“Aria!!”
The pink-haired girl, the ‘Ash-Covered Princess’ Aria. One of the most prominent adventurers in this country, and the greatest threat that the new collaborators, not just those within this academy, feared the most, was catching up at the last moment.
Magnificent and lovely. Her appearance was haggard and grimy, her entire body covered in dried blood, yet she was still beautiful. Perhaps it was her way of life itself that made others feel that way. Gostola narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw the princess’s face light up at her appearance, and the light of hope ignite in those around her.
“Gostola-sama, leave it to me.”
The middle-aged Evil Race, Garii, resentfully pulled the knife from his arm and slammed it onto the floor. He held two chakrams, each 30 centimeters in diameter, in both hands, clashing them together intimidatingly to create a distorted sound.
“Your combat strength seems to have decreased, but don’t think you can beat me in that state.”
Garii and the others’ combat strength had decreased due to the forced march, but Aria’s combat strength was also considerably lower than when they saw her at that castle. Seeing this, Gostola left it to Garii and turned his attention slightly towards Elena. At that moment—
“Guoooh?!”
“Tch!”
The disc-shaped blade flying through the air sliced across Garii’s face from the side, and in that instant, Aria leaped forward with extraordinary speed.
Clang!!
Aria’s Black Dagger was blocked by Gostola’s sword, scattering white embers. Gostola felt a chill at the sight of the jade-green eyes, which held no fear or impatience, only fighting spirit, and involuntarily took a step back.
“Uooooooooh!!”
From behind, Garii, who had lost one eye, threw a chakram at Aria. She somersaulted to evade the attack, and in that instant, she kicked Gostola’s arm, who had attacked her, to create more distance. Aria, the Evil Race, and Elena faced each other at an equal distance. If either of them approached Elena, they would be attacked from the side in that instant.
No mercy. No hesitation. No fear or mental weakness. Where did she learn that sense of battle?
(What is this girl…?)
What is this girl? Her combat level is the same as Gostola’s and the others. Gostola and the others, who had lived for a long time, should have the advantage in physical ability and experience.
And yet, they can’t kill her. The eeriness of her fighting style and presence was reminiscent of a certain female War Demon called the ‘War Demon’ who was said to have died in battle decades ago.
“A human brat… planning to take on the two of us at once?”
Perhaps sensing that eeriness, Garii, a veteran warrior, used unusually strong words, which Gostola stopped.
“…Don’t get heated, Garii. Think of her as the same as that Carla. Restes will catch up after defeating that man in a little while. We’ll defeat her with the three of us.”
“…Ha.”
Aria, listening to the conversation between Garii and Gostola as they reluctantly readied their weapons, quietly opened her mouth while holding her knife and dagger wide.
“Your comrades won’t be coming. If the man you’re talking about is ‘that man’… even so, he’s one of my masters.”
＊＊＊
“I can’t spend too much time with you, okay?”
“That’s my line.”
In the night, faintly illuminated by magical light, the adventurer Viro retorted to the words of the Evil Race female Vampire, Restes.
However, despite the light tone, the air between the two was painfully tense, far from a casual conversation. Restes had a reason to risk her life for her comrades, and Viro also had something he had to protect. Neither of them could let the other go to their comrades’ aid. And only the one who won the battle could rush to rescue their comrades.
[Restes] [Race: Dark Elf ♀ (Vampire)] [Estimated Rank 4]
[Mana Capacity: 218/245] [HP: 221/347]
[Overall Combat Strength: 948×1.5]
(This is bad…)
Viro felt a cold sweat as he appraised Restes’s combat strength.
Viro’s overall combat strength was 1281. His skill level was also Rank 4, the same as Viro’s. Moreover, the higher the Vampire’s rank, the more their base stats were enhanced. But there was a gap to exploit. The Vampire’s combat strength was calculated as double due to their regenerative ability, but Restes’s combat strength increase had dropped to 1.5 times.
As can be seen from her HP, the Vampire’s regenerative ability had probably decreased because she had moved during the day.
He could still fight like this. But death awaited if he let his guard down. Restes, having become Undead, would not die by ordinary means, and attacks with daggers would not damage her.
“No choice! Let’s do this!”
Viro lowered his stance, voicing his words as if to encourage himself. In front of Restes, who looked slightly stunned at his appearance, Viro smoothly scraped the ground with his mithril dagger, sending dust towards Restes.
“Such a clever trick!”
Restes swung her kukri knives in both hands, blowing away the dust with the wind pressure as she stepped forward. But her foot stopped for a moment, and Restes leaned back as if recoiling, and the mithril knife passed horizontally, grazing her black throat.
Restes took distance as if backflipping, pulling out the throwing knife that had somehow pierced her right knee and discarding it into the darkness.
“You’re a really clever man…”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
Viro grinned in response to the praise-like sarcasm and leaped forward.
Throwing knives would not cause significant damage even if they hit. That’s why Viro hid the knife in the dust, killed her knee by taking advantage of even the immortality that didn’t care about small wounds, and tried to decide the match in one go.
But the same trick wouldn’t work again. Not missing this gap, Viro repeated a furious barrage of attacks, and Restes used her high physical ability to parry Viro’s attacks with her two kukri knives while maintaining her broken stance.
“…This is Rank 4.”
The two Royal Knights who remained in this place held their breath at the Rank 4 exchange and could not intervene.
Rank 3 knights were generally considered to be superiors and experts in their field. However, those above that possessed special talents and the mental strength to discard everything else. Despite the battle between knives, which were generally weak weapons, the knights needed considerable courage to intervene in the battle.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Restes, growing impatient, used the Vampire’s strength, making a sound like tearing muscle fibers as she forcefully pushed back Viro’s knife.
“Kuh.”
Viro, who had a much higher strength value than the average person due to his Level 4 Combat Skill, was overwhelmed by the attack from below.
Viro did not use two swords. Dual-wielding had high attack power but also had certain weaknesses. One of them was the low weight of a single blow, but Aria overcame this by using two types of weapons, and Restes compensated with the Vampire’s strength.
Conversely, the weakness of a single sword was its low defense. Basically, daggers were not suitable for fighting head-on.
The offense and defense were reversed, and Viro parried Restes’s fierce dual-wielding attacks with a single sword. Even with equal skill, Viro’s feet gradually began to retreat due to the difference in the number of attacks and physical ability.
“Tch!”
Viro glanced around, kicked up the dirt on the ground as he retreated greatly, and simultaneously threw his knife with his left hand. One of the other strengths of a single sword was that it allowed for a variety of attacks because one hand was free, but—
“I thought you’d do that!”
Restes, who had foreseen that this man, driven into a corner, would definitely try something, threw her left kukri knife without dodging Viro’s attack.
“Tch!”
The kukri knife pierced Viro’s thigh, and Viro’s throwing knife was also caught by Restes’s foot.
Restes, who had stepped in while one eye was blocked by the dust, aimed for Viro’s heart, and although he managed to deflect the blade at the last moment, it had deeply pierced his abdomen.
“Guooh!”
“You gave me quite a hard time… but it was fun, Viro.”
Although she couldn’t kill him with one blow, she could sufficiently deprive a human of their combat strength even with an abdominal wound. Conversely, because she couldn’t kill him, Restes smiled with her burnt face, happy that she could talk to this interesting human. Viro also coughed as he leaked a sigh, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“After all, dual-wielders are strong… But it’s not for me.”
“Why don’t you try it from now on? If you wish, I could make you my familiar…?”
Viro slowly shook his head at Restes’ words, her lips slightly revealing fangs and her eyes gleaming with a suspicious light.
“It’s an honor to be invited by a beauty like you, but no thanks.”
“…Then just die.”
Restes frowned slightly and was about to put more strength into her blade when Viro suddenly opened his mouth.
“You see, I’m a master, even like this. I’ve told that dual-wielder countless times. Never neglect ‘vigilance,’ even in combat.”
“Eh…”
Thud…!
Restes’ eyes widened at the steel blade protruding from her chest.
It was one of the knights who remained who had attacked from behind. Dual-wielding is powerful, but it distracts from awareness of the surroundings. That’s why Viro sticks to a single blade and taught that weakness to his disciple (Aria).
Then, feigning retreat, he subtly changed positions, preparing the knights to attack from behind, and the wounded knight, encouraged by this, had already stood up while holding his side.
“…Humans…!”
Restes distorted her face like a beast and punched away the knight who had attacked her with one hand.
Even with her heart pierced, she hadn’t been destroyed yet, perhaps because the blade had slightly missed the Magic Stone.
Viro, still brandishing his knife despite being stabbed in the stomach, saw Restes release her kukri, distance herself, and reveal her true vampire nature with sharp claws and fangs, and grinned.
“That’s why I told you to watch your surroundings, right?”
—Crouch—
At the ‘voice’ that suddenly echoed in their minds, the knights instinctively crouched down, and a black whirlwind tore through Restes’ back, passing by with a cloud of black blood.
“Kuaal!? Could it be that girl has already caught up!?”
The appearance of the black Mystic Beast Nero probably meant that the most dangerous girl who had appeared with him had defeated Grave and was in pursuit.
As Restes, forgetting even the damage she had taken, turned her attention to that presence, Viro, who had pulled the kukri from his stomach behind her, swung his mithril knife high.
“—Critical Edge—!”
“What?”
A Critical Edge strike was unleashed from her unguarded back, and Restes’ head, turning back with a stunned expression, was sliced off and flew into the air, her lips muttering an apology to her comrades as the light faded from her eyes.
Convinced that he had certainly destroyed Restes, Viro collapsed on his back as if exhausted, turning his gaze to Nero, who was quietly approaching.
“Ouch. But if you’re here, that means she’s back, right? I’ll leave the rest to you, Aria…”
Viro’s fighting style is close to environmental utilization. Aria does it occasionally, but she learned the deceptive fighting style from him. It’s more trouble than it’s worth, but he’s properly acting as her master lol.
Next time, the last chapter of the second part, first chapter.
I hope to deliver an unexpected development.