Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Armored Swordmaster (3)
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The neglect of lightning mages is serious.
If they had brought even one, they would have realized electricity counters earth attributes.
Left with no choice, I gave them a hint with a single Thunder Chain.
As the small clone lay paralyzed from electrocution and began to burn away, the Swordmaster caught on and swiftly slashed it.
It didn't give any experience anyway, so no big loss.
"Who cast that thunder spell? Great job anyway! Huh? Where'd they go?"
Trapford turned toward us bellowing loudly, only to look flustered upon seeing no one there.
"Professor, he should be fine, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Even a Swordmaster can't see us."
"What do you make of their skills, Duchess?"
"They're both superior to me. I couldn't win in a straight one-on-one. Escape might be possible, though."
"What if you fought them wearing armor that reduces all damage by 99%?"
"But Aura Blade cuts through everything, doesn't it? Armor wouldn't help."
"Aura Blade is just an ordinary edged weapon attack blocked by that armor."
Aura Blade demonstrates immense cutting power through compressed aura, but it's not some conceptual weapon that cuts unconditionally.
If it were, max-level warriors would sweep everything.
'Aura Blade receives a 99% armor penetration judgment.'
Bikini Armor can defend up to 99%, nullifying the penetration.
That turns it into a regular unarmed attack judgment, not an anything-slicing Aura Blade.
"Ah, then I'd win for sure. My Aura Blade would go through, while theirs gets completely blocked."
"I see. Got it for now."
Still, I really don't like the idea of my heroine fighting strange men in just straps.
Unless it's a life-or-death emergency, no letting her wear the Final Form Bikini Armor in front of others.
'For now, just plant curiosity and anticipation about the bikini armor itself.
And have her wear it only in front of me, for my eyes alone. She'll definitely wear it for monster hunts.'
The Swordmasters bellowed loudly.
"Bring the lightning mages! Hurry!"
"Understood!"
Kieeeek! Kieeek!
All twelve heads let out a unified shriek.
They had grown wary after seeing the clone hit by the lightning spell.
"Duchess, Professor. Let me make a prediction."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"What kind?"
"Knocking out a few heads won't do a thing. They need to take all twelve at once."
"Huh? Is that even possible?"
"I doubt it, but..."
"It's the only way, though. That's how it looks to me."
Not that I can actually see it.
This is eternal, immutable netorare rule.
Fusion types like that require taking down all heads nearly simultaneously; otherwise, they revive one by one.
Rumble! Roooar!
The ground shook violently.
The earth cracked open with a deafening split, and an enormous body surged up from below.
The field boss had finally revealed its full form hidden underground.
"Combined from twelve, its size dwarfs the thirteenth entity."
Object, having seen it once before, was somewhat less shaken, but Canelian's eyes trembled wildly.
"My God... Does a monster that huge even make sense?"
The thirteenth was massive too, but this one's biomass was twelve times greater.
The serpent's body, easily over 10 kilometers long, sprawled out, blocking the area wide, leaving even the two Swordmasters taken aback.
"Looks like it's getting serious now."
At minimum one Swordmaster down—ideally both.
No hard feelings toward them.
But if we don't weaken the Empire's forces now, more blood will spill later.
My kingdom would get caught up, suffering massive losses.
Before the era of rampaging monsters dawns,
to prevent the continent's devastation by human wars,
we must force the Empire to bleed.
'Can't weaken them too much, though. The Empire has to fight the monster hordes too.'
Losing those two Swordmasters would keep the Emperor from acting rashly.
Swordmasters are like nuclear weapons—asymmetric deterrents in wars between nations.
"...No regrets. As prince of Arcana, I'm just doing my duty. Understand that."
Inside the circular ring formed by the field boss's massive body,
twelve heads unleashed corrosive breaths upon the trapped Swordmasters.
By the time the lightning mages arrived late, Duke Trapford the Swordmaster was already dead.
Dozens of knights who bravely charged to support him had gloriously perished alongside the wyverns.
But neither the imperial army nor Duke Windeler had time to grieve.
"Unleash the lightning magic!"
"Yes, sir!"
The lightning mages, huddled tightly behind the wyvern knights, poured mana into their magic staves engraved with activation arrays.
In frantic combat, they couldn't leisurely draw arrays.
Magic staves were essential.
Limited to pre-engraved spells, but casting was lightning-fast.
"Strike down the foe with heaven's light!"
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Bolts from the magic staves hammered one massive head relentlessly.
The head writhed in electrocution agony, throwing its whole body off balance and sweeping the other eleven heads along.
The colossal form thrashed noisily, cracking and collapsing the earth.
Over the charred, sparking head, Windeler charged in with vigor.
"Hraaah!"
Rock-like flesh chunks broke off.
Instead of turning into small clones, they melted into mushy sand and absorbed into the ground.
The wyvern knights and mages cheered.
"It's working!"
"Your Excellency Windeler, give it your all!"
"Thunder spells again! Keep attacking!"
The attacks were landing!
Windeler felt a thrilling rush.
His gaze briefly flicked to his fallen fellow Swordmaster.
'Weak friend. Sorry, but victory's glory is all mine.'
Three Swordmasters down to one.
His position would skyrocket.
'Play it right, and my bloodline could claim the throne.'
Windeler raised his sword high and shouted.
"Keep hitting it with thunder spells! Lightning is its weakness!"
With the elf Object still clutched to my back, I said,
"What a bold bastard. Right?"
Canelian, her face shocked, responded.
"How could he stab his comrade in the back at such a critical moment?"
"That's the Empire's essence. Betrayal, backstabbing, and slander are etched in their blood."
Trapford could have escaped the crisis.
But Windeler subtly interfered just enough to create a fatal gap.
"The moment he confirmed the lightning mages' arrival, he struck. Trying to hog all the field boss kill credit."
"What if the subjugation fails?"
"He'd become the Empire's sole Swordmaster—more valuable body, so no loss in his calculus."
That dead bastard Trapford used to generate countless blood pressure prescriptions via backstab quests.
Instead, he got backstabbed by Windeler, who had a fair and just image?
'So that's Windeler's true nature. Always playing the gentleman in front of users.'
Hundreds unleashed thunder spells barraging one head.
Electrocution disrupted the field boss's internal mana flow, preventing recovery from Windeler's Aura Blade damage.
Kieeek! Kieeeek!
One head panicked and rampaged, causing the others' attacks to miss repeatedly.
"Windeler! Windeler! Windeler!"
"Swordmaster! Swordmaster!"
The high-speed wyvern knight squad and lightning mages providing support were swept in euphoria.
"Wonder what face he'll make when certain victory flips. Will he regret backstabbing his ally then?"
"Wow, Your Highness... But how long are you going to keep holding me?"
"Floating without a foothold feels unstable. I'm not a bird."
"St-still..."
"Getting shy over this? We sleep hugging every night anyway."
Sizzle! Siiiizzle!
Roooaaar!
A few wyverns took corrosive breaths and plummeted, causing more sacrifices.
But Windeler finally succeeded in severing one head completely.
"No regeneration!"
"Woooah! No regeneration!"
"Duke Windeler, long live! Long live!"
"Lightning was a major weakness."
Windeler, catching his breath atop a wyvern knight's back for a break, looked down at the flailing eleven heads.
No new head sprouted from the severed stump.
The fallen head fragments melted into dirt without becoming small clones.
"Rest five minutes, then attack again."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
"All Imperial-grade knights, charge! Flame and ice mages, use flight magic to assist the knights' mobility!"
"As you command!"
With the countermeasure found, now unleash full force to slay it.
'Might snag Baron Caron's territory too. And taking Trapford's young wife as concubine gets his lands...!'
Enraptured by rosy futures right then—
"Y-Your Grace! Look at that!"
"No... It can't be?"
Windeler gaped.
One intact head opened wide and bit the severed stump.
A crack formed under its jaw, and the head detached still biting the stump.
The original stump writhed, reshaping.
The intact head successfully 'grafted' onto the damaged stump.
A new head sprouted from the self-severed stump, restoring twelve heads.
"Th-this can't be!"
"Your Grace! We probably need to take all twelve heads at once!"
"I-I know that!"
Windeler thought fast.
Simultaneously killing twelve—that was the only way.
Could he do it alone? No.
With knights? Maybe.
So current choice?
"Retreat."
"Pardon?"
Windeler whispered low to the wyvern rider behind him, who responded firmly.
"Your Grace, sorry, but the wyvern's too exhausted. We need to fall back to the rear for now!"
"Good, good. No choice."
"Yes, no choice. Apologies!"
"No need. It's an unavoidable retreat."
The moment the rider turned the wyvern's head—
Flash! Zzzzap!
A bolt struck the wyvern; startled, it flipped and plummeted.
Rider and Windeler quickly abandoned it, stabilized, and landed.
"Wh-what the... Who aims spells that poorly...!"
As Windeler ground his teeth searching for the culprit—
Hundreds of wyverns swooped low in unison; knights and mages drew swords and leaped down.
"Follow Duke Windeler!"
"Duke Windeler, we'll stick with you to the end!"
"..."
Windeler, dazed, spat blood inwardly as he drew his sword high.
"Noble knights of the great Empire! Will you seize glorious victory with me today?"
"We will!"
"Charge! Show that rock worm why the Empire is the Empire!"
"Waaaah! Long live Duke Windeler!"
Roooar! Boom!
Then thunder roared in the sky; storm clouds suddenly rolled in.
Clear skies darkened instantly; thunder boomed deafeningly.
Rumble! Crack!
A thick bolt slammed one massive head; the beast shrieked in pain, convulsing.
The quake sank the ground deeply.
Windeler's eyes lit up.
"All auras on! Attack it! Use sword auras as lightning rods to call down bolts!"
"Where do you think you're sneaking off to."
Spotting him gauging an escape, I dropped his wyvern with Thunder Chain.
Thinking it was do-or-die, the knights all jumped down too.
Now the board was set.
"Professor, prepare an incomplete weather spell like last time. No rain."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As Object prepped her magic, Canelian quietly said,
"...It's Ragna de Luc."
"Duchess?"
Wondering what that was, Object chuckled lightly.
"Ragna's striking fury. I like it. My weather magic's name is now 'Ragna de Luc'."
Ah, right. Canelian was naming Object's weather magic.
Rumble! Rumble!
Rumble! Crack!
True to his teamkill precision, Windeler instantly thought of thundercloud tactics.
"All auras on! Attack it!"
Hundreds of knights threw themselves in, using themselves as lightning rods to assault the field boss.
Meanwhile, Windeler...
'That bastard's the only one not using aura—just plain swings.'
Anyway, now leisurely time to steal the finishing blow.