Chapter 122
Startled, Leo wrapped his arms around William’s waist and muttered as he let out a rough breath.
“Whew. I almost died pointlessly to an attack like that.”
William frowned when he turned his head and saw Leo pressed right up against him. He nudged Leo away lightly with his elbow and spoke.
“It’s because you weren’t fully alert. Train yourself.”
“There you go again, always with the training.”
“Your discipline has grown lax. That’s why you didn’t even notice such an attack.”
Leo pouted, but since he could have been seriously injured if William hadn’t helped, he couldn’t bring himself to complain.
Besides, there was no time to grumble.
Shiiik! Shwack—
The arrows from the ceiling had stopped, but spears now came flying in like rain through the wide-open doorway.
While Leo held out his palm and raised a shield to block them, William pulled Leo by the waist and hid behind a large cabinet.
The spears slammed into the cabinet, shattering the glass bottles displayed inside with loud crashes. Liquids giving off a sour stench spilled out, along with chunks of flesh that looked like parts of human bodies, scattering across the floor.
“Eek! That’s disgusting!!!”
Afraid they might touch his feet, Leo jumped back and hid behind William. William sighed as if exasperated, yet still shielded Leo so that fragments from the cabinet’s contents wouldn’t splatter onto him.
“Wow, that’s some seriously sick taste. So that’s what happens if you get caught by that woman? Ugh, horrible.”
“If this scares you that much, don’t look straight ahead. Just support me from behind.”
“Straight ahead? What’s in front?”
Told not to look, Leo reflexively lifted his head—and only then did he see what was throwing the spears through the open doorway.
“Aaaah! Th-those things… what are they?!”
Outside the room, doll-like beings were swarming in. Their forms were neither human nor animal nor magical beast. More accurately, they were a grotesque mix of every race.
The doll at the very front had one leg of a lion and the other of a human, the torso of a giant frog, and the head of a bear. Where arms should have been, something like a bird’s webbed wings dangled awkwardly. Beside it was another doll with the lower body of a different magical beast, a human torso, and the face of a rat.
Dozens of dolls filled the doorway and the corridor beyond, and not a single one shared the same shape. They were experimental subjects Bléhel had created for practice when she was first learning dollcraft.
True to Bléhel’s personality—believing that anything not beautiful was worthless—her failures and practice pieces were all used as expendables, such as guards or cleaners. The dolls swarming in now were all of that sort.
The crudely stitched-together bodies were so cruel and horrifying that they made Leo shudder.
“Ugh. That woman is seriously crazy!”
“I warned you not to look, yet you’re still making a fuss.”
As the cabinet was nearly destroyed and could no longer serve as a shield, William drew his sword and began cutting them down, steadily advancing toward the doorway.
Stuck tightly to William’s back and gripping his clothes, Leo tried hard not to look ahead. Even so, he didn’t forget to cast enhancement magic and shields on William.
Watching the dolls continue to gather, William clicked his tongue. Each one wasn’t much in terms of combat power, but with so many packed tightly together, their progress would inevitably slow.
“Leo. Can’t you get rid of them all at once?”
“I was just thinking about that. Liam, buy me a little time.”
“How long?”
“About thirty seconds. Think you can handle it?”
“Easily.”
William sheathed his sword again and grabbed two long spears that had fallen to the floor, one in each hand.
“I’m going.”
“Okay.”
The tendons stood out on the backs of William’s hands as he tightened his grip on the spears. Concentrating strength into his arms and shoulders, his muscles swelled until his clothes were stretched taut.
Thud!
Leaving Leo behind, he charged forward, using the spears held horizontally to block the rushing dolls and shove them forcefully out through the doorway.
Losing their balance, the dolls at the front toppled over, causing those behind them to collapse like dominoes.
Kreeek—
Grrh—
Squeek—
As the dolls tangled and piled on one another, all kinds of animal and magical-beast noises erupted. After barely forcing the dolls outside, William’s eyes took in a long corridor stretching in both directions.
And in that corridor, he saw even more dolls—shaped like various insects and reptiles—running toward him, trampling over the fallen ones. He tightened his grip on the spears.
Kyaaaah!
The spider-shaped doll that reached him first opened its mouth savagely and spat a sticky green liquid toward William.
He quickly dodged behind another doll nearby, but the green liquid splashed onto his shoes, which began to sizzle and melt.
Before the liquid could reach his skin, William swiftly kicked off his shoes and socks. Judging by the stains on the socks, it had almost turned into a serious injury.
“That won’t do. I have to run to Her—so my feet are off-limits.”
Barefoot, William hurled the spear in his hand at the spider doll. Thrown with such force that the recoil nearly bent his waist, the spear pierced straight through the doll’s mouth and lodged deep into its torso.
Kreeeek!
The moment the spider doll collapsed, a massive snake with a crocodile’s head slid toward him along the wall. Despite its body being thicker than a tree trunk, it was incredibly fast.
William gripped the spear with both hands and lowered his stance.
Knowing that snakes usually attack with their heads raised, he reasoned that if he couldn’t pin its head from above, piercing its jaw from below would be effective.
Just as he expected, the huge snake raised its neck straight up, opening its crocodilian jaws wide and baring its teeth. Staring coolly at the enormous creature—so large he had to tilt his head back to look at it—William tightened his grip on the spear.
Sseeeek—!
William mercilessly pierced the crocodile’s jaw as it plunged down toward him.
However, the snake’s massive body, unable to stop due to its sheer weight, slammed into him.
Boom.
With a heavy crash, cracks spread across the corridor floor.
Rolling away at the last moment, William avoided being crushed, but ended up wedged among the grotesque dolls filling the area.
In an instant, dozens of arms—or legs—grabbed hold of his body.
“Ghk.”
One beast-like foot raked across his chest, probing to dig in its claws. His shirt tore, leaving long, thin streaks of blood.
At that moment, a fierce wind began to whip through the room.
“Liam! Lifting you!”
The instant the magical device in Leo’s necklace activated, he cast a levitation spell on William.
William slipped free from the dolls clinging to him like a net and floated upward until his back nearly touched the corridor ceiling.
Looking down, William saw a pale blizzard spreading out from Leo, swallowing all the dolls around them. The cold that brushed past the tip of his nose spread through the corridor, reaching even the dolls that had been running toward them.
The black castle froze over in an instant. The corridor turned into something like an ice cave, and naturally, Bléhel’s dolls were all frozen solid like statues.
“Ugh. I really can’t stand gross things.”
Avoiding the hideous ice dolls, Leo stepped out into the corridor and snapped his fingers. William descended back to the floor.
“Let’s check the map.”
“I was about to do that anyway.”
Leo reached into his clothes and pulled out the map. As he did, a note that Rafaella had given him separately slipped out and fell to the floor with a soft thud.
Out of ingrained habit, William naturally bent down to pick it up—until he saw Rafaella’s handwriting peeking through the unfolded paper.
“?”
Seeing William’s expression, Leo quickly snatched the note from his hand.
“Ah—uh. That’s mine.”
Muttering in self-reproach that he’d forgotten to put it in another pocket, Leo fidgeted awkwardly.
“The map’s here.”
“…What was that just now?”
“Nothing.”
“What did Lady Rafaella write for you—just for you alone…?”
“There’s no time for this. We need to hurry.”
“Then hurry up and tell me about that note.”
William’s expression, as he caught Leo’s attempt to change the subject while unfolding the map, hardened sharply.
It was only natural—he had misunderstood, thinking that a special mission had been given to Leo rather than to himself, despite William having been with her longer. William was not in a good mood.
“Just what is it that only you, Leo…?”
Shouldn’t she trust him more—if not at least as much? He had thought it was time for that.
“…It seems Lady Rafaella trusts you more than me.”
“No! That’s not it. Liam, don’t jump to conclusions.”
“That’s enough. You don’t need to force an excuse. She must have had special instructions for you as a mage.”
“That’s really not it.”
“Or is it that the note was a love letter?”
A small spark flickered in William’s eyes.
