Chapter 54: A Fierce Battle Without the Exiled Marquise 1
*
“My apprentice is truly terrible at magic, isn’t he?”
I remember my master’s exasperated voice well.
“And yet, when it comes to magic that doesn’t leave his own body, he’s remarkably skilled.”
Seeing me channel Physical Enhancement even into my Sword, he looked truly dumbfounded.
“What’s more, he’s pointlessly, freakishly dexterous.”
My master said, scratching his head carelessly with a boribori sound.
“Right, that settles it, apprentice. Give up on normal magic. Give up on being a normal adventurer. For now, just sharpen your skills, specialize. What my apprentice should aim for is, let’s see…”
Ah, he’s going to say something unreasonable again.
“First, become the strongest swordsman there is.”
See, I knew it.
This person is always like this, easily applying his own standards to others.
This is just like—
—just like Erica, isn’t it—
—Erica!
*
How long had I been unconscious?
There was no need to worry about that.
Because I was still in the middle of being blown through the air.
Ah, but still, I was sent flying straight up so cleanly.
And it hurts. It hurts so much it’s startling.
What hurts? My whole body hurts, but the most excruciating pain is in both my arms.
I can only imagine what state they’re in inside my sleeves, but since I can see the fingers on both hands, they must still be attached.
Even though it couldn’t be helped, not having them torn off must count as lucky.
After all, this was the price for taking a direct hit from that.
I thought this as I looked down at the Monster standing in the center of the crater formed in a part of the forest.
I thought I’d managed to absorb about forty percent of it myself.
Seeing the crater, large enough to swallow three Hecate houses whole, I keenly felt how lacking my own strength still was.
This was the result of deflecting what I couldn’t block with both arms, but the remaining power must have been far more than sixty percent.
Pulled by gravity, I slammed into the ground without being able to break my fall properly.
Agony shot through my arms, which hadn’t fully healed, but ignoring it, I slammed my barely reattached arms against the ground, rolled, and leaped back.
I felt the bones in my arms break again beneath my sleeves.
But it was a worthwhile trade.
Right after I jumped back, a black arm pierced the ground where I had been, tearing it up.
That blow lacked the flashiness to create a crater, but it was filled with an even greater lethal intent.
As expected of the King Series.
This is bad. I don’t feel like I can win.
Feeling like it was a miracle I could even stand, I looked up at the giant figure standing before me.
An Ogre Knight. A King of Monsters.
*
An ogre with black skin and an outer hide that looked just like it was wearing Armor.
A Monster rarely encountered even in the Faltar Kingdom, which is said to have more powerful Monsters than other countries.
In Faltar, there is a clear difference between Adventurer Rank 6 and Rank 7 adventurers.
Whether one is within the bounds of humanity, or outside them.
But the gap between Rank 7 and Rank 8 is even greater.
That difference is measured by Monsters like the Ogre Knight, known as the King Series.
Only by defeating one single-handedly can an adventurer be recognized as Rank 8.
There are several types of such Monsters, and adventurers who are Rank 6 or lower—in other words, those aware they are still within the bounds of humanity—call these Monsters the King Series.
If you want everyone to acknowledge that you’ve stepped outside the bounds of humanity and gone even further beyond, you have to bring back the head of a King.
*
Well now, I see.
I thought while checking the condition of my arms, reconnected by the Healing Magic I was running at full capacity.
Calling someone who can defeat this thing alone ‘human’ certainly feels wrong.
I felt such an overwhelming difference in strength that all I could do was laugh.
The difference in power is so clear, it’s almost scarier than my master.
Ah—, here it comes.
A speed unimaginable for a giant easily twice my height.
The fist thrown out was barely perceptible to my eyes, just a hazy afterimage.
The only reason I could dodge was simply because Magicka was imbued in that fist.
I remembered my master saying that some powerful Monsters use magic even just to move their own bodies.
With such Monsters, the magic used to move the body activates before the body actually moves.
In other words, for me, who can see Magicka, the Monster’s future movements were visible as flickers of Magicka.
In less than a breath, I dodged the Fist of Certain Death three times.
Every part of my body aches. It’s a cycle of using full-power Physical Enhancement, breaking something before Healing Magic can fully mend it.
Putting aside the speed of the attacks themselves, the frequency is manageable, which could be called lucky, but there are absolutely no openings.
At this rate, I’ll just be worn down.
Ah, damn it.
I… I decided to give up one arm.
My left arm crushed beneath my sleeve.