52: Chapter 43: The Pursuit 52: Chapter 43: The Pursuit Death plunged from the sky, a massive shadow plummeting at high speed.

It wasn’t until the whistling of air reached the heads of the Kantadar people that they belatedly looked up.

They looked up to see the winged grim reaper.

“Griffin?!”

Luke suddenly tackled Baron Dawson, covering the Sealing Lord with his body just in time to narrowly escape the beast’s deadly claws.

The giant creature roared as it flew over the ranks of the Kantadar people, catching several Knight Attendants in its grasp and tossing them high into the air like rag dolls.

“No—!!!” The attendants screamed in terror as they ran and fell, the crowd scattering like a flock of sheep, utterly losing the ferocity they had when slaughtering villagers.

The beast’s claws tore through the air with the ease of a razor.

“Ah—!!!” Horrific screams echoed from the soldiers as they were flung into the sky, the ones in iron armor bursting into a mist of blood, their limbs torn to pieces like shredded puppets.

Guts and fresh blood rained down beneath the Kantadar people.

Having caught her breath for a moment, Olivia panicked, hastily retreating step by step.

She looked up warily at the giant monster grabbing Kantadar Soldiers and flying into the sky.

The sight, something she had never seen before, baffled her, buzzing in her head.

The griffin spread its massive wings and circled back in the sky, diving again towards the despised human soldiers below.

The golden-haired girl instinctively raised her long sword behind her, chilled by fear, attempting to defend herself against the terrifying assault of the monster.

But from a distance, Leon, in his urgency, limped forward with leaden legs, using his long sword as a cane, and called out, “Olivia, stop fighting!

Run over here!

It’s not our enemy!”

Hearing her companion’s concerned shout, the girl snapped out of her shock.

Seeing Leon desperately waving at her from afar, she shook off her confusion and hurried toward her partner.

And the soldiers who had long lost their will to fight scattered like headless flies in panic, completely unable to stop the girl’s breakthrough.

“Quick, protect the Lord!

You bunch of idiots!”

Luke pulled Dawson up, turned around to pick up the Spear dropped by a fallen attendant, and shouted curses at his men to regroup.

“What’s a griffin doing here?!”

Dawson looked at the giant beast shadow with a mix of shock and gritted teeth.

“Quick, retreat into the house, Baron!” Luke moaned inwardly; without heavy crossbows and those robed fools of Athias, how could this ragtag group of soldiers hope to stand against a mature griffin.

The loud cry of an eagle exploded in mid-air, and the king of skies dived down with a flap of its wings, its massive claws aiming straight for its first target of revenge.

Luke dashed toward the beast lunging at him to attract attention, creating an opportunity for the Lord’s escape.

“Hey, you hairy beast!

Look here!” The knight hollered abuses, buying time for the Lord.

Baron Dawson watched his knight’s loyal actions bitterly, swallowing the harsh fate he faced and sprinted toward the nearest house, acknowledging his unlucky break.

The griffin swooped low, raising its two huge front claws, aiming for the Heavy Armor Knight who was futilely trying to block its path.

Luke swiftly ducked and slid on the ground, avoiding the deadly onslaught.

He skidded to a half-kneel and immediately aimed his spear at the griffin’s belly.

However, the griffin simply slowed its descent with a flap of its wings, rendering the knight’s thrust ineffective.

Its hind claws fell rapidly, snatching at the knight with the same monstrous strength.

Luke tried to block, but the pincer-like claws easily snapped the Long Spear like crushing straw, and the griffin’s hind legs clamped down on the knight’s arms, raising its lower body and flapping its wings.

The Heavy Armor Knight was flung high in front of the griffin.

The floating knight flailed helplessly in the air, with nowhere to leverage, nowhere to hide.

Clang!

The griffin’s massive beak snapped precisely onto its prey, its vicious bite like a hydraulic press crushing the life out of the knight’s body.

The sharp tip penetrated the thick steel armor, as the colossal beast adeptly shook its eagle head side to side.

A teeth-gritting clatter of metal echoed as the horrific swinging tore the knight into a bloody, iron-encased lump of flesh.

Discarding the knight’s mangled corpse as if it were trash, the griffin lifted its wings and soared into the air, circling before diving toward that unforgettable scent once more.

The gathered soldiers, now completely leaderless, crumbled in their fear.

The few surviving attendants, who had lost their knight masters, completely abandoned Dawson, fleeing for their lives in all directions.

Only a handful of Knight Attendants, still directly loyal to the Baron, followed the fleeing Dawson to either side.

Dawson quickly barged through the wooden door in front of him and escaped into a nearby house.

Listening to the hair-raising screams of the attendants, who were unfortunate enough to fall behind, Dawson was infuriated to the point of apoplexy.

Before he could catch his breath, the ceiling above creaked ominously under a heavy burden.

With a thunderous impact, debris and beams crashed down.

Dawson swung his long spear amidst the cloud of dust, batting away the collapsing beams that were falling toward him.

While the griffin’s massive frame lay on the outside wall, its giant beak immediately reached into the hole in the ceiling, snapping at Dawson.

“You damned beast!”

Dawson retaliated furiously, swinging the halberd with all his might, aiming for the oncoming giant eagle beak.

With a clang, the heavy blade, empowered by monstrous strength, forced the griffin’s head to veer aside.

Though the long spear only left a scratch on the incredibly hard beak, the enraged griffin took flight to adjust its angle and launched a fierce pounce, swinging its right claw at its target.

Trapped in the confined space, Dawson had nowhere to hide and had to thrust his spear at the incoming beast’s claw.

Boom!

With a loud crash, Baron Dawson’s body broke through the wall, flying out like a kite severed from its string.

Tumbling on the ground like a bouncing ball, Dawson spewed a mouthful of blood onto the earth.

Just as he came to a halt at the mouth of the alley against the wall, he mustered all his strength, disregarding the pain, to try and stand up.

The gem on his chest continually supplied magic elements into Dawson’s body, healing his internal wounds.

As he looked up, he was fortunate to find himself thrown right in front of a warhorse, tied at the alley’s entrance by some attendant.

The noble steed reared and neighed in fright.

Quickly getting to his feet, Dawson jumped onto the horse’s back, grabbed the reins, and fled for his life…

…On the other side of the village.

The hired cavalry, having ridden in from afar and stopping several streets away, looked at the low-flying colossus in the distance, halting their horses amidst surprise and uncertainty.

“A griffin!?

Where did that griffin come from!?”

“….What’s happening?

What’s the situation?” Amidst the chirping and chattering confusion, the mercenaries looked at each other in panic.

“Boss, what do we do?

Are we still going to rescue the Baron?” one asked, bowing his head next to the mercenary leader in a hushed voice.

The mercenary leader looked at his men with frustration and said, “Rescue my ass!

We don’t have a single heavy crossbow among us, are we supposed to fight that monster?

Do you want to die?”

“Tell the lads to turn around, and get the hell out of here!”

The mercenaries, who lived by the edge of the knife, were not fools with a death wish.

At the mercenary leader’s shout, the sound of the horn signaling retreat was blown once more, passing on the order to withdraw.

The hired cavalry immediately wheeled their horses around in unison, ruthlessly choosing to abandon their employer.

After all, money’s no good if you aren’t alive to spend it…