“Is it my fault? Did I pick the wrong one?”

If choosing the wrong option in a 50-50 chance was a talent, then Cadel certainly had it. Messing up his hair in frustration, he quickly fled the building. The vibrations grew stronger, causing cracks to spread along the walls.

“Why is this so dramatic? If it’s going to collapse, it should just hurry up and do it.”

Annoyed at the thought that this mess was his doing, Cadel impulsively considered destroying the wall himself to erase the evidence. But just as he was about to cast a fireball—

“Knight Commander!”

Garuel’s urgent voice rang out as a strong grip seized Cadel’s wrist.

“W-What?”

Stumbling as he was pulled along, Cadel blinked in confusion, only to meet Garuel’s equally bewildered face.

“I’m sorry, Knight Commander. That wall really did seem taller…… I should have taken off my eyepatch. I must have judged it poorly with just one eye.”

“Huh? No, that was probably not your fault—”

“Something is coming out from inside the wall.”

“Inside the wall……?”

Garuel didn’t even consider the possibility that Cadel had been wrong from the start. Losing his chance to explain, Cadel instinctively turned around. And in his shifting field of vision, he saw countless black dots pouring out from the ruins.

“What the hell is that……?”

Narrowing his eyes to discern their nature, he barely had time to process it before Kunra’s voice echoed in his mind once more.

[Every time the mechanism activation fails, annoying creatures will appear. Either eliminate them all or hide until they pass.]

How could someone be this unhelpful? If he had mentioned that earlier, Cadel would have pressed his face against the wall to examine it instead of getting distracted. But before he could even shift the blame onto Kunra, Garuel yanked him forward with force. In an instant, Cadel’s balance tilted, and before he knew it, he was slung over Garuel’s shoulder as he broke into a sprint.

“Hiding until they pass doesn’t seem like an option. I’ll try to put some distance between us first.”

From his wildly bouncing perch, Cadel barely lifted his head—only for his face to twist in shock.

“Bats? That many bats were hidden inside the wall?”

The black dots emerging from the cracks were none other than bats. With their wings spread wide, they swarmed together like a massive storm cloud. It didn’t take much thought to guess their target.

“Are they chasing the human who touched the wall?”

“They might just be attacking any living thing nearby. If the Demon King’s siblings were here, they wouldn’t let intruders who don’t know how to operate the mechanism wander freely.”

The sky turned pitch black in an instant as the bat swarm blotted out the light. Taking a deep breath, Cadel began channeling mana.

“I have to save Kunra’s power as much as possible. He never explained how he regained his energy after disappearing. He must have taken a huge risk to come back. I can’t endanger him just to fix my mistake.”

There was no way he was going to waste Kunra’s power on something like this. The numbers were overwhelming, but at the end of the day, they were just bats—not demons.

[Fire Butterfly Dream].

Crimson butterflies surged from Cadel’s mana, weaving seamlessly into the gaps between the bats. The creatures had no ability to sense mana. Their frantic wingbeats struck against the delicate-looking butterflies without hesitation—

Boom! Boom!

Thunderous explosions erupted one after another. The bats scattered, charred corpses raining down. But the moment the blasts subsided, the swarm regrouped, converging as if nothing had happened.

“There are too many. I’ll keep them at bay, so find a place to hide.”

“Finding a place to hide here is easier said than done……”

“I need time to gather more mana. Just do it!”

Garuel raised an eyebrow in feigned helplessness but immediately started scanning his surroundings.

“A place to hide, in a place like this? The best we’ve got are the ruins’ walls. But the bats came from the walls.”

Since bats had emerged from the crumbling ruins, there was no telling when more might appear from other buildings. That thought lingered for a moment—until Garuel realized something. The direction he was running in had stopped producing more bats.

“Have we…… left the southern sector?”

Thanks to their relentless sprint, they had put a considerable distance between themselves and the mechanism they had activated. Perhaps the bats only emerged in the vicinity of the southern mechanism. If that were the case, there were plenty of walls to hide behind.

Fixing his gaze on a nearby ruin, Garuel increased his speed.

“We’ll head for that wall. But you do realize, don’t you? At this distance, it’s only a matter of time before the bats find us.”

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

“Even the most obvious facts are sometimes worth stating.”

A low chuckle, laced with his breath, followed his words as Cadel stretched a hand toward the sky.

“No need to make it too big.”

Red mana coiled around his arm like a serpent, surging forward in a steady stream before gathering into a concentrated sphere at his fingertips. The orb gradually expanded, growing to the size of a fist.

Piiing—!

With a sharp resonance, the mana bullet shot forward like a bullet.

“Now! Hide!”

At the signal, Garuel threw himself behind the ruined wall. In the next instant, the mana projectile reached the swarm, unfurling like a web. The bats caught in the trap flailed in disarray, their flight disrupted. Taking advantage of the moment, the two men pressed their backs against the wall, struggling to catch their breath.

“What now? We can’t hold them like this forever.”

“I’ll bundle them up and throw them away. Any that escape the net—those are yours to deal with.”

His plan was to hurl them so far that they wouldn’t even know where they had come from. As Cadel began gathering mana for the next move, Garuel rested a hand on his sword hilt.

“Knight Commander.”

“What?”

“There are still many unanswered questions…… but I find myself enjoying your company.”

“Huh……?”

The completely out-of-place remark nearly caused Cadel’s focus to falter, threatening to scatter the mana he had gathered. He turned, dumbfounded, only to meet Garuel’s gaze. The knight smiled faintly, lifting the corner of his lips.

“So whatever you intend to do, and whichever future you choose—I will never resent you for it.”

For a moment, Cadel was at a loss for words, his lips parting slightly. But before he could say anything in response, Garuel spotted a bat breaking free from the trap and immediately unleashed his demonic energy.

“I’ll draw their attention. Prepare your spell.”

Stepping out from behind the wall, he immediately captured the swarm’s focus and launched his assault.

Cadel, unable to fully take in the sight of him, simply pressed his shoulder against the wall.

“……This comes first.”

Muttering to himself as if to steady his resolve, he inhaled deeply and pulled more mana to his fingertips.

* * *

“Cover them, cover them! Hold back the attacks so the knights can climb the stairs!”

“They are our last hope! Protect them no matter what!”

Their goal was not to eliminate High Demons but to secure the Stone of Peace. Fighting on the ground would bring them nothing. The Stone of Peace was surely in the hands of the Demon King, which meant they had to ascend the stairs at all costs and reach the peak of the fortress where she awaited.

The knights assigned to this critical mission were all of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order—except for Ector, Sorin, Modeleine, Mamil, Cadel, and Garuel.

“Focus only on climbing. The barrier will block every attack.”

The relentless barrage of attacks raining down on them was left in the hands of Mamil and Lydon. As the knights ascended, the attacks grew fiercer, but Mamil reinforced the barrier, making it stronger with each step. He also infused mana into the ice shield below, fortifying their defenses.

Sensing the growing chill, Mamil turned his gaze to Lydon, who was flying alongside the knights, guarding their flanks.

By all logic, he should have died in that rampage. But not only did he survive that crisis, he’s now releasing mana with even greater density. How peculiar.

Was it a secret technique unique to fairies? Or perhaps a latent power that had fully awakened under the threat of war?

But his condition must still be unstable. Whether he can perform at his peak against the Demon King remains uncertain.

It wasn’t just Lydon. Mamil himself was in a similar state. He had already expended far too much mana and stamina just reaching the fortress. Given the crucial role of magic in the battles to come, this instability could be a fatal weakness.

Lydon was well aware of that, too. He slowed down slightly, shifting closer to Mamil’s side.

“Drop your barrier. Mine alone is enough.”

“No. If anyone should drop it, it should be you. At least I didn’t go into a rampage.”

“I’m stronger than you.”

Was this supposed to be a taunt? If so, Lydon’s expression didn’t reflect any arrogance or jest. There was no trace of pride or mockery—only a calm, rational conviction that he was superior.

“So listen to me. With Cadel gone, you and I need to fill the gap. As Cadel’s teacher, you should be smart enough to understand that, right?”

“Since you put it that way—when exactly is Cadel coming back?”

“When we’ve given everything we have. If we survive until the end, Cadel will return to finish things.”

“How dramatic. Like the arrival of a hero.”

Mamil scoffed, unimpressed. Lydon, however, burst into laughter.

“Exactly! That’s why I won’t lose anything until Cadel returns. So that my hero can fight without worry.”

---

TL/N: Here is another new novel’s promoting corner ^^ Apart from ‘NPC Life Handbook’ which I post on my Patreon due to its 19+ tag, I also picked up a new novel called ‘Idol Misery Simulation’ which could be also known as ‘Unlucky Idol Simulation’ as the previous translator named it.

You can find the synopsis on NU, but I must warn you that the plot progresses quite slowly, although I don’t think it’s THAT slow TBH. This one is quite unique as the character in the game realized that the MC is NOT the original quite early, and later even learned the truth that the world is just a game.

As I almost reached the end of the main story, I decided to pick this up because the story is very healing, which I desperately need as my daily life is hard enough, I don’t need any weird and eyebrow-raised relationship in a novel to add more to it LOL.

If the synopsis is appealing to you, by all means, give this one a try. I hope this novel can also be a new joy in your daily life as it is to me ^^

Love,

Eliza