Chapter 126: The Lord is With Us (47)
Chapter 126: The Lord is With Us (47)
The aura radiating from Mr. Guildford as he held his sword was savage. He was, in himself, nothing less than a perfected weapon.
I had succeeded in rescuing the Saintess by leveraging the advantage of a surprise attack, but I couldn't guarantee the outcome of what came next. A bead of cold sweat rolled down my forehead as I glared at him.
There were no openings. He looked flustered, his wrist having been struck by my axe, but the speed at which he composed his posture and breathing was on an entirely different level.
He made the Academy students I’d faced until now feel like mere greenhorns.
This was the power of experience.
In terms of raw skill alone, the level of the Academy students was far superior, but there was a reason I specifically distinguished them by calling them 'students.'
It was because they were still nothing more than unripened grain.
No matter how outstanding one's skill, a lack of experience leaves one unable to respond to the myriad variables of real combat. The reason the Academy forced students to undergo practical field assignments throughout their entire fourth year was to build that very experience.
Among those I had faced, the only ones with significant real-world experience were Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie. Yet even those two couldn't compare to an old swordsman with decades of experience under his belt.
Mr. Guildford looked somber.
He stared at me blankly for a long while before letting out a deep sigh and pleading with me.
"Young Master Ian, could you not just look the other way this once? If these children leave this orphanage, they have nowhere to go. They will become vagrants on the street, or they will die after being exploited by some malicious orphanage director."
"I see."
In truth, I didn't know much about the reality of orphans. It might be more accurate to say I’d never had the opportunity to take an interest.
Until now, the most I’d felt for orphans was a vague sense of pity. It was a lazy perspective. Understanding the suffering of the weak wasn't something that could be achieved through brief reflection.
Mr. Guildford’s words were likely true.
The continent's orphanages were already at capacity. There was no place left to take in hundreds of children. Even if such a place existed, the chances of it being decent were slim.
Most of those hundreds would either die or have their lives exploited. Mr. Guildford was simply trying his best in his own way.
Even so, I couldn't forgive him.
"…Let’s finish the rest of this conversation with our blades."
Hanging my hand axe at my waist, I drew my sword.
The sword's point leveled at Mr. Guildford. He massaged his blood-soaked wrist with a complicated expression, as if he had no other choice.
It was simple logic.
No matter how precious hundreds of orphans were, I couldn't risk the lives of thousands, tens of thousands. The entire continent could fall into crisis.
To Mr. Guildford, the children of the orphanage were the most important thing in the world, but they weren't to me.
Mr. Guildford’s choice would ultimately result in the creation of countless more orphans.
At least, that was according to the future I had seen. To prevent that tragic conclusion, I raised my blade.
My eyes met those of the elderly swordsman. Mr. Guildford’s wrist had already healed. It seemed Fiends possessed an abnormal recovery ability.
Just as I was leveling my sword with an air of grim determination, I heard a whisper from behind my back.
"O-Our 'pouch of divine power'…? A-A-Are you insane?!"
It was the Saintess. I felt my immersion break instantly and found myself scowling reflexively.
"Do pouches of divine power talk these days?"
At my retort, the Saintess’s pale pink eyes turned cold in an instant.
The way her fingers twitched suggested she desperately wanted to pinch me. However, in a situation like this, where a tiny opening meant the difference between life and death, she couldn't afford to.
I let out a faint chuckle under the Saintess’s resentful gaze. Then, I whispered.
"Hurry up and run."
"…Can you handle this alone?"
"Of course—after I use the divine power."
The Saintess made a sour face, as if she’d expected that answer. But I had no choice.
Even during training, I had been one-sidedly pushed back by Mr. Guildford. Unlike then, I could now utilize various techniques, but if my fundamentals were lacking, I would only lose ground as the fight dragged on.
In that case, I had to compensate with other factors.
The Saintess recited a prayer, and soon, a warm pillar of light seeped into my body.
Shield of Faith. It was an enhancement spell that not only boosted strength and agility but also blocked one or two potentially fatal attacks.
It was a high-level spell, a sort of comprehensive package of divine magic, yet she cast it with just a few short lines of prayer. She truly was the Saintess.
"…Then, be careful."
Leaving behind that sweet whisper, the Saintess departed. Even then, Mr. Guildford simply watched me with calm eyes.
He asked quietly.
"Are you ready?"
"At least now I have a fighting chance."
"I see," Mr. Guildford nodded. In that exact moment.
My hand threw a hand axe like a bolt of lightning. From the moment it was pulled from my waist to the moment it was launched, the high-speed sequence of movements was too fast to be described as instantaneous.
In a heartbeat, the hand axe reached Mr. Guildford’s immediate vicinity. However, he wasn't the type to be taken down by a mere surprise attack.
Lightning and light intersected.
A bluish Aura struck the hand axe. As the axe spun through the air, knocked off its trajectory, I kicked off the ground and lunged forward.
The director's office was filled with all sorts of furniture and equipment. Rather than dodging them one by one, it was better to leap over them all at once.
Of course, Mr. Guildford would have expected that much. He looked ready to thrust his sword, but there was a problem he had to deal with first.
The hand axe that had been spinning in the air suddenly plummeted vertically.
Faced with a trajectory that fell like a waterfall, Mr. Guildford was forced to swing his sword once more.
With a sharp clang, the hand axe embedded itself in the wall. By then, I had already landed on top of the desk.
A full-power downward slash struck Mr. Guildford’s blade directly.
Boom! A heavy thud made the director's office vibrate. It was a strike backed by a body reinforced with mana and further empowered by divine power.
Mr. Guildford seemed somewhat surprised by the blow, which even kicked up a cloud of dust. His arms trembled.
In terms of physical ability, I now had the upper hand. I was certain of it. The enhancement magic the Saintess had cast was just that powerful.
"…Your skill with the axe is like that of a ghost."
"And my skill with the sword?"
With blades locked against each other, Mr. Guildford and I forced a bit of banter.
However, both of our arms had been trembling for a while now. It was proof that we were both giving it our all. Since I was on the desk, I had the advantage of being able to put my weight into the strike.
In response to my question, Mr. Guildford replied with a faint smile.
"That… remains to be seen."
In the next moment, Mr. Guildford’s kick slammed into the desk I was standing on.
With a loud crack, the desk shattered into pieces, sending wooden splinters flying.
I had jumped just before the impact to minimize the shock, but I couldn't move freely while in mid-air.
The best I could do was put my weight into a diagonal thrust. Mr. Guildford wasn't about to miss that.
He stepped aside slightly and swung his sword at my flank.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out, and sparks flew. It wasn't the sound of a blade meeting flesh. The true value of the Saintess’s enhancement magic had finally manifested.
Shield of Faith—a barrier that blocked one or two fatal blows.
Even so, it couldn't completely negate the impact of Mr. Guildford’s strike.
I gasped for breath as my body was slammed into the wall like a cannonball.
For a moment, it felt as if an earthquake had hit the office. Debris crumbled from the ceiling.
My breathing… I couldn't catch it.
My lungs felt tight. The muscles that had taken the hit contracted instinctively, declaring a strike. But I didn't have time to just sit there.
A veteran swordsman wouldn't miss this opening. I immediately swung my sword in a vertical upward slash as I lunged back to my feet.
A sharp clashing sound echoed. My posture was imperfect, but because my physical abilities were superior, I could match him. Two or three more exchanges followed.
Mr. Guildford gradually retreated. I, who had been cornered, now found myself right next to the window where sunlight was streaming in.
I was positioned roughly in the middle of one of the office's corners.
I decided to make my move here.
My vision mapped out the space. As soon as I perceived the tangled threads of spacetime, I twisted them.
Mr. Guildford’s sword path curved strangely and grazed past me. His eyes widened in shock. In that split second between heartbeats.
I delivered a full-power vertical strike.
Boom! An explosion of sound erupted. Mr. Guildford narrowly managed to defend his side, but he couldn't avoid being knocked back toward the window, stumbling.
Should I press the advantage? Just as I looked toward Mr. Guildford, who had been pushed against the wall.
I quietly gave up on the follow-up attack and dove to pick up the hand axe that had fallen in the corner. It was because Mr. Guildford was watching me intently.
I had a bad feeling. If I had tried to follow up then, I might have fallen for some trick.
So, I threw the hand axe instead.
The hand axe, flying in a straight line, was inevitably struck by Mr. Guildford’s sword and sent flying. However, the axe the old man had knocked away while stumbling immediately returned to my hand.
And then, another throw.
Throw, parry, throw.
As we repeated this a few times, Mr. Guildford had no chance to fix his stumbling posture. By the time the distance between us had closed, my hand axe traced yet another trajectory.
Instead of returning to my hand, the hand axe attacked Mr. Guildford once more.
"Urgh!"
Mr. Guildford, seemingly unable to predict the axe's trajectory, let out a groan and barely managed to swing his sword. But the price was his balance.
That was when my sword struck his side repeatedly.
Boom, boom, boom! Shockwaves like explosions rang out, pushing Mr. Guildford back. Like a woodsman felling a tree, I gripped my sword with both hands and hammered away at Mr. Guildford’s blade.
I had been on the receiving end of this exact same pattern from Seria back when I was low on mana. So I knew very well.
Just how difficult it was to endure this sequence of strikes delivered with pure, raw strength.
He stumbled, collapsed, and was slammed into the wall, causing it to crack. Finally, the window shattered, and Mr. Guildford’s body flew out into the air.
It was the open clearing outside. I picked up the hand axe from the floor, threw it out the window, and immediately vaulted over the frame to pursue him.
But the moment I faced Mr. Guildford in the clearing outside the director's office.
I could only fall silent.
Mr. Guildford, who had stumbled to the center of the clearing, had the hand axe embedded in his neck.
He should have died instantly. Yet, his resilient body showed no sign of falling.
In silence, I raised my hand.
The hand axe embedded in his neck returned to my hand. I had become quite accustomed to the Secret of Stillness in Motion by now.
The old swordsman looked up at the sky without a word. Even though the sun must have been blinding, he didn't even flinch.
He slowly opened his lips.
"…It was a long time ago. There was a time in the Great Sea of Trees when I had starved for I don't know how many days, and I collapsed and closed my eyes."
"You’ve told me that story before."
Heh heh. Mr. Guildford let out a weak laugh. His eyes scanned the ground.
No, perhaps he was reminiscing about an even more distant past.
"Young Master Ian, do you know? They come when a human is at their weakest and most pathetic."
Before I could even ask what he meant, it happened.
The sound of shouting and clashing weapons reached us. The screams of children were loud enough to make my ears ring.
It meant the battle had begun.
Startled, I looked behind me.
The enemies were hundreds of demonic beasts; no matter how many hands we had, it wouldn't be enough. I had to get back quickly.
I gritted my teeth. Unlike before, I glared at Mr. Guildford with clear hostility.
"…What have you done?"
"I simply acted in the way of a Fiend."
I hesitated for a moment.
Now that a front had been formed, the chances of reinforcements coming to me were slim. I was the one who had told Reto to keep Mr. Guildford’s identity a secret in the first place.
The Saintess might have gone and shared the information with Yuren, but with demonic beasts swarming like this, it was unlikely they’d have the leisure to lend me a hand.
I also doubted they could hold out for long without me. Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie were there, but I was also an irreplaceable asset when it came to actual combat.
I had to go back. Just as that thought crossed my mind and my eyes met Mr. Guildford’s.
For a moment, I had the illusion that the world was growing dark.
It was high-density Demonic Energy. That crystallization of mana, rising like a cloud, was spreading and distorting reality. And then came a sickening crunching sound.
Mr. Guildford’s eyes burned with a bluish light.
"That night… urgh… when I collapsed in the Great Sea of Trees. I encountered a vampire."
Crack, crunch, snap.
Every time the sound of bones and joints twisting echoed, Mr. Guildford let out a groan and writhed his body. With every twist, his frame grew larger.
His old clothes were torn apart. His muscles swelled, and dark brown fur began to sprout.
"Then… huff… I made a contract. The power I gained in exchange… urgh… is this."
"…What did you sacrifice?"
I asked with a faint sense of dread before he could fully turn into a monster.
The contract to become a Fiend was not simple. One could gain inhuman power, but something had to be sacrificed in return.
Heh, heh. A sinister laugh leaked from Mr. Guildford’s mouth.
"Humanity."
I looked back with anxious eyes, but no matter how I looked at it, it didn't seem like I could get away from Mr. Guildford now.
In the end, I tucked the hand axe back into my waist and pointed my sword at Mr. Guildford.
"They brought me the corpses of my comrades. They told me to solve my hunger with them… and I did. And oh, how refreshing it was."
Whoosh. Suddenly, Mr. Guildford’s arms lengthened. Long arms that reached below his knees.
His sword was already rolling on the ground. He didn't need it anymore.
Mr. Guildford was gone. Only a single, massive demonic beast remained, staring at me with glowing blue pupils.
It was the boss beast that had pierced my abdomen.
"Don't worry too much about your comrades, Young Master. If you just take me down, they will all run away."
"…Can't I just go tell my comrades that and come back?"
"I'm afraid not."
And then the beast raised its arm. Long claws extended from its fingertips.
The beast wore a grotesque smile. It was the same smile I had seen countless times while fighting the monkey-like demonic beasts.
"Fair and square, one-on-one."
Under the sun, the Fiend finally revealed its true form.
The wound on its neck had long since vanished without a trace. Feeling an ominous intuition at that regenerative ability, I adjusted my stance.
I think I'm screwed.
Cold sweat ran down my back as I thought about how I’d acted all tough in front of Reto for nothing.