"It worked. I'll be able to distract them with an illusion spell. It's nothing much, but it will give us time to quickly get to the fort.
The horses that are able to see the illusion dragon collided with each other and jammed the roads, causing problems for the surviving knights.
I think a few soldiers might have broken bones, one or two.
I didn't actively think about the fact that I might have killed them, as they were trying to kill me.
Guilt, remorse, or justifications for my actions didn't even occur to me at that point.
I had to do everything I could. I had no other thoughts but that.
All concerns, guilt, and bad thoughts I locked in my mind unconsciously. I had no time to dwell on remorse as I felt an arrow pass by my ear, barely missing it.
Turning my head back, I was able to see that there were still three knights pursuing us.
"Shit, what should I do now?"
I didn't have any more illusion magic I could use to knock them all down.
Our horse is already at its limit. In one or two minutes, they may catch up to us, and after that, all I know is that we will die.
"They will catch up to us," Neol said in a depressed and fearful voice.
'I know, genius.'
Our horse had now started to trudge, breaking away from its consistent speed, while the knights' horses followed us at a frightening speed. Neol clenched his teeth and pulled out his sword, ready to fight until the end. However, it didn't seem like Neol was able to fight three knights or rather kill them.
Is this the end? Are we going to die?
[User is in a critical situation. Emergency mode activating] [1] [2] [3]
As I was thinking I was going to die, a system suddenly appeared in front of me, and everything around me froze as if time had stopped in one space.
What is this emergency mode? Why didn't it appear sooner? Let's see what the system has for me now.
[Emergency mode activated.]
[User is able to use one of his birthday lines for thirty seconds]
[Activating bloodline.]
[Rare Bloodline: Control]
[Rare Bloodline only appears in one of thousands of royal bloodlines. It's a power flowing through your veins as you are a royal Demon of the Demon world and have one hundred percent pure blood. You can use [Control] on anyone for thirty seconds. You can control demons at your will.]
[Weakness: If the user's opponent is stronger than the user, he/she can't fully control them.]
[Cooldown one week]
Oh, oh my God, oh my God, ah, sorry, I'm not human anymore. Oh my Demon, yeah, that sounds better.
I can't believe it, I unlocked my bloodline, and a rare one at that. In this world, people can use bloodlines, but very few can activate them. Even protagonists and major characters can't use bloodlines in the first half of the novel.
It's what I needed at this time. As I got my bloodline, the surroundings changed, and time returned to normal.
Neol, focus on the road, leave them to me.
"W-what are you going to do?"
Don't worry, I still have one spell in the magic scroll book.
Okay, I don't know what you're going to do, but let's hurry; the princess needs our help.
I know.
I lied. I can't tell this guy that I have a bloodline.
Time to work.
"[Control]" [Time until shutdown: 30, 29, 28]
Okay, it had better work.
Turning my head, I looked into all three of their eyes as they flinched. They slowed down their speed, but they were fighting back against my [control]. It's not going to work on them; they are way too strong for this body that has enjoyed a life full of fun until now.
[Time until shutdown: 20, 19, 18, ...]
I don't have time.
And then, I saw a long line of wagons and soldiers watching this chase.
And.
There was also the procession of those demon prisoners that seemed to go on forever.
And I saw the eyes of those demons looking at me.
"...."
From Goblins to Trolls and unarmed Ogres, Orcs, and countless other unknown types of demons.
All these demons were watching this commotion.
They were looking at me.
Not even a single word was exchanged between us.
I didn't say anything to them.
They just looked at me without saying a word.
They were demons of the Demon Realm who surrendered after losing their fighting spirit, knowing that their king had died.
As demons and monsters, they had to pay the price of defeat with their lives. Since no one would pay their ransom, the only thing they could pay with was their lives.
They were looking at me.
Because the Demon King was dead.
And I was sure to be the last one.
Seeing how I was betraying them.
Seeing that I don't have time, I'll use [Control] on all of them.
They're all demons. As their prince, I have the purest blood of all demons; they can't resist my [Control].
And it worked.
Before my [Control] took control of them, I was able to see what types of emotions were in their eyes. After giving up everything, they looked at me with eyes that seemed to have found their last hope.
It's complete. I'm in control now.
Destroy everything and stop these following knights.
[Time until shutdown: 3, 2, 1, ... 0] Bloodline deactivated.
[Cooldown one week]
It was my order before my Bloodline deactivated.
As despair and pain began to course through my eyes and head, it looked like this body is full of shit.
-Crank!
Oh, it's beginning.
An ogre broke his shackles that bound him and began charging at the knights rushing towards me.
-Kuooooooooooooh!
With a roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth, the demons, who were tied up and had quietly let themselves get dragged away before, immediately began to resist.
"Cr, cra, crazy!"
In the end, the three knights who were following us were attacked by the ogre rushing at them.
Once again, everything got chaotic as the prisoners of war began to riot.
This was the last resistance of the remaining demons in order to save their last king.
Because of the disturbance caused by the demons and the suppression of the last pursuers, no one was chasing after us anymore.
Neol seemed to find this absurd situation hard to accept.
"What the hell is this…."
The Griffin was activated to kill some knights just at the right time, and just when we were in a desperate situation, the demons decided to riot and attack the knights.
Neol knew that this was abnormal. He just couldn't figure out what was going on exactly. However, their main goal of escaping with Sara was yet unfulfilled.
Neol seemed to hold back his doubts. He remained silent until we drew near the fort.
The atmosphere at the fort was exhilarating.
"Is Her Royal Highness still alive?"
"Yes, she is. She tried to escape, but she is back
"Hey, why did she try to escape?"
"I don't know, man."
The Knights of Duke Pandu tried to kill noel and me, despite the presence of all those wagons and convoys. It was just the princess who was difficult to touch.
Even if news arrived that Neol and I killed their knights, there would be nothing about them trying to kill us, so no one would care.
Soon, news of what happened close to the Demon King's Castle would reach this place. Before that happened, we had to get out of here.
Fortunately, the soldiers' eyes were fixed on the HQ Forts where the princess was said to rest.
They seemed to wonder if they'd ever be able to see the princess' face, who was said to be still alive. However, because of that, the barracks were completely encircled. We had no way to sneak in.
There was no way around it.
Neol and I strode straight towards the barracks.
The guard looked at me and shook his head before I could even say anything.
"Her Highness is resting. Go back."
"I've brought the goods Her Royal Highness asked for."
It seemed like nothing would make this guardsman budge.
"There was an order from the Commander-in-chief that she needed absolute rest. Come back later."
The moment we'd try to go back, they'd just try to kill us secretly.
"It's urgent."
At those words, the guard's expression hardened.
"Even if you were rescued together with the Imperial Princess, we can't let someone with an unclear identity like you be by her side. Don't tell me you're having some ideas?"
You guys are more dangerous to her, though?
I had no idea what Sara's condition was inside, but it seemed like she wasn't able to come out to me, even if she knew that we arrived.
The problem was that I neither had the strength nor justification to break through their vague actions.
"Boy."
At that moment, Neol called out to me.
"Lieutenant."
He took a deep breath, sighing as if he had no other choice.
"It's plan B. Lieutenant, you do know what to do, right?"
"Yes, I know."
-Sigh!
"Kuek!"
As if it was a sign, he drew his sword and stuck it right in the neck of the guard before his opponent could react.
"You're crazy!"
The other guards just spat out swear words, completely shocked that their comrade was suddenly stabbed like this.
"Go!"
While Neol cut one attacking guard after the other, I just stopped thinking and ran into the barracks.
As I broke through several layers of tents, I could see Sara, who quietly sat in her seat inside and countless other people standing around her, not touching her, but they seemed to be monitoring her.
"!"
Sara looked at me, opening her eyes so wide her eyelids seemed to be about to rip apart.
An old man wearing a white priest's robe shouted in a brusque tone.
"I believe I made it clear that you were not to let anyone in... !"
There was no time for conversations.
[Flash]
"Kuerk!"
"What's going on?!"
"He's using magic!"
– Flash!
It's one of the two last spells I have in my magic scroll book.
While everyone was blinded by the light, I unblocked my eyes and grabbed Sara's hand, who was also affected by the sudden flash.
Sara was equally perplexed as the others. Sara told me to get Sir Isaac and not to break in here and shoot out a flare.
[Mass teleport Spell]
[Please specify the destination.]
I cast mass teleportation.
"To Helixia!"
Our destination was the Imperial Capital.
We're going to the Imperial Capital, Helixia!
[You have passed the Side Story Of the novel End Of Demon Era sequence.]
[Special Merit – Change of History]
[A key figure (Sara Hart) who should not have appeared in the original storyline has survived.]
[The future has changed dramatically.]
[Acquired 1200 Merit Points.]
I was finally done with that hell.