The Alley Ambush
You have won the Lunaria's Blessing Lottery.
"Leon."
It seemed I'd been too preoccupied with thoughts of Elaine. At her call, laced with a warning, I snapped back to reality. Only then did I notice dozens of armed thugs blocking one side of the alleyway. Upon closer inspection, they looked like the same bastards who'd fled after fighting me and Raisa yesterday. The one wearing knuckle dusters among them confirmed it.
I glanced back to check our escape route. Another group of unfamiliar faces—dozens of them—stood there, each brandishing different weapons and radiating murderous intent toward us. Many had animal ears or tails sprouting from their bodies, leading me to assume they were a beastkin gang living near the sanctuary. They appeared to be either beastkin captured and enslaved during the Holy War or mixed-blood descendants carrying their lineage.
"These fuckers really think we're easy prey, huh? After all that shit they pulled yesterday, they're back for more today?"
"Ptooey! Leave 'em. Aren't they aspiring knights? Probably wanted to test out the fancy wooden sword moves they learned today on us."
"There's one more now? Hiya. Look at that figure. Damn, she's fine."
The thugs blocking the front were seething with venom, clearly out for revenge from yesterday. Meanwhile—
"They really showed up. Those noble shits. We ain't letting you die easy today."
"They say the mage is still weak, so let's start by beating the crap out of that noble with the wooden sword!"
The beastkin approaching from behind to cut off our retreat seemed driven by a deep-seated grudge against nobles, judging by their words. Come to think of it, King's Crown had a setting where many beastkin harbored resentment toward the western nobles. Those nobles had invaded other countries under the banner of a holy war, committing massacres and plunder at will. Had the thugs we'd thrashed yesterday recruited others who shared that same hatred?
Elaine and I silently drew our wooden swords, positioning Raisa between us as we each faced one side of the enemies. The thugs kept leering at Elaine's entire body with lust-filled eyes, so I deliberately chose the front. Even if it was just a gaze, I wanted to protect her from bastards like these.
I gripped the wooden sword's handle generously with both hands. My right hand slid up to just below the blade, while my left rested lightly on the pommel. As always, I raised the sword slightly into a ready stance, prepared to strike at any moment.
The knuckle-duster bastard who'd gotten his shin kicked yesterday approached slowly, smashing his fists together and sending sparks flying. His leg looked fine—must have gotten it treated. Other thugs armed with all sorts of tools followed close behind him.
Without taking my eyes off them, I called back a warning to Raisa behind me.
"Be careful when you use magic. You might end up catching me or Elaine in it if you're not."
Raisa answered in a slightly flustered voice.
"Senior... you know... with my mana, I can't even tell if my spells will succeed or not..."
Her voice trembled faintly, lacking any confidence. The self-assured Raisa from earlier had vanished without a trace. So she still didn't trust her own magic yet?
A chuckle almost escaped me, but I held it in. That issue had been resolved the moment she switched staves, but since it was before she'd cast anything, she hadn't realized it yet. So I spoke to her like a veteran giving advice to a newbie.
"Don't worry. It doesn't matter if you fail a few times. Unlike yesterday, Elaine's here now. She'll protect you perfectly."
As I'd mentioned before, whether Elaine joined the hero's party or not completely changed the difficulty. And right now, two members of that very party were gathered here—what was there to worry about?
"Elaine, I'm leaving Raisa to you!"
With that shout, I didn't hesitate for a second. I surged my mana and kicked off the ground, charging straight ahead.
"Leave it to me."
A voice more reliable than anyone's rang out from behind. It felt like that voice had become the wind, pushing me forward like a ship with full sails.
Shhh—!!
I took a deep breath, whipping up a storm of mana throughout my body. Feeling the power course through me more intensely than ever, I clenched my teeth. The strain caused a small bleed inside my mouth. Using mana even for running closed the distance to the thugs in an instant.
Right before my eyes, the knuckle-duster guy had already wrapped mana around both fists and taken a stance similar to a "classic guard" from boxing. With his right hand guarding his chin and his left slightly extended, I deliberately swung my wooden sword toward his right fist.
He looked momentarily surprised. He probably hadn't expected me to swing over his guard. He met my vicious attack by reinforcing the defense on his right hand.
CLAAAANG—!!!
Once his right hand was pinned down, unable to move, he threw a jab with his left. I turned my head and took it lightly, letting it graze me to avoid a critical hit.
Swish—
Maybe because it carried mana, the knuckle left a cut on my cheek. The moment his left hand pulled back after grazing my face, I used the spit technique I'd practiced late into the night in the dormitory, spraying it toward his eyes.
"?!!!"
Hit in the face with blood-mixed saliva that blinded him for a moment, he instinctively raised both arms to protect his head. I'd predicted he'd do exactly that, so I pulled back my sword and swung it in a full-power arc toward his flank.
THUUUUD!!!
"Gack—!!!"
With a sickening crunch of bones shattering inside him, the knuckle-duster guy collapsed sideways like a puppet with its strings cut.
"You cowardly bastard!!"
One of the thugs following behind him yelled, so I shot back without the slightest retreat, my voice righteous.
"Is a gang-up any less cowardly?"
Apparently speechless at my retort, the thug shut his mouth and swung the rusty knife in his hand with a furious expression. It looked like one used for butchering meat—heavy, but with a short reach. Not wanting to damage my wooden sword by clashing with it unnecessarily, I took a light step back to escape his range and swung upward at his hand.
CRACK!!!
"Aaaargh!!"
The thug dropped his knife as his wrist bone shattered in agony. I lifted my foot and kicked him away.
THUMP—!
"Ugh!!!"
Thanks to the mana, the kick caved in his stomach, and he vomited blood. The thug, hurled backward with tremendous force, collided with the other thugs approaching from behind, collapsing their formation.
Thinking this was my chance, I lowered my stance to charge at them—
"Magic Discharge, Fireball!"
A scorching hot wind suddenly blew from behind me, and a massive fireball streaked over my head. The temperature spiked so sharply it made breathing slightly uncomfortable.
The fireball plummeted toward the thugs directly in front of me...
KWAAAAAANG!!!
It triggered a spectacular explosion that burned everything to ash.
Whoa... That single shot looked like it wiped out over a dozen of them at once.
"Aaaaaaargh!! Uwaaaaaah!!!"
"Huuuuurk!! Aaaack!!!!"
Even those lucky enough to avoid a direct hit were caught in the blast radius. Several thugs ended up afflicted with severe 'Burn' status effects, their entire bodies engulfed in flames. They weren't going to survive that. Screaming in unimaginable agony, they flailed helplessly before collapsing to the ground and dying. The survivors all fell into complete panic.
"Wh-what the hell is this?! They said the mage bitch was still weak!!!"
"Uwaaah!! It's a crazy witch!!"
"Save us!!!"
The horrific stench of burning flesh and the acrid smoke it produced filled the entire alley. The thugs, choking on the smoke, fled in terror just like yesterday.
Once the enemies in the front alley had all vanished, I naturally turned around to check on Raisa's condition. She stood there gripping her staff with both hands... trembling violently. Her eyes were wider than I'd ever seen them, brimming with tears. Her slightly parted lips kept muttering, "This can't be... this... this can't be..."
The spell she'd just used was the infamous Fireball—the most common magic in fantasy games. "Common" meant it was a low-tier fire spell, relatively easy to learn compared to higher-level magic. Yet the Fireball Raisa had cast displayed power on an entirely different level, slaughtering the thugs in a massacre.
The fact that she'd wiped out so many lives with a single spell must have been too shocking for her to accept. It seemed to hit her even harder than the first kill she'd committed yesterday to save her own life.
To avoid startling her, I approached slowly.