The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 274

"Hey! What the hell are these guys!"

"The Sea's holy knights. They're one of the three pillars that form the church, along with the Earth guys."

Bodra retrieved the shortsword that had been thrust through the gap in the blue armor, piercing the holy knight's neck, and said to Mio as if muttering.

"And why are you wondering about that now! Just by looking at them attacking us, it's obvious they're enemies!"

"I know that much, you know!"

Mio shouted at Bodra and swung her fist, shattering the head of the holy knight who was approaching her from behind, helmet and all.

"What I'm asking about is the situation, the situation! This is clearly a territory managed by the Earth guys, so why did the Sea guys come here?!"

"So why are you asking me that!"

Bodra took out her bow and drew the string.

The aura arrows shot from the string flew low over the ground, like birds aiming for fish leaping on the water's surface.

At that, sand and dust rose due to the wind from the arrows, obscuring the vision of everyone present and dragging the situation into a chaotic battle.

Bodra, hiding herself in the sand and dust, approached Mio and Rwen and asked in a small voice.

"You guys, didn't you hear anything from that master of yours who always talks so proudly?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"Me neither."

At their answers, Bodra clicked her tongue quietly.

As if her pride was hurt by Bodra's reaction, Mio spat out in annoyance.

"What about you, didn't you hear anything from your sister? You said that thing on your ear was a communication artifact."

At Mio's words, Bodra touched the artifact on her ear with a sunken expression and said.

"I don't know. It's like someone cast a magic that interferes with communication throughout the forest. For a while now, I haven't been able to receive or send communications to my sister."

"Aargh, really!"

At Bodra's words, Mio and Rwen realized that the situation was turning out to be much more troublesome than they had thought and spat out in annoyance.

With those words, the three quietly held their breath and caught their breath.

They didn't know how long this short rest created by Bodra would last, but they had to recover their stamina somehow during this time.

At the same time, Bodra rummaged through her memories so far to find a clue about what was happening in this forest.

'Tsk, I can't connect my thoughts.'

But no matter how much she thought, there was nothing that could be called a clue.

When Bodra was racing through the forest to find Tafra and Midra, the three of them had accidentally witnessed a battle between the forces of the Sea and the Earth, and had gotten caught up in it, leading to the current situation.

And the current engagement was overwhelmingly disadvantageous for the three of them.

"For unbelievers, you're pretty good. Well, you're still at the level of bugs, though."

"I had pushed them down the priority list to deal with the Earth guys, but to think they'd come on their own. Unlucky bastards."

Because both forces included one person of the same holy knight commander level as Noah, whom the three of them had defeated with all their might a moment ago.

There is no chance of winning if they fight like this.

On top of that, if by some luck.

'I have to find an opening and escape somehow.'

There is nothing to be gained from fighting like this.

Just as Bodra, who had made that judgment, was about to send a signal to the two behind her.

An anomaly occurred.

From the center of the sand smoke, darkness suddenly burst out as if in a storm and formed a small dome.

'What, teleportation? Did more support come from the church?'

Feeling a presence within it, Bodra clicked her tongue and inwardly lamented that she had missed the timing to escape.

At that moment, a language of a kind Bodra had never heard before in her life reached her ears.

[What is this? It's obviously not here. Was there a slight error in the coordinate calculation?]

[Hmm, there's some strange magic barrier spread throughout this forest. I think the coordinates got a little messed up because of that.]

[Sigh, I had just prepared myself, and now I have to do that again. By the way, why is it so dusty here?]

[More importantly, what if he's not here either?]

Those who had emerged from the shadows conversed as if having a conversation.

She didn't know what they were saying, but seeing as the church's movements had become disorganized, it seemed they were not on the church's side.

[No, I don't think you need to worry about that.]

Just then, as if the church had made up its mind, they swung their swords at them.

And that man fell to the ground as if collapsing.

The fishy smell of blood told her.

That a moment ago, the man's entire body had been cut so fast that it couldn't be followed by the eye.

And that, precisely between the gaps in the armor.

[That damn brother of mine, he's definitely in this forest. Otherwise, the surroundings wouldn't be such a mess. My brother must have caused some trouble again.]

[That's a very persuasive statement.]

'I don't know what it is, but this is an opportunity.'

Bodra placed her hands on Mio and Rwen's shoulders to throw those who had suddenly appeared at the holy knights and escape with them.

"Wait a minute."

"Please wait a little."

But at that moment, Mio and Rwen placed their hands on top of Bodra's and held her back.

"What are you doing? Don't you know we'll die if we don't run now?"

"No, I'm saying this because I don't think that will happen."

Bodra had called it an unknown language, but to Mio and Rwen, that language was a little familiar.

It was understandable, as the language the two were hearing now.

'Hmm, what did I say? I'm not going to tell you.'

It had the same intonation as what Lee Shin used whenever he teased them.

Soon, the sand and dust cleared, and the current situation was clearly revealed.

The holy knights of the Sea and the Earth were tense, looking at the corpse of their fallen comrade on the ground, and those who had appeared in the forest in various outfits were turning their heads here and there, as if observing the situation.

At that, Mio and Rwen gave a small nod and created a small [Flame] and [Lightning] at their fingertips.

It was a kind of signal the two were sending, and at the same time, a kind of gamble they were staking their lives on.

Even if they were from the same place as Lee Shin, if they were in a hostile relationship with him, they might not help them, but rather rush to kill them.

But as if their worries were unfounded.

[That's...]

[Yeah, I think so.]

Seeing the flame and lightning that bloomed from their hands, they widened their eyes and looked at Mio and Rwen with surprised faces.

And then, a man among them said, as if grumbling.

[That brother of mine, looks like he's been causing trouble here too.]

Although they couldn't understand the words, to the two, it seemed that the man was quite troubled.

And Mio and Rwen, who heard the man's words, were relieved.

Because they had noticed from their eyes and the man's words that there was no hostility toward them.

◎ ◎ ◎

'I really don't know what kind of guy he is.'

The Sword of the Earth thought so and clicked his tongue.

Looking at Lee Shin, the Sword of the Earth had felt that he was somehow pressing him.

But not now.

Lee Shin's appearance had changed in an instant.

It wasn't that he was swinging the weapon, but the weapon was suddenly moving and assisting his movements.

It wasn't that the weapon and body were one, but that he was handling the weapon as if it were his body.

It felt like he was holding a shield, not a spear. No, it was questionable whether what Lee Shin was holding now should even be defined as a weapon.

It seemed that the two-on-one fight had changed to a two-on-two fight.

'No, is that not it either?'

The Sword of the Earth corrected his thoughts.

Unlike Lee Shin, they were not in a situation where they could completely join forces.

Strictly speaking, the situation a moment ago was not a two-on-one situation, but a one-on-one-on-one situation.

In such a situation, Lee Shin had suddenly pulled out a new move.

Naturally, the two had no choice but to be wary of Lee Shin's side, but it was also impossible to move.

The board had already been set.

The only way they could have overturned the board was to rush at Lee Shin at the beginning, before the board was completely set, and accept the damage.

'Don't tell me that guy calculated this whole situation?'

The Sword of the Earth thought so and clicked his tongue.

Thinking so made it even harder to move in the current situation.

The set board was moving in a new direction.

The one at the center of that flow was clearly Lee Shin.

'What should I do?'

But Lee Shin, without even noticing that the flow of the battle was turning toward him, was lost in thought.

In it, Lee Shin looked back on everything that suited him.

He continued to think to find a way to turn the current situation around.

'I don't think it's possible.'

But only impossible thoughts came to mind.

The reason Lee Shin had been able to grow so quickly until now was not only his outstanding talent, but also because there was always a target to devour.

In other words, a being that could be called a master always existed in front of him.

But this time, the one he had to devour was himself.

There was no being that could be called a master.

Nor was there anything new to devour.

All there was was a body that was perfectly the same as his current self.

Eating that would not lead to a dramatic growth.

What Lee Shin needed now was something that was his, but not his.

Finding it was a problem, but even if he found it, if it wasn't something that could break through the current situation, it was useless whether it existed or not.

Now was not the time to be extending this situation by just ruminating.

'I really have nothing to eat. Well, more than that, once I remove the killing intent from my head, it's really weak...'

It was at that moment.

That Lee Shin's thoughts were reversed.

The killing intent in Lee Shin's head is certainly not his.

Therefore, it will not help in breaking the wall in front of him now.

But Lee Shin changed his thoughts here.

'If it's not mine, can't I just make it mine?'

If he went beyond simply handling the killing intent like a weapon and devoured it to completely digest it as his own, wouldn't he be able to break that wall too?

Grin-

A smile naturally formed on Lee Shin's lips.

It was the moment he had found the most delicious prey and the prey he could digest the best.

'Then the problem now is how to make the killing intent in my head my own... That's simple.'

'I just have to eat it one by one.’

(End of Chapter)