Chapter 12: Allium Poisoning

It shouldn't be much further now.

Kana thought to himself; they were likely less than half a day's journey from the Count's territory.

Suddenly, a ringing sound echoed in his ears.

"Stop! Nobody move!"

Kana shouted loudly. Since he had warned them yesterday that a ringing in the ears could mean enemies were scouting, many of them stopped immediately.

But you couldn't expect the refugees to have that kind of discipline.

Nicum reacted the fastest, immediately saying, "Prepare for battle!"

As he spoke, he pulled out the garlic-herb venom he kept in his pocket and smeared it onto the spearhead in his hand.

Kana also spotted the enemies rushing over from the distance.

"A Captain? This is trouble."

Leading the charge was a [Bloodline Captain], converted from a living elite soldier.

His complexion was pale and cyan, his face expressionless. He was still wearing his old armor, though it was now decorated with bits of bone and flesh. In his hand, he gripped a spear adorned with a skull.

Behind him followed two blood thralls in leather armor, several ghouls, and a giant bat.

Seeing this lineup, Kana breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Because there was only a Captain, no other Bloodline soldiers, and only two blood thralls.

According to the game's level classification, a Captain counted as a Level 3 elite monster. The two blood thralls were Level 2 common monsters.

But this was reality; a gap of one level meant a massive disparity in stats.

"Alirise, see that Bloodline soldier? He’s yours."

Among their group, only Alirise could go toe-to-toe with him.

Alirise nodded, gripped her sword, and charged forward.

Seeing the enemy force, many of the refugees panicked and began to scatter.

Kana could clearly feel that the Captain was coming straight for him.

"Pursuers?" Kana couldn't help but wonder.

After all, apart from the Count, not a single member of the Safro royal family had escaped; they had all been converted into Bloodline creatures.

"Your Highness, please come back with us. His Majesty is looking for you," the Captain said directly, clearly recognizing Kana.

"Then go back and tell him I’m going to stay out here and play a little longer," Kana replied bluntly.

"Then there is no other way."

"Take them out, but don't hurt the Prince."

Alirise intercepted him instantly.

One blood thrall and one ghoul charged toward Kana.

Realizing these people were after Kana, the guards and mercenaries prepared to flee, but the ghouls didn't care about that and charged at them as well.

Kana pulled a crossbow from his back and pulled the trigger on the ghoul.

The bolt pierced straight through the ghoul's head.

The venom on the tip instantly made the ghoul feel a long-forgotten pain, causing it to roll wildly on the ground.

"Looks like my aim hasn't slipped."

Kana once again felt the difference of his digitized body; as long as his physical stats reached a certain level, he could perform at the level that body was capable of.

It was an indescribable feeling, but it was immensely beneficial for combat—one could even say he was born for it.

He had taken this crossbow from Nicum; it had belonged to the guard who died earlier. It was a pity there were only a few bolts left, so Kana hadn't spent mana to convert it into equipment.

He tossed the crossbow aside, drew his longsword, raised his shield, and engaged the blood thrall.

The shield in his hand was no longer the wooden board from before, but a wooden shield with several battle scars—far better than the last one.

He backhanded himself with his own blade.

Feeling the pain also brought him strength.

"I hope I don't awaken any strange attributes later."

Muttering this to himself, he raised his shield to block the enemy's attack.

A heavy blow slammed into the shield.

What immense strength.

Even with his own strength receiving an extra bonus, he still felt he couldn't compare.

He swung his sword back in retaliation, but the blood thrall dodged it.

As expected, you couldn't treat these blood thralls like ghouls.

He pulled his sword back, dodged to the side, and slammed the edge of his shield into the side of the enemy's weapon.

He knocked the weapon aside and pulled his head back.

"Ptoo!"

Green juice spat from his mouth.

The liquid instantly stuck to the blood thrall's face.

"Aaaah!"

It was as if he had been doused in sulfuric acid; the creature roared in agony.

The blood thrall instantly lost the ability to fight, clutching his face and doubling over.

Kana spat a few more times to clear his mouth.

"That really is garlicky, ptoo, ptoo, ptoo."

Despite his words, his movements didn't slow down.

He stepped forward, kicked the blood thrall in the abdomen, and knocked him to the ground.

He slashed his sword across the enemy's chest.

The blade was also coated in garlic juice, and the enemy's wails became even more miserable.

The hand that had been clutching his face instinctively moved to cover his chest.

Kana thrust his sword through the enemy's head.

Having taken down a higher-level enemy, Kana turned to look elsewhere.

Nicum’s side was no match for the blood thrall. Two or three men couldn't even hold him back.

"Use the juice! Throw the juice on him!"

Hearing Kana's reminder, one of the soldiers finally reacted, pulling the juice from his waist and splashing it out.

The liquid landed on the blood thrall, instantly causing him to howl in pain.

Taking this opportunity, the men swarmed him, pinned him to the ground, and stabbed his head until it was a honeycomb.

On the other side, Alirise had the upper hand, but it was clear she couldn't finish the enemy off easily.

However, Alirise had clearly heard Kana's words.

While the enemy was dodging her attack, she threw the entire bottle of juice onto him.

"Argh, what is this?!"

The enemy sensed the pain, instantly backed away to a safe distance, and after a few agonizing screams, gritted his teeth and asked.

But Alirise clearly had no intention of answering, pressing her advantage immediately.

The pain distorted the enemy's movements.

He was immediately suppressed, and after a few exchanges, his head was severed.

Before they could even catch their breath, the giant bat in the sky was pierced through the head by an arrow from afar.

The remaining two ghouls were also skewered by arrows flying from the distance.

Everyone turned to look.

Not far away, a cavalry unit was galloping toward them.

They surrounded the group to the sound of thundering hooves.

Kana looked at the flag they held.

It was both familiar and dear.

A flag depicting an arrow piercing a bat.

He had seen it often when the game first launched.

It was the banner of Count Vane-Sha.

"You are very brave, protecting the refugees and taking care of these monsters."

The cavalry captain removed his helmet and praised them.

Then he saw Kana, frowned, and suddenly asked, "Are you the Fourth Prince?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding cavalrymen immediately aimed their weapons at him.

"Wait, he doesn't seem to have been converted yet," the captain said quickly.

Kana slightly raised his hands to show he was no threat and said, "I'm not with those disgusting things. I escaped from the capital."

The captain looked at him, not entirely convinced, but after a moment of thought, said, "Follow me. I'll take you to the Count's territory; all the refugees who escaped are gathered there. Your Highness, the Count will want to see you."

Kana nodded, not resisting.

He gave a look to the wary Alirise, and the two of them followed the cavalry unit as they departed.