Chapter 19: Deathmatch in the Forest

────Rudeus’ POV────

"Ghislaine the 'Black Wolf'! If you wish to cut down Lord Pilemon, then face me in fair sing—"

"'Sonic Boom'!!"

"What the—!?"

"During a declaration of single combat…!!"

"Big bro Nakul! It’s not just the 'Mad Sword King', this guy’s crazy too!"

I timed it perfectly, blasting the assassins with a sonic boom right as they were converging on the three who had called out their names.

Three North Kings, one North Emperor. On top of the Three Swordsmen of the North God style, there were about thirty other assassins. We were completely outnumbered.

Even if each of us escorts took one opponent, that still left thirty of them free to slip past and reach Ariel and the others behind us. So before the fight devolved into chaos, I chose to scatter the foot soldiers with a wide-area attack.

──Two shots. Three. Four. Each wave of thunder and wind blew away enemies.

Only the Three Swordsmen managed to slice through the shockwaves with ease (the Nakul siblings struggled a little), while Auber clicked his tongue and rushed straight at me.

That was the signal. Ghislaine and Eris, who had been holding back, suddenly sprang forward. They clashed with Auber in passing, exchanged a few blows, then slipped past.

Taking advantage of the time they bought, I conjured a swamp under Auber’s feet. Sylphy, two steps behind Eris, dashed forward as I saw her off.

"Looks like we’ve been neatly divided one-on-one… so my opponent is you, Rudeus!"

Auber had anchored a clawed grappling hook to a nearby tree and used it to escape the swamp.

Yes, one-on-one. Ghislaine versus Wii Taa. Eris and Sylphy versus the Nakul siblings. And me… against Auber.

"‘North Emperor’ Auber Corvette."

"……"

He declared his name once more.

I wondered if I should do the same, but I didn’t have the luxury. Auber realized I had no intention of answering and charged.

────Sylphy’s POV────

"Graaaahhh!!!"

"“‘Mirror Reflection’!!”"

Eris’ sword came down in a huge overhead swing. The twin swords crossed to catch it, parrying as they leapt backward.

The instant they landed, I fired off 'Wind Slash' and 'Frost Blade', but each twin covered the other’s opening flawlessly, countering everything.

"‘Mad Sword King’ Eris Greyrat, you fall short of your boast!"

"‘Silent Fitz’! Can you not break through our paired technique!?"

(This is bad…! The pace is too fast, I can’t get in at all!)

The Nakul Guard, twin swordsmen of the Milleded tribe—together they counted as one North King.

I’d thought that if I could take down one, the other would fall, but I was wrong. Their coordination was perfect—switching positions seamlessly, pulling each other back if one overextended. They never stepped close enough for my 'Light Blade' to reach.

Even now, the brother took Eris’ sword head-on, then before it could cleave him apart, the sister yanked him back and drove a Tear Bomb right into Eris.

I shoved an 'Ice Blade' between Eris and the Nakuls to force distance, then hit Eris with 'Waterfall' to wash off the Tear Bomb’s powder.

They were just buying time. In terms of raw power, we were stronger. We had to finish this quickly and go help Rudy…!

"Eris, I’ll match you. Don’t hold back—just charge straight in."

"…Got it!"

"They’re coming!"

"Let’s finish this!"

The twins shifted into mirrored stances again as Eris charged.

"Uraaaaaa!!!"

"“‘Mirrored Layers’!!”"

The brother blocked Eris’ horizontal slash, and at the same instant the sister’s blade lunged for her hands. But I spiked an 'Icicle' under her feet, breaking her balance.

Without his sister’s support, the brother couldn’t fully block. Eris’ blade blew apart his palm, sending flesh and fingers flying.

"…Gahh!!"

"Roger!!"

In sync, both drew three daggers from their belts. Two each were flung forward, colliding in midair before Eris’ eyes like a blinding flash.

Then, as the remaining dagger pointed at her, they reached for the four spinning blades in the air.

"“Secret Art: Mirror Crest—Falling Blos—"

"'Wind Spear Tornado'!!"

The whirlwind engulfed the two, who had frozen up while dealing with Eris.

"Damn it…! I overlooked ‘Silent Fitz’…! Run, Gad!"

"Wha—wait, big bro Nakul!?"

"Daaaaahhh!!!"

'Light Blade' cut straight through the unguarded brother’s torso, split clean in half as he shoved his sister out of the way.

────Rudeus’ POV────

I hurled a man-sized 'Stone Cannonball' at Auber as he charged.

He split it with a vertical slash, so I zapped him with 'Lightning' as his sword came down, halting him for a second.

That wasn’t enough to fully stop him, though, so I sprouted 'Earthen Spears' at his feet and blasted him backward.

'The right side of my vision goes pitch black.'

"…Tch…!"

Even as he was thrown back, he flung a hidden dagger from his boot at me. I twisted my body sharply, then used 'Gust' to blow Auber even further away as I fell.

"As expected of Rudeus, the ‘Red Dragon Slayer’… you won’t let me close the gap so easily!"

"You’re kidding me… whose brilliant idea was it to call you guys the gallant ones? More like cowards."

I wasn’t joking. Just to push him back after he’d closed the distance, I’d already fired off four spells—it was a tightrope act.

Even if 'Lightning' or 'Stone Cannonball' connected, if he braced for them, they weren’t finishing moves.

"Staring each other down won’t get us anywhere… in that case!"

"Tch—'Wind Slash'!!"

I shredded the leaping Auber into pieces mid-air with blades of wind.

"Did I get him!?"

…But what I’d torn apart scattered into chunks of wood. Logs.

"Damn—! 'Stone Cannonball'!!"

The moment I realized it was a substitution technique, I spun on instinct and fired behind me.

There he was—Auber, diving down shoulder-first like a tackle.

He took the cannonball on his shoulder, spun with the impact, and used that momentum to swing his left-hand sword straight down.

'A blade shot out from beneath Auber’s arm.'

I tried to sidestep the overhead slash and punish his landing, but he thrust his right-hand sword forward from the gap between his arm and armpit.

I barely managed to step back again, creating distance—at which point, Auber raised his sword before his face.

"Blade, become flame!"

At the end of his chant, fire bloomed on the sword. Oil sprayed from his mouth, and a torrent of flames engulfed me.

"Fwooohh!"

"'Water Wall'!"

The flames smashed into my water barrier, billowing up clouds of steam.

Something whistled through the mist—

"Tch… gahh!?"

I twisted aside, but pain flared in my left hand—Auber’s blade had slipped past my Prediction Eye! It stabbed through flesh like water, scraped against bone, grinding with a sickening sound.

──He’ll cut me down!

"'Arm, fly!'"

"What!?"

I hadn’t even had time to shape a spell. Instead, I shot Zariff’s prosthetic arm straight at him.

"'Stone Cannonball'!!"

"Nrghhh!!"

"'Earthen Spears'!!"

Just like before, only this time he blasted me back with an earthen spear—giving himself time to recover. My arm was still attached. A reset.

"Merciful Mother Goddess, close his wounds, restore his body to health! 'Ex-Healing'!!"

…

"You are a strange man, Rudeus Greyrat…!"

"You bastard… in the middle of that exchange, you even managed to trick my Prediction Eye."

"Big bro Nakul! Big bro!!"

"Wha—our new technique was already broken!?"

I glanced over—one of the Nakul Guard twins had been cleaved in two.

Seeing this, Auber hooked the surviving sister with his claw and shouted out.

"Retreat! We’ll rethink our plan!"

"Our duel will have to wait, Ghislaine!"

"Tch…!"

He stood there, one arm occupied holding his comrade. I moved to block his way—

"Rudy! No!!"

Suddenly my vision spun, my body flipping three times through the air.

"Ughhh…!"

I staggered backward, barely catching myself. Wii Taa had rammed the spot I’d just been standing, then crouched, lowering his back flat. He became Auber’s stepping stone, hurling him up into the trees to escape.

"Damn it! 'Stone Cannonball'!!"

"Guhhh—ghhh…!"

I knew I couldn’t catch Auber, so I poured everything into blasting Wii Taa’s torso. His armor crumpled with a sickening crunch, blood spurting from within.

I’d killed him. I—

"Uhh…?"

"Rudeus!"

"Rudy!!"

Even as blood gushed from his armor, Wii Taa ran past me, slashing my flank as he went.

(Tch… how many times have I seen monsters refuse to die instantly? Damn it…!)

My vision blurred as Sylphy and the others rushed to my side. And in that moment, I finally admitted it.

"I knew it… I knew all along…"

(Why couldn’t I even talk to them? Why couldn’t I stop this? Because even now, I was afraid. Afraid of killing people.)

"…Damn it all…"

Auber got away.

I’d made another mistake.