Chapter 26: Operation Pilemon Capture - Part 2

────Rudeus’ Perspective────

Nuckelgard had lost his partner, Wii Taa was dead, while on our side, not a single person was missing since the last ambush.

Given the results of the previous battle, this should have been a situation where we could win in a landslide. Instead, we were being forced into an unexpectedly tough fight.

"Dual Swords" Nuckelgard. His strength had been in his mirrored combination attacks with his deceased partner, but now he had come together with Auber. The two of them formed a new duo.

What had once been a pair of equal fighters sharpening each other’s skills had been reshaped. Now, Nuckelgard dedicated himself entirely as a support role, amplifying the combat style of Auber—the strongest among the Three Swordmasters, renowned for excelling against multiple opponents. This turned into something completely different.

Rather than the two North Saints combining forces to stall for time against Eris in hopes of pulling off a giant-killing, their tactics shifted. Nuckelgard instead covered the gaps, interrupting with small techniques, giving Auber room to fully unleash his strengths as a North Emperor. Their goal was nothing less than to overpower us all.

They must have prepared a battle style suited for every possible situation. Unlike us, who approached this as if it were just a preliminary skirmish before facing the Water God, they entered this fight with an entirely different level of determination.

But even so, no matter how skilled one is at fighting multiple opponents, facing three against two—especially when one of those two was a North Saint well past his prime—was still a heavy disadvantage.

As Eris rotated out, Luke moved to join Sylphy’s group in capturing the fleeing Piremon. If Piremon was subdued, Auber’s side would lose. But they clearly had no freedom to prevent that.

"Guard, I’ll handle things here! You go reinforce Lord Piremon’s protection!" "Understood!"

…So he still had a trump card. If Auber could afford to send his partner to guard Piremon even in this situation, then maybe he had something hidden up his sleeve.

At that moment, just as we began to worry about both a Swordmaster-level opponent moving to attack Ariel’s group without their main fighters and the presence of an unknown trump card, Auber made a show of drawing out short blades shaped like kunai and flung them at the two.

"They’re poisoned! We can’t detoxify that!"

The poisoned weapons—those very same ones that, according to the diary’s future, would one day rob Edith of her arm—were suddenly revealed. I called out to the two with a near-panicked cry.

With Eris and the others pausing to brace against the thrown daggers, Nuckelgard seized the opening to break away and chase after Sylphy’s group.

"O sword, bring forth the flame!"

Auber targeted the instant their grip loosened after the dagger throw, preparing once again to unleash a flamethrower just like before. He meant to strike from within the mist again—but we were ready for that this time.

"Earth Fortress!"

"“Guaaaaahhh!!?”"

I enclosed Auber with a dome of earth, trapping him as though in a kiln and forcing the flames back in on himself. Screaming, Auber tore through the "Earth Fortress" to escape.

"Hah… hah… not bad, Rudeu—" "“GAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”"

The moment he broke out, Eris and the others’ blades of light were upon him. Letting out a ridiculous screech, he scrambled frantically across the crumbling fortress to avoid them.

I followed up from above, dropping "Stone Cannon" to shoot him down. But he slashed it apart mid-leap and retreated backward. To be able to manage both anti-air defense and evasive retreat at once—this guy was absurdly skilled.

"What’s the matter! Struggling so much against just me alone?"

"Damn it…!"

I had completely misjudged his strength. For someone merely buying time, Auber was far stronger than I had imagined…

────Sylphyette’s Perspective────

To be honest, this was completely unexpected. When the Three North God Swordmasters appeared, I thought for sure that the allies we’d gathered back in the Magic University days would be out of their league.

In fact, Ariel-sama had intended to leave them aside until the political strife was over, rewarding them afterward. Who would have guessed they’d end up being the ones who contributed the most in this ambush?

Even if Auber’s group had been half-crippled in the last battle, they weren’t the kind of foes you could split your main force away from Ariel-sama to fight and still expect to win. But leaving Ariel-sama behind meant risking that she’d be targeted the moment we were gone.

That’s when those allies became the chosen ones. Letters were sent to the collaborators we had dispatched to the Asura Kingdom, summoning whatever people could be gathered in a single day, and they came along as Ariel-sama’s escort for the ambush. Without them, we would have been forced into a bad gamble where total annihilation was always a risk.

Even Luke, who had nothing good to say about them, couldn’t deny it now. As a head of a great noble house, his retainers were formidable. Without them, it would have been difficult for me alone to subdue Piremon without killing him. I’m still incredibly grateful.

"Luke! You treacherous fool of a son! To think you’d try to kill me, dragging along Paul’s son and Sauros’s granddaughter! Are you trying to bring ruin to House Notos!?"

"The traitor was you, Father! You sent assassins after Ariel-sama without even attempting to talk things through! What was the point of all our efforts in Ranoa!?"

"Talk, you say!? What would you know of it, idly passing time in some northern backcountry cut off from politics!? Minister Darius himself gave me a North Emperor as a guard—even for a mere decoy like me! If the First Prince’s faction wields such power, then there’s no path for House Notos but complete surrender!"

"Father…!"

Their argument only grew more heated. At this point, persuading Piremon was impossible.

The moment I tried to focus on eliminating his personal guards, something lunged at me with terrifying speed. I reflexively cast "Wind Slash" to push it back and create distance.

The swordsmen rushed in to cover me, but they were being pushed to their limits.

"Fitz…! You’ll pay for Nackle-nii’s death…!!"

"Nuckelgard! …Where’s Auber!?"

"Who knows? If you’ve got the luxury, why don’t you try looking?"

"! Auber isn’t here! Everyone, concentrate on Nuckelgard! He’s a North Saint—stay sharp!"

If Rudi’s group had already lost, then nothing could be done. I bet everything on the hunch that only Nuckelgard had broken through here, and cut off my hesitation.

Judging by his annoyed click of the tongue, I was right. Luke immediately pressed forward to attack him.

"Lord Luke…! You’re in the way!"

"You’re the ones in the way! You forced my father to betray us, didn’t you!?"

"Hahhh? Don’t get cocky! If you weren’t Piremon-sama’s brat, I wouldn’t have had to face you head-on so damn honestly! If it weren’t for you, Nackle-nii wouldn’t have died!"

Driven by rage, Nuckelgard went berserk, but Luke clung to him relentlessly. Unable to kill Luke, he couldn’t break free and was steadily driven back by the upper-ranked swordsmen. The difference in numbers was just too much.

"Ice Pillar!"

"Dammit…! Fitz, you bastard…!"

I grew ice pillars in the path of his retreat, cutting off his escape as he slipped past the swordsmen’s attacks. With his back to the "Ice Pillar," just as he prepared to strike back at the swordsmen, I dropped a "Wind Spear Tornado" on him.

"I saw it coming! Magic like this…! Without Eris—gah!?"

The moment he blocked the overhead "Wind Spear Tornado," the surrounding swordsmen threw themselves at him, striking from both sides and driving their blades clean through his chest.

"Dammit…! Nackle-nii… I’m sor—"

────Rudeus’ Perspective────

Despite being thrown off by Auber’s unpredictable movements, the tide of battle was gradually shifting in our favor.

Auber, his stamina finally showing its limits, gave up on dealing with Ghislaine and charged Eris instead. The instant Eris’s hands were tied up in the clash, he hurled a concealed dagger from his boot. It sank into her side.

Maybe he intended to drag Eris down with him—but I knew she carried an antidote.

Ghislaine closed in on his unguarded back. We had him! This was it—

"North God Style… ‘Red Ink’."

A sudden red orb burst from Auber’s back with a loud paaan! crack, splattering a sticky liquid that glued Ghislaine’s feet to the ground.

"Got you!"

"Tch… gaaaahhh!!"

From behind Auber, a small boy leapt out, slashing at Ghislaine. She barely managed to evade, but his return strike severed her arm clean off.

We were tricked…! The abandoned Mirrorball armor, the cremation marks—all of it was a ruse. He’d hidden his trump card for this very moment.

"‘Black Wolf’ Ghislaine, defeated!"

"My apologies, Rudeus. What I told you earlier was a lie!"

One of the Three North God Swordmasters—North King "Light and Darkness," Wii Taa—was there.