The blonde man who had been striking his sword at the few remaining enemies also hesitated and stepped back. He spat in the back of the head of one of the gangs he had just knocked down, contorting his face.
"What the hell? Why do they have so much strength? Those little bugs of bastards…!"
With his sword in his hand, he habitually grabbed the scabbard around his waist and muttered in disdain.
Eun-woo also grabbed both of her arms, which seemed to want to fall down due to exhaustion. She looked at their opponent with a puzzled expression. He had defeated a large bunch of men before in preparation for death. However now she felt miserable, as if the brick house that she had piled up which doubled had collapsed in an instant.
Is this what it means to lose will?
Eun-woo felt the wretchedness of her facial skin melting away and wrapped her hands around his head. And in an instant, she screamed out at the strong grip from her arm which touched her.
"Kyaaaaah…!"
The blonde man raised his body with unimaginable power. The face, which had always had a twisted smile like a serpent, also had a rather urgent expression on it, as if he was in a dash.
He grabbed her arm and dragged her, shouting with her teeth.
"Lady, let's escape first! This is really dangerous now….!"
Eun-woo felt absurd at the man who spoke as if it had been a situation that could have been resolved before it could fall like this. But she fully agreed with his words that they should run away.
She stepped in the direction of the man, trying to move her legs, which she couldn't move earlier.
The man ran down with her to the pub section through the little alleyways, kicking the broken table with his leg and pushing it with his scabbard.
"Move away…! These bastard bugs!"
He went out on the road, escaping away from them, yelling at the onlookers blocking their way. Eun-woo ran after him frantically and glanced back at her. But the gangs were persistently pursuing them. She could feel their loud shouts and killing intent in their voices.
As a result of the turmoil, bystanders and street vendors who had come close to each other obstructed their path. The distance narrowed moment by moment before they could realize.
"… Damn it!"
Eventually, the blonde man also recognized the state they were stuck in, and stopped walking. He quickly hid her behind him behind his back, and with his sword, he aimed at the man that was running in front of him.
"Come on, you bastards!"
The man struck his scabbard with a round cask full of apple cider stacked right next to him. The cider barrels that were taller than the man's height were heard shattering, and alcohol was poured out from the entrance.
The man rolled the barrel one by one, blocking the path of the following remnants one after another. Eun-woo felt tense, holding the dagger in one hand and throwing an apple with the other, trying to attack, albeit weakly.
However, the trap of being outnumbered hardly put them into disadvantageous position. The group that Owen had brought appeared endlessly from anywhere. Some of the scoundrels joined forces and attacked the blonde man at once. Some of them passed him and sneaked up to Eun-woo from the front through the gaps.
Before the two knew it, they were standing back-to-back and pointing their blades at the approaching enemies. Her legs, which exceeded the limit, tremble. It was on the verge of collapsing. On the other hand, the man was looking fiercely at the gangsters without showing any signs of exhaustion.
"I'm, I'm sorry. because of me...."
Eun-woo knew instinctively that if this man had been alone without her in this situation, he would have escaped or cleared out the gangs, either of which would have been easy if he was alone. Thanks to the crowds approaching from side to side, the man's movements were limited as he was paying attention to her direction as well.
But he cut her words off with a sharp knife, as if he was talking nonsense.
"If you have time to say such useless things, look straight ahead!"
The man gritted his teeth and added.
"If you're beaten by these bullies, you'll be a disgrace to the third generation! So, get your act together, lady!
Eun-woo bit her lip at the man's words, tensed, and gave strength to her hand as it held onto the dagger.
However, as the attacking parties started to attack, Eun-woo's clothes were grabbed by someone's wicked hand that came in front of her in a swift movement.
"Aacck…!"
It was an unavoidable difference in terms of power and strength. Eun-woo had no choice but to be mercilessly dragged by the hands of the enemies who took her clothes, pulled her back, and got her away from the blonde man.
It happened in an instant that she couldn't even react. Suddenly, the dagger in her hand was taken away by one of the bastards.
The blonde man was quick to reach his hand to her but was blocked by the swords that blocked him. Eun-woo watched as the blonde man struggled to shake off the gang with his left power.
However, no matter how much he struggled, the other side stuck to him like a swarm of wasps and obstructed his path.
Eun-woo screamed in anger at the hand stroking her body with a vicious force.
"Heeuuuk!"
"Ahaha! Caught you finally! This tough girl…!"
One of the gangsters grabbed her whole hair and laughed cruelly. Eun-woo flapped like a fish caught on a fishing rod. She raised her hands above her head and struggled to escape from the man's grasp.
But the more she did it, the worse the man's arm tightened, as if he was about to drop her head off her neck. She wept at the great pain.
Eun-woo had no choice but to watch the blonde man being held and overpowered by five or six big men through her open eyes.
"Aaahhh…!"
Using her strength, she rolled her feet and tried to kick the man who was holding her in the stomach and groin.
Then the hand of the man holding her sword flew toward his face.
The blue blade covering her iris felt like a slow motion. In an instant, a sense of fear as if falling from a cliff of a thousand roads struck her.
Eun-woo closed her eyes tightly.
"Ahhh… !"
And his body fell to the floor with a loud thud that seemed to reverberate through the ground.
It wasn't her who screamed. Eun-woo's fallen body collapsed and her eyes widened in surprise at the touch of the floor on which she had settled.
An unbelievable face appeared before her eyes. It was as if the sensations in her body, which had been extinguished by even the tiniest embers, were revived.
Eun-woo stopped and opened her mouth in shock as if it was splitting her heart in pieces.
"Ta… Tashian…!"
She screamed, shaking her whole body.
The man's strong arm was holding Eun-woo's bent waist.
Tashian's daunting black eyes were glaring at them as if he was about to devour the gangs that surrounded them right at that moment.
Eun-woo could feel his intense heartbeat vibrating her whole body from his tight chest wrapped around her arms. His anger seemed to flow through her body.
As if the neck of the man with thick veins was warning the bastard around them, he looked carefully at the enemies.
Even receiving his gaze in front of them seemed to be atrophied, and some of the men around them took three or four steps back from their spot.
Eun-woo caught his strong jawline looking up from below. It was beyond belief. He was wet with sweat from his forehead to his shirt's clothes. Indeed, he was breathing up to his chin like a stallion running without a break in the alpine area, which was a few hours away.
However, after a while, Eun-woo was startled to see the bright red blood staining his white clothes. She jumped up like someone electrocuted and grabbed his stone-hard forearm. When he rescued her from the man who grabbed her by the hair earlier, the small knife that was in the man's hand was lodged in one of his forearms.
She sobbed, feeling dizzy.
"Ta, Tashian… the knife…!"
"…. You!"
He, who had never turned his eyes away from the gangsters, suddenly turned her head toward her and shouted.
Eun-woo flinched at the harsh voice she had heard for the first time. Indeed, she looked up at him, who was groaning like a man who squeezed the blood vessels of his body.
He widened his eyes after seeing her face.
"…Really, what the hell…!"
He didn't continue his words and hugged her tightly.
In an instant, Eun-woo croaked like a person buried in a pile of stones, accepting the sweaty body temperature of the giant man. It was a force that seemed to tighten her whole body on a chain heated with iron.
In the midst of that, Eun-woo felt her body tremble less. She didn't know if it was because of excitement or relief.
But soon, Eun-woo realized that the shaking was transmitted from his body.
His body was shaking with an undeniable intense anxiety that surrounded the two of them.
Amidst of that, Eun-woo felt that even her mind was distant.
After a moment that seemed like a long time for her, he snapped her body away from him. Then, he turned her body around as if to check her condition with sharp eyes as if embracing the fire with his eyes.
Then he opened his eyes towards the gangsters with eyes full of anger which contained the killing intent once again.
She wondered if he had ever been so angry with her. His whole body was gripped with indescribable extreme anger, and even his tiny muscles were tense.
"Looking at their behavior, it looks like they are a bunch of thugs who are expanding their power from the Pisval area to Cremons."
It was an extremely cold voice, contrary to the intense emotions running through his body.
Due to his amazingly fierce momentum, the whole crowd held their breath and glanced at each other, contemplating.
They were afraid of the man who suddenly appeared and disturbed the fight, but they were also curious as to why he knew their origins.
Tashian grinded his teeth and spit out a savage word.
"How dare you… come up from my land and damage the Emperor's noble sanctuary, and even try to harm my people because of that."
Pisval was the name of the second largest part of the duchy, with the exception of Holiverk. A band of thieves, attempted to expand their power to the capital in time for the upcoming Flora Festival.
When Tashian appeared, who had a deep understanding of what the leader of the gang did not understand, they looked at them in a panic.
They were immovable and were preparing to take their tails out of them.
"What… Verk, is it you?"
The voice of the blonde man sounded from behind them.
Eun-woo lifted her head in Tashian's arms and pricked up her ears at the man's voice that she heard.
The blonde man came forward, kicking the frozen crowd.
Shaking off the dirt and blood stains all over his body, he looked at Tashian and laughed.
"You and I seem to have a really bad relationship in this way."
The man smiled, revealing his teeth as if he was feeling happy, and frowned as if the part injured in the previous fight was stinging.
Looking at the blonde man who didn't hide the fact that he knew Tashian, Eun-woo's pupils shook.
Staring at the man, Tashian muttered cynically.
"What a sight. Ubera."
Eun-woo's eyes widened at the sound Tashian said while in his arms.
As far as she knew, the unusual name was a castle that could be heard across the continent in the far-off land of Mezzoline.
And one of the few families with that surname included a celebrity she knew very well.
He was the knight who was awarded the 'Notem Knight', a title given to the most courageous knights in the Third Continental War, and the commander of the Mezzoline Central Knights, one of the three major knights called the legendary group. He was Karzxion Ubera.