Chapter 81
The flying axe spear swept through a corner, completely wiping out the spirit summoners gathered there.
Since the archers were using bows, they had stationed the spirit summoners at the back, making it easy to take them out all at once.
Arrows flew from the remaining archers, but they weren’t as fast as before.
I dodged them lightly, almost as if flying.
Fighting Yurell made me realize something.
If they were human, they wouldn’t just follow the direction I moved and fire arrows. They’d shoot from all different angles to drive me into a trap.
That unique reaction that only comes out when fighting people—exploration between each other, adrenaline—that sense is different from what I feel now.
I retrieved the axe spear that had fallen to the ground.
Thud—! With a sound, the axe spear was lifted.
‘Huh, why is it so light?’
Maybe it’s because my health dropped by 10%. It felt significantly lighter.
“Goodbye.”
The axe spear cut through the air and killed the remaining archers.
I was worried the next wave might start right away, so I glanced off into the distance.
In the game, there’s a <Rest> button.
[Round 1 is over. Would you like to rest?
▷YES
▶NO]
In the game settings, pressing the rest button allowed about 10 to 20 minutes of rest.
But in hard mode, who knows if rest will even be allowed?
I hope it is.
“You did it! I believe you’ve succeeded, Lady April!”
From far away, Sian poked his head out from the tower and grinned brightly, so I returned a cheerful smile.
He was shouting something loudly, and surprisingly, I could hear him even from this distance.
“Sir Sian!”
Even though Sian has poor eyesight, he should at least be able to tell that someone in white is waving at him from over there.
And by now, the reward item should have appeared.
The reward item always appears in the center tower.
I told you, didn’t I? Even the enemy’s dialogue shows up.
When the defense game ends, the player heads to the central tower.
It’s a space divided by a transparent wall.
There, if the player gets the item, the enemy looks disappointed. If the enemy gets it, the player feels mocked.
‘I hope hard mode is the same.’
To grab Sian’s attention, I waved more excitedly.
I even jumped up and down while waving, and I could feel Sian smiling.
Seems like he’s happy.
Instead of heading to the tower where Sian was, I entered the central tower—it’s the biggest defense tower and closest, so it’s easiest to see from there.
I climbed the stairs.
My heart started to race.
‘Where is it? Where could it be?’
Sian saw me suddenly entering the tower.
Sian could probably reach this place quickly using the bridge that connects the defense towers.
I couldn’t tell how much Sian’s affection for me would cloud his judgment.
‘At the very least, it doesn’t seem to work when his own life or survival is on the line.’
While I was thinking cynically, I found it.
The reward item was on a display stand on one side of the room. There’s also a stand on the other side, behind the transparent wall, but it was empty.
I picked it up.
What is this?
It was a dagger—strangely shaped, almost like a rapier.
You have obtained an item.
Dagger of the Heart: Can extract the heart of an enemy.
Wait, is this how I’m supposed to give the monster in the banquet hall a heart?
‘No. This doesn’t help right now.’
I only have 9.2% of my HP left.
If it were a game character, you could easily say, “Just don’t get hit anymore,” but this is different. Dying here means literal death.
How do I recover?
As I was thinking that, a voice suddenly called out.
“Lady April!”
I jumped in surprise and turned to the side.
It wasn’t Sian who called me—that’s what startled me.
Duke Kyle, who seemed to have run here in a rush, looked at me as if checking my condition.
I realized that Duke Kyle wasn’t smiling at all.
“Where did everyone else go?”
“Lady Yeniel is in the banquet hall! His Highness the Crown Prince too. As for Sir Max… um, no idea.”
Who cares where Max is?
Duke Kyle looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Then another voice rang out.
“Lady April!”
Right. That’s the real Sian. His voice held a subtle unease.
“What’s going on… Duke Kyle?”
Suddenly, the two men were warily watching each other. I crouched down and smiled innocently.
“I came to see some ants! There was an anthill around here.”
I didn’t care about ants, but I acted like I did. Sian let out a deep sigh.
“Haah… I was worried.”
“April was worried about you too, Sir Sian! You’re weak, after all.”
I said with a smile.
He really doesn’t seem to have noticed the item, right?
“There really are ants here. Though… I’m not sure what kind. Maybe from a thousand years ago.”
Sian sat beside me. How would he even know the species of an ant?
Then he asked me,
“Did you find any other objects or people?”
“Duke Kyle?”
“No. I came up with a theory. For the archer army to have that kind of power, there must have been an equivalent exchange. Since they were strong, something big should’ve been given to us as well….”
“Hmm, that’s hard!”
Sharp as ever.
Well, I didn’t think Sian wouldn’t suspect anything at all.
What if he finds out I snuck the item? Well… so what?
“I just thought it was pretty, so I wanted to keep it.” Something like that. No one will care.
Why didn’t I mention it? “I forgot.”
Hard mode forces you into these defense games anyway.
But after seeing the first item, my thoughts shifted slightly.
I’ll check the second item too. If every item seems connected to the quest, I’ll make sure to collect them all.
The only disappointing part is that the recovery items my brother praised—like Elixirs—aren’t showing up.
Maybe that’s just because it’s hard mode.
Just then, Duke Kyle lightly tossed something.
I looked at the box that landed on the floor where I could see it clearly.
“You’re bleeding, Lady.”
“Huh?”
Startled, I looked at Duke Kyle.
“You’re injured. You’re bleeding.”
Duke Kyle sighed.
“You need more looking after than even Eveline. Though, I suppose it’s not entirely your fault.”
“You’re hurt, Lady April?”
“I don’t know?”
“Ive was screaming her head off, saying your wrist was cut. Asking how you could even hold a weapon like that.”
Ah.
It was when I held the axe spear—it must’ve grazed me.
While I was focused on picking up the quest item, Eveline was watching my wrist.
The problem is, we didn’t have time to rest or check each other.
“Wait. What’s that?”
Something flew through the air with a whoosh!—not just slicing through the wind, but cracking the wall.
“Lady April!”
Sian shielded me.
It was a spear that embedded itself into the wall.
‘A spear this time?’
You’ve got to be kidding.
It’s a hidden monster.
These are the ones that made my brother run endless loops just to trigger the spear soldier event.
They’re monsters with a tricky level of difficulty, and now they’ve shown up here.
More importantly, when the spear soldiers appear, so do Curse Priests.
Curse Priests are special enemies that cast curses on party members, putting them in serious danger.
