Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Vanguard
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Vanguard.
In the execution of a unit's mission, it refers to the one who protects the members at the forefront to ensure uninterrupted forward progress.
From the Mountain of Fire to the Birch Forest, the Latent Dragon Squad members, who had shared countless missions by now, had tacitly assigned their own roles.
Ralph and Ryu An.
With those two handling heavy weapons to solidly hold the front line, Helena would pin down enemies with arrows and heal everyone with her holy power, while Dane and Sylvia unleashed devastating firepower from the rear with poison and magic.
No role was unimportant, but quietly, Ralph and Ryu An were anchoring the unit.
It had to be that way.
They were responsible not only for their own prowess but also for the safety of the other members.
That was exactly the point Ian had zeroed in on.
The concept of vanguard wasn't fixed to a person.
It varied depending on the unit's enemies.
...Ssshh.
"Huh? What, you actually giving up? I told you to quit, but damn, this is anticlimactic."
Adam sneered as he watched Ryu An quietly set his blade down.
...Crunch!
Frustrated, Ryu An ground his teeth again.
Part of him burned to swing his blade right then and clash with Adam's fist once more, but he suppressed the urge, recalling his conversation with Ian.
...Stay calm. My role right now isn't to cross blades.
Ian had made it clear.
For this mission, Ryu An wasn't the vanguard.
He was to support Sylvia's attacks, and nothing more.
If that was the path to victory.
Then he had to move accordingly.
Before being a swordsman, he was a striker from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan, a member of the Latent Dragon Squad, and he had to complete the mission.
Of course, the frustration didn't subside easily.
How could it? What blade in the world knelt to a mere fist?
He hadn't stormed out of the Pallkion Sword Clan's shelter to pursue such a pathetic swordsmanship.
But... there was no choice right now.
If he wanted to fight as a true swordsman, he needed to grow stronger.
As long as his blade couldn't reach the enemy...
All I can do is give my all to the mission assigned to me!
"Where'd you drift off to?!"
While Ryu An wrestled with his thoughts, Adam dodged Sylvia's dart once more, leaped up, and slammed his heel down with crushing force.
Kaboooom!
A blow heavy enough to evoke a bear's paw crashed onto Ryu An's blade.
Groooan!
The fierce impact carved deep furrows in the ground as Ryu An's feet slid backward.
"...Urk!"
His steel-forged arms trembled as if they might shatter.
Yet Ryu An's blade held Adam's leg at bay.
No, it wasn't just holding—it went further.
...Grab!
"...Huh?"
Instead of countering with a swing, Ryu An discarded his blade and seized Adam's leg, yanking it hard.
Whoosh!
Then he pulled Adam into a tight embrace.
"Well, well? What's this? Getting all cozy between guys? Begging for mercy just once?"
Perhaps baffled by a warrior abandoning his weapon to hug him, Adam mocked Ryu An.
But.
"Now, Sylvia!"
Ryu An poured strength into his arms to pin Adam immobile and shouted toward Sylvia.
"W-What?"
"...Quick!"
Ryu An's shout was incoherent, but Sylvia instantly grasped his intent.
She hesitated for a split second, then gritted her teeth and moved her arms.
"...This'll sting! Hang in there!"
Whoosh!
In an instant, a small pouch from Sylvia's bosom flew over Ryu An and Adam's heads.
Psssh!
Then a dart from her other hand pierced the pouch dead center.
Poof!
"?!"
The powder inside billowed out on the wind, showering down over Adam and Ryu An's heads.
"Y-You crazy bastard!"
Only then realizing Ryu An's plan, Adam panicked and thrashed to break free.
He was startled, but nothing changed.
Bearfolk possessed bear-like strength.
A mere human whelp's hug? He'd shake it off and escape in a second.
Grind!
"...?!"
His arms quivered open, but the resistance was no joke.
Especially with the powder raining down.
"...It won't be that easy."
Crunch!
As Ryu An summoned every ounce of strength from his nursing days, Adam's struggles slowed even more.
"Not as much as Ralph from the Kalia soldier clan, but... I'm pretty damn confident in my strength too...!"
Blades are heavy. And straightforward.
He recalled his first conversation with Ian upon joining the Latent Dragon Squad.
Ian's harsh critique of his blade training had been seared into Ryu An's mind like a brand.
A blade ends fights in a few clashes at most.
Ian's words mapped the path Ryu An sought as a swordsman.
From that day, amid endless blade swings, he never once skipped strength training.
He discarded the Pallkion Sword Clan's elegant sword methods entirely.
To pack more destructive power into fewer exchanges, he needed explosive muscle.
Those grueling days weren't wasted.
Now, he could even hold a bearfolk like Adam in place.
"G-Gah! Let go right now!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Adam whipped his head for headbutts, thrashing wildly, but Ryu An didn't release him even as blood streamed from his forehead.
The fierce resistance lasted only a moment.
Soon, the powder from Sylvia's pouch began seeping into Adam's eyes, ears, and nose.
And change came swiftly.
"Grk, guh!"
"Urp..."
As if seized by convulsions, both Adam and Ryu An's bodies jerked.
Thud!
Adam shoved Ryu An with weakened arms, and Ryu An, poisoned as well, flew back limply.
Drip!
"Y-You mad bastard... trying to die together...?"
Blood trickled from Adam's mouth as his bloodshot eyes glared at Ryu An, his face like a demon crawled from hell.
"...Not really."
Drip! Hack!
Ryu An spat a clot of blood from his mouth and spoke calmly.
"I was just faithful to my mission."
Ryu An was not the vanguard.
But because he perfectly played the role of bait.
The counterattack's prelude had begun.
Screeech!
Silver threads slithered eerily, stabbing at Ralph's vitals.
Movements like a rabid cat.
"Useless!"
Whoosh!
Having blocked the threads perfectly once before, Ralph swung his halberd with full confidence to form a barrier.
I'll wrap up every last one of those thread scraps so she can't even think of pulling them out again!
Ralph aimed to ensnare all of Tia's threads this time.
Fshk!
"Treating me like some crucian carp-head? Think the same trick works twice?"
Sneering at Ralph's barrier, Tia flicked her finger.
Shring!
The threads shifted with her gesture.
Thuk! Stab!
The threads charging Ralph now burrowed into buildings and walls around them.
Like weaving, they spiderwebbed the space under Tia's control.
"...Huh?"
Ralph faltered mid-swing.
Snap, plink!
Threads on the halberd's blade snapped easily, but those tangled on the shaft resisted, hindering his swings.
"What's wrong? That damn axe not turning right?"
Slither!
Taunting him, Tia drew two daggers from her waist, gripped them reverse, and stepped onto the threads.
"Come on, try showboating like before."
Smack!
Like a spider skittering across its web, Tia dashed toward Ralph at high speed.
"You-!"
Ralph tried to counter the approaching Tia, but his ensnared halberd was too sluggish against her velocity.
Slash! Riiip!
Tia's dagger bit into his shoulder like fangs, tearing it long and spilling blood.
"Ralph! You bitch!"
Dane chanted, aiming at Tia.
"Lightning, judge my foe! Lightning Bolt!"
Crackle!
The bolt lanced out to check Tia, but she scoffed.
"Yawn-worthy speed."
Slither!
"Oh, right, you okay with that?"
Tia glided past the lightning on her threads, mocking him.
"My threads conduct electricity pretty well, y'know."
No sooner had she spoken than the bolt hit the threads and ignited.
Crackle!
"Gaaahhh!"
Ralph's agonized scream shook the area.
The current arced through the threads to his halberd and ravaged his body.
"Ralph! Damn it!"
Dane panicked at the unforeseen turn, and Tia exploited the gap, lunging on her threads to slit his throat.
As Dane's head teetered on the brink.
Pew!
"...Tch!"
Clang!
Tia smacked away an arrow from the flank with a short click of her tongue.
Helena, tending the princess, had shot to check her.
"...That priestess has been a pain in the ass."
Though Helena's interference foiled the kill, it let Tia survey the surroundings.
Glance!
Her eyes flicked rearward.
Adam lay collapsed, foaming at the mouth, twitching faintly.
The poison girl who'd thrown the dust had him trussed tight and was feeding something to her own fallen comrade.
Incredible, but Adam was defeated.
Heat rising at the sight, Tia's mind cooled sharply.
She quelled her battle-fueled excitement and analyzed coldly.
Adam, you useless idiot... Shit, if that rear bitch joins in, it'll get messy. Maybe just lop off the princess's head and bail?
After a moment's thought, Tia shook her head.
Regaining composure, she sensed the surroundings.
Her ears, hidden in her hair, perked up, gathering intel.
Shouts!
-Over here...!
-...No, that side's clear! Over there!
Knights and guards from the palace drew nearer.
From encountering the princess in the outskirts to chasing here.
Less than an hour had passed.
Yet in that short time, they'd tightened the net here.
Linger longer, and escape might prove impossible, mission be damned.
Ditching the mission and Adam, though? Bator wouldn't settle for a scolding.
"Damn it all. Stepped in shit."
Stuck in a dilemma.
"Everyone alright?"
Then, an unfamiliar voice from atop a rundown building.
Looking up, she saw the Lichtenauer whelp who'd clashed with Bator.
That eased Tia's worries.
Bator never let enemies slip easily.
If Ian was here after facing him, Bator had fled or fallen.
Beaten by Ian.
Time to bolt.
Twirl!
"Where do you think you're... running?!"
Tia turned to flee without a shred of regret, prompting a desperate shout from Ralph, who'd snapped out of it via Dane's lightning.
But Tia just sneered back at him.
"Saved by sheer luck on that thick skull, and your mouth's still running. A bit more time, and you'd be dead today. Cherish that wretched neck you saved."
"...You damn bitch!"
Enraged by her venom, Dane hurled a fireball at Tia.
Boom!
Heat and light swallowed her form instantly.
But when the flames died.
Only thread fragments Tia had left to block pursuit remained, spitting embers.
"Shit!"
Bam!
Ralph slammed his halberd's butt into the ground, cursing.
Glancing back, he saw Ryu An sprawled bloodied beside the fallen Adam.
Badly wounded, but he'd captured the enemy.
And himself?
Far from downing his foe, he'd been mocked and let her slip away pathetically.
What the hell did I even do...!
Shame kept his head low.
As he stared at the ground, a hand touched his shoulder.
Ian had descended from the building and was patting Ralph's shoulder.
"Good work."
"...Sorry, boss. I fell short."
Ralph and Dane apologized with downcast faces, but Ian slowly shook his head.
"Nonsense. Our goal was protecting the princess, not catching enemies. Chasing sloppily could've endangered her—that would've been disaster. You did well. And."
Twirl!
Praising Ralph and Dane, Ian turned back with a cold murmur.
"One mouth's enough for interrogation."
Ian's gaze fixed on Adam, bound by Sylvia.