Chapter 152
Chapter 152
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Rampage (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The 49th Cohort, who had nearly gotten pummeled without realizing Tetsa was Theresa.
After hearing from Yuri that Tetsa was Theresa and being told she was somewhere along this path...
“Ugh...”
...he still got beaten.
It was because he had unnecessarily dragged things out longer than needed.
Rubbing his throbbing solar plexus, he lifted his head.
“You bastard, did I drag it out? You didn’t explain properly, so we wasted time for nothing!”
After Yuri had left—and quite a while after—he finally spat curses in the direction Yuri had gone, the aggrieved 49th Cohort.
It was right at that moment, after he’d vented his frustration satisfyingly.
Step-.
The sound of footsteps from right beside him made the aggrieved 49th Cohort flinch, his shoulders trembling.
‘Th-that bastard?!’
He’d deliberately waited a long time before cursing, just in case!
His face paled.
But soon, regaining rational judgment, he realized the footsteps were coming from behind him.
‘Ah, the others must’ve woken up.’
His fellow cohorts who had passed out after each taking a hit from Yuri.
Assuming it was them stirring, he turned his head without suspicion.
And then.
“Hi, hiiik?!”
Thud-.
Spotting someone standing stock-still right there, he yelped in fright and collapsed to the ground.
Crimson hair, and a face smeared with blood.
A massive sword radiating chilling menace, and red eyes enveloped in blue killing intent.
The fully unleashed aura responded to its owner’s icy rage, drastically dropping the surrounding temperature.
Hooo- whoosh.
Even though spring had arrived, white breath continuously poured from the red-haired, red-eyed monster’s mouth.
Seeing him, the 49th Cohort swallowed dryly.
‘B-Black... Black Swordsman? Th-this is really a Black Swordsman?’
The uniform he wore was definitely that of the Black Sword Corps.
Which only made it more puzzling.
‘The Black Swordsmen I know don’t feel anything like this...’
The only Black Swordsmen he knew were those carrying out instructor duties at the cradle.
But that wasn’t their true nature.
They were war’s murder ghosts, or battle-mad spirits.
The immense killing intent pouring from a Black Swordsman— a squad leader no less—revealing his suppressed true colors was far from ordinary, overwhelming the 49th Cohort with terror.
Tremble tremble-.
Unable to speak, collapsed and shaking, he drew the Demon King’s gaze.
“...Who’s that?”
Like he’d clawed his way up from hell.
At the low, gravelly voice, the 49th Cohort shrank in fear and replied.
“Ah... um... Wh-what?”
“Black hair... must’ve passed through here?”
Intuitively realizing the “black hair” meant Yuri, the 49th Cohort nodded vigorously.
“...How long ago?”
As he asked, the Demon King’s killing intent thickened further.
Gulp-.
Even knowing that dense killing intent wasn’t directed at him, the 49th Cohort felt like his head might snap off.
“How long ago, I asked.”
“Ah, um... that is...”
The aggrieved 49th Cohort wracked his sluggish brain and came up with an answer.
“Ab-about 10 minutes...”
“Precise?”
“F-five minutes for sure, at least!”
At those words, the Demon King immediately dashed forward.
The 49th Cohort stared dumbfounded at the sight, like a red aura in motion.
“Ah, shit...”
His face crumpled into a miserable expression.
“...We’re screwed.”
* * *
Two spearheads clashed, sparking brief flames.
Skak- clang!
Like fiercely poisoned vipers, the two spears twisted viciously around each other.
Then, one spear shaft vibrated finely, shaking off the bind.
The opposing shaft flinched and hastily pulled away.
Ziiiiiing- ring- clang!
The two gripping the spears simultaneously leaped back, glaring at each other.
Zing-.
Theresia frowned at the lingering strong vibration in her hands.
‘...This is spear arts?’
Vangelis Aniston.
Her spear arts were bizarre and unpredictable.
Holding the spear backward and swinging it like a club.
Gripping the end of the shaft and slashing down like a sword.
Or clutching near the blade like a dagger in reverse grip and thrusting.
She’d even thrown the spear and followed with a punch.
Spear arts that didn’t feel like spear arts.
Yet still spear arts, rampaging freely within that framework.
That was the overall impression Theresia got facing Vangelis.
And Vangelis, wielding such spear arts, was strong.
As expected of the Aniston family name.
Her fame as the 46th Cohort’s top graduate was well-earned.
‘No, she’s even stronger than the rumors.’
The two reasons Theresia had held out so far against such a formidable Vangelis were...
‘If Senior Vangelis had linked even thirty exchanges... I’d have lost.’
First, the continuous exchanges between Theresia and Vangelis had maxed at ten.
Two, four, five, seven, ten, and so on.
The cohorts Yulia sent up from the first checkpoint arrived sporadically like that.
Thanks to it, Theresia only needed to endure up to ten attacks from Vangelis.
The rules Vangelis had set actually worked in Theresia’s favor.
And the second reason.
It was her own astonishing growth, surprising even herself.
‘Sparring with the others paid off.’
Training to dodge Poppi’s shield and strike behind.
Training to deflect Arin’s rapid shots.
Training to catch up to Yuri’s speed, which now surpassed her own.
It had brought remarkable improvement.
More than the year-plus of thrusting at empty air alone.
Those few months sparring with Yuri’s friends had propelled Theresia forward leaps and bounds.
Vangelis, facing her, recognized the change too.
Vangelis shrugged slightly.
“Honestly, I heard the 49th Cohort was way below average, so I wasn’t above underestimating you... But top graduate is top graduate, huh? I thought ten exchanges would suffice to take you down, but looks like at least twenty now.”
At her words, Theresia’s lips twitched.
“Well, I think I can hold out thirty easily? Maybe more.”
“I admit your skill far exceeds my expectations... but you’re a bit cocky.”
Theresia wore a faint smile at Vangelis’s furrowed-brow assessment.
‘Cocky, huh...’
Was it because she’d grown feeding on time with that guy?
To think she’d hear such a thing herself.
Theresia found the situation a little amusing.
And her senior’s “cocky” verdict wasn’t all that unpleasant.
Yuri’s face suddenly came to mind.
‘Yuri... hope he’s okay?’
Yuri, roped into the quest at her request and “kidnapped” not quite a kidnapping.
Theresia wondered what Yuri, held in the Demon King’s castle, might be doing while waiting for her.
‘Maybe because I’m thinking of Yuri, it’s like I hear his voice.’
She chuckled softly, then her face suddenly hardened.
‘...Wait.’
Her ears perked up.
-----Te-tsaaa-!
A faint echo of someone’s voice from afar widened her eyes.
‘Tetsa?’
Only one person besides family called her that.
‘No... no way.’
Theresia forcibly relaxed her stiff expression.
In this cradle, no one who called her Tetsa could possibly appear here.
She concluded she’d misheard.
And right then.
Teeeeeeetsaaa-!
This time, a louder, clearer voice rang out.
Unmistakably calling “Tetsa.”
Theresia’s face stiffened rigidly.
‘No way!’
She denied it again, but now Vangelis had heard it too.
“Tetsa? What’s that?”
“...?!”
That sealed it.
As Theresia and Vangelis turned toward the sound.
At that moment, a black-haired pretty boy was rounding the inverted V alley at tremendous speed.
The Black Swordsmen noticed him too.
His appearance was unexpected for them as well, their faces showing clear panic.
But only briefly.
The Black Swordsmen soon dissolved their human barricade.
Their role was to block cohorts from passing the checkpoint, not those returning.
With the human wall cleared, Vangelis and Theresia could see beyond more clearly.
There...
“Teeeetsaaa!”
Yuri, bounding toward them with a beaming, joyful expression.
And thundering-.
From the inverted V alley he’d just emerged from, dozens of people poured out.
Woooah!
Don’t fall behind!
Starting at thirty, now joined by more, nearly forty roared as they chased Yuri.
Finally, Yuri passed through the gap the Black Swordsmen had opened.
“Tetsa! I’ve come to save you!”
At sunny, spirited Yuri’s shout, Theresia stumbled back.
An understandable reaction.
“Grab him! The little shit’s running!”
“Fuck, stand still!”
“We just need to catch that bastard... why’s he so damn fast?!”
“Just let him get caught once. I’ll smash his legs first!”
...Come to save her?
...How, exactly?
Theresia’s face drained white.
Anyone seeing the horde of killing intent glued to Yuri’s back would react the same.
Look, even Vangelis was backing away in shock.
As stunned Theresia froze.
“For now, run!”
Slap-.
Yuri, racing up, snatched Theresia’s wrist and bolted.
* * *
Yulia’s deliberation time was growing longer.
Meanwhile, the number of black and white pieces on the board had equalized.
Yulia looked anxious and frustrated.
‘Am I... still no match for big brother?’
Her early advantage was gone; no matter how she planned, a new wall sprang up, dismantling her moves.
Her thinking time stretched, while Fritz effortlessly placed his next moves.
It meant one thing.
‘At this rate... I lose.’
At this point, defeat was inevitable.
Her only choices: concede early or at the end.
Yet Yulia didn’t give up.
She knew dragging it out was just stalling better than anyone, but still moved her pieces.
Searching for some overlooked path to victory.
Clack-.
As Yulia placed her piece, Fritz asked languidly.
“So, when’s that variable you prepared gonna show up?”
“......”
At the question, Yulia silently glared at Fritz.
‘You know damn well I wasn’t talking about this chess game.’
Still, she knew he’d brought it up just to tease her.
Undeterred by his sister’s sharp glare, Fritz just grinned wider.
“If there’s no more variable you prepared, let’s end it. This is boring. Yawwwn!”
Mock-yawning obnoxiously, Fritz moved his king one square sideways.
Clack-.
Yulia’s eyes wavered.
‘Every path... blocked.’
That single king move...
Just one square sealed it; whatever she did next, Fritz’s response would be checkmate.
As if all prior play had built to this perfect victory.
For Yulia, a perfect defeat.
Relaxing her tense face, Yulia sighed.
‘Still... I sent up quite a few, so that’s something?’
Seven left besides herself.
The weakest ones remained, so they might stand a chance against the Demon King.
If those sent up did their parts.
“I lose...”
Just as Yulia, face resigned, began declaring defeat.
Rumble-.
“...Huh?”
A sudden distant vibration drew Yulia and Fritz’s gazes.
And there, far off, Yuri and Theresia appeared.
Closing the distance in an instant at breakneck speed, they blew past the Black Swordsmen to reach Yulia and Fritz.
Seeing the dumbfounded sibling pair still standing blankly, Theresia cried out in alarm.
“W-wait, Yuri! Ahead... ahead!”
“Fuck off! What the hell you doing blocking the road?!”
Boom!
With a booming shout, Yuri charging between Fritz and Yulia kicked the chess table flying.
Crash-!
Theresia, dragged along in his grip, trampled the spilled board as they passed.
In their wake.
Whoosh-.
The whirlwind they kicked up swirled, kicking up dust, drawing Fritz and Yulia’s eyes to the ground.
The two fell silent.
“......”
“......”
The chess pieces they’d fiercely maneuvered moments ago lay scattered.
The intense board now overturned, stamped with black footprints.
A thoroughly ruined game.
Staring blankly, Fritz muttered in a dazed voice.
“...This the variable you prepared, Yulia?”