The man's eyes were on the ground as his body heavily trembled. He was supposedly a veteran fighter, yet he was currently muttering like a deranged man.
"Dead!? What happened to them?!" Viktor quickly asked, genuinely surprised.
To tell the truth, Viktor did not really care about those people. However, he still needed to get the information from the Templar knight. After all, even just one of them was strong enough to beat him, much less a group of 12 of them. If there was something in this forest that could kill all those Templars united, then whatever that creature was would be able to kill them all with ease as well.
Viktor took a deep breath. It would not be wise to stay in such an area.
"We need to move fast, but stay cautious. Follow me,"
This time, Viktor was the one who took the lead at the front. While depending on the Djinn's sensor, he walked at double speed. He wanted to go faster, but then his companions would be left behind. In the meantime, Barry and Kosta both helped carry the wounded man while Boris and Torri were on the lookout in case anything unexpected popped up.
There were no creatures or other living beings around them and the air felt rather relaxed. The forest felt peaceful, but this made Viktor even more unsettled.
It felt like the calm before the storm, and just a minute later, the Djinn spoke.
<A horde of abyss creatures is coming from the south, hundreds of them.>
'I knew it.'
"We need to run, now!" Viktor hurriedly shouted to the others. After briefly making sure that there were no creatures north, he immediately ran that way.
Although the others did not know what was going on, they did not hesitate to follow him and immediately ran.
They ran through the thick forest, but even after quite a while, the abyss creatures had not lost them. Instead, the Djinn even told him that the abyss creatures were gaining on them.
Viktor reflexively clicked his tongue. He wanted to go faster, but he had to wait for the others. Not to mention, the injured Templar knight was dragging them down.
'I should've left him there! No, should I just leave him now?'
He initially thought that they would be able to make it even with the man, but seeing the situation, it seemed that it was impossible.
At that moment, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the south. Even though the sound source had not entered their line of sight, they all had an idea about what was coming.
This astonished Jessie. She was about to ask him how he knew about the creatures in advance, but the next second, a cloud of blue smoke suddenly appeared in front of them before turning into a dog, a blue Siberian husky.
This surprised Jessie even more.
"Follow the blue dog!!" Without waiting for any of them to react, Viktor shouted and instantly jumped toward the two boys and grabbed the wounded Templar to his back.
"Run!"
With Viktor covering the rear, he could now immediately decide; if the creatures come too close, he would not hesitate to drop the wounded man to escape.
"Woof woof!" the Djinn barked in front of them.
<500 meters.>
'Fu*k!' Viktor swore inside. He subconsciously glanced back to check, and a bunch of long, sharp teeth immediately greeted his enhanced sight.
The abyss creatures were rapidly closing in.
"Keep running!" he shouted, his voice clearly conveying the urgency of the situation.
They tried their best to run faster, but most of them were already at their maximum. Not to mention, the forest's terrain was very rough with uneven ground, trees, and branches that could make them stumble. Still, all of them tried their best to maintain their speed.
He could only hope that they would be able to reach the pillar or at least escape the forest first.
<200 meters.>
Viktor gritted his teeth. He was ready to throw the man down, but just a moment before he let go, the Djinn barked again. This time, he was not informing Viktor of their distance to the abyss creatures.
<A group of humans, most at earth realm and two at sky realm.>
Without a second thought, Viktor told the Djinn to head toward that group. Were there any other options? He only hoped this group was what he thought it was.
They ran for another while, and when the Djinn finally informed him that they were close to the group of humans, he ordered the Djinn to disappear.
Fortunately, it was just as he hoped. Finally he saw a few figures in the front wearing chain mail with red and white emblems. They seemed to be waitin for them..
All the knights in front of them were ready for battle. In front of the group of knights was the man with the black shield and breastplate,
"Knights, hold your ground!" the man with a black cross, shouted.
Fortunately, these knights let Viktor and the others pass. Immediately after, they all raised their swords and shields toward the incoming horde of abyss creatures.
"God is with us! Do not fear!"
With the captain's shout, the nine knights' stance of holding the lines became more firm.
The girl with long brown hair began casting, creating multiple fireballs that shot toward the creatures. The large fireballs quickly created multiple explosions simultaneously, signaling that it was time to start the battle.
"Arrrghhh!!"
The knights charged at the horde of abyss creatures while still in line, swinging their swords and bashing their shields to decapitate the creatures coming at them from all around.
Seeing this, Viktor dropped the wounded knight without hesitation and turned toward his companions.
"Eva, Barry, Kosta, stand guard here. The rest, hurry and follow me!"
With an understanding nod, the others went to help out the nine knights straight away by extending the line, creating a stronger wall to defend against the incoming horde of abyss creatures.
13 figures were now fighting together. Viktor did not use his [Metal Fusion] due to the people around, but his current strength was enough to take care of these hellhounds and critters.
It took them several minutes of ceaseless combat for the rest of the abyss creatures to scatter away, leaving hundreds of abyss creature carcasses.
When the battle was finally over, the female templar, Elena, went to check the wounded knight. Meanwhile, the knight captain approached Viktor.
Viktor quickly spoke first, "Knight Captain Landin, we meet again. Thank you for saving me again."
The 40-year-old man sheathed his sword and glanced at the injured knight before looking at him again. "Yes, I remember you… Viktor… thank you for saving my man as well."
"I only did what anyone would have done."
Viktor's glad smile coupled with his humble words gave the captain a better impression of him.
From afar, Viktor could see Elena casting healing magic at the wounded knight, which reminded him of the man's previous words.
"Knight Captain, your man said you were all dead."
He did not ask anything, but the meaning in his words was obvious.
In response, the captain shook his head. "He was shocked, there was a terrible fight and we lost two of our brothers," he briefly explained. "What about you, Viktor? What are you and your friends doing here?"
"Ah, we came to check the nearest doomsday pillar before we found your tracks."
Viktor was just throwing bones to connect the situation, and the captain verified it. It seemed that it was indeed the captain's group of knights that killed the dead abyss creatures they previously encountered.
A moment later, Elena, the scribe, approached the two of them. With her usual unfriendly gaze, she scanned Viktor from head to toe.
"It's been no more than two weeks since we met, yet you've improved so extensively."
"Hahaha, I simply got lucky. I managed to join a pillar campaign before coming here."
Hearing this, Captain Landin looked at him for a moment before saying, "You and your team are strong enough, are you interested in helping us do God's work?"
Viktor had zero interest in joining such an extremely risky job, but Elena interjected before he could refuse.
"This is our quest, no outsiders are allowed to help. Especially a non-believer."
Under the girl's cold gaze, Viktor only gave a calm, neutral smile. He turned toward his companions to tell them to get ready to leave, only to find Jessie covering her face with a piece of clothes.
Noticing his questioning look, the girl silently whispered, "We shouldn't be involved in whatever they're doing, let's go."
It did not take a genius to see that she was hiding from the Templars. Although he did not know why, he understood what he needed to do.
"I am sorry, captain, but we have to go now. Thank you again, and I hope we meet again soon," he said with a friendly smile.
However, just as he was about to go, Elena quickly shouted.
"Stop right there!"
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