I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 86: Sea of Bodies

Chapter 86: Sea of Bodies

Fear always struck Irene first, but she was becoming stronger and the thrill of battle soon took over. Not only that, but the need to help her father now that she was more equipped to do so came rushing forth.

He was a hero to many, but she decided that she would be a hero to him.

"Apprentices, if you aren’t too tired from travel, follow along," Sir Gunnar announced to his travel party. "We need only sharp minds out today."

There wasn’t an apprentice who left and they all stared at him, equally determined to face whatever lay ahead.

He felt bad knowing they seemed worse for wear after traveling all day, but such was the life of a knight. It was a life they had dedicated themselves to and the tests placed before them would be continual. Even after decades of being a knight, Sir Gunnar was still learning new lessons each day.

The man took a more significant glance at Iro who was looking far more determined than before and he offered a brief nod before turning and squeezing his knees so his horse would move forward.

There were already some knights and apprentices ahead and a few more just leaving and following behind. Needing all hands was never a good sign so Sir Gunnar begged the man in the sky that most in their society worshipped for a bit of a break. They were already having a rough year in terms of monsters.

Even after traveling all summer and into autumn, they would still likely have to climb the mountain to make sure there weren’t any monsters lurking. It felt evil to put Iro through that again, but that was an aspect of knighthood that most didn’t talk about.

Fear was nothing because you would have to face whatever you feared over and over again against your will until it became normal. There was no other choice but to press on.

For a long time, there was only the sound of hoofbeats as they went north towards the top point of the triangular-shaped plains that the Duke’s Tower sat inside of. The grasses were still green and soft and the ground was spongy and wet because of the usual early autumn rain. On either side of the valley, mountains stood to the northwest while dense forests occupied the northeast.

The sights closed in on them and they were swallowed by trees as they kept moving at the same speed into the forests. By that point, the apprentices were adept enough to keep up with knights. Not only had they proven themselves, but their horses had as well.

They all kept the same posture: leaning low and narrowing their eyes as they focused on the rough trail ahead and tried to stay out of the wind.

The noise of hoofbeats that felt louder as they echoed off of the dense forest was no longer the only noise in the air. Sounds of battle were ahead and making the situation feel urgent. The shadows cast long because of the low sun didn’t help the overall feeling of what lay ahead either.

Metal clashing against metal and the occasional yell of frustration alarmed them first. However, the sheer amount of goblin clicks and shrieks solidified the urgency of the situation.

They were suddenly forced to stop as Sir Gunnar cried out and his horse reared up on its hind legs. Goblins were already headed towards them. There were only a few but they were mere drops in the sea that was ahead of them.

It felt like a cracking point to what had been building up the past couple of years. The unusual monster sightings and strange poison they kept witnessing came to a terrifying head.

"Get off of your horses and get them out of here!" Gunnar shouted. "We don’t have weapons for horseback combat. We’ll need your swords."

Even though Sven and Irene both had arrows prepared, since there weren’t ogres or flying monsters, there was no point in remaining on the sidelines. The sheer amount of goblins needed to be handled with brute force.

Irene looked far ahead as she got off of her horse and slapped him so he would run in the opposite direction. Her green eyes scanned ahead but she didn’t see her father anywhere. There were no flashes of red hair, but she hoped he was wearing a helmet and she had merely missed him.

She unstrapped her handle and unsheathed her sword. Luckily, they were all wearing armor so, while the knights were the first to rush in, the apprentices slowly approached from the back, taking on the monsters where they could.

Since the knights were the first line of defense, that meant that the apprentices were the last line. The idea was that the knights would use large swords with a wide range and hopefully at least hit the goblins before they were passed off to the apprentices who would deliver the final blows.

Irene was behind Sir Gunnar and he seemed to be swallowed by the putrid sea of sickly green bodies. However, it didn’t instill fear in her, only urgency and the desire to strike down the monsters so she could see where her father was.

The girl let out a yell as she began to slice down the goblins as they came.

After all of the monster research she had participated in through the months she had been an apprentice, she noticed that the goblins were small and likely in their first year of life. It also meant that they were easier to slice down because they couldn’t overpower her quite yet. However, the only unfortunate thing was that they tended to be faster the younger they were.

Most of the time, Irene held out one of her leather armored wrists to simply bat away what she could from one side. The places on her body not covered with armor were slashed and bruised, but her racing heart was enough to keep her mind sharp. The pain seemed insignificant compared to what lay in front of her.

With her dominant arm, she slashed down what she could of the disgusting creatures. The thought of their blood in her face or hair didn’t even exist with consideration. She was a sword machine that only pressed forward with the sole purpose of killing everything in her path.

She had to remember not to lose her weapon as she stabbed the arming sword through the bony chests of the monsters. Even if they weren’t completely dead, subduing them would be enough. They would all have a hell of a time in the future having to burn such a sheer amount of bodies. Even if they were still alive, they would throw them into the fire.

However, they were only at the beginning of the most intense battle that Irene had faced so far.

Thinking she was getting the hang of things and not allowing herself to be caught from behind as she walked sideways rather than straight forward, a gasp escaped her lips when she heard a yell from an unknown source ahead.

"Archers!" a knight shouted. "Two ogres!"

Her eyes went west and she saw rocks that would give her a better vantage point. A moment of distraction caused her to topple over and she was submerged in the sea of goblins.