Chapter 378: Bread and Dagger (76)
Chapter 378: Bread and Dagger (76)
Just before the collision, I felt a strange presence.
It wasn't the elves. They were all keeping their distance, wary of me. It was a natural reaction, considering Leoric had just personally demonstrated his power.
The beam of light erased everything in its path.
Its destructive power was on a completely different level from area-of-effect magic that could distinguish between friend and foe through exquisite control. If they approached me recklessly, they risked being caught in the beam themselves.
If that happened, they would be reduced to a handful of ash.
Right along with me.
I could see an elf in the distance nocking an arrow to their bowstring, but they weren't a threat yet. Consequently, all my nerves were focused on Leoric.
And yet, I felt a strange irritation.
It felt as if termites were clicking and gnawing at my nerves. Instinctively, I had to look around at that peculiar sensation.
The only one standing before me was Leoric.
At least, until then.
My gaze was drawn to a specific spot as if pulled by a magnet. It was the boiling flesh Leoric stood upon. There were a few spots there that were bubbling particularly violently.
There were three such spots in total.
I had barely taken two steps when something erupted from that furnace-like boiling flesh. A piercing shriek rang out, threatening to tear my eardrums.
Kieeeeeeeek!
It was a snake.
Judging by the familiar inverted-triangle head, it was definitely a two-headed snake. At this point, I couldn't help but doubt the intentions behind the snakes appearing in three locations far away from me.
Should I keep running, or should I stop?
My hesitation was brief.
As soon as the snakes wrenched their maws open, my body froze in shock.
Inside the snakes' mouths, instead of tongues, were the faces of elves.
One of them was particularly familiar.
It was Betty.
Avian's younger sister, the elf girl who had been held in Leoric's arms.
I cursed inwardly and tried to throw my body aside.
It was because the elves' heads began to resonate, glowing with an incandescent light.
Aaaaaaaaaah!
Then, storms of light streaked through the air.
I tried to dodge in a hurry, but it was too late.
At the last moment, I tried to concentrate my Aura onto the blade of my sword, but in the end, the beam grazed my side, and I collapsed, blood pouring from the wound. I could hear the sound of my flesh sizzling.
"…This is driving me crazy."
With a faint groan, I coughed up blood.
My Aura had been overpowered by the beam. If I hadn't been careful, my sword might have evaporated.
Still, it wasn't a total loss.
At the final moment, the trajectory of the beam had shifted. It was only a little, but it was certain.
Aura could refract the light.
It was just that my Aura was too weak.
Pain began to crawl up my spine. I bit my lip to force down a groan.
My mana blocked the heat, but there was no way my internal organs were unscathed from the impact. At least the flesh had been seared shut, so I didn't need to worry about stopping the bleeding.
As I staggered to my feet, the snakes' eyes all turned toward me at once.
Leoric burst into a boisterous laugh.
"Hahaha! Do you see our solidarity? Our power?!"
"Cut the crap… What the hell did you do to Betty?"
At my low growl, Leoric wore a benevolent smile. If a stranger had seen it, they would have surely thought him a kind-hearted man of faith.
To me, however, it looked like nothing more than the loathsome smile of a monster.
Leoric spoke as if it were nothing.
"I merely borrowed her strength for a moment. Not just Sister Betty, but all the brothers and sisters who possess the 'Blessing' can lend me their strength."
"I wonder if Betty agreed to that."
"If they did not agree, how could I possibly force them? To receive the 'Blessing' means exactly that… becoming a true part of us."
As if he were a conductor, Leoric made a small gesture.
Then, the snakes began to open their mouths again. Their skulls glowed pure white, as if they had become lanterns.
A tremor that faintly vibrated the atmosphere reached me.
I concentrated mana into my eyes.
Predictions based on rigorous calculation were impossible. I wasn't a mage, and those who could perform such calculations during combat were a rare few even among mages.
A swordsman relies only on intuition.
In a duel where moments are split into even smaller fragments, swordsmen must make precise judgments every second.
From the trajectory the sword will fly to the actions to be taken afterward.
This was a clash that far surpassed the speed of thought. A brain accustomed to such high-speed combat makes judgments based on repeatedly ingrained experience.
Just like now.
It felt as if a virtual trajectory was being drawn before my eyes.
After crossing the line between life and death several times, my senses had become even more acute. Though it might have started thanks to the countless experiences of 'me' from the future, that was no longer the case.
Now, I could see it.
How that man had walked across the thin thread stretched between life and death.
The moment I took a step, lines of light and heat scorched the air.
I tightened my grip on my sword. My Aura was burning like a wildfire.
One step—a sharp resonance pierced my skull.
Aaaaaaaaaah!
Simultaneously, a trajectory of light was drawn.
I used the momentum of my step to roll my upper body. I felt a faint heat on my back, but it wasn't a fatal wound.
My body, immediately righting itself, took another step as if springing forward.
Yes, two steps.
As if waiting, another light flickered.
Flash! My vision was dyed pure white.
The angle was slightly lower—a trajectory that couldn't be avoided by rolling on the ground.
In that case, I only needed to respond by leaping.
My body flew through the air, spinning. As I landed, the white beam scorched the ground behind me, casting a shadow in front of me.
I took another step toward that shadow.
Finally, three steps.
As a result of my flight-like sprint, Leoric was suddenly right before my eyes.
Of course, Leoric had been watching my entire charge.
There was no way he would simply allow me to approach.
As the third snake opened its maw, light began to leak from Leoric's eyes and mouth.
And the skulls began to resonate.
Aaaaaaaaaah!
They wouldn't fire at the same time.
Until now, the explosions had never rung out simultaneously. There was always a rhythmic thumping sound that shook the ground before the beams were fired.
But what if that interval was infinitely short?
It would be unavoidable.
I put strength into the sword I had been gripping. The Aura that had been burning like a wildfire began to subside, and a refined light started to coat the blade.
I had a winning move.
It was then that Leoric's thunderous shout rang out.
"Immanuel!"
It was a trick.
The one to spit out the beam first was the last remaining snake. For the first time since I started my sprint, my footsteps faltered and I came to a halt.
Time began to flow sluggishly.
In that seemingly frozen time, Leoric's crazed eyes were fixed on me. That thick smile seemed to be telling me:
‘You cannot escape.’
So, I also showed him a smile, giving a wordless answer.
‘I know, you bastard.’
And in the next moment.
The slowly flowing time began to race as if it had met a torrent. The sound of my sword face clashing with the beam rang out with a thud.
Normally, the sword should have evaporated, or at least been sent flying into the sky.
However, the actual result was the exact opposite.
The beam could not penetrate the Aura.
The tightly condensed mana was gradually pushing the beam back. And just before the beam was spat from Leoric's mouth, I grit my teeth and tilted the angle of my sword.
The beam was then fired toward Leoric.
It was the moment two beams of light collided.
Aaaaaaaaaah!
Oooooooooh!
It seemed there was no way to retract a beam once it had been fired.
Leoric and the snake continued their pathetic screams. It would have been enough for the snake to turn its head, but if it could have done that in the first place, it would have been able to respond to my dodging.
Leoric's face was filled with considerable panic.
It was 'Binding.'
I had hesitated until the very end, but its effect was certain. It was truly worthy of being a secret art of the Great Witch, who held a seat among the Masters.
I grit my teeth and took a step forward.
And, being careful with the angle of my sword, another step.
With a thunderous explosion, the clash of the two beams ended in a draw.
"…Cough!"
Leoric had no choice but to stagger backward from the aftermath.
Right into the trajectory where my sword was already drawing a silver line.
The man's two arms crossed to block my sword. From what I had seen before, Leoric's body possessed the hardness of steel.
It didn't matter.
Because there was another secret art that followed 'Binding.'
Bang! His two arms exploded, scattering blood and flesh into the surroundings.
No matter how one looked at it, it didn't look like the result of a sword strike. It felt as if he had been hit by a cannonball.
That was 'Unbinding.'
It disrupts the cohesion of an object and, furthermore, forces in a flow that has been hardened by 'Binding.'
The result was being displayed right before my eyes.
A vacant gaze and a silver line intersected.
In that severed moment, blood gushed out and sprayed into the air.
It was my victory.
With a thud, Leoric's body collapsed and sank into the boiling flesh.
Then, screams erupted from all over.
"Kya, kyaaaaaaaak!"
"Lord Leoric! H-How dare a mere human!"
The air was filled with voices condemning me. Nevertheless, no one dared to approach me.
Leoric was not only their spiritual pillar but also served as their central focus through his unimaginable martial prowess.
Such a man had been cut down with a single strike.
It was only natural that they would be too panicked to do anything. I felt the need to take this opportunity to make my escape.
I caught my breath and clutched my side. The wound was still deep.
If I don't find a proper priest, I might be in trouble…
First, rescuing Avian was the priority.
Just as I was about to slowly move my feet with that thought.
I felt that sense of déjà vu again.
My eyes hurriedly scanned behind me.
An anomaly immediately caught my eye.
The snakes were not disappearing.
No, it wasn't just the snakes. Even the boiling flesh I stood upon was still bubbling and expanding its territory.
It didn't take long for me to reach a conclusion.
It was because I had been victimized by this kind of enemy too many times.
"…Oh, for fuck's sake."
I ran like mad to get off the boiling flesh. I even threw myself at the last moment, fearing I might be too late.
Then, behind my back, came the sound of something erupting with a splat.
"Ah, Immanuel! Praise the Lord! No, hate Him! O Lord… why do You not grant me death!"
It was another snake.
No, the faces of four snakes were writhing and changing in real-time. From Betty to an unknown elf, and from that unknown elf back to Leoric.
Don't tell me I have to get rid of all these snakes.
The snake from which Leoric's voice emerged was also changing in real-time.
"This, cur, sed, life… end, it! End, it!"
Leoric could no longer maintain his sanity.
Several tentacles sprouted from the boiling flesh. They began to drag away the elves who had been standing around to keep watch on me, one by one.
The overflowing flesh grew in size as it swallowed those elves.
With every elf that disappeared, the number of snakes increased by one.
I crawled forward and pulled Avian into my arms.
I agonized desperately.
How do I beat that thing?
No matter how much I thought about it, it was impossible. Above all, my body was injured, and I wasn't even alone.
Until now, I had often fought alone.
It was like that at every crucial moment.
The role of settling things was always mine.
But in truth, I was the one who needed the presence of comrades more than anyone.
They always opened the path for me.
They watched my back and protected those precious to me.
Without that, how could I possibly stand on the front lines?
I, too, was nothing more than a fearful and weak human being.
A hero was never made alone.
Even now, I couldn't even take proper care of Avian.
I hugged Avian, trembling with frustration.
Was I being meddlesome for no reason?
The fantasy of protecting my neighbor, a little girl, and my precious comrade might essentially be nothing more than a futile effort.
But it was too late for regrets.
No, I couldn't even regret it.
This was the life I had chosen—to not throw anything away.
I was the one who said I wouldn't walk the path someone else decided for me.
So, I decided to steel my resolve once more.
Just as I carefully set Avian down and stood up again.
"Judgment of Light!"
Boom!
Kieeeeeeeek!
A thunderstorm poured down.
Every time a bolt of lightning struck, blue electrical charges flowed over the ground like afterimages. One of the snake's heads exploded, spraying a fountain of blood.
The mass of flesh, which had been multiplying by kidnapping elves, stopped its movements.
Then, the snakes' gazes turned toward me.
To be precise, they were looking behind me.
Only then could I hear a voice I had missed.
"……Master!"
It was Senior Elsie.
I couldn't help but let a faint smile form on my lips.
Because, even in this situation, Senior Elsie had tears in her eyes.
She really was a woman prone to tears.