The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 82

Bang!

Twenty pistols fired in unison.

However, the speed of the charging Karam pack didn’t slow down at all.

Rather, as if accustomed to gunfire, they lowered their bodies to avoid the bullets and ran like spiders with four arms and two legs.

The Karam’s backs were covered in pure white fur. So their appearance looked like snow becoming waves and pouring forth.

“Kaha! Kahaho!”

War cries pierced through the wind and reached them first.

At that intimidating sight, the young knight Colin drew in his breath.

He had been knighted for his achievements in the Western Army. And this was his first time coming north this year, following Cedric.

He had experienced monster subjugation battles to his fill. However, this was his first time facing Karam.

He had learned enough about how Karam differed from other monsters. But he turned pale at the aura the Karam emanated.

In regions other than Evron, Karam was the name of a vicious demonic monster species. It was the same in the west.

Colin had vaguely imagined something like a small ogre pack. Of course, they would be weaker than ogres that could single-handedly annihilate a hundred-man unit.

However, the Karam he faced directly were fundamentally different.

They couldn’t be mistaken for humans. Karam had four arms, three eyes, and easily exceeded 2 meters in height.

Their dense muscles were tough enough to be called monsters. Their agility and physical mobility were also overwhelmingly superior to humans.

In other words, they resembled humans enough that one had to look for differences when comparing them.

No one in this world would say ogres or trolls don’t resemble humans when compared. Ogres are just ogres, and trolls are just trolls.

However, there are many who speak of how Karam differ from humans. Even the temple did so.

Karam walked on two feet and used their hands. They had fur only on their backs and heads. They knew how to make tools and use weapons. They developed mines and farmed. They wove and wore clothes.

Due to their different vocal cord structure, they made sounds humans couldn’t imitate, and couldn’t mimic human speech. However, they had language among themselves.

They lived divided into several tribes, and there were political tensions between tribes.

Their hand usage wasn’t as sophisticated as humans, and their tactics were at a simple level. However, they were clearly different from beings that could be called monsters.

The northern people didn’t think of Karam as simple monsters. Trade was conducted, albeit at a bartering level. Mixed blood even occurred between them and humans.

However, mainland people couldn’t even imagine this sight. Colin knew about it from hearing, but this was his first time seeing it directly.

The sight of beings that resembled humans but were clearly different, crawling and running with four hands and two feet, gave instinctive revulsion and fear.

Another knight lightly patted the frightened Colin’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. Have you faced dire wolves before?”

“Yes.”

“They’re weaker than those.”

Those words didn’t wash away his fear.

“Kaha!”

The lead Karam roared and suddenly stood up. Its leaping distance was easily several meters.

Cedric was the first to spur his horse forward and swing his sword.

Thud!

The neck of the one that leaped in was cut with a single stroke.

“Alphonse, Ned, Colin, to the carriage!”

Cedric shouted. The three knights who received orders surrounded the carriage in a triangle.

The remaining seventeen dismounted and formed the first line of defense.

If they had spears, they wouldn’t have done so.

However, now the equipment they had was hunting rifles with no time to reload and swords at their waists. Having higher ground than the Karam wouldn’t be advantageous.

While mounted, they couldn’t reach the crouching Karam. They couldn’t break through the Karam formation and trample past them. Mobility was also useless. Because the Grand Duchess’s carriage was behind them.

Moreover, if they lost their horses, they would freeze to death in these snowy plains. This was different from war with supply units in the rear.

“Kark, Kaheim!”

The second Karam that charged suddenly stood up. And swung four axes at once.

Cedric pulled the reins. The excellent warhorse avoided the Karam’s axes by mixing backward and sideways steps.

Cedric deflected one axe and thrust his sword forward, piercing another with his blade. The axe made with Karam’s crude metallurgy cracked and stuck to his sword tip.

He struck the surprised Karam’s face with the axe stuck on his sword. The Karam staggered and swung the other two axes in its hands.

Cedric drew his pistol with his left hand and struck it with the barrel. Then he slashed his sword downward.

Thud!

The Karam’s head split and steam rose.

It all happened in an instant.

Thump!

The headless Karam collapsed to the ground. Hot blood melted the snow.

Cedric deliberately slowly raised his blood-soaked sword for all to see.

Karam always had their leader attack first. Due to their racial trait where the strongest becomes leader, this was an act of displaying authority and power not only to enemies but also to allies.

Matching this, Cedric also displayed that he was the leader by killing the first two.

He deliberately did this on horseback to draw the Karam’s gaze upward, preventing their attention from focusing on the carriage behind.

“Kark!”

The Karam shouted.

Cedric dismounted.

The next moment, both sides became entangled.

Artizea sat inside the carriage with her trembling hands clasped together.

She didn’t know war.

Cedric had shown her the aftermath before. However, this was her first time being in the middle of it.

“Argh!”

With a scream, a knight crashed into the carriage. The carriage shook violently once.

Following that, an axe blade embedded in the carriage’s side wall with a thud.

Artizea tried her best to stay in the middle of the carriage. Holding her breath to avoid screaming was her limit.

The axe blade soon pulled out from the carriage wall.

“Kahak!”

This time, a death cry that seemed to tear the wind rang out.

Alphonse knocked on the window and asked.

“Are you injured anywhere, Your Highness?”

“I’m fine.”

Artizea answered quietly while holding her breath.

“Is it a dangerous situation?”

“…It’s fine.”

There was a slight time gap in Alphonse’s answer. Artizea realized it was quite a dangerous situation.

But for her, not interfering with the knights was the best she could do.

“Don’t worry.”

Alphonse said so.

However, there was a difference in numbers from the start.

The Evron knights weren’t properly equipped for war. In contrast, Karam fought with crude equipment relying on physical strength.

If they had just two spears, the situation wouldn’t have reached this point. The Karam also outnumbered them nearly two to one.

Even this was a good fight.

That’s when it happened.

Boooooo!

The sound of a thick horn rang out.

A knight shouted.

“Reinforcements!”

The Karam also understood the meaning of that sound.

“Kark!”

“Don’t retreat! If we let them go here, the nearby villages will be in danger!”

The remaining knights raised their swords high and blocked all directions.

Thud thud thud thud!

The hoofbeats of the knight order shook the earth.

The frightened Karam scattered in all directions as if trying to flee. The knights blocked their path.

The reinforcements numbered only about 30 men at most. However, they were heavily armed.

That was enough to crush the Karam tribe.

Long spears pierced through the abdomen of an approaching Karam and kicked with horse hooves. The knights struck down from behind with spears at Karam who lay flat to avoid weapons.

The tide of battle was reversed in an instant.

Then four Karam who had been fighting the knights until now rushed toward the carriage.

The Karam had already figured out that the knights were protecting the carriage.

If there was something important there, they thought they should take it hostage to break through the situation.

“Kuh, aaaah!”

Instead of his lost weapon, a Karam extended his claws and grabbed Colin. A scream echoed through the air.

“Your Highness!”

Just as Cedric turned in that direction, a spear flew precisely into his hands along with the calling voice.

“Thank you, Lisia!”

Cedric threw down his sword and gripped the spear with both hands.

The body of the last Karam was pinned to the ground. The situation ended with that.

After that, Artizea was brought down from the carriage. She could barely judge how the battle had unfolded.

“Lisia?”

“We need to hurry.”

Saying there was no time for detailed explanations, Lisia put Artizea on her horse.

There was an injured person with a leg wound, but instead of putting him in the carriage, he was placed on another knight’s horse. The corpse of the deceased was also hastily loaded onto someone’s horse.

No one said anything. The 50 horses ran frantically toward the village that had been their original destination.

Artizea desperately clung to Lisia’s waist. Though she wore a cloak pulled over her head, it was difficult to endure the cold.

Colin, who was injured, continuously let out sounds of pain without rest.

The messenger who had ridden ahead was waiting with the village gate open.

As soon as Cedric arrived, he personally carried Colin in his arms and entered a room.

Two knights tied Colin’s body tightly to the bed with rope. Then they removed the blood-soaked cloth and leather pieces attached to his arm.

“How is his condition?”

“It’s already rotting up to above the elbow.”

“I’ll do it myself.”

One knight heated a blade in the fire and poured alcohol on it for disinfection.

Cedric held Colin’s face.

“Can you hear me, Sir Colin? Sir Colin!”

“Uh, uuu…”

“You have claw poison in your arm. If we leave the Karam claw poison alone, it will continue to rot and cause muscle necrosis. We need to cut out the infected area.”

Colin nodded his head while trembling.

“Don’t worry. We’ll only cut out the infected part. It will take time to heal, but there won’t be anything wrong with your arm. Do you understand?”

Immediately the knights put a gag in Colin’s mouth. This was to prevent him from biting his tongue from the pain of cutting.

Alcohol was also poured on the wound area. When the blood was washed away, the arm torn to shreds by claw scratches and necrotic skin was revealed.

Cedric picked up the blade.

Saying there would be nothing wrong with his arm was a lie. If they cut out this much muscle, even if it was different from cutting off the arm, there would definitely be problems.

His life as a knight was over anyway.

“Uh, uuuuup!”

Colin screamed while gagged.

The cutting was finished quickly. Following that, a waiting knight sprinkled hemostatic agent on the wound area and applied cloth.

Beyond that, they could only leave it to God.

While the bandages were being wrapped, Cedric threw down the blade and embraced Colin’s head. Then he kissed his forehead and said.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. This is a common surgery here, so nothing will happen.”

While holding him down and suppressing his struggling, Colin became quiet. He had lost consciousness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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