Ch.227Chapter 227 – Special Training (3)

I catch the Demon King’s sword.

It’s been over twenty rounds now, withstanding attacks that I couldn’t endure with my bare body.

‘No matter how many times I fight, I can’t help but be amazed.’

I thought quietly as I deflected the Demon King’s sword.

Clearly, the Demon King at that time was injured.

Even in my memories, the Demon King only appeared in a wounded state.

In other words, from the beginning, the Demon King I fought had greatly reduced combat power due to injuries.

Yet I still couldn’t win.

From the first day until yesterday.

Not once did I land a proper effective hit.

How many times was I cut down with a single stroke?

How many times did I barely block an attack only to suffer a fatal wound and collapse after just a few exchanges?

It was certain that at least the current me—the me without the dragon armor—was no match for him.

Despite training with Beatrice and Mask, honing myself and devising various methods, the gap hardly narrowed.

Until yesterday, that is.

-Clang!

Unlike yesterday, now I was clearly blocking and deflecting the Demon King’s sword.

First once, then twice.

I was steadily following and blocking attacks that I couldn’t keep up with before.

‘I’m getting there.’

The training here had steadily become my experience.

Fighting against opponents from my memories, sometimes dying, sometimes winning—those experiences had become mine.

After several more exchanges, I eventually fell behind in speed, and the Demon King’s sword flew toward my head.

I forcibly twisted away from that attack with my halberd, dodged, and resumed my stance.

“…I’m getting closer, just a little.”

A clearly different reality.

Without realizing it, I smiled at that fact and continued the fight.

‘I can see it.’

I dodge and block the sword as it extends out in a flashy arc.

I deflect the quick sword strikes that would be missed if I thought about them consciously, and swing my halberd to counterattack.

‘From above.’

I dodge the Demon King’s sword that suddenly appeared from above and attempt a counterattack with my halberd.

-Crash!

Finally, the heavy feeling in my hands.

I could tell it was blocked, but my senses weren’t lying.

I blocked the following sword strikes, widened the distance, and observed him.

And then.

-Clatter.

Part of the Demon King’s armor fell to the floor.

“…I hit him.”

I grinned as I watched the Demon King step back.

Yes, finally, for the first time.

For the first time, my attack connected.

For the first time, I succeeded in landing an attack without the dragon armor.

After only defending and eventually being pushed back and cut, I was finally able to counterattack.

‘Still, winning might be too much to ask.’

Landing this one attack was only possible because I blocked and deflected many times that number of attacks.

If we fought to the end, this time too would probably end with me being cut in half by that sword.

Still, the exhilaration of knowing I had definitely hit him was invigorating my body.

‘Here I go.’

I swung my halberd toward the Demon King.

The Demon King swung his sword.

Our weapons collided in mid-air, entangling as we aimed for vital points.

Once again, numerous exchanges of attacks tore and cut my body, increasing my wounds.

Even so, like before, my attack that dug into an opening slightly touched the Demon King’s body.

“Tch…”

At some point, my arms began to go numb, causing me to unconsciously grimace.

The continuous exchange had finally brought my stamina to its limit.

The Demon King, with slight cracks all over his armor, pointed his sword at me.

Instinctively, I felt that this attack would be the last of this session.

I gripped my halberd with both hands and faced off against the sword-wielding Demon King.

“This is the last one.”

As if those words were a signal, the Demon King leaped at me.

The halberd and sword collided once in mid-air.

In that moment, the Demon King’s sword pierced near my heart.

“Guh…!”

At the last moment, the Demon King’s sword broke my halberd and lodged in my body.

And the blade of the halberd was flying through the air.

“I won’t let it end like this!”

Coughing blood, I immediately stretched out my arm, grabbed the falling halberd blade, and brought it down toward the Demon King’s face.

I finally succeeded in landing a blow on the Demon King’s helmet.

“Cough…”

I spat blood.

My vision began to darken.

And I saw the Demon King’s helmet move slightly.

‘…It didn’t go in properly.’

I knew I had made much progress, but the fact that I had ultimately lost was frustrating.

“Next time…”

And then, suddenly, Beatrice’s voice reached my ears.

[I’m sorry… emergency… interrupting.]

An urgent voice.

What happened?

As I felt my consciousness drifting away from this place, I reached out toward the disappearing Demon King and said:

“Next time, I will definitely…”

Definitely.

I will win.

As I thought that, for some reason, it seemed like the Demon King nodded slightly, and simultaneously, my consciousness began to fade away like falling asleep.

+

Right after being defeated by the Demon King in my memories.

As soon as I came out of the training ground, I asked:

“What’s the situation?”

“You’ll see when you get there.”

From Beatrice’s words, I immediately realized something serious had happened.

And the moment I arrived at the place Beatrice guided me to.

I unconsciously muttered:

“Damn it…”

Speaking with a trembling voice, I looked down to see Chris’s nun’s veil scattered on the floor.

“Chris?”

Recalling the moment when Chris was seriously injured before, I felt my vision blur involuntarily.

Looking at me, Beatrice quietly said:

“She’s been kidnapped. I don’t know why they suddenly took her.”

However, Beatrice explained that Chris had sent a distress signal, perhaps as a last act of resistance.

She added that she terminated the magic cast on me as soon as she received that signal.

As I listened to Beatrice’s explanation, I unconsciously turned my gaze to the side to see Lara and Eina with their heads bowed low.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.”

From what I briefly heard, the situation was close to Chris being ambushed during a shift change.

While Eina and Lara weren’t entirely blameless, they hadn’t done it intentionally or been in collusion, so there was no need to be too harsh on them.

Besides, pressuring them wouldn’t solve the more important issue.

“Regretting what’s already happened can wait. What’s important now is…”

“Rescuing Chris, right?”

I nodded at Sera’s words.

“Escaping from here is important too, but I don’t want to abandon Chris.”

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t give up on Chris.

Even if we were to leave this place, I didn’t want to leave anyone behind.

If possible, I wanted everyone to leave together, without any injuries.

And I immediately looked at Beatrice and asked:

“Beatrice, can you track her?”

“…It’s going to be difficult. There’s interference.”

Beatrice, who was already using magic circles to search for Chris, expressed her reluctance.

“Asam is helping, but there are too many interfering spells.”

It seemed Beatrice had already started tracking with Asam’s help before I brought it up.

However, it appeared they couldn’t properly locate the target because of the barrier set by the dragon.

“Tracking using magic will be difficult.”

“I understand.”

I quickly nodded and looked at Sera and Eve.

They both shook their heads as well.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have such tools…”

“I also didn’t see Miss Christina being kidnapped.”

Sera and Eve couldn’t offer much help either.

In Eve’s case, even if she had seen Chris being kidnapped, since it would be from her own perspective, she probably wouldn’t know where Chris was taken.

‘Is there no way?’

There were no means to find her.

We would have to search on foot.

In that case, we’d have to rely on our senses…

‘Senses?’

If it’s about senses.

‘Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch.’

Among these, excluding sight, taste, and touch which couldn’t be used immediately.

That left hearing and smell.

“…Nose.”

Was it a coincidence?

There happened to be a race with an excellent sense of smell right here.

“Miss Lara, can you track by scent?”

“I’d like to help right away, but…”

Lara spoke with a troubled expression.

“You see, if she was dragged away, maybe, but if magic was used, she would have just disappeared with a poof! In that case, it’s almost impossible. Plus, with the volcano, the sulfur smell is so strong…”

The smell filling the lair made tracking difficult.

If magic was used, tracking would be completely impossible.

As soon as Lara finished speaking, Asam poked his head out and said:

“Fortunately, it seems magic wasn’t used. There’s no trace of a warp gate being opened nearby.”

“That’s good news.”

“But you mentioned sulfur smell, right? Honestly, I don’t have an answer for that. I don’t have enough catalysts to cast a spell that only removes sulfur smell.”

I immediately questioned Asam’s statement:

“Not enough?”

“I’ve been rushing to prepare for our escape.”

Asam spoke quietly, showing a leather pouch as he explained:

“…I’ve been hurrying to complete this for emergencies, so I’m short on catalysts for spells.”

It was unfortunate that the catalysts needed now were used for our escape.

While they were used for something essential, it was still a headache in the current situation.

‘Is there really no way?’

At that moment, Sera quietly spoke:

“Perhaps, if we enhance the senses, would it be possible?”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes. It’s not specifically designed for enhancing smell, but I have a medicine that produces a similar effect.”

Sera took out a medicine from her bosom and showed it to me.

“Originally, it enhances all senses.”

According to Sera’s explanation, it was made by processing a byproduct from creating another medicine.

“I don’t have much, and the effect is short-lived, but it definitely enhances the senses.”

“So we use that to enhance the sense of smell.”

I nodded at Sera’s suggestion.

“Let’s try it.”

If there was a possibility, there was no reason not to test it.

“Right now, our goal is simple.”

I quietly addressed my companions who were looking at me.

“Rescue Chris and escape from this place.”

With this simple goal presented, and my companions nodding in agreement.

Each of us began our preparations.

+

My head hurts.

When she regained consciousness, the first thing Chris felt was pain that made her unconsciously grimace.

“Ugh…”

Somehow gritting her teeth to endure the pain, she lifted her heavy head and looked around.

And then.

[You’re awake.]

She realized a giant dragon was looking down at her.

“The… Red Evil Dragon…”

[I have a name, Rubrum.]

I know that, Chris muttered inwardly.

Then, slightly watching his reaction while looking around, she quietly asked:

“…Why did you bring me here?”

Rubrum did not answer.

He merely moved his body slightly to the side.

Feeling blood rush to her head unlike usual, Chris said:

“Are you ignoring me?”

[I have no reason to treat you as an equal in your current state.]

At Rubrum’s cold words, Chris unconsciously puffed her cheeks.

She slightly suspected whether dragons fundamentally lacked basic courtesy as a trait.

As she was expressing her dissatisfaction with Rubrum, he glared at her and said:

[However, what comes next is uncertain.]

“What?”

What is he suddenly talking about?

As Chris tilted her head in confusion at Rubrum’s words, she soon heard the sound of something heavy moving.

[Clank, clank]

The sound of metal clanking and moving could be heard.

Chris could immediately recall a similar sound.

‘It sounds like a golem moving…’

But for such a thing, it felt too lively.

It felt like something alive walking.

And from behind Rubrum.

The owner of the sound appeared.

[Oh, so this is the young lady?]

What appeared was a small suit of armor.

In terms of size, it was similar to dwarves.

While Chris wondered if it was something like a living armor, she didn’t sense such an aura.

In the first place, if it had been an undead like a living armor, she could have detected it well before it got this close.

“Who are you?”

While it doesn’t apply in all situations, if dialogue was possible, it was best to attempt communication first.

As if reading Chris’s thoughts, the armor looked at her with what seemed like a joyful attitude and said:

[Ah, self-introduction is important. I am…]

[That’s enough.]

Rubrum irritably interrupted the armor as it was about to speak energetically.

[I don’t want to waste time on you.]

[Huh, you say you live for hundreds or thousands of years, yet you don’t want to waste a few minutes or seconds. What a hypocrite, spending many times that sleeping.]

The armor grumbled back, and Rubrum just quietly glared.

Soon, the armor said mockingly:

[You can’t touch me because of the contract, can you?]

At the armor’s words, Rubrum spat out:

[…You act according to the contract. I have someone to test, so I’m leaving.]

As if he didn’t want to exchange any more words, Rubrum turned his head and began heading somewhere.

Watching Rubrum, the armor made a sound like clicking its tongue and said:

[How boring… Well, if we fought in this state, I’d be immediately smashed, but still.]

“You provoked him in that state?”

The armor immediately nodded and said:

[Yes. As long as the contract with the goddess remains, he can’t touch me.]

At the bold armor’s words, Chris felt her head becoming slightly dazed.

Regardless of Chris’s reaction, the armor shrugged and said:

[Well, let’s leave him to do what he wants. Now, pretty lady, your name?]

“Um, I’m…”

Should I tell my name?

While Chris was genuinely contemplating, the armor made a sound as if laughing and said:

[Well, let’s talk slowly. Young lady who possesses the cloak of my old friend, Roxanna.]

“What?”

[I miss her. That one, she hardly wore that cloak because she found laundry bothersome.]

Chris’s eyes widened at the words that seemed to know the owner of the cloak she was currently wearing over her nun’s habit.

And as if satisfied with her reaction, the armor nodded.

[Now, let’s move forward. The blacksmith of the hero’s party, Dvel, will guide you.]

Chris’s eyes widened again at the sudden mention of a name from the old hero’s party.