Confrontation (2)

To be honest, even the elder elf sister I was fighting until just now was a considerably strong opponent.

Her attacks using daggers were threatening—extremely fast and numerous.

But she was someone I could somehow subdue.

The problem was that the elf who appeared to be her younger sister had joined the fight as well.

As expected of sisters, their coordinated attacks were terrifying.

When I tried to deal with one, the other would launch a sharp attack.

If Riel hadn’t been supporting me with magic from a short distance away, several dangerous situations could have unfolded.

“Ah, really! How annoying!!”

The younger elf sister, who was trying to stab at an opening after I blocked the elder sister’s attack and kicked her away, was interrupted by Riel’s Flame Lance and grumbled.

She took out a throwing knife from her chest and threw it at Riel, but Baduk jumped up and deflected it.

I approached the younger elf sister to attack her while she was distracted by Riel, but the elder sister, who had already regained her stance, blocked my way.

Seeing Riel chanting magic again, the younger elf sister clicked her tongue and changed her target back to me.

It seemed she wanted to avoid the risk of showing her back to me while trying to attack Riel.

If so, she probably planned to subdue me first, then subdue Riel.

The elf sisters’ coordinated attack began again.

The dagger approached, and the rapier thrust forward.

Dodging, deflecting, blocking… dodging, deflecting, blocking…

A few attacks I couldn’t properly counter left cuts on my body.

But somehow I managed to avoid fatal attacks, so I could endure.

However, it felt like there would be no end if this continued.

After exchanging attacks several times, even Riel’s offensive magic was gradually diminishing in power.

From Flame Lance to Fire Arrow, from Fire Arrow to Blit.

As increasingly weaker magic flew toward them, the elf sisters’ momentum grew stronger.

The younger elf sister smiled and said:

“Ha, seems like she’s out of magical power now.”

“…Obviously. How many times do you think she’s used magic?”

The elder elf sister responded to her younger sister’s comment.

Indeed, Riel had already used plenty of magic—Flame Lance, Fire Arrow, Blit, Prominence Flare, and more.

For an ordinary magician, it wouldn’t be strange if their magical power was already exhausted.

“Then it’s about time we finish this, right?”

The younger elf sister mockingly waved her rapier.

The elder elf sister nodded and gripped both her daggers in reverse.

…I glanced at Riel.

She was panting heavily, looking exhausted—a common sight for magicians who have depleted their magical power.

Our eyes met.

Her clear red eyes looked directly at me.

…

I raised my sword.

To protect Riel, I needed to hold out just a little longer.

I had to somehow block both of them.

The elder elf sister attacked first.

I calmly blocked her dagger with my sword, creating an opening.

But I deliberately didn’t thrust at that opening. I had to dodge immediately.

As expected, the younger elf sister’s rapier immediately thrust toward me.

If I had tried to exploit the elder sister’s opening, that rapier would have pierced me.

The elder sister’s dagger didn’t approach immediately.

The elder elf briefly glanced at Riel.

Riel was just continuing to exhale, her gaze fixed on me.

Perhaps reassured, the elder elf turned her gaze from Riel and immediately attacked me again.

I had to block them. I had to hold both of them securely.

I had to stop them so that no harm would come to Riel.

I deflect the elder elf’s dagger.

I dodge the younger elf’s rapier.

Deflect, block, dodge, and counterattack when possible.

The exchange of attacks continued for more than ten, twenty times.

Now, the elf sisters were focusing solely on me and continuing their attacks.

My shoulder was pierced.

My arm was cut.

The rapier grazed my cheek.

A deep wound opened on one of my legs.

Nevertheless, I could somehow still stand.

“Ah… you’re in tatters but still so persistent!”

“……”

Eventually, the younger elf sister burst out in anger.

The elder elf sister didn’t say anything, but her expression conveyed her exasperation.

I quietly held my sword, confronting them.

My pierced shoulder hurt terribly.

Sharp pain radiated from the wound on my leg.

But I had to endure. I couldn’t reveal my expression.

I couldn’t show them this smile that was about to escape my lips.

I looked at the summon Freya sitting behind the elf sisters, vigorously wagging her tail, and jumped backward with all my might.

“What is it this time…!”

Just as the younger elf sister was about to say something.

“Explode Ray!!”

A massive explosion engulfed the elf sisters.

Somehow standing on my painful leg, I smiled at Riel who had slumped down, appearing exhausted from using high-level magic.

“As expected of Riel. Your magical power quantity really is superior to anyone else’s.”

Even in the original story, Riel was said to have several times the normal amount of magical power.

There’s no way her magical power would be depleted just from using a few low to mid-level spells.

“You were fooled, weren’t you? You stupid pointy-eared wenches.”

Elf mercenary Kirk Rampid desperately tried to wipe away the cold sweat flowing down his face.

He could still feel the throbbing pain in his abdomen.

Glancing at his abdomen, he felt blood flowing from where the flesh had been torn away.

…Even though his opponent’s hands were clearly bare.

The elf who had identified herself as Lilu Arma raised her clenched fist.

She bent her legs, lowered her body, and assumed a stance.

It was like the posture a wild beast takes just before pouncing.

The Arma clan.

A clan of warriors entrusted with guarding the World Tree Yggdrasil for hundreds of years.

Though he had never seen them directly, their strength must be exceptional to be entrusted with guarding the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Sweat began to form on Kirk’s hand gripping the dagger.

Several seconds later.

Lilu suddenly disappeared from Kirk’s sight.

“What…!”

It was almost instinctual.

Instinctively, Kirk moved his hand holding the dagger.

Clang!!

The hand holding the dagger was able to block Lilu’s fist.

‘What is this…’

With just one leap, Lilu Arma had appeared right above Kirk and swung her fist.

The hand that blocked the punch felt very numb.

When her attack was blocked, Lilu retreated again.

Then she began to leap sideways.

‘What beast-like…’

Lilu’s movements were similar to those of a four-legged beast like a wolf.

Though she was clearly running on two feet, she seemed to overlap with such beasts.

“You use a peculiar technique.”

“I learned it from my master. It’s been a while since I’ve used it, but…”

Lilu briefly opened her clenched fist to look at it, then grinned and clenched it again.

Lilu thought of the words of the master who had taught her martial arts hundreds of years ago.

“Listen well, Lilu. In this world, violence can solve most troubles.”

The master would say that and grin, revealing sharp canines.

Well, even with that grin, it wasn’t intimidating but funny because of his face.

“…Yes. This should be enough.”

“……”

The aura of magical power swirling around Lilu’s hands and feet.

It was none other than wind magic.

So, was it that rotating wind magic that caused these torn-like wounds?

Kirk glared at Lilu, tightly gripping his dagger.

He would not miss her movements again. That’s what he thought.

Perhaps thanks to that, this time he was able to properly capture Lilu’s movements.

“Hyaap!!”

Lilu appeared right in front of him, then quickly disappeared.

But Kirk could somehow see that Lilu hadn’t disappeared, but had merely lowered her stance.

Belatedly, he jumped to avoid Lilu’s kick that was sweeping toward his lower body.

‘Now… I’ll strike her below…’

He adjusted his grip on the dagger to reverse hold and prepared to plunge it into Lilu who should be below him.

With that thought, Kirk looked down.

Whack!!

In that moment, Kirk’s head that had been looking down snapped back up.

A tremendous impact had struck Kirk’s chin.

“This is a triple combo, you know?”

As Lilu’s voice entered Kirk’s ears, another powerful impact hit Kirk’s torso.

Kirk’s body was thrown sideways in the same direction as the impact.

“Kuk… Keuuk…!”

Kirk groaned in pain.

Both his chin and side were torn by the wind magic, and overwhelming pain engulfed him.

But when he gathered himself and raised his head, what entered his eyes was the sight of Lilu jumping high into the air.

It was already too late to dodge.

Lilu’s body in free fall from the air crushed Kirk.

From that intense impact, Kirk felt like his consciousness was about to fly away.

Kwaaaang!!

A loud noise accompanied the impact.

At first, he thought he was hearing things due to the pain that had overtaken him, but in his dim consciousness, what entered Kirk’s eyes was the aftermath of an explosion.

At the center of the explosion, he could see his sisters collapsing.

Perhaps they had somehow created a barrier with magic, as they didn’t seem to be dead.

But with those injuries, they wouldn’t last long.

In his fading consciousness, Kirk prayed for his sisters’ safety.

As her opponent lost consciousness, Lilu withdrew the magical power from her limbs.

The fiercely rotating magic that had been tearing at her opponent gradually disappeared, and blood dripped to the ground.

“Hmm… I’ve really gotten rusty. It’s been too long…”

Elf Lilu, who had always been among the top in archery skills within her clan.

But she was even stronger with her bare hands.

“Damn, they’re still alive.”

The high-level magic Explode Ray.

It’s a magic that shoots light of fire magic to cause a violent explosion.

It’s a magic that would reduce ordinary magical beasts to ashes with one shot, but the elf sisters who took it head-on were still alive.

They must have raised their magical power to create some kind of barrier.

Even so, they were scorched all over and smoke was rising from their bodies.

“…Sister, Rea sister… are you okay?”

“……”

“I guess not. Well… same here.”

The elder elf sister was just barely keeping her eyes open while collapsed on the ground, and the younger elf sister was also on the verge of collapsing.

Somehow raising my painful body, I approached them with my sword.

If they had survived, I needed to finish them off right here.

“…Rea, hurry…”

“Sorry, sister. I don’t have the strength to run away either.”

The younger elf sister slumped down in place.

I forced strength into my staggering legs and moved.

To end the elf sisters’ lives.

“Kyeong!!”

Perhaps worried about my staggering appearance, Baduk ran toward me.

Riel, probably due to having just used high-level magic, was sitting down dizzily in place.

Perhaps seeing me holding my sword, the younger elf sister who had raised her head spoke.

“…Are you going to kill us?”

“What’s wrong with trying to kill someone who came to kill us?”

“Haha, I guess that’s true?”

The younger elf sister laughed as if she had given up everything.

As the distance between us narrowed, her eyes seemed to flash for a moment.

A sudden sense of unease came over me.

“…But, even if I’m going to die, shouldn’t I at least take down one of the targets to save face?”

Saying this, the younger elf sister picked up one of the daggers her sister had been using.

With a cold smile, she prepared to throw the dagger with all her remaining strength.

Her target wasn’t me.

“You damn…”

Realizing that her aim was directed toward where Riel was sitting, my mind raced.

Baduk couldn’t respond. He was unfortunately focused on me.

I couldn’t deflect it with my sword. I didn’t have the strength in my body to reach that dagger and swing my sword.

Then… magic.

There were two spells I could use right now without incantation.

Wind Cutter, which I had practiced diligently, and Air Burst, which I always keep stocked.

Wind Cutter has a narrow range and is specialized for cutting ability, making it unsuitable for deflecting a dagger.

Air Burst has a wide range and explosive power, but its short range makes it unsuitable for reaching a flying dagger.

So, the only method left was… just one.

‘Air Burst!!’

The intermediate magic Air Burst.

It’s a magic that explodes air to unleash a powerful shockwave at close range.

It has the drawback that if used incorrectly, I myself could be caught in the impact, but right now I was grateful for that.

From the impact of using Air Burst, I felt my body being caught in the explosion and flying away.

Whack!!

At the same time, pain that felt like something piercing my abdomen and tearing my internal organs overwhelmed my body.

I think I heard Riel’s scream.