Ch.125124. And Hostility (1)

# 124. And Hostility (1)

Though it was a face I had desperately longed to see until just yesterday, right now I couldn’t feel the same way.

Still, I didn’t show those emotions and spoke with a neutral expression.

“You arrived earlier than expected.”

“That should be our line.”

She answered with an incredibly relaxed attitude, and her team members mirrored her composure.

Except for Riel, of course.

Riel was glaring at me with an expression full of discontent, likely because of what happened earlier.

“That was quite dangerous earlier.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, will you? I’m already angry about that.”

Ignoring Riel’s heated reaction, I pointed my sword at the woman standing at the front.

Watching my action, she smiled with satisfaction as she prepared for the imminent battle.

Unlike her, however, our team members were flustered.

“Wait… are we going to fight?”

“We’ll have to fight eventually anyway.”

“That may be true, but we’re not in good condition right now, especially you.”

Reina’s words were true.

We hadn’t had proper rest while rushing to clear this area, and in my case, I had just finished another battle moments ago.

But the same applied to our opponents.

Just as we weren’t in good condition, neither were they.

It was obvious enough to see with the naked eye.

“You guys are fine, and that’s enough. Besides, we have the advantage here.”

Unlike us, her team had longer attack range and better positioning.

However, in this narrow space, those advantages were difficult to utilize.

“Just get ready.”

After saying that to them, I used [Haste] to quickly approach her.

Then I targeted her at the front.

-BOOM!!-

My greatsword and her magic collided, creating a massive shockwave that served as the signal for the battle to begin.

Her team members targeted me as I charged in alone, but I avoided their attacks while focusing solely on her.

-CRASH! BOOM!!-

As a result, I managed to separate her from her team members as intended, creating a one-on-one situation.

Of course, this would have been impossible if she had been determined to stay with her team.

But she seemed to want this arrangement as well, moving as if she had been waiting for it.

“You seem quite confident?”

“Not particularly confident, but I have to try. If I can just keep Albert occupied, we’ll win.”

“We think alike.”

We both believed that if we could keep each other occupied, our main forces would secure victory.

Of course, this situation was clearly more advantageous for our side.

Without her, their main force’s defensive capabilities would drastically decrease, making it easier for our side to break through.

‘They’ll do well… I believe in them.’

The only concerning point was that we had four people while they had five, but I had no choice but to trust my team.

It was better to focus on my own battle, believing that our side would definitely win.

We were observing each other’s movements, sizing each other up, and in that awkward atmosphere, I spoke first.

“By the way, why did you forfeit yesterday? I was quite looking forward to it.”

“We ended up like this anyway, didn’t we?”

“That’s true.”

She pointed her staff at me and said:

“Aren’t you going to make the first move?”

“I wonder.”

I was hesitant because making the first move rarely worked out well for me, but the truth was I had no other option.

I had no ranged attacks, and even if I did, they wouldn’t be effective against her.

So ultimately, I had to charge in first.

‘Let’s do this.’

I charged at her using the same method as before.

The only difference was that I changed my greatsword to a dagger.

I approached using the dagger, [Haste], and the speed maximized by [Absolute Loyalty], but she read my movements.

She accurately predicted the direction of my approach, pointed her staff, and immediately cast a spell.

-SWISH!! CLANG!-

Her spell-casting speed was frighteningly fast.

The ice swords that appeared in the air with incredible speed targeted me, and I deflected those deadly weapons.

They were spells so intricate that one might doubt they were created by a human, but they were merely delicious prey before the unfathomable abyss.

“Still a chilling skill…”

“I need at least this much to be a match for you.”

Having just consumed an ice golem, I couldn’t use the abyss as freely as usual.

Still, even if the abyss consumed to its limit, I could still use it to enhance the sword itself, even if I couldn’t use it directly.

To conserve the abyss as much as possible, I changed the form of my sword to break through her magic with the sword’s own destructive power.

-WOONG!-

It was a sword of intermediate size, neither a greatsword nor a dagger.

I needed to maintain power, but I couldn’t sacrifice speed either.

I needed enough strength to quickly destroy her magic and enough agility to move at a speed she couldn’t match.

‘This is… difficult.’

I continued to break through her magic and threaten her, but she blocked my attacks without even blinking.

She moved as if she already knew how and where I would attack.

And she seemed so adept at dealing with the abyss that it felt like she had no openings.

‘Yes… this is how it should be.’

Her overwhelming presence instilled a sense of challenge in me and simultaneously reminded me of the old days when I admired her overwhelming power.

She was definitely a genius.

A genius incomparable to a half-baked person like me—I had always admired this genius who possessed talent that wouldn’t lose to anyone.

And there was always a thought I kept in my heart:

‘I want to beat her just once.’

I had defeated her several times in mock battles and practice, but those were purely practice.

And even those victories came when she wasn’t familiar with the abyss; recently, my win rate wasn’t good even in practice.

Still, I wanted to challenge her.

I wanted to defeat her when she was giving her all, and I wanted to make that “someday” today.

“When it matters, winning is all that counts.”

“Pardon?”

I desperately wished to turn around this situation where victory seemed impossible.

And a message visualizing that wish entered my field of vision.

[Trait, Desperate Person is activated.]

[It provides significant help in achieving something you desperately wish for.]

[That strong desire makes you more agile and stronger. (Strength and Agility increased by 40% for 30 minutes)]

My wish was ultimately visualized and appeared before me, once again having a significant impact on achieving my goal.

I looked at the message and smiled contentedly.

“Now this should be more manageable.”

Whether the effects gained from the ‘Desperate Person’ trait would lead this battle to victory was uncertain.

But the disadvantageous situation until now, where my health was depleting because I couldn’t break through her magic—

It seemed more than sufficient to change that unfavorable situation.

“You look quite confident now?”

Unaware of the change that had occurred in me, she seemed puzzled by the sudden change in my demeanor.

I smiled brightly at her and said:

“It will be quite different from before, dangerously so if you let your guard down.”

Then, to show her just how different it would be, I immediately resumed the battle.

Thanks to the effect of ‘Desperate Person’, my agility was sufficient, allowing me to use a greatsword that focused on power rather than a normal longsword.

I raised the greatsword above my head and brought it down, and she blocked the attack by creating ice with magic as usual.

-BOOM!!!-

***

A deafening sound.

That sound echoed throughout the building, which was much larger than they had thought.

And Reina, who heard the sound most vividly apart from the participants, muttered to herself:

“What on earth are those two… doing?”

But Reina, who was waiting for an opportunity to assassinate, had no time to worry about such trivial matters.

Concealing herself with [Stealth], she was targeting Chris, her primary elimination target.

‘I can do this…’

Reina felt the pressure that she absolutely had to succeed in this assassination.

She felt burdened by being the one replacing Albert’s role in the party and by leaving the main battle for the assassination.

Tense from the accumulated pressure, Reina looked alternately at her right hand holding the sword and her target.

Then, taking a deep breath, she recalled what Albert had told her.

‘Just… believe, believe you can do it.’

After that, she pointed her sword toward her target.