The Extra Wants To Live

Chapter 71: Devastation [2]

At that moment, the knight who had been crawling after being hit by the helmet recovered, received a spear, and rejoined the fight. It seemed they could win if they kept going like this, or at least buy more time.

"..."

Then, the gnoll suddenly stopped.

Standing tall with a huff, it rolled its bright yellow eyes and looked around at the five humans surrounding it.

Then, it quickly lifted its eyes and looked beyond them at the defenseless backs of the soldiers engaged in a fierce battle with numerous gnolls.

"Attack! Gnoll is going to attack the soldiers!"

Carl read the gnoll's intentions and quickly gave the order.

Bordeaux and the three knights rushed at the gnoll at the same time, stabbing and swinging their spears. If the soldiers collapsed, they would all eventually die. No matter what happened, they had to stop him from attacking the soldiers' backs.

The knights looked as if they were going to thrust their spears at him, but they narrowly avoided the gnoll's swinging arm, withdrew their spears, and attacked from the other side. Only when he showed his back did they stab and cut him.

"Omph! Omph! Omph!"

Everyone was out of breath because they fought with all their might in such a short moment.

On the other hand, the gnoll was very angry, but it was not tired at all, even though the blood it spilled was all over the floor!

At some point, Carl realized that the gnoll was completely ignoring him.

He realized that there was no need to worry about the small and dwarf Carl, who just stayed in place without attacking even once.

It was now.

"Seup... . Phew... ."

Carl calmed his rough breathing and took a deep breath. The moment the gnoll turned to attack another knight, Carl struck at once.

"No!"

I don't know who shouted that.

But Carl, who was concentrating, could no longer hear the sound. His heart was beating like crazy, and sweat poured out from his whole body.

Meanwhile, Carl's heart was as calm as a lake. The sword that was aimed at the middle finger was raised quickly. His wrist bent back, and his shoulder was pulled back hard.

The arm went over the point where it structurally could not go any further, and then, at the moment it caught, Carl accurately delivered the force.

Whoosh... .

A clean, downward cut as beautiful as a painting. The sword strike, in which he lowered his stance and put his weight on it, cut off the gnoll's protruding ankle.

Wow!

A gnoll's scream was heard, and unlike before, it frantically waved its arms in pain.

However, because the tendon at the back of its ankle was torn, it limped and flinched when it put weight on it.

Wooow!

"Huh! Huh!"

Carl barely escaped the gnoll's hand and threw himself back.

The moment his hand brushed near the helmet, he thought his neck would break and his head would be pulled out.

The tassel of the helmet touched the gnoll's hand and was ripped off. If he hadn't moved, he might have died.

"Oh my God!"

The knights shouted in shock. Carl must have truly gone crazy. How could such a small body attack so bravely?

Surprisingly, it was Carl who gave the big gnoll the first effective hit!

Carl frantically got up and aimed the knife, but his ankle was throbbing, and he couldn't stand up straight.

It would be even more strange to hope that the inexperienced Carl would be okay after doing such a risky thing in a forest with bad terrain. He stepped on a tree root covered in fallen leaves and broke his right ankle.

"Ugh! Huh!"

He tried his best to stand upright, but the shock he received for a moment gave him no strength at all in his legs.

It was not something he could do with will alone. In the end, Carl's body collapsed helplessly on the right side.

Haha!

At that sight, the eyes of the gnoll who had been suffering until now turned red.

Carl, who was thought to be the weakest, delivered the most fatal blow, and Carl collapsed. For a brief moment, Carl did his best to throw himself to the right with his good left leg.

He put his hands on the floor and frantically tried to crawl away. But the gnoll, with its rolled eyes, was too fast.

Puck!

"Aaaah!"

At that time, Corbin screamed and thrust his spear into the gnoll with all his might.

He spread out his long body with all his might like a spring, and the spear dug into the gnoll's left side.

The gnoll tried to throw itself to the left to follow the fleeing Carl, but was blocked by Corbin's spear and ended up flinching.

Seeing Carl take the lead in fighting despite being a prince and giving credit to lowly commoners, a huge fire burned brightly in Corbin's heart.

Although he was abandoned after being used as a commoner for all kinds of dirty work, Corbin found hope in Carl, the most noble being in the empire.

To save Carl, and for himself, Corbin courageously attacked the gnoll.

Corbin believed that since he had dealt a huge blow to the gnoll, Bordeaux and the knights would attack the gnoll from the other side to draw attention and protect him.

Then, they would be able to catch the seriously injured gnoll and kill it.

"Master Carl!"

However, only Carl and Corbin recognized the golden opportunity they had created by throwing their bodies into the fight.

Of course, Carl thought that the other knights would attack the gnoll and deliver the final blow.

However, betraying that trust, the knights retreated to save Carl.

They must protect the prince and commander Carl. Just having one commoner die for that is nothing.

"... Haha... ."

Before Carl could say anything, Corbin made eye contact with the astonished Carl through the slit in the visor and burst out laughing.

Kwasik!

Corbin's elongated body soared into the sky.

Corbin's body, which was hit by the gnoll's hand that struck diagonally as if scooping up from below, spun and fell like a kite with a broken string.

Dump!

"Prince Carl! Go away!"

"... ."

Even with Bordeaux's hand pulling him out, Carl could not take his eyes off Corbin, who was on the floor and looking at him with wide eyes.

Corbin's eyes, which were red because the blood vessels in his eyes had burst due to the tremendous impact, trembled, and his pupils narrowed, then flaccid and dilated.

Carl didn't know what his slowly moving lips were trying to say.

"... Damn you!"

Carl roughly shook off Bordeaux's hand that was holding him.

Then he struck the backs of the knights who stood guarding him with their swords and shouted in anger.

"What have you done! Do you know what you did?"

Carl couldn't even tell himself why he was so angry. It was clearly not just anger over Corbin's death itself.

Nor was it all about wasting a valuable opportunity.

Carl couldn't understand his own feelings, but even so, he knew what to do now.

"We must protect our soldiers! Hurry and stop him!"

Carl cried. But the opportunity had already been missed.

The gnoll growled as it saw Carl being protected by the knights, then it staggered and turned around, running towards the back of the struggling soldiers.

Kwasik!

"Ugh!"

"Help me! Help me!"

The gnoll, whose ankle tendon was torn, was unable to move as quickly and powerfully as before.

However, it used its enormous height and weight to crush the soldiers' defenseless backs, sweep them with its arms, crush them with its hands, and tear them apart with its claws.

Bordeaux and the knights belatedly rushed to the gnoll, but the ranks had already disintegrated.

As the gnoll wreaked havoc among the soldiers, Carl, overwhelmed by a mixture of anger, frustration, and guilt, struggled to comprehend the chaos unfolding before him.

All his efforts, all his commands seemed to have led to this moment of devastation. And in the midst of it all, Corbin's sacrifice weighed heavily on his heart.