Chapter 12
Chapter 12 - Lady Templar Walpurgis (3)
One of the orcs running over collapsed on the ground. The sword he was carrying flew into the air and planted itself into the ground shaking.
Bang!
The second shot fired.
“Kueegh!”
A goblin that was aiming its arquebus at me collapsed. My skills were far superior due to having learned a lot about marksmanship from monster hunter Ludd. The Rank 5 Proficiency was really shining through.
Bang! Blam! Bang!
Walpurgis was leaning on the ruined wall and firing away enthusiastically as well. When all ten shots were gone, no one was left standing. They were all dead or squirming while bleeding out. Still, it was too early to feel relieved.
“The big fish is still here.”
Hessax, who had fallen earlier, stood up. His lower body was a mess from being caught in the explosion. The way chunks of his thighs were missing was a gory sight. Hessax gritted his teeth while taking slow methodical steps towards us.
“Walpurgis! I planned to take you as a prisoner but I have changed my mind. I will kill you as painfully as I possibly can. By sunrise, this forest will be filled with your screams. You dare make a trap like this in the middle of a nowhere like this?”
Even I shivered at the words dripping with malevolent aura. The difference between him and I was ma.s.sive. He was only a mid boss when I played as a Guardian but now he was making me feel fear that froze my heart. His abilities were more than enough to physically fold me in half.
“And you!”
Hessax took an ugly mace from his waist and pointed at me.
“I have no clue where something like you came from but you will not be allowed even the relief of death. I will turn your life into a living h.e.l.l.”
This was no idle threat. His commander, Demon Lord Pejamut, controlled the aspects of blood and death. In one word, he was a necromancer. Obviously, his subordinates were also masters in the necromantic arts. He probably planned to kill me, revive me as an undead, and put me through endless pain.
“Valler, he speaks true. Please run. I will try to stall him.”
Even amidst everything, she was worrying for my wellbeing. Her att.i.tude helped my heart frozen with fear regain courage. I reminded myself why I came here. I had already prepared for this.
I knew Hessax would be the one chasing them as well. I also prepared for in case the explosion wouldn’t take him out. The muskets were just to clean up the minions. I had something else ready to take out the boss. A big fish required a big rod to reel in.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How are you so calm about this! Urkk!”
Walpurgis’ condition wasn’t very good. I nodded to rea.s.sure her and shouted at Hessax.
“Hessax!”
“What is it? Begging for your life will be of no use. It is b
etter for you to search for ice in a desert.”
“I have no plans to beg to a demon! I would rather embrace my death than beg!”
“Kuhaha! Your bluffs are as transparent as they come! What kind of tricks do you still have left that you’re so confident in?”
Hessax smashed the ground with his mace while still laughing.
Kuumph
It was a truly heavy sound. I wouldn’t be able to hold out against even a single swing from that thing.
“If you still have guns left, then go ahead and shoot! You will never penetrate this thick armour!”
Hessax pounded his armour to make loud clanging sounds. Hessax really was wearing an enormous and thick armour befitting his size. It was something that no human would be able to wear. Even a heavy musket wouldn’t dent something as abnormal as that. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a way.
“Kukuku, then shall we start after smashing your loud mouth first!”
Hessax waited no longer and darted forward.
“Lady Walpurgis! Please buy me some time!”
“Understood!”
Walpurgis had already been preparing and lunged forward to stop Hessax.
Clang!
While she crossed her twin swords to block the mace, I opened a window on the old cabin to crawl inside. I pushed what I had hidden in the cabin outside with all my strength. I had to clench my teeth because its weight was no joke.
“Kuuurgh!”
What I had hidden inside the cabin was none other than a leather cannon. It was the lightest cannon used in the Empire and a single horse was enough to pull it around.
It may be called a leather cannon, but it wasn’t made from leather. To reduce the weight, a thin copper barrel was cast and wrapped with leather to provide structural support. This was why it was called a leather cannon. It was an attempt to reduce the weight, but durability also suffered as a result.
“Despite this, it’s very useful in situations like this.”
If it wasn’t a leather cannon, I couldn’t have used Filly to bring it here. Even a “light” cannon was remarkably heavy. To move even a schlangel light cannon required six horses. One could understand how light a leather cannon is when comparing the two. Its durability may have been sacrificed but the firepower was still there.
(TL: Schlangel is a German cla.s.sification of a cannon roughly similar in cla.s.s to “falcon” cannon, which is heavier version of better known “falconet” cannons
It was already loaded with gunpowder and a shot weighing about 1.4 kg. I carefully moved the cannon to aim at Hessax. It was short ranged and had a thin barrel.
Since he was such a large target, the shot would land as long as I aimed carefully. If I missed, I was truly a dead man.
“Kuhaha! Is that all you have, templar?”
It seems Hessax didn’t notice what was going on in this direction. He probably thought I was not something worth paying attention to. He was more absorbed in toying with Walpurgis like a predator that had cornered its prey.
“Lady Walpurgis!”
After taking a careful look at the situation, I realized now was the perfect opportunity. Walpurgis threw one of her swords at Hessax’s face and retreated. The moment Hessax covered his face with his gauntlet in surprise, I lighted the cannon’s fuse.
Tsssssssss
Kuaaaammm!
The flash of light from cannon was extraordinarily bright most likely due to the sky already being dark.The direct fired shot from the cannon pa.s.sed through Hessax’s chest in an instant.
Klang
Sparks showered as his armour broke. Then, blood, and flesh fell on the ground.
“Wha….. what is….”
Hessax couldn’t close his mouth due to shock. There was a hole in his chest big enough to fit a fist through. He would never have antic.i.p.ated to be hit by a cannon of all things. I smiled smugly at him. Fear no longer controlled me. I may not be a hero, but I remembered facing down this insignificant mini-boss countless times.
“You said to shoot if I have anything left. Ah, my bad. My gun has some pretty big bullets.”
I was technically correct. Bullets in this time were not explosive rounds, but a simple ball of metal.
“If you’re wearing big armour, I only need to use more gunpowder and bigger shots.”
“... d.a.m.n you…”
Kuumph
Hessax collapsed with a hefty thump. Blood pooled out where he collapsed and soaked the surrounding ground.
“Amazing… Valler, your resourcefulness knows no bounds… To kill him with a cannon…”
Walpurgis was barely standing while leaning on her sword.
“Are you alright?”
“Fuuu…”
Walpurgis let out a long sigh and collapsed forward as she could no longer stand. I hurriedly took her in my arms. The confident knight finally looked like a girl her age. She was still only 16 years old.
“Huuugh..”
Her pained groans made my heart ache. Still, she tried her best to hide the pain so as not to worry me.
“It seems… this is as far as I will go. Valler, I will not forget your help… for the rest of my life… urghh… now… go. Save yourself…”
After those words, she fainted. Her breathing was shallow as if she was about to die at any moment.
“Walpurgis.”
I swayed my head side to side. She wasn’t even a little bit different. I owed her countless debts. She died protecting me numerous times in the past.
“I’ve always felt sorry and thankful. Now, I finally have a chance to save you.”
I took out a healing potion. It was the potion she gave me. I gingerly placed the potion down beside me and carefully removed her chest armour.
Since she fainted, making her drink it was not an option. Plus, if I removed her helmet, the consequences would be dire. She avoided exposing her face at any cost.
She said she’d rather die, so even I hadn’t seen her face before. It would be better to pour the potion on the wound itself. The potion was more effective this way as well.
Clack clack
I undid the ties holding the front plate and the back plate together and untied the connection to the gorget as well. Then the breastplate was pushed back with notable resistance.
“W, what? Is there something inside?”
It felt like there were small air packets inside so I lifted the plate to take a look. And I was truly surprised.
Jiggle jiggle
The unimaginably large b.r.e.a.s.t.s revealed their outlines. Looking back, I never saw her out of her amour. There was a fair amount of cotton padding to press them down but it was bouncing back against them with so much force. Also, the elasticity to push back against armour? I had never heard of such a thing.
But my excitement lasted for only a moment and dissipated when I saw her padded shirt soaked in blood. I quickly took her shirt off. Her white skin ruined with blotches of blood. A thick smell of iron wafted over.
Plop
I hurriedly took the lid off the potion and started pouring the potion over her chest.
Did she fight even with something like this…
“Hnnngg….”
Walpurgis moaned once more but her tone indicated she was in a much better condition. It appeared her pain had lessened. My gaze unintentionally went towards something above her white chest. I could glimpse a little above her collarbone where something that looked like a burn scar continued upward.
“Hmm…”
That was probably related to Walpurgis’ secret. Considering where the scar lead to, there must be a story behind it. My curiosity suddenly sprouted. Walpurgis was essentially in a coma due to the healing potion’s effects. Taking the helmet off would be easy.
Healing potions were not something that magically recovered any wounds the moment one drank them. That would be convenient, but nowhere close to reality. Moving after drinking the potion hindered the healing. Muscles needed to be as still as possible to re-attach themselves properly. It wasn’t just the muscles. Bones needed to be set properly before drinking the potion as well.
Though there were various kinds of potions, the majority of them put the user to sleep for the stated reasons. If not sleeping, then one needed to stay still in the proper position for an hour or so to heal properly. It was only natural since muscles weren"t some intelligent ent.i.ty which could find its own position and link up with others.
“Hmm…”
I fell into deep contemplation while looking down at Walpurgis. I shook my head and dressed her back up.
“No, that’s not right.”
I needed to respect her secrets as much as I respected her.
Clack clack
I donned her armour up again and laid her down straight. She’d need at least 30 minutes considering how severe her wounds were. I decided to clean up the immediate surroundings in the meanwhile.
“There is the good loot I’ve been eyeing at.”
I rubbed my hands as I walked over to Hessax’s corpse. The way he carried around a bunch of expensive items made him no different than a walking bank vault. Today was a good day.
“I wonder what he has.”
“Hessax’s Armour” and “Hessax’s Mace” always dropped but other items were completely random every time. I started rummaging through Hessax’s corpse in antic.i.p.ation.