Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 191: I must separate from them as soon as possible.

If you want to support, you can at: /finlegost

There you can find 18 chapters in advance. Thanks to my patrons and to those who comment on the chapters. It means a lot to me and motivates me to continue this hobby of mine.

And, of course, thanks to everyone who reads this novel.

*************************************

Would you believe me if I said I put the shield over him because he looked like a corpse in a sarcophagus like the ones I saw in the labyrinth? But I never thought I would end up saving his life!

By the way, there are magical objects that allow the death of a person to leave his corpse in place of his remnant. But they are extremely difficult to find, and only great heroes and kings possess them.

'Now then, what do I do with him?'

If I pick up his shield and the survivors realize that General Hernan is still alive, then they will accuse me of leaving the general to his fate, worrying only about my life. Then I would practically expect death after the war for disobeying the established orders and laws.

"The mages won't be able to fire for the next few minutes, and reinforcements are coming! Survive until then!"

A shout was heard among the soldiers. This gave the survivors such hope that they all used every ounce of their strength to stand and fight until the end.

'Well, this can be considered good karma, so I will help him.'

I have a lot of negative karma surrounding me. I must perform my good deeds of the day to lessen this debt a little. Even though I don't like this general at all, I will reach out to him this time.

I took the general in my arms and settled him on my back. At the same time, I held the shield with my spare hand to protect us from the lone arrows falling on us. Commander Rayan mistook them for knights because of the latter, since the falling arrows seem to be shot by beginners' typical tactic.

Time passed slowly in everyone's mind; it seemed like an eternity waiting for the arrival of the allies. And worst of all, time was crucial to saving the lives of those who were on the verge of death.

"Group 9 reports-....!" shouted the commander of the allies, but his words lowered in tone at the sight of the disaster caused by the magic.

At this, I couldn't help but bring out the worst in me and say, "You're late!"

At the same time, dozens of golden particles begin to erupt from the fallen. The wait was too much; their lives were lost in the course. And my luck acted so that my words and their deaths coincided.

"Where is your commander?!! We must immediately coordinate to get out of this place!"

The commander of the reinforcements quickly realized what had happened; all it took was one look at the approaching enemy and the devastation on the ground to realize Mages protected by knights are approaching!

"Commander!"

They all shouted in search of their leader.

"Commander?"

But no one managed to see him.

"It can't be... He's dead!!!"

"Soldier, calm down! In war, deaths occur every second. Who is designated to replace him...?"

"No, commander, you don't understand!"

At the sight of the screaming man with a pale face, a shiver ran down my back.

"Our commander kept the Wind Brazier in his storage ring! Without him, we can't retreat!"

"!!!"

'Damn it. There are so many remnants on the ground that finding the commander's is no different than finding a needle in a haystack. My luck isn't helping me at all!!! Could it be that the worst is yet to come? If that's the case, then I should lighten up my luggage a bit.'

"Commander! At least take General Hernan with you! He lost consciousness when he received the enemy's large-scale magic!"

Although my blatant lie could be immediately contradicted by anyone present, no one dared to do so... for obvious reasons.

'Handing the general's body to the allies ended my good deed for the day.'

I may have seemed to have a big heart in handing him over, but I indirectly fanned the flames of trouble. After all... seats for salvation are limited. Who wishes to board?

"I have a family waiting for me. They will be left homeless if I die here!"

"Half of my salary is going to the orphanage where I was raised. They won't have anything to eat if anything happens to me!" said another soldier.

"Don't appeal to sentimentality! I have a life after the war too!"

"I don't want to die here!!! Take me with you!!!" shouted someone in a panic.

Understanding the situation they are in, they all despair; they are at death's door, where only an allied hand can help them, but they are too many. If our group once had 500 members, only 80 are still alive today.

But 80 people is a very heavy burden.

''Calm down; there is still a chance of survival; just wait here. I have to talk to the man in charge of our Wind Brazier to find out how many people he can move at the same time," said the commander.

"Huh? But I heard that the maximum number of people moving at the same time for a man is 520. I've never heard of someone being able to move almost 600 people!"

One of the more knowledgeable archers refuted the commander's words, but the latter only smiled.

"Frederick is different from all the others. Just wait here."

Although the desperate shouts diminished in intensity, there were still people unhappy with the commander's attitude, but no one dared to stop him.

And so the seconds passed, during which time the enemy continued to fire isolated arrows, which only increased the soldiers' fear.

Until the commander returned.

"At the cost of safety, it is possible to move you... Come on up."

"!!!"

Seeing the light at the end of the road, no one was foolish enough to miss the opportunity. Everyone ran, wishing to be the first and fearing to be the last. At the same time as they approached the allies, an aura surrounded them, thus allowing them to float as well as the others.

It was only then that they realized the commander's words; the aura that had previously allowed them to float above 20 cm off the ground had been reduced to 10 cm.

The safety of all was sacrificed for the greater good.

Now as for me...

[Rayan Alford] [Archer Lvl 22]

[Storage Ring]

'What's the coincidence of finding the commander's belongings just before following the others? I can only say that it's nearly impossible. There are so many remnants on the ground that it's no different from finding water in a desert. Unless...'

"Hey, you! If you stay there, we'll leave you behind," I was addressed by a man next to the commander.

"Go away," I replied in a serious tone.

"Huh?"

Apparently, if I'm not straightforward, they won't understand my resolution.

"Leave without me. I will stay here to face the enemy."

For a moment silence reigned, but the next everyone was surprised.

"Eh?!"

"Are you willing to exchange your life for that of the enemy?!"

"Why?! don't you have loved ones to return to?"

'If I want this identity to be complete, I'll have to answer that question sooner or later. But… Does the golden archer have relatives? Of course, the answer is...'

"I don't have anyone. I have already lost everything"

Silence reigned again. It was only when an arrow from the enemy fell nearby that everyone came to their senses.

"We all fell into the trap of Catherine. The Golden Archer was right, we should have retreated at that time, and then... He wouldn't have to sacrifice himself for us now." said a soldier upon seeing my resolve.

'Huh?'

"He trying to buy us time so we can escape!"

"If General Armand were alive, he would apologize to you. Despite his attitude, he was always someone with a good heart. Your sacrifice would have really gotten through to him."

"We will always remember you-... No, I mean… You must come back alive!"

'Huh?!!'

"Right! Come back alive, Golden Archer!"

"Come back alive!" They chanted in unison.

'Eeeh?!'

'God... Why did these guys have to repent of their enmity toward me at the last minute? Now I feel infinite guilt because of it!'

After all, if I make known what I just found, then we can escape more easily, increasing our chances of survival tremendously, but... I'm not foolish enough to overlook this signal.

'I must separate from them as soon as possible.'

Turning my back to them, I raise my hand in farewell.

"I will make your actions known to the superiors, and everyone will remember you." While the others are hopeful that Emir will survive, the allied commander knows that such thoughts have little chance of success, which is why he decided to offer him a different peace of mind than the others. "Frederick! Move forward!"

"Yes, commander!"

With his command, the nearly 580 knights and archers began the retreat. The start was slow, but in the next few seconds, their speed far exceeded the speed of a horse.

'Why do we float above 20 cm off the ground?' That was a question I asked myself as I traveled, and although I understood it was for safety, only now can I truly understand the underlying meaning.

The retreat of the allies was not without mishap. Due to the small distance to the ground, Frederick was not able to control the magic item completely, causing many of them to become unbalanced or spin in the air uncontrollably as they collided with the stones in the terrain.

"Haa... I hope I didn't make a mistake." Saying such words, I approach the commander's remnant, or rather... to his storage ring. After entering my mana into it, I smiled. "Nice! A large-scale magic item... Although I'm not greedy, it never hurts to have one. Just in case."

I was so joyful about my treasure hunt that I didn't notice the enemy's strange movements. It was only when the approaching attack illuminated the entire area where I was that I raised my head.

There in the sky, the fierce magic that once attacked us advances again.

'Infernal Sea…'

"Shit!"