The Former Holy Knight. Having Lost My Job and Childhood Friend, I Decided to Start a Dark Guild

Surrounded by attackers, they mercilessly fired arrows at me. Reflexively, I dodged the arrows and struck their tips with my sword. As I fought against the countless arrows, Bumpy uttered a groan, clutching his shoulder where blood dripped through his fingers.

“Hey, Bumpy! Use this to hold them off!”

I yelled, tossing a spare dagger from my waist to Bumpy. He caught the sword, his expression utterly pale.

“Defending against arrows with a sword is impossible!”

“You’re a Holy Knight of the renowned Royal Capital’s Holy Knight Order! Give your all, no matter the situation!”

Arrows continued to rain down as we spoke. I increased the speed of my sword strikes to the maximum to cope, but Bumpy was completely unable to deal with them, and an arrow gruesomely pierced his upper arm next. As I thought, “What are you doing?” With my sword, I managed to deflect an arrow aimed directly at Bumpy’s face.

“You’ll die at this rate!”

“Hey, Leon, can you see the arrows flying?”

“If you sense their presence, you can respond!”

I deflected another arrow aimed at Bumpy with the tip of my sword.

Meanwhile, blood continued to drip from Bumpy’s wound, and his complexion worsened rapidly.

What to do? Who are these attackers? Revenge from the Gambino Family? If so, why target Bumpy too? Killing a Holy Knight is a grave sin, and targeting a lower-ranked knight seems pointless.

While moving, I tried to locate the enemy. We were surrounded by the lakeshore at our back, and their faces were hidden, making it impossible to identify them.

Then, the sharp neighing of a horse was heard. My horse, tied to a tree with a rope, was violently shaking its body. I could see an arrow embedded in its belly.

If I don’t do something, one person and one horse will die. Thinking of this place as a protection site, I moved with all my might, Leon Stein.

“Bumpy, how many heretics have you captured so far?”

“…As you know, zero, just like you.”

“Be glad if we get through this, you’ll finally be able to become a mid-ranking knight.”

With a puzzled look, Bumpy heard me say, “So, survive no matter what,” before I quickly left the spot. The main target seems to be me, as planned. The arrows followed me as I dodged them and increased my running speed. Picking up a thick stick that had fallen, I aimed at one of the archers hiding in the bushes and swung down with great speed, adjusting my strength to avoid a fatal blow. As expected, the archer collapsed to the ground.

Once inside the bushes, I could say this place was almost like my backyard. No one knew this lakeside forest area better than Cecil and me. I knocked out the archers one by one, hitting their heads with the stick making them lose consciousness.

However, as I took down the archers, I noticed something strange. The men who collapsed on the ground would disappear after a while, and then men of similar appearance would aim at me from different locations.

As the battle went on, I began to understand the heretical skills of the attackers.

(So, these archers are avatars of the main heretic…)

The main heretic must be somewhere else. Given this ability, they must be quite powerful. Who could be behind this? But There was no time to ponder.

Looking towards the lake, I noticed Bumpy had collapsed on the ground at some point. He was breathing, but the bleeding was severe. If I hesitate, my former colleague might lose his life.

I needed to decide quickly, but they were decoys no matter how many enemies I took down. Where was the main body? As I moved rapidly through the forest, I recalled one of my abilities.

(That’s right. I can see the mist above the heads that indicate heretics.)

While running, I glanced at the attackers surrounding me and shooting arrows. As expected, none of them had the mist floating above their heads.

I concentrated, bringing up the list of skills the heretics of the Michino Family possessed in front of me. Days had passed since we infiltrated the Giant Stone Castle, and Nina’s “Necromancy” was still unavailable. However, there were other skills I could use.

(Kano, lend me your strength.)

I activated Kano’s sub-skill, “Search.” Instantly, it was as if a new map spread out in my mind, clearly showing the positions of everyone around. There were three people present: Banpy lying near the lake, myself, and one person standing still in the forest, making no attempt to move.

Ignoring the decoy attackers around me, I focused on that person. Dropping the stick, I drew my long sword and charged at full speed towards the target.

When the man came into view, I knew my hunch was right. Ancient characters misted above his head. This was the main heretic.

As I swung my sword at the man, he panicked, drawing his sword from his waist to block my strike.

While we clashed swords, the man’s avatars appeared around us, shooting arrows in my direction. However, perhaps due to the main body’s agitation, their numbers were sparse, making them easy to dodge.

I swung my sword down from above with all my might to overwhelm him. The man tried to parry and defend, but my skill surpassed his.

I smashed his sword in two. Immediately, I kicked him in the solar plexus.

“Ugh!!!”

The man grasped his belly and sat down on the ground. I pointed my sword at his throat.

“Tell me who ordered this attack and their purpose.”

Even as I spoke, I was losing grasp of the current situation. Kano’s skill “Search” informed me that someone I knew well was approaching the lakeside.

(Nadale and his five subordinates…)

At the same time, something unthinkable began to happen before my eyes.