Is “when it rains, it pours” a phrase made for moments like this?
Here I am, the power duo with Friede, completely unable to handle just one Belita, and now we’ve got a whole crowd of reinforcements—at least twenty of them, by my guess.
And to top it off, we had just been worn out from battling those dastardly rogue adventurers.
At this rate, we’re caught in a perfect dead end—no escape!
“Step back for now! You too! If we’re surrounded from the front and back, it’s all over! We need to stick together and fight!”
At Bardu’s shout, the adventurers and hired hands hastily backed away, forming a clumsy defensive line with the cart as their shield.
Jane and Runnam, Amy and Rug were all pressed up against the cart, while warriors with weapons and shields stood firm in front of them.
Unlike a military formation completely blocking the front with shields, they left enough room for each to swing their weapons freely, making it feel less like a formation and more like a bunch of folks huddling together.
…Do they really think they can take on the additional twenty or so attackers?
I’m not sure…no, honestly, it looked like a lost cause. Everyone was exhausted and injured.
“Kakakakak! Not even close to done yet! Come at me! I can handle as many as you want!”
Kikel, instead of being tense, was banging his spear against his shield and grinning like a maniac. But the other upper rank members, including Rug, looked completely pale and drained.
“Dammit…what is this…!”
“F*ck, I can’t even move my legs like this…!”
“We weren’t supposed to leave the village like this…”
Amina’s trio was already worn out long ago.
They weren’t picked for their skills or talents but because of their faces, so I didn’t expect much from them anyway…
Yet still.
Even with Amina—a gal who took good care of them—brutally murdered, those three were only worried about their own lives and didn’t seem to be considering revenge at all.
Right, what’s the point of expecting loyalty from people like that?
If they want to escape from that situation, they’d better fight with all they’ve got.
◆◆
“Are you okay to keep your eyes on me?”
Maybe her pride was hurt seeing me stare elsewhere?
– KWAANG!
“AAAH!”
Belita stomped the ground and launched her spear, sending Friede flying back, then spun around and shot a dagger from her waist towards me like a bullet.
“Ugh…!”
The thrown dagger aimed straight for my unarmored thigh.
As I quickly lifted my leg to deflect the dagger with my greave, Belita bent her knees and lowered her waist, preparing to charge at me again.
“Here I come again!”
She dashed forward, leaving deep tracks in the ground, her thrust coming at me with the speed of a fired arrow.
“Taking your time…!”
I caught the dagger that soared through the air and threw it back at Belita while simultaneously rolling to the side to barely avoid the tip of her spear.
– KAGAGAGAK!
Belita slid to a stop with her toes digging into the ground, just past me. In the gap, I finally managed to stabilize my stance.
“Nice dodge. Quite entertaining. You and that little brat.”
Belita grinned at me, her own dagger lodged in the middle of her smirk.
“What’s it to you?”
I glared at the fiery spear tip, glowing with heat.
I was worried about my companions fighting Belita’s crew, but honestly, I had no chance to be concerned at the moment.
That thrust was incredibly tricky to deal with.
It’s too fast to dodge, too heavy to block, and with the fire explosion, blocking would only result in more harm.
If it were just a bit slower, maybe I could figure something out. But no chance.
Her charge was explosively fast, kicking off the ground like a rabbit without allowing even a brief opening for a counter.
She clearly outpaced me.
When we were locked in close combat earlier, I could keep up with her speed and strength, but with that charge, it was just jaw-dropping.
The trajectory was too straightforward, and after every rush, she would corner me for just a second, it’s a miracle I hadn’t been impaled yet.
If not for that, I would have been skewered through my armor long ago!
“What do you want? Just don’t die too pathetically!”
With her spear swirling over her shoulder, Belita showed her predatory grin like a hungry beast.
“Let’s make this fun while I’m at it.”
“I’m not having fun.”
“That’s not my problem, is it?”
Her tone was that of a blonde, tanned punk who didn’t care.
“Oh right. Sounds just about right. You must be used to having all the fun alone, huh?”
I aimed my sword at her, throwing sarcastic jabs her way.
“What?”
“Looks like your followers won’t help with something like that, huh? If you asked them, they’d probably be thrilled to play with you all night…I guess your pride wouldn’t allow it?”
I figured if I could ruffle her feathers a bit, it might help in the fight, so I threw out that crass and low insult again.
“……Hah.”
Maybe that jab actually struck a chord.
“Seriously. Adventurers are truly something…”
Belita scoffed, rolling her eyes and squinting, clearly taken aback.
And then—
– WHOOSH!
In the next moment, with a loud whoosh,
“…just a bunch of filthy little brats.”
Her claw-like left hand loomed before my eyes.
She charged forward with an acceleration one and a half times faster than before. I couldn’t even respond. Her shadow was about to engulf me.
“Do you know? You all reek of rot. Right here.”
The playful tone vanished, replaced by a deadly serious voice. A chilling instinct prickled down my spine.
“You can’t escape!”
I swung my sword horizontally, aiming for Belita’s waist, rolling backward on the ground just in time to narrowly avoid her grip.
As I struggled to get back up,
“Hey, Hilde doesn’t smell!”
From above, shouted Friede, defending me.
She jumped three meters straight up, spinning mid-air and plummeting toward Belita’s head like lightning.
WHOOSH!
With her twisted, blackened greatsword descending vertically like a guillotine.
This was pure insanity.
“Friede!”
I shouted out, springing to my feet in alarm.
What on earth was she thinking, attempting such a ridiculous move in mid-air with nowhere to land safely…?
If she played it wrong and even dodged a step, she’d be skewered like a shish kebab!
“Tch…!”
And strangely enough,
Instead of dodging to the side, Belita remained firmly planted in place, clicking her tongue and frowning, lifting the spear high above her head.
…What the heck?
This was bizarre. With just two steps sideways, she could really finish — instead, she deliberately chose to take it head-on.
Moreover, it didn’t seem like she was being prideful about it. Her beast-like eyes were a bit subconsciously twisted, indicating something was off.
So why…?
Before I could grasp the answer,
“HAH!”
The greatsword of Friede, with thunderous momentum, slammed down like an axe onto the spear that Belita had raised.
– KWAANG!
The sound of impact was closer to an explosion. The massive greatsword and metal spear screeched against each other, sending sparks flying.
“Ugh…!”
It seemed Belita lost her balance from the shock, dropping to one knee.
In combat, stance was key. Though she might have raw strength, she wasn’t able to hold her ground from that awkward position.
“Guess it’s your stench that’s really rotting!”
With a blend of humor and hysterical insults.
Puh-ack!
As Belita attempted to rise again, Friede’s foot crashed into her lower abdomen like an ice-breaking hammer.
“Garrgh…!”
…No, it was actually just below her abdomen.
“Gah, ugh….”
Belita, trying to shield her gut with her left hand, groaned painfully between gritted teeth as her eyes bulged in horror.
“Do you get it? Do you understand? You smell like a chicken coop…!”
Friede was angrier than me, raising her massive sword like a chopping axe.
“Y-you little brat!”
But before Friede could swing her sword, a furious Belita sprang up and swung her left hand, giving Friede a slap.
– KWAATCHA!
It was a clear and sharp sound of shattering. Friede’s greatsword, blocking Belita’s left hand, shattered into pieces with a final scream.
The durability of the sword had already reached its limit from blocking numerous fiery thrusts and the recent collision.
“GUAH!”
With a high-pitched scream, Friede was sent flying like a ball.
Thanks to that fluttering black feather cloak, she looked just like a crow, living up to that nickname perfectly.
