Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Apostle's Minions
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An arrow of light cut through the night air, aimed precisely at the opponent's head.
The opponent, seemingly not expecting an arrow without any prior warning, hastily reached for their waist.
A coolly gleaming blade split the shaft of light in two.
Impressive.
Luon was genuinely impressed by the man's immediate reaction.
A swordsman capable of slicing an incoming arrow was by no means common in this world.
If it had been a mage, Luon would have planned to pepper them with arrows to break their shield, but seeing that wasn't the case, he slung the bow back over his shoulder.
The man, who had lowered his stance in preparation for a rapid volley, tilted his head.
“Giving up your ranged advantage?”
“Think it'll make a difference if we fight up close?”
“Impressive.”
After a short exclamation of admiration, the swordsman nodded his head toward the narrow alley behind him and stepped back into it.
Is he telling me to follow?
Though not particularly keen on the idea, Luon followed without a word. He couldn't exactly have a sword fight on a main city street.
After a strange standoff, the two passed through the narrow alley and arrived at a fairly wide, open area.
The open space, connected to several alleys, seemed to be used as an unofficial dump by the city's inhabitants, as all sorts of filth covered the ground.
The swordsman spoke to Luon, who was frowning at the stench.
“No one comes here at this hour, so feel free to attack without holding back.”
“Such bravado.”
Luon closed the distance with long strides and swung his holy sword.
His opponent met the blow, swinging his own sword.
The sharp clang of metal on metal echoed through the alley.
“Kuh!”
Pushed back by Luon's overwhelming strength, the man stumbled backward. Even so, he quickly regained his balance and attempted a counterattack, proving he was indeed a swordsman far beyond the ordinary.
A few short exchanges followed. The swordsman, noticing his own blade trembling unsteadily after clashing with the holy sword, bit his lip and created some distance.
“I'd like to cross swords longer, but... I suppose I have no choice.”
He seemed to catch his breath for a moment, then instantly closed the distance and thrust his sword forward with force.
Luon easily blocked the blade aimed at his heart by raising his holy sword.
But the man, as if waiting for this, twisted his wrist, changing the horizontal thrust to a vertical one.
The man's sword instantly slid along the flat of the holy sword, aiming for Luon's face.
The fluid, continuous attack was so skilled that even a great warrior would have struggled to respond properly, but unfortunately for him, he had chosen the wrong opponent.
The moment his opponent twisted his wrist, Luon had already tilted his head back, ignoring the blade grazing past his face as he kicked out with all his might.
With a whoosh, the man was kicked in the chest and went flying backward with a gasp.
Bracing himself on the ground with a trembling hand, blood-tinged saliva dribbled from the man's mouth.
The man looked down at his pathetically dented breastplate and moved his lips with difficulty.
“Your swordsmanship... doesn't seem that profound... No... with that kind of power and speed... the very concept of swordsmanship might be meaningless.”
“Is that so?”
As Luon closed in to finish off the gasping man, he quickly batted away something that flew out of the darkness with his holy sword.
The formless power, split in two, dissipated into the air. The resulting gust of wind made Luon narrow his eyes.
A dark silhouette appeared, supporting the staggering man.
“Why are you indulging in such a pointless show of pride? Did you completely ignore the order not to act rashly?”
“...I was just curious about the power of a warrior acknowledged by Tivela.”
“So you planned to fight him only in your normal human form? You, who craved power so much you accepted the Father—you think that's a valid excuse?”
The unidentified figure who had suddenly appeared and chided the swordsman whipped their head toward Luon and shouted.
Their face was hidden by a hood, but their thin, high-pitched voice suggested it was a woman.
“You lowly servant of a whore who preaches mercy. Do not forget that the only reason I'm not tearing you to pieces right here is because the great Apostle has ordered us to observe you for now.”
After spewing her tirade, the woman waved her hand briefly, and darkness surged from beyond the alley, beginning to envelop her and the swordsman.
Luon instinctively sensed this was not a preparation for an attack.
“Where do you think you're going?”
Just as he kicked off the ground, about to bring his holy sword down on the darkness, someone behind him shouted loudly.
“Luon, duck!”
At the familiar voice, Luon reflexively ducked, and at the same moment, a shield flew over the crown of his head and struck the darkness hard.
From beyond the shattering darkness, a woman's voice, almost a scream, could be heard.
“W-What is this!”
And at that moment, the holy sword in Luon's right hand swung down.
The swordsman standing next to the woman saved her as she stared blankly at the shaft of light cutting through the darkness.
Realizing his companion's spell had been broken for some reason, he quickly raised his sword and blocked the slash.
Despite taking the full force of the holy sword, the man's stance didn't break.
Seeing the man's forehead sizzle and melt, Luon put strength into his arm and pushed him away.
Luon, having naturally created distance, let out a dry laugh as he watched Kyle walk up beside him and pick up the shield from the ground.
“Did you just throw it?”
“Things were looking grim. What else could I do?”
Kyle shrugged and drew an arming sword from his hip.
“I'll take on that mage.”
Kyle jutted his chin toward the woman, who seemed disoriented, likely from the backlash of her broken spell.
Luon looked at his still-flushed face and asked.
“Are you confident, in your condition?”
Kyle shook his head.
“Not particularly. So you need to hurry up, kill that monster bastard, and come help me. Got it?”
“I'll think about it.”
A small smile on his lips, Luon turned his head to look at the swordsman, who had now fully transformed into a monster.
A muscular, enlarged body densely covered in jet-black spines, a snout elongated like a beast's, and beneath it, sharp teeth glinting menacingly.
The creature growled.
“Warrior, now that I have revealed this form, there is no more honor in this battle.”
What is he talking about?
The transformed swordsman threw the sword in his hand to the ground, then tore off the tight-fitting breastplate with his bare hands.
“Before this overwhelming physique, how fleeting is technique.”
Its bright yellow eyes shining, the creature's gaze, which had been admiring every part of its own body in rapture, slowly turned to Luon.
“Here I come.”
At that moment, the creature's body blurred as the flagstones beneath it shattered with a crack. The monster, moving so fast it left an afterimage, swung its arm violently.
Luon, who had leaped back to dodge the attack, turned his head and said.
“Go.”
At that, Kyle immediately charged toward the mage.
“You damn vermin! What the hell is that shield!”
The woman's enraged voice, indicating she had recovered somewhat, rang out, but Luon didn't bother to look in her direction.
Not only was it Kyle's fight, but he had a monster rushing madly at him.
The swordsman, now literally a monster, unleashed a barrage of instinctual attacks, showcasing his overwhelming power and speed.
As Luon dodged the arm swung at incredible speed by a hair's breadth, the monster gave a cruel smile and spread its fingers wide.
Previously hidden claws shot out, closing the small gap and raking across Luon's chest.
The monster didn't stop there, ramming Luon hard with its spiky shoulder.
Seemingly wary of a counterattack, it didn't press further, instead spinning backward in mid-air to create distance.
This is annoying.
Luon frowned, looking at his instantly tattered armor.
As he casually rubbed his stinging, bleeding chest with his palm, the monster spoke.
“Warrior, I pay my respects to the strength you have built. It must have been an arduous process, accompanied by bone-grinding effort. I, too, know that effort better than anyone.”
With a growl, the creature added.
“But behold. This unreasonable strength that tramples all that effort...”
Luon cut him off.
“I don't know what you're rambling on about in the middle of a fight. I thought you were the silent type. Was I mistaken?”
Before the monster could reply, he kicked off the ground. Relaxing his shoulder, he thrust out the holy sword, which emitted a bright light.
A clean thrust, completely devoid of flourish, buried itself beneath the monster's collarbone.
“Kaak!”
Ducking under the monster's roaring swing, Luon boldly let go of the holy sword's hilt.
He created distance, grabbed the bow from his back, and unhesitatingly drew the string.
As the creature struggled to pull out the sword piercing its body, a streak of light swept across its face.
“Keeegh.”
Before the creature's agonized scream from the holy-power-infused arrow piercing its eye could end, a rain of arrows, one after another, hammered its body.
Luon trudged toward the monster, its body instantly shredded by the terrifyingly rapid fire that skipped the reloading process.
“Doesn't seem so unreasonably strong to me.”
Luon carefully curled each of his fingers into a fist and smashed it into the monster's face.
*CRACK!*
The monster's face, which had been barely holding its shape, exploded on impact.
Pulling the holy sword from the crumbling corpse, Luon walked toward Kyle, who was trading blows up ahead.
He's doing pretty well.
Contrary to his complaints, Kyle was fighting quite valiantly.
He blocked the ominous, formless magic with his shield while swinging the arming sword in his other hand fiercely, mounting a proper counterattack.
However, his utterly ordinary sword, unlike the shield, couldn't pierce his opponent's barrier, so the stalemate was dragging on without any significant progress.
Growing furious as her magic was repeatedly nullified, the mage gritted her teeth.
“Let's see if you can walk away unscathed when I blow this entire area to smithereens! You damn maggot!”
Seeing the symbol of Belducias appear in the shadows of her hood, Luon immediately threw his sword.
The woman, her forehead pierced by the holy sword that had instantly penetrated her barrier, flailed her arms meaninglessly at the air before collapsing.
“Shit, you scared me.”
Luon walked up beside the startled Kyle and said with a faint smile.
“Things were looking grim.”
At that moment, Luon felt a thrill as a sense of elation welled up from deep within and spread throughout his body. He quickly closed his eyes.
It was his first level-up in a while, since hunting the harpy.
After a moment of thought, he dumped all his bonus stats into Holy Power.
Naturally, this choice had nothing to do with faith. He predicted that the presence or absence of Holy Power could be a turning point in future battles.
“...Luon?”
“What?”
“I thought you'd fainted on your feet. Is something wrong?”
“No, everything's fine.”
Shaking his head, Luon pulled the holy sword from the woman's forehead. Kyle, watching him, spoke.
“A moment ago, the light that poured from the holy sword sucked something dark red out of those bastards' bodies. Just like when you killed that mage at the church.”
As if to prove his words, the power pulsating within the holy sword had grown much stronger, and Luon smiled pleasantly for the first time in a while.
“I thought I was going to lose them both... but thanks to you, we got them.”
“Glad I could help. Do you think these bastards are minions of that Apostle?”
“Probably. They seemed to be acting on their own, but...”
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the alley.
Kyle frowned.
“Don't tell me it's the city guard.”
The dead swordsman had said no one came here at this hour, but given the noise from the fierce battle, it wouldn't be strange at all if a patrolling guard showed up.
“We should get out of here before things get complicated...”
As he was saying that, Luon saw two figures emerge from the narrow alley and muttered under his breath.
“...or not.”
The two who came running, out of breath, were Igor and Strabo.
“Lord Luon! Are you all right!”
Luon let out a dry laugh as he looked at Igor shouting.
“Took you long enough."