Chapter 73: While Everyone Was Asleep (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 73: While Everyone Was Asleep (3)
“Ugh, this is exhausting.”
Because I had been suddenly separated from Daisy, I was forced into an unexpected time attack.
If the divine power inside my body vanished completely, I couldn't guarantee I’d win the fight.
That was why I used the "I killed Silence" card to draw aggro and prioritized taking down anyone who looked like they were about to try something.
Fortunately, I managed to wipe out the enemies in Phase 1 without the fight ever progressing to Phase 2.
“But seriously, why hasn't a single person shown up?”
There should have been Imperial agents monitoring Daisy and me.
Yet, not a single one had come to support me.
Of course, it made more sense for them to stick to the RoFan party that had vanished.
One could argue they trusted me that much.
Still, they could have at least left one agent behind to handle the cleanup.
“This is a bit hurtful.”
Uncle Aeryun, I didn't think you were that kind of man.
I grumbled to myself while farming the enemies' corpses. Just as I was about to head off to find Prince Ellen and Daisy—
Thud.
“Huh?”
Thud, thud.
“Wait, what?”
Something translucent was blocking my path.
“So, Uncle didn't just leave me be.”
I channeled mana into my sword.
Pushing myself quite a bit, I compressed it to the limit and swung the blade down.
Clang!
“……”
However, even a strike backed by my full power failed to leave a mark.
“I knew it was going too smoothly.”
According to Boradori, there were almost no named dark mages who excelled at close-quarters combat.
That was why Silence had shown up like a diligent civil servant, only to get killed.
She’d mentioned that Bell was at the level of a semi-civil servant compared to Silence, but he was currently out of commission.
She also said that until the demons appeared, most enemies capable of melee combat were small fry.
When I asked why, she said:
—The superficial reason is that they’re dark mages. Why would a mage be good at close combat?
—Then what’s the non-superficial reason?
—The story, obviously! The leads in the early parts are Prince Esid, who lacks combat power, and Asran, the Minor Sword Emperor.
In short, the enemies had to be weak enough for Asran to handle, so strong enemies couldn't appear early on. I had no choice but to agree with that logic.
That was why I hadn't questioned the fact that the swordsmen were weaker than expected.
I had taken them down before they could undergo some kind of second-stage transformation.
To think they’d stab me in the back like this.
“I don't know anything about magic.”
Clang! Clang!
I hammered at the translucent boundary repeatedly with my sword, but I couldn't even scratch it.
“Sigh.”
How am I supposed to get out of here?
Daisy - First Strike Wins.
The sudden appearance of my club friends was startling enough.
But when the black energy began to surround us, the only thing I could do was—
“Hup!”
The hand that had been holding Adam’s.
More accurately, I gathered every last drop of divine power remaining in the hand I had used to share it with him and threw a punch.
“Daisy?!”
My club friends looked shocked, but I didn't have time to answer.
The moment my fist collided with the black energy, a stinging sensation shot through my hand.
Crackle!
I poured even more divine power into my fist, feeling the violent repulsion between the black energy and the divine power.
“Hup!”
As I pushed harder, the black energy began to dissipate.
As expected, a sinister aura could never overcome the power bestowed by the Goddess!
“Whew.”
I let out a sigh and looked around for Adam, who had been standing a short distance away.
“Oh?”
Somehow, the scenery around us had changed.
What happened?
I looked around to grasp the situation and saw people running toward us in a frantic hurry from the distance.
“How did she... interrupt the forced teleportation midway?!”
They were dressed in black robes.
People who looked suspicious to anyone with eyes were rushing toward us, their voices filled with shock.
Presumably, they were the enemies.
When we were children reading fairy tales, Violet used to say:
—If people who look like that aren't the enemies, then that’s the real crime.
Therefore, I drew my sword without hesitation.
A prayer to the Goddess was a given.
‘Goddess, please allow me to be a righteous knight again today!’
The Goddess responded instantly.
—Our Daisy, do whatever your heart desires!
In an instant, I felt an explosive surge of divine power throughout my body, which I channeled into my sword.
“Whew.”
Without divine power, this sword wouldn't function properly, so no one could use it unless I allowed it.
In exchange, as long as it was infused with divine power, it displayed a level of might that even the Sword Emperor and Adam found shocking.
And so, I entered combat mode. Just before the battle began—
“Daisy. What’s going on?”
Esid, who still hadn't grasped the situation and looked quite confused, spoke up. I gave him a short and simple explanation.
“They are cultists.”
“What?”
“I think the dark mages are just a bonus.”
“What do you mean by…”
Instead of trying to convince the confused prince, I stepped in front of him with my sword raised.
“Please be careful.”
I was told I only needed to act as bait and then pull out.
But the person who told me that has disappeared, leaving his lover behind.
…Technically, it seems I was the one who moved.
But that’s a minor detail.
“If you’re going to take responsibility, you should do it properly.”
My lips naturally pouted a little, but what came out of my mouth was a magical incantation.
There was something Violet told me when we were young.
—First of all, if they’re definitely the enemy...
“Don't hesitate. Hit them first.”
It’s called "First Strike Wins."
When I asked what it meant, she said it meant you’ll always win if you hit them first.
“Kill her!”
“You idiot! I told you we have to capture her alive!”
Since I attacked first, the opponents began their counterattack.
My club friends looked flustered, but they began to fight back in earnest.
This, too, was something Violet had said.
In an urgent situation, it takes a long time to persuade someone.
But if they find themselves in a situation where they might die, they’ll struggle to survive without needing any persuasion.
As expected of Violet.
Our Vi is almost never wrong.
“Hup!”
I blocked the incoming magic with my sword.
A portion of the mana was torn away and absorbed through the blade.
The sword, growing larger as it absorbed the mana, blocked the enemy's spells even more easily.
Of course, since the opponents were dark mages, the absorbed mana contained magi.
However, the divine power residing in the sword prevented that energy from reaching me.
Just as I was growing the blade with pure mana—
“There they are!”
Additional figures in black robes appeared from behind.
Therefore, without hesitation, I attacked!
“Aaaah! Saintess! We are not the enemy!”
I must not be deceived.
Violet said that dark mages are the type to stab you when you let your guard down—
“Aeryun?”
“Your Highness! Please save us!”
…Well, she could be wrong occasionally.
Generally speaking, the sooner you give up, the better.
My mana wasn't at a level where it would run out easily, but the divine power I’d received from Daisy was different.
I didn't know how much I’d received.
And I didn't know how to handle it.
Rather than wasting it pointlessly, I decided to prioritize preserving my strength and scouted the area to assess the situation.
First of all.
“Nothing useful.”
I checked the items I’d farmed from the fallen assassins, but there was nothing related to the barrier.
So I checked places that might serve as the center of the barrier, but—
“I have no idea.”
There was no way a layman like me could tell what was wrong.
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have brought Violet.”
She’s a top student in the Magic Department and knows about things like sorcery, so she would have been useful in a situation like this.
Since this wasn't a story from the original work, I’d just left her be.
She’s probably playing with Bell in her room right now.
“The fact that the communication device isn't working means there’s definitely something here.”
I put away the communication tool connected to Violet and walked for a long time.
The area of the barrier was larger than I thought, so it took quite a while.
“Is this about it?”
After circling around while touching the edge of the barrier, I managed to return to my starting point.
“Usually, in these situations, you have to destroy something in the center, or defeat the person who created the barrier from the inside or outside.”
I searched thoroughly, but there was no one inside.
Just in case, I’d already gone around double-tapping everything that used to be human.
Which meant.
“Is it another RoFan development?”
Is this one of those plots where I can't leave until the RoFan party somewhere else defeats the boss?!
“But why me?”
Usually, the role of being trapped belongs to the RoFan heroine.
Why is someone completely unrelated trapped here?
“Is this the result of me dumping the annoying work on her?”
If I hadn't sent Daisy away because it was a hassle and had gone to explain things myself, even if it was complicated, Daisy would be the one here instead of me.
Seeing the enemies' skill levels, it wasn't like Daisy with her magic sword couldn't win.
My suspicion was rapidly turning into a conviction.
“Sigh.”
Well, since they have more combat power now, they should be able to handle the enemy more easily.
With that thought, I was about to lie down on the ground and wait for the barrier to break.
“……”
From the sky I saw while lying down, I locked eyes with something.
“……”
“……”
For a moment, I was startled by the fairly large red eye floating in the sky.
But it seemed the other party felt the same.
“I don't know what you are, but die.”
“Gah!”
I immediately sprang up, kicked off the ground with mana-enhanced strength, and leaped.
Then, I thrust my sword, fully infused with divine power, into the eyeball. The eye let out a scream and shrieked.
“You crazy human bastard! You attack the moment you see me?!”
“Of course.”
A floating eyeball in the sky?
Unless I was one of those dark mage types, it had to be an enemy.
“This is why you humans are—!”
From its tone of utter disgust, I was now certain this thing wasn't human.
“In that case. You are...”
“Yes. My true identity is... You damn brat! What are you doing all of a sudden?!”
“You’re the enemy. That’s why I’m attacking.”
“Conversation is something intelligent beings should be capable of! Do you have no intellect?!”
“A swordsman doesn't need that.”
The eyeball tried to introduce itself, but I immediately continued my assault.
To be honest, it looked like something important.
But I had a feeling that even if I heard its name, I wouldn't know what it was.
I’m not Boradori.
I don't know the original work!
“Aaaargh!”
Under the continuous attacks, bloody tears began to stream from the eyeball.
“You...!”
I’d tried attacking with pure mana a few times as a test, and seeing as it didn't take proper damage from that, I knew it wasn't an ordinary creature.
The streaming bloody tears began to take shape.
Conversely, the eyeball grew smaller and smaller until it embedded itself into a face formed from the coagulated blood.
“Those incompetent fools. I ordered them to trap the Saintess, yet where did this lunatic come from?”
The eyeball, now in the form of an adult male, had two distinct features.
One was the pair of horns on its head, proving beyond a doubt that it wasn't human.
The other was an eyepatch over the eye opposite the one shedding bloody tears.
An eyepatch? Unless a Black Flame Dragon was sealed behind it...
He was probably missing an eye.
In that case.
“I’ll make you completely blind!”
“Is this human insane?!”
As I aimed my attacks blatantly at his remaining eye, the creature began to flee in terror.