The Way of the Sword (5)
Path of the Sword (5)
The distance closed in an instant, and the sword strike extended right before my eyes.
It was the moment the tip of my longsword was about to pierce the mage's throat.
Ting-!
An unexpected outcome unfolded before my eyes.
My sword was deflected helplessly, as if striking a metal composite plate.
"Your spirit was good, but your skill is lacking."
The mage looked down at me with a mocking laugh.
A semi-transparent barrier shimmered briefly around her.
Did she cast a spell in that brief moment to block it?
The panic was short-lived. I immediately tried to swing my sword again to continue the assault.
"Ehit!"
"...Keuk!"
A heavy, unidentified impact struck my abdomen.
Unable to withstand the force, I was thrown backward and tumbled across the ground.
"Oh my! I meant to cripple you halfway, but you're really tough, aren't you?"
I quickly rose from the rising cloud of dust.
I didn't forget to use Recovery to restore my battered insides.
Whatever magic that was, it had tremendous power.
It felt like being struck by a giant.
"Now, shall we go again? Yap!"
Her finger pointed at me.
Simultaneously, something rushed at incredible speed and struck my shoulder.
"Kheuk...!"
It was far too fast.
With my current stats, detecting this speed was impossible.
I steadied my staggering posture and focused my consciousness.
- Amplify sensory stats temporarily with 150pt of Wrath
- Amplification coefficient: 1.5x
My brain awakened, and all five senses throughout my body were heightened.
I stared wide-eyed at the mage who was pointing her finger at me again.
"Here I go. Yap!"
In that thread-thin moment of opportunity, I glimpsed an anomaly.
An intangible energy extending from her hand was distorting space as it rushed toward me.
Kwaaang-!
Gritting my teeth, I twisted my body and barely dodged it.
The magic that grazed me shattered a tree behind me into pieces.
The destructive power was truly fearsome.
But after being hit three times, I finally understood.
That magic isn't particularly special.
It's just compressing air to an extreme degree and shooting it at me like a cannonball.
"Oh my, oh my. You're pretty good, aren't you?"
I wondered when I'd be able to smash that smug face of hers.
Suppressing my anger, I calmly assessed the means at my disposal.
My Recovery ability and Agony's Ecstasy were still undiscovered.
My most important Wrath points were roughly 900 remaining.
I had to settle this before they were completely exhausted.
"This is fun. Try dodging this time too. Yap!"
The stat amplification effect from Wrath had ended a while ago.
But having identified its nature once, I could faintly sense the magic's presence.
The compressed air tearing through the void and firing with tremendous force.
I tightened my grip on the sword and heightened all my senses to their limits.
Now was the time to rely on instinct rather than reason.
The world turned black as if darkness had fallen, and my mind became clear.
In that darkness, I gauged the optimal moment to swing my sword.
...Right now.
A flash of sword light gleamed for an instant.
What my steel blade cut through was the mage's air cannon.
The compressed air, split in half and scattered, turned into mere gusts that only whipped through my hair.
"...What? You neutralized my magic?"
She seemed quite surprised, even forgetting her habit of dragging out her words.
Enjoying her dumbfounded face, I quickly wrapped my entire body in Wrath.
- Amplify strength, speed, and sensory stats temporarily with 900pt of Wrath
- Amplification coefficient: 2x
I unleashed my rapidly strengthened muscles like lightning.
I closed the distance in an instant, flying to right before the mage's nose.
Taking advantage of her panic and carelessness, I prepared a powerful heavy sword technique.
A sword strike pouring all my Wrath, enlightenment, and every effort until now.
The divine sword unity strike, achieving Coordination and harmony, slammed into the mage.
Kwaajik-!
This time, that sturdy barrier shattered easily like a glass mirror.
Next to be destroyed would be the head of that mage who was staring wide-eyed in shock.
Just as the blade descended as a death sentence was about to touch the mage's forehead.
Suddenly, her body was dyed in a dazzling light.
"Uueet...!"
The light was so bright I instinctively frowned and opened my eyes, but the mage was gone.
She had been right before me, but now she had disappeared without a trace.
...Could it be teleportation?
Was this woman capable of such incredible magic too?
"Ayu, that was dangerous."
At that moment, a voice came from behind, and I hurriedly turned around.
But my reaction was already too late.
"Subdue her, vines of Sephirot!"
With that incantation, Thorny Vines burst through the ground.
Without even a moment to steady myself from the shaking earthquake, green plant stems reached toward me.
"Kut...!"
I desperately resisted, but it was useless.
My entire body, including my arms and legs, was instantly captured and tightly bound by the vines.
"Ahahat! Your struggling was quite cute. Even I was briefly dazzled."
The woman, having completely regained her composure, looked down at me subdued by the vines.
No matter how much strength I exerted, they didn't budge an inch - whatever magic this was.
Similar in appearance to Maria's magic but with power on a completely different level.
Having used up all my Wrath points, any countermeasure was impossible.
"Now, our black-haired girl. You've worked hard, so why don't you go to sleep now, coo~?"
As if trying to act cute despite her age, the mage winked at me with one eye.
Her appearance was quite beautiful, but it paled in comparison to Rosalia and Anethsa.
Moreover, her temperament and character were unbearably ugly, to the point of being foul.
Just as I was about to shower her with insults.
An incomprehensible incantation and spell were recited from her mouth.
"Eut...!"
I'd experienced this before with Maria.
She must be trying to force me to sleep.
I bit my lip until it bled, struggling desperately to maintain consciousness.
"Hmm? The sleep magic isn't working at all?"
But despite my resolve, no changes appeared in me.
It was fortunate, but also strange.
This woman should be much more skilled than Maria.
Why did she fail with sleep magic that even Maria had succeeded with?
Apparently finding it equally puzzling, she stared intently at me for a moment.
After several dozen seconds of silent observation, the answer finally emerged.
"Aha, no wonder your body is excessively tough. You're wearing equipment imbued with magic resistance. And you seem to have some mana inside your body too?"
She must mean that my Dire Wolf armor and magic stat have increased my resistance to magic.
If it can block even that terrifying woman's magic, my investment in Greed points was certainly worthwhile.
"Well, that doesn't really matter. Since we're here, shall we have a little talk? Tell me, who are you?"
I remained silent for a moment at the mage's probing question.
What should I do?
I'm debating whether to immediately prostrate myself in submission or put up a bit of resistance.
After a moment of anguish, I decided.
Surrendering by showing my belly from the start might arouse suspicion.
It would be better to act as someone who broke after repeated torture and threats.
"...Isn't it proper etiquette to introduce yourself first if you want to know about others?"
"Ahahat! Look at this one."
My bold answer seemed to unexpectedly please her as the mage giggled.
Then she made eye contact with me and spoke with a deep smile.
"Fine, I'll introduce myself. I am the 17th Seeker of Sephirot, my name is Roxanna."
The seventeenth Seeker.
That meant there were at least ten more evil beings like this woman, Roxanna.
I was inwardly surprised by the scale but managed my expression to not show it.
Roxanna coaxed me again with a gentle voice as if soothing a child.
"Now, question and answer. I spoke first, so will you properly reveal your affiliation?"
"There's nothing to reveal - you already know this. Rene, Silver Badge mercenary of the Rivaid Mercenary Guild branch."
"...Ei, why do you keep being so boring."
Roxanna, who had been smiling with squinting eyes, made a light hand gesture.
Then the vine constraining my left arm tightened madly and eventually crushed the bone joints.
"Kk, euuk...!"
"Hmm? I expected more of a nightingale-like scream. Anyway, speak truthfully. What's your real affiliation? Who's backing you? Why did you interfere with our Grand Enterprise?"
Giving up just one arm wasn't enough.
To make this woman more careless, I needed to kneel under harsher conditions.
"...I told you, there's nothing. I'm really just an ordinary mercenary. I was unluckily caught in Archibald's gang's ambush, and they just happened to be defeated by me."
"Uuuum. That's hard to believe."
Roxanna pouted her lips and grumbled.
What's with that cutesy act.
It was extremely irritating seeing a woman who looked at least ten years older than me acting like that.
"Then I'll change the question. You definitely know something about us. You recognized the badge earlier, right? What do you know about us?"
It would be good to give a carrot around this point.
With an air of reluctantly coming clean, I answered the question.
"It's true that I recognized the badge. I met a woman who had the same one as you. Her name was Maria, I think..."
"...Maria? You met that base bitch?"
The dragged-out speech stopped.
Her reaction suggested a personal connection beyond just being in the same organization.
"Keuk, khaak...!"
Suddenly, my left leg was twisted by the vine, muscles tearing and bones breaking.
Roxanna stared expressionlessly at me as I contorted my face in pain.
"Tell me. Where is that bitch?"
"Sh, she's dead...! She tried to kidnap me and make me the goblins' wife, so I killed her!"
Pressed by the vines constricting my entire body and her murderous intent, I immediately confessed her death.
The atmosphere was so deadly I thought she might break my spine and neck if I tested her further.
"...Ahahat! What a fitting end for that dim-witted base bitch."
Apparently their relationship hadn't been amicable.
Thankfully she didn't hold a grudge against me for it.
Since she seemed in the best mood so far, I subtly brought up a question.
"What exactly is Sephirot anyway? Is it the name of some religion that worships a god or something?"
"It's no mere god. That being is the Infinite One, the unmanifested negative existence. Mercifully observing us mortals from beyond the world's veil."
The words came out clearly without any hesitation or dragged-out speech.
In Roxanna's pupils, I could glimpse a deep whirlpool of madness.
...I shouldn't have asked. I really didn't want to know more.
"Uuum. At this point, I can feel that you really know nothing."
"Th, then you believe me?"
"Yes, I'll believe you. Since I believe you, I should let you go now."
Something's strange.
There's no way she'd believe me so easily and let me go.
As if confirming my suspicion was correct, the vines binding my arms and legs tightened even more.
My right arm and right leg that were still intact.
Under the vines' powerful force, even those two limbs had their bones shattered.
"Keuuk...!"
"Now, as promised, I'll let you go."
The Thorny Vines holding me in the air were reverse-summoned and disappeared into the ground.
Freed from restraint, I plummeted downward and crashed into the ground.
"But I do like your mental strength. Normally people faint before all their limbs are crushed."
Roxanna's shadow fell over me as I lay helpless.
As she said, my current state had all the bones and muscles in my limbs destroyed.
In this condition, I couldn't even defeat a single child.
That's why Roxanna approached so close without any caution.
I briefly assessed the situation.
If I recover my entire body while using Agony's Ecstasy to ambush her, could I kill this woman?
I shook my head inwardly.
This is the woman who managed to successfully cast defensive and teleportation magic even with a sword at her throat.
I need to make her much more careless than this to have even a sliver of chance.
Since she doesn't seem intent on killing me immediately, I should endure for now and watch for an opportunity.
"P, please spare me! You said you'd let me go...!"
"Hmm? Right, the interrogation is over. This is just a kind of hobby and amusement for me?"
Hobby and amusement.
What was she planning to do using those words.
The reason became apparent soon enough.
"Unghaat...!"
"Oh my, your toughness and mental strength are excellent but your crotch is pathetic?"
Roxanna's high heel persistently stabbed and trampled my groin.
With those relentless steps, it pierced through my leather pants and underwear, violently tormenting my private parts.
"Hik, heuk...! P, please stop this. Please spare me...!"
"Shall I spare you?"
"Yes! I'll, I'll do anything, please..."
As I tightly closed my eyes and cried out miserably, a response came just then.
Roxanna, who had stopped stepping on my groin, began fumbling with her clothes.
"W, wait...?"
But the unexpected development made me doubt my eyes.
Roxanna lifted her robe and removed her red lace panties.
Revealing her hairy vulva and anus in full view, she then pushed her sizable buttocks toward my lying face.
"You said you'd do anything with your mouth. With your mouth...♥"