Chapter 30: The Tin Knight and The Witch's Way of Greeting (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 30: The Tin Knight and The Witch's Way of Greeting (5)
Let us establish one fact here: Adelaide's combat experience was meager.
The time she had spent learning to fight from the Tin Knight amounted to a little over two weeks.
Her ability to dominate the Lennart dojo was thanks to her swift initiative and the element of surprise, not because she was overwhelmingly powerful.
Therefore, Dorothea did not ask Adel to do something like ‘defeat the opponent.’
Buy time.
That was the mission: to hold down just one of the familiars, no matter what.
And even then, it came with the condition that she could flee at any moment if things turned against her.
Adel was happy for that consideration.
That witch, just a little older than her, was cruel to those who drew their swords first, but she had a surprisingly soft spot for her allies.
And for that very reason, Adelaide had no intention of running away so easily.
The Tin Knight and Dorothea treated her not as a servant, but as a comrade.
If that was the case, then Adel, too, had to show them a performance worthy of their comrade.
“Screee!”
The bat-winged monkey soared through the air on the first floor.
Its golden body, which had shot up to just below the ceiling, plummeted toward the ground in the blink of an eye.
Sharp claws lunged for her face.
Instead of instinctively closing her eyes or flinching, Adel watched the attack's trajectory to the very end and dodged.
I felt it at the dojo, but this training is really paying off…!
Adel rejoiced inwardly. After being beaten senseless so many times for the mistake of closing her eyes and losing sight of her enemy, it had become second nature for her not to blink, no matter what.
This was a truly unfortunate misconception, born from Adel's own exceptional talent.
Adel didn't realize that for most people, such training would only result in trauma, causing them to flinch even more.
The Tin Knight had no heart to begin with, and Dorothea knew little about the training of knights and warriors, so there was no one to correct this misunderstanding.
“Screeeech!”
Of course, the monkey attacking Adel knew nothing of these finer details.
The golden beast simply wanted to catch its prey, which kept dodging its attacks, as quickly as possible.
Watching its prey twist away at the last possible second, just as an attack was about to land, was starting to get on its nerves.
It had tried to ignore its prey and return to its master a few times, but Adel had sensed its intentions with uncanny precision and charged at it, preventing its escape every time.
Eventually, the monkey’s already limited patience ran out.
“Kishaaaaaaat!”
The monkey’s golden fur shone brilliantly as its movements grew even faster.
A chill shot down her spine, and Adel hastily raised her sword to defend herself.
Crack!
Adel’s iron sword, which had blocked the monkey’s attack, shattered, and a fragment grazed her thigh.
A searing pain flared, but Adel had no time to check the wound.
The monkey, mana pouring from its wings and claws, was charging toward her.
Convinced that a single hit would mean death, Adel’s body recalled a viable tactic from the realm of pure instinct.
Adel grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at the monkey.
It was a powerful throw, as if to declare that such strength was a basic requirement for any trained noble lady.
“Scree!”
Of course, to a monkey that not only had a specially enhanced body but could also wield claw energy, it was a pathetic attack.
A light kick was all it took to shatter the chair.
Next came a water bottle, but that too was smashed with a single flap of its wings.
Then a desk, then a picture frame, then a fireplace poker… By this point, the monkey also sensed something was off.
Seriously, isn't she just throwing things a bit too randomly?
“S-Screeech!”
Regardless of the monkey’s protests, Adel was preoccupied with throwing everything she could get her hands on.
If she closed the distance, she’d be torn apart by its claws, but if she stayed too far back, she’d lose her target. For Adel, this was the best she could do.
It was fortunate that the first-floor space was so large, as befitting the city’s finest inn, and that Tom and his staff were lying unconscious in a corner.
Fortunate in the sense that they weren't caught in the battle, and also in the sense that they didn't have to witness the chaos unfolding before their eyes.
But even this was nothing compared to the pandemonium the two monsters were unleashing on the floor above.
*
Thwack!
Craaash!
Creeak!
A single punch from the monkey demolished a wall.
When the Tin Knight stomped his foot, the ground buckled as if it would collapse.
Gold and silver. Every time the two sources of mana clashed, something nearby was sliced or crushed.
Rolling to evade a pattern of swinging both arms left and right before charging forward, the Tin Knight analyzed his opponent.
The monkey with bird-like wings had a powerful body, decent flight capabilities, and overall well-balanced stats.
He hadn't fought the bat-winged monkey directly, but he could guess its abilities were focused on flight and agility.
So, what about this insect-winged monkey he was fighting now?
Boom! Boom! KABOOM!
It was a pure physical powerhouse.
A moving mass of muscle.
It was half a size larger than the Tin Knight, its limbs were like logs, and its fur was noticeably thicker than its brothers’.
The wings on its back seemed to be for decoration, as its flying ability was nonexistent, but considering they were indoors, this wasn't a major drawback.
Whoosh!
With a roar like a wild beast, its massive limbs swung, and the Tin Knight’s body fluttered like an inflatable doll.
Having lost his shield in the previous fight, the Tin Knight was left with only a single curved sword.
One-handed sword, no shield.
Unable to use his most confident tactic, the Tin Knight’s body was continuously dented and damaged.
It was a stark contrast to the first fight, where he had driven back his enemy without a single proper wound.
The opponent was stronger, and the Tin Knight’s own power was diminished.
Therefore, the one who had the upper hand in this fight was—
Slice!
—overwhelmingly, the Tin Knight.
A look of pain and bewilderment crossed the monkey’s face.
The steel knight fluttered and took damage with every clash, yet not a single one of those wounds could be called critical.
If that were all, of course, there would be no reason for the monkey to be losing so badly.
After all, the monkey hadn't taken any major damage either.
The wound on its shoulder from the initial ambush was somewhat deep, but it was a level of injury that the monkey’s regenerative ability could easily handle.
Yes, that is, if its regeneration was working properly.
Tsssss, a searing pain spread from its shoulder, as if something was burning away.
No, it wasn't just the shoulder. All the wounds inflicted by the Tin Knight felt the same.
The injuries, which it would normally have ignored without a second thought, were now endlessly asserting their presence, tormenting the monkey.
The Tin Knight’s eyes shone brightly.
The curved sword in his hand was stained black.
It wasn't the sword's original color.
Nor was it the color of the Tin Knight's mana.
Poison and curses.
The witch’s witchcraft, imbued by Dorothea, was mercilessly tearing apart the monkey’s wounds.
「There’s no time to leisurely go find a shield. But you’d be uncomfortable without one of your usual pieces of equipment, so I’ll enhance your sword instead.」
「It’s a spell originally meant to enhance weapons used by the undead, so a living person would be harmed by it, but you should be fine without worrying about the side effects.」
「There’s no need to save your mana to protect me like last time, or to leave a reserve to deal with the situation. You can use it all, so make sure you finish it for good.」
Though there was no one in particular to hear him, the Tin Knight shouted.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asserts that his master outranks yours!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ proclaims that Damage over Time is the ultimate truth!]
“■■■■!”
The monkey let out a roar of fury.
As if displeased by the Tin Knight’s movements, which nimbly avoided any fatal blows, the monkey swung its powerful body wildly, turning the surrounding terrain into a complete mess.
[The ‘Tin Knight’s’ eyes flash, noting the arrival of the berserk pattern!]
The Tin Knight did not dodge.
On the contrary, he dove right into the monkey’s embrace.
When it swung its right arm, its shoulder was sliced open.
When it brought down its left arm, the sword lodged in its shin.
He stomped on its tail, and at one point, he even climbed up the monkey’s thigh to bring his sword down on its head.
It was a series of perilous actions where a single misstep, a single moment of bad timing, could have resulted in a fatal blow to himself. Yet, the Tin Knight’s movements were as light as if he were performing a joyous dance.
There was no room for mistakes.
There was no possibility of failure.
He was the Tin Knight.
Even if he was a shadow of his former self, he was not one to be defeated by a mere muscle-bound monkey.
Rumble!
Unable to withstand their fierce battle, the fourth floor collapsed once more.
Tearing the monkey’s insect wings to shreds, the Tin Knight shouted.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ declares: ‘If you want to faze me, you’ll need to be immortal!’]
*
A golden wheel sped across the ground.
The fine carpet it touched was instantly turned to rags by the blades attached to its surface.
The wheel raced forward, intending to slice Dorothea in half, but an undead monkey blocked its path.
As the bladed wheel met the monkey’s hands, a harsh metallic screech echoed, and they were locked in a stalemate.
Dorothea tore open two leather pouches and scattered their contents on the floor.
A translucent oil and a venomous purple liquid mixed, transforming into a swarm of mice.
It was a swarm of poisonous mice that could paralyze skin on contact and whose bite could be fatal.
“Creating them on the spot, then discarding them like consumables once they’ve served their purpose. Just like a Necromancer’s magic. Not a shred of respect for life…!”
Near Franka’s feet, a spare golden block, left over from creating the wheel, was set on the ground.
The poison mice tried to go around it or leap over it, but neither worked.
Thorns like chestnut burrs shot out from within the square block, impaling the mice.
Franka touched a nearby vanity with her right hand.
The vanity creaked and shuddered violently, and in the next moment, it changed its form.
The mirror became an arrowhead, the wood became the shaft, and the cloth that decorated it became the fletching. It had transformed into a crossbow and settled atop the golden block.
A dozen arrows were fired at Dorothea all at once.
“And you respect life so much you sent your own kid on an assassination mission? There’s a limit to double standards, you know!”
White bone powder scattered from Dorothea’s hand.
Swelling with Dorothea’s mana, the powder formed a giant skeletal shield that deflected the arrows.
“What is that thing anyway! That magic doll! How in the world did you program its artificial soul’s thought circuits for it to commit such a… such a horrible, cruel act!?”
“I didn’t make it, so don’t ask me! And do you really think I’ll fall for it if you try to change the subject?”
Even as they exchanged verbal barbs, the two women relentlessly deployed their magic.
The accessories Franka wore deflected Dorothea’s curses.
Just before Franka could launch her golden blades, the evil spirits summoned by Dorothea disrupted her senses.
Franka was on the verge of losing her mind.
What in the world is this woman!?
There were many schools of magic, but if asked to choose the lowest, most disgusting, and weakest, Franka was confident she would answer ‘Necromancer’ without hesitation.
Unable to cast high-level magic with their own mana and skill alone, they were practitioners who drew upon the corpses of others and the residual mana left within.
Since the good souls who were content with their lives were difficult to command, they dealt only with malevolent spirits full of grudges, eventually going mad themselves from the influence—a bunch of dabblers.
In their desperation to gain new power, they absorbed the techniques not just of a ‘witch’ in the simple sense of a ‘female mage,’ but of a ‘Witch’ who wields the witchcraft of old. The result was a useless collection of miscellaneous skills, leaving them as half-baked practitioners who were mediocre in every field.
It required a lot of preparation, took a long time, and even then, the magic it produced wasn't very powerful. The magic of a necromancer was something no one with real talent would ever have a reason to learn.
And yet, the woman before her?
If a normal necromancer’s spell requires 5 parts catalyst, 4 parts time, and 1 part mana, this woman is reducing the catalyst and time to 1 part each and filling the entire deficit with her mana.
From a purely combat-oriented perspective, this was an incredibly useful idea.
Magic that would normally require numerous offerings or a large altar could be replaced with a simple catalyst carried in a small pouch, and rituals that would normally take a long time could be cast instantly just by pouring in mana.
However, as a mage, it was an incredibly inefficient act.
One part catalyst could not be replaced by one part mana. There was always a loss in the conversion.
Franka estimated the exchange rate to be at least 1-to-10.
In other words, to cast a spell with a total value of 10, that witch was pouring in 1 part catalyst, 1 part time, and 71 parts mana (40 for the catalyst, 30 for the time, and 1 for the original mana cost).
It was not something a sane person would do.
What infuriated Franka most was the fact that she was being completely overwhelmed in a head-on confrontation by an opponent who resorted to such a brutish method.
And she wasn't losing because of the quality of magic or operational skill, but purely because she was being pushed back by sheer volume!
“This, this is…!”
Clink, clank.
The accessories Franka wore began to break, one by one.
The gem in her earring shattered, the chain of her necklace snapped, and a ring split in two.
Faced with curses so heavily layered they had gained mass, the protective items Franka had crafted herself could no longer endure and were destroyed.
The golden blocks that had been transforming into various shapes to attack Dorothea were running out of mana, unable to break through the endlessly regenerating blood-red monkey. The spare blocks that had been attempting counterattacks were now at their limit just defending Franka’s body.
“I can’t accept a victory like this! This… this brute force, this absurdity!!”
A large, black sphere of mana materialized in front of Dorothea.
Aiming it at Franka, Dorothea replied simply.
“This isn't a knight's duel. You shouldn't expect fairness in a witch's fight.”
Fzzt!
A black flash pierced through Franka.