I sighed in relief that I wasn't transported to a weird location. I can tell I'm outside the gate fortress since I can see Augustine Duchy's symbol on the knight's uniform. So, does this mean that they immediately advanced to the fort after our fight with the 'demonic forces'?
I'm relieved they're alive, but what's with the commotion here? I can smell a weird stench from all over the place. The knights seemed nervous and agitated after seeing me.
"State your identity now, or we'll be forced to use violence against you!"
I raised both of my arms and said, "Wait! I'm not a suspicious person. I'm Adelaide from House Vanidestine. Did a bunch of knights arrive here? A few of them are wounded since we were part of the escape mission from the county."
The knights looked at each other, and one asked, "Do you have the family crest for House Vanidestine?"
Oh, shoot! I must've lost it during the battle! What do I do now?
I sighed. "I must've lost it during our battle with the enemies. Is there any way to confirm my identity aside from the family crest?"
"If you were with your companions, why are you here alone? We apologize, Milady, but we cannot allow you to enter the vicinity unless you confirm your identity with the family crest."
So they're just going to leave me out here?! I don't have food, weapons, or anything to help me survive in the wild.
"What's going on here?"
A man wearing a white coat went in our direction. My heart jumped with happiness as I got a clear vision of who it was.
"Averon! It's me, Adel!" I exclaimed in delight.
I saw his eyes widen. "Adel?! What are you doing here outside the fortress?! I thought you escaped with the Young Masters to the Augustine Duchy? And,"
He glared at the knights who pointed swords at me. "Are you all trying to make an egregious offense by offending a noble lady?"
But I'm not a noble lady, though. I kept my mouth shut since I knew he was doing this to help me confirm my identity.
"She's an important noble from the House Vanidestine, for Pete's sake! What would happen to your commander if the Duke of Augustine found Lady Adel's corpse outside his fortress?!"
The knights went silent, but one was brave enough to confront Averon.
"But Viscount Averon, she doesn't have the Vanidestine's crest! According to the commander's orders, we can only let her enter the vicinity if we have solid evidence that she's a noble lady from House Vanidestine."
Ugh, they're so stubborn! But I'm not furious with their actions since I know they are just doing their jobs as knights.
"But–"
I tapped Averon's shoulder to stop him from arguing with them.
"It's fine, Averon." I looked at the knights. "I lost the crest during the battle, but you can't conclude that I'm from the enemy forces, right? Can't I stay somewhere in the vicinity where I can be guarded? You can even tie my hands just to be sure."
They were about to interject something from my request when we heard a blaring sound of a shofar from the top of the fortress.
"God, not again," I heard Averon say under his breath.
"What's going on, Averon? And why are you here?" I asked in a confused tone.
"I'll explain later." He turned toward the knights. "Another wave is coming! Let's go back to our stations!"
A knight held my hand gently and said, "This will only be temporary Milady. Since Viscount Averon affirmed your identity, we'll take you inside."
He tied a rope around my hands and slowly escorted me to the fortress.
"Open the gates!"
The gate opened, and I gasped after seeing what's been happening inside the fortress. I can't help but cover my mouth in dismay as I stare at the state of the knights.
Some of them lost their arms, their blood covered their bodies, and I saw horrendous creatures impaled at the side. Are those monsters? How the hell do these monsters even get here?
Everything is chaotic. How did it end up like this? Aside from the state of the knights, the bigger problem lies in the ruined structure in the middle of the fortress.
"Is that thing the gate that leads to the Northern region?" I asked.
Averon nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."
"What happened here, Averon? How did the gate to the Northern region end up in that state?"
Averon signaled the knights to leave us alone.
"Instead of telling you directly, it's best to see it yourself."
His seriousness took me aback as he was staring at the walls. What did they have to experience in the fortress to be in this state? The enemy forces don't simply do this… I think it is worse than that.
"Follow me," Averon urged.
I followed him to the stairs that led us to the top of the walls where the ballistae and other knights who use long-ranged weapons are located. We stood in the middle of the walls; the gate was below us.
I looked at Averon, and he was staring in front, so I looked in the direction he was staring at. There was nothing but corpses of… monsters? Is this why the fortress is built with this much defense?
From what I know, the monsters don't usually come here because of the location of this fortress because behind us is a path going to the barren lands. Besides that, the fort is covered in a powerful invisible barrier to the naked eye and can't be smelled because a spell has been cast for it to be that way.
"Here they come…"
The sound of shofar blared again. I squinted my eyes to see from far away, and my eyes widened in shock from what I saw.
"Why are there a lot of monsters running towards here?!" I asked in disbelief.
Averon shook his head, not knowing the answer to my question. "It's already the third wave, Adel. It's been like this for two weeks now. Fortunately, your companions made it into the gate, but after that, we needed to disintegrate the mana gate."
"Hold on. Did they make it here two weeks ago? But it was only yesterday!"
Averon looked at me with confusion. "What do you mean? You've been gone for two weeks, Adel. They thought you were dead because you ended up inside the Witch's Forest. How did you even get out of there? I'm delighted that you're in good shape."
I clenched my fist. I was gone for two weeks? How? I was sure that only a day had passed! I remember I got inside the forest because of a demonic mage, and I almost got devoured by two wolves… and then what?
Wait, why can't I remember anything that happened after that? How did I even arrive here?
"To your battle stations!" a knight shouted, and they all went to their positions.
Minutes later, we can hear the sound of ferocious snarling from afar.
"Fire arrows, get ready!"
The knights with bows stationed themselves in front and pointed their arrows upwards.
"Fire!"
I slowly walked beside the knights as I stared at the monsters getting hit by the arrows. Knights were stationed in different places, and they all fought with their lives on the line.
If this goes on, the fortress won't last that much longer.