Delphiana Assault Incident-4: Who Would Have Thought Such Luck Would Come
Gunter could barely hold back his laughter. ‘Who would have thought such incredible luck would come my way?’ Princess Ditrua. The person standing before him was unmistakably her. And she was completely alone. Without a single guard in sight. Why? Just what had brought her here? This warehouse was a place students rarely visited. At a time when the monsters he had already unleashed were rampaging across the academy, there was no reason for a protected figure like a princess to appear here by herself.
‘Did she sense my demonic energy?’ For now, that was the only answer he could come up with. Gunter had always been impulsive. As a result, he struggled to control his demonic energy properly. Even after sneaking into the academy, he had accidentally let it leak several times. The amounts had been small, but anyone sensitive enough could still detect them. Especially just moments ago, when he had released far too much. He had thought that would prove a fatal blunder.
But the world was full of surprises. Thanks to that mistake, it seemed he had hooked an absolutely tremendous prize. ‘Was she blinded by a sense of duty?’ His eyes carefully studied the princess. If Marius’s information was accurate, she was indeed exceptionally talented for her age. But right now, she was nothing more than a novice.
“Where is Rilke?” Ditrua demanded.
Rilke? A name he had never heard. Gunter quickly searched Marius’s memories, but there was no information about anyone by that name there either.
“Who knows? Where could she be?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Ditrua lunged. Her swift, precise sword instantly targeted his weak points. Gunter deflected every strike. ‘Useless.’ A sneer twisted his lips. Of course it was! According to the plan he had so carefully crafted, the princess should have been safely tucked away under heavy protection right now. He had spent so much effort devising an intricate scheme to shatter that defense. And now it had all become meaningless!
Gunter stared at the person who had ruined every last part of his carefully laid plans and burst into wild laughter.
“Kuhahaha!”
He toyed with Ditrua as if playing with a child. The princess of Solentia. Killing her outright wouldn’t be a bad choice, but perhaps he could use her more effectively. A method that would deliver an even greater shock to those arrogant natives. A way to awaken Regensraum, which had so foolishly chosen to pursue a truce.
While he pondered, Ditrua had already assessed her opponent’s strength. This was no enemy she could possibly handle. Without thinking, she unleashed a strike meant for mutual destruction—not the half-hearted one she had used against Rilke, but a true attack that staked her very life.
Yet Gunter simply sidestepped her blade.
“Trading your life for a single one of my fingers? The math doesn’t add up!”
His own fingernail was far too precious to exchange for the life of some insignificant native. Ditrua’s face paled. The attack she had poured everything into had been blocked so effortlessly. Her mind, already consumed with worry and self-recrimination over Rilke, was now flooded with the terror of death.
Seeing that expression, Gunter decided to simply kill the princess. It was a momentary impulse, but his instincts told him it would be the best course. His sword came hurtling forward.
In that instant, a brilliant light flashed from somewhere.
Gunter instinctively swung his blade to block the sudden attack. His arm went numb from the impact.
“Ditrua. Stay back.”
“….”
Ditrua was clearly not in a normal state. ‘She doesn’t appear to have sustained many physical injuries.’ It seemed the damage was mental instead.
“Tsk.”
Altair, who had caught the princess in her arms, leaped backward in a single bound and gently set her down. Then she advanced toward Gunter.
Gunter studied her closely. ‘A young female swordsman with black hair.’ Even from that single exchange, he could tell she was a formidable opponent. She might even be someone already known among the demon race. ‘Not a familiar face, though.’ Gunter took great interest in his enemies. Since he didn’t recognize her, the chances of her being a renowned powerhouse were slim. What caught his attention was the powerful aura radiating from her. But it wasn’t demonic energy.
Only now did he realize that this woman was the source of the aura he had occasionally sensed throughout the academy. ‘This should be quite entertaining.’ But that was all. There was only one opponent. There was no way someone in this rear area could stop him alone. Of course, being outnumbered could lead to defeat, but his opponent was just one person. There were no variables. He didn’t even need to consult Marius’s memories to identify her.
Brimming with confidence, Gunter turned his sword toward Altair. He couldn’t afford to waste time. He had to get serious soon. His blade, saturated with demonic energy and raw power, surged forward to crush her.
Altair instantly drew the Moonlight Blade with her left hand to meet it. A smile spread across Gunter’s face at the sight. There was no way she could block his sword with such a pathetic toy of a blade!
But the moment the two weapons clashed, shock flashed across Gunter’s face. She had stopped his attack so lightly! Seizing the momentary opening, Altair launched her counterattack. By pulling with her left hand, she drew him in ever so slightly, then thrust the sword in her right hand toward his waist.
Gunter quickly regained his balance, withdrew his blade, and blocked the Holy Light Sword. ‘Ugh!’ The impact refused to fade. An overwhelming power that belied her appearance! Even after blocking her sword only once, both of Gunter’s hands throbbed with the shock.
Reading his expression, Altair decided not to slow her pace. Left hand and right hand—moon and star—she wove the two in a relentless barrage of strikes. All the light converged on a single point. In other words, Gunter didn’t even need to move his sword; he could simply stand still.
Having realized this easily, confusion filled his mind. ‘What is she thinking?’ What possible intention could lie behind such a foolish attack? His opponent wasn’t an idiot. There had to be a purpose behind it!
But before he could decipher her aim, she accomplished exactly what she wanted.
Clang!
The sword Gunter had reinforced to the utmost with his demonic energy shattered to pieces. ‘My sword!’ A concentrated barrage aimed at a single spot. In truth, Altair’s intention hadn’t been difficult to discern. The reason an experienced warrior like Gunter had failed to notice it was largely due to his absolute belief that his weapon could never break.
In reality, Gunter wasn’t particularly confident in his swordsmanship. His true self fought with bare fists, without weapons. He had simply continued doing so after possessing a native swordsman’s body. But the sword had been strengthened by his demonic energy. That was where his confidence lay—in its durability. He had believed it would never break.
When that conviction shattered, his face filled with horror. He quickly retreated and spat out the absorbed body of Marius toward Altair. That black mass. Altair, who immediately recognized its true nature, also fell back.
‘He’s still alive.’ The black veil slowly dissipated, revealing Marius’s form. It hadn’t looked like it, but he was not yet dead.
While she assessed Marius’s condition, Gunter safely reverted to his true form—a monstrous body more than ten times larger than a normal human.
‘Ugly.’ That was Altair’s simple assessment. That dull, mold-like blue color. Just looking at it killed her appetite.
“Kwaaaak!”
A massive hand came crashing down toward her. Altair swiftly scooped up Marius and dodged to the left.
Boom!
A huge fissure opened where she had been standing. Unfazed, Altair hurled Marius far into the distance, removing him from the battlefield. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t matter, but in his weakened state, a few broken bones were likely. ‘Better than dying, right?’ It wasn’t as if she held any personal grudge.
Gunter’s enormous fist came swinging down again. Altair swung her Moonlight Blade dozens of times in an instant. The shadows of the moon, of the crescent moon, overlapped. Gunter’s giant fist was halted by those afterimages.
‘!’
It was a sight Gunter could not comprehend. Right now, both of Altair’s hands and her blades were clearly doing nothing. What blocked his fist were only the sword afterimages she had left behind. How was such a thing possible?
The bewildered Gunter belatedly pulled back his right hand, which had been stopped by the moon shadow. It had been his first attack made with full power and proper resolve. And that mysterious swordsman had casually blocked it with her toy-like blade.
Only now did Gunter understand. The black-haired swordsman before him was an opponent who required him to give everything he had just to make the fight possible.
The Holy Light Sword and Moonlight Blade crossed. In that moment, a brilliant flash. At the same time, the light birthed darkness, and the entire large warehouse became enveloped in a night sky.
Gunter’s counterattack was by no means weak. Among the demon race, his strength ranked near the very top. The powerful demonic energy entwined with his fist wind managed to push back the night sky, if only slightly.
Altair frowned at the sight. But that was all. It was still night. The scene someone had once dreamed of now stood against a power meant solely for destruction. The rampaging force that sought to tear apart everyday life was soon swallowed by a single ordinary moment of daily existence.
Gunter could not understand this natural, simple truth. Who was he? Wasn’t he Gunter, an object of terror to countless beings! That he would lose to a nameless swordsman? It was impossible.
So he asked.
“Who are you? A hero?”
The star’s weapon meant to oppose Regensraum—the hero. If his opponent was such a being, then this defeat of his would make sense.
“No?”
Not a hero?
“Then just what…”
“You’re asking who I am?”
With an expressionless face, she gazed at the demon before her.
“You don’t need to know.”
Altair’s sword shone once more.