Warlock Apprentice

Just now, Angor felt magical energy coming from the coastal area not far from the camp.

It probably meant the apprentice had summoned his monster.

“Is-is it coming, sir?” Tavier was a little scared when she saw Angor suddenly standing up.

“Very likely.” Angor walked outside and saw General Aaron with a hostile look. He was blocking his way using a broadsword.

“Lower your weapon, Aaron! Do not offend our honorable guest!” Tavier quickly came out and ordered.

Honorable guest? Aaron looked at Angor and failed to recognize him. Why does the princess respect this man so?

Before Aaron could do or say anything, Angor summoned a gray bird dressed in an animal costume.

“Watch these people and don’t let anyone die. I’ll go and check the outside.”

Toby nodded and flew to a tree nearby.

“You remain here. He’ll protect you,” said Angor. He then jumped into the air, and as Tavier and Aaron watched in surprise, he disappeared into the dark sky using a pair of glowing boots.

“Your Highness, that’s—” Aaron’s mouth dropped agape.

“To fight a wizard, we need someone equally powerful. Glad I found one.”

Aaron felt reassured that they had such a strong helper. But he soon began worrying again when he thought that only a tiny bird was guarding the camp now.

Tavier also looked at the tree where Toby was standing. She wasn’t so sure about it either.

Someone suddenly screamed at the entrance of the camp.

They looked that way and saw a giant shadow descending from the sky, causing the land to tremble as it landed on the ground.

Both Aaron and Tavier immediately drew their weapons and prepared for a fight.

“Graaaw!”

Those who heard the monster’s howl quickly found their remaining will to resist extinguished.

Claws and teeth weren’t the monster’s only weapons—it knew how to use its threatening bellow to render the soldiers of Goldspink defenseless.

Both Aaron and Tavier managed to resist the fear in their minds somewhat. While Aaron had his revengeful obsession to help, Tavier couldn’t afford to show her weakness when all the soldiers were looking.

After mustering enough courage, they readied their swords and faced the approaching Heart Gorger with great determination.

The creature looked between Tavier and Aaron using its single eye. It then reached a claw to pierce Tavier’s chest.

Tavier dodged the attack with a quick combat roll and used her sword to slash at the monster’s thigh.

Clang!

The blade snapped into two, leaving not a scratch on the monster.

Taking the chance, Aaron leaped from a pole nearby and stabbed his weapon at the monster’s eye, hoping to get where it was vulnerable.

Yet it seemed the monster’s eyelid was as sturdy as the other parts of its body. After preventing Aaron’s attack by simply closing its eye, the Heart Gorger swiped him away like slapping a mosquito.

After tumbling in the air for some distance, Aaron crashed into a tree as he coughed up blood. The impact was so strong that the tree trunk was broken from the middle, forcing a small bird to fly away.

Aaron looked up from the ground and saw Toby casually hovering in the air while sipping some yellow juice from a small glass.

“It just stood there and watched?!” Aaron felt the last bit of his hope gone.

Away from them, Tavier avoided several more claw attacks and was visibly getting exhausted. She didn’t show it, but having a baby had weakened her strength greatly.

Aaron quickly climbed back up and tried to distract the monster.

There were several soldiers in the area who were observing the fight from afar. And when they saw the towering creature going after Tavier again when she couldn’t move, they either covered their eyes or looked away.

Tavier saw her past life flashing in her view and was ready to welcome her end.

She suddenly felt an unknown force seizing control of her body and tossing her away.

“Aw… God… this seriously hurts!” She landed right beside Aaron’s feet and moaned in pain.

She then realized that the camp had gone strangely quiet. Neither the monster nor the onlooking soldiers were making any sound.

She pushed herself up and widened her eyes when she saw the Heart Gorger missing a chunk of flesh around where its heart was supposed to be, while the monster was currently gazing at its wound in surprise.

It fell down, which was followed by a loud crash.

Everything happened so fast without giving anyone time to celebrate or express their astonishment. Just a second ago, they thought their princess would leave them. And now, nobody could believe what they just saw.

It was Aaron who moved first by pointing at the sky with a trembling finger.

Tavier looked up, only to see a bloody heart dropping from the sky. Above it, the strange bird in a funny-looking suit was still enjoying its remaining drink with an innocent look.

Toby didn’t have a single drop of blood on his body, and none of the mortals present saw what it did. However, everyone knew that Toby was the one who killed the Heart Gorger. This was the only explanation they could think of.

“This is the unimaginable power of a wizard…” Tavier muttered to herself. “Such an insignificant yet deadly companion.”

Several seconds later, the entire camp boomed with the voices of celebrating soldiers, who all rushed out from their hiding places to express their suppressed emotions.

Tavier saw her men returning to life and pointed her sword to the sky as she declared, “The beast is no more. Heylan has lost its spearhead. It’s time for us to even the score!”

She then lowered her sword and pointed at where the Heylan troops were gathering.

“Death to Heylan!”

Everyone raised their fists to answer her call.

Aaron, on the other hand, walked to the Heart Gorger and stabbed his sword at its open eye.

“Thank you, little friend,” he said as he glanced at Toby.

…

A while later, Angor returned to the camp and saw all the soldiers acting cheerfully for some reason.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out why.

He didn’t come back alone. In one of his hands, he was dragging a small child with dirty clothes by the collar. He used so much force that the child kept yelling painfully because it was getting hard to breathe.

Upon arriving at the military tent, Angor dropped the kid onto the ground, who instantly jumped up and began running away.

Angor summoned a Hand of Spell, which quickly caught up with the running kid and knocked him out.

“What is—” Tavier saw everything and quickly joined Angor.

Instead of answering her, Angor looked around the tent and saw both Aaron and Toby inside. Aaron and Tavier had blood stains on their bodies, but they seemed fine.

Aaron moved to them and gave Angor a knightly salute. “Thank you for your timely help, good sir! From today, I, Aaron Morn, will be at your disposal at all times. Please feel free to ask if you need anything done!”

“It’s an agreement between me and Miss Tavier, simple as that.” Angor didn’t seem interested.

Aaron wanted to say something, but Tavier stopped him. “Leave us, General Aaron. Set up plans and tactics with your men immediately so that we can hit Heylan fast and hard when they’re not expecting it. We MUST win the next fight!”