Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

59. End Of War 1

“Kishaaaaaaah!”

“Ugh…!”

There was no strength left even to curse.

The attack from the knight spider that had rushed from behind was dodged by rolling to the side in a split second. With the momentum, it was cut down. The knight spider’s body was torn apart, scattering bodily fluids into the air.

Nord, rolling on the ground, leaped back from the spot as if repelled the next moment. Immediately after, the figure of another knight spider attacking the space where he had just been came into view.

In the moment of leaping, he thrust the emerald steel blade into the head of a slightly larger knight spider he had pinpointed as his landing spot. The combined force of his weight and the thrust killed the spider in one blow. Pulling the sword from the corpse, he recognized another newcomer attacking from behind. This time, instead of the blade, he smashed its head with the hilt of the sword.

“Haa… haa…”

Nord couldn’t remember how long ago he had started breathing heavily. He had been moving for so long.

(Have I… reduced their numbers… significantly…?)

In a moment, Nord had slain three enemies, all while keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings, observing the enemy’s movements.

Around him, the corpses of spiders were scattered. Their numbers were far from just ten or twenty. The bodily fluids flowing from the spiders’ lifeless bodies covered the forest’s plants, slick with morning dew. Including the number he had slain while running through the forest, he must have already killed a considerable number of spiders.

But,

“Gishaa! Gishaa!!”

“”””Shaaaaaaaaaah!”””””

“…Ugh… again…!”

A voice that sounded like a scream escaped from Nord’s mouth as he breathed heavily, his shoulders heaving.

Without a moment to catch his breath, the spiders’ offensive began again.

Biting, leaping, encircling, they tried to hunt down Nord, their prey, using the power of the group.

Nord broke through their encirclement, sometimes cutting through with his sword, sometimes knocking them away with his shield, sometimes using his legs to disrupt them.

After a while, the scene around him showed a few more spider corpses and Nord, breathing even more roughly than before.

(It’s definitely that one)

While somehow managing to get air into his lungs, Nord glared at a large spider.

In the direction of Nord’s gaze was a spider that was clearly different from the ones surrounding him.

Marshal Spider—temporarily named so, this dark brown-bodied spider had appeared, and the movements of the knight spiders had clearly changed since then.

Multiple knight spiders coordinated their attacks on Nord without pause. Though he managed to repel them, there was no time to rest before the next assault.

The relentless cycle of attacks was slowly wearing down Nord’s stamina.

(I have to… do something about that one)

Nord understood the Marshal Spider’s intention—this was a hunt.

When adventurers or hunters hunt monsters, they rarely fight head-on. Fighting a monster in perfect condition, even if it’s weaker, can still result in injuries.

Except for a few enthusiasts, most adventurers prefer to fight monsters under the most favorable conditions, using various strategies.

Some use poison, some set traps, some even attack while the monsters sleep and burn their nests.

Naturally, Nord, having been an adventurer, had experience with this.

When fighting a tough enemy, it’s best to weaken them first.

And now, Nord was on the receiving end of this hunt, being preyed upon by the Marshal Spider.

The Marshal Spider’s intention was clear.

Recognizing Nord, who had already slain many knight spiders, as a formidable foe, it aimed to first wear down his stamina, rendering him unable to move properly.

Using its knight spiders like hounds to chase Nord, inflict injuries, and finally deliver the finishing blow.

It was a foolproof tactic often used by large adventurer clans.

(If only… I could take down the Marshal Spider…!)

Regardless of the trouble with numbers, one-on-one, the knight spiders were no longer a threat to Nord. But when they attacked as an organized group, the saying “many against few” would inevitably lead to his defeat.

To prevent that, he needed to eliminate the Marshal Spider, the one commanding the group.

However, cleverly, the Marshal Spider never came close to Nord.

Two or three times, Nord tried to break through the knight spiders to take down the Marshal Spider. But each attempt ended in failure.

If Nord approached, the Marshal Spider kept its distance. If Nord tried to escape, it maintained that distance, never engaging in combat itself, always staying at a safe distance while directing the spiders.

“…Ugh!?”

Suddenly, Nord slipped. Wondering what had happened, he looked down to see a slippery, blue spider’s bodily fluid creating a muddy patch.

He reflexively tried to regain his footing, but his feet slid, and he couldn’t steady himself, losing his balance.

He fell to the ground ungracefully, unable to break his fall.

“Damn…!?”

“Gishaaaaaah!!”

“”””Kishaaaaaaah!”””””

The Marshal Spider wasn’t about to let Nord’s slip go unnoticed.

As the Marshal Spider’s roar echoed through the dense Alba forest, the knight spiders responded with their own cries, all charging at the fallen Nord.

§

“U… uoooooooh!!”

Death. Nord clearly recognized that single word.

Despite his freezing consciousness, his body moved instinctively, likely due to his experience as an adventurer and the training he received as a dragon knight apprentice.

With a roar that came from the depths of his stomach, heat surged through his body, and he swung his sword.

One knight spider was killed, but another immediately rushed from behind, its unstoppable charge knocking Nord down.

“Get off… me!”

“Shaaaaah… Gishaa!?”

“””Shaaaaah!”””

He punched the knight spider’s face with his shield while using his leg to push its body up, creating a gap to crawl out. The next moment, that spider was crushed by others, dying.

The spider swarm, with their many compound eyes, immediately reoriented themselves to Nord’s position and bared their fangs at him once more.

He slashed, stabbed, pierced, and smashed them.

He was bitten, charged at, and slashed by their limbs.

It was the longest battle he had ever fought.

No matter how many he killed, more spiders followed.

No matter how many he killed, the enemy’s offensive never ceased for even a moment.

“Graaah!”

Caught in the whirlpool of this onslaught, Nord desperately continued to resist, killing spiders as he went, but eventually, the moment came.

He failed to dodge one knight spider’s attack, and its fangs caught his leg. The armor forged from hardened shell shattered, and the fangs pierced the soft flesh beneath.

Pain momentarily stiffened his body, leading to a fatal opening.

The next attack struck Nord’s body directly.

“Guh…”

Unable to avoid the knight spider’s charge, he took it head-on.

With a cracking sound, the chest plate of his armor shattered, and intense pain shot through his chest.

Something rose from the depths of his throat, and he vomited as he was sent flying.

It was blood.

Bright red blood gushed from Nord’s mouth.

Sent flying by the charge, Nord crashed to the ground, spitting blood.

Bouncing two, three times, he rolled and eventually came to a stop against a tree.

“Gah… guh… haa… haa…”

He vomited blood again.

The bright red blood dripping from his mouth stained his armor red.

(Is this… the end…?)

In his pain-clouded consciousness, Nord thought this.

Using his sword as support, he shakily stood up, leaning against the tree.

In his vision, the spider army was preparing to charge again.

The scene appeared vividly and slowly to him.

(Ah, so this is… the so-called life flashing before your eyes…)

Watching the slow-motion charge of the spider swarm, Nord felt the pain throughout his body.

How cruel, he thought, as if it were someone else’s problem.

If they would just kill him quickly, it would be easier, but the slow passage of time meant he had to endure the pain while watching the spider army.

As he watched the spiders that would end his life, Nord pondered his fate.

(Will I… be eaten by them? By these guys, or maybe the queen spider…)

During his adventurer days, he had eaten many things, but being eaten was a first, he thought pointlessly. At the same time, he realized this was his mind trying to escape from fear.

(Ah, I hope my brothers managed to escape… I hope Neut got the message through safely)

Then, he thought of his family.

(They’ll all be sad if I die. Father, mother, my brothers, my sisters… my younger siblings…)

(What will happen to Neut if I die? Will someone in the family take care of him? Or will the knight order take him in? If so, Iris will probably throw a tantrum… I’ll have to calm her down…)

(No, that’s not right. I’m about to die… so I won’t be able to see them anymore… Iris is so stubborn when she throws a tantrum… Lilia will have to deal with her. Ah… damn…)

“…I don’t want to die.”

He felt tears welling up with fear.

But the words Nord muttered were heard by no one, carried away by the wind blowing through the deserted night forest, disappearing into the void.

§

Then, Nord slowly raised his gaze, trying to take in the sight of the enemy who would deliver the final blow.

In his tear-blurred vision, he saw a particularly large and powerful spider—the Marshal Spider.

(Ah, if only you weren’t here…)

The existence of such a creature was beyond Nord’s calculations.

The monsters he had fought as an adventurer were all troublesome in their own ways.

The wyverns he had seen up close in the wyvern mountains were huge and terrifying.

All the monsters Nord had encountered were threats as individuals, regardless of their strength.

(But this one…)

The Marshal Spider was different.

The horror of commanding a powerful group of monsters.

The Marshal Spider possessed a collective power that no other monster had.

If it were just a large number of knight spiders, Nord was confident he could survive. The knight spiders themselves were merely crystal-level monsters in terms of difficulty. Against a group of them, he could pick them off one by one, buy time, and then escape.

But the Marshal Spider had transformed a mere group of crystal-level monsters into a highly organized army.

One knight against an army.

No matter how hard Nord fought, defeat was only a matter of time.

(If only… it would come closer… I could take it down…!?)

Then, Nord noticed something.

The Marshal Spider had somehow moved to the front of the spider army.

(Why… why is it there? It’s been stubbornly staying in the rear, avoiding the risk of fighting me… I see)

Nord’s consciousness rapidly sharpened. His heart pumped blood rapidly, trying to supply his brain. And Nord quickly realized why the Marshal Spider had come to the front.

(Because I’m completely weakened… Of course. A hunter would want to deliver the final blow to their prey themselves!!)

It was instinct, perhaps. Nord, with his adventurer experience, understood this well. Hunting is a battle with prey, and the conclusion comes when the prey is finished off. The pleasure of victory, obtained only when one wins, is something anyone who has fought knows.

Even the Marshal Spider, with its high intelligence unlike any monster, or rather, because of its high intelligence far surpassing that of ordinary knight spiders, couldn’t resist this instinct to savor victory.

(Come…)

Nord confirmed that his body could still move and made plans to take down the Marshal Spider.

There would only be one chance to take down the Marshal Spider.

If he missed that one chance, the Marshal Spider would keep its distance and never come close again.

So, until the last moment, Nord hid the fighting spirit that had reignited within him.

In his right hand was his sword. In his left, a shield that was now dented and barely functional. And inside it…

The spider army was closing in. Not yet.

The ground seemed to shake with the force of the spider swarm’s charge. Not yet.

The spiders’ victorious cries, shattering the forest’s silence, vibrated against Nord’s eardrums. Not yet!

The leading knight spider raised its sharp forelimbs, charging at Nord. Now!

Ignoring the pain coursing through his body, Nord pulled THAT from his shield in one swift motion and shouted.

“Flame, Ignis!”

The crimson magic stone blade erupted into roaring flames.