Volume 2 Chapter 2 ACT.24 The Dark Fog that Devours People (I)
It was a moonless, dark night.
On such a night, with thick fog hanging heavy, a drunk man staggered through town.
"──Ugh, did I drink too much?"
Muttering such nonsensical thoughts with slurred words, the man followed the glow of the streetlights on his way home.
"Yeah, this town is still great! Even at night, it's bright, no griffins, and it's safe!"
Having just moved from the countryside to this town, the man repeated this with a rosy-cheeked grin.
In his hometown, a ferocious carnivorous horse called a griffin would sometimes appear, attacking livestock and people.
For a man who had fled from such an environment, this town felt like paradise.
As the man walked, something strange caught his eye.
──No, to be precise, it wasn't an object, but a phenomenon.
"Huh?"
Before him, a shape resembling some kind of creature was formed within the thick fog.
That fog was devouring something that lay on the ground.
──And then, a late-arriving metallic stench.
The smell of a griffin—something he, who was from a village where griffins were common, had smelled several times before.
The truth was, the smell of human blood and fat.
"──Yikes!"
In an instant, the fog turned towards the man—or so he thought.
And what he saw was the thing the fog had been devouring moments before.
A mangled, chewed-up human corpse.
──And the last thing the man saw was the warm fog engulfing him completely.
* * *
With a CLANG, the sound of metal striking metal echoed through the Training Grounds.
The Holy Knights' Training Grounds had a set schedule, and at this time, the only two using the space were engaged in a fierce mock battle.
Both wore night sky-colored armor, but their silhouettes and weapons were different.
One wore armor with a slightly feminine silhouette and wielded a large shield and a spear in one hand.
She aggressively challenged the other knight.
On the other hand, the other knight was slender but had a masculine silhouette and wielded a round shield and a black-bladed short sword.
The knight with the sword deflected the spear knight's attack effortlessly with his round shield, redirecting the blow.
The moment he deflected the spear knight's thrust, the sword knight surged forward aggressively.
"──Whoa!"
A gasp escaped from the spear knight.
The sword knight, striking with his shield, took advantage of their size difference and slammed into the spear knight, shaking her.
"Your way of absorbing shock is lacking."
The sword knight swept the feet of the spear knight, who had lost her strength.
"Gah!"
In an instant, the spear knight stumbled and fell.
Before she could rise, the sword's tip was pressed against her throat.
"Ah... thank you very much."
"It's natural to be at a disadvantage in size and weight due to gender differences. If you're going to fight while wielding a shield, it's better to learn a way to counterbalance that."
"──Understood."
With that, the two removed their helmets, cradling them at their sides as they straightened up.
The spear knight was a young woman in her early twenties, recognizable by her red hair.
The sword knight was a teenage boy with black hair and amethyst eyes.
"Thank you for your guidance today, Senior Rai."
"Do your best, Rize."
The spear knight's name was Rize Howell.
The sword knight's name was Rai Conwell.
The two had the duty of vanquishing the calamity known as the "Reincarnator" that plagued this land, as Purge Knights.
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