Knowing Your Place
Swish!
The flank.
Slash!
The wrist.
Whoosh!
The thigh.
Arnaud was deliberately avoiding vital points with his thrusts.
If he inflicted a major injury on Lee Taepyeong, it would escalate into an international incident.
I just need to break his pride...!
He wanted to make the man realize his place.
Right here, at the very spot where Julien had lost his life.
There's no way I'll stand by and watch some nobody Asian swagger around!
Swish!
The wrist.
Thud!
The flank again.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
That was the flowery phrase the French media loved to use when praising Arnaud.
Indeed, Arnaud's movements were swift and lethal.
The only problem was...
Swoosh.
Lee Taepyeong was dodging every single strike with ease.
Damn it! He doesn't even look that fast, so why can't I hit him?!
Arnaud grit his teeth and swung his sword.
Yet, faced with Taepyeong's light, casual steps—as if he were merely taking a stroll—every attack missed futilely.
This is easy.
Arnaud's style was similar to fencing.
Thrust, parry, thrust.
While its strength lay in its distinct rhythm, that was also its fatal weakness.
Having a rhythm meant one thing.
If the opponent could read that rhythm, they could predict the next move.
Taepyeong knew this all too well.
Whoosh!
The thigh.
Next is the flank.
Taepyeong shifted his stance slightly.
What if he let the tip of the blade barely graze his forearm?
Slash!
The tip of the sword lightly grazed him, spraying a thin line of blood.
Finally...!
Arnaud glared at Taepyeong, his face filled with confidence.
Though something felt slightly off, he brushed it aside.
Whatever, I landed a hit! That's all that matters!
While Arnaud rejoiced inwardly, Taepyeong looked down at his arm.
"Oh."
A smile spread across Taepyeong's face as he examined the cut.
"This is more than enough."
It was a chilling smile.
Arnaud flinched and took a step back without realizing it.
"You see this?"
Taepyeong held up his forearm, showing the wound to Arnaud.
Blood dripped down his elbow and onto the ground.
"You threw the first punch, right?"
"...W-what?"
"Now I can play for real."
"Accept your defeat! You've already—"
Crack.
Taepyeong cracked his knuckles.
"Don't worry."
"..."
"I'll only use my fists."
Fencing was all about rhythm anyway.
In that case...
Thud!
Disrupting that rhythm meant the game was over.
Bam!
A fist buried itself into Arnaud's abdomen.
Crack!
Another followed right into his ribs.
Smack! Thwack!
Crunch!
Fists rained down relentlessly.
But honestly, the impact didn't feel that satisfying.
It felt like hitting a ragdoll that folded with every blow.
Since Arnaud focused entirely on speed, he lacked any real physical build.
This is getting...
Boring.
Beating someone up was only fun when they could actually put up a fight.
Instead of pummeling this frail French guy, it would be much more entertaining to be thrown bare-handed into an army of Orcs.
It was also annoying having to hold back so he wouldn't accidentally kill him.
Crack!!!
One final, concentrated blow slammed into Arnaud's ribs.
Snap!
The sound of bone fracturing echoed clearly.
"Aaaagh!"
Arnaud collapsed, letting out a screech like a dying monster, and immediately began to retch.
"Gaaah! Blegh!"
Looking down at him, I casually scratched my ear.
Then, I spoke.
"Hey."
"H-eek!"
Chloe, the French healer, shrieked in terror the moment I addressed her.
Anyone would think she had just run into a boss monster.
I pointed at Arnaud, who looked like he was about to throw up his own organs.
"Heal this guy, quick."
"Y-yes? What?"
"I think his broken rib is puncturing his lung."
I could tell by the wheezing, choking sounds he was making.
I'd killed plenty of Goblins this way, so I knew the signs.
Left untreated, he would die of internal bleeding and hyperventilation.
If he were a Goblin, I wouldn't care, but he was a human—and a foreigner at that. It would be troublesome if he died.
Besides, I was technically a guest here.
Flash!
The healer rushed over, placing her hands on Arnaud's body to begin her magic.
As a shroud of light enveloped him like a cocoon, Arnaud writhed, groaning in pain.
"Khhk! Argh!"
He really was weak. He couldn't even handle the healing process without making a fuss.
As I clicked my tongue in disapproval, a voice spoke.
"...I'm sorry."
Hmm?
"I should have stopped Arnaud."
Mia, the French tank, looked at me with a bitter smile.
I looked at her and shrugged.
"Then why didn't you?"
"..."
"You just stood there when he came at me."
"That was..."
"Did you even have any intention of stopping him in the first place?"
"..."
"Or were you secretly hoping I'd get taken down a notch?"
Mia's face darkened.
Her expression was bound to be grim now that her ugly inner thoughts had been laid bare.
If she had truly wanted to stop him, she had plenty of opportunities to do so.
She wouldn't have just stood there with her arms crossed.
Whether it was the tank or the healer, they had both secretly wanted Arnaud to break me.
They were under a massive delusion.
These three had only cleared the 50th floor once, and even then, they had barely scraped by on pure luck.
Yet, despite their pathetic skills, they dared to pick a fight and hope for my downfall?
Ultimately, it was a matter of pride.
The mere fact that they had to ask an unranked Asian hunter for help had dealt a crushing blow to their egos.
But why should I care about their fragile feelings?
"You seem to be misunderstanding something."
I smiled at the two of them.
"If you had actually tried harder to keep Julien alive in the first place, I wouldn't even be here, would I?"
"...!"
"Blame your own incompetence."
"...!!"
"I came all this way out of the goodness of my heart to help, and this is how you treat me?"
Mia and Chloe stared at me, dumbfounded.
Soon, their faces flushed bright red with embarrassment and anger.
"You lack the skills," I continued.
"..."
"Yet you whine like spoiled brats."
"Bleeegh!"
Arnaud dry-heaved again, perhaps because the healing magic had been applied poorly.
"Just remember one thing."
I clicked my tongue, looking down at the three of them.
"You don't have the ability to climb the 50th floor."
"..."
"But I do."
Rumble, rumble...!
The sound of thundering hooves vibrated through the entire forest.
Awooooo!
Then came the bizarre, howling cries of Centaurs.
It seemed it was finally time.
Crack! Crash!
With a sound like thunder, a massive tree collapsed.
Awooooo!
Because we had been wasting time at the entrance instead of heading into the forest, the Centaurs had come down to meet us.
Out in the open clearing, we were surrounded by at least forty Centaurs.
I glanced back.
Arnaud was still groveling on the ground, Chloe was desperately supporting him, and Mia stood frozen, her face pale with fear.
Not a single useful person here.
Shwip!
I drew the Sword of Calamity.
"Just sit back and watch."
Before the words even left my mouth, I lunged forward.
Almost simultaneously, the Centaurs hurled their spears.
Thud!
Thwack!
Three or four spears slammed into the ground right where I had been standing a split second ago.
The Centaurs began to stampede.
Swish!
I lowered my stance, sliding beneath their flailing hooves.
At the same time—
Squish!
The tip of my sword pierced the Centaur's abdomen—the weak point where the human torso joined the horse body.
And then—
Rip!
I sliced upward, splitting the body in a straight line from the navel to the center of the collarbone.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed, and entrails spilled onto the ground.
Thud, thud, thud!
The beast kicked frantically in its death throes, but none of its strikes landed.
Squish! Splat!
Ultimately, the Centaur collapsed, trampling its own spilled guts as it went down.
Awooooo!
Seeing their comrade fall, the other Centaurs howled and charged at me.
Stab!
They only had one weak point.
Rip!
The soft human torso.
Once that was split open, most Centaurs could no longer move properly.
Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Knowing this, the beasts tried to trample me with their lower bodies.
A Centaur's equine lower half was as tough and heavy as troll hide.
However...
Too slow.
They possessed enough raw power to crush an Orc with a single kick, but that power made their movements inevitably sluggish.
Squish!
That made three.
Bubble!
Perhaps because Explosive Bleeding applied to both the human upper body and the equine lower body—
Boom, boom, boom!
The entire beast exploded in a spectacular shower of blood.
Thud.
A severed hand, still clutching a spear, fell to the ground.
Awooooo!
Witnessing the carnage, the remaining Centaurs began to whip themselves into a frenzy.
Which was perfect.
The more agitated they became, the easier they were to deal with.
Slash!
Slice!
I slid across the ground, severing every ankle tendon in my path.
Thud!
Thump! Crash!
The Centaurs kicked out in erratic, broken rhythms.
With the center of gravity in their lower bodies disrupted, their movements naturally—
Stumble!
—began to falter.
At this point, the battle was practically over.
Why?
Because once they lost their balance, they couldn't aim their attacks.
Whoosh!
I lightly dodged an incoming spear.
Grab.
I ripped the spear out of the ground where it had landed.
Swoosh!
And hurled it right back.
Thwack!
A direct hit.
The Centaur collapsed with the spear impaled right through the center of its face.
Awooooo!
Another one charged at me, enraged by its ally's death.
Its loyalty was admirable, but—
Squish!
This one was also a beat too slow.
Rip!
Its torso split open once again.
Splat! Squish!
The forest floor was turning into a gruesome mess of trampled entrails under the heavy hooves.
Stab!
Ten.
Squish!
Twenty.
Thrust!
Thirty.
Awoooo!
I wondered if they were smart or just stupid.
The last remaining Centaur spun around and tried to flee back into the forest.
"Whew..."
I caught my breath.
Whoosh!
I threw the Sword of Calamity at the retreating Centaur's back.
Thwack!
The Sword of Calamity embedded itself perfectly at the base of its spine.
And then—
Boom, boom, boom!
A spectacular Explosive Bleeding marked the grand finale.
What a sight.
Truly magnificent.
As I watched the display with satisfaction, I heard murmurs from behind me.
"T-this is insane..."
"He did all this alone..."
I turned around to see the three of them staring at me, their faces pale with terror.
"Well?"
I wiped the blood splattered on my face and asked,
"Do you know your place now?"