Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Ethan's Stand
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6
The downpour that seemed like it would never stop finally ceased.
The sun peeked through the clouds.
But it was already nearly evening.
In just a little while, the sky would be dyed orange.
It had been over an hour since we began the pursuit.
Thirty minutes ago, we had passed through Eset's western gate and raced along the paved road.
Now, we were running through mud soaked with rainwater.
Even after the rain stopped, it would take a long time for the ground to dry.
We didn't have time to wait for that.
At least it was fortunate that the fugitives' tracks remained in the mud.
That was the only fortunate thing.
Running through the slippery, sticky mud alone consumed a tremendous amount of stamina.
We were already pouring all our focus into the chase, yet we had to concentrate on every step.
It was inefficient both mentally and physically.
"I'm more tired than I thought...!"
Ethan mixed his words with his ragged breaths.
The fact that he could still speak meant he had quite a bit of energy left.
I didn't even have the strength to speak properly.
If we encountered the enemy in this state, we'd be done for with our stamina depleted.
Choosing between the worst and the second-worst option wasn't hard.
I stopped my legs and raised my fist.
Everyone halted at the hand signal.
Looking back, they were all panting heavily.
It seemed I wasn't the only one exhausted.
We had rushed out so hastily that we hadn't even brought enough water.
The area was forested.
A short way in, there should be a spring or something.
"Let's rest here."
"We don't need to chase anymore?"
"The pursued tire more than the pursuers. If we're exhausted, the enemy must be too."
Kyriakos's words carried an oddly persuasive weight.
One thing was certain: we needed to recover our stamina.
Just as I leaned against a tree to catch my breath.
Without any warning, Leon shoved me aside.
I stumbled and grabbed another tree.
"What?"
"Enemies."
Where I had been standing moments ago, three daggers were embedded in the ground at Leon's feet.
Leon drew Exwise and scanned the surroundings warily.
At the same time, Noel pulled out his pistol and rolled his sharp golden eyes.
"Pretty good instincts? This should be fun."
A cheerful voice echoed from between the trees.
The voice belonged to a boy... no, a young man. The moment I heard it, the name flashed in my mind.
"Thorgang, huh..."
Of all people, it had to be this guy.
I scanned around frantically, but neither the secret two-tone hair—blond on the outside, red within—nor the innocent-looking face with its beaming smile was visible.
When we heard there were five intruders, I had a bad feeling it might be these Nagara guys.
And sure enough, this ambush must have been orchestrated by the butcher Gallet.
"Someone you know?"
"Yeah, well. He's good at stealth. Means trouble."
Nagara, Gallet's elite henchmen, was a five-man team, each with exceptional combat prowess.
Thorgang, one of them, specialized in blind-spot ambushes using stealth.
On top of that, he never shut up, attacking your mental fortitude, making him especially infuriating.
He was so annoying that just hearing his voice brought Thorgang to mind.
"Glad you know me. But everyone who does ends up buried six feet under, y'know?"
Leon deflected daggers flying from blind spots.
We pressed our backs together to cover each other's angles.
Ethan with Noel, Kyriakos with Louis—everyone guarded their blind spots.
"The Academy's really gone downhill. Sending students instead of guards!"
"...You're trying to stall us."
"Yep. Just tying you up here is enough."
A chase was ultimately a battle of time.
Having our entire group pinned down by just Thorgang here was the most critical interference possible.
The fact that it was Thorgang, not another Nagara member, meant he was the one most specialized in delaying us.
Could we break through?
If we pushed to chase the other Nagara recklessly, Thorgang would pursue us instead.
If he latched on, our stamina and mental drain would double... or more.
Turning our backs on an assassination specialist was the height of folly if you valued your life.
How long would it take to take down Thorgang as quickly as possible?
Hit-and-run, stealth, projectiles, a forest full of sightline obstructions—the battlefield favored him.
Unless we carpet-bombed the area to turn the forest to ash, we'd be stuck for at least twenty minutes, realistically thirty or more.
"I'll stay behind. You go ahead."
Ethan spoke up first.
"What are you talking about?"
"Better one person tied down than all of us, right?"
"No, staying alone is too dangerous. There has to be another way..."
"This is the best option right now, friend."
"It's not the best—it's the second-worst!"
"As long as it's not the worst, it's fine. Don't worry. Being tough is my strong suit!"
Thud. The Shield of Restraint plunged into the mud.
The noble pure-white shield remained unstained even in the muck.
Ethan's deep blue eyes shone nobler than the shield itself.
Eyes serene like a calm lake yet deep as the ocean abyss.
No storm could make the great ocean flinch.
Even Leon knew it was impossible to break the resolve Ethan had steeled himself for.
It wasn't the best choice.
But it wasn't the worst either.
And between the worst and second-best, the choice was clear.
"Let's go. We pursue the enemy."
No objections.
Everyone started running.
"Abandoning your comrade? Man, you guys have zero brotherhood—even with a magnifying glass!"
Daggers flew with the taunts.
But Ethan steadfastly swung his shield, knocking them away.
As the last one following the group, I shouted toward his back.
"Ignore whatever he says! As long as you don't get baited, you can win!"
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
With Ethan's usual voice behind us, we kept running.
7
"They really left you behind. Harsh, huh?"
The cheerful voice echoed between the trees again.
Ethan didn't respond and raised his shield.
The proudly white shield stood firm.
Mere daggers couldn't pierce it.
Its size was large enough that, if positioned right, it could block most ambushes.
Yet Ethan's body was covered in wounds.
Somehow, he hadn't fully deflected daggers coming from two or three directions at once.
Fortunately, they were just grazes, not direct hits.
They stung with every movement, but his limbs still worked.
'Still overwhelming, though...!'
If this war of attrition continued, Ethan would be at a disadvantage.
Unilaterally draining stamina would eventually leave him unable to dodge a lethal blow.
Meanwhile, Thorgang only attacked, and even his missed projectiles vanished tracelessly—clearly being retrieved.
They couldn't wait for his weapons to run out.
It was a one-sided exchange.
His silver hair, glistening from the rain, was now stained with blood.
It was a desperate situation, but Ethan smiled instead.
"Got the energy to smile?"
"Smiling makes you first-class!"
Clang!
He deflected another dagger.
Forcing a smile to steady his faltering heart.
Even as wounds multiplied and blood mixed with mud, Ethan's will stood ever nobler.
"Wonder how long you can keep smiling. I don't plan on killing you quick. Oh, right—aren't you curious how many stabs it'll take to wipe that smile off?"
Ethan thoroughly ignored the whispering provocations from the trees.
As long as his focus didn't waver, he could avoid fatal wounds.
He had to endure and endure until he seized an opportunity.
'Find his position somehow and take him down.'
Hold out until then.
Stubbornly and steadfastly.
Just as he told Theo—being tough was Ethan Mertezacker's strength.
"Oh, come to think of it, didn't Anirja tell me about you once?"
He tried to ignore it again, but Ethan couldn't let that name slide.
Anirja of the dark valley—the black mage they confronted deep in Eset's slums before.
Ethan hadn't forgotten the one who tried to sacrifice a child.
That was all.
Anirja had been the one defeated back then.
It wasn't Ethan's power, but in the end, he had saved Felt and Louis.
So he planned to ignore whatever nonsense Thorgang spouted.
"Your little sister got kidnapped as a kid and never came back, right?"
But Thorgang's words completely threw him off.
Ethan froze in place like a statue.
"She must've been cute. Too bad. Wonder how she'd have grown up? No way to know now. Oh, but lucky her—she died first, so she doesn't have to see your pathetic state."
"Hey."
Even to his own ears, his voice sounded unnaturally heavy.
Something snapped in his head.
Grind—his molars felt like they'd shatter.
"Don't put my sister in your filthy mouth."
He couldn't suppress the hostility and rage; it punctuated his words.
A dagger firmly lodged in his right shoulder drew a groan from Ethan.
"Haha! Nice hit! Your right arm's pretty much done, huh?"
Thorgang's voice echoed from all directions.
His right arm wouldn't rise properly, so Ethan hurriedly gripped the shield with his left.
Pulling the dagger would worsen the bleeding; leaving it meant his arm wouldn't move right.
His mind reeled from the cruel dilemma.
'Getting riled up after all that advice...'
He couldn't lose his cool.
His head understood, but his heart wouldn't obey.
If not now, when else should he get angry?
This was the time to rage.
And turn that rage into fuel.
"Still wanna fight? Squirming like a bug."
"I hate bugs, but if it'll take you down, I'll writhe like one!"
"Bugs are fated to burn or get squashed. Oh, wait—chop off your limbs, turn you into a maggot, and toss you to your friends? That'd be a sight!"
The exhilarated voice aimed to provoke rage.
Ethan saw through it and calmly scanned his surroundings, separate from his boiling emotions.
He spotted the glint of reflected light near the treetops thanks to that sliver of calm.
Something in the trees reflected the sunset as the sun dipped low.
In this forest, only one thing reflected light like that.
Thorgang's projectiles.
The moment he concluded, Ethan twisted and hurled his shield.
"There!"
The Shield of Restraint was a greatshield large enough to cover a person's torso.
Even lightened by Memphis, it still had substantial weight matching its durability.
Yet the Shield of Restraint spun fiercely through the air, defying physics.
It looked like it could cleave a person in two.
In fact, it embedded deep into a thick tree before finally halting.
"Whew! Close one! Big, clumsy oaf like you's got sharp eyes. Now what? No shield left?"
Under the Shield of Restraint, Thorgang grinned.
His refined, innocent face bloomed with a radiant smile as he licked the projectile in his hand.
Revulsion hit first, but Ethan crossed his arms and grinned defiantly.
"I win!"
"What're you on about? Lost it?"
"I'm perfectly sane! Extremely normal! But I still win!"
He's thoroughly lost his mind, Thorgang thought.
As he moved to throw a projectile.
Thorgang slammed his head into the ground mid-motion.
"Urk...! Body... heavy...!?"
"That's why you should've watched your surroundings."
Smiling, Ethan staggered toward Thorgang.
The circuits in the tree-embedded shield glowed pure white.
The force field enveloping a 10-meter radius restrained everything except Ethan.
"Now, we've got plenty to talk about calmly, right?"
Crack. Ethan cracked his knuckles.
In the suddenly silent twilight forest, only the sound of popping joints rang clearly.
"So, who's the bug now?"
"Damn...! Release...!"
"Why should I?"
"Forgive me! I'll stay quiet and do nothing! I'll even apologize for insulting you and your sister!"
Prostrated flat, Thorgang desperately rubbed his hands together.
Seeing that, Ethan pondered, stroking his chin.
"Hmm..."
"I'll apologize like this! Please, please forgive me!"
"No can do."
With a smile fresher than the setting sun, Ethan smashed his fist into Thorgang's face with all his might.
Thorgang flew back and passed out from the single blow.
"Hoo...! Yeah, when you're mad, you gotta let it out!"
Suppressing emotions coldly wasn't Ethan's style.
Catching his breath, Ethan moved to retrieve the shield from the tree.
But the moment he took a step, he collapsed face-first into the dirt.
'Huh...'
The Shield of Restraint hadn't restrained him.
His overworked body had simply hit its limit and shut down.
"This is... embarrassing... after saying toughness was my strength..."
He laughed hollowly, but couldn't even twitch a finger.
Wounds accumulated across his body, repeated shield use, mental and physical exhaustion.
Everything screamed red alert.
"The rest... is up to you guys..."
Finally, Ethan slowly let go of his fading consciousness amid the waning sunset.