novelraw Chapter 93 : Head, Cool Off a Bit
Chapter 93 : Head, Cool Off a Bit
Chapter 93: Head, Cool Off a Bit
The Border Count of the Empire.
The Shield of the North.
The owner of countless merits piled up since his youth.
Witchard Wilcock had suddenly visited the battlefield where a torrential downpour was pouring down.
At his side, there were no escorting knights, no servants.
Just one person.
A grizzled old man walked alongside him.
Those who recognized the count hurriedly ran over and paid their respects.
Witchard moved his steps while listening to the current situation.
“Betterot has been cornered. Win or lose, he has no choice but to pour everything he has into this place.”
“Since both knight orders have been neutralized, it seems this side will also suffer heavy damage, no?”
At Theodric’s reaction, Witchard swept his gaze across the battlefield.
He could not deny it.
Betterot’s thinking was plainly visible.
If he was going to lose anyway, he would gnaw away at this side’s strength as much as possible.
Only by doing that could he plan for the future.
Paaang!
Though the raindrops shortened visibility, even so there was a place that caught the eye.
A green light flashed, illuminating the surroundings like a lighthouse.
Witchard spoke up as if testing the waters.
“Did a child of the Grimbard family come?”
“The count’s guess is correct. I taught that child.”
“In that little amount of time, combat techniques?”
“The child’s potential was overflowing. With just a trigger, he was in a state where he could bloom at any time.”
“Is that so? Better than my children, then. But is it fine to just hand out the Grimbard family’s swordsmanship like that?”
“That’s something I’ll bear.”
Witchard let out a laugh as if dumbfounded.
“Handle your own problems yourself. Just don’t let the sparks fly over to me.”
“Of course.”
The two of them had already entered the battlefield.
Leonolf had no chance to stop them.
“Then, shall we play around a bit, after a long time.”
Witchard drew his sword.
Theodric followed behind him as he strode ahead.
Imelda’s attack reached the farmer.
More precisely, it was blocked by a sickle, but in any case, an exchange had occurred.
The sound of sword and sickle colliding pierced through the rain and echoed in all directions.
The metallic clangs that rang out intermittently gradually increased in frequency.
‘Faster.’
The speed of the sword visibly increased, but Imelda could not be satisfied with that.
‘Stronger.’
Her muscles throughout her entire body were already swelling as if about to burst, yet they tightened even further as though unaware of any limit.
Bundles of muscle fibers snapped one by one.
Even so, Imelda yearned.
Protect Robin.
She could not let this man live.
If she let him slip away here, he would someday appear as a major obstacle.
That was a swordsman’s intuition, and a sense of mission that dominated her brain.
Kang!
‘Little by little…….’
Kagang!
‘I can see it…….’
She had not realized it because of her single-minded intent to kill the farmer, but Imelda’s movements were on a completely different level from before.
A reaction speed surpassing that of an ordinary human.
It was astonishing in itself that she could contend with a farmer who vanished and appeared without any warning.
“Robin.”
“…Yes.”
“Do you know why Imelda has gotten that strong?”
“…No.”
Robin was not in a condition to properly watch the battle.
Serena was not unaware of this, but she made him speak anyway.
The injuries were one thing, but right now Robin’s mind was extremely unstable.
Precious people had died one after another, and even a friend’s keepsake had been taken away.
It was a sense of loss Serena could not even dare imagine.
So that Robin would not sink into the hell he himself had created, Serena continued speaking.
“That state Imelda’s in, how long do you think it’ll last?”
“…It won’t last long.”
The farmer had tried to disarm Imelda by taking Robin hostage, but that attempt had come to nothing.
She did not know how she had gained such monstrous physical ability, but Imelda had become that much faster.
She shone like a blazing bonfire.
“I’ve made a few deductions, so listen.”
“…What are they.”
“That farmer’s ability. It’s not magic.”
Magic could only be wielded by the Demon Tribe.
Those fraudulent miracles lay outside the human domain.
Magic used by the Demon Tribe inevitably required demonic energy.
Serena could not sense any demonic energy from the farmer.
“It’s probably an Artifact.”
When Serena had attacked the farmer, he had asked her.
-What kind of Artifact does the little miss use?
Since spirit mages were so rare, he must not have been able to guess Serena’s true identity.
Perhaps the farmer, too, had used an Artifact and asked because of that.
“Artifacts have ranks, but there must definitely be conditions.”
Until Imelda unexpectedly awakened, the farmer had appeared silently from all directions.
Now, however, he was focusing on dealing with Imelda.
Only when it truly felt dangerous did he teleport, and watching the tilting tide of the battle, Serena formed a hypothesis.
“How far can the farmer move?”
“…The masked ones appeared out of nowhere. If even Paul couldn’t notice, then they moved quite a long distance.”
Serena looked around.
Because of Robin’s killing intent, the soldiers were not approaching.
The battlefield was an open plain with no cover.
It was impossible to arrive in advance, lie in wait, and then barge in.
‘Arrive in advance?’
If the farmer had ‘been here before’?
She did not know how far the movement range was, but it would not be something as simple as moving to any desired place just by imagining it.
That kind of thing only existed in legends.
Serena’s hypothesis took shape.
“It might be a method of storing places you want to go to.”
As evidence, the places where the farmer performed spatial movement around here were consistent.
He was probably too busy responding to Imelda’s attacks.
On the other hand, when he had leisurely avoided Imelda, he had moved irregularly.
“It’s not that he can store places his feet have directly touched. The storage condition is probably… places within his line of sight?”
“…I see.”
Robin’s reaction was lukewarm.
The ominous killing intent was still there, but Robin was running out of breath.
Seeing his hands fumbling as he searched for his sword was pitiful, so Serena placed it directly into his hand.
“And there’s probably a fixed number of places he can store. Since there are no remaining slots, he keeps going back and forth between the same places like that.”
“That’s an excellent deduction.”
As he grasped the sword, Robin’s voice became clear.
Serena looked down at Robin with eyes filled with expectation.
That expectation soon turned into concern.
Robin’s eyes overflowed with murderous intent.
Aimless rage was directed at the farmer.
Kagagagagang!
At last, the farmer stopped and faced Imelda head-on.
Imelda’s sword drove the farmer onto the defensive.
Each time the tip of the sword brushed the farmer’s body, the corners of Robin’s mouth twitched.
Serena did not know how to interpret it.
She shared the same wish in cheering for Imelda, but Robin’s expression right now was…….
‘It looks like he’s been swept up in madness.’
“Robin, are you okay? Ah, you wouldn’t be. What I mean is…….”
“I’m fine.”
“Huh?”
“Seeing the young lady grow like that, I even feel proud.”
“We survived thanks to Imelda. The outcome will be decided soon.”
“Yes. That’s right. Kill him, young lady.”
Serena felt a chill.
This was the first time she had seen Robin like this.
They had fought together in quite a few battles until now, but he had never openly urged Imelda to kill someone.
Kaang!
The farmer’s sickle wobbled.
It was a chance.
Robin’s eyes filled with ecstasy.
Dare to lay a hand on my older sister and steal the keepsake Jeremy left behind?
A bastard who wouldn’t be satisfied even if he were chewed to bits.
Die while writhing in pain.
“Looks troublesome.”
Robin’s wish was not fulfilled.
Because a dagger flew in from somewhere and targeted Imelda, she stepped back one pace.
A person wearing a white mask and a robe.
Judging by height and voice, it was a woman.
“Sparrow?”
“I just saved you once.”
“…I won’t forget this debt.”
“That means you’ll repay it?”
“Yes…….”
“You don’t even know who I am, so how will you repay it?”
“That is…….”
Imelda charged again, but the woman called Sparrow was different from the farmer.
Blocking a longsword with just a single dagger was astonishing enough, but even more astonishing were her feet.
Her feet were floating in midair.
“Hey, I get that you’re angry, but let’s stop here.”
“I can’t let that man live. If you don’t move aside, I’ll cut you down too.”
“Hm. You’ll cut me down?”
The woman called Sparrow flicked her dagger.
Cha-cha-cha-cha-chaeng!
They exchanged blows in an instant, and Sparrow retreated.
“Sparrow, what are you trying to do? Are you going easy on her because she’s young?”
“Ah, damn it. If you’re going to say that, why don’t you fight her yourself? And you’re a mercenary, aren’t you?”
“And what of it?”
“Our objective has been achieved. We should head back now.”
Imelda reacted to Sparrow’s words.
She could not let this slip here.
She had not even gotten Robin’s belongings back yet.
“Who are you to decide that we’re going back!”
Shouting, Imelda rushed forward, her sword aimed at Sparrow.
Sparrow parried with her dagger and retreated backward.
The farmer tried to aim for Imelda’s back, but Sparrow flicked her chin.
It was a signal to stay put.
‘Her swordsmanship is decent, and with this level of fighting spirit at such a young age, her future looks promising.’
Sparrow smacked her lips.
There was the favor she had been asked to do, but after facing her directly, a personal curiosity had also arisen.
“Stop running around and fight me properly!”
“Properly?”
Sparrow bent her knees and jumped straight up.
She soared a full five meters into the air.
According to the laws of nature, she should have fallen straight down, but she remained floating as she was.
As if stepping on invisible ground.
Normally, Imelda would have had no way to deal with this, but now it was different.
She felt like she could jump far higher than five meters.
She put strength into her ankle and kicked off the ground.
“Ugh!”
At the moment of the leap, the tendon in her ankle snapped.
Intoxicated by the exhilaration of battle, she had not realized it, but Imelda’s body had reached its limit.
‘Even so, I have to defeat at least this person.’
Surging upward from below, she slashed upward.
Sparrow lightly stepped back and avoided it.
It was as natural as if she were standing on solid ground.
The height positions of Imelda and Sparrow were reversed.
‘The distance is too far…….’
The height was high, but it was not a distance her sword could reach.
If she fell to the ground like this, there was nothing Imelda could do.
As she could only glare with a resentful expression.
Sparrow tilted her body and headed toward Imelda.
She did not know why Sparrow was acting like that, but this was the last chance.
Maintaining her falling speed, she brought her sword down.
Puuk.
“A gift.”
Along with Sparrow’s whisper, the dagger dug into Imelda’s side.
Imelda’s two hands were blocked by Sparrow’s feet.
She was standing with one foot planted on the ground and the other leg raised vertically.
She had not imagined Sparrow would take such a posture in midair.
As the dagger was pulled out, something slipped into her pocket.
Thud.
She barely landed on both legs, but a tingling shock shot up from her feet to her knees.
The power that had overflowed through her entire body drained away.
She could not move, as if glued to the ground.
Each time she tried to exert strength, pain warned her.
She could not move anymore.
She would not even be able to support her body and would instead topple forward.
Fortunately, the farmer did not know Imelda’s condition.
She stared at Sparrow, pretending to remain as calm as possible.
“Sparrow, please finish it like this.”
“I thought you were a greenhorn, but you’re no ordinary one.”
“I will assist.”
“Ah, seriously. Shuttle, stay out of it. Don’t you trust me?”
“…….”
When Sparrow snapped back irritably, the farmer fell silent.
Tadadadad.
The masked ones gathered one after another.
Imelda glared while forcing herself to hide her sense of defeat.
Each of them was clearly skilled, but they did not seem tightly united.
They did not show much interest in one another.
The hunter who arrived last tilted his head and spoke.
“A monster has appeared over there. Farmer, open the door.”
“…I will prepare.”
Crunch.
Robin clenched his teeth and whispered to Serena.
“Serena, throw me at the farmer.”
“No. You don’t have any Ether, and he’s not someone you can deal with right now.”
Bang!
Robin slammed his head into the ground.
Blood burst from his forehead from the full-force headbutt.
With blood streaming down, he spoke again with eyes gleaming with killing intent.
“Do it.”
“You…….”
“If Serena doesn’t help me, I’ll take my own life.”
Bang!
When he slammed his head again, his skin split open.
He was serious.
Robin could not maintain his reason.
If he slammed his head one more time, his skull might crack.
Serena glanced behind her and raised her staff.
‘If I can buy time until the old man arrives, wouldn’t it be fine?’
Serena also did not want to let them go gently.
If she could just time it right, she might be able to retrieve Robin’s belongings.
‘It’s a crazy plan.’
Even so, there was no other option.
“Don’t die.”
“Yes.”
Serena awakened the spirit sleeping deep beneath the ground.
It felt like her head was burning away.
The spirit, leisurely regardless of whether humans waged war or not, wriggled and lifted its head.
“Surge up.”
The ground Robin was standing on sprang upward like a spring.
The farmer, who had been preparing to leave, flinched.
He hurriedly raised his sickle, and the two collided.
“Hand over the watch.”
Thump.
Sparrow, who was beside them, kicked Robin away.
Robin crawled toward the farmer as if it did not matter.
Serena watched anxiously.
He was merely charging recklessly, blinded by killing intent.
“Farmer, ignore this side and do what you were doing.”
“Preparations are complete. Before that…….”
The farmer appeared behind Robin.
Before his hand could reach Robin.
Robin’s elbow moved first.
Using the strength of his waist, the elbow strike swung backward and struck the farmer’s mask squarely.
Crack.
Cracks spread across the mask, then it shattered into pieces.
The farmer staggered and covered his face.
Robin immediately grabbed the farmer’s neck and climbed onto his upper body.
Bang.
He completely smashed the mask.
As if he was someone whose face must not be revealed, the farmer covered his face.
Aiming for the moment when both hands were covering his face, Robin rummaged through his clothes.
A pocket watch fell into his hand.
Thud.
The farmer grabbed the hand holding the watch.
He was still covering his face with one hand.
The farmer’s eyes burned with hostility.
A chill flowed out right beside Robin.
“This is the price for reckless bravado.”
“Shut up.”
The farmer yanked hard on the pocket watch’s chain.
Sparrow pulled Robin up from behind and then whispered.
“Cool your head a bit.”
Before Robin could respond, he was flung sideways.
Serena’s heart sank.
Imelda searched for Robin with a hollow expression.
“Robin?”
Without a trace, Robin had disappeared.