Capítulo 217: [Chapter 217] An Unexpected Reunion
Cledwyn kindly watched the Nodel, who had come with him, look around with a bewildered expression. Then he asked in a emotionless voice.
"My wife isn't here, is she?"
The Nodel was skilled at deception, but now he was truly bewildered. He waved his hand.
"N-no! Hiss! She should be here! Hiss! But, uh, my companions must have taken her away, hiss! Seeing you holding me, hiss! They were scared!"
"Good try. Goodbye."
The sword emitted a crescent-shaped flash of light. The Nodel fell, spewing blood.
It was clear why the Nodel had brought him here. A place where the light from the magical orbs barely reached, a secluded and dirty place. This was probably the lair of the Nodels, at least the group that had brought him here.
But he couldn't see any other Nodels. There was no trace of them.
If Neris had really come here, there would have been pins on the way here. But there was nothing, so she hadn't been dragged here, at least.
Cledwyn stared intently at his surroundings. He was dumbfounded. He was relieved, but also angry.
It would have been better if Neris had been captured by these 'Nodel' monsters. They seemed intelligent and strangely understood human speech, so they might not have immediately killed a sudden intruder.
But if she encountered those really stupid ones in this insane place full of monsters. Orcs, or something like that Stone Golem…
The worst-case scenario, which he had tried not to imagine, kept coming to mind. He suddenly couldn't breathe. Cledwyn made a conscious effort to breathe. It wouldn't do him any good to panic.
He trusted his men. They would find him here soon. So, all he had to do was survive until then.
The problem was that it seemed like he would need some adjustments for her to survive until then.
Cledwyn decided what he had to do.
He took a whistle out of his pocket. And he blew it with all his might.
Whii-ik, whii-ik, whii-i-i-ik!
The whistle, specially made to be loud for commanding the knights, sounded three times. That was enough.
A moment later, a tingling killing intent arose all around him. Cledwyn bared his teeth and shouted.
"This way! You stupid monster fools, if you want me, come this way!"
****
Neris reached the end of the corridor she was in, and she was slightly disappointed to find that it was just a dead end, no matter how she looked at it.
Of course, she could tell from afar that this was a wall. There was nothing to block her view. But she had hoped there would be a side door somewhere next to the huge arch-shaped carving that ran almost from the floor to the ceiling. Or a side alley to slip through.
It had taken quite a while to get here. So, she had to go back to the other side quickly.
As she turned around and trudged along, Neris heard a strange sound in the distance. Grrr-r-r, Keee-ek! It was a chilling sound, like a beast's roar or a monster's scream.
She instinctively felt a chill. Yes, she had never seen a person before, but she couldn't say that there were no animals living here.
What kind of beast would make such a terrifying sound? A wolf? She suddenly became aware that she had no weapon. Of course, even if she had a weapon the size of a person, she wouldn't be able to beat a wolf, but…
Beep, beep, beep! Fizz! Beep, beep, beep! The next moment, the sound of a whistle, vibrating the earth, echoed three times, followed by a familiar voice.
"This way! You stupid monster fools, if you want me, come this way!"
Ida… Ida… fools… fools… see… see. A strong, familiar voice, like a spear piercing her heart. Neris was startled.
Cledwyn was here.
The echo reverberated several times in different directions because the space was enclosed. It was difficult to judge immediately, but it was clear that he wasn't close.
Grrr…
Neris's hair stood on end as she was about to search the opposite side of the corridor thoroughly. She was…
Hundreds of gargoyles attached to the pillars were staring at her at once.
Gargoyles. Yes, she had seen gargoyles, of course. Ordinary noble mansions and palaces would decorate themselves with grotesque gargoyle statues to scare away bad luck or thieves from the outside. But…
For them to open their eyes and look at people, that was a story from a childhood fairy tale.
'Was it a description based on reality?'
If what she understood in the library was true, yes, it wouldn't be strange for something like a childhood fairy tale to happen. Anything beyond that would be within the realm of possibility.
The gargoyles stared at Neris with a chilling, expressionless gaze, but they didn't immediately throw down their light fixtures and swoop down. Their gaze made her skin tingle.
Neris, unable to know how far they could go, swallowed hard and glared at them. She mustered all her courage and glared back.
"Turn your eyes away. Go back to how you were. I am not the one your master wants."
Neris's gem-eye didn't work on inanimate objects. She had no desire to control them. But what about gargoyles…?
After a few seconds of suffocating silence, the gargoyles slowly turned their eyes away. A few flapped their wings or scratched their faces with their forelegs.
Had they understood? Or had the gargoyles lost interest in Neris? Rather than jumping to conclusions, she cautiously approached and clung to the nearest pillar.
Hiss-ss. In an instant, a beast's laughter flew into her ear. As Neris turned to look…
"Child. How did you come to be here?"
A soft yet solemn voice called out to her.
****
"…Whew."
Cledwyn was surrounded by the corpses of nameless monsters.
He swung his sword, swung it again, and swung it again. And sometimes, he would jump into the gaps between the enemies, darting back and forth, seeking a more advantageous position.
His whole body was covered in blood, and he was eventually out of breath, but that was better. He wanted all the monsters in this space to come after him.
So that Neris, who might be somewhere in this place, would encounter fewer of them.
There was a brief lull now. Cledwyn shouted, feeling like he was going crazy.
"Neris! Neris, where are you?"
Creak. The gargoyles didn't all charge at once, but whenever he made a sound nearby, the ones in that immediate vicinity would turn their heads and attack one by one. As Cledwyn shouted, the gargoyle on the pillar next to him placed the light fixture back in its place and spread its wings.
The air around him gradually grew thick with killing intent. If he could see the killing intent, he thought it would be swirling like sea fog, obscuring everything within a foot. Just as that thought crossed his mind,
"Stop! Get out of the way!"
A firm voice calmed the tense air.
The gargoyle that had been charging turned its gaze towards the source of the voice, then flew away, struck by Cledwyn's sword. Whizz, crack! All sorts of dissatisfied howls filled the air.
But Cledwyn didn't care about those sounds anymore.
Neris appeared from among the decorative pillars that extended throughout the space like trees in a forest.
She was fine. From head to toe. Her sunshine-like platinum blonde hair was completely loose and flowing, but otherwise, she looked no different than before they parted.
Cledwyn was relieved. Peace, and then joy, spread across his face.
The only thing that bothered him was that she wasn't alone, but with a tall woman beside her.
Unique metallic blonde hair and golden eyes of the same color. Cledwyn remembered her. She was the woman he had met when Diane McKinnon and Neris had toured the Dreicum ruins.
Why was she here? Cledwyn glared at the woman with wary eyes. The surrounding monsters were no longer a concern.
Then Neris raised her hand, focusing his attention on her, and said,
"Go away. Don't come any closer to us."
The other monsters around them were quietly staring at the three of them. Their faces, which had seemed ready to charge at any moment, were now blankly vacant.
"Neris! I'm so glad."
He approached her. And after checking to see if there was any injury, however small, that he hadn't seen from afar, he hugged her tightly.
I was worried you might be here. And I was worried you might not be here. It was a whole lot of worrying, whether you fell here with me or not.
Neris calmly hugged him back and replied.
"It's okay. I bumped into things here and there when I fell, but it's nothing serious. I landed on a bed, too."
"A bed?"
Cledwyn recalled the place where he had found the first pin. That room was definitely a small bedroom. It seemed they hadn't been that far apart from the beginning.
It didn't matter now. Cledwyn sighed with a hint of laughter.
"Good. What would I have done if you had fallen on that dirty floor? So, how did those guys come along?"
"The gem-eye seems to be listening. They're so obedient, even without making eye contact. I wonder if the gem-eye's effect is different for each species… We can talk about that later."
"Right. Let's get out of here first."
After finishing his words, Cledwyn glared at the golden-eyed woman. He was ready to draw his sword at her at any moment.
She felt very strange to him. Her golden irises, which looked like they were made of pure gold, rather than human eyes, were only a footnote in her strangeness ranking. She was just…
Alien. Like two different people had drawn pictures haphazardly and forced them together.
The golden-eyed woman smiled faintly. And she spoke to the monsters.
"Get out."
No, could it even be called speech? Cledwyn's sensitive ears screamed. A resonance that was far beyond the pitch that humans could hear and speak. It was like a powerful command being poured directly into his brain, shocking his soul.
The same effect must be working on the monsters. They left immediately, without even taking a proper breath, unlike when they heard Neris's command earlier.
Neris, gently pushing Cledwyn away, watched the group of monsters leave behind him. And she frowned.
"…What did you do? Your voice reached all the way over there. Were you planning to call in every intelligent being in the area?"
Her word choice was a little strange. 'Intelligent being'? Not 'monster'?
"Just in case any of them were coming for you."
"A reckless act."
Neris clicked her tongue, but Cledwyn didn't care anymore, as long as she was safe. The golden-eyed woman exclaimed exaggeratedly.
"You two are really close. To see a child of Elandria find a companion."
"Who are you? Are you a monster too?"
"Not entirely wrong."
Cledwyn's question was sharp and rude, but the woman didn't seem to care about his attitude. She smiled pleasantly, as if he had guessed correctly. Instead, it was Neris who reacted sharply.
"Don't be rude."
"Why? What's wrong?"
Cledwyn was slightly taken aback, having never been spoken to like that by his wife. Seeing his suspicion, Neris sighed, as if she had made up her mind.
"I'm not qualified to do so, but I'll have to introduce you, unwillingly. If what I read is true, and what the Nodels and orcs told me is true."
Neris spoke clearly.
"This is the most powerful dragon in history, the ruler of the continent over 600 years ago."
The nightmare of all humans.
The evil dragon that was said to have been killed by the legendary three heroes.
How could he not know who she was referring to? Before he could even think, Cledwyn immediately took a stance to protect Neris from the golden-eyed woman, the dragon.
The round pupils in the dragon's golden eyes instantly stretched vertically. Her face was beautiful, but it was like a towering cliff or an endlessly deep sea, inspiring awe and fear in humans at the same time. If an ordinary person had been in this place, they would have frozen.
But Cledwyn, undeterred by the killing intent that seemed to envelop his entire body, drew his sword. And he carefully looked for an opening, ready to attack if necessary.
Until, a moment later, the dragon withdrew her killing intent and laughed.
"Ha ha… humans are cute. To try to describe a dragon with words like 'since your history began'. It's rude, but what can I do to you?"
Her eyes, which had blinked once, were still alien, but now they held a profound mystery rather than intimidation.
"Since you've come, I'll treat you, child of Palos. I said I wouldn't have tea with you until the child of Elandria confirmed your safety."
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