Episode 88
It's often said that the difference between masters is just a hair's breadth.
This is half true and half false, because in reality, that hair's breadth difference rarely occurs.
And even that hair's breadth rarely works.
Unless you're like some explosion magic specialist who focuses solely on one field, the levels of offense and defense are generally proportional.
That's why most attacks get blocked.
'Setting that aside, I'm still lacking in skill to begin with.'
It's true that I've gotten stronger.
But I'm still not at the level of what people call the "real" masters.
Even considering various traits and the spirits I learned this time, my ability doesn't reach level 90.
And level 90 is where you undergo a major growth stage.
It's like a kind of class advancement.
"Ssuup... Seeing it like this makes me feel the difference even more."
Thanks to my flashy entrance, all eyes were focused on me.
From the beastkin rushing toward the city to Seoryeong Unni standing at the very center of their formation.
Hundreds of gazes were fixed on me.
"Kieeeek!"
One of the beastkin who had been watching me to determine if I was an ally suddenly charged.
"Just a quick glance tells me they're not normal. Did all of them fall victim to the Cult of the End?"
Despite the enormous gap in power, it was charging at me alone.
The fact that a beastkin, of all races, was attacking like this felt unnatural.
"..."
I slightly pulled my leg back, pushed off the ground, and swung.
With what's commonly called a roundhouse kick, I kicked away the torso of the approaching beastkin.
Pwook! Kwaang!
The beastkin hit by my foot flew through the air for a considerable distance before crashing into the ground. After twitching briefly, it finally went limp.
Only then did tension begin to spread.
They had felt the power gap.
'Seems like minimal instincts remain. Then what about Seoryeong Unni...'
Over the shoulders of the tense beastkin, I could see Seoryeong Unni staring intently.
Having judged me as a threat, the flames around her had multiplied.
They now filled the sky.
Just when I thought there was no solution.
Sswaeeaeaek! Pweobeobeobeong!
With a powerful gust of wind, the blue flames filling the sky exploded.
Eri must have clearly reached the castle and helped.
This was probably a signal that I could now fight without worry.
"Should I focus too?"
I charged toward Seoryeong Unni, who was momentarily flustered by the explosion of the flames that had filled the sky.
Kwaang!
At my tremendous speed, the surrounding scenery stretched out long.
And I reached her in an instant.
"Hup!"
I took a deep breath and clenched my right fist.
Putting my whole body into it to add weight, I swung my fist wide.
Puck!
A sound like skin tearing.
"Enemies... must be killed..."
But the attack was blocked by a hand.
I only realized it after seeing my fist caught in Seoryeong Unni's hand.
"Tch!"
I clicked my tongue and tried to pull my arm back, but it wouldn't budge.
The difference in strength was more severe than I thought.
"Fire... burn..."
Blue flames bloomed from all directions.
It seemed like she was considering self-destruction to gauge the skill difference and kill me in one go.
Or perhaps her remaining memories had informed her of the difference between us.
"Ggeueuk!"
I raised my aura to the maximum and swung my leg.
With tremendous speed, my foot shot toward Seoryeong Unni's abdomen.
Puck!
Blocked again.
"Damn... shit!"
I threw several more punches, but all of them were caught.
My attacks weren't working.
My dynamic vision, reaction speed, even my strength - everything was insufficient.
I thought close combat would be manageable, but I never expected to be at such a disadvantage.
"Must... kill..."
The completed fireballs then approached me.
Pang! Pangpang!
"Kkuk!"
I tried to block by raising my aura to the maximum, but it shattered meaninglessly fast.
Create again, shatter again.
Create once more, shatter once more.
'How long are they going to keep exploding? Could it be she's continuously making them explode?'
I had thought they would explode just once and be done, so I tried to endure, but they kept exploding.
The hand holding mine remained firm, and the explosions continued similarly.
I needed to make a decision.
If this turned into a battle of attrition, I would definitely lose.
"Hueup..."
One all-out attack.
I had to abandon defense and bet everything on one decisive blow.
Even if I couldn't win, creating an opportunity to create distance would be enough.
"Uk!"
As soon as I removed the aura focused on defense, pain surged through my entire body.
Every explosion was threatening.
My consciousness felt like it might break, and I wanted to use aura for defense again due to the pain, but I gritted my teeth and focused.
If I succeeded, I felt I could face Aron with dignity.
'At least it would be proof that I tried.'
All my aura concentrated into my fist.
Simultaneously, I called upon the spirits.
I asked them to concentrate wind on my arm to increase speed.
Whiiing...
Even amidst the explosions, the wind created by the spirits blew strongly.
And then followed one step.
Kung.
I planted one foot and fixed it to the ground.
"Hup!"
And then followed the fist.
Pang!
The air exploded as the fist was thrown.
Along with the fist, I took one more step forward.
Kung!
"Uk?!"
The reason for taking one more all-out step was precisely to step on Seoryeong Unni's foot.
Perhaps because all her nerves were focused on the fist, she couldn't avoid my foot.
But it was too late to pull her foot back now.
"Dieeeeeee!"
That brief moment of confusion was enough.
Pweooeoeok!
My fist sank deep, embedding itself squarely into Seoryeong Unni's abdomen as she tried to awkwardly dodge.
I absolutely never throw punches straight forward.
"Kkeueueuk!"
I rotated my body greatly, deeply embedding the fist while dramatically changing its trajectory.
From front to downward.
I rotated so much that my back foot lifted, and Seoryeong Unni's body was dragged along.
And at the end of it, she was slammed into the ground.
Kwaaaaang!
"Hoo... ssuup... hoo..."
My entire body was covered in burns, my skin turned to rags from the explosions.
My lungs, having swallowed too much heat, felt scalding hot.
The fist I had swung was also torn to shreds.
'This fist... might be difficult to use again.'
It would be fine if Kyla healed me, but for now my skin was completely peeled off, and from using excessive force, my bones seemed broken too.
Even when I tried to clench my fist, it just throbbed painfully.
"I've overcome... no, not yet. Almost raised a death flag there. Or not? I can't kill her. But it would also be problematic if she remains too intact."
While I was debating whether to raise a death flag or not, a shadow moved ahead.
I hastily stepped back and looked at the cloud of dust.
"Must... kill..."
A voice was heard.
Of course, the brainwashing couldn't have been broken, but perhaps due to more damage than expected, her movements had slowed.
Unfortunately, she was still producing blue flames well.
Fwooruk!
Once again, blue flames surrounded me from all directions and blazed up.
"This is really hopeless."
Pang!
The blue flames flew at me once more and exploded.
*
Meanwhile, inside the castle walls.
Amid the noisy crowd caused by the beastkin attacks, Kyla moved swiftly.
Eri would handle the castle walls.
The fox would somehow manage with the wolves.
Then what I needed to do was manage the people inside the castle walls.
The more chaotic the situation, the more I needed to fulfill my role properly.
She knew that fact better than anyone.
"Hoo..."
Saintess-like activities after a long time.
It was nerve-wracking, but that was only natural.
Because it involved people's lives directly.
After taking a deep breath in and out, she spread divine power in all directions.
Bright light and warm energy brushed through the chaotic crowd.
"Huh? Suddenly... I'm not trembling."
"Isn't that the Saintess? She looks similar to the first Saintess from the history books."
"My wounds are healing. Is the Saintess doing this?"
Even though she never said she was the Saintess, everyone began to believe it.
Kyla accelerated this flow.
"Everyone, I will take command of this area from now on. Those who can use healing magic, please gather around me. And please bring the critically injured first. For non-urgent patients, I'll ask for first aid and simple healing magic."
She might just be a childhood friend gone crazy in front of Aron, but she was different in front of people.
She was also a member of the Hero Party.
And a Saintess so exceptional she would be recorded in history books.
With Kyla's appearance, the situation began to organize.
"We have critical patients here!"
"I'll handle the healing, please take care of the others. Those who have recovered, please return to the castle walls! The elf will be in command there."
"Yes! I'll guide all recovered personnel back to the castle walls!"
"Everyone who heard, move! The Saintess will heal you somehow, so go defend the castle walls!"
With Kyla's appearance and the recovery of the injured, people began moving back to the castle walls.
While it was true that they gained courage knowing they could be healed if injured, they didn't make that decision solely based on faith in the Saintess.
The explosion sounds from the castle walls had disappeared.
Instead, a powerful voice could be heard.
"Block them! Just block the beastkin climbing the walls! I'll handle all other attacks, so just focus on stopping those climbing up!"
The protagonist was an elf with flowing silver hair, commanding numerous spirits.
With her appearance, the blue flames heading toward the walls became meaningless.
Simultaneously, the defense became extremely advantageous.
"Somehow knock them down! Just one fall will be fatal!"
"Elf-nim! We need support here!"
"We're out of arrows here! Someone bring more arrows!"
She used wind to repel the blue flames, and when beastkin swarmed, she created water to slow them down.
Occasionally, she threw massive fireballs to control the momentum.
She was truly all-purpose.
Even while handling both offense and defense perfectly, Eri was worried.
'...Mia, will you be okay? No matter how much stronger Mia has become, fighting the two of them would be impossible.'
While blocking the beastkin, Eri kept checking the explosions visible in the distance.
Rationally, this was the most appropriate deployment.
Only Kyla could handle healing, and only Eri, who could perfectly control various spirits, could defend the castle walls.
Bringing Mia to the castle could have been an option too.
'But if we did that, I would have been too busy blocking those flames to do anything else. No, rather, I wouldn't have been able to block them properly and the castle walls would have already been destroyed.'
Though they were the Hero Party, each had their specialties.
Aron was the vanguard, Kyla the support, and Seoryeong handled firepower.
One might think she had strong firepower since she handled spirits, but strictly speaking, she only had good versatility - her firepower was weaker compared to Seoryeong.
She used wind spirits for buffs, fire spirits for attacks, and earth spirits to establish a vanguard.
That versatility was her advantage, so naturally she would lose in simple exchanges of attacks and defenses with Seoryeong.
That's why she had no choice but to send Mia.
'I want to finish this quickly and help, but...'
The beastkin kept swarming endlessly.
Though she was managing to block them for now, looking at the number of approaching beastkin, even Eri felt somewhat worried.
Would she tire first?
Was Mia okay?
What should she do if Seoryeong was truly broken?
Various worries scrambled through her mind, but she shook her head left and right.
"I have to believe now."
This was Mia, after all.
The prophet and embodiment of talent whom even Aron trusted and entrusted things to.
Eri once again gathered her resolve and raised the wind.
To overcome this situation.