Ch.9493. Proof (3)

# 93. Proof (3)

“Ugh…!”

Startled by the sudden, terrifying pressure, Fenex momentarily froze in confusion.

Fortunately, as I expected, the intimidation worked on him.

‘If it had been Lilith, I’d probably be dead by now…’

Grateful that the Executor before me was Fenex, I discarded the sword in my hand and summoned a new one.

Then I filled the newly summoned greatsword with the Abyss.

“It’s all pointless no matter what you try!”

Fenex regained his composure and, with those booming words, raised his sword high into the air.

Normally, if someone much stronger than me acted like that, my first thought would be to run away.

But now, my opponent was too fast for me to escape, and ultimately, there was no need to flee.

‘In terms of raw strength, I should be superior.’

No matter how much better his stats might be compared to mine, his strength stat couldn’t be higher than mine while I wielded a greatsword.

And even if we were at similar levels, I had another power at my disposal.

‘Because I have someone who loves magical power.’

The child who emerged from my sword was licking its lips at the magnificent blade flaunting itself before me.

“Devour it all.”

I swung my sword to counter Fenex’s blade as it approached me at a frightening speed.

-CRASH!!!-

As the two swords collided, an ear-splitting sound erupted.

The power of both swords was almost identical, maintaining a tense balance, but that equilibrium was gradually crumbling due to the child’s presence.

Inside the sword, the child was feasting deliciously on Fenex’s blade and the magical power contained within it.

Fenex belatedly noticed this and immediately withdrew his sword.

“What in the…”

A gap formed as he withdrew his sword, and I didn’t miss the opportunity.

Once again, I swung my sword filled with the Abyss toward him.

‘This is my chance…’

Unlike before, his posture was significantly compromised, allowing me to parry his sword without exerting much force.

Of course, even after losing a lot of magical power, he was still plenty threatening, and it would be reckless to attempt any other moves.

But that didn’t matter.

-BANG!!-

A welcome gunshot rang out from behind, and simultaneously, something with a very familiar magical signature flew from the direction of the sound, quickly approaching the back of my head.

“Right on time, I see.”

I turned my head to dodge Eve’s magic bullet flying from behind, and it continued on its path to strike Fenex in front of me.

-BOOM!!-

Upon contact with Fenex, the magic bullet exploded with a tremendous sound and released a cloud of smoke.

It wasn’t particularly powerful, but being hit at point-blank range, he couldn’t have escaped unscathed.

“What… trick did you use this time!?”

Fenex’s face, emerging from the smoke, was wounded from the explosion, with blue blood flowing from his injuries.

“Unlike you, I’m not someone who fights fair, so I just got a little help.”

“And you still…”

“Still what? This kind of battle is meant to be fought with numbers, and you’re the one who’s been doing it wrong.”

Engaging in individual combat during a war is a sign of overconfidence and arrogance in one’s abilities.

‘At least you should be at Bael’s level to do that.’

Fighting like that with mediocre skills was no different from begging to be killed.

Even the Emperor, who had skills similar to or greater than Bael’s, didn’t prefer individual combat, and if he did engage in it, he would quickly finish it and rejoin the main force.

“Even our Emperor, who is incomparable to the likes of you, doesn’t do that, you fool.”

As I said those words, the owner of the magical power I had been sensing appeared beside me and spoke.

“Are you referring to me? Or to Father?”

“Both of you.”

“I thought you arrived really quickly… Albert is truly impressive.”

I pointed to that being who made even her words seem pale in comparison and said to her:

“She’s much faster than me, so be careful.”

“Could you be… the Imperial Princess?”

Fenex was glaring at her who had suddenly joined the battlefield, and she was glaring back at him.

“What if I am?”

“How fortunate…”

“Fortunate?”

It seemed their targets included not only Her Majesty the Empress but also the Princess.

“Because our target has appeared before us.”

“Saying that in your condition…”

Moreover, demons cannot heal with holy power, which is a convenient means, so it takes considerable time to heal wounds.

Yet, with such injuries, his reaction made me consider other possibilities.

“Don’t tell me you still think Lilith will come to help you?”

“You know well?”

Of course, there was no guarantee that Lilith would help us or the Kingdom’s army.

Since she asked me to prove my skills first, the possibility of her helping us was close to zero.

However, the possibility of her helping Fenex was also slim, as Fenex was also among the upper nobility of the Babylon Kingdom that Lilith resented.

‘Of course, she might go to their side to increase the difficulty of this test…’

That thought made me quite anxious.

In my mind, that thought had a high possibility of becoming reality.

Given how the situation had developed, such a thing could certainly happen.

“Think logically. Lilith is a very intelligent woman. Do you seriously think such a woman would abandon us superior beings to choose you inferior humans?”

“Come to think of it… you’re right..”

Of course, it wasn’t for the reason Fenex mentioned, but nonetheless, Fenex and I were anticipating the same outcome.

Since she had already arrived on the battlefield, there was no reason Lilith couldn’t arrive as well.

Realizing this, I immediately said to her:

“We need to end this quickly.”

“The others will be here soon too; they’ve already entered detection range. Eve and Riel have taken their positions, so we can get help anytime.”

“Then let’s begin.”

We needed to end this battle before Lilith intervened, and if that wasn’t possible, we needed to at least reduce the enemy forces as much as possible.

“So now you’ve decided to face me head-on? Trying to show off in front of a woman?”

“You could say that.”

I discarded the greatsword I had been holding and summoned a one-handed sword of appropriate size.

This was a situation that required a good balance of strength and speed.

This might create an ambiguous situation for both of us, but it didn’t matter.

Even if I lacked speed and gave the opponent an opportunity, she, a specialist in defense, was beside me. And even if I lacked the strength to kill the opponent, Eve and Riel were observing this place diligently.

‘And when the kids arrive, I can rely on them to some extent…’

Having a team was good in this way. Unlike having to solve everything alone, I could entrust my shortcomings to our team, and I could fill in their shortcomings.

And that fact gave me considerable psychological stability.

“Now you shouldn’t fight alone.”

“I wasn’t planning to, even without your advice. Men! Kill this foolish human and capture the Imperial Princess!”

“Capture, huh… It won’t be as easy as you think. Our Princess’s iron defense can’t be breached by the likes of you.”

It was true that the demons’ magical power was overwhelming, and each of those soldiers had enough magical power to surpass her, but the stat that determined the power of magic was different.

Even among demons, the distribution of stats varies for each individual, and they tend to be evenly distributed.

“Especially for small fry like you, and Fenex! It will be difficult for you too.”

It was true that Fenex’s strength was as high as mine when I wielded a greatsword, but her magic stat was much higher than that.

Considering that a staff only enhances the magic stat and significantly increases it, she could potentially reach a magic stat of up to 300.

Thinking about it that way, I felt that the Abyss, which devoured even her magic, was truly remarkable.

I spoke to the magnificent Abyss that had been wanting to escape from the sword for quite some time:

“It’s feeding time. There are a lot of quality prey today, aren’t there? These are ones I specially prepared.”

“Have you gone mad, accepting your death?”

Certainly, from their perspective, I must look like a madman talking to myself in this situation.

“Well… not exactly. I’ll resist as much as I can.”

“Are you trying to live even a second longer? You’re certainly a tough one.”

I pointed my sword at the horde of demons rushing toward me and immediately slashed through the air, releasing the Abyss.

“By the way, this attack gets faster in proportion to my speed. Just so you know. Not that it’ll be of any use to you.”

***

Lu and Lilith were maintaining their stealth at the very top of the clock tower where the portal was located, watching the fierce battle.

Seeing Albert’s combat for the first time, they were watching the scene with interest, especially Lu.

“He’s really good, isn’t he?”

“Indeed…”

“Was he at this level when you saw him before?”

“No… not at all…”

Having witnessed this scene, Lilith couldn’t say that Albert had been idle during that time.

If he had been playing around during that time, such growth would have been impossible.

“His skills are unique, he knows how to trust his team, and above all, he’s experienced and has solid fundamentals. He’s really 17 years old?”

“He’s quite a remarkable fellow…”

Albert, the protagonist of that battlefield and the most radiant presence there, was boldly ‘proving’ his skills and worth.