Chapter 79

Chapter 79

79: Blood Born The moment I heard that sound, I was certain. I succeeded. As I rose amidst the sweltering heat, a heavy sound vibrated in my ears.

-Thump!

I realized the Griffin had fallen through the slight trembling of the ground. Beyond the soaring flames, I could see the Griffin collapsed in the distance. A familiar-looking sword was lodged in the Griffin’s neck, which resembled an eagle.

-Kirrr…

It wasn’t dead yet, but bringing it down was a success. The Griffin had damaged its wings from tumbling on the ground, making it difficult to take flight. I confirmed this and immediately ran towards the fallen Griffin. “Ugh…” The rider seemed to have lost consciousness as he fell, pinned under the Griffin’s body. The other person… was nowhere to be seen. Where are they?

-Whoosh.

Just as I was about to turn my head in a hurry, the sound of wind rang in my ears. It wasn’t a sound of something being shot out, but rather of wind being gathered. I turned my gaze towards the direction of the sound. Beyond the flickering flames, a familiar figure came into view. It was a man in light armor, holding a bluish glowing sword. His face, distorted by the afterimage of the flames, was filled with burning rage. “You little bug…!” The knight shouted and swung his sword. As if to end it with this strike, powerfully.

-Swoosh!!

The wind slash he unleashed was different from before. The chilling wind created at the tip of the cursed sword mingled with the still-raging flames, rushing towards me. Blades of wind accompanied by hot flames spread out in a fan shape, scorching the field as they surged towards me. “Ugh!” I quickly ducked and tumbled to the ground. Was it because my inner energy was depleted, or because the poison had spread? I felt a subtle imbalance in my body. It wasn’t painful, but it was an unnatural sensation, as if a few threads controlling me had been cut. I ignored it and continued to move, evading the onslaught of fiery wind. Fortunately, I managed to avoid the attack.

-Whoosh!

I heard the sound of fire spreading behind me, along with intense heat. There was no pain. It was proof that I had narrowly avoided it. If so, now is the time to counterattack.

-Swish.

As I thought that and stood up, I saw the knight aiming something at me. It was a familiar-looking spear. The handle was blunt and wide, and the tip was sharp, resembling a Heavy Lance. But it wasn’t made to stab. The Fire Lance, glowing red, was pointed at me. Seriously. This is a bit much. A Griffin rider, a cursed sword, and now a Fire Lance? There’s a limit to how good your equipment can be.

-Swish!

I grumbled inwardly and threw the dagger I had in my pocket at the knight. Even if my inner energy was depleted, I still had stamina. The knight wasn’t wearing heavy armor, so this should buy me some time.

-Clang!

As expected. The knight skillfully deflected the flying dagger with a swing of his lance. Thanks to that, the direction of the Fire Lance aimed at me was diverted. I took out the last dagger from my pocket and charged towards the knight. “Trying to be clever!” The knight shouted angrily, but I had no intention of engaging in a heated debate. Ignoring him, I continued to charge towards the knight. The knight aimed the lance at me again, but the distance was already considerably narrowed. “Fila Ro Golbas!” With a hurried incantation, a fireball was launched from the red-hot Fire Lance. The trajectory of the Fire Lance was aimed precisely at my feet.

-Tap!

I put strength into both legs and leaped into the air. I dodged it with the feeling of jumping over the surging fireball. I wondered if I would stumble and fall, but fortunately, my body listened to me.

-Boom!!

“Ugh!” A blast of heat struck from behind, pushing my body. The hot wind and the debris of dirt and dust that flew up hit my back. But that was all. Compared to being hit directly, it was negligible damage.

-Thud.

Enduring that, I staggered and landed on the ground. As I swayed and raised my head, I saw a look of exhaustion on the knight’s face. “You, you monster…” There was no need to answer that. From his perspective, it wasn’t exactly wrong. Now, the distance to the knight was only 3 meters. At this distance, he couldn’t use the Fire Lance anymore. From now on, it was a battle of pure force.

-Whoosh!

Ah, mistake. To be precise, he couldn’t use fireballs. The knight swung the Fire Lance with both hands, bringing it down on me. It was originally designed to stab, but it wouldn’t hurt any less if he swung it. Sometimes, even magical tools can be used so crudely.

-Whooosh!

The red-hot Fire Lance aimed at my head, flying diagonally. I didn’t know if the magic of the cursed sword had run out, or if he was planning to fight with the residual heat in the Fire Lance, but it was clear that getting hit by that would be very hot and painful. I raised my dagger and deflected the swinging Fire Lance.

-Clang!!

A dull impact assaulted my arm, but I ignored it. The trajectory of the deflected Fire Lance headed weakly towards the ground. I pushed the lance shaft away with my dagger and lunged into the knight’s arms. Seeing that, the knight quickly abandoned the Fire Lance and drew the sword he had inserted to use the Fire Lance again.

-Sreung!

A familiar quick draw technique. Weaker than a power-filled sword strike, but enough to inflict a fatal wound on the opponent in a desperate situation. However-

-Tap!

“What!?” It won’t work on me. The knight’s face showed panic and shock as I reached out and grabbed the blade. Had he forgotten that I couldn’t be cut by the sword in this sudden situation? Or did he think that the source of my defense was nullifying magic? Either way, it doesn’t matter. Because of that one mistake, he will meet his demise. With one hand holding the blade of the cursed sword, I slashed the dagger towards the knight’s neck.

-Thwack.

“Kuh!?” However, what the dagger pierced was not the knight’s neck, but the hand that blocked it. A chilling sound of tearing flesh echoed in my ears, along with the knight’s groan of pain. The sharp blade pierced through the palm, protruding from the back of his hand. I clicked my tongue inwardly. I had to resort to hand-to-hand combat if necessary.

-Pow!

But before I could think, a dull impact struck my abdomen. The knight’s foot dug into my stomach, and the recoil caused my body to float into the air. Even in the midst of the urgency, feeling that dull pain was pleasant was absurd even to me. “Heut!?” My damn body was too small and light compared to the knight’s sturdy physique, flying through the air like a kite with a broken string. It felt like it took quite a long time for my floating body to touch the ground again.

-Thud.

Soft dirt supported my back, and the fresh scent of grass brushed my nose. My tired body was screaming to lie down, but I couldn’t. I quickly got up and looked at the knight. The distance was quite far. I only got kicked once, but I flew about 3 meters. Is this light body only useful for getting lifted and slammed? I smiled bitterly inwardly and stared blankly at the knight. And then I found something. Behind the knight, Erzebet was approaching with a silent gait. …Hmm, I won this. Would distracting him for a moment be perfect? “You tenacious bitch… just die already.” He held the sword in one hand, staring at me with eyes burning with hatred. But I couldn’t let him live either. Since my face and everything had been exposed, he had to die here. “Don’t talk nonsense, why don’t you just give up? You look pretty tired.” “Shut up!!” As soon as I said something I didn’t mean, the answer came back immediately. The knight swung his sword with his good hand, shooting a blade of wind towards me.

-Whoosh!

Because the distance was close, I couldn’t avoid the wind flying in a fan shape. Judging from the sound of the wind, it didn’t seem like it would hurt much even if I got hit, so I willingly greeted the wind by raising my arms to defend my face. Through the gap in my crossed arms, I saw El running towards the knight. She rushed in like a black panther, opening her mouth and biting the knight’s neck.

-Crunch!

“Kuaaa!!” Under the night sky, the knight’s scream echoed. That was his last cry.