Episode 39
I leaped off the roof with a burst of energy, kicking away the humanoid red monster standing right next to Millie, who had fallen on her back. My priority was rescuing Millie.
“Ah, this is awful. Are you alright?”
“…Ah, Geld… you’re… why?”
“Yes, yes, Geld-kun is here, so you’re safe now.”
Millie’s appearance was nothing short of惨烈. Her face was swollen, her uniform was tattered, and she was bleeding from various places all over her body.
I somehow managed to maintain a lighthearted attitude, masking the anger that was bubbling up from the depths of my stomach. I had to reassure Millie, no matter what.
I lightly tapped the chin of the monster that attacked from behind to stop its movement, grabbed its head, and hurled it towards another monster. The surrounding guys were making a fuss, but I didn’t hear them. I’ll kill them all later anyway.
“You really got beat up. Did you get left behind?”
I healed Millie with ‘Pefu’ while holding her. In the game, her remaining health would be around two or three, so it wasn’t easy to fully recover her.
“Geld-kun… run…”
“Oh… I see… even at a time like this, no, precisely because it’s a time like this, you’re an Archangel, Millie.”
I dodged a fireball that flew from behind and kicked up the jaw of a lion-like monster that tried to bite me from the side. I was careful not to jostle Millie, so the impact was not great. I might not have finished it off with one blow.
With both hands occupied, the techniques I could use were limited, and considering the burden on Millie, I had to refrain from flashy moves. So, after healing her to some extent, I wanted to leave Millie somewhere and then execute these guys, but the problem was selecting where to leave her.
For example, an unpopular dormitory would be safe for the time being, but who knows what it would be like in thirty seconds. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that they would swarm her the moment I left.
Another candidate was the Practical Training Building, which was being used as a shelter, but it was still a fierce battleground. I didn’t know when it might be breached, and if that happened, Millie would surely stand at the front lines and fight. It wasn’t a safe environment to leave her in.
I crushed a giant hedgehog that rolled up into a ball with my 格闘 skill level three ‘Crushing Kick’, thorns and all, and swung my kicking leg upwards to snap the neck of a bird of prey-like monster that swooped down from the sky.
“Hmm… a safe place… a secure place…”
“Ge, Geld-kun…?”
Millie seemed to be regaining consciousness. Her health was about halfway recovered. If I could hold out for another minute… no, there was a place. The safest place was here. Inside my arms was the safest place. Here, no one could hurt her, and I wouldn’t be anxious, and Millie wouldn’t try to fight. Let’s just stay like this forever.
“Yo, ho. Millie, it’s a little shaky, but are you okay?”
“Y-yes. I’m okay.”
Alright. It seemed like there was nothing to worry about anymore. Even if I kicked a little harder, it wouldn’t burden Millie.
Having made that decision, I kicked away and trampled the monsters that attacked from all directions. Come to think of it, I had always fought monsters like this.
There was no doubt that my specialty was the Sword, which was at skill level eight, but that was something I had honed through practice swings and mock battles. In reality, I had hardly ever used it in actual combat.
On the other hand, 格闘, which was at skill level seven, was something I had never trained in at all. It had been honed entirely in actual combat, or rather, it had been honed on its own.
“Ho, ho. So, that just leaves that one guy, huh?”
“Ge, Geld-kun. I’m alright now, so…”
“No, it’s still too dangerous. Let’s stay like this for a while longer.”
“I-is that so…?”
That’s right. No one can be relied on, and I have to protect her.
“Damn you… who are you?”
“Whoa, it spoke.”
The Birdman, who had been arrogantly standing with his arms crossed in the back, spoke to me. Waiting until his subordinates were wiped out might be a time-honored tradition in games, but doing it in reality just made him look like an idiot.
“To interfere with our plans… after finally finding the Maiden of Genesis!”
“Mai… what? Maiden?”
The Birdman, enraged and attacking, was indeed a bit too fast and strong to handle while holding Millie, as he had been acting so high and mighty. If I tried to intercept him, I couldn’t guarantee Millie’s safety. But I had no intention of putting Millie down. This was a stalemate.
“Yo, ho, ha!”
“Wawa, wawawa, wawawawa. Ge, Geld-kun! Wawawa!”
“Damn you, darting around!”
However, there was no problem in just dodging. Millie seemed a little dizzy, but I wanted her to endure it because it was much safer than putting her down.
But the truth was, if I was talking about safety, I could just put Millie down, quickly finish him off, and then pick her up again, but there was the question of whether I should defeat this Birdman in the first place.
He was flying at the front during the attack, and his ability was a cut above the rest. He was definitely a boss.
The recommended level for subjugation would be around twenty-five for a four-person party. He was the type of boss that you would fight and defeat later, not now. I didn’t know what kind of impact it would have on the original story if I did it here and now.
I had literally kicked away the surrounding small fries in anger, but now that Millie had fully recovered, he was an opponent I couldn’t easily lay my hands on.
“Geld-kun! I’m in the way, so let me down…!”
“No way, I’m definitely not letting you down. If Millie ends up like that again, it’ll be terrible… oh, should I run?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I won’t let you escape!”
The Birdman became even more motivated when I tried to escape. He was quite fast, and if he was seriously chasing after me, I didn’t think I could outrun him. But I couldn’t defeat him either. …Then maybe I should just let him escape.
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
I lightly jumped to the side to dodge the Birdman’s charge, which was wrapped in the power of wind, and after confirming that a large distance had opened up as a result, I reluctantly released my right hand, which had been supporting Millie’s thighs all this time. However, my left hand remained around her shoulders. I would never let go.
With my free right hand, I drew the sword from its sheath on my back and thrust it into the ground, then used my right hand again to lift Millie by placing my arm behind her knees.
“Huh? Aren’t you going to put me down?”
“I told you I’m definitely not letting you down. It would be terrible if Millie ended up like that again.”
“U-um, I’m happy that you’re worried about me, but it’s kind of overprotective.”
I supported the thighs that I had been supporting with my palm by passing my arm behind her knees. This caused the happy sensation to be lost from my hand, but instead, I pulled out the sword that I had thrust into the ground with my free right hand.
“Geld-kun… I think that’s a bit much. You should put me…”
“It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
I didn’t need to swing the sword. Just holding it was enough.
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
“Shut up already.”
Sword skill level eight, ‘Thousand Sword Dance’. All I had to do was hold the sword in my hand.
The illusory swords successively slashed the Birdman as he charged. No matter how fast he was, charging straight ahead made him an easy target.
“Gah! Ho, how could… Gah!”
The last sword was thrust into the face of the Birdman, who had been stabbed in all four limbs and was lying on his back. All that was left was to drop it and it would be over.
“What will you do? I’ll let you escape if you want.”
“Escape… don’t, don’t be ridiculous!”
A flash of light overflowed from the Birdman’s entire body, who was already close to death, and when the light subsided, all the swords had been blown away.
The Birdman, dripping with blood from his entire body, glared at me with eyes filled with hatred.
“Not yet… this is not enough to…”
“Is that so?”
I activated ‘Thousand Sword Dance’ again. The Birdman’s face was dyed with despair.