episode_0071

Is the expression “adding insult to injury” meant for times like this?

While I, the top power, and Prider were struggling with just one Bellita, the situation was further complicated by an additional reinforcement of over twenty people.

Moreover, this was right after we had been exhausted from the skirmish with the East Path adventurers who had turned into bandits.

In this state, even if we were caught off guard, it would be a complete disaster.

“For now, fall back! All of you too! If we get surrounded, it’s certain death. We need to fight together right now!”

At Bardu’s shout, adventurers and hired hands hastily fell back, forming a clumsy defensive line while standing behind the baggage carts.

Jane and Lernum, Amy and Rug, were placed right against the baggage carts, with warriors holding weapons and shields firmly defending the front as a shield wall.

Unlike a military-style shield wall that completely blocks the front, this formation felt more like a gathering, as each person left enough space to freely wield their weapons.

…Will they be able to handle the newly added attackers, about twenty of them?

I don’t know… No, honestly, it seemed hopeless. Everyone was exhausted and injured.

“Cack-cack-cackle! It’s not over yet! Come on! Approach as much as you want!”

Rather than being tense, Kikel pounded his shield with his spear and let out a ferocious laugh, but the upper ranks, including Rug, looked extremely pale, as if their morale had completely shattered.

“Good lord… What is this…!”

“Damn it, my leg can’t take this…!”

“We didn’t leave the village for this…”

The trio that Amina had been leading had long since lost heart.

From the start, they had caught Amina’s eye not because of their talent or skill, but simply because of their faces, so I didn’t have much hope for them either…

…But still, even so.

Amina, who had taken good care of them in every way, had been brutally murdered, yet these three seemed only concerned about their own lives, showing no sign of seeking revenge at all.

Yeah, what could you expect from humans like those with holes in their heads, acting like hosts.

They couldn’t escape in that state, so if they didn’t want to die, they’d better fight hard on their own.

◆◆

“Do you have the luxury to pay attention to that side?”

Facing oneself and looking at the other side, does it hurt one’s pride?

– Kwaang!

“Kyaaat!”

Bellita kicked the ground, shattered the window, sending Priddy flying, then swiftly drew a dagger from her waist and shot it at me like a bullet.

“Tsk…!”

A throw aimed at the unprotected thigh beneath the armor.

As I deflected the dagger with a swift kick, Bellita bent her knees, lowered her waist, and lunged at me again.

“Here I come again!”

Leaving deep footprints on the ground, she rushed forward, a high-speed thrust like a shot arrow.

“Don’t be so relaxed…!”

I grabbed the thrown dagger and hurled it back at Bellita, almost rolling to evade the tip of her spear.

– Kagagagak!

She passed by me, then stopped, digging into the ground with her toes. In that moment, I managed to regain my stance.

“You’re good at dodging. Quite entertaining. Both you and that little brat.”

Bellita chuckled, turning to look at me. Her dagger was stuck in the corner of her mouth.

“What are you going to do?”

I glared sharply at the flaming tip of her spear.

Although I worried about our group fighting Bellita’s subordinates, at this moment, I couldn’t afford to focus on that.

Her thrusts were incredibly difficult to counter. They were too fast to dodge, too forceful to block, and due to the fiery explosions, trying to block them would only result in harm.

If only the speed were slower, I could somehow manage to counter… but that was impossible.

Like a rabbit kicking the ground to explosively accelerate the thrust, it didn’t even allow a brief opening for my counterattack.

Clearly surpassing my speed.

When we briefly clashed earlier, there wasn’t much difference in speed or strength, but that single charge alone displayed a staggering speed.

The trajectory was excessively linear, and after each charge, she paused to pant for a moment, giving me a chance to stand still.

If it hadn’t been for that, I would have been seriously injured by a direct hit through my armor.

“Exactly. It’s just a warning not to die so easily.”

Changdae turned his head and laughed with a hungry animal-like grin, showing his teeth.

“For once, let’s have some fun.”

“I don’t find it fun.”

“Well, that’s not my concern, is it?”

It was the speech of a blonde, tanned gangster-like man, eyeing a woman with an owner.

“Oh, I see. You know well. Are you used to having fun alone?”

I retorted sharply, aiming the tip of my sword at her.

“What?”

A crude and vulgar provocation, hoping to shake her up a bit in case it might help in a fight.

“Hmm.”

Perhaps this provocation had some effect after all.

“Seriously. Adventurers are really…”

Bellita laughed as if she couldn’t believe it, then furrowed her brow.

And…

– Whoosh!

The next moment, along with the sound of rushing wind,

“…are nothing but filthy little brats who need to be taught a lesson.”

His left hand, extended like a claw, cast a deep shadow in front of me.

Faster than when he charged with his spear, almost twice as fast. I couldn’t even react. Just before the shadow engulfed me, about to be dyed black by it, blocked by the gap in my helmet.

“You know? All of us rotten ones vibrate here.”

His playful tone vanished, replaced by a lively, vibrant voice. A sense of imminent danger surged through my spine like a chill.

“Not me!”

Swinging my longsword horizontally, I aimed for Bellita’s waist, narrowly avoiding her grip as she fell backward.

As I tried to stand up again,

“Heh, Hilde doesn’t smell!”

Hearing Freida’s shout defending me from above.

Freida, leaping vertically about three meters, spun in mid-air and descended like lightning toward Bellita’s head.

Whoosh!

Brandishing a large, charred and twisted greatsword, striking vertically like the blade of a guillotine.

It was madness.

“Freida!”

I urgently got up and screamed like a scream.

In the empty space where there was no place to step, what kind of dangerous technique is that? What on earth made them do such a thing…!

If it had been like that, I would have burst out like a skewer just by avoiding a few steps to the side and counterattacking!

“Tsk…!”

…But strangely,

Instead of stepping to the side, Belita stopped in place, stuck out her tongue, and with a stern expression, raised the grandeur of the held spear above her head.

…What’s this?

It was strange. It was a situation where just taking two steps to the side could definitely finish off Freide, but instead of doing that, she insisted on facing it head-on.

Moreover, it didn’t seem like she intentionally didn’t move because of arrogance. Looking at her somewhat animal-like eyes, they seemed slightly distorted.

Then, why on earth…?

Before I could realize the answer,

“Ha-a-a-at!”

Freide’s greatsword, falling like lightning, struck down on the grandeur that Belita held, as if chopping firewood with an axe.

– Kwa-a-a-a-ng!

More like a thunderous crash than a metallic sound. The heavy greatsword and the metal grandeur scattered sparks, screaming.

“Ugh…!”

Belita, thrown off balance by the collision, knelt down, one knee giving way.

Posture is more important than strength. Even though Belita might have the upper hand in terms of strength, the awkward posture just now was not a stance that could withstand such an attack.

“You stink―that, must be you!”

A cute yet hysterical curse.

Puh-!

As Belita tried to get up again, swallowing a faint groan, Freide’s foot was driven into her lower abdomen like a hammer breaking ice.

“Kyaah…!”

…No, it was located about ten centimeters below the lower abdomen.

“Ugh, ughh…!”

Trying to defend her abdomen with her left hand, Belita, with a terrible shock, opened her eyes wide and let out a painful groan through clenched teeth.

“Aghhh…!”

…Oh. I feel like I’m in a lot of pain.

Because she was a woman, it ended with a groan; if she had been a man, he would have had no choice but to roll on the ground like a child, wailing.

“Oh, got it? Got it! Smells like a chicken coop…!”

Freide, with a face angrier than mine, trying to swing the greatsword like an axe.

“You, you crazy brat!”

However, just before Freide’s greatsword could swing, enraged Vellita swiftly raised her body and struck Freide with her left hand.

– Kwa-chaaaah!

A clear yet piercing crack. Freide’s greatsword, which had blocked Vellita’s left hand, shattered into pieces, emitting its final death cry.

The shock of repelling the fiery thrust twice, coupled with the recent collision, had already pushed the durability of the sword to its limit.

“Hukkaak!”

Freide was thrown out like a ball, accompanied by a new scream.

Perhaps due to the fluttering black feathered cloak, the nickname “crow” suited her remarkably well.