Chapter 42: 42: Siege (4)
Harley was getting exhausted. By now, the princess was already calm, only showing inconsistent squirms and bursts of panic when they neared a guard.
"Hey." He pulled her down, sitting her on the ground.
Then he cancelled his invisibility and looked her in the eyes.
"I’m going to ask you once, and once only," he clarified to her, letting a killing intent wash over her body.
The princess had silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she vibrated, shaking like a freezing goat.
"Listen, tell me where the dragon is," he asked with a cold stare.
The princess looked up at him, frowning.
Harley could guess what she was surprised about. Anyone coming to invade their palace would want to run away as far as possible from the dragon, but this man who wanted to kidnap her actually wanted to go to the dragon.
"I—I can’t take you there. O—Only my father can call it," she whimpered, tremoring from Harley’s presence.
’Knave again.’ Harley looked up at the ceiling.
He was sure that somewhere on the upper floors, the king resided. However, that wasn’t his target; he had no use for the king.
He just had to draw out the godsworn or kill it outright.
Harley put his hand inside his coat, removing a vial containing a black liquid. He remembered taking it from Rachel’s tent, and he remembered her words when he asked about it: "That’s a highly poisonous liquid, just leave it."
"What about where the dragon eats, or drinks water?" he asked again, and the princess, looking into his eyes once more, couldn’t refuse.
...
’Damn, I can feel the essence in me reducing.’ Harley couldn’t keep up with [Unwritten Presence] for too long, and most of the time he used it to cover his entire body and even other items he wore.
Navigating through the castle was a bit difficult as it was huge. Although not as huge as what Harley envisioned for himself in the future.
’That’s right. One day I’ll have a castle bigger than this one.’ The thought made him smile.
"Search the palace!" A loud voice reached Harley from beyond a large pair of brown doors.
"What now?" he asked the princess, letting her stand and holding her arm tightly.
"T—There are five knights beyond the door and some more at the bottom of the stairs," she spoke, and then he smiled, lifting her up princess-carry style.
He slammed the door open, catching the attention of the three knights who stood in front of a rail.
Immediately they saw the princess, who had calmed down, and seeing the strange man carrying her that way, they immediately felt like they shouldn’t act immediately.
They wouldn’t want to kill the princess’s lover.
"Princess! What is going on?" One of the knights asked.
But the other two were frowning. The stranger held a bloodied sword, and the princess looked like she had cried for a while.
Harley smiled, dropping her and letting her stand on her own, and then he vanished.
"What the—?"
One of the knights who felt danger moved out of the way in time. A man blurred into existence in front of him and he saw a silver sword come down to slash his arm.
"ARGHHHH! He’s a wizard!" The knight shouted. The next moment a sword pierced his chest and Harley moved to face the next one. That one moved out of the way, revealing the third knight behind him who had drawn a bow.
Even if he saw it coming, he wasn’t sure that he would have been able to block the attack. It came fast, and he leapt up with his toes.
The arrow still struck deep into his thigh.
"Ah!" He landed, causing the muscles to squeeze and sending a storm of pain to his brain.
Harley threw the sword in desperation towards the archer.
The man grunted as the sword slashed his shoulder and he grasped the wound. Then he looked at his partner who was holding the princess on her feet.
They raised their swords and ran forward to intercept him. Having no weapon, Harley pulled out the arrow from his thigh.
Luckily, it hadn’t pierced deep enough to cause him any serious damage as he had been in momentum when the attack came.
He removed the arrow, raising both hands. He ducked under an overhead slash, shifting to get in front of the first attacker completely.
Then he threw an underhook, punching the first knight with all his strength, making a dent.
The first knight shifted a bit. The second one came forward, swinging downward clumsily. Harley simply sidestepped, spreading his legs before he twisted, bringing his fist in the rotation.
*Bang!*
The second knight was knocked out instantly. Harley picked up his sword and finished him off before staring at the first one.
"Help!" The first one shouted at the top of his lungs, and Harley gritted his teeth before finishing him off with a stab to the chest.
The princess, who had been watching this entire time, was terrified. She sat there on the ground, unable to move. Eventually she mustered up enough strength and turned around to crawl away.
"Going somewhere?" Harley’s voice resounded from beside her and he lifted her up again, heading towards the rails.
There, he could see two figures looking up, shouting words that he clearly understood.
"Are you guys all right?! What’s going on?!" The two knights below stayed still.
Then Harley looked down, smiling.
"Princess!" The two guards recognized the woman in his arms and he raised her above the rails, dropping her immediately.
She didn’t even have enough reaction time to grab him to save herself. It was like he had just tossed her over.
The stairs were spiralling all the way to the bottom. It was a seven-meter fall.
The knights panicked and gathered at the middle, using their bodies as cushion for the princess.
As they caught her, Harley had already reached the ground floor, cleaving into the waist of the first one while slicing the head of the second.
’Thank goodness most of them are not as skilled as him...’ The image of Eman flashed in his brain.
If he had to fight an army of that, then it would be game over for this trial.
Grabbing the princess, who seemed completely paralyzed by fear, they headed towards a door at the bottom of the stairs and then pushed it open with a small creak.
There, there was a large cave and a small stream of water that seemed to flow out of the castle through a hole.
"Please..." The princess’s voice reached him, and he frowned at her.
"The water is purified here and flows through the entire kingdom. You can’t drug it," she pleaded with him, and Harley, who was already standing in front of the small stream, gritted his teeth.
"Damnit! You should have told me sooner!"
