IWRYWYM CH. 75 — SPIRIT MANA ROAD

Wildly running horses and swaying carriages crashed in all directions. Neither the contributors nor the recipients were left intact, messy wreckage was scattered everywhere.

Elisha had a white fabric covering her head from the beginning. It was originally meant to block the sun and was not used often in residential areas, but it would be better than showing her silver hair.

Elisha moved to the promised place while paying attention to her surroundings so that Dahil, who was guiding her, did not get caught up in danger.

“Over there!”

Dahil pointed her index finger in the direction in which the flames still rose.

It was a place near empty vacant lots that were not normally used, where horses could be left and carriages could be stored. The place that had originally been filled with horses and carriages was chaotic and empty, and one could barely see two horses and a carriage standing in a secluded corner.

And a man.

“Taro!”

Even though it was only a blurred silhouette, Dahil recognized her lover at once and raised her hand. Dahil was about to close the distance with Taro with a measured step, but Elisha suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind her.

Dahil’s eyes widened, but the most surprising thing happened next.

Hwing!

A crescent-shaped sword spun around and passed through the place where Dahil had been. The sword that had cut through the air collided with the ground and bounced back due to the recoil.

“Huh? Huh?”

Dahil was terrified because the sword came flying toward them, but Elisha merely considered herself lucky.

Elisha waited for the handle to come towards her, and then snatched it up at once.

Then, with Dahil behind her, she rushed towards the direction the crescent-shaped sword had first come.

“What the hell are you doing? Oi, I told you to come here! That guy might’ve already done something and left earlier, or perhaps he went somewhere to cry because he ran into them…”

The warrior, who had been babbling towards the approaching figures, with whom he seemed to have good relationships with, stopped talking. And then his comrades, who were rushing towards where he was, also opened their eyes wide.

It was a very brief moment. However, the person who had caught the crescent-shaped sword which had bounced for a while, was running toward their place like a lightning bolt!

The white clothes were pushed back by the wind, and the fabric covering the hair was blown away. Silver hair was scattered in the air.

As the slender wrist twisted to the side, the long crescent-shaped weapon flashed under the sun. The raised sword flew towards the warriors in a wide diagonal arc.

The chest of the one on the far left opened and spurted blood, and as for the one on the other side, there was a long wound that continued from his stomach to his thigh.

Thud!

The one who suffered the most wounds fell backward. Elisha attacked again before the remaining two came to their senses.

Starting from the right this time.

“Keogh!”

And at the end, she stabbed the warrior standing alone in the middle with the sword.

Perhaps it was because his abdomen had already been cut twice, so it was not hard to penetrate through the open flesh. Blood was dripping down the blade that was pushed deep into it.

Elisha pulled her arm back. Naturally, the crescent-shaped sword came along. It must have been too much for her, who usually only depended on mana, to push her muscle strength so hard. Her fingertips trembled.

Elisha shook her head at Dahil, who was about to come to her, and pointed her chin in the direction of Taro. If Taro started to falter, it might affect their plan.

Dahil quickly went to the place where Taro was. Elisha also turned towards the two.

Kwang! Kwaaang!

Somewhere in the back, one could hear the sound of something bumping and crashing. Fortunately, the commotion continued.

Before all of this subsided, they had to run to the only exit where they could rush out in the carriage they had prepared.

Because the purpose of this uproar was to distract their gaze so that their carriage did not look strange.

Of course, that also included reducing the number of those who were currently scouring the basin in search of them, and the warriors who would pursue them after a successful escape.

“Goddess, come on!”

Dahil opened the carriage door and called for Elisha. Taro was about to sit in the coach seat.

The warriors couldn’t have thought immediately that she’d escape in this way. So when they stopped the carriage earlier because the path it was running was a little strange, it was more likely to prevent the horses from running away.

All of that coincidence and hesitation added one stone and another to Elisha’s plan, which eventually became a tower where she could see where she wanted to go and create a bridge to reach there. However, even if only one stone was placed incorrectly, the whole thing would shake.

Then again.

“Let’s go.”

Elisha got into the carriage. As the door closed behind her back, her figure was completely hidden.

It was significantly different from the carriage the imperial family used. This carriage was light and had minimal functionality, instead, the wheels were specially created to run on the sand, with stability being the main purpose.

So it was more expensive than it looked. And seeing that there weren’t many in the desert, it could be said that it wasn’t a small amount of money for the desert tribe.

It would not have been possible to use this method if it hadn’t been for a large number of non-warriors and elders who attended the conference.

Toddonk! Tong!

The carriage wheels were lifted several times due to the wreckage caused by the horses and carriages running wild, so the bodies inside the carriage were thrown to and fro.

“Are you okay?”

Elisha put the crescent-shaped sword in her hand to the side and supported Dahil’s shoulder. Dahil grabbed the edge of the chair with her hand and nodded her head violently. Perhaps it was hard for her because it was her first time riding a carriage.

Instead of comforting her to endure a little, Elisha stayed close to the window where she couldn’t be seen from the outside, and looked at the surroundings. In some places, the fire attached to a moving horse’s tail burned some tents, and in some cases, a carriage with only the frame left was dragged by some horses.

“Kill it!”

When someone shouted, the warrior who was close to the running horse lowered his upper body and drew his sword horizontally. The running horse’s leg was dented, and it fell forward, pouring out blood.

Kwadang!

The horse’s body hit the ground hard and was pushed forward. The long shadows converge in blood.

A carriage was a necessary tool, but a horse was a precious companion that could be said to be essential in the desert. The horses of warriors with enough ability to come to the conference must have been the most pedigree horses in the tribe.

Since the horses were being killed in droves, the damage not only to the Aran tribe but also to the entire native tribes would be too great to be counted in simple numbers.

Elisha looked at the scene indifferently…

“Oh.”

She found a man standing tall across the window.

She could definitely feel that he was watching the carriage they were riding even though he wasn’t looking their way.

She was kept in prison and in tents, making it difficult for her to check the scenery she had only learned while going back and forth a few times.

Instead, judging from the carriage’s speed and distance traveled, it would take a little longer to reach the exit.

Yes, just a little bit more!

***

Aran’s eyes caught on to the carriage that was moving so fast like a shot arrow. Was it because it seemed like the only thing going on its own path out of all the crazy things running amok? He was curious about the direction it was going.

“There’s someone sitting on the coach seat.”

Most of the carriages were broken or the horses were running so wild that others had to give up on the coach seats, but this one seemed lucky enough to succeed. Anyway, Aran, who didn’t have time to worry about such a trivial thing, turned around from the carriage to check another place, but then he returned to his original position.

“What’s… that?”

It was definitely weird. If the person was trying to detour and stop the carriage to keep the horses from running rampant or to hurt others, shouldn’t they look around a bit? But the warrior sitting on that coach seat was only staring at the exit!

And he kept urging the horses to run. Faster and faster!

In the moment of doubt, Aran did not hesitate.

“Stop it!”

“Pardon?”

“Stop that carriage. See who’s in it!”

At Aran’s cry, not only the warriors around him, but also those who were cleaning up the situation from a distance, all focused on one point.

“Block the exit!”

In response to the shouts that resounded with energy, the warriors who had been waiting moved in unison, thinking that there was no way to climb the slope at such a bright hour. Unless that woman was hiding inside a tent somewhere, she had no choice but to use the exit.

“We’re in trouble.”

Knowing that he had been discovered, Taro, who was anxious, swung the whip at the horses.

Neiiigh!

The horses neighed for a long time and increased their speed, but they were already close to the limit, so there was not much difference.

“Stop it!”

“How dare you, a warrior, disobey the words of the Grand Chieftain!”

The warriors who were blocking the exit from the front threatened, but Taro turned a blind eye.

The Goddess had said that the reason they should use a carriage was that it was most advantageous to break through the last line of defense that might have been there… So this should work somehow, right?

Deudeudeudukk! Deudeudeudukk!

The wheels of the carriage that had been rolling violently as if they were falling off the carriage, soon brought them to reach the point where they would encounter the warriors.

“Get away!”

Suddenly, a woman’s voice was heard. Taro blinked his eyes, not sure if he had heard properly.

Where and how should he get away right now?

The moment he wondered…

Kwaaaaang!!!

With a loud noise, a great shock was given to the carriage that Taro was driving. Taro tightened his hand holding the reins to prevent his body from being completely thrown off the coach seat.

Then he turned his head to confirm the identity of the one that collided with the side of the carriage. It was an empty carriage, and although it was clearly tattered compared to the one they were riding in, a carriage was still a carriage.

The carriage that Taro was driving leaned to the side and eventually fell over and pounded the ground. The horses pulling the carriage suddenly twisted their body direction, and when their legs were bent, they went crazy.

Neeeigh! Neeeigh!!

It was a sad cry as they couldn’t get out of the frame that tied them up. The condition of their side that had hit the ground was much worse.

The horses and the carriage were crushed together, making the shape unrecognizable in the pool of blood.

However, it wasn’t like they were in a position to ask for something better. That carriage had done its job well enough, and they were the prey caught there.

Taro, who had not been flung too far because of the reins he had held in his hand, but had been hit hard on the ground, got up and approached the body of the carriage.

“Dahil! Dahil, are you okay?”

As if bitten by a large beast, the side with the window was hollowed out. With this depth, at least half of the inside of the carriage must have been destroyed.

As Taro removed the debris around the carriage with his face dripping tears, a huge shadow appeared from the side of the bloodied wreckage of the carriage.

As if a small mountain was moving, thick shadows flowed towards Taro.

“How dare a warrior of the desert betray me?”

“G-Grand Chieftain!”

Taro trembled in fear.