First, he shoved the mad dogs still caught in the ranged fire just hard enough to send them sprawling out of the danger zone. Next, he threw daggers to deflect the weapons of the close-combat heroes targeting them.

He took a few more arrows and daggers in the process, but he didn’t care.

But then came the problem.

“Captain!!”

“Kkyaek!!”

“Dodge it, Captain!!”

Another arrow whistled in. Deon, still recovering his balance from throwing the daggers, heard the sound and snapped his head around. He’d thought he’d done enough, but they’d anticipated his movements. The arrow was already adjusting its trajectory to intercept his turn.

If he’d just stayed still, it would have only grazed his shoulder. But now, staring at the arrowhead coming straight for him, his pupils blew wide.

It was aimed directly at his eye.

‘…No way to dodge this.’

Too late to raise a hand. Trying to deflect or grab it would only worsen the damage to his eye, possibly tearing open his forehead or cheek too.

And he still hadn’t gotten all the mad dogs out of danger. A dark resignation settled in his red eyes.

That’s when something unexpected happened.

“Kkyaaaek!!”

The arrow stopped dead.

‘…….’

The world went silent. He felt a strange lightness in his waist. Deon slowly turned his gaze, spotting a green vine wrapped around the arrow shaft.

His vision cleared, showing the giant green carnivorous plant, sprung from its flowerpot, safely gathering up the mad dogs.

“…You.”

***

The carnivorous plant that followed Deon Hart was an omnivore.

Long ago, the gardener had given it something he called ‘nutrients’. But it was actually a seed, now tainted by demonic energy, given to the fairy race by the world itself.

An ‘omnivorous’ carnivorous plant, and a ‘seed from the world’ given under the guise of ‘nutrients.’

What would happen next?

[Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself?]

The gardener who raised it had asked one day.

For Deon Hart, it would do anything. The carnivorous plant nodded without hesitation.

Then, the seed was given. Gardener Hien watched as it diligently buried the seed beneath its roots, then spoke softly.

[This seed, which wouldn’t budge no matter what I did, only showed a flicker of life, a hint of purification, when faced with true sacrifice.]

He’d learned this while tending flowers in the Human Realm for Sir Deon, stumbling upon a beehive by chance.

The life-or-death attacks of bees driving off wasps. Faced with this sacrifice, akin to suicide, the seed he always carried reacted.

Of course, he hadn’t jumped to conclusions from that first discovery. He’d experimented with bees from the Human Realm, killed humans and other demons to see if any life would do, even forced suicides through threats to test that condition. It was a conclusion drawn after numerous experiments.

[So, unless you’re prepared for true sacrifice, give it back now. We’re wasting time when we could be finding another way.]

[Kkyaek.]

It had already rooted itself into the seed. Since it only reacted to true sacrifice, it could carry the seed without absorbing it, ready to sacrifice itself when the moment came.

Even though the seed, the size of a man’s fist, was crammed into its small flowerpot, making its roots cramped and uncomfortable, it wasn’t about to give up on protecting Deon Hart.

The carnivorous plant let out a confident cry. Hien’s expression turned subtle.

[That’s a good answer, but… I still don’t get it.]

[Kkul?]

[I just don’t see why you’re so devoted to Sir Deon.]

Like that other plant before, and maybe because it was born from Human Realm plants, it was different from the Demon Realm’s guardian plants.

They both protect their charges… but these ones seemed driven more by instinct, genuine care, than training. Normal guardian plants were trained to suppress their instincts and protect their charges, but these ones were trained to properly use their instincts.

He hadn’t taught it much else, and yet, it was already this devoted.

[Kkwi…Kkul.]

[Never mind, I’m not going to pry. It’s not exactly simple communication, and deciphering your explanations would take too long. More importantly, there’s a bulge of dirt over there… can’t you do something about that?]

[Kkul…….]

This was the best it could do…

The carnivorous plant readily shifted gears, as if it had been waiting for the change of topic. The rest faded into vague memory.

Deon Hart had been suspicious of the bulging dirt, even trying to dig up its roots himself when it didn’t disappear after a while…

After somehow managing to keep the seed hidden, the carnivorous plant, now having absorbed it, finally understood.

It wasn’t absorbing the seed; it was being absorbed by the seed in exchange for borrowing its power.

“Kkyaek…!”

Still, it had no regrets.

In fact, it congratulated itself for stubbornly sticking to him, even knowing how much he hated it. Because thanks to that, it had been able to protect him.

The human who carried the world’s hopes and hatred on his shoulders.