Return of The Martial King

Chapter 240

Sillan was wailing.

“Oh, Philanence! Why have you forsaken me?”

Beside him, a stunningly tall woman, standing at 2 meters and able to look down on most grown men, was running through the streets with him tucked under her arm. It was Christine, Sillan’s fiancée and the woman who had been promised to him by Seiya.

Christine glanced down at Sillan and smiled brightly.

“Oh, Sillan. By Seiya’s grace, I was able to rescue you!”

“What rescue?! This is an abduction!”

Sillan ground his teeth and struggled furiously. It wasn’t just a small squirm; he was doing everything he could to escape, striking at her wherever his hands and feet could reach. While Philanence’s teachings strictly prohibited violence against women, it seemed there were exceptions even to that rule.

He struck at Christine’s sides and thighs with his fists and kicked out with his legs in a desperate bid to free himself, shouting inwardly:

Oh, my well-trained muscles!  

Grant me strength!  

The strength to escape from this woman!

Christine only chuckled, utterly unperturbed.

“Oh my, Sillan. Are you embarrassed just because you’re in my arms?”

Of course, his efforts were futile.

Despairing, Sillan cried out again.

“Somebody hel..”

Before he could finish, Christine clamped a hand over his mouth. Her hand, far from rough, was smooth and white worthy of being called jade-like.

Given her size, though, it wasn’t just his mouth that was covered; her hand enveloped his entire head.

“Mmmph!”

With his face completely smothered, Sillan flailed in protest. Christine whispered tenderly.

“Shh, be quiet, my love. If you’re too loud, those monsters might hear us.”

‘I want them to hear us!’ Sillan internally screamed, his expression full of despair.

Still holding him under her arm, Christine dashed through the alleyways of Zeppelin. As she navigated the winding paths, a gleeful expression appeared on her beautiful face.

‘Ah, at last, this man has returned to my embrace!’

Christine, who had joined Teslon’s group, had also received a powerful artifact from the Sage of Silver to counter their foes. She had been deployed to Zeppelin to stop Repenhardt and his companions.

According to the original plan, she was supposed to intercept one of the escaped slaves. That was the order she had received from Serelein.

But Serelein hadn’t accounted for one thing, Christine’s knack for ignoring instructions and interpreting them however she pleased.

She had indeed been told to stop the escaped slaves, but as always, Christine had made her own assumptions.

‘Ah, she must mean I’m supposed to find Sillan among them!’

Thus, regardless of whether the slaves escaped or not, Christine ignored everything if she didn’t spot Sillan and moved on elsewhere. To be fair, it wasn’t just her, Eusus also ignored his designated position and focused solely on finding Russ, so she couldn’t be blamed exclusively.

This was why Teslon’s group had been so delayed.

Stefan had been solely focused on Repenhardt, Eusus only on Russ, and Christine solely on Sillan. How could they have possibly been on time?

After scouting the city of Zeppelin back and forth, Christine finally found him. Among the countless escaped slaves, she spotted the face of her beloved, anxiously watching the duel between the Golden Knight and Russ.

‘Ooooh!’

Christine was overcome with emotion.

Finding one person in the vast expanse of Zeppelin was no easy feat. Yet here they were, reunited! Surely this was Seiya’s divine guidance!

In truth, it was simply a quiet night with few people around, so all she had to do was follow the commotion. Additionally, with her pace, it didn’t take long to traverse the city. It was just coincidence that she met him. But Christine firmly believed it was divine intervention.

Fortunately, her luck seemed to hold, there was no sign of that muscular monster, Repenhardt, near Sillan. The others were preoccupied with their battles, seemingly paying no attention to him. Even Sillan appeared too engrossed in casting holy spells to notice anything else.

It was the perfect opportunity.

She stealthily approached from behind and swiftly grabbed him. Like a mother cat carrying her kitten, she snatched him by the scruff of his neck and darted straight into an alley.

Amid the chaotic melee, no one noticed. Elated, she embraced Sillan and made her escape.

And that’s how they ended up here.

With Sillan tucked under her arm, Christine continued running, weaving through alleyways and avoiding the escaped slaves as she headed toward the royal palace of Chatan.

“Let’s go back, Sillan. Back to our cozy nest of love.”

‘I don’t recall building anything like that.’

“To think we’d get to experience the fabled lovers’ elopement! I feel like our love is deepening even more, Sillan.”

‘It’s not an elopement; it’s abduction and escape!’

Of course, Sillan’s retorts remained internal, muffled by the enormous hand clamped over his mouth.

Sillan drooped his shoulders in resignation. Having struggled so much, he was utterly exhausted, too tired even to scream anymore. All he could do was curse inwardly, over and over again.

‘Damn it! I can’t let her drag me off like this! There has to be a way out. Isn’t there anyone passing by?’

Just as Christine rounded another corner, a clear voice rang out from above.

“Oh my? A young saint?”

Christine and Sillan both looked up simultaneously. Against the backdrop of the moon, a silhouette appeared.

Standing about 170 centimeters tall, the figure had a pitifully frail frame. Her wild attire barely covered her chest and lower body with scraps of fabric and a short skirt. Her entire body was covered in blue skin adorned with various patterns. Large, bell-like eyes, a sharp nose, and plump lips revealed a hint of small molars.

It was a young female troll, not yet fully matured.

With her hair braided into dozens of strands swaying, the troll girl leaped down. She landed lightly on the ground and asked curiously.

“What are you doing here?”

She seemed utterly oblivious to the situation, even with Sillan gagged and restrained. Instead, she tilted her head dumbly with a blank expression.

“Mmmph!”

Sillan, both stunned and frustrated, rolled his eyes frantically.

‘Doesn’t this look like a kidnapping to you? Seriously?!’

He didn’t know who she was, but since she was a troll, she surely wasn’t an enemy. Sillan continued to mumble desperately, his eyes conveying his plea.

‘Go get help! Anyone!’

He stared at the troll girl with all the urgency he could muster, alternating between glancing at Christine and her. His expression was a mix of desperation and pleading, practically screaming for assistance through his gaze.

Perhaps his silent cries were effective, as even the dense troll girl’s eyes sharpened with realization.

“Oh? An enemy!”

Of course, aside from the Antares Duchy humans and other species in Zeppelin, everyone else would naturally be considered an enemy. It took her long enough to figure that out.

Drawing two bone daggers from behind her, the girl shouted fiercely.

“Release the young saint, human!”

A look of despair flashed across Sillan’s face.

While Christine might have severe issues with her mental state, her skill as a holy knight was undeniably exceptional. She was in an entirely different league from an ordinary troll, especially one as small as this girl (170 centimeters was considered small for a troll).

Instead of running for her life, she was preparing to fight? It was like a gecko lizard challenging a dragon out of sheer ignorance.

‘Hey! Why are you fighting? Go get reinforcements, now!’

Sadly, Sillan’s silent plea didn’t reach the troll girl.

Oblivious to the disparity in strength, the troll girl crouched low as if ready to pounce. Christine murmured absentmindedly.

“A female troll? What’s something like that doing in the city?”

Even with a troll, known far and wide as monsters standing before her, Christine’s face showed no sign of tension. While her confidence stemmed in part from her own strength as a formidable holy knight capable of dispatching one or two trolls with ease, it was mostly because the troll in front of her was female.

Like most creatures in the natural world, trolls exhibited much more pronounced features in males than females. The rough, rugged skin, hooked noses, prominent cheekbones, and jutting jaws that characterized trolls were far more developed in males.

Simply put, female trolls didn’t look nearly as intimidating.

Male trolls, who could make even Repenhardt flinch at night with their terrifying appearance, were a stark contrast to their generally more mild-looking female counterparts. This young troll girl, in particular, had smooth skin and lacked prominent cheekbones or a jutting jaw. By human standards, she could even be considered quite pretty.

No matter how dangerous trolls might be, who would feel threatened by a delicate-looking girl wielding daggers?

Christine scoffed, releasing her hand from Sillan’s mouth and drawing her sword.

“Ha? Now even useless things like you are acting up?”

With his mouth freed, Sillan immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Run! Run for your life!”

But it was already too late. Christine’s sword had left its sheath and was flying toward the troll girl. Her intent was clear, behead her in a single strike and move on. Imagining the impending tragedy, Sillan spat a curse.

“Damn it!”

Suddenly, the troll girl began shaking her head and dancing. Melodic lyrics flowed from her lips.

“My body grows tall,  

Kicking through juniper-green forests!”

Clang!

The troll girl crossed her daggers in an X-shape and blocked Christine’s thrust. To everyone’s surprise, the slender troll managed to handle Christine’s strike without issue. Even Sillan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What the...?”

But the troll girl didn’t stop there. She immediately went on the offensive.

“Ahhhhh!”

With a bizarre humming sound, the troll girl lunged at Christine, her two daggers weaving an intricate dance as they aimed for Christine’s torso. Christine, snapping to attention, swung her sword seriously to counter.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In mere moments, dozens of strikes were exchanged. The troll girl, moving with an almost hypnotic rhythm, toyed with Christine’s vision, feinting with her waist and wrists to strike from unusual angles.

Faced with this unfamiliar style, Christine found herself unable to counterattack and was steadily pushed onto the defensive.

"Ugh! W-what is this?"  

Christine stumbled backward, bewildered. The troll girl pointed a finger at her and chanted:  

"Veins exposed, pulsing strong, burdened by weight, you falter along!"  

Suddenly, Christine’s arm moved against her will, causing her to drop Sillan. Freed at last, Sillan tumbled to the ground and rolled away.  

Seeing him fall, Christine let out a panicked scream, full of concern.  

"Ah! Sillan! Are you hurt? That wasn’t me, I didn’t mean to!"  

Of course, Sillan took the unexpected opportunity without hesitation. Not even bothering to stand, he scrambled on all fours to put as much distance as possible between himself and Christine.  

However, Christine couldn’t retrieve Sillan again. The troll girl gave her no opening, launching into another relentless assault.  

"Ahhhhhh!"  

Accompanied by her melodic humming, the troll girl’s daggers danced chaotically, confusing Christine’s vision. Christine gripped her sword tightly with both hands and met the onslaught head-on. As expected of a holy knight, Christine soon managed to push the troll girl back.  

"You dare, monster!"  

Shouting furiously, Christine swung her sword in a wide horizontal slash. The troll girl leaped into the air to avoid it, performing an acrobatic somersault before landing lightly on the ground. Her agile movements were so catlike that even a feline would feel envy.  

Christine’s voice rang out, filled with anguish, as she glared at the distant troll girl.  

"How dare you hurt Sillan!"  

"……?"  

The troll girl blinked and rolled her large eyes, momentarily taken aback. Christine’s voice carried such genuine emotion that for a moment, the troll girl wondered if she had done something wrong.  

She turned to look at Sillan and hesitantly asked in a timid voice, "……Are you hurt? Maybe you’re not the enemy after all…?"  

Sillan waved his hands vigorously, his expression serious.  

"I’m completely fine! Don’t worry about me! She’s definitely the enemy!"  

The troll girl let out a sheepish laugh.  

"Oh, that’s a relief. I thought I’d made a mistake. I’m usually pretty clueless, you see. Ehehe."  

The fact that even she admitted it made it clear just how oblivious she could be.  

Finally regaining his composure, Sillan turned to the troll girl and asked, "……Who are you, exactly?"  

He had recognized the spell she had used, it was troll magic.  

Sillan hadn’t realized earlier, as he hadn’t expected such a young girl to be a shaman. But upon closer inspection, he noticed the long canines characteristic of troll shamans peeking out from between her lips.  

‘Could she also be a troll shaman?’  

"Oh, it seems the young saint doesn’t know me" the troll girl said with a bright smile. She greeted him politely.  

"Hello, young saint. I am Titima, the Paguru of Attila."  

Paguru, in the troll language, meant "successor."  

Sillan was astonished.  

‘Such a young girl is Attila’s successor?’