Death or Glory
Myla spun her spear in a rapid whirl before leveling it straight at Charlene. “I can tell you’re strong. Fine. I’ll go all out too. Get ready.”
Her eyes had turned dead serious. I swallowed hard. Can we actually pull this off this time…?
-BOOM!!
Myla kicked off the ground and charged at Charlene with terrifying speed.
Whoa. This time I couldn’t even see her…
-CLANG!!
Myla’s spearhead collided head-on with Charlene’s scythe blade, sending sparks flying everywhere. Both weapons trembled violently from the impact.
“Good. This is finally getting fun,” Charlene muttered in a slightly shaky voice. She shot her hand out like lightning, trying to grab Myla’s shoulder.
But this time, Myla was faster.
She twisted away from Charlene’s grasp and immediately unleashed a spinning back kick.
Wow… She’s moving like a damn butterfly. This woman called Myla… her skills are no joke.
Luckily, Charlene ducked instantly and avoided the kick. She swung her scythe upward in a smooth arc right from that position.
-CLANG!!
This time the butt of the spear shaft met the scythe. The shock must have traveled through their weapons, because Myla quickly leaped backward.
“Haa… haa…” Myla panted heavily.
On the other hand, Charlene’s breathing hadn’t even faltered. Good. At least Charlene still looks stronger.
“Myla. Could you really have won?” Morgas asked from behind her again.
Myla’s face flushed bright red with anger. “What the hell are you?”
She finally spoke up. “Who are you people? Where the hell did something like you come from?”
Come to think of it, Sephirot asked Charlene something similar after she beat him. I guess when someone gets overpowered, they always want to know who the hell their opponent actually is.
Charlene spun her scythe skillfully in a few quick circles before answering.
“Me? I’m a maid.”
“You fucking bitch—!”
Oof. Looked like Myla took the word “maid” as a serious taunt. She exploded forward again with a loud bang!, thrusting her spear at Charlene.
-SWISH!!
This time Charlene moved properly. She flowed around Myla’s thrusting attack like water, circled to the side in an instant, and slammed the back of her hand into Myla’s temple.
-THUD!
Myla let out a short grunt and collapsed again with a heavy thud.
“Running around with a cringey middle-school edgelord name like the Red Moon Sect… You’re weaker than I expected.”
“You…”
Myla, still face-down on the ground, ground her teeth and glared up at Charlene.
“Charlene!!”
Huh? Morgas?
Morgas finally lost his patience. He shouted Charlene’s name and drew his sword. Yeah, I figured it would come to this eventually.
Guess it’s my turn to jump in.
I finally pulled out my whip.
-WHOOSH!!
The sound of air being sliced rang out as my whip cracked right in front of Morgas’s eyes.
-BOOM!!
A deafening crash followed, and the ground my whip struck split open in a straight line.
Nice. My first real battle, and it actually worked.
“Morgas! Don’t you think it’s too cowardly to gang up two-on-one against a woman!?”
Wow. I finally got to say a line like that.
I’d imagined myself as the hero taking down villains and saying cool lines like this before, but actually doing it made my face feel a little hot. Heh.
Anyway, when I shouted that, Morgas pulled his sword free and glared at me.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Me? I’m Kailon Bladehart. Charlene’s employer!”
“Employer?”
Morgas glanced down at the crack in the ground my whip had created.
“Well, whatever. You look like an interesting opponent. Shall we dance?”
He leveled his sword at me.
Ugh. My very first real fight is against Morgas, the boss of the Red Moon Sect? Isn’t this a bit too hardcore?
All I could do was pray that Annette’s magic was even stronger than I imagined.
While I was thinking that, Morgas charged at me with his sword raised. I can see it. I can definitely see it.
I instantly snapped my whip taut and blocked his blade.
-THWACK!!
A dull sound rang out as whip and sword clashed.
Even though I’d blocked his attack, Morgas muttered casually, “Oh… So you’re not just some idiot teahouse owner after all?”
That pisses me off.
“Who are you calling an idiot!?”
With a burst of pure rage, I knocked his sword aside and lashed my whip straight at him with all my strength.
-SWISH!!
The whip flew forward like a snake hunting prey. Morgas barely dodged it at the last second.
-CRASH!!
The boulder that had been behind him a moment ago shattered completely under my whip.
Morgas readjusted his grip on his sword. “That whip is packed with ridiculous amounts of magic power. And it feels different from Charlene’s… Who the hell are you?”
“I don’t feel like answering. You gonna fight or keep talking?”
At that exact moment, Charlene swung her scythe and rushed toward Morgas at blinding speed.
-CLANG!!
The Grim Reaper’s Scythe and Morgas’s sword collided again, spraying sparks everywhere.
“Morgas. Don’t even think about running away. You attacked my master, so I’m going to have to finish this, okay?”
Charlene’s crimson eyes gleamed as she spoke in a terrifyingly low voice.
“Charlene… you…”
It looked like Morgas was finally starting to feel the pressure of Charlene’s aura.
Right then—
-BOOM!!
Myla came charging at me from the side.
-WHIP!!
That was close. I barely managed to unfurl my whip in time to block her attack.
“That whip’s pretty tough, huh, teahouse mister?”
“Who are you calling mister!!”
These people kept pushing all my buttons. I put everything I had into knocking Myla’s attack away, then swung my whip sideways.
-SWOOSH!!
The flexible crack of the whip cut through the air.
“Huh?”
Myla seemed caught off guard by the whip’s unique bending trajectory and quickly rolled to the side.
Meanwhile, Charlene and Morgas were fighting like mad on the other side. Charlene had leaped high into the air and brought her scythe down in a crushing overhead strike. Morgas barely blocked it with both hands on his sword.
-CLANG!!
Charlene landed gracefully and immediately moved to my side.
“Master, for your first real battle, you’re doing surprisingly well.”
“Thanks for the compliment. But what do you think of that guy Morgas’s skill level?”
“He’s definitely stronger than Sephirot. Still weaker than me, though.”
During that time, Morgas and Myla had regrouped and retreated a few steps back.
“Alright. I apologize for underestimating you two,” Morgas began.
“Especially you, Charlene. You’re incredible. I’d love to recruit you into our organization. Though I’m sure you’d refuse?”
“Bullshit.”
At Charlene’s cynical reply, Morgas continued.
“Anyway, we accepted a commission, so we have to finish the job. Everyone! New plan—everyone attack at once!!”
Wait, what? Oh shit. That meant it was five against two now?
Sure enough, the remaining three members drew their swords and started walking toward us.
“C-Charlene? What do we do? Can you beat all five of them?”
“No. Even I would have a hard time against five. What should we do now?”
Even Charlene sounded a little flustered.
…This is hopeless.
But there was no way I was going to die here. Time for the final plan.
A brilliant idea suddenly flashed through my mind. They say people’s brains work faster in a crisis. Guess that was true.
“Charlene. When I give the signal, take the princess and get as far away from me as possible.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll have to use every last drop of Annette’s magic. You don’t want to die either, right?”
“You’re actually reliable at times like this. Alright, Master.”
Meanwhile, the five Red Moon Sect members were slowly closing in on us.
Not yet. Just a little more. Just a little…
I squeezed out every ounce of strength I had and poured all my magic power into the hand holding the whip. I prayed for as much of Annette’s power as possible to flow into me.
At that moment, Charlene leaned close to my ear and whispered.
“Master, I can roughly guess what you’re thinking. Are you crazy? You might die too, you know?”
“Don’t worry. Right now it’s literally do or die. Just a little more. Just a little…”
Myla and Morgas, at the very front, both exploded forward with a loud bang! and charged straight at me.
Now!
“NOW!!”
I roared at the top of my lungs and slammed the whip into the ground with every fiber of my being.
In that split second, Charlene dashed to the side, scooped up Princess Mage, and fled as far from me as she could.
“WHIIIIIIIRRRR!!”
Because I’d poured far more magic power into the whip than usual, the sound it made slicing through the air was completely different.
“Huh?”
“W-what the—?”
The Red Moon Sect guys finally seemed to realize what I was planning.
That’s right. It was do or die. I was going to gather as much magic power as possible and blow this entire area to hell.
The whip, now loaded with an absurd amount of magic, slammed straight into the ground.
And then came the massive explosion—
-KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
Ugh—!
The cloud of dust and shockwave sent me flying backward. I covered my face with both arms and lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a blinding sun overhead.
This isn’t heaven… right?
Two familiar faces were looking down at me. Charlene and Princess Mage.
“Did it work?” I asked.
Charlene nodded. “Would you like to see the crater you created, Master?”
She offered me her hand. I staggered to my feet with great effort.
Down below… the ground had split open. The fissure was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom. And there was a massive crater that looked like a meteor had struck.
Whoa.
A wave of dizziness hit me and I nearly fell over. Princess Mage quickly caught me and helped me stay upright.
Charlene spoke up. “You used too much magic power all at once. Master, you should rest for today.”
“What about them?” I asked.
Princess Mage answered, “They got caught in the explosion, flew off, and ran away. It was an explosion far beyond what anyone imagined.”
Phew… So we somehow made it through.
Then Princess Mage spoke again.
“I’ve held back until now, but I have to ask today. Just who… are you people?”