90. Mercedes
She had that look like she was carrying a ton of baggage, so instead of jumping her right away, I tried talking first. Should've just stabbed the bitch once and gotten it over with. Her eyes were straight-up serial killer eyes. Hatred, rage, killing intent—all that raw emotion pooled right there in them.
"How the hell are you... a mere human... No, you weren't human after all...!"
Even in the middle of all that, she was questioning how I was still alive after a hundred years. Her eyes were completely unhinged, but she still had some cognition and reason left—
"No, I don't care about that anymore. Even if this is just a hallucination...!"
—but the second she decided to ditch reason, it was game on. I raised my shield, tension coiling through me. A deep krurrung rumbled—the signature thunder of Mana Reinforcement—as mana light wrapped around Mercedes's body. Unlike before, she was starting with it right off the bat. Fine, no need to hold back on my end either.
Krurrung! I activated my own Mana Reinforcement and blocked her charging sword. The conditions were equal, so I figured I'd handled it pretty well, but the impact shoved my body back a step. Well, yeah—her base specs were higher even without reinforcement. Obvious. Plus, unlike my item-boosted ass, her mastery of Mana Reinforcement itself seemed superior.
Kwagwang! As she flicked my sword upward, an explosion erupted. The backlash from our clashing mana. Happens all the time between reinforcement users, apparently. Mercedes pressed forward with her shield in kite form, aiming the tip at my chest. Pointy as it was, that strike packed the weight of a heavy axe swing.
Kwagaek! I blocked her shield with mine, then swung my off-hand sword at her neck. She parried smoothly from below like it was nothing, twisting her wrist and shoulder into sword wrestling. With our strength gap, a prolonged lock like this was bad news for me. I popped [All-Out] to amp my power and broke the standoff by force. Followed up with a kick from my idle leg—sneaky as hell—but
she blocked that too. Mercedes swung her shield down on my extended leg.
Kwaang! Simple attack, easy dodge. The ground cracked under her shield with a jjeojeok. I slashed sideways at her lowered stance, but her shield ate it. She closed in behind it, thrusting her sword from point-blank. I parried with my shield, and we were back to ultra-close power struggle.
"Look at those eyes."
I tossed a line at Mercedes, who was still glaring at me with murderous intent gleaming.
"Huuuh!"
She gnashed her teeth, letting out some awkward grunt as she twisted violently into an attack. No clue why she was so hyped up, but it worked in my favor. Just like our last duel. Blood rushing to her head made her moves wild and predictable. I had this in the bag.
I'd gotten stronger overall since Floor 7, but Mercedes was still a tough nut. Superior in raw strength and agility, better base swordsmanship, and her Mana Reinforcement proficiency crushed mine. But fights aren't decided by specs alone.
This played out just like last time.
Kwaang! Mercedes took a solid shield bash to the side of her face and went flying. My Mana Reinforcement was 100% item-dependent gear-whoring, but that gave it one edge: sustainability. No matter my stamina or endurance, it stayed consistent. Mercedes's started faltering as the fight dragged and injuries piled up. By now, her output was half her peak—about level with my limited version.
With specs evened out, my edge was inevitable. I chased her down, swinging the hand axe from my belt.
"Kuhk!"
She failed to block and retreated hard after eating another hit. I had skills like [All-Out] and [Weakness Perception], plus versatile weapon arts including throws. Top it off with supreme combat endurance that got stronger with wounds. The second she couldn't end it quick, the outcome was set.
"You filthy... filthy human scum. I'll kill you. I will kill you!"
She knew that much, so why was she raging like this?
"Told you, you can't."
Kwajik! I smashed her arm with a blunt swing as she charged. Felt the bone snap. But she kept coming, ignoring it. Something was seriously off. Like I'd murdered her whole family—she wasn't even caring about her own body. I knew chopping a virgin elf's ear was a big deal, but that didn't seem to be the whole story. Hell, hadn't she just yelled she didn't care if I was a hallucination?
Kwang! I booted her flying far off. She slammed waist-first into a tree and couldn't get up proper. Mana probably tapped—reinforcement dropped. Not a single limb unscathed. Without regen like mine or system HP buffs, she couldn't even twitch a finger.
Deuddeuk, deuk! But she propped herself up on her broken arm's shoulder and forced herself upright. Sword grip looked shaky, but she staggered toward me anyway.
"Aaaaaah!!"
Now she was screaming bloody murder. I kicked her again.
Kung! She crashed once more, forehead and knees grinding dirt as she struggled back up. No killing intent left on her filthy face. Just despair and resentment. Tears streaked her mud-caked cheeks.
"Because of you... It's all your fault. All of it...!"
First time anyone's hated me this much. Honestly, kinda threw me. Shouldn't she explain why before cursing me out? Could be a misunderstanding.
"Because of you, His Highness...!"
Oh, there—the keyword. "His Highness" meant that high elf prince, right? But I hadn't done shit to him. At worst, snapped his arm our first meet and mocked him for hiding behind a girl. Nothing worth this grudge. Didn't seem tied to the ear chop either.
Okay, neutralize first, then hear her out.
"Grow up."
I planted a flying knee to her solar plexus and knocked her out cold.
I dragged the unconscious Mercedes back to the dark elf village. To get her story, she'd need healing to wake up, and I couldn't handle that solo. Well, I could heal her, but if she woke raging, subduing her again would suck—especially since I couldn't recharge my pendant and reuse Mana Reinforcement yet.
Mercedes lay on the bed, eyes finally fluttering open after about three hours.
"Wh-where is this...?"
"Hey, you're up."
The second she clocked me, her eyes bulged and she reached for her sword.
"Don't move. Worried you'd flip out again, so I had Elenoir layer a shitload of restraint spells."
Obviously, I'd confiscated her sword and armor. Bedside was rigged with suppression magic. Confirming no sword, she glared at me, eyes full of wariness.
"Thought about killing you at first, but got some questions now."
"I have nothing to say to you. Kill me."
"Didn't even ask, and you're spilling already. Something's my fault, right?"
Seemed I hit a nerve—she grunted 'kut' and turned away. Never thought I'd see a captured elf knight pull the 'kut, just kill me' in real life.
"Didn't know, but that prince from before inherited the throne, yeah? The 'His Highness' you mentioned."
"......"
"You made it sound like I did something to him. Told Elenoir, and she said..."
Mercedes's face twisted slightly. Nailed it.
"He declared war on the dark elves. Super random timing, apparently."
The two elf factions had been at war de facto since Floor 8, but official declaration came after the king swap. Not the old king—the awkward prince started the real shit. No one knew why. Exchanges cut off for a century, so natural, but Elenoir—who knew him long as his fiancée—called it absurd.
"You look off too. Something happened on your side, right?"
Mercedes bit her lip faintly. Guessed right on a whim.
"Tell me where I'm supposedly at fault."
Mercedes was surely key to this epic quest.