Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Duel (2)
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Please take good care of me.
The mage who stepped down from the palanquin had a grotesque appearance.
The robe draped loosely over him was shabby and filthy, and in place of eyes, bead-like orbs were embedded in his sockets.
His arms were shackled from wrists to elbows, pressed tightly together, and they had been left bound for so long that his shoulder joints were visibly twisted.
His skin, unwashed for who knows how long, was covered in rashes, and old scars snaked across it like earthworms.
A soldier standing beside him prodded the mage with a wooden stick, herding him along like a pig.
The mage shuffled forward unsteadily, as if his leg tendons had been severed.
"This way, come on."
When they reached the injured knight, the soldier jabbed at the mage's knee.
Like a trained dog, the mage knelt naturally and extended his hands to touch the injured knight's body.
Batayan barked a low command.
"Heal him quickly."
"Y-Yes, Master..."
Startled by the harsh urging, as if struck by a whip, the mage replied.
Soon, a bluish light seeped from the mage's hands, enveloping the injured knight's body. At the same time, a knight nearby pulled the spear from the injured knight's abdomen.
The bleeding worsened for a moment, but then the blood from the severed arm and gut wound stopped, and the injuries began to heal.
The knights from Belluan territory, standing across the field, witnessed it all clearly.
Ramun and Palato exchanged grave opinions.
"Healing magic."
"Having something like that means the longer the duel drags on, the worse it gets for us."
Nodding in agreement with Palato's words, Ramun turned to Arsen.
"You're right... Sir Arsen. The young lady isn't particularly skilled in healing magic, is she?"
Arsen nodded in response to Ramun's question.
"Yes. She can use it to some extent, but since Sir Luden couldn't, she never properly learned it..."
"We'll have to think this over. The opponent we just fought lost an arm and bled heavily, so we can rule him out of action, but with that level of healing, they can easily recover minor wounds."
Afterward, the Belluan knights whispered among themselves.
If they continued the duel as is, unless they inflicted fatal wounds or killed their opponents, healing magic could restore them.
In that case, forcing a melee brawl before they could use their healing would be advantageous.
But a direct confrontation should be a last resort. Aside from damaging their honor as knights, these were all elite knights selected from the territory—any casualties would be devastating.
Moreover, the two remaining knights exuded such overwhelming strength that they inspired full confidence in victory.
The prevailing opinion was to fight after two more duels to whittle down their numbers further.
That way, they could claim both momentum and justification.
After the discussion, Ramun twitched his nose and looked at Arsen.
"Sir Arsen, I believe in you to win."
"I will win."
"Good, go. And if possible, kill them decisively."
Arsen nodded silently and urged Jin forward.
In response, a knight wielding a long greatsword sprang out swiftly from the enemy lines.
"Arsen, son of Lenoc."
"Rasika, daughter of Ilmen!"
At first, clad in armor, she seemed just slimmer than the other knights, but her thin, high-pitched voice was unmistakably feminine.
Among Belluan's dozens of knights, there were only two female knights, so Arsen muttered unconsciously.
"A woman?"
"What, dissatisfied because your opponent's a woman?"
"No, our territory has excellent female knights too. No reason to underestimate her just for that."
The female knight sounded slightly indignant, but Arsen's calm reply made her feel awkwardly oversensitive, so she cleared her throat.
That lasted only a moment. Trying to seize the initiative, she nitpicked Arsen's voice.
"Judging by your voice, you seem pretty young. Does your territory have so few talents that they send out a brat like you...!"
The female knight, mid-taunt, couldn't finish as Arsen charged at terrifying speed.
Seeing no value in standing idly to listen, Arsen spurred Jin into a rush, thrusting his sword at her neck.
Having wasted a breath on words, the female knight gritted her teeth and blocked the incoming blade.
As the two mana-infused, hardened swords clashed, sparks flew slowly into view.
Using his charging momentum, Arsen swept past to her left, slashing her side long with Jin's right foreleg.
As she recoiled from the surprise attack, he spun and swung his sword horizontally.
True to her skill as the fourth in line, the female knight swung to counterattack, but Arsen, who had already seen the entire sluggish motion, had no reason to let her.
Just before the blades met, Arsen's greatsword slithered up hers like a snake, lightly scoring her helmet.
The helmet split, short brown hair spilling out along with her face.
Striking features gave her a fierce impression; she appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
"Urk!"
The female knight quickly drew a dagger from her waist and hurled it, but Arsen dodged with a slight tilt of his head.
For him, with his supernatural reflexes activatable at will, projectile attacks meant nothing unless they exceeded sound speed or came in hundreds at once.
Seizing the opening from her throw, Arsen swung again.
She twisted her body desperately to evade, so the strike merely grazed her left side.
Retreating to create distance, she growled.
"...You're not toying with me right now, are you?"
Moments ago, Arsen could have deeply slashed her face or severed her left side, but he deliberately held back.
If the opponent, sensing certain defeat, surrendered, he couldn't kill her.
In the current situation, simply winning wasn't enough gain for Arsen.
He needed to draw her in until he could deliver a decisive blow that crippled or killed her.
"For all that big talk, you're honestly nothing special."
Arsen taunted in a matter-of-fact tone, without a hint of mockery.
Surprisingly, this provoked her more surely than overt jeering.
Blatant sarcasm might suggest ulterior motives, but the restrained delivery felt genuine.
Even from a short distance, the sound of her grinding teeth was audible.
"Let's see if you can talk big this time too—!"
Roaring hoarsely, the female knight raised her greatsword high for an overhead smash and charged.
Calmly watching, Arsen prepared to counter-thrust when her Jin suddenly twisted sideways, evading the thrust's path.
At the same time, its serpentine head lunged forward.
'Going for the tangle-and-topple tactic again?'
Clearly aiming to entangle Jins like in the first fight.
But unlike Amund, who had faltered blindly in rage, Arsen calmly perceived it in his accelerated world.
His Jin tilted aside to dodge the encircling body aimed at its neck, and Arsen kicked away the enemy Jin's extending neck.
Simultaneously, he parried her overhead swing with an angled deflection and counterattacked.
Dazed, she blocked wildly with brute force, but focusing on that left her unable to stop Arsen's Jin from pinning her mount's neck with both forelegs.
Knights typically fought using both weapon and Jin, but concentrating on one normally neglected the other.
However, maintaining vastly superior processing speed, Arsen handled far more information than others, with minimal distraction.
Even among veteran knights, few could wield both so proficiently.
'What the hell is this guy?'
Unable to comprehend Arsen's superhuman reflexes, she could only see it as monstrous skill.
How was such movement possible without two brains?
Swallowing her bursting shock, she swung at Arsen, but with her Jin fully suppressed, the attack's balance was off, posing no threat.
Deeming such a sloppy strike unworthy of evasion, Arsen deflected the incoming blade with his hand's back. Attacks below a certain force and speed could be handled barehanded.
At this absurd feat once more, bewilderment crossed the female knight's face.
"Wha..."
Before she could utter "This is ridiculous," Arsen's greatsword plunged into her neck, severing blood vessels, spine, flesh, and muscle before bursting out the other side.
Her head flew emptily into the air, blood fountaining from the stump.
The headless body slumped from Jin, rolling in the mud, blood mixing and diluting with rainwater.
Arsen gazed down at it briefly, stunned.
'My first time killing a normal person.'
He had slain many bandits and magic beasts before, but this was his first true human. Yet, surprisingly, there was no emotional turmoil.
Was the trauma from his first bandit kill a preventive shot, or had those deaths numbed him?
Arsen pondered briefly whether to mourn this lack of shock or disgust as a loss of humanity.
The pointless musing was cut short by cheers from behind.
"Yes! You're the best, Sir Arsen!"
"Incredible!"
Unlike the Belluan side's voices, the Atar camp was shrouded in dead silence.
Soon, one knight slowly urged his Jin forward.
It was Batayan, the representative knight of Atar.
Batayan dismounted, carefully lifting the rolling head of the female knight with a sigh.
"Rasika... poor girl."
Watching, Arsen recalled her introduction as Ilmen's daughter.
This knight had introduced himself as Batayan, son of Ilmen.
"Was she your sister?"
"Yes. The only sibling who became a knight with me. Was Rasika a decent opponent?"
"She was strong."
This was no empty flattery.
An average knight would have been simpler—severed arm or fatal blow in a few strikes.
Rasika excelled in physical ability and skill, surpassing any ordinary knight.
At least stronger than the previous three.
"I see. Then that's that. Arsen, was it? I'll remember your name well."
Looking up as he spoke, Batayan's face was stone-like, but his bloodshot eyes gleamed with clear killing intent.
Arsen nodded silently, turned, and returned to his lines.
He saw fellow knights waving happily, beaming.