Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

For the first time, Galahad felt that, as the oldest adult in their trio of idiots, he ought to step up and take responsibility as their guardian. He had to correct the ignorant boy’s blind idol worship. He had to fix the rebellious girl’s cold, ignorant, sarcastic, recklessly aggressive worldview. Most importantly, he had to establish the one and only truth of the world among the three of them: “I’m a man! You two listen to me!”

However, judging by the fact that Galahad was currently crouched behind a bush, silently weeping as he waited to cast a skill, he had failed in a spectacularly tragic fashion.

Up ahead, the girl held a dagger in each hand and approached the Jungle Giant Python habitat step by step. In hot weather, these enormous creatures became sluggish. They coiled beneath the shade of towering trees, leisurely flicking out their bright red tongues, but even from here, Galahad could feel the oppressive aura of high-level magical beasts.

From within the woods came the sound of scale-covered bodies rapidly scraping against the ground. Lars, who was hidden in the treetops observing the situation, gestured to him. Ruiyin had successfully scattered a large number of low-level magical beast crystals. Those crystals, dug out of magical beasts’ brains by nimble human fingers, were a rare delicacy to the giant pythons. From the noise alone, anyone could tell that the forest had already descended into complete chaos.

Galahad broke into a cold sweat. As the world’s number one expert at getting lost, Galahad in fact rarely found himself in situations like this, where everyone teamed up to farm monsters. Usually, he had no choice but to face whole armies of magical beasts alone in the wilderness, which had rapidly improved his swordsmanship while also directly causing his team skills to atrophy.

When he became a Silver Knight, he had received the Light of Protection from War God Xisaluo. It represented a knight’s lifelong glory: to become a sword for justice and the weak, to become their shield, to become their most steadfast protecting force. Yet no one had ever protected him, and no one had ever needed his protection. After so long, Galahad had almost forgotten that he was an honored knight.

On that point, he rather envied that naive and childish Little Knight.

No, no, no. This was absolutely not the time to get sentimental. Galahad, there is a frail lady before you who needs your protection. You must hurry up and remember that Mirror Shield you’ve never once used!

Sweat gradually gathered on his forehead. Uh, was the last letter Z or x? Was he supposed to read it together or separately? Damn it, why wasn’t there a mature, reliable adult man like him nearby to help him at a time like this? A guardian’s responsibilities were indeed even heavier than he had imagined!

The sound of scales scraping over grass gradually drew near. Lars, up in the tree, sent him the second signal. Galahad steadied himself. The deep forest ahead shuddered, and the thin, frail girl came rolling out!

She looked extremely battered. Her clothes had been torn in several places by branches, and there were bloody scratches on her exposed arms. In her hand, she was dragging a rope. As she moved forward, she gave her wrist a light flick, and a fiery red level-four magical beast crystal tied to the other end of the rope came into view. Immediately afterward, a massive body crushed through the shrubs and undergrowth, and a huge, bloody maw burst out in hot pursuit of Ruiyin!

Now!

Galahad recited the incantation at a speed far beyond his usual ability, and in the final millisecond confirmed whether the ending was Z or x. The moment he blurted out the last letter, a tremendous force was drawn out of his body. He saw the protective halo that only knights could use fly toward the girl who was struggling to dodge beneath the giant python’s attack. He saw the young knight in the tree grip his longsword and leap down to join the battle. All at once, he was moved to tears by the love, sacrifice, and cooperation that existed only among such reckless youths!

These are my companions, he thought. At last, I too have companions who need me to protect them.

Galahad felt the flames of justice blazing fiercely in his heart. Ignoring the fact that he had just used an extremely stamina-draining skill, the Silver Knight gripped his longsword, shouted, and leaped out from behind the bushes.

Release that delicate lady and let a professional handle this!

However, if everything had gone smoothly according to plan, Galahad would have successfully changed classes from Lucky T to Lucky E. He really had not remembered the incantation wrong, and had successfully cast Mirror Shield. The problem was that the sacred halo drifted through the air like a soap bubble, slowly floated past Ruiyin as she struggled to dodge, and successfully enveloped the ferocious-looking giant python instead.

Lars, who had leaped down from the tree, stumbled.

The giant python tilted its head in confusion.

Ruiyin said, “…Galahad, did you grow up eating magical beast crystals, just like the giant python?!”

Galahad said, “Waaah, I was wrong, I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t try to protect anyone!”

Neither cursing nor apologizing was of any use now. Lars urgently adjusted the direction of his sword. They could no longer attack this giant python. Just like its name, Mirror Shield would reflect any attack it received indiscriminately, like a mirror. If this strike landed on the giant python, both he and Ruiyin would be injured by the reflection.

Ruiyin was dodging the giant python’s attacks in a sorry state. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lars’s movement. Suddenly remembering something, she shouted, “Lars! Don’t change direction. Attack it! And Galahad, stop doing your despair crouch and attack it right now!”

Lars froze for only an instant. Then his trust in Ruiyin overruled his battle judgment. The longsword in the Apprentice Knight’s hand stabbed down without hesitation. The sword, wrapped in holy knight light, struck the Mirror Shield shining with the same radiance. Not only did it meet no resistance, that mirror-like film burst like a punctured soap bubble. The blade plunged straight into the giant python’s thick body.
Galahad froze for a second before his eyes lit up and he straightened from his forward bend. He clenched a fist in an unmistakable “Yahoo!” pose and said proudly, “That’s right! Mirror Shield is protection meant for the weak. There’s no way it would work on a level-seven magical beast like a Jungle Giant Python! A Silver Knight’s judgment really never fails!”

“Never fails?” Ruiyin appeared beside Galahad with grass sticking out of her hair and a black aura rolling off her body. “Good. Now, this instant, go support Lars. If I accidentally witness a Silver Knight’s failure, I don’t mind throwing you alone into a group of Jungle Giant Python and letting you become the brightest magic crystal of them all.”

The Jungle Giant Python Lars had struck in its vital spot writhed in agony. It let out an enraged hissing roar. Lars’s fearless frontal assault, Galahad’s swift sword, and Ruiyin’s relentless harassment from the side had driven the enormous magical beast to distraction. It wanted to swat these three flies to death, but every time, they slipped away. The python lifted its head high and opened its mouth, its razor-thin fangs glinting phosphorescent green in the sunlight. Galahad’s expression sharpened, and he shouted, “Get away! It’s about to spray venom!”

Ruiyin was the closest to the python. She was barely hanging on to its neck when the python snapped its head like a dragon and sent her sliding from its neck all the way down to the tip of its tail. By the time she tried to dodge, it was already too late.

She twisted around, turning her back to the python, when someone suddenly pressed down hard on her. A man’s broad, solid chest pinned firmly against her back. Ruiyin had only just moved when she heard a strained voice above her head.

“Don’t move!” Lars endured the burning pain across his back. “Ruiyin, don’t move… It’s fine. I won’t let you get hurt. I’ll guard your back. I absolutely won’t let you… let you suffer even the slightest injury!”

Ruiyin stopped moving. She turned her face slightly. The boy’s profile was right beside her, his brows twisted in pain. He smiled at her as sweat slid down his cheek, gathered at his resolute chin, and dripped onto Ruiyin’s forehead.

He was still only a child.

But he was also a man now.

“Almighty War God Xisaluo, please hear the prayer of your faithful believer. In the name of the Chariot, the Scales, and the Silver Sword…”

Galahad’s frantic voice rang out from the other side. After a stretch of time so long it could have summoned Asura, Ruiyin finally felt warmth suddenly cover her body. She pushed Lars, who had been shielding her tightly, away and looked up. The python was screeching and thrashing on the ground. Most of the venom it had sprayed had splashed back onto itself, burning both of its eyes blind.

“Are you… all right?” Galahad edged over, still shaken, his face full of guilt. “I’m sorry, Ruiyin. I think I really did pronounce the last letter as z instead of x just now…”

Ruiyin shoved him aside, hurriedly checked the wound on Lars’s back, and after finding it was not too serious, immediately rolled to her feet and charged toward the struggling python as it tried to flee. “After it! We’ve already come this far. If we still let it get away, then we really will all be on Galahad’s level!”

Fortunately, perhaps because it had gone blind, this lone Jungle Giant Python did not flee toward the habitat of its own kind. It chose a path Ruiyin and the others had not explored before. Its massive body crushed thorns and shrubs all the way, conveniently opening a road for the three of them. The distance between the humans and the python grew shorter and shorter until, at last, the exhausted python stopped. The front third of its barrel-thick body rose upright, and its now-sightless orange-yellow eyes glared viciously at them.

The three of them approached carefully. None of them dared underestimate the force of a dying beast’s final strike. Galahad watched the python’s every move with vigilance. The moment he saw that enormous tail come sweeping over, the man’s powerful arms wrapped around the two people beside him, and he threw them all to the side.

I really am the guardian here! Galahad thought smugly as he landed safely with both of them in his arms. Looking at the python lying on the ground, barely clinging to life, his heart swelled with the pride of the final victor.

The three of them supported one another as they walked up to the python. Galahad rushed to get ahead, smiling at Ruiyin with shameless eagerness. “I’ll kill it!”

He raised the Silver Sword.

The python closed its eyes.

And then… Ruiyin suddenly remembered Galahad’s innate passive skill, Lucky T.

The dying python feebly poked the tip of its tail at a certain spot nearby. Then Galahad abruptly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. By reflex, his arm shot upward and grabbed for something. A Silver Knight’s agility was naturally not to be underestimated. He caught hold of a rod-like object, applied a little strength, and prepared to use it to climb back up.

And then… two very heavy things tumbled down from above and rolled into the pit with him.

The last thing he heard was Ruiyin’s furious roar. “Galahad! Get your claws off my leg, you bastard!”