Clang.
The heavy sword breaker crashed powerlessly to the floor, letting out a thunderous roar. Then,
a heavy groan echoed out.
“Krrghh….”
Tinar, clutching his right shoulder, fell to his knees powerlessly. His face was twisted
tightly from the pain.
Before him stood Gerald, his face expressionless, letting his long sword hang loosely as blood dripped from it. He showed no sign of intoxication with victory. Tinar, his arrogant features scrunched up,
looked at Gerald as if surprised.
“Y-you brat. Im-impressive.”
Tinar shuddered as he looked at his opponent, who maintained silence without affirmation or negation.
He had underestimated him as a mere brat and charged in, only to suffer a crushing defeat. His opponent had not held back in the slightest when wielding his sword. And he had not wavered at all in the face of Tinar’s unique fighting spirit, charging like an evil spirit while bleeding
profusely. Realizing this fact, Tinar bit his lip
tightly.
“Y-you’ve got the skills of a seasoned fighter. Amazing.”
In truth, Tinar had never formally learned swordsmanship. He had simply relied on his innate fighting skills to dominate the capital’s underworld. What made that possible was his tenacious fighting spirit. Charging like an evil spirit with his whole body drenched in blood was his specialty, and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash when injured.
The opponents he had fought until now had usually retreated, daunted by Tinar’s fighting spirit. Since ancient times, being overwhelmed in momentum when facing a fight led directly to defeat. In other words, the driving force that had allowed him to defeat numerous opponents stronger than himself was Tinar’s innate fighting spirit and
patience.
But today, Tinar had met his true match. Though he had charged wildly like an evil spirit with his whole body soaked in fresh blood, his opponent had not wavered in the slightest and had attacked with cold ruthlessness. Moreover, his swordsmanship was so great that Tinar couldn’t even compete.
The chain mail Tinar wore was now in tatters. It was protective gear that had protected Tinar’s body countless times, but in this duel, the chain mail could no longer exert its strength. His opponent had maximally exploited the weakness of chain mail—strong against slashes and chops, but weak against thrusts—and because of that, Tinar’s body had become almost like a beehive.
“Kgh.”
Nevertheless, Tinar continued to struggle as if he could not lose. But his opponent had waited for just the right moment to render Tinar’s right arm useless. The long sword had pierced straight through the shoulder joint.
Reduced to a state where he could no longer resist, Tinar could do nothing but grind his teeth and glare at his opponent. Gerald, who had been looking at Tinar for a moment, sneered.
“Rather than a swordsman, I suppose I should regard you as trash.”
He was a famous fighter in the capital, but he was no match for Gerald. Common sense dictated that Tinar, whose swordsmanship was inferior even to that of mercenaries, could never be a match for Gerald, who had ascended to the realm of Paladin. In short, he was an opponent not even worth bringing out an Aura Blade against.
Moreover, Gerald had even fought a bloody battle with a dragon; there was no reason for him to be flustered by an opponent’s fighting spirit. Gerald had simply attacked without hesitation at the exposed gaps, and as a result, his opponent was completely neutralized. But Gerald did not let his guard down. He sensed that this was not the end. As if to prove that fact, Proktor’s grotesque voice rang out.
“Impressive skill. I see you’ve worked hard for your revenge?”
Gerald quietly turned his head. A blazing gaze poured toward Proktor. But Proktor continued his speech without agitation.
“My apologies. It seems all that effort will end here….”
A cold smile hung on Gerald’s lips.
“Does this mean you refuse to acknowledge that your champion has lost?”
“Kekeke. Champion….”
Proktor laughed creepily and raised his hand.
“Sorry, but my champion wasn’t just Tinar alone.”
As soon as his words ended, a group of men flooded in. In an instant, they had completely surrounded the hall. Gerald tensed up as he swept his gaze over them.
‘I need to be careful.’
The men who had entered were all wielding bizarre weapons. Most were long-shafted tridents, but here and there some held nets woven from wire. Countless hooks shaped like fishing needles were attached to the nets.
And about ten or so held crossbows—weapons extremely fatal to swordsmen. Heinrich, who was watching, also tensed up and drew the sword at his waist.
“Be careful.”
But a cold smile instead flashed across Gerald’s lips.
“So you mean to not let me leave alive.”
“Must I state the obvious?”
Proktor approached, chuckling.
“Allow me to introduce them. The Lotus Mercenary Corps. Their main duty is capturing runaway slaves and escorting them back, so subduing the likes of you shouldn’t be difficult. As you know, one cannot block many with a single hand….”
Gerald ground his teeth.
“Still as treacherous as ever, Proktor.”
“Hehehe. You talk too much for someone who will soon die and be buried in the ground.”
Having finished speaking, Proktor raised his hand as if there was no need to think.
“Capture them.”
As the order fell, the men charged in a swarm. Watching the scene, Proktor wore a sticky smile.
“No matter how outstanding their swordsmanship, they won’t be able to escape.”
The Lotus Mercenaries were experienced in this kind of work. About half of the mercenaries skillfully restrained their opponents with long-shafted tridents. They would catch the opponent’s sword between the trident’s prongs and render it immobile, then the remaining men would throw nets without mercy.
That was the role they had practiced countless times until now.
Then it was over. An opponent covered by the nets quickly lost the ability to resist. Then they would be beaten to a pulp under the mercenaries’ spear shafts. Countless escaped slaves had already been captured using this method. Slaves had to be resold, so there was no need to kill them, but this case was different.
They had to be eliminated without leaving a trace. At that moment, the mercenaries seemed to have found an opening and threw the nets. Proktor wore a sticky smile.
“It’s over.”
He had already witnessed the nets covering the two brats. Over ten men were aiming crossbows from behind as a precaution, so there was no need to watch further. When he turned his head, Tinar came into view.
Tinar, gripping his bleeding shoulder, was glaring holes into the nets. The murderous glint in his eyes made it clear he was contemplating how to deal with the captured brats. Proktor smiled bitterly.
“He’s possessed by evil, so he’ll finish them off nicely. I’ll enjoy watching a live dissection after a long time.”
But his prediction went wildly off the mark before long.
Flash.
A blue light seemed to flicker from the sword, and the nets were instantly shredded, falling down with soft thuds. The wire-woven nets had been cut away like rotten ropes.
“Wh-what.”
The mercenaries who had been gripping their spear shafts and preparing to charge froze in place. The two shadows that had escaped the nets threw themselves like lightning, burrowing into the gaps between the foolishly standing men. The flustered men thrust out their tridents, but the moment light flashed, all the prongs were cut off.
“Wh-what?”
The startled men stared at the severed spear shafts in disbelief. They had practiced catching and twisting long swords countless times until now, so they seemed unable to comprehend their failure. But the situation was not turning out so favorably that they could stand around stupidly.
“Kuaaack.”
With screams of death agony, the men toppled over one after another. Fresh blood sprayed profusely from severed arms and legs. Before the vanguard men had even finished falling, the shadows charged into the remaining men. It was an astonishing speed, so the complexions of the men in their path stiffened utterly. Soon, a one-sided fight began.
“Wh-what?”
Proktor, who had been watching the hall leisurely, was aghast. He had intended to hand the brats subdued by the nets to Tinar and have them dealt with slowly, but the situation was turning out completely unexpectedly. The Lotus Mercenaries were being pushed back one-sidedly.
The moment sword light flashed, one or two men let out pig-squealing screams and collapsed powerlessly. From how they clutched their arms and legs and shrieked in pain, they didn’t seem to have lost their lives, but they clearly could fight no longer.
“How can this be….”
As an experienced merchant, Proktor made a quick judgment. First, he shouted at the archers who were hesitating, unsure of what to do.
“Shoot. I said shoot the crossbows.”
The archers made bewildered expressions.
“B-but our comrades are mixed in with them….”
“It doesn’t matter. Shoot. I will take full responsibility for what comes after.”
Under Proktor’s continued urging, the archers reluctantly pulled the triggers of their crossbows. But they failed to notice that Proktor, who had given the order, was carefully slipping out of the hall.
Shhhk.
Over ten quarrels converged on Gerald and Heinrich’s bodies. Because they were tangled together, three unlucky mercenaries were hit by quarrels and rolled on the floor, but the remaining quarrels accurately pierced into Gerald and Heinrich’s bodies.
“Where do you think.”
Sensing the killing intent, Heinrich spun his body and swung his sword. With a clang, one quarrel was deflected by his sword. Then Heinrich slightly leaned back to dodge one quarrel. His diagonally gripped sword blocked another flying quarrel. It was almost a fantastical display of movement. Heinrich had already perfectly mastered the way to defend against arrow attacks through his training until now.
Since ancient times, the existence that swordsmen who wielded swords had to be most wary of was archers. If a barrage of arrows pierced through the gaps in armor, they would inevitably lose their combat power. Because of that, it was essential for Arcadia’s swordsmen to learn the knack for evading arrow attacks.
It was the same for knights. Even wearing full plate mail, they could not perfectly block a barrage of arrow attacks. The eyeholes and armor seams were inevitably vulnerable to arrow attacks.
Therefore, knights additionally trained in deflecting arrow attacks using the mirror-polished surface of their armor, together with the knack of listening for and blocking or dodging arrow attacks. Of course, Gerald and Heinrich were no exception. Though they were not wearing armor, they had basically mastered the knack for dealing with arrow attacks.
Thanks to that, Heinrich could easily evade the arrow attacks and charge at the archers. It was basic to take out the archers first when a fight broke out. The archers who had fired their crossbows were soon neutralized by Heinrich’s attacks. Each and every one of them ended up rolling on the floor, wailing with their right arms severed.
“Cowardly bastards.”
Heinrich spat on the floor and turned around. The men with tridents and nets had also been completely dealt with by Gerald. But when he saw Gerald, Heinrich’s eyes bulged as if they would tear open. A quarrel was embedded in Gerald’s body. Blood was flowing down from where it was lodged.
“Ah, no, Gerald….”
The startled Heinrich hurriedly ran to Gerald. But when he saw where the quarrel was lodged, Heinrich was soon able to breathe a sigh of relief. The quarrel was stuck in the thigh, which was not life-threatening. Heinrich shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.
“What is the meaning of this? Someone of your caliber….”
Heinrich shook his head repeatedly because Gerald was not someone who couldn’t dodge such clumsy quarrel attacks. Thinking logically, it made no sense that Gerald, who was more skilled, couldn’t dodge the quarrel attacks that even he had dodged. Heinrich tried to pull out the arrow with a worried expression, but Gerald waved his hand to stop him.
“No. Just leave it.”
“Surely… you didn’t take that hit on purpose, did you?”
Smiling lightly, Gerald staggered as he moved his feet. He had already captured sight of Proktor fleeing.
“You madman.”
Heinrich poured out uncharacteristic curses and followed behind. Judging by the situation, Gerald had definitely taken the arrow on purpose. To lay a trap that the opponent could never escape from.