Chapter 153: The Holy Land
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 153: The Holy Land
It wasn't surprising that Alex saved Cynthia over his own father.
After all, in a future that will now never be, she did the same thing, abandoning all her connections in the Northern Continent to follow the Star Witch.
What surprised me was Baron Babel's choice. Was becoming a mute that much of a shock? If so, why kill himself now instead of sooner?
‘He didn't kill himself because his tongue was torn out.’
Judging by the timing, the cause of his suicide was Alex's betrayal. But that alone wasn't enough of an explanation. Aren't suicide and revenge two very different concepts?
‘Was it a sacrifice for his son?’
Could it be that he sacrificed his body, now useless as a mute, to awaken his son who was so infatuated with a woman he'd lost sight of what was important?
"Father—! Why!?"
Alex didn't seem to have considered that possibility, judging by the way he was clinging to the rampart's railing, wailing as he looked down at Baron Babel's mangled body.
Cynthia, seeing her chance, moved behind me again. She kept a much greater distance than before, as if determined not to make the same mistake twice.
The way she frowned at Alex made it clear she was truly disappointed.
In the end, not only had Alex driven his own father to his death, but he had also lost Cynthia's heart.
Clap, clap, clap.
At the sound of my applause, Alex whipped his head around. His face was so hideously contorted, like a crumpled piece of paper, that it was the stuff of nightmares.
"Sir... or should I call you Baron Babel now? A truly brilliant scheme. To kill your father so easily? I suppose congratulations are in order for your succession."
A grown heir does nothing but wait for the day his father dies. Some even resort to assassination.
I spoke as if Alex had orchestrated Baron Babel's death out of greed for the title. It was like pouring oil on an already raging fire.
"You son of a bitch! You're the one who killed my father! If it weren't for you! If only you hadn't been here! My father and Cynthia would still be living happily with me!!!"
"How pathetic. Shifting the blame? It's obvious to anyone that he decided to kill himself from the shock of being betrayed by his only son."
Why would I need to explain the meaning of that sacrifice to my enemy, Alex? He needed to get more agitated. It would make him easier to deal with.
"Youuuuu!!!"
Alex charged, letting out an inhuman scream. The castle wall shook as if from an earthquake with every step he took.
His swing was naturally wide. A simple downward slash from above.
I intended to parry it with a diagonal slash, planning to follow up immediately with a counterattack.
CRACK!
When our swords clashed, it sounded like an explosion. Sparks scattered like fireworks.
Forget a counterattack; I had to hastily withdraw my sword and retreat. I had failed to parry his blade. Thankfully, I'd managed to slightly alter its trajectory. Otherwise, I would have been the one at a disadvantage.
‘I was... overpowered?’
It was the first time I'd been pushed back in a contest of strength. As expected of a named character whose physical specs rival those of a hero character.
His weapon also seemed to be no ordinary sword; clashing head-on with my Trollsverd had only chipped its edge.
"Die!!!"
It must have been the first time he'd faced strength comparable to his own, but in his rage, he recklessly attacked again. The only saving grace was that his movements were wide and lacked precision.
‘He's stronger and faster than me, but I can do this.’
I had the Eyes that see the world slowly. I leaned my upper body back. Almost simultaneously, a wide horizontal swing grazed past my face.
I felt a stinging pain on my chin. It was a cut from the wind pressure that followed the blade, a testament to just how much power was behind that sword.
Only then did I begin to understand a little of what my many enemies must have felt.
If he had been just a little faster, or if the sword had come a little closer, that attack might have killed me.
My body began to heat up. It had been a long time since I'd fought an opponent stronger than myself.
"You rat! How long do you think you can keep dodging! Die! Dieeee!!!"
Alex closed the distance as I retreated. Every time he lunged forward, I felt an immense pressure, like facing a landslide.
The Eyes that see the world slowly helped me dodge his attacks, but their effectiveness diminished when I tried to attack. No matter how precisely I thrusted, he would parry it even faster.
Inevitably, I was forced more and more onto the defensive. Naturally, his momentum grew, and dodging became increasingly difficult.
"A weakling like you killed my father?! I'll kill you right here to appease my father's spirit and take back Cynthia!"
Finally, the moment came when I had no choice but to meet his blade. The instant I judged I couldn't dodge it, I trusted in the Trollsverd's strength and raised it like a shield.
CLANG!
Sparks flew again as if from an explosion. The hand holding my sword trembled as if it would fall off. The immense shock was enough to freeze my body like ice.
He didn't miss that opening. Judging that another sword swing would be too slow, he shot out his leg, aiming for my abdomen.
With that kind of monstrous strength, even a kick could be lethal. I knew that all too well.
‘Move!’
In the slowed world, just before the sole of his foot—growing larger and larger—made contact with my abdomen, my frozen body finally responded.
I threw myself backward, twisting my body as much as I could. But it was too late to dodge completely.
"Gah."
Is this what it feels like to be hit by a truck? For a moment, my vision flashed white. The immense pain surging from my abdomen paralyzed my mind.
A clot of blood surged up from deep within my chest. I forced it down, and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. My internal organs were damaged.
Still, my stamina stat was high, so it would heal if I could buy some time. When I wiped my mouth, the back of my hand came away stained with blood.
"Hahaha! Is that all you've got?!"
Seeing this, Alex laughed heartily. His attitude was that of someone who had already won.
Just as I had judged him to be a difficult opponent, he must have gained the confidence that he could beat me after our few exchanges.
"Are you happy? Even though you let your only family die because you were obsessed with a mere woman, and now you're about to get all the comrades you've fought alongside for five years killed?"
"What—!"
I sneered at his scowling face.
"Didn't the nobles of the Alliance try to stop you? Didn't they say it was a trap? That the main camp would be in danger if you left?"
"..."
Alex fell silent. It seemed my guess was correct; he was at a loss for words.
I turned my gaze in the direction of the Alliance camp.
"By now, the Dresden and Signir armies are probably surrounding the Alliance from both sides and attacking. The Duke was furious. Furious enough to want to boil you alive for constantly getting in his way."
"But since you're here, he'll take out his anger on those connected to you instead—your blood relatives, your retainers, your friends and acquaintances. It's all because of your poor choice."
"Ah, perhaps Baron Babel killed himself because he foresaw such a future?"
Alex's face began to boil with rage. His eyes blazed as if he had swallowed fireballs.
"Shuuuuut uuuuup!!!"
Unable to hold back any longer, he charged like a wild boar. His sword strikes, now even faster, were an added bonus.
I immediately threw myself to the side. The sword that had been aimed at me struck the rampart's railing right behind me.
CRASH!
This time, stone fragments flew. A section of railing as thick as a man's torso was shattered to pieces.
"You coward! Stop running away! Face me honorably, like a knight! Raaaargh!!!"
"If I intended to fight honorably, why would I have used Baron Babel as bait to lure you here?"
"You son of a bitch!"
The grueling fight resumed.
"Why do you keep provoking him?!"
Cynthia shouted from a distance, her voice filled with frustration. I suppose, from her perspective, constantly taunting him from a disadvantageous position must have looked like suicide.
But this was my strategy. To defeat an opponent whose overall physical specs were better than mine, I needed to provoke him into a rage.
Thanks to that, his movements became wider, making them easier to dodge. His stamina was also draining quickly.
His personality, monstrous strength, and speed were all identical to his game character. If so, his stamina should be relatively low.
In contrast, my stamina, which had steadily, if intermittently, increased through sex, was on par with my strength. In other words, a battle of attrition was my only path to victory.
‘At least, that's how it was supposed to go...’
Alex's movements were wide, and he poured more power than necessary into every swing.
His stamina consumption was bound to be high, and as if to prove it, he was breathing as heavily as someone who had just run a marathon. And the fight had only lasted a little over ten minutes.
The problem was, I wasn't much different.
To dodge his wide attacks, I also had to move more. Furthermore, the thought that a single graze could be the end was mentally exhausting.
I had little experience fighting opponents on my level or stronger, which led to a miscalculation.
It was as I was debating whether to change my strategy or stick with it that an unexpected voice spoke up.
"Tsk, tsk. It's standard practice to dodge the attacks of an enemy with overwhelming power, but if you do nothing but run, you're just giving your opponent the chance to focus solely on attacking."
"Haven't you heard that the best defense is a good offense? Even if it's difficult, if you had mixed in a few checks here and there, the situation would be much better than this."
"And why are you wearing armor? You of all people should know that armor is nothing but a cumbersome burden against that kind of monstrous strength. And you knew he was coming, didn't you?"
I used the moment Alex's gaze shifted toward the voice to create a large gap between us. Then, I glanced out of the corner of my eye toward the source of the voice.
"Are you just going to keep giving unsolicited advice?"
Perched on the rampart's railing, Andrei was watching the fight as if he were a mere spectator.
He was the insurance I had prepared, just in case.
I had summoned him, judging that Andrei, whom I couldn't defeat even after gaining my own monstrous strength, would be a great help against Alex.
And yet, Andrei seemed to have no intention of helping at all. He clicked his tongue.
"This is why I told you to train consistently. If you fight relying only on your physical condition, you're bound to lose when you face an opponent who is physically superior."
"I have been training in my spare time. It's just that I'm no longer in a position to devote myself to it like I used to."
I, who was once merely a knight's son, am now the lord of a vast territory.
Moreover, with a lack of competent subordinates, I've had to handle a significant portion of the administrative work myself. It was an excuse for not having much time to train.
"Excuses, all of them. In my day, I cut back on sleep and squeezed out every spare moment to swing my sword."
"So, are you going to help me or not?"
"Why should I? A battle against a stronger opponent will be the foundation for your growth. I'll step in if it gets dangerous, so keep at it. Think of it as training."
Is this how a mother lion feels when she pushes her cub off a cliff? I was dumbfounded, but Alex seemed even more so.
"You bastards! I'll kill you all!"
Alex charged recklessly again. However, he couldn't completely ignore Andrei, and his attention was divided.
That alone gave me some breathing room. I used that opening to faithfully follow Andrei's advice.
His gaze rested on Andrei for less than a second, but for fighters of our caliber, that was more than enough time to aim for an opponent's neck.
"Hup—!"
Alex, who had been about to continue his attack with a fluid combination, was startled by my surprise thrust and had no choice but to halt his assault and retreat.
It was the first time that had happened since the fight began. In that brief moment, I was able to catch my breath.
"See? You can do it when you try. Do I really have to point it out every time?"
Andrei cheered me on with words that could have been either praise or criticism.
Instead of answering, I slowly retreated toward Andrei as Alex launched another attack. Then, when an impatient Alex charged like an angry boar, I leaped to the side.
In that instant, Alex and Andrei came face to face for the first time.
"Die!!"
Blinded by rage, Alex didn't care that his opponent had changed to Andrei. On the contrary, he swung his sword as if to say, 'Good, another annoying bastard to kill.'
"You cunning brat."
Andrei, who had been glaring at me, leaped nimbly from the railing. Alex's sword blew apart the section of railing where he had been sitting. It was a hair's breadth.
"Old man! You're dead!"
Just as he had with me, Alex followed up with another fluid motion. It was a powerful downward slash, strong enough to shatter a mountain.
Andrei's response was astonishing. Without any apparent effort, he simply placed his sword in the path of Alex's attack.
Judging by the difference in momentum, it looked as though Alex's sword would push his aside and cleave him in two.
Clang.
The result was the opposite. Alex's sword was stopped by Andrei's and could advance no further.
"...What!"
Alex's eyes went wide.
Having experienced it myself, I wasn't surprised. He had explained to me back then that it was a technique that required an understanding of the sword's structural strength, a sense of balance to feel the opponent's power, and a sense of distance to freely control the point of impact.
To be honest, it was an explanation I barely understood. The memory of Andrei clicking his tongue at me flashed through my mind.
"You're just like him."
Andrei clicked his tongue with the exact same expression as back then. Alex was even more enraged than I had been.
"How dare you compare me to that son of a bitch!"
Even if he wasn't a master on Andrei's level, Alex had also honed his swordsmanship for quite a long time.
Guessing what trick Andrei had used, he pressed forward, closing the distance to bring his monstrous strength back into play.
Andrei didn't resist the brute force. Instead, he twisted his sword, angling it diagonally, and deflected the power-laden blade away from his body.
The brain-piercing screech of scraping metal echoed out. Sparks flew up along the blade of Andrei's sword.
Andrei didn't just block the attack; he immediately lowered his stance. And he slipped into the guard of Alex, who was taller than him.
The sword he had angled followed naturally, slashing at Alex's side.
Shk-shk-shk-clang!
The sword scraped against the chainmail, sending up a shower of sparks. In the blink of an eye, Andrei was behind Alex, his sword pointed at him.
"That's some fine armor."
Even considering he couldn't put his full power into it at such close range, the fact that it did no damage was a testament to the quality of Alex's armor.
Despite taking no damage, Alex couldn't hide his bewildered expression. The thought of what would have happened without his armor sent a chill down his spine.
"You... Who are you?"
Andrei, his sword tip still aimed at the now-calmer Alex, grinned.
"My name is Andrei di Santo. I am Princess Eleanor's First Sword, and the teacher of a lazy disciple."