Clash ②
Honestly, the elf sister I’d been fighting until just a moment ago was a surprisingly strong opponent. Her attacks came fast—quick, multiple strikes with her daggers that were genuinely threatening. Still, I could push her down somehow. The problem was that her little sister had jumped in too.
Truly siblings. Their coordinated assault was terrifying. Whenever I focused on one, the other would strike from the flank with razor-sharp cuts. If Riel hadn’t been casting supporting magic from a slight distance, I would’ve been in real danger several times over.
“Ah, damn it! This is getting annoying!!”
Blocking the sister elf’s dagger, I swung at her open leg—but the younger sister had closed in to stab me with her own dagger. Riel’s Flame Lance blocked the path, and the younger elf muttered, “Tch…”
She whipped a throwing knife from her pocket and hurled it at Riel. Baduk leaped and batted it aside. The younger elf lunged at me to attack the distracted Riel, but the sister elf had already recovered her stance and blocked me first. Seeing Riel starting to chant her spell, the younger elf clicked her tongue and switched her target back to me.
She didn’t want to take the back of my head just because I was close to Riel.
So she planned to take me down first, then finish Riel. The sisters’ pincer attack resumed. Daggers flashed in. Rapier thrusts came. Dodge, parry, block… dodge, parry, block… dodge, parry, block…
A few of their strikes slipped through and left bruises across my body, but I managed to avoid the lethal blows. I could still endure.
But if this went on much longer, it wouldn’t end.
After exchanging blows a few more times, Riel’s magic power was visibly running low. Flame Lance turned into Fire Arrow, Fire Arrow into Bolt. As the spells grew weaker, the elves’ momentum climbed.
The younger elf grinned. “Hah. Looks like your magic’s all used up.”
“…Of course. You think I keep casting that many spells?”
The sister elf answered, “Actually, Riel’s already burned through Flame Lance, Fire Arrow, Bolt, Prominence Flare—tons of magic. Any normal mage would’ve run dry by now.”
“Then it’s time to wrap this up.”
The younger elf twirled her rapier mockingly.
The sister elf nodded and reversed both daggers.
…I glanced at Riel.
She was panting hard, mana completely depleted—something I’d seen countless times from exhausted mages.
Our eyes met.
Her bright red eyes locked onto mine.
…
I gripped my sword tighter.
I had to buy time. Just a little more. Stop both of them.
The sister elf moved first. She reversed her daggers and calmly parried with my sword, creating a small opening. I didn’t press it. I had to dodge immediately.
As expected, the younger elf’s rapier stabbed straight in.
If she’d gone for the sister elf’s opening, that rapier would’ve pierced me.
The sister elf’s daggers didn’t come right away.
She only stole a quick glance at Riel.
Riel stayed focused on me, breathing steadily.
Maybe she thought I was safe, the sister elf pulled her gaze away and came at me again.
I had to stop them. Both of them. No damage to Riel—no matter what.
I parried the sister elf’s dagger.
Dodge the younger elf’s rapier.
Parry, block, dodge, and counter whenever I could.
We traded blows more than twenty times.
Now the elf sisters were attacking only me.
My shoulder was pierced.
My arm was cut.
A rapier grazed my cheek.
A deep wound split my leg.
Still I stood.
“Ah… I’m getting all shredded… but you’re really persistent!”
“…”
The younger elf finally snapped.
The sister elf said nothing, but her face said she was utterly fed up.
I quietly drew my sword and faced them both.
My pierced shoulder throbbed.
The leg wound burned with pain.
I had to endure. Not a single expression could slip.
No smile that might escape my lips could show on my face.
I sat far behind the elves, watching the tail-wagging summon Frey shake her fluffy rear hard, then leaped backward with everything I had.
“This time it’s gonna be…”
The younger elf opened her mouth to speak.
“**EXPLODE RAY!!**”
A massive explosion swallowed both sisters.
I gritted my teeth, managed to stay upright with my injured leg, and watched Riel collapse from exhaustion after using an advanced spell.
“Yeah, Riel’s the best. Her mana pool is insane—way more than normal mages.”
In the original story I’d heard Riel’s mana was multiple times that of an ordinary person. A few low-to-mid tier spells couldn’t possibly drain her.
“You got tricked, you dumb pointy-eared girls.”
The elf mercenary Kirk Ramsey wiped the cold sweat from his face as he endured the lingering pain in his stomach.
Even glancing at his own belly, he could feel the flesh torn away and blood flowing. His hand should have been bare.
The elf who called herself Lilu Arma clenched her fist and raised it.
She bent her knees, lowered her body, and readied her stance.
It looked exactly like a wild beast about to pounce.
The Arma Clan.
A warrior clan that had guarded Yggdrasil for hundreds of years.
I’d never met one in person, but the strength required to protect the World Tree had to be extraordinary.
Sweat beaded on Kirk’s dagger hand.
Only seconds later.
Lilu suddenly vanished right in front of Kirk’s eyes.
“Wha—?!”
It was pure instinct.
Kirk swung his dagger on instinct.
**KAANG!**
The blade stopped Lilu’s fist.
‘This is…’
Just once.
One leap. Lilu Arma appeared directly above Kirk and swung her fist.
Kirk’s blocking hand went numb.
When his counter failed, Lilu retreated, then jumped sideways.
‘This is like a beast…’
Lilu’s movements looked exactly like a four-legged magic beast’s, even though she was clearly running on two legs.
“Impressive technique.”
“It’s something my master taught me. Haven’t used it in a while…”
Lilu opened her fist for a second, looked at it, then grinned and closed it again.
She remembered her master from hundreds of years ago.
*Listen well, Lilu. In this world, violence can solve most trouble.*
Her master had smiled with sharp fangs.
(Well, his face made the smile look weird anyway.)
“…Yeah. This is enough.”
“…”
A swirling aura of mana exploded around Lilu’s limbs.
Wind magic.
Indeed, those razor-sharp wounds had been caused by the rotating wind mana.
Kirk gripped his dagger and glared at Lilu.
He wouldn’t miss this movement again.
Thanks to that, he finally caught Lilu’s next leap.
“HAAAP!!”
Lilu appeared right in front of him, then vanished again.
But Kirk realized she hadn’t teleported—she’d simply dropped her stance.
He dodged the kick that swept downward by jumping.
‘If I go like this… straight down…’
He reversed his dagger and aimed at the spot where Lilu would land.
Kirk lowered his gaze.
**BOOM!**
His head snapped back up instantly.
A devastating impact slammed into his jaw.
“This is Triple Strike, right?”
Lilu’s voice reached Kirk’s ear at the same moment another powerful shockwave hit his torso.
The impact sent Kirk flying sideways.
“Guh… gwaaah…!”
Kirk groaned in agony.
His jaw and side were torn by wind mana—insane pain flooded his body.
But when he forced himself upright and looked, Lilu was already high in the air, leaping even higher.
It was too late to dodge.
Lilu’s free-falling body smashed into Kirk and shattered him.
The impact was so violent Kirk’s mind went blank.
**KWA-A-A-AANG!!**
The explosion followed the shock.
At first he thought it was just a hallucination from the pain, but in the fading consciousness he saw the explosion’s aftermath.
His sisters were lying there.
He’d somehow created a mana barrier, so they weren’t dead.
But their injuries were fatal.
Kirk prayed his sisters would survive as his consciousness faded.
When the opponent lost focus, Lilu pulled her mana back into her limbs.
The violently spinning wind magic that had shredded Kirk slowly dissipated. Blood dripped to the ground.
“Ugh… yeah, I’m really rusty. Been a while…”
Lilu was the top-ranked archer in the clan, but her bare hands were even stronger.
“Damn, you’re still alive after that.”
Advanced-tier magic—Explode Ray.
A fire-mana beam that triggered a massive localized explosion.
It could reduce an ordinary magic beast to ash in one hit, yet the elf sisters had survived it.
They must have raised their mana and formed some kind of shield.
Even so, the sisters were scorched and smoke was pouring from their bodies.
“…Sister, Ray-sister… are you okay?”
“…”
“Not okay. Me too… but…”
The sister elf was barely conscious on the ground.
The younger elf was still standing, one step from collapse.
I forced myself up, picked up my sword, and walked toward them.
If they survived, I had to end this right here.
“…Ria, quickly…”
“Sorry, sister. I don’t have the strength to run anymore.”
The younger elf collapsed right where she stood.
She forced her wobbling legs to move.
She wanted to cut off the sisters’ air supply.
**KUNG!!**
Baduk, worried about my unsteady steps, rushed over.
After using an advanced spell, Riel sat down unsteadily, looking dazed.
The younger elf lifted her head, saw my sword, and spoke.
“…You want to kill us?”
“Well, the person who came to kill us is the one I’m trying to kill. What’s the problem?”
“Haha, I guess so.”
The younger elf laughed as if she’d given up.
When the distance between us shrank, her eyes flashed for a split second.
Sudden unease flooded me.
“…Even if I die, I should at least take out one of the quest targets, right?”
She grabbed the dagger her sister had been using and grinned viciously.
She aimed the dagger at the direction I wasn’t looking—Riel, who was slumped on the ground.
“You bastard…”
I realized the direction instantly and moved my head at lightning speed.
Baduk couldn’t react. I was right in front of him.
I couldn’t parry with my sword. I didn’t have the strength to swing it at that dagger.
Then… magic.
The only two mid-tier spells I could cast right now without chanting were Wind Cutter and Air Burst—both of which I’d practiced and stockpiled.
Wind Cutter had a narrow range and was specialized for cutting, so it was useless against a dagger.
Air Burst had a wide blast radius but short range; it wouldn’t be effective against a dagger.
The only remaining option…
‘**AIR BURST!!**’
Mid-tier magic—Air Burst.
It exploded air and unleashed a powerful shockwave.
It could knock me back if I misused it, but right now I was grateful for that weakness.
The shockwave from Air Burst sent me flying.
**THUD!!**
Pain tore through my stomach and gut.
I heard Riel’s scream.
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