Facing this eerie and terrifying scene, Lucian genuinely felt his hands and legs trembling, his mind buzzing — what to do, what not to do, all tangled into a chaotic mess. On the outside, he simply froze in place, completely unresponsive.
"The Emblem — wait, I still have the Emblem of Truth!"
In his panic, Lucian thought of his greatest reliance. Instinctively, he concentrated his mind, wanting to recite the incantation to activate the first-tier Divine Art "Sacred Light Shield." Regardless of anything, protecting himself was the most important thing.
"HA!" At that moment, a thunderous roar erupted right beside Lucian's ear. His back went rigid, every hair standing on end, and his frantic, jumbled thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
"Arcane Light." Gary's steady voice reached Lucian's ears. The one who had just bellowed — the one who jolted Lucian, Correa, and Hausen out of their dazed bewilderment — was Gary.
Gary's calm and composed demeanor spread to Lucian, helping him quickly regain at least a minimal ability to react. Without overthinking it, Lucian ran his fingers over the Emblem and murmured in a low voice a strange syllable: "Gaya."
A sphere of white light materialized before Lucian and the others, dispelling the deep darkness.
Then Lucian saw a swarm of black rats. They were of normal size, but their eyes burned red. They covered the floor, the walls, and the strange humanoid plants in the secret chamber — packed so densely that Lucian couldn't help but feel his scalp tighten.
The moment the white light appeared, the rats reacted as though they had spotted their mortal enemy. Squeaking furiously, they surged forward in a tide toward Lucian, Gary, and the rest.
As the red-eyed rats scattered, the true appearance of the secret chamber was revealed to them. In one corner sat a desk with three books resting on it, each emanating a faint, peculiar glow. In the center was a flat, wide, unusual table covered with strange symbols — some red, some blue, some green — bearing an uncanny resemblance to the patterns around the cross on the "Emblem of Truth." Upon these symbols sat small furnaces, miniature cauldrons, glass bottles, and other objects.
Neither Lucian nor Gary had the chance to examine them closely, for the maddened rats, reeking of foul stench and something sinister, had already surged to their doorstep.
The silent Hausen and the sharp-tongued Correa, roused by Gary's roar, deftly gripped their sword and shield, positioning themselves on either side of Gary to form a simple battle formation.
Since they were facing rats rather than some other grotesque demon, Lucian — buoyed by Gary's composure — felt his tension ease further. Still, the sheer number of rats and the wrongness of it all made his heart clench with unease.
The leading red-eyed rat leaped into the air, lunging at Lucian with its mouth agape, exposing two long, sharp teeth.
Gripping the Sword of Radiance in one hand, Lucian hurriedly swung the blade of condensed light at the oncoming rat.
The light-sword conjured by Divine Arts was far sharper than an ordinary knight's longsword. But Lucian's panicked swing misjudged both the speed and the eerie agility of the red-eyed rat. The blade only grazed past it.
Where the light-sword grazed the rat's black fur, the pelt quickly charred and the scorching spread inward. But by then, the red-eyed rat had already landed right in front of Lucian. Its crimson pupils glinted with a cold, emotionless light, crystal clear. The stench of rot and decay wafted faintly from its maw.
Having missed with his swing and with the rat mere inches away, Lucian panicked. He wanted to hack back with the sword, but also wanted to extend his left arm to block — caught between two impulses, he nearly dropped the Sword of Radiance altogether.
The red-eyed rat was about to bite into his chest, and Lucian stood helpless, unable to do a single thing.
Suddenly, a longsword glinting with cold light thrust in from the side, striking the red-eyed rat precisely at the neck and cleaving it in two.
"Don't panic. If you can't block in time, dodge the vital spots — we have healing Divine Arts." Gary's low voice came through.
At the same moment, Correa's shrill voice rang out: "Fall back here! Stand with us! Are you trying to get yourself killed standing out there alone, you rookie?"
Under these circumstances, regardless of whatever negative impressions Gary, Correa, and Hausen might have held toward Lucian, they all understood that he, wielding the Emblem, was a force not to be underestimated. Moreover, should anything unexpected happen, he could well be the key to turning the tide. No one knew what other monster or arcane trap might emerge after the red-eyed rats.
Having narrowly escaped the rat's lunge, Lucian quietly exhaled in relief. His scattered nerves settled once more. Compared to someone like Gary — a High-level Knight Squire who had undergone rigorous training and possessed rich combat experience — he was far too green, too inexperienced, too helpless when facing dangerous situations and sudden changes. Not everyone was a born warrior, nor did everyone possess the extraordinary gift of remaining calm in the face of peril.
That he could have a veteran like Gary by his side, guiding and supporting him during his very first real battle, was an incredible stroke of fortune — a priceless experience for the battles and dangers that lay ahead.
This time, Lucian did not panic. Swinging the light-sword forward, he steadily shuffled backward until he rejoined Gary and the others.
The red-eyed rats lunging at them were no longer just one or two — there were dozens, with a ceaseless tide of rats flooding in from behind.
The light-sword blazed bright and keen. Where it passed, a faint trail of luminescence lingered. The slash Lucian executed followed Gary's instruction — defense as the priority, leveraging the Sword of Radiance's unique properties while compensating for the fact that he had never learned any swordsmanship at all.
The radiance swept up by the strike seemed to form a faint white barrier before Lucian. Rats that charged head-on and struck the light-sword were split in two like clumps of dirt, utterly without resistance. Their innards and severed skin turned charred black, crashing heavily to the ground without a single drop of blood escaping.
Those that didn't directly hit the blade but passed through the lingering light trail found their fur drying and charring, their movements slowing — either tumbling to the ground before Lucian or being cut down by Gary and Correa on either side.
"Hey, kid, not bad at all — that one strike killed over a dozen of those monster rats." Correa whistled, though whether it was praise or mockery, it was impossible to tell.
Lucian himself felt no pride. That the single swing had killed so many red-eyed rats was entirely thanks to the Sword of Radiance's power and Gary's guidance. And now: "I can feel the Sword of Radiance's power starting to drain."
After this engagement, Lucian felt he was beginning to adapt to this kind of scene somewhat.
Gary coordinated with Lucian's swings of the Sword of Radiance, ceaselessly slashing and thrusting his longsword, beating back the rats that slipped through: "Don't be nervous. The remaining power is more than enough to deal with these demons."
After one wave was repelled, the red-eyed rats launched themselves forward yet again — this time a massive black wave, seemingly a hundred or more.
Lucian's swings grew ever more practiced, though a trace of fear lingered in his heart. He worried he couldn't block all hundred-plus rats completely, but he placed full trust in Gary and Correa, believing they could hold the flanks.
The Sword of Radiance swept diagonally from high to low, tracing a beautiful arc of light through the air. Crackling and snapping, countless red-eyed rats slammed into the blade. The impact sent a surge of force through Lucian's hand — as an ordinary person with no knightly training, he could barely maintain his grip on the Sword of Radiance.
There were simply too many rats. Even though a rain of halved carcasses tumbled to the ground before the light-sword, several dozen still broke through Lucian's defense, passing through the wall of light that the Sword of Radiance had drawn.
"Too many rats! Unless Gary and Correa could swing five or six times per second, there's no way they can intercept them all!" Lucian had no time to execute another swing with the Sword of Radiance, and could only worry inwardly: "Perhaps the High-level Knight Squires trained by the Church possess powers similar to Divine Arts as well."