32
My Villains Chapter 32
9-1. Attack (2)
After cutting down one of the attacking thieves, I immediately leaped onto the burning stairs.
Sizzle.
"Urgh,"
As the fire licked my entire body, an excruciating pain came over me.
Ugh, I jumped in trusting the fire resistance option on the Dragon Slayer's Ring, but it's still insanely hot.
I have no way of knowing if the option is ineffective or if I'm barely enduring thanks to the ring. If I had experienced this before, I could have compared, but when would I have ever jumped into flames?
Due to the fire spreading through the stairway, the common room was already half consumed by flames.
Fortunately, thanks to the wooden building being sufficiently soaked with moisture from the sea breeze, the triple rooms seemed to be safe.
"Ellen-!"
A scream-like shout.
Contrary to my worry, a familiar voice immediately answered.
"Phoenix? Is that you?"
The voice came from the triple room where Ellen was staying alone. I immediately ran and smashed the door with my shoulder.
Whoosh! The sparks spread.
Through them, I saw Ellen pointing a crossbow at me with a dumb expression.
Ah. A sense of relief that felt like my heart would stop.
"Phoenix, you..."
Before she could finish speaking, I lunged forward.
"Ack."
I hugged the surprised Ellen and kicked off the floor, shattering the wooden window. After making eye contact for just two breaths, Ellen and I were floating in the air.
A brief flight, followed by a fall. I desperately twisted my body in mid-air, embracing Ellen.
Crash!
"Ugh."
The impact on my back made me catch my breath. As I raised my upper body, coughing a few times, fortunately it seemed nothing was broken.
No, even though we only fell from the second floor, how am I this fine? Is this normal? Come to think of it, this body is abnormally tough.
Feeling relieved, I sat up and looked down at Ellen in my arms, asking, "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..."
"Are you hurt anywhere? Didn't inhale any smoke?"
As I looked down with concern, Ellen stared up blankly for a moment before her face turned bright red.
Then she hurriedly stood up.
"Y-You idiot! What are you doing?"
"What?"
This ungrateful brat, I save her and she calls me an idiot?
Before I could get angry as I stood up, Ellen, with her face, neck, and ears all red, snapped fiercely.
"How could you jump out so suddenly? We could have been hurt!"
"No, I-"
"And how did you get up to the second floor?"
"I came up the stairs, how else?"
"But I set it on fire, how did you-"
She finally noticed the burn marks all over my armor and gaped.
"Don't tell me you went through that? The flames set with Flame Flower oil?"
"It felt like I was going to die from the heat, but it was somewhat bearable?"
Wait, what? Flames set with Flame Flower oil?
"Don't tell me you're the one who set the fire?"
"Yes! It's an extremely dangerous fire with high adhesiveness, and you..."
"Are you crazy? Setting a fire? What if something terrible happened!"
"What else could I do! Suddenly a bunch of beggars came rushing in!"
"You should have thought about escaping, not burning to death together! Are you insane?"
"Who's dying? I told you my robe is a magic item, you idiot!"
...Ah, right. One of the options on the brown robe she's wearing was fire immunity.
Now that I look, Ellen - except for some blood and ash from being in my arms - looked perfectly fine.
"Even a goblin would be smarter than you! Forget about memory, how could you think of jumping into fire? Without any precautions?"
Just as I was about to retort, a group of men suddenly entered my field of vision.
Four men with rough appearances. They were all wearing leather armor reinforced with iron plates and tightly gripping sharp swords, axes, or thick iron clubs.
For reference, the place where Ellen and I fell was near the barn behind the inn, a secluded space surrounded by small houses and wooden fences.
In other words... it was an unusually suspicious situation.
And behind the men, a man appeared with his entire body covered in a dark red cloak, only his face exposed. I unconsciously raised my weapon, feeling somehow familiar with that appearance.
"...Phoenix?"
"Stay back."
I stepped forward, shielding Ellen who wore a puzzled expression with my body.
The man in the dark red cloak stared at me intently, and I carefully observed him as well.
Messy black hair, an expressionless face, and cold eyes. From that appearance, I was reminded of one of gang boss Ubar's henchmen.
The so-called 'Hitman Poison'.
He was an assassin wrapped in a cloak.
"The Bloody Swordsman?"
Ignoring Poison's question, I rekindled the fading thirst. Then I coated falchion with red blood.
Seeing the Blood Bladeo, Poison slightly twisted the corner of his mouth upwards, as if he had received a sufficient answer.
"Good thing I came to see for myself. Kill him."
As soon as the words fell, the men, no, Ubar's action squad members, rushed in.
To protect Ellen, it might have been the right choice to charge at them and subdue them quickly.
However, knowing how Poison fights, I had no choice but to hold my ground.
"Ugh."
At that moment, one of the charging squad members fell hard with a thud. He was hit in the knee by the bolt Ellen shot!
"Nice, Ellen!"
Thanks to Ellen's unexpected help, only three thugs were rushing at me.
But I couldn't let my guard down.
Judging by their footwork and the way they held their weapons, they seemed to be quite skilled fighters.
The experience points given by Ubar's action squad members in the game were 50.
It was the same as the Iron Mask Warriors, so these guys must be pretty capable.
As I took my stance, two of them charged at me first, swinging their sword and axe with fierce momentum.
I could block them easily enough with my shield, but... Hmm, it's quite heavy.
While blocking their attacks, the remaining thug swung his iron club from the right. The momentum looked quite vicious, but I thought I could take it?
I made that judgment in an instant and.
Clang!
I received the iron club with my shoulder guard.
"Urgh."
Ugh, these bastards. They're quite strong.
But fortunately, it wasn't enough to hinder my movement.
Thanks to taking the iron club with my body while gritting my teeth, I gained an opportunity to attack. I was able to thrust falchion at one of the two on the left, the one holding the axe.
Crack!
The sword tip that broke through his front teeth came out through the back of his head.
Then, as if scraping, I swung the sword sideways, aiming for the thug with the iron club.
Clang!
"Ugh."
He defended quickly, but the heavy falchion coated with blood pushed the iron club back forcefully.
Just as the crimson blade was about to slice the retreating thug's neck.
Swoosh.
I had been wary of Poison while dealing with the thugs. Thanks to that, I could notice the flutter of his cloak hem from the corner of my eye.
"Hup."
I gave up on finishing off the thug and quickly retreated.
As I blocked Ellen's front and raised my shield, a heavy sound of 'thunk!' was heard.
Looking down, sure enough, a small dagger that looked like an awl was stuck in the shield.
It's the same attack method as in the game.
"You blocked it?"
Poison narrowed his brows, muttering softly as if surprised that I blocked the dagger.
"Hm, not bad."
Then he licked his lips once, drew a curved sword from his waist, and charged.
Damn, I wanted to deal with all the minions before he attacked - it could be dangerous. For now.
"Ellen, run away!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Ellen shouted that and shot her stonebow at Poison.
But Poison dodged the bolt by slightly tilting his shoulder, as if he had expected it.
"We agreed not to say such things, you idiot!"
"Damn it, now's not the time to argue about that."
I cut off mid-sentence and swung the edge of my shield. It was to strike the thug who was trying to pounce on Ellen from the left.
Thwack!
Just as the shield edge hit the thug's chest, another thug swung his iron club.
I twisted my waist to avoid it, but the thug persistently followed through and struck my breastplate.
Clang
A shock that made my chest feel tight.
Gritting my teeth, I swung falchion back, half-slicing the neck of the retreating thug.
"Urgh."
Leaving the thug clutching his neck and collapsing, I quickly settled into a stance.
At the same time, a curved sword came slashing at an incredible speed.
Clang clang clang!
Poison's curved sword struck the metal edge of the shield, sending sparks flying. Then his curved sword, like a snake, climbed over the shield aiming for my neck.
Ugh, he's fast.
As I hurriedly struck down with my falchion to block the curved sword's movement, the thug who had been knocked down by my shield edge earlier charged from the side.
Unable to ignore the attack aiming for my neck, I swung my shield to deflect the sword, but in that moment, the tip of the curved sword that had slipped past falchion’s binding dug into my armpit.
Stab.
"Argh!"
Damn it. I should have held on till the end.
Due to my still lacking swordsmanship and scattered concentration, I had let go of Poison's curved sword.
I kicked up my foot as an improvisation, but Poison had already retreated with a nimble movement.
"Ugh."
My left arm is losing strength, probably stabbed quite deeply. Just as I was about to retreat, the sound of a stonebow firing and a clanging sound rang almost simultaneously from behind.
The thug with the sword had fallen victim to the special tear gas bolt Ellen had shot.
"Ugh, my eyes, cough!"
I lunged at the staggering, groaning thug and stabbed his neck.
It was a choice to reduce the number of enemies by even one, but Poison didn't miss that opening.
Swish.
"Ugh!"
Damn, did he aim for that?
The dagger he threw was lodged in the upper part of my elbow where there was no armor.
With my armpit stabbed by the curved sword and now a dagger in my elbow, my left arm went limp regardless of my will.
"Hah, sh-"
"P-Phoenix! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fi... Ugh."
Ah, I'm dizzy.
My vision blurred and I felt nauseous, making it hard to maintain my posture.
True to his name Poison, his weapons were thickly coated with poison.
Poison, you bastard. You were a pain in the game, but you're even worse in reality.
"How is it? Getting dizzy yet?"
Poison spoke mockingly as he slowly moved his steps.
"You look ridiculous staggering like that. Well, even the most powerful warrior can't overcome poison."
My vision wavered and I blinked several times before I could finally see Poison's face.
Contrary to his amused tone, his face was cold as ice.
As I focused all my attention on Poison, not knowing when he might throw another dagger.
"Ugh, you damned wench."
Damn it, the action squad member who had fallen to the stonebow bolt earlier was staggering to his feet behind me. Poison was intentionally moving to the opposite side to divide my attention.
With my vision getting increasingly blurry, it was difficult to keep both of them in check.
Ellen, run away quickly.
I wanted to shout this, but I felt like I'd vomit if I opened my mouth.
Swoosh.
At the small sound of air being cut, I instinctively swung my falchion.
A 'ting' sound. Fortunately, the dagger hit my vambrace and bounced off.
"Still alive? You're tough."
Thunk.
Amidst Poison's mockery, the sound of Ellen's stonebow rang out. Followed by the sound of a glass bottle breaking.
"Hm, stupid girl. Where are you aim..."
The action squad member who was sneering suddenly collapsed with a thud.
Suddenly, my vision darkened as if it had been turned off. I could barely see my feet, feeling as if I'd been left alone in darkness.
"...Paralysis poison?"
"Yes. Want to try some too?"
Poison's question tinged with surprise. Ellen's sharp reply to that.
Is it because my vision was blocked? My inner senses became acutely heightened. I could clearly feel the blood pumping from my heart and coursing through my entire body.
"How did you make the powder so fine? It shouldn't maintain its toxicity."
"Do you think I'd tell you that, you idiot?"
Poison fell silent for a moment at Ellen's provocation. I was inwardly nervous, but he didn't throw his dagger.
"...Are you that porter?"
"Porter?"
"Yes. I heard the Bloody Swordsman was dragging around a pretty young lady as a porter."
"You talk nonsense befitting your looks? I'm not a porter, I'm a mage."
"Ha, a mage?"
"Yes. So leave while I'm still asking nicely. If you retreat now, I'll spare your life."
Ellen's voice was ice cold.
Perhaps because I had seen her crying with snot and tears so many times? I could feel the moist humidity in her voice.
That's right.
Ellen was trembling with fear.
After briefly observing inside my body, I gritted my teeth and began to control my blood.