“Look at this. I thought you were just some parasite clinging to a woman, but you had hidden claws after all?”
I couldn’t find the strength to respond as I tried to steady my trembling hands.
Just one sword strike, and it wasn’t only my hand that was shaken violently—it was my arm, shoulder, and even my heart that throbbed fiercely.
Everything.
My chest felt tight.
I coughed roughly, trying to spit out whatever was stuck inside me, and I could feel blood trickling from the corner of my mouth.
Had I sustained internal injuries from just a single attack?
“You said you’re from the Helpion Duchy, right? If you work under a monster, that makes sense.”
I gripped the hilt of Hellfire tightly with both hands.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the warmth emanating from Hellfire seemed to soothe my insides a bit.
“Oh? This is interesting.”
Lumpen Hound’s gleaming eyes scanned my body from head to toe.
Beneath his deeply sunken eye sockets, a cold gleam flickered that I had never seen before.
“You look familiar, but like it’s our first time meeting? Why do you seem so different from when I saw you last time? Sword Expert High Grade? You look about that level.”
The sword in his hand slowly began to sway up and down.
It rocked back and forth like a seesaw, balanced at the lower part of the blade in a strange, toy-like motion.
Following that movement, eerie, writhing lines surged from the blade as if they intended to tear my entire body apart.
“It’s surprising that your skill improved in a single breath, but it’s nonsense that you blocked that earlier.”
The space twisted strangely.
The form covering the world was no longer a sword.
It was a serpent.
“Interesting. You die, and that’s the end of it.”
The lines exploded.
“Hmph!”
I forced a shout and raised my sword.
Cha-cha-cheng! Cheng!
For a full second, dozens of sword strikes wrapped around me, ravaging my body.
It wasn’t simply stabbing or slashing—the attacks flew at unpredictable trajectories like whips.
“Ugh!”
Simultaneous thin cuts opened on my arms, legs, ribs, and shoulders where Hellfire barely failed to block.
Thankfully, I managed to fend off the thick lines and avoid fatal wounds, but…
“Oh ho! Oh ho!”
Moere’s sword, driven mad, struck my entire body without pause.
I barely blocked a strike aimed at my heart, only to have the next come for my neck and shoulders.
I barely parried the neck strike, and the shoulder was wounded as the sword coiled, threatening to sever my limbs.
I quickly swung my sword in a half circle, forcing his blade to rise like it was demanding I surrender my eyes.
As I leaned my head back to dodge, a fiery sensation surged through my hands and limbs.
My entire body was overloaded just from wielding the sword.
Time to breathe… my breath…
Then.
With a thud, Lumpen Hound was knocked aside, granting me a moment of reprieve.
I felt a solid support catching my body as it nearly collapsed with the sudden disappearance of my opponent.
“Ugh, annoying pests are swarming.”
In my vision stood two solid-faced middle-aged knights covered in beards.
Sir Brunello and Sir Albert.
Really, you’re late. People better than me, too.
But they weren’t alone in arriving.
Both Brunello and Albert began shouting orders.
“Magician Corps, fire!”
At the sharp voice from somewhere, dozens of lightning clusters and ice missiles flew toward Moere.
Dodging the thunderous explosions, Moere swiftly evaded.
“Knights, advance!”
At Brunello’s immediate shout, dozens of knights drew their weapons and charged at Moere.
Their movements were so intricate that just watching looked like a monster with dozens of arms performing swordsmanship.
If you block one sword, two more come swinging before you can counter.
If you evade those two, four swords follow, and if you dodge those four, eight swords pursue.
Under the sudden barrage, Moere’s blade began to move busily, and the distance between us widened.
A brief chance.
Senior Giselle—are you alright?
“I’m fine?”
When she ran in from afar, I hadn’t realized her condition wasn’t good either.
The moment my hand touched her arm, she staggered.
I hurriedly caught her.
Even though I was blocking well, the sharp sword wind that cut through the air had apparently grazed her body bit by bit.
“Are you hurt?!”
“No, it’s okay. Just some brushes—I was more startled than anything.”
She gave me a faint smile, paler than usual.
Thankfully, no fatal wounds were visible.
They arrived just in time.
Then came Sir Albert’s urgent voice.
“Count, take the lady and retreat.”
Almost at the same moment, a tremendous rumbling shook the library.
With countless spells and sword clashes firing inside, it seemed the building itself couldn’t hold.
“Outside, now!”
“Raward, wait!”
I hurriedly led Senior Giselle toward the exit.
Urgent voices called behind us, mingled with Moere’s bellowing.
“Trying to run away?”
With pounding footsteps, Moere broke through the ceiling and chased us.
“Heh heh, there…”
“No way!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Just as Moere swung his sword toward us, Sir Albert and Sir Brunello jumped down after him.
“Senior, hurry!”
“Raward, wait a moment, just a moment…”
As we escaped the building, the Squaret Domain Army was already lined up waiting.
“Archers, ready your bows!”
At the knights’ command, hundreds of archers drew their strings.
We quickly fled the area, and when Moere emerged—
“Fire!”
With the command, arrows shot out.
Hundreds of arrows screamed through the air, flying densely toward a single target.
Several knights spurred their horses quickly and approached us.
I grabbed one and asked,
“Where to?”
“The back gate! The lady and young master will be there, so evacuate together! We’ll escort you out!”
“Understood.”
I closed my eyes briefly to steady my breathing.
My entire body was sending signals not to move anymore, but…
I couldn’t stop.
I shook my head once, then stood.
“Senior, let’s go.”
“No.”
“Senior?”
She pushed me away and gasped for breath.
Her untrained, frailer body trembled nonstop.
Still, she stood on her own two feet.
“They’re risking their lives for me. I can’t just keep running like this.”
“Senior!”
“Raward.”
I tried to stop her, but her gaze stopped me first.
Even in this situation, there wasn’t a trace of fear or hesitation in those clear eyes.
“You said you want to solve the conflict in the Squaret Domain, right? Then this is the chance. Use me.”
“…What?”
“I’m a civilian, after all. And the military men are risking their lives for me. If I ran away now?”
“What are you saying? You want to gamble your life on jokes?”
“Raward, no one here isn’t risking their life.”
That’s true, but… damn it.
“Those people… those people…”
“So Raward. I’m fighting too.”
I couldn’t stop her.
“Hahaha! That’s right, that’s the spirit. You have the strongest will here!”
A loud shout, filled with mana, echoed through the air.
It felt like thunder and lightning were striking nearby, vibrating the air.
“Block him, block him!”
“Watch your steps!”
“Ugh!”
Countless shouts shook the world, and at their center stood Lumpen Hound, scattering evil energy from his gleaming eyes.
His clothes and gear were caked with dust and utterly ruined, and the ground beneath him looked sunken as if gravity itself was different there.
Yet he was smiling.
All of it.
“Get lost!”
Lumpen Hound shouted, swinging his sword wildly in every direction.
In all directions, primitive, lawless violence rained down.
The knights panicked and scattered.
Those who couldn’t dodge screamed as they were struck down or thrown away.
The knights fared better.
Soldiers without such physical prowess were lost to the raging mana or had limbs severed, howling in agony.
Amid the chaos, Moere leapt out of the crater.
“Did you think you could leave me behind? Heh heh heh.”
“No way!”
Sir Albert and Sir Brunello’s voices joined in.
Both were powerful warriors at Sword Expert High Grade.
But Lumpen Hound crushed their blades purely with strength.
Every time he swung his sword, Brunello and Albert’s blades were knocked away, and their wounds increased.
These two alone weren’t enough… damn it.
“Senior, then you have to stay right here!”
I nodded at her and turned to charge at Moere.
Through the tangled lines, the open space between them—
I stabbed Hellfire in.
“Heh heh heh, you’re here! Monster!”
“Who the hell are you calling a monster!”
With a whoosh, flames burst from Hellfire.
Lumpen Hound flicked the fire away into the air and began swinging his sword at us.
The nearby terrain exploded; screams and roars filled the air.
A ringing in my ears came with screams erupting everywhere.
Amid relentless spells and arrows, Lumpen Hound’s sword bared its ferocious teeth.
Despite the three of us—me and the two knight commanders—pressuring him, we were the ones being pushed back.
I recalled lessons from military strategy class at the academy.
Sword Expert High Grade can fight and defeat dozens of soldiers.
Even Sword Master Beginner can fight hundreds.
Sword Master Intermediate can handle a domain or even a small country alone.
And it was true.
Lumpen Hound’s sword energy formed tangible waves flying horizontally toward the three of us.
We hurriedly gathered mana to block the attacks, digging trenches and steadily retreating.
“Ugh!”
Though I barely blocked it, my arm felt as if it was going to be severed.
My left arm wouldn’t move at all for some reason.
No, not just my left arm—my entire left side.
Blood flowed, and my vision darkened on the left side.
Unconsciously, I swayed, barely supporting myself with Hellfire.
Sir Brunello, who had fallen several times, staggered up, coughing blood.
“Is the Empire planning to wage war against our Kingdom?”
“Heh, Empire? What nonsense. I’m just a mercenary on contract.”
“That kind of nonsense… do you think we’ll tolerate it?”
“That’s not up to you to decide. Those with power judge the world.”
Suddenly, lines shot from Moere’s body.
“No rights for corpses!”
The lines covered the air as if to tear through everything.
Sir Brunello and Sir Albert instantly reacted, curling up defensively.
But… the vivid line passed by us and targeted Senior Giselle.
I leapt forward in front of her and brought my full weight down on my sword.
Ching! My sword bounced off.
Why?
Through my rising arms, everything in the world came sharply into focus.
Senior Giselle’s eyes full of worry as she looked at Lumpen Hound and me.
The two knight commanders wearing shocked expressions.
Soldiers and knights scanning the battlefield in terror.
And Lumpen Hound’s chilling eyes lowered in a threatening gaze.
“Heh heh heh heh, you’re caught, rookie!”
The lines covering the area vanished like a mirage, leaving a single sharp line extending forward.
An honest and absolute line aimed to pierce my throat in one strike.
I can’t dodge this.
“Die!”
But.
I wasn’t the only one with a trap set.
I looked not only at Lumpen Hound but also a shadow flickering just behind him.
From that shadow came a thin thread.
A thread so delicate it seemed it might break, but it carried a chilling aura and was aimed at Lumpen Hound’s heart.
Thunk.
At the moment Lumpen Hound’s sword barely grazed my throat with a faint cut, a sword wrapped in dense black sword energy suddenly thrust through his side.
“Raward!”
“Sir Raward!”
“Ugh?”
From all around came cries from those who finally realized what was happening, and Lumpen Hound slowly turned his head.
There stood a small figure clad in tight black covert clothing.
A woman.