Chapter 416
Chapter 416
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 416
Chapter Title: 2-39. Fugitive (3)
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"Kya."
It was a flashy scene.
He'd taken out two of them in an instant.
Schlieffen didn't stop there, swinging his sword without pause.
His blade traced a path like a dancer's flourish.
Nine crescent moons made of blue wind shot out in all directions.
Most embedded themselves in trees or the ground, but three struck the enemies true.
"......!!"
"..."
The Royal Guard didn't scream even as Schlieffen's aura manifested.
The storm contained within the sword qi erupted all at once.
A gale of blades engulfed them.
Kwaaang!
Nine whirlwinds erupted across the courtyard.
"Huuu..."
Schlieffen caught his breath.
He seemed drained from expending so much mana at once.
A sudden sense of wrongness washed over me.
The whirlwinds were impressive enough, but in this situation, unleashing the essence of the Storm Sword—blades of wind—would have been far more effective.
He could have dealt with them using less strength.
'This guy... has he not awakened it yet?'
A plausible suspicion flashed through my mind.
In the original world, Schlieffen had awakened the Storm Sword during our trip to Dinhar.
Considering his age back then, it had been ridiculously fast.
'No, even accounting for that, this is too slow. They should've already captured the Winter Witch by now.'
Still, it didn't add up.
If Schlieffen hadn't awakened his aura, the capital would be buried in snow and ice by now.
While I mulled this over alone, the battle raged on.
Shwaaa...
Torn flesh and entrails mixed with the drizzle and rained down.
Two Royal Guard remained.
They didn't charge blindly, instead circling and biding their time.
The whirlwind barrier made breaching it look difficult.
Watching their calculated movements, I let out a hollow chuckle.
"Those bastards... are they even human?"
It was something I'd noticed earlier—they were bizarre foes.
Not just because of the eerie masks and their silence.
Five out of seven had been shredded, yet they showed no hesitation whatsoever.
Any living being would fear death.
Schlieffen muttered to himself.
"The Royal Guard showing up already..."
His attitude only heightened the strangeness.
Tension was plain on his face as he glared beyond the winds.
Not underestimating the enemy was good form, but wasn't this a bit much?
Having silently observed the fight, I called out to him.
"Hey, idiot. Why're you spooked by those small fries?"
"You...!"
Schlieffen whipped his head around, eyes widening.
He hadn't even noticed me amid his focus on the battle.
He alternated glances between the wind barrier and me, then bellowed.
"Damn it, why haven't you fled?!"
"What're you on about? No need to run from the start. You've already dropped five."
"You know nothing! They're not that easy. Barca's Royal Guard don't die—"
Schlieffen was mid-sentence.
Suddenly, four shadows surged through gaps in the nine whirlwinds.
Barca's Royal Guard.
Coming from different directions, all wore imperial uniforms.
"Wait... those..."
My brow furrowed.
Blood and gore coated their uniforms and masks, but I recognized them clearly.
Two were definitely the ones shredded by the whirlwinds at the battle's outset.
"Already?!"
Too late to unleash sword qi.
Two pressed forward while the other two fanned out.
Schlieffen reflexively assumed a defensive stance.
The two Royal Guard's strikes hammered Pale Road.
Kaaaang!
A sharp clash of metal rang out.
As the three blades locked...
A cracking sound echoed, and one Guard's finger snapped off.
Seeing the frozen stump, I whistled in admiration.
"Ah, that's a cheat too, huh."
Chill leaked from Pale Road.
The intense cold affected not just the cut but the enemy in combat.
The frost climbed the blade to his hand, then his body.
"......"
But the Royal Guard ignored it.
They pressed harder, unleashing a barrage.
Each clash sprayed ice and sparks.
Kwaduk!
Finally, the fully frozen Guard's arms shattered, still gripping his hilt.
At that instant, the other two lunged from blind spots.
"Kuh!"
He should have countered, but circumstances prevented it.
The reckless assault pinned down his movements.
Regaining his breath, he gripped his hilt tight.
Paaa...
Pale Road's blue blade dissolved into wind and scattered.
"That's it."
The Storm Sword I knew.
Schlieffen swung the hilt wide.
A crisp wind arced through the air.
Sukak!
All four Royal Guard were bisected top to bottom.
"What? You could use it after all?"
A perfectly clean strike.
Rougher than I remembered, but still superb.
Guts spilled like an overturned pot.
Eight chunks of meat splattered across the ground.
An anticlimactic end that left me deflated.
"About time. What were you even worrying ab—huh?"
I was about to jeer at him for the unnecessarily drawn-out fight.
Chwaaak!
The dismembered Royal Guard's bodies magnetically reattached.
Spilled blood flowed back in, frozen limbs returned to place.
Even damaged uniforms and masks seamlessly rejoined, restoring their original form.
The instantly regenerated Guard turned toward us in unison.
"...Regenerated already."
Schlieffen grimaced.
His wind-form blade reverted to normal.
Three Guard emerged as the whirlwinds died down.
"Those bastards..."
I knew their faces.
Like the previous two, they'd been mangled by whirlwinds, yet they looked pristine, like mass-produced dolls from a factory.
Back to seven, the Royal Guard tightened their encirclement.
Schlieffen spoke without taking his eyes off them.
"That's why Barca's Royal Guard are such a pain. They don't die."
"Ah, explains the whirlwinds. Trying to delay regeneration as much as possible."
I snapped my fingers.
That was why he'd chosen the inefficient method.
Wind blades could slice them easily, but they'd regen in seconds.
Fair enough.
A smart guy like him wouldn't do something stupid on purpose.
I shrugged.
"Some kind of black magic? Usually, you destroy the heart-like core."
"They have a nucleus inside acting as their core. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't destroy it."
"No matter what?"
"If I could break it, I would have ages ago. Then the innocent victims sacrificed to Barca would decrease noticeably... but I failed in the end."
Hatred blazed in Schlieffen's blue eyes.
I could guess what he'd been through.
Undying enemies must have taken a lot from him.
Suddenly glancing my way, he gritted his teeth and growled.
"So when the hell are you planning to run?"
"Ah."
In that moment, it hit me.
Even without whirlwinds, the fight felt sluggish for a reason.
He was fighting to protect me.
Even though he could escape alone anytime.
"You idiot. Still the same."
My lips curled involuntarily.
In this world too, Schlieffen was Schlieffen.
Framed for treason, family slaughtered, no loyal retainers left, even sporting a ridiculous lumberjack beard—he never had a single blemish on his noble convictions.
I swept a hand over my face and spoke.
"Fine. I'm in the mood. I'll make sure you meet that woman who'll turn you into a dementia patient in this world too."
"What?"
"I know the one. Around now, she should still be in Numberton."
I said that, but I was deeply worried.
I needed to wrap this up quickly and go.
Drawing my sword, I continued.
"It's gonna be blinding, so turn around for a sec."
"What nonsense are you—"
Schlieffen was mid-sentence.
I raised my sword and gripped the hilt hard.
Paaaa...
Sunset hues climbed the blade.
"Kuh!"
Crimson flooded the area.
Schlieffen winced.
Flames mirroring my eyes swept over the Guard, Schlieffen, and the rainy courtyard.
As the light faded, the Guard clustered neatly before me.
"Hey, you piece-of-shit bastards."
"...?!"
"Why the fuck are you stomping on someone else's school spire?"
They twitched, finally grasping the situation.
The Guard moved to respond, but I'd already finished.
Lowering my bloodied sword, hundreds of red lines traced over their bodies.
As the fastest Guard recoiled...
All lines split open at once.
Puuuuk!
The vanguard exploded in a spray of blood.
"What...!"
Schlieffen gasped.
A guy like him must have seen my swing.
Getting shocked by this much meant he had a long way to go.
I wiped blood from my face and clicked my tongue.
"Tch, messy."
Seven of them meant a lot of gore.
Scattered flesh, bones, and guts writhed, gathering.
Left alone, they'd regenerate—but luckily, the cores were easy to spot.
Seven black metal shards glimmered in the blood pool.
"Lemme see..."
I picked one up.
I couldn't contain my curiosity about how it was processed to withstand even Schlieffen.
Figuring out the structure wasn't hard.
"Ah, coated it, huh."
Shimmering mana rippled over the shard's surface.
The bald bastards' specialty: Star's Blessing.
No wonder they kept regenerating.
A tiny amount of mana, but to melt a core here would require power like Big Sis Navardoje or her kin.
"Quick learners, huh. Heads always work overtime."
A usage I'd never seen in the original world.
It had appeared in that parallel world's root structure, and left unchecked, Nebula Clazier's tech level had advanced.
Of course, none of my business now.
"Hyah."
I swung lightly.
All seven shards cleaved apart.
Sukak!
The engraved black magic inside spewed dark light and shattered.
The gathering blood and flesh halted.
"......"
That was it.
The Royal Guard never regenerated again.
Shwaaaa... Barca's murky aura rose like smoke from the blood-soaked stones.
"...You."
Schlieffen was speechless.
His stunned face was photo-worthy for the collection.
Sheathing my sword, I chuckled.
"Pick some forget-me-nots before we head out. Sis loves them most."