Future Knight

Chapter 102

—

Zikyon, who had been stealthily trying to slip away, suddenly found herself the focus of everyone’s expectant gazes and froze stiffly in place.

She glared murderously at the woman who was calling her name so fervently with a bright smile on her face.

‘That, that damned wretch!’

“Priestess!”

“Priestess!”

“Priestess!”

“Show us a miracle, Priestess!”

“Ah, ahaha… Ah, yes…”

Zikyon awkwardly smiled, inwardly regretting her rash actions, and belatedly realized she had made a mistake.

But the die was already cast.

She began to think of a clever plan to get out of this situation. As a dragon, she couldn’t simply run away and let her pride be wounded.

An idea flashed in her mind.

‘Right, I don’t have to heal them completely, do I? If it’s just partial healing, there are many ways!’

Having thought of a solution, Zikyon shouted to the fanatical believers.

“Could you all find me sticks about this tall? As many as possible.”

People looked puzzled at her sudden request for shoulder-high sticks. But as it was the priestess’s request, they dispersed without a word and began gathering sticks.

Even spears used for killing were brought before her.

“From now on, lay the injured being carried in around these sticks I plant.”

“What?”

Ignoring the puzzled onlookers, Zikyon walked outside the field hospital and planted the sticks in a flat area.

Then she quietly chanted an incantation.

“Mana of the earth, gather in this staff and transform into the light of healing.”

The shabby sticks began to emit a warm light, and a healing mage who recognized it shouted in surprise.

“H-H-Healing Word!”

“Healing Word?”

“It’s Healing Word?”

Healing Word was a magical artifact that drew mana from the surroundings and converted it into healing magic, something no mage of the present could create.

Only relics from the past magical era were traded at exorbitant prices.

To manifest such a high-level spell in an instant…

They blushed in awe at the new miracle unfolding before their eyes.

Hope shone on everyone’s faces.

“We can do it, with her…”

“God is on our side…”

“What are you doing! Hurry up and help the priestess!”

“Let’s help the priestess!”

Faces full of hope surrounded Zikyon, now capable of treating the incoming injured.

Zikyon installed Healing Words at regular intervals, and those who had offered to help began laying the incoming wounded around them.

Most of them were people who had been healed by Zikyon’s grace.

Each Healing Word could accommodate about 50 people.

While Healing Word did not have the instant, powerful healing ability of Zikyon’s dragon magic, it did gradually heal wounds and prevent further deterioration, which was a tremendous help to the priests and healers.

—

Wolfdale, panting, rushed into the temporary command center and shouted at Duke Sachsen.

“Commander! Have you heard the news?”

“Whatever it is, can you keep it down? My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

“Ah, apologies, Commander.”

“So, what news are you talking about?”

“They say a priestess has appeared at the field hospital.”

“What? A priestess has appeared? What nonsense is this?”

Duke Sachsen, dismissing it as a joke, gave Wolfdale a skeptical look. Wolfdale looked exasperated and glanced at the ceiling.

“Do you think I’m joking with you, Commander?”

“So, you mean it’s true?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. She’s performing incredible miracles and saving countless soldiers.”

On the Arkandor Continent, it was legendary that whenever great trials befell humans, the gods would send a priestess to earth to aid the people.

However, Duke Sachsen couldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.

Wolfdale cautiously whispered in Sachsen’s ear.

“And… this priestess is incredibly beautiful, a beauty befitting the title of a heavenly maiden.”

“A h-heavenly maiden!”
Yes, there was no legend mentioning an ugly priestess.

Despite the persistent terror from the Dark Elves, Duke Sachsen resolved to take time out of his busy schedule to visit the priestess.

As the supreme commander of the Allied Forces, it was his duty to meet her if she truly was a priestess. However, part of his motivation was also the desire to confirm her rumored heavenly beauty.

After all, there was a saying that a man who avoids a beauty is no man at all.

“I will go see the priestess right now. Assemble the guards who are on standby! We must protect the priestess from those vile Dark Elves.”

“Yes, Commander.”

‘What perfect timing for the priestess to appear! If she truly is a priestess, her presence alone will skyrocket the soldiers’ morale.’

With such hopeful thoughts, Duke Sachsen hurried towards the field hospital where the priestess was said to have appeared.

* * *

Eleven members of the Black Wyvern landed silently in the dark.

As always, they had infiltrated deep behind enemy lines for another mission.

“Captain, isn’t this a bit too much?”

“You seem to have gone without sleep for two days.”

“Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine.”

Despite his words, the continuous battles had indeed worn him out.

However, thanks to his mastery of the Elves’ mana training method, even an hour of sleep was enough for him to be less exhausted than the soldiers kept awake by the Dark Elves.

“Alright, let’s give them a good hit today as well.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Kang Chan extended his hand, all the members placed their hands on top of his.

“Let’s move out.”

Draped in stealth cloaks, the Black Wyvern members vanished one by one into the darkness.

Today’s target was the Helion Kingdom’s Halberton region, known for its numerous forges producing a large quantity of weapons.

This place not only supplied high-quality weapons to the enemy but also repaired captured or damaged ones, making it a critical facility the Allied Forces needed to destroy.

The countless forges’ flames, numbering in the hundreds, didn’t die down even at night, and the short Green Elves tirelessly hammered and tempered weapons.

They were the Green Dwarves, hidden key contributors to the Green Elf camp.

These were the offspring Green had borne with the Dwarves in the past.

Though they were not as skilled as Dwarves, their craftsmanship far surpassed that of humans.

The high-quality weapons they produced had allowed the Green Elves to maintain an edge against the human and Orc allied forces.

However, this also made it a highly fortified area, with numerous Troll Elves and thousands of troops ready to counter any attack.

Additionally, with detection magic circles set up everywhere, Zikyon’s stealth cloak seemed ineffective.

Though they could force their way through with brute force, Kang Chan preferred a stealthy approach with minimal casualties, so he decided to use his trump card.

‘It’s finally time to use this.’

Kang Chan checked the wind direction and speed.

‘Computer, check the wind speed and direction.’

-I can help with that.

‘Thank you.’

Kang Chan, now used to the conceited computer, addressed it naturally.

Though it had recently started acting erratically, it was still a reliable aid in critical moments.

-Current wind speed: 1.2 m/s from southeast to northwest.

‘Then I should use it from that direction.’

“Captain, the security is too tight. What should we do?”

“We’re entering a CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) situation. Apply MOPP Level 4 (Mission Oriented Protective Posture).”

“What?”

“Are you really going to use that?”

Discontent was evident on everyone’s faces.

“Why? Do you have a problem?”

“No… it’s just that poison gas goes against our chivalry…”

Being from the Helrainer Knights, who upheld chivalric values, they felt deep discomfort at the thought of using poison gas.

To them, killing the enemy with poison was akin to committing an ambush.

But Kang Chan’s eyes were cold as he replied to them.

“Talking about chivalry against such demonic foes, you all must be dreaming.”

“……”

None of the members could refute Kang Chan’s words.

To them, the Green Elves were indeed demons undeserving of chivalry.

However, their real reason for bringing up chivalry was different.

It was the cursed, crude gas masks.

‘Ugh…’

Each member sighed deeply, resigned, and reluctantly pulled out the soft leather gas masks from the leather pouches hanging at their sides.

These masks were closer to leather face masks than proper gas masks.

The eye section was made of glass, and multiple strings connected around the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Finally, there was a glass bottle filled with a slimy oil…

The moment they took out the bottle, the members’ eyes shook violently.

Kang Chan had no choice but to use the oil to completely block the entry of poison gas in a place with no rubber available.

It was a highly sticky and greasy animal oil, known for its extremely repulsive smell.

The first time the members wore these gas masks was on the last day of hellish guerrilla training.

On that day, Kang Chan had forced the exhausted members to wear the gas masks and locked them in a small room filled with pungent smoke, simulating a CBRN situation.

The members, experiencing gas masks for the first time, had to endure another form of hell.

Kang Chan had placed thin leather masks on their faces and tightly tied the leather strings positioned at the top, bottom, and middle.

Their faces felt as if blood circulation was completely cut off, making them feel like they were going to die.

Lastly, Kang Chan meticulously applied the sticky black oil over the leather to seal it completely.

Without rubber, this was the only way to prevent gas infiltration in an emergency.

However, the problem was the smell.

The nauseating odor of the animal oil that seeped inside started to make them feel sick.

For the members, who had grown up with noble upbringing, enduring the stench was an almost unbearable ordeal.

During this, Anais, unable to bear the stench, vomited inside her gas mask.

“Bleeegh!”

Thus, Kang Chan’s special gas mask created a beautiful memory for her, where she almost suffocated on her own vomit.

Since then, the members referred to Kang Chan’s gas mask as the “hellish gas mask” and feared it as much as they feared him.

And now, the time had come to use such gas masks in a real situation…

‘Oh, God…’

The members looked at each other with solemn eyes as they helped each other put on the gas masks.

Their expressions while putting on the masks resembled those of death row inmates, and the crude gas masks were no different from execution hoods.

One by one, they turned around and tightened the upper, lower, and middle strings.