episode_0122

“Hoooo….”

Exhaling a cold sigh, I lower the broken longsword and gaze down at the ice shards scattered beneath my feet.

The corpse of the Balquira with twisted arms and a pierced throat.

The broken blade’s tip had vertically pierced the Balquira’s neck, digging into the heart area covered by armor.

…I won.

In the one-on-one battle with the heavily colored Balquira, surprisingly, victory was on my side.

It was a natural outcome.

Balquira’s skill… in other words, overwhelming me with martial arts prowess. Clearly, pure physical ability was beneath mine.

And that superiority in skill rendered meaningless the moment I understood and replicated his martial arts.

In fact, I never imagined I could perform such feats.

Analyzing an opponent’s movements mid-fight and replicating them exactly. I thought only geniuses in novels could do that.

But it turns out I could.

So, was I a genius after all? I guess I was indeed a genius.

A swordsmanship prodigy that appears once every thousand years. That’s me, Ryu Hamin… no, it’s Hilldera. Could I now call myself Copy Inspector Hilldera?

Of course, this was all just a joke. The reality was that it was thanks to Brunhillda’s mastered Eisenshutin spear technique and the finally activated “Ice Heart” effect.

Intense determination that made me forget all my accumulated experiences and everything else, pushing past physical limits in extreme situations, creating an awakening.

Is this what they call turning a crisis into an opportunity? The awakened “Ice Heart” finally elevated me to a higher level.

Eisenshutin’s human weapon, the core characteristics of Balquira as both alpha and omega, the Ice Heart.

The awakened ‘Ice Heart’ completely blocks pain, surpasses physical limits, freezes wounds to stop bleeding, and even freezes emotions to focus the mind on combat.

In short, it turns one into a killing machine, disregarding pain and emotions, focusing solely on combat even if the body is breaking apart.

Moreover, as mastery of the trait increases, the coldness embedded in the heart can be expelled outward, adding frost damage to all attacks.

The Ice Heart was a top-tier trait akin to the Sacred Mark that all priests dream of.

Was there a trait higher than this, perhaps only the “Baptism of the Dragon Slayer”?

That was probably the first Hidden Piece that the protagonist of the original novel devoured upon possession.

With just that, one could leap from being an “inept warrior” to a level surpassing other warriors, so it was certainly a trait worthy of pride beyond the Ice Heart.

To put it in gaming terms, it was like instantly switching hard mode to easy mode. That’s what it was.

◆◆

Anyway, thanks to the extreme concentration brought about by the awakened ‘Ice Heart,’ I was able to absorb and manifest Balquira’s spear technique as if copying it.

At that moment, the outcome was already decided.

Almost equalized skills caught up in an instant. However, there was still a vast difference in capabilities due to the presence or absence of a physical body.

At that point, the only way for Balquira to win was to drag the fight out into a war of attrition, inducing my stamina depletion… but would a specter have such patience?

Pushed back by sheer strength, Balquira lost his right arm in an instant, followed by his left, resisting until the end before being pierced through the throat and heart.

In a final struggle, he managed to break my sword… well, a sword is something you can easily pick up around here.

The remnants left behind by the human army that attacked the Banditsa fortress along with the corpses.

Weapons worn out without maintenance, honestly, they weren’t in great condition. But still, there was nothing better than these disposable weapons.

Seeing them endure for hundreds of years without rust, they must have been valuable items back then at least.

– Ssshhh….

The specter of Valquiria, gradually dissolving beneath my feet, finally turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished completely.

…But damn, there’s no drop item from this cursed ghost.

In the place where the specter disappeared, only broken remains and shattered metal fragments remained.

A shattered rune plate. Originally a crucial component supplying magic to Valquiria’s armor, now it was just useless trash, shattered beyond recognition.

Why give me such garbage?

I gained experiences far more valuable than a piece of equipment, but still, seeing no equipment drop left me feeling bitter.

“Sigh….”

Exhaling a weary sigh, I turned away from the useless remains. Ignoring the broken sword blade that had smashed the center of the rune plate.

Well, at least this isn’t one of Valquiria’s specters. There’s also the second specter currently fighting Freide. Maybe it will give something.

Gauntlets, boots, helmet, breastplate—anything would do. Except for the torn breastplate from battling Valquiria, all my armor had been completely destroyed.

So, as I turned my head towards Freide, what came into view was…

“Crush them!”

Freide, thrusting Nibelung into Valquiria’s abdomen, unleashed a burst of light that tore apart his flesh.

“Kiyaohaaaaak!”

Valquiria, experiencing excruciating pain akin to being consumed by the power of the Holy Sword, let out a scream that was profoundly striking.

…Goddess, please give me a Holy Sword too.

Although intangible, the armor was more fragile than the original, yet its piercing ability easily pierced through armor that was once impenetrable.

From piercing to outright shattering enemies, the destructive power was overwhelming.

Not to mention the unmatched durability typical of an unbroken Holy Sword, unlike my broken blade.

Honestly, it was hard to bear the envy.

Why am I the only one without a Holy Sword? Even enemies targeting me or heroes protecting me have Holy Swords.

Thinking about it, isn’t this real discrimination?

Honestly, compared to Gunter or Heide, I have a much more heroic character. The gap in character is almost like comparing food waste to high-end perfume.

I know that the qualification of a hero is not determined by character evaluation, but still, it felt incredibly unfair.

“Hilde, are you okay?!”

Lost in my sense of injustice and envy, as I was contemplating, Freide, who had disposed of Valquiria and turned around, dashed towards me with loot in hand.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Somehow managed to win.”

I sat down on the ground, wiping sweat off my forehead with a smile.

Until a while ago, my body was cold and didn’t even sweat, but now, perhaps because the effect of the Ice Heart had worn off, sweat was dripping profusely.

I didn’t show it, but my whole body ached and stung.

“Here, pauldrons! Pauldrons! You said this had healing magic cast on it, right?”

Freide suddenly handed me a dark gray pauldron. Shoulder armor with most of its intricate engravings erased, leaving only faint traces.

It wasn’t in perfect condition, so it couldn’t instantly mend broken arms like the specters showed, but…

“Thanks. I’ll make good use of it.”

Still, it retained apprentice priest-level healing abilities. It might take some time, but minor cuts like vein injuries would heal without issue.

For fractures, it might take a few days to recover, and severe wounds like internal injuries would heal too slowly, leading to inevitable death.

So I was fumbling with the shoulder pads, and Freide rummaged through her pocket to pull out that damn awful potion again.

“Use this too.”

It was almost like an order.

A gaze that didn’t allow refusal. The determination in her expression was almost a hundred times stronger than when she ruthlessly chopped off a thief’s head.

“Uh, yeah. Got it. I’ll use it.”

I stuttered slightly as I took the potion and sprinkled it on my wounds.

– Sssss!

Ow…!

Smoke slowly rising from the wound. I involuntarily gritted my teeth.

“Seriously, this hurts like hell…!”

Honestly, it hurt almost five times more than when I was cut. I couldn’t tell if it was medicine or poison.

Adventurers often end up dying because of low-quality potions trying to heal severe injuries, maybe it wasn’t about the effectiveness but rather the shock factor?

Administering this potion to someone with torn intestines would surely make even Jesus or Buddha slap Satan for being there.

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

Freide asked cautiously while looking at my face.

I couldn’t just snap back saying how could it not hurt. I wasn’t so shameless as to say such things in front of a worried person.

“Uh… It’s just a little bit? It stings a bit…”

So, I forced a smile and boasted a bit. A little sting should be fine, I thought.

“Is that so…?”

Freide nodded.

She didn’t seem to believe my boasting. Well, having used the potion a few times herself, she probably knew how painful it was.

“So, you shouldn’t get hurt, right?”

“Huh…?”

A shadow cast over my sweaty face.

Freide leaned in towards me, placing her hand on my shoulder, and with a smiling face, she spoke again.

“If you don’t want it to hurt, then don’t get hurt. Right?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

I nodded somewhat perplexed. Why state the obvious like that?

Was she telling me to fight well like Brunhilde from the original…?

Well, she did seem to get injured quite often, although she never showed it.

◆◆

After that, we started taking down the Valquirias more carefully, one by one.

Perhaps thanks to my experience in Einsteinian spear techniques.

Whether my skills were starting to catch up to Brunhilde’s level from the original, or since then, I found myself able to deal with the enemies much faster than I had anticipated.

If it turned into a one-on-one situation, it would be the beginning of a tough battle again, but when cooperating to attack, we could swiftly take them down.

As Freide became more adept at killing, her speed in defeating the Valquirias increased, and I followed suit.

Rather than becoming more skillful, my own stats seemed to be gradually increasing each time I fought.

There wasn’t much difference with the first two, but from the third one, I could clearly feel it.

Every time I took down a Valquiria with my hands, I felt my Ice Heart and Strength Output rising. Was it like getting stronger through cannibalizing one’s own kind?

It wasn’t like my output doubled or anything, but it was still satisfying.

That’s how we hunted down five Valquirias. As for the equipment we obtained during that time…

“No, really. Groove again?”

Groove, nothing, groove.

Surprisingly, the Val’kyr I had cut off their breath repeatedly left nothing or only grooves and disappeared.

To be frank, all three were failures.

I don’t have many legs to be sad about, nor would it be useful to have only grooves in three pairs.

This is exclusive equipment for Einstein, and I can’t even put it on Freida.

But I can’t just sell off random iron equipment, so they were truly loot that was endlessly ambiguous.

“Uh, there, don’t be disappointed! We have gauntlets here too!”

Do you know what’s even more ridiculous?

I’m at a loss for words because of how unbelievable it is, but unlike me, Freida kept getting new equipment for killing Val’kyr one after another.

Before it was pauldrons. This time it’s gauntlets. Judging by the pattern, maybe next time it will be a breastplate or helmet.

“Yeah… we have gauntlets too….”

Facing an overwhelmingly obvious difference in luck, receiving and wearing the gauntlets only brought out hollow laughter.

According to the folklore of the original world, warriors who use spears are generally said to have terribly bad luck… I didn’t even pick up a spear, so why am I like this?

This was truly an inexplicable situation.