Whoosh! At that moment, the arrow in Simon's hand flew out!
The arrow whistled through the air and reached Sneasel in the blink of an eye.
Sneasel's eyes flashed — as if already prepared — and its glowing claws struck out toward the incoming arrow.
Boom!
The arrow collided with the claws. After a brief standoff, Sneasel was pushed back. At the same time, the arrow snapped in half and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Simon quickly drew a third arrow, intending to nock it and fire again.
But Sneasel moved even faster. As soon as it hit the ground, it pushed off with both feet and charged forward once more!
With a glint of cold light, Sneasel appeared in front of Simon, claws slashing through the air!
Simon had no time to nock the arrow — instead, he used his longbow as a melee weapon and swung it at Sneasel!
Boom!
The bow was shattered under Sneasel's claws.
But the broken half of the bow still struck Sneasel and forced it back!
Simon was also knocked back several steps. Looking down at the half-broken bow in his hand, his expression darkened.
In the distance, the terrified Sir Berrin fell to the ground again.
He looked up at the Sneasel standing not far from Simon, feeling as if he could barely breathe.
After two intense clashes, Sneasel was clearly a bit winded and stood still to catch its breath.
Its gaze turned toward Simon, who now held a long blade and had once again assumed a battle stance.
Simon was breathing heavily. The knight training he had undergone recently was finally paying off.
Being a farmer, he had considerable raw strength, which allowed him to barely hold his ground.
Thankfully, the Sneasel in front of him seemed to be a primary-level magical beast — a threat that a fully armed knight could handle.
If it were an Intermediate- or Advanced-level beast, he wouldn't even be able to track its movements, much less block its attacks.
Sneasel were known for their cunning, which is how even a primary-level one could survive in Mt. Coronet.
It now watched Simon intently, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. It had no lack of patience.
In the distance, Sir Berrin swallowed nervously and began slowly backing away.
But Sneasel noticed him — and that frozen his whole body.
Seeing this, Simon's heart tightened.
Before he could act, the Sneasel suddenly lunged toward him again!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Simon quickly swung his blade.
The blade and claws clashed, creating sparks.
Sneasel specialized in speed but wasn't much stronger than Simon in raw power.
It cautiously avoided Simon's blows, slashing out to leave a bleeding gash on Simon's body.
Hearing the sounds of battle, Berrin finally came to his senses.
He looked at Simon, who was wounded again and again, and felt as if his heart were being ripped apart. He could hardly breathe.
Why was this commoner fighting? Was he doing it to protect him?
He couldn't let him die. He had to help him. He had to…
Forcing himself to calm down, Berrin had a sudden thought.
He took a wooden test tube from his coat, glanced at the snow-covered ground, and quickly scooped up some snow to cover the tube.
Taking a deep breath, he hurled the snowball at Sneasel.
Sensing the attack from behind, Sneasel dodged Simon's strike and quickly turned around.
Seeing it was just an ordinary snowball, it casually swiped its claws at it.
Crack!
The snowball exploded in mid-air!
There was also a sharp snap — the wooden tube inside shattered under Sneasel's claws, spraying wood chips.
At the same time, a foul stench suddenly filled the air.
The sticky liquid from Gloom's spit — hidden in the snowball — landed right on Sneasel's head.
Immediately, the disgusting smell overwhelmed Sneasel, making it gag.
Simon reacted quickly, charging forward and swinging his blade down!
Though Sneasel wasn't as vulnerable to the stench as the mighty Arcanine, it was still affected.
It couldn't dodge in time — the blade struck its arm, and blood sprayed out!
"Mreeeoooww!!"
Sneasel let out a piercing scream. Its eyes turned blood-red from the pain!
Simon stepped back after the hit, but just as he was about to strike again, an intense pain exploded in his chest.
Sneasel had launched a full-force counterattack — its claws pierced straight through Simon's chest!
Simon felt a metallic taste in his mouth but still reacted instinctively — he swung his blade at Sneasel once more and shouted:
"You idiot, run! Run now!"
Whoosh~
A cold wind blew across the field. For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
Thud!
Far off, Berrin snapped out of his trance and sprinted toward Simon.
"Hey, hey, you filthy commoner — you can't die on me!" Berrin shouted in panic.
But Simon didn't respond.
Seeing this, Berrin glanced in the direction of Fruitvale Village, gritted his teeth, and hoisted Simon onto his back, running toward the village.
…
"Heh… I actually returned to this prison for the sake of a commoner."
Sitting on the bed, Berrin looked at the still-unconscious Simon and chuckled bitterly.
At the time, he could have left him behind and escaped.
There was nothing stopping him — he still didn't know what he'd been thinking.
"Hey, you better not actually die."
"That would make me feel like the biggest fool ever."
After a long while, Berrin sighed deeply.
It had already been half a month, and Simon still hadn't woken up.
Creak.
At that moment, the wooden door across the room opened.
Berrin looked up and was stunned.
The man who stepped through the door was Aven.
His throat tightened. All kinds of emotions swelled inside him — hatred, anger, fear — but in the end, all his words condensed into one desperate plea:
"Save him, I beg you."
(End of chapter)