Chapter 218 - Host (15)

The runic letters engraved on Gale's axe blade began to glow softly. He swung the axe down confidently, but the attack missed lightly. The old man simply twisted his body to dodge without any flashy movements.

Boom—

As the axe struck the ground, the bones scattered on the floor flew in all directions with a thunderous sound.

It was so strong that even I, standing outside the circular altar site, could feel the vibration. The power was considerable.

Victor joined in, unleashing a barrage of orthodox sword strikes to prevent the old man from gaining the flow of the attack.

It would have made a good picture if I had jumped in to join the attack, but instead, I chose to step back and observe the situation.

Rushing recklessly at an unfamiliar magic creature was a foolish act. It was similar with an unknown strange person. One never knew what tricks and techniques they might have.

The old man dodged the attacks of the two men with snake-like flexibility. He evaded the sharp blades with a span's distance, and his efficiency and simplicity were admirable. He was on a different level from the moderately skilled people one could see around.

During the battle, by chance, Gale and Victor's attacks aligned and came in simultaneously. Only then did the old man take a direct defensive stance.

Thus, the three weapons clashed at once.

Clang!

Victor and Gale were taken aback.

Both Gale's axe with its mighty destructive power and Victor's sword that had been nimbly striking weak points were blocked as if hitting a rock.

Moreover, the old man was holding the sword with just one hand. Where did such monstrous strength come from?

They gritted their teeth and tried to hold on, but instead, it was the two of them who were being pushed back by the old man's strength.

Seeing signs that the old man was about to counterattack, I hurriedly jumped in.

The half of his face that was melting. I rushed in from the old man's blind spot and swung my wooden sword down. In a split second, his eyes moved towards me.

"...Hmm!"

Before my sword could touch him, cold energy exploded from the old man's magic sword.

Victor, Gale, and I were hit by the sudden shockwave and rolled away, covered in frost.

Checking on my companions, fortunately, there were no fatal injuries.

Gale got up with veins bulging in his neck. He must have been quite frustrated, and understandably so.

Aside from the difference due to the presence of a magic sword, there was also a considerable gap in simple brute strength, not to mention swordsmanship.

The old man pointed at me with the tip of his sword and said, "I see. You're the most cunning one."

"You've seen correctly."

"A fellow without any loyalty, aren't you?"

To this, I responded with provocation, "You don't seem to have any loyalty to your new lover either. Are you perhaps a rich old man, and she's after your wealth?"

I said this after seeing the old man's left arm trembling after causing the cold explosion.

It was certainly a good sign, evidence that he couldn't wield the magic sword indefinitely.

"Haha! I'll have to feed you to my sword by cutting off your flesh."

Victor, who had been lying face down beside me, got up and said to me, "None of our techniques are working."

"But it's not like there's no way."

"Yeah, I know. When are you going to bring out 'that'?"

"...What?"

"That thing."

"Not yet. More importantly, I'm concerned about the two swords..."

I could maintain my magic sword for about 3 minutes at most. If I somehow managed to stop one magic sword and he pulled out another, we'd be out of options.

Gale got up, shook off the frost stuck to his face, and said, "The two of us, me and this idiot, will either deplete or seize that magic sword. You take care of what comes after."

He pinpointed exactly what I wanted. I like that he was quick-witted if nothing else.

Victor, suddenly called an idiot, immediately retorted, "That's a good plan for a brute."

The old man started walking towards us. We took battle stances again. Just then, there was a clicking sound under the old man's feet, followed by an explosion.

Bang!

With an unexpected dull explosion, compressed air pushed away everything at the old man's feet.

Caught in the explosion, the old man flew through the air, did a somersault, and landed steadily.

Victor expressed doubt while blocking the falling dirt and bone fragments with his arm from the explosion's aftermath.

"What was that just now?"

"Cecil's bomb."

"Who planted it?"

"I did, just now."

Victor laughed incredulously.

"Well, you succeeded in irritating him."

The old man revealed his discomfort as he pushed back his disheveled hair.

"Kuheum..."

Seeing that the magic bomb landed the most effective hit among us, he might be relatively vulnerable to magic. It was a shame we didn't have a magician among us; the battle dynamics would have been different.

Judging by the compatibility, the Frost Wind Bomb was ambiguous for delivering a decisive blow. The remaining ones needed to have their uses confirmed now.

Gale looked at me and asked, "Do you have more bombs?"

"Many, but I haven't classified their uses yet."

"Throw any of them."

I grabbed one at random from my pocket and threw it to Gale.

He didn't even catch it with his hand but swung his axe to launch the bomb.

The bomb flew towards the old man in an arc.

However, it didn't reach him completely and exploded midway.

It suddenly spread a fan-shaped translucent screen and disappeared on its own after about ten seconds.

Gale said, "It's a mana barrier. Do you have anything else?"

When I threw him another one, Gale launched it in the same way.

This one also activated midway through its flight. Pink flower petals burst out and scattered around. It was a beautiful sight, oddly out of place in the situation.

"Does it cause poisonous plant intoxication?"

"It might."

The old man waved his hand to blow away the flower petals.

Let's see, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual. Wait, what was written on the bomb?

I took out another identical bomb and asked, "Can you read Imperial language?"

There was something marked with ink on the surface of the bomb that I couldn't interpret.

Victor took the bomb and said, "It says, 'For Candy and flower viewing'."

"..."

For a moment, my mind went blank. I felt embarrassed for her. 

When did she make something like this...

Victor threw in a teasing comment, "...You're going to get stabbed someday, if not today."

"You've seriously misunderstood something."

The old man, whose temper seemed quite irritated, approached us again, diverting our attention. As he approached, swinging his magic sword, ice spikes flew towards us like arrows.

I hurriedly threw a bomb to deploy a mana barrier.

The ice spikes shattered against the barrier with a crunching sound. The old man seems to have changed his plan to deplete my bombs.

In the meantime, Gale took out a ring-like artifact and put it on his forearm and ankle.

"I'll face the old man head-on. I can hold out for about five minutes, so you'd better do something within that time."

"What happens after five minutes?"

"I'm done for."

He was saying he'd pour everything out to the point of being incapacitated.

Victor also spoke with a tone of great determination, "Me too... five minutes."

Soon after, smoke began to rise from his sword. Faint but visible, sword aura was being emitted.

As the magic barrier dissipated, we immediately began to spread out. Gale, wearing the artifact, ran out at a speed three or four times faster than us.

Gale reached the old man first and swung his axe.

Kwang!

Whatever he did, Gale's axe had transformed to be powerful enough to split the ground.

Thanks to that, he was able to engage the old man in a few exchanges.

Victor charged from behind the old man, while I again attacked from the side where his melted face obscured his vision.

The old man skillfully dealt with Victor and Gale by directly clashing swords, but when I approached, he caused a cold explosion as if he had been waiting for it.

"Kheuk!"

Only I was caught in the explosion and rolled all the way to the forest. My face was covered in frost, and my clothes were frozen, cracking like cookies when I moved.

He was clearly very irritated with me.

***

Seeing Damian leave the battlefield, Victor shouted, "Damian!"

"This isn't the time to worry about your friend."

Taking advantage of the disrupted formation due to the cold explosion, the old man unleashed attacks targeting Victor.

Clang! Clang!

Thanks to pouring out his energy to the point of emitting sword aura, he was able to react to the old man's speed, but it was far from enough to overturn the one-sided situation.

Gale rushed in to help but was pushed back by another cold explosion.

When the old man applied force to his attack, Victor's sword couldn't withstand it and flew into the sky.

He immediately grabbed Victor's neck and lifted him.

"Kughk! What strength...!"

Victor struggled hard, but the old man's arm held firm like steel.

"Ah, a talent who can handle sword aura. At such a young age! My child will love this. I should keep you alive and have it absorb all the essence from your internal organs."

"Khup, but, you'll need, huff, one more sacrifice."

"...?"

The old man sensed something strange and turned to look at the altar.

Damian, who had sneaked in, was opening the coffin lid and taking Cecil out.

"You bastard, where do you think...!"

The old man struck Victor's abdomen, making him cough blood, and threw him aside.

Then he started rushing towards Damian with beast-like speed.

Damian slung Cecil over his shoulder and took a light backstep.

Then, compressed air exploded repeatedly under the old man's feet as he approached.

"...!!"

A deafening explosion. A short, strong gust of wind blew, strong enough to shake the nearby forest.

Pushed back by the explosion, the old man's distance from Damian increased even more.

"You insolent brat..."

The old man infused energy into his magic sword and swung it in a large semicircular arc.

A wave of cold that swept away everything in its path extended towards Damian.

Damian took out spheres from his pocket and dropped them at his feet.

Then, multiple layers of magic barriers unfolded, blocking the cold.

Damian lowered Cecil from his shoulder and cut all the ropes binding her.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

After finally cutting off the gag, Cecil said with tears in her eyes, "Candy... Candy... I knew you'd come."

Damian, not taking his eyes off the old man, said, "Thank Victor. Run away now. Don't look back."

"...Okay. I'll call the professors. Until then..."

"Go."

Cecil hesitated for a moment as she was leaving. Then she came back and suddenly hugged Damian from behind. After briefly sharing body heat like that, Cecil ran into the forest.

To prevent the pursuit of the freed hostage, Damian stood firmly in place.

Damian said to the old man, "Well, now that the burden is gone, shall we have a proper fight?"

At this, the old man burst into a strange laughter with unfathomable intentions.