Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End
chapter-84

When the black-haired man passed by him, Roel suddenly experienced a familiar sensation of dread similar to when he missed the school bus in his previous life. While he didn’t recognize the black-haired man dressed in old-fashioned noble clothes, it wasn’t hard for him to guess who it was based on the fact that he was holding Nora in his hands.

Most likely, that person was none other than his perverted predecessor, Ponte. Ponte was supposed to be his ray of hope out of this quandary, but it seemed like the bus didn’t have any empty seats left for him anymore.

“Nora!”

Roel shouted out loudly, hoping to catch her attention if she was awake. He didn’t want to be left behind here.

However, as he looked at the two of them flying openly across the sky, he couldn’t help but feel nervous in their stead. No matter how powerful Ponte was, it still didn’t change the fact that they were in the midst of a battlefield right now. Flying right over enemy lines was a sure way to provoke every single enemy archer.

Sure enough, this was best exemplified by some of the soldiers standing near Roel at this very moment.

“Who is that?”

“An enemy! Shoot him down! Shoot him down!”

The soldiers were infuriated at being looked down on by their foe, who was blatantly escaping under their watch. In just a short second, over a hundred arrows whizzed upwards, targeting the fleeing man in the sky.

“This isn’t good. Nora!”

Roel cried out loudly in astonishment. His mind completely went blank in this situation. Having just experienced the incredibly destructive power of arrows in this world, he didn’t dare to imagine what would happen to Nora if any of the arrows landed on target.

However, instead of seeing the two flying individuals exploding in a burst of blood, an unbelievable sight happened instead.

“Hextongue: Distortion.”

Just as the arrows were about to strike down their target, the black-haired man suddenly began reciting something. Just like a veteran taxi driver meeting a traffic cop, the arrows that were aimed at him suddenly did a u-turn and flew backward.

This physics-defying phenomenon left the mouths of Roel and many other soldiers agape.

“That’s the patriarch of the Ascart House, Ponte Ascart! Continue shooting! Don’t stop! Anyone who gets him will be promoted!” bellowed Wade furiously.

Felder immediately drew his sword and slashed it in a crescent arc, releasing a concentrated burst of mana toward Ponte that launched with a terrifying sonic boom. Just in terms of pulsation of mana, it was already far greater than what the Origin Level 4 Peter was capable of. Roel felt that Peter would have surely lost his life if he were faced with such an attack.

Naturally, this tremendous burst of mana immediately caught the attention of the whole battlefield. But to everyone’s surprise, Ponte Ascart stood calmly in the face of Felder’s offense, barely reacting at all.

“Hextongue: Internal Dissolution.”

Felder’s burst of mana was just about to strike Ponte’s body when it suddenly exploded from the inside-out. Just like that, an attack so powerful that it could even tear apart steel dissipated into the surroundings. Not only did it fail to injure Ponte, but the shockwave of the explosion even provided him with greater momentum for his escape.

“Thank you for sending me off, Marquess Felder!”

Those words made Felder so furious that he would hurl vulgarities if not for his dignity as a noble.

With this, Ponte had traversed across half of the battlefield, and he began to descend toward Princess Victoria’s side. At the same time, the knights below quickly rushed forward with large shields to protect him.

“The commander is coming down!”

“Shieldbearers in position!”

“Return fire!”

Ponte’s troops quickly formed a circle around him. At the same time, Princess Victoria gave off the order to fire, causing yet another rain of arrows to rise into the air.

Seeing how Ponte managed to flit across a battlefield with ease, Roel couldn’t help but look forward to his future development as a transcendent too. While he knew that the predecessors of the Ascart House were known for their exceptional ability, he was still surprised by how powerful Ponte was.

When can I become that strong?

Roel looked into the sky longingly. This event had really ignited a fire in his heart. In the past, he had hardly any understanding of what transcendents were capable of, so he was unable to fully visualize the possibilities. However, now that he was witnessing it in person, his motivation to become stronger was greater than ever.

But putting dreams aside, Roel suddenly realized that there was an extremely pressing problem at hand.

Wait a moment. Nora has been saved, and Ponte has already returned to Princess Victoria’s side… What about me?!?!

Roel took another good look at his surroundings, and he realized that the rain of arrows, which had just stopped for Ponte a moment ago, had started once more. It was apparent that Princess Victoria’s forces were oblivious to his existence.

The soldiers beside him lifted their shields up to protect themselves, leaving Roel the only one without cover. He stared at this situation with a dumbstruck expression before cursing furiously.

“Hell no! You bunch of selfish pricks! In the end, I can only count on myself!”

Roel ran toward the side of the street and grabbed the shield of a fallen soldier before leaping into the drain.

Holy Capital Loren often had flash rains, and there were frequent cases of summer floods over the past few centuries. So, when Holy Eminence Ryan came to power, he ordered for reconstructions in the city. After a great deal of work, this problem was finally solved once and for all. Due to this, the drains in Loren were wide and deep. It was a tight fit for an adult, but a child could still maneuver in with ease.

It was no exaggeration to say that Holy Eminence Ryan’s reconstructions saved Roel’s life. As powerful as the barrier formed by Roel’s purple pendant was, it was immobile. In other words, he could only stand still until the battle was over if he wanted to rely on it. By then, he would simply fall into Wade’s clutches once more.

Wade was bound to be furious after having Nora taken away right before his eyes. He would surely do everything he could to investigate Roel, and once he found out that Roel possessed the bloodline of the Ascarts, it would be all over!

Knowing that he had to make a stand right now, Roel summoned every last bit of mana and stamina he had left as he held the shield above him and dashed down the drain. He was so desperate that he was running faster than the world-breaking record for 100 meter sprint in his previous life!

Tok tok tok!

“Ah!”

The exploding arrows sent rock fragments and all sorts of miscellaneous objects pattering against the shield. Screams of those wounded reverberated through the battlefield. The chaos and cacophony above made Roel’s forehead furrow, but he didn’t dare to peek or stop.

It was fortunate that Victoria’s soldiers were decent with their archery, not one of their arrows landed in the drain. Their professionalism greatly increased Roel’s chances of survival. Otherwise, even with a shield above him, there was no way he could cope with those grenade-like explosive arrows.

“Hold the enemy down! Protect our retreating allies!”

“Don’t get tangled up with the enemy!”

The commanders barked out orders from above. After securing Nora, Victoria and her forces weren’t intending to continue the battle with Wade. Those at the back tried to retreat whereas those at the forefront tried to cover them. On the other hand, Wade’s allied armies were biting onto them tightly, determined not to allow them to retreat easily.

“Charge! Don’t let them get away!”

“Don’t back down! We can get them!”

Orders boomed loudly on the battlefield above, leaving Roel tense and anxious. He knew that he had to get to where Victoria and Ponte were before they got away, or else there was no way he would be able to find them in the labyrinth.

With such thoughts in mind, he hastened his footsteps and dashed forward. The blood of the deceased flowed down the streets and into the drain, causing the base to become a little viscous and slippery. However, Roel couldn’t care less about getting a little more dirty now. He bore with the blood stench as he scrambled his way forward.

Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t in Roel’s favor. This entire street was under Ponte’s control, so Wade’s allied armies were destined to be unable to hold them down for long.

Fog had begun settling into the streets once more. Due to poor visibility, both sides had stopped firing arrows out of fear of friendly fire. The war cries gradually grew softer, signalling that the battle was coming to an end soon.

This should have been good news, but it was a nightmare to Roel. He had barely reached the midpoint of both forces, which meant that there was a good chance that he was going to be left behind.

What do I do? Should I head upward and sprint forward?

There was a good chance that Roel could make it if he were to do so, but the issue was that he didn’t have the armor of either factions, which would make him incredibly conspicuous on the battlefield. If the soldiers of both sides were to clamp down on him together, he would be courting his own death.

Roel continued running ahead along the drain as he tried his best to keep his composure. It was at times like this that he couldn’t lose his nerves, or else a reckless action on the battlefield could very well spell his death. But at the same time, he knew that he was at a critical juncture and had to make a decision very soon.

He touched the silver sword he was carrying with him contemplatively. He still had one use of The Unruly. The fog had yet to fully settle in yet, which meant that he could still barely make a full distance teleport right now. If he used it well, it would definitely increase his chances of catching up with Victoria’s retreating forces. However, he also understood that just a leap of 50 meters wouldn’t be enough for him to get out of the ‘battle zone’, which meant that he was still exposing himself to great risk.

To leap or not to leap, that is the question…

Immense stress had caused Roel’s breathing to grow harsher as he felt a little suffocated. He took a peek out of the drain before finally gritting his teeth in resolution.

Damn it! The fog will have completely settled in if I continue hesitating! I should just make a gamble! At the worst, I’ll just activate my purple pendant and hole myself up in the middle of the battlefield like a statue!

Having made up his mind, Roel pulled out his silver sword and prepared to leap out of the drain. However, before he could make a move, he heard a series of cheers coming from above.

“It’s His Highness! His Highness is here!”

“Long live His Highness Wade!”

From the exclamation of a single soldier, it took only 10 seconds for it to turn into deafening roars of excitement that shook the earth. Without having to glance over, Roel could already figure out what was going on.

Prince Wade had personally stepped onto the battlefield.

Following that, a deafening explosion trembled the ground violently. Roel nearly slipped on the slippery blood beneath his feet. Astonished, he quickly peeked out of the drain once more, only to see crimson lightning crackling in the sky, tearing through the fog of the labyrinth.

Felder also quickly made use of this situation to raise his sword up high and roar furiously. In an instant, the morale of the Wade’s allied armies grew to a new high, and they charged forth with greater tenacity than before to stop the retreat of their enemies.

Roel was a little shocked by how the circumstances of the battlefield changed so quickly. Looking at Wade, who was still channeling his spell at the frontline of the battlefield, he suddenly felt that the other party didn’t look so hateful anymore.

I didn’t think you, of all people, would actually sacrifice yourself to buy time for me. You must be my guardian angel!

Feeling touched, Roel quickly tucked away his silver sword and continued charging down the drain.