Chapter 37
The exchange between Alos and Piolkan dragged on tediously.
“Guh.”
Piolkan’s thin sword pierced the empty socket of Alos’s shoulder.
Alos swung his greatsword at the enemy’s waist, but Piolkan somersaulted through the air with his usual nimble movements and landed some distance away.
“As expected of the commander of the Imperial Knights.”
Piolkan licked his lips as he looked at the torn hem of his own clothes.
The fight had not dragged on because their skills were evenly matched.
Everyone present knew that Piolkan was toying with Alos while deftly avoiding his vital points.
To help Alos, Fulcare had to take down the archer quickly, while the archer had to keep Fulcare occupied for as long as possible to aid his comrade.
It was a battle in which their objectives were diametrically opposed.
The archer repeatedly fired arrows while dodging the beams of light with his signature swift movements.
Not only that, he sometimes switched his target to Blanc to confuse the mage, and whenever there was a gap in the spellcasting, he rushed forward and even attacked at close range by swinging his bow.
It was a fighting style intended not to kill, but to harass Fulcare as much as possible.
Bang—.
Blanc’s magic circle and the black arrow collided, creating a small shockwave.
Although Fulcare occasionally put up barriers for him, Blanc couldn’t rely on Fulcare forever.
Each time he cast a spell, his mana churned violently in his chest, but it was still within a range he could control. His painful special training was finally bearing fruit.
“Tch.”
The archer clicked his tongue as he looked at his empty quiver.
The archer hopped around like a rabbit to avoid the fierce beams of light while swiftly gathering the arrows scattered across the floor.
“Not so fast.”
But Fulcare was not about to stand idly by and watch.
A huge mass of light rose from the floor, undulating like a wave as it chased after the fleeing archer.
His magic was fast, but its attacks all traveled in straight lines and were monotonous, so he needed another way to restrict the archer’s movements.
During the battle, Fulcare recalled Giselle’s magic and immediately tried applying it to his light magic.
The archer swung his bow and knocked away the mass of light, but it was a chain made of points rather than a straight line.
Just as one cannot cut water with a sword, the severed light instantly regained its circular shape and ensnared the archer.
He was skilled enough to easily overpower the commander of the knights in most countries, but once his hands and feet were bound, there was nothing the archer could do.
‘He’s a tier below Giselle.’
When Fulcare placed a finger against his forehead, the archer’s body gradually turned white.
“You bastard! How dare you lay a hand on Lord Regan!”
One of the small fry lying on the floor picked up a sword and charged at Blanc.
Targeting the weaker person in the back was a sound tactic, but his attack was far too feeble.
Blanc’s barrier flashed, and a beam of light that came from somewhere pierced the small fry’s forehead.
“Urk.”
“Are you all right?”
When Blanc clutched his chest and coughed, Fulcare hurriedly stabilized his mana.
In the meantime, Alos’s greatsword spun through the air and fell in front of Blanc and Fulcare.
When Fulcare turned his head, Piolkan was straddling the knight commander and repeatedly pummeling him in the face.
“A magical beast.”
Fulcare’s eyes narrowed.
Black smoke was flowing from Piolkan’s eyes and hands. No mere human could overcome the power of a magical beast. The fact that Alos had held out this long was impressive in itself.
At Fulcare’s gesture, the chain of light binding the archer writhed once more and advanced toward Piolkan.
“!!!”
Piolkan somersaulted backward to evade the chain that had rushed to within inches of his throat.
At the same time, black smoke burst from his hand and blocked Fulcare’s chain.
“…Giselle’s technique?”
As though surprised by the unexpected attack, Piolkan turned his head from side to side.
While Fulcare held Piolkan back, Blanc quickly approached Alos and dragged him away.
“Get it out quickly. Otherwise, you’ll be dead soon.”
At Fulcare’s taunt, the vein at bald Piolkan’s temple twitched.
“What do you mean?”
“Get what’s inside you out, already. That elf wench planted it in you, didn’t she? How long are you going to keep hiding it? Or is this the power you obtained by offering up every last one of your subordinates? For all that, it’s rather pathetic.”
“…If you want to die.”
Piolkan raised his sword and plunged it straight into his own palm. The black blood sliding down the silver blade began moving on its own, drawing a magic circle.
A short while later, a magical beast roared from within the magic circle and revealed its grotesque form.
“Urgh.”
Fulcare grimaced. One would think he might get used to it, but magical beasts were revolting no matter how many times he saw them.
“I thought it was merely a magical beast, but it seems you fed it leaves from the World Tree as well.”
Blackened, three-lobed leaves had sprouted all over the magical beast’s body.
When Fulcare met Iseria over Celine’s matter, he learned a great deal about Giselle.
As a bonus, he had also learned several methods high elves used to control magical beasts, but he had never expected to put that knowledge to use so soon.
“To notice that… As expected of the Archmage.”
The moment Piolkan finished speaking, the magical beast’s roar swept through the subspace.
The magical beast charged at Fulcare in the blink of an eye, and Fulcare raised his staff to block its claws.
Four claw marks were carved into the body of the ebony staff.
Fulcare suddenly found himself missing that damned Laurent.
He could somehow defeat the beast on his own, but Blanc and Alos were variables he had to account for.
Moreover, another magical beast was taking shape, nourished by Piolkan’s blood.
“Then let’s begin round two, hero of the Empire.”
The corner of Piolkan’s mouth curled crookedly upward.
***
Dark-red blood trickled down Tuang’s cheek.
The dagger the woman had thrown had already returned to her side before he knew it.
‘I can’t win.’
After several exchanges, Tuang knew he was outmatched.
However, he could not simply let everything he had built up until now crumble like a sandcastle.
Clenching his teeth, Tuang roughly grabbed the foot of the subordinate lying on the floor.
“Guh.”
The subordinate was still breathing, judging by his groan, but that did not matter.
Tuang tore his subordinate’s head off in a single motion, as though pulling out a cork, and the black smoke flowing from the corpse seeped into Tuang’s nose and mouth.
The power coursing through his veins filled Tuang with a strange exhilaration.
Tuang became a magical beast that tore forward, biting at everything in its path, and charged at the woman’s pale, delicate nape.
“After I went to all that trouble to save you….”
The woman’s voice was filled with irritation. It was the woman’s dagger that blocked Tuang, who had turned into a magical beast. When she crooked a finger, the dagger glowed red and sliced through the air once more.
The dagger’s sharp attack severed Tuang’s shoulder, now covered in fur like a beast’s, and red blood sprayed through the air.
Despite suffering a fairly serious injury, Tuang did not stop.
With black smoke wrapped around his body, he moved freely across the ceiling, walls, and floor, unleashing attack after attack without pause.
However, the woman’s dagger deflected every one of his attacks, and at times it even tore through the beast’s thick hide. Whenever his flesh split and blood flowed, the demonic energy permeating Tuang’s body burst out in torrents.
Clang—!
When the dagger collided with the beast’s fang, a sharp metallic sound rang through the basement.
“…Let’s stop here.”
At the woman’s single remark, the dagger slid along the fang and tore the magical beast’s gums apart.
Black smoke rose once more, and as the demonic energy escaped, Tuang’s eyes regained their human light. A pained groan escaped his lips.
“You… who the hell are you?”
The man’s eyes filled with fear. He had never imagined that the magical-beast transformation Giselle had given him would collapse so helplessly.
Instead of answering, the woman grabbed Tuang by the head and hurled him into the wall.
With a 'Bang,' dust cascaded from the ceiling, and the basement shook.
‘I can’t die so meaninglessly here.’
Even as Tuang, embedded in the wall, felt pain shoot through his entire body, he moved his hand and cast a spell.
A moment later, his arm twisted in an unnatural direction with a sickening crack.
“Aaaaargh!”
Saliva dribbled from Tuang’s mouth as he suffered indescribable pain.
But it was not over yet.
***
Vieta was waiting in the subspace when Theodore came rushing in, panting.
The High Priest hurriedly examined the woman Vieta had laid down.
“There are some symptoms of drug intoxication, but she should recover soon.”
Vieta relaxed her stiff expression and let out a sigh of relief. The High Priest cast a healing spell while looking around the area.
“By the way, where is that Fulcare fellow?”
“We should go look for him now. Ah! Theo, call Laurent. That fellow is their leader.”
Vieta pointed at Tuang, who was sprawled on the floor. Although her dagger had purified as much of his energy as possible, demonic energy was still seeping from his entire body.
“…And.”
She bit her lower lip once and continued.
“Ask Iseria to erase Laura’s memories.”
She had been wrestling with the decision for some time. Laura was the first friend she had made in this world, but Vieta felt that Laura would only be unhappy if she continued living with the memory of being kidnapped.
“…Captain?”
Theodore, his eyes wide, hurriedly called after her, but the tears she had been holding back spilled over, and Vieta left the subspace.