Chapter 175
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Shoulder to Shoulder (1)
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*Twang-!*
A clear, beautiful sound echoed throughout the world.
At the same moment, Cannavaro's eyes rolled back.
‘……Kuh?’
His head rang.
The floor and ceiling swayed.
Suddenly, the world dropped away.
No, had his body collapsed?
Even the sensation of the cold floor slapping his face felt distant.
‘What…….’
Cannavaro thought he needed to get up.
He desperately writhed.
He pressed his hand against the ground.
But his efforts ended there.
*Twang-!*
Once more.
The clear, beautiful sound rang out across the world.
‘Guh.’
That was Cannavaro's final cry before losing consciousness.
A snickering smile drifted over his fallen form.
“Man. Tougher than he looks.”
Lloyd shook his head as he looked down at Cannavaro.
A stubborn bastard.
He hadn't expected the guy to twitch and try to rise after a full swing to the back of the head with the steel shovel.
“Well, just hit him one more time, then. Anyway.”
Lloyd raised his head.
He glanced toward Haviel.
“Need a hand, Ella?”
Haviel gave no reply.
No, she couldn't reply.
She was still barely holding off the Hell Knight's relentless assault.
Even so, she managed to shoot Lloyd a glance filled with delight.
Lloyd caught the meaning.
“Got it. I'll wrap this up and come over. Hang in there just a bit longer.”
First things first: eliminate any future threats.
That meant fully subduing the sleazy black mage.
With that in mind, Lloyd turned around.
“Kkoming?”
“Kkoming!”
A response flew down from the upper level of the assembly hall.
A large magpie spread its wings and descended.
It was Kkoming, who had carried him here.
“You know what to do?”
“Kkoming!”
No need for detailed instructions.
Lloyd pointed at the fallen Cannavaro.
Kkoming shook the bag on its back once.
*Pssh!*
Spider silk tougher and sturdier than steel sprayed out.
It bound Cannavaro's hands, sealed his legs, and wrapped his body tight.
Just like a wild spider bundling its prey.
More meticulously than thirty layers of bubble wrap.
And with that, the black mage was fully subdued.
Lloyd didn't stop there.
“Hey, you.”
He propped up the man slumped beside Cannavaro, barely breathing.
As he wiped the blood flowing from the man's neck, he asked,
“Can you move?”
“A, a little…….”
The man nodded with effort.
“You're the Frontera young lord, right? Pleased…… to meet you.”
“Figured. I didn't mistake you for someone else. You're the knight who came to our territory with the Namaran lady, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must be recovering a bit faster than the others here?”
“Of course…… Ugh?”
Mid-reply, the knight gasped.
Lloyd's hand on his shoulder.
A bit of mana had flowed in without warning from the palm.
“Whoa, whoa. Don't freak out. I'm giving it to you. To help you recover a little.”
“Why would you…….”
“Why do you think?”
Lloyd nodded toward the surroundings with his eyes.
“See all the people down?”
“Yes.”
“Move them outside, please. This place is about to get even messier.”
“Understood.”
No need for lengthy explanations.
The knight had experienced the chaos from the start with his own body.
Fortunately, no citizens had been seriously hurt by debris or shockwaves so far.
But there was no guarantee that luck would hold.
The knight struggled to his feet.
Thanks to Lloyd's Asrahan Heart Method, he had regained some strength.
He hoisted his daughter, a nearby old woman, and a middle-aged man all at once on his back and shoulders, saying,
“Please be careful. I'll join the fight soon.”
“No expectations. Get the people out first. I gave you mana to evacuate them, not to fight.”
“……Understood.”
“Hurry it up.”
“Yes, sir.”
The knight hurriedly began carrying people out of the assembly hall.
Kkoming wiggled its plump rear and flapped its short wings, helping the knight evacuate the citizens.
Only then did Lloyd catch his breath.
“Whew.”
The area was cleared now.
He could fight without worrying about hurting anyone.
Reassured, he gripped the steel shovel firmly.
In his other hand, he seized the hair of the unconscious Cannavaro, wrapped in spider silk(?).
“Alright, let's get to it.”
Dragging Cannavaro by one hand.
He walked toward the center of the vast assembly hall.
Toward the site where Haviel and the Hell Knight clashed.
In that time, Lloyd's expression grew a bit complicated.
‘Wow. How did I end up in a place like this?’
It was a true clash of dragons and tigers.
Watching Haviel and the Hell Knight fight with successive shockwaves, Lloyd shrugged despite himself.
He hated fighting.
Never enjoyed it.
His true self was just Kim Suho, an ordinary South Korean citizen.
When had it become like this?
Why had he gotten dragged into this brawl?
‘It's all just to make a living, that's what.’
It was too far to return to the ordinary days now.
No, he didn't particularly want to go back.
He steadied his mind.
Gripped the steel shovel.
Timed the fierce battle in his head.
And the instant the Hell Knight wound up for a powerful strike at Haviel.
Lloyd raised the steel shovel.
Aimed at Cannavaro's head.
And yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Hey! Hell Knight! Freeze! If you don't stop, this guy's dead by my hand!”
Lloyd's shout, infused with mana for extra clarity, drilled neatly into the Hell Knight's skull.
Perhaps that's why.
- ……!
A tiny gap appeared in the Hell Knight's greatsword, loaded with ferocious power.
Of course, Haviel wouldn't miss such an opening.
*Thwack! Clang!*
The silver longsword sliced through with a chill gleam.
It struck the black greatsword away in one go.
Thanks to that, Haviel safely escaped the Hell Knight's attack range.
For the first time since yielding the initiative earlier.
She could finally pull back and catch her breath.
But the Hell Knight's gaze wasn't on Haviel.
It didn't show regret for losing a near-victory.
Instead, it turned to Lloyd with bewilderment.
- What?
As if in disbelief, the Hell Knight glared at Lloyd.
Lloyd flinched instinctively under the murderous gaze from hell but quickly composed himself and shot back coolly.
“Didn't hear me? I shouted pretty loud. What, just bones left so your ears are going deaf?”
- ……What are you trying to say.
“What else? I said it earlier. Keep attacking, and this guy's dead.”
- A hostage play? Against me?
“Yeah.”
He nodded as if it were the most natural thing.
Confidently, as if to say, you're done now.
“This guy summoned you, right? If he dies by my hand, you'll get reverse-summoned back to hell. You think I don't know that?”
It was true.
Cannavaro was the one who summoned the Hell Knight.
He had carved his blood into the statue. Through that ritual mark, the Hell Knight had descended into this world.
So if Cannavaro died?
The summoning tied to Cannavaro's blood would be canceled.
“Simple. Just like a bank loan. Cannavaro here guaranteed it and provided proof with his blood. That's why the world allowed your summon. But oops? Guarantor Cannavaro's dead? What happens to your summon then?”
Really simple.
No guarantor left.
Guarantee papers turned to scrap.
Of course the loan process gets canceled.
“So drop that scary sword and surrender. If you want to breathe a little more of this fine air without the hellish smog.”
Lloyd's confident threat echoed.
Bewilderment colored the Hell Knight's response.
- Hah. You dare. Human, are you not from this world?
“What?”
- Your words and actions suit our hell far better, no matter how I look. Surely you're not some hell-dweller exiled and cloaked in human skin?
“Nope. Wrong guy.”
- Is that so. Well, I get your point. But you seem to be missing something.
“I'm missing something?”
- Yes.
“What's that.”
- Even if that human dies, my summon lasts another hour before canceling.
“What?”
That instant.
The Hell Knight raised its greatsword.
A motion too fast and sudden.
Death aura billowed from the blade's tip like a tsunami.
Sweeping the air, it surged toward them.
“……!”
Lloyd kicked off the ground.
He yanked the spider silk-bound Cannavaro and leaped aside.
Barely evading the tidal momentum.
But the next moment, he witnessed the black greatsword plummeting toward him.
- I'll cut you and your summoner in two together.
“Huh?”
*Shrieeek-!*
The greatsword cleaved the air and dropped.
Too fast.
Too fierce.
No way he could block with a shovel.
He didn't even have time to react.
If not for the silver longsword intervening then, Lloyd might have been bisected.
*Kwa-crack-!*
“……!”
The longsword thrust out, blocking his view.
It vertically slashed upward through space, parrying the greatsword. Clashing. *Thud!* Was his eardrum bursting? Lloyd tumbled backward from the explosion overhead.
“Gah!”
“Get up. If you don't want to die.”
Haviel's icy voice in his ear.
No time to think; he scrambled up.
Reflexively raised the shovel.
Quickly retreated into stance.
Shoulder to shoulder with Haviel, shovel aimed.
At the Hell Knight standing firm ahead.
*Whoooosh…….*
Had he unconsciously swallowed hard?
Now Lloyd truly felt how immense the Hell Knight was.
Facing it head-on up close, the presence was no joke.
Even without mounting the death horse, missing an arm and a leg.
‘Feels like a low-level noob who stumbled into a high-level boss fight.’
Goosebumps raced across his skin.
His whole body tensed.
The hand gripping the steel shovel slickened with sweat in seconds.
He hadn't planned to dive this deep into the fray.
Just support Haviel from afar with sleight of hand and blasting.
“Probably sees you as our weak point now, Lord Lloyd.”
Haviel's voice reached him.
Lloyd laughed stiffly.
“Yeah. Seems like it.”
It'll focus attacks on me now.
Then Haviel will overextend to protect me.
‘Creating an opening that way. Like targeting cracks in a dam. One small hole brings the whole thing down. Finish us both at once.’
He could guess the Hell Knight's intent.
But withdrawing now seemed too late.
“Don't retreat rashly. You're already in its attack range. If you pull back clumsily to escape the fight and distance yourself from me, it'll get you in a flash.”
“I know. I get it.”
“Then apologize.”
“Apologize for what.”
“Calling me Ella earlier.”
“Fine. Sorry. Apology accepted. Good boy, Haviel.”
“…….”
“So, what now?”
“Endure.”
“Huh?”
“It's coming.”
The words ended.
*Whoooosh-!*
Like facing a typhoon head-on?
The Hell Knight leaped forward on one leg.
Swept its massive greatsword horizontally.
No, swept them away.
‘Guh!’
Can't meet it head-on.
He'd be cleaved in two with the shovel.
Instinct told him that, so Lloyd charged forward instead.
Thrust the shovel toward the oncoming greatsword.
And without hesitation, unleashed his strongest shot.
Triple Blast.
*Thud-crack-!*
- ……!
The triple blast's momentary power was tremendous.
The sudden eruption clashed head-on with the greatsword.
But the greatsword didn't yield.
Instead, it sliced horizontally through the blast's momentum and pressed in.
*Slash!*
The greatsword fully bisected the triple blast.
But it didn't cleave Lloyd.
The swing dulled ever so slightly from slicing the blast's pressure.
Lloyd exploited that, rolling low.
“Now!”
Lloyd yelled, rolling under the sweeping greatsword.
At the same time, he thrust both hands out.
Grabbed the Hell Knight's pelvis and leg.
The hell knight's balance wavered faintly.
In that instant, Haviel's longsword gleamed coldly.
*Clang-!*
Aura-infused longsword dug nearly halfway into the greatsword.
The Hell Knight tried to shake off Lloyd clinging to its leg.
But it couldn't.
Haviel's follow-up strikes poured without mercy.
*Kwa-thud-thud-thud-thud-clang!*
- ……!
A leech-like human clung below.
A knight surpassing swordmasters assaulted from above.
The Hell Knight's eyes flickered.
The situation worsened for the hell knight.
Lloyd below gripped the leg tight.
And suddenly belted out bizarre ritual chants in endless medley.
“You! Were born to be loved! In your life! You are loved!”
- ……!
The Hell Knight's eyes shook harder.
Sword strikes bombarded from the front like airstrikes.
Bizarre songs ensnared his hearing like brainwashing from below.
The dissonant vibes doubled the hell knight's torment.
And the two opposing attacks showed no end.
*Thud-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!*
Haviel seized the chance for all-out assault.
Lloyd's exorcism song(?) medley grew even more impassioned.
“Mahaprajna! Paramita! Heart Sutra! Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva! Practice Prajnaparamita! See! Five Aggregates Empty! All Things Empty! Shine Shine Shine-eee!”
- ……Gruuuh!
What bizarre ritual was this?
The Hell Knight plunged into greater chaos.
No real damage from the song, of course.
But his mind scattered, dizzy.
Already fending off Haviel's barrage.
Needing full focus just to block.
Yet the leech on his sole leg chanted sorcery at whim—infuriating.
The human's pitch was atrocious too.
Like nails on steel plate.
Or cicadas stuck to the ear.
Noise aside, pure dissonance.
Yes.
Lloyd was tone-deaf enough to make even a hell knight cringe in earnest.
- ……Enough!
Unable to endure, the Hell Knight shook its head violently.
Kicked the ground with the leg Lloyd held.
Trying to fling him off somehow.
That was the Hell Knight's mistake.
*Slash!*
- ……!
In the brief lapse of attention.
The aura-charged silver longsword plunged into the Hell Knight's skull.