Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 21: Escape 3

Chapter 21 - Escape 3

Moonlight didn’t reach the interior of the cave. The entrance swallowed me whole, and within seconds, I was blind. Without a choice, I fetched my knife and scraped it against the cave wall. Sparks flew, but my fire energy didn’t trigger.

I smacked my lips. Obviously, my musou bar was empty. Unless I drank the game wine or killed something, it wouldn’t refill.

Walking blind into the cave, I stumbled every step like a baby who didn’t know how to walk. My boots crunched against loose gravel, and the stale air smelled of dust and old stone.

The crows followed behind me. Some leapt and fluttered their chubby wings to guide me deeper.

Come to think of it, I thought crows couldn’t see in the dark, but these guys were too nimble. How did they function in a cave?

All doubts were quickly answered. One of the crows emitted a red light, igniting itself on fire. Ten others followed suit, transforming into burning chickens. The cave lit up in a flickering glow, and their shadows moved along the walls.

Despite being burned, they didn’t appear to be in pain. On the contrary, they flapped their wings and jumped up. Two landed on my shoulders and served as my flashlight.

"CAAA! DUMB-DUMB!"

I recognized that voice. Cow-Cow. He perched proudly on top of an earthen pot. Around him were a dozen pots, each containing sparkling objects.

I peeked inside one. Silver coins, gold coins, trinkets, shiny stones.

Were these their collections? Why didn’t I raise one of these treasure hoarding birbs. I could have earned some passive income by having them... Never mind.

Whatever the case, I understood why they had brought me here.

"Mind if I break a few pots?" I asked Cow-Cow.

"CAAA! FOOD!"

"Alright. But I need some wine and a few dumplings, okay?"

"CAAA! DEAL!"

Having gotten his permission, I grabbed a pot, poured all its useless contents onto the ground, and smashed it. The pot shattered in my hand.

As predicted, food appeared. This time, a set of three dumplings.

The crows flapped their wings and made noises. Unlike before, they didn’t rush to snatch the food. Everybody waited for me to distribute it.

I tore the dumplings into smaller pieces and threw them toward the crowd. Cow-Cow got the juicy boiled meat. I secretly tossed the last piece into my mouth to heal myself a little.

"CAAA! MORE!"

"I know, I know." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

I smashed three more pots. Each spawned three dumplings. Still, the flock couldn’t be satiated with such a tiny amount.

I kicked the largest pot, full of shiny rocks. It cracked and shattered in half. Jewelry and coins poured out. Three seconds later, a golden light illuminated the cave interior. All the crows flapped their wings and screamed in panic.

In the center of the light floated a dragon seal, glowing with a golden aura.

The crows frowned in disgust and pecked at my legs. They were probably blaming me for summoning inedible loot.

I broke the fifth pot, and a set of full meals appeared. For this time, we had a turkey and two jars of wine.

The crows’ attitude flipped instantly. They chirped and raised their open mouths like newborn chicks waiting to be fed.

"I SEE LIGHTS!"

Unfortunately, we weren’t alone. The pursuers had spotted us.

As I had no time to waste with the crows, I patted the turkey and left everything for the birbs. I grabbed the wine and chugged it down like water.

It tasted like grape juice cocktail. My stomach heated up, and I felt the surge of energy once more. While I was at it, I pocketed the dragon seal in my shirt and rushed out with my knife.

Outside, five soldiers with torches were already at the top of the cliff, helping others climb up. More commotion from below grew louder, and everything around the hill brightened.

I was surrounded.

One soldier raised a torch and saw me. He shouted.

"IT’S INVIDIA SCUM!"

Well, shit.

To distract them, I shouted to the crows.

"COW-COW!! GET OUT OF HERE! LEAVE THE TREASURE!!"

"CAAA!!"

I heard his reply, but I doubted he realized the crisis.

"BE CAREFUL! HE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE!"

It worked. Now they were on guard against nonexistent enemies, hesitant to rush me.

As soon as I thought of lopping their heads off, the world slowed, but my body didn’t get faster.

I figured this was the game world’s subtle cue that my musou bar was completely charged.

Without looking back, I sprinted toward the nearest soldier. I leapt up and sent a flying dropkick to his chest. Maybe it was his poor footing, but he toppled backward and ended up getting sparta’ed off the cliff.

The remaining four pulled out short swords and swung at me.

Prepared, I rolled on the ground like a soul-game protagonist.

Their blades flashed. As they pursued. I adjusted my posture and scrambled back to my feet.

The strikes came. I leapt backward, stumbled, rolled away, but managed to gain distance.

I gripped my knife by the blade and hurled it at a soldier’s face. The knife transformed into a spinning fire wheel, splitting his head vertically before flying off the cliff.

The three remaining men flinched.

I still had a few seconds left before my musou bar depleted. Taking advantage of the boost, I charged barehanded.

The men adjusted their stances, thrusting forward to counter.

If I had been a naïve soldier, I would have been skewered. But I was a warframe player. I slid forward, risking burns on my thighs.

One sword cut my forehead, another chipped my ear, the last missed.

I arrived beneath one soldier. With nothing else, I delivered an uppercut to his groin.

Flame enveloped my fist.

Bad idea. The impact distorted his groin and stomach. His stomach burst, splashing gore onto my face. His spinal cord shot upward, snapping in half, the lower half jutting through his neck.

I hadn’t known this world had fatality montages. Sorry about the images.

Three down, two to go.

I snatched a short sword from the mutilated corpse and turned to the survivors. But two more men had climbed up the cliff.