How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 267
Only Noblemtl
Episode 267
Thud, thud, thud… … .
Evan was nervous. The scent of blood was getting thicker and the steady, measured footsteps were approaching him as if warning him.
Damn it.
Finally, the footsteps stopped. And right in front of the iron bars where I was trapped.
“…….”
“…….”
Evan swallowed without realizing it. He felt like he was the target, but at least he wasn’t the one who came to free him.
If my goal was to escape from prison, I wouldn’t have been so open about killing.
‘…Did the queen send you?’
Evan tried to take off the bracelet the lynx had given him, wary of the intruder. However, the intruder sensed the situation and immediately drew his sword and swung it twice.
Chaeng, chaeng-rang, chaeng-rang-
Immediately afterwards, the custom-made iron bars quietly collapsed.
Evan unconsciously focused his gaze on the cleanly cut piece of iron bar. And in that moment, the intruder’s new form disappeared.
“……!”
Evan instinctively flew away from the place.
bang-!
At the same time, the solid floor split apart with a loud noise.
For a split second, I felt as if I had made eye contact with the intruder through the flying debris, but then the intruder turned and swung his sword.
Evan, cornered and with nowhere to run, found a broken chain and quickly picked it up and swung it.
Kang-!
“……!”
But it seemed to be longer than expected, and the chain hung limp like a snake that had been hit by a wall.
Evan, panicked, threw himself straight to the floor. Fortunately, he was able to avoid the intruder’s blade, but he could not lie down on the floor peacefully.
Evan flipped over and swung the chain before the intruder could regain his composure.
The chain that had touched the auror shattered into pieces, stealing the intruder’s gaze for a moment.
Evan took advantage of the gap and slipped through the bars that the intruder had broken. He grabbed the bracelet that the cat had given him and tried to tear it off, but since it wouldn’t break, he ran through the dungeon.
Fallen guards were seen at regular intervals. Fortunately, there were no signs of combat or blood.
‘Damn, is this a sleeping scent?’
It was mind-boggling that I hadn’t noticed this until I was swatting at mosquitoes, but on the other hand, I was glad I hadn’t fallen asleep.
If I had fallen asleep, I wouldn’t have been able to open my eyes.
‘Damn it. It feels like it costs ten times more mana!’
I tried to squeeze out as much mana as I could, but the efficiency was terrible, whether it was because of the mana restraint or the cat bracelet, and in the meantime, the intruder’s presence was approaching at a frightening speed.
‘If I can just get out of the underground, I can ask the Knights for help…!’
However, Evan, who had come up to the ground, froze in place, forgetting that there was an intruder chasing him from behind.
“What the heck is this….”
Well, something was stepped on. As soon as I realized it was a puddle of blood, the thick smell of blood filled my nose and penetrated my brain.
‘… The knights were hit?’
Evan was confused by the scattered figures of fallen people in the darkness. However, the intruder did not give him time to properly assess the situation and came back again.
Evan tried to block the aura by wrapping it around a chain, but it was a special chain, so all of his mana was absorbed.
“shit!”
Evan, who realized too late that the chain was draining his mana, threw it away and quickly turned his body, but it seemed like he would be unable to completely avoid it.
‘Rian, auras are usually applied to the shape of an object. Sharp parts are sharp, and flat parts are flat. It’s better to avoid them, but if you absolutely must hit them, hit the flat parts.’
Why does the wildcat come to mind at times like this?
But listening to the lynx never did anything wrong, so Evan concentrated his aura on his hand and swung it at the intruder’s blade.
“……!”
Kang, there was a sound of metal clashing, and the intruder’s sword path was severely distorted. He hesitated for a moment, as if he had not thought that he would be able to ward off the sword with his bare hands, but Evan did not miss the opportunity and rushed at him, digging deep.
‘Rian, just survive. In the end, the one who survives wins.’
It’s not the strong that survive, but the survivors that are strong.
The lynx taught the prince not swordsmanship to win, but swordsmanship to survive. It was a swordsmanship that focused on defense and evasion, and in some ways, it seemed really cowardly, only thinking about running away, but for the prince, who had to fight at a disadvantage his entire life, it was directly related to survival.
Clap. Blood spurted everywhere as he stepped on it without knowing. With his determination to survive, Evan grabbed the intruder’s wrist and crushed it. He knew that if it was a fight of brute force, he would never lose.
“Cough!”
I pressed my knees against his chest with all my might, and a groan escaped me. Just as I was about to crush his ribs with my weight, I felt a presence behind me.
“……!”
As Evan instinctively pulled away, the blade sliced through the air.
‘Did you have a colleague… …!’
If you think about it, it was obvious. No matter how skilled he was, there was no way he could defeat multiple knights on his own. Furthermore, judging by the fact that there was no big fuss, it was clear that he had defeated them simultaneously and quietly.
Evan scanned his surroundings without letting his guard down. He could only see four intruders at a time, but he had a feeling that this would not be the end of them.
‘Rian, there’s no business in Daguri. Run away no matter what.’
An alarm bell rang in his head along with the voice of the lynx guy. When he said that, didn’t he also nod in agreement?
‘…what can I do now?’
Evan briefly overpowered his opponent, but he regretted not taking his sword away first.
All he had at the moment was a body that was slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person, and a mana restraint that was useless and only a hindrance.
“……?”
However, contrary to expectations that they would rush in right away, the intruders stood there for a while without moving. It was dark so I couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed as if they were looking at each other.
There was a strange silence that was hard to describe. Just as I was about to wonder why they weren’t attacking, or if they were betting on who would die first,
“Kill him.”
The intruders all moved at once, signaled by a soft voice heard from somewhere.
“……!”
Evan stopped thinking and started running instinctively. He didn’t even know where he was running because he was so busy trying to avoid the swords coming from all directions.
He must have been running so frantically that the torches that had been set up here and there began to disappear one by one. Then, Evan suddenly had the thought that it would have been better to go to where the knights were and ask for help, but he had already jumped over the wall and could not go back.
“Fuck.”
The swear words came out naturally. The clothes, soaked with a liquid that was either blood or sweat, were tattered from being cut several times, and were rather irritating.
‘Sword, I need a sword.’
I couldn’t fight with my bare hands. Not only against ordinary people, but also against Aura users…
Whoosh-!
“……!”
At the sound of the wind cutting through, Evan reflexively turned his body. The dagger narrowly sliced through his shoulder and lodged itself in the corner of a tree.
“Oh, you’re dodging it pretty well.”
Someone snickered in front of him. It was the first time anyone had spoken out, and it was only then that Evan realized he was surrounded by intruders.
Self-punch, self-punch.
Intruders hiding in the darkness began to reveal themselves one by one.
‘Four, five…, damn, six.’
The number of people had definitely increased, whether they had joined in the middle or had not properly figured it out at first. If they had not properly figured it out, then it would be fine, but if the forces had been divided and then joined, then it would be different.
‘Could it be that they’ve raided other places too?’
Evan was more concerned that he had divided his forces than that his opponents had increased. He had no idea who they might be attacking.
‘Who would be the one to attack the queen?’
The prince was starting to get worried. But he couldn’t drag six intruders along to check on them, and if he kept running away like this, there was no guarantee that this battle would ever end.
‘No. It’ll end when I die.’
I hate to admit it, but the reason I’m still alive is because those bastards prioritized pushing me to places where there are few people.
“What were you doing, not being able to catch one of these little guys?”
The man who had been giggling at that time was provoking me again. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to provoke me or my colleagues, but I couldn’t deny that he looked very relaxed.
Suddenly, the image of his own corpse, carelessly discarded, came to mind.
The queen would see the empty prison and claim that the criminal escaped. And our prince would say that it couldn’t be true and search for him. The queen wouldn’t let my body be found, but the lynx would eventually find it.
‘…if you find it?’
It’s obvious how the prince will react when he sees my body. What about Aril? The wildcat is also quite affectionate. Wouldn’t he feel guilty?
“In the midst of all this, you’re thinking of something else. Are you brave, or have you already lost your taste after losing too much blood…?”
Why are you still hesitating? The man said something nonsensical and then kicked the ground and rushed at Evan.
“……!”
Evan, who had been blankly staring, tried to fly away to avoid the blow, but then realized that this would only extend his life by a few minutes, so he wrapped his aura around his left arm and blocked the sword.
Kak! Chaeng!
Evan’s auror layer didn’t last long before it shattered like glass, and his wrists were sliced like pieces of paper.
For a split second, I saw the severed wrist fall off very slowly, along with the bracelet the lynx had given me.
‘I should have asked you for help sooner.’
Now I know. The pretty flower-decorated bracelet that she gave me as a tease was originally made for Ariel. The same goes for the medicines. They were just displayed as if they were meant to be used.
I was so stupid that I didn’t even know that and didn’t want my shame to be revealed, so I just kept it hidden.
‘In the end, I only received help from the prince… … .’
The feeling of losing a part of myself was very strange and empty at the same time, but perhaps because the bracelet was also gone, a strange sense of liberation came over me.
Evan took a stance. He had no intention of ending it like this.
The opponent seemed a little surprised, as if he didn’t think he would give up his wrist, but Evan took advantage of the gap and stretched out his good right hand and grabbed his wrist.
“……!”
Only then did the intruder notice Evan’s intentions and quickly tried to pull away, but Evan raised the corners of his lips slightly and tightened his grip.
Suddenly, a bone-crunching sound was heard and the first scream during the chase erupted.
“Ahhhh!”
Evan didn’t hesitate and grabbed the sword first. Blood dripped from his severed wrist, but he didn’t have time to stop the bleeding with the hand holding the sword.
‘If I take that wrist, can I put it back on?’
Because he was thinking such nonsense, he was a little late in swinging his sword. His opponent had regained his senses and retreated, so Evan’s sword only scraped the dirt floor.
‘You could die at any moment, why are you worrying about your wrist?’
Perhaps it was because he still had a lingering desire to remain a knight.
Evan kicked the ground and rushed at him. He was already losing a lot of blood, so he couldn’t delay any longer. He was planning on taking at least three people with him as his companions.
Kang-!
But before he could reach them, his comrades took his sword instead, and took that as a signal to all of them to attack at once.
Although his mind was confused by the sword blades pouring down from all directions, his body moved steadily and blocked the swords, unlike his head.
Evan waved his hand several times, forgetting that his left hand had been cut off, and then flinched. He got a sword, but the situation didn’t get any better, and instead, the wounds only got worse.
“Gasp, ugh…….”
My head was getting increasingly dizzy. Before I knew it, there were only three left in front of me, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if I had done anything wrong. My memories were starting to fade. My eyes were also acting up, and even though it was night, everything was white.
It was definitely summer, but I felt cold. No, to be exact, I felt that way because my body temperature was dropping.
Then, a familiar voice was heard.
“Evan!”
“…Master?”
How did you find out about this place? Have the Knights finally realized what’s going on?
“Evan, where are you!”
I thought maybe my head was going crazy and I was hallucinating, but then I realized it wasn’t an auditory hallucination when I heard the voice again and one of the intruders who had been attached to me immediately turned around.
“…! Master!”
Evan tried to run towards the voice, forgetting that there was an enemy in front of him. However, he was blocked by the blade that was inevitably coming towards him, and he ended up having to swing his sword again.
Kang-!
The sound of swords clashing was heard from a distance.
The Master was alone. He seemed to have been in a fight somewhere, and there were traces of blood here and there, but judging from his movements, he seemed to be unhurt.
A sudden realization occurred to me. If I fall here, Master will have to deal with those guys alone.
‘If you just hold on a little longer… … .’
If it were 1 on 1, there’s no way Master could win. If I just hold on a little longer, if Master joins me… … .
‘I can go back.’
“Thinking about something else again.”
“……!”
Evan flinched at the sound of the voice right next to his ear and shook his arm. However, there was no bumping into anything, and instead, the intruders who had been dealing with him looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Finally, I wondered what had happened to my head. No, in fact, I even began to doubt whether I had already fallen and was dreaming.
In the first place, isn’t it unrealistic to think that he could deal with this person alone? Countless bruises covered his body, but aside from the wrist that he had personally given, there were no serious injuries. His vision was also strangely bright…
Boom, Degur-
“……?”
Then something rolled to my feet. It was round and furry… … .
“The Royal Knight Commander is nothing special either.”
Thud, something snapped in Evan’s mind with those words.