Karla vs. Elgrim, Part One
“You were waiting for me, you say?”
Even while surrounded by Rank 4 warriors, Elgrim showed a benevolent, grandfatherly smile at Karla’s words, which she had spoken with a wide grin.
“That is quite an honor… young lady.”
Fwump! As if several flowers bloomed around Karla, steel throwing nets were cast. Naturally, Karla’s 【Dragon Breath】, activated without incantation, burned through the steel throwing nets in mid-air, vaporizing them.
“Kuh!”
“—Hh!”
At that moment, as Karla sensed something and leaped away, a man, letting out a silent war cry from directly above, grappled onto her even as half his body was seared by her flames.
He was a mature Evil Race man. Probably one of the warriors, his combat power exceeded 1400.
No matter how skilled a warrior he was, he likely couldn’t fight anymore with such wounds. A warrior of his caliber had become a sacrificial pawn, and he himself desired it, a satisfied smile on his face even as half his body burned.
Multiple throwing nets were once again cast at Karla, who was grappled by the Evil Race man. However, what differed from the previous nets was that they were made not of steel, but of Magic Iron.
“I haven’t underestimated you, you know. Just like that Pink Hair young lady, there are indeed terrifying children.”
Elgrim’s voice echoed, and as Karla was caught by the Magic Iron throwing nets, magic spells of 【Flare Breed】 and 【Air Curtain】 were unleashed upon her from all around.
【Flare Breed】 is a Rank 4 fire magic that shoots high-temperature flames at a single point; by enveloping those flames with the wind from 【Air Curtain】, its effect is doubled.
Elgrim, the leader and an assassin, had shown himself to surely lure Karla to this spot.
They could neither ignore nor let escape the ‘Monster that kills people’ which had appeared in the Dungeon. The Magician clan, which had sent in numerous personnel, had suffered the most damage, and to ensure the death of that Monster, Karla, they had used their personally trained subordinates as sacrificial pawns.
But, even so, she would not be stopped—
“—【Soul Thorn】—”
『!?』
Suddenly, the swirling flames burst outwards as if exploding from within, sending the black-clad warriors flying.
“Ahahahahahahahaha!”
The deadly trap, which should have been impossible to evade even for a Rank 5, was shattered by a power beyond common sense.
Tearing apart the half-melted throwing net with her bare hands, despite being burned by the flames and suffering burns all over her body, Karla cackled loudly while hugging the charred warrior she had used as a shield like a stuffed toy.
“Oh my.”
The burned corpse, squeezed too hard, crumbled. At the abnormality of the girl brushing off the soot from the corpse on her scorched dress as if it were a mere nuisance, the warriors gasped, unable to even pursue.
On the pale skin peeking from her tattered dress, “black thorns” writhed. Karla, who irritably shook off and dispelled those thorns that were trying to heal her wounds by shaving away her life force, faced the surviving onlookers and, in her seemingly battered state, picked up the scorched hem of her dress and performed an elegant curtsy.
【Karla Lester (Count’s Daughter)】【Race: Human ♀】【Rank 4】
【Mana Value: 382/550】【Stamina Value: 4/53】
【Overall Combat Power: 1069 (Magical Attack Power: 1648)】
“…What are you playing at?”
In the strange atmosphere where her abnormality stood out, Elgrim questioned Karla not about the power of the “black thorns” that had broken the trap, but why she had dispelled them.
No matter how you looked at it, she was on the verge of death. It was a wonder she could even move, let alone stand on her own feet, with such severe injuries.
She had probably not only used the warrior as a shield but also employed water magic like 【Veil of Water】 and 【Water Ball】, and then blew away the flames with the Level 5 wind magic 【Typhoon】.
However, if the power of those black thorns was something that enhanced the level of magic, leaving them active should have healed her current wounded body. Understanding the meaning behind Elgrim’s question of why she had dispelled them, Karla looked into the distance as if her thoughts were with “her” far away, and sneered at the foolish sage who seemed to have lived nearly a hundred times longer than herself.
“—That child had no choice but to fight seriously to conserve her strength. But, I am different… Reserve strength? That’s something only people with a future (・・・・・・) need, isn’t it?”
I don’t care if I die at any time. I just live the life I have now to the fullest.
But I have no intention of dying on the spot. Nor do I intend to be killed by anyone other than Aria. That’s why, unless I throw myself into battles greater than Aria’s, I won’t even be qualified to stand before her.
“Besides… pain (the hurting kind)… it makes you feel alive, doesn’t it?”
At Karla’s words, saying she could only feel “alive” through the pain of being near death, everyone present felt a sense of dread, and Elgrim’s benevolent, grandfatherly smile vanished as he narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t underestimate me, little girl.”
【Elgrim】【Race: Dark Elf ♂】【Rank 5】
【Mana Value: 476/570】【Stamina Value: 143/154】
【Overall Combat Power: 2616 (During Physical Enhancement: 3539)】
From the withered-looking Elgrim, an unnatural Killing Intent and Intimidation were unleashed. At that pressure, even his subordinate warriors couldn’t help but gasp, and the Dungeon Monsters that had been observing from the surroundings scattered as if fleeing.
“Aha ❤”
Karla, the only one cackling cheerfully, soared into the sky as if mana erupted from her entire body.
“—【Digvolt】—”
A wide-range lightning attack assaulted the surroundings. However, the warriors of the Magician clan, who used magic for assassination, used talismans as scapegoats, discarding them as they charged towards Karla.
“Got her!!”
Karla’s Stamina Value was critically low. Stamina and life force are not synonymous, but thinking that even a single scratch would leave her on the verge of death, the warriors threw their hidden weapons as if scattering them.
But Karla swung the torn throwing net she had hidden, as if wrapped around her scorched dress, entangling the hidden weapons.
The hidden weapons she couldn’t catch, she dodged by sight. If you fear, your mind becomes clouded. Even with the Martial Arts Skill she had learned only up to Level 2 to gain Thought Acceleration, if she could see them, she could dodge them.
She had learned that from Aria.
Even without the basics of close combat, she dodged the attacks as if tracing the movements of the girl she had watched most intently in her life, ensnared two warriors with the lightning-clad net, snatched the hidden weapon that fell from one of their hands, and thrust it through its owner’s eye into their brain.
“That child also had the same thing. Where did you buy it?”
“!!”
At that moment, Elgrim, leaping out like a crow dancing in the dark night, shot out a needle about thirty centimeters long.
Karla instantly shielded her vitals, taking the needle in her arm. Elgrim’s needles were coated in neurotoxin. The warriors, who had been instinctively intimidated by the girl flaunting her abnormality, all thought that this was finally the end.
But—
“—【Ice Whip】—”
Still, Karla didn’t stop, unleashing an Ice Whip into the darkness behind her as she turned, the attack striking Elgrim who had somehow circled behind her.
However, his figure vanished as if melting into the darkness, and just as Karla was about to unleash an area-of-effect magic spell at Elgrim, who had shown multiple illusions using 【Illusion】—
“It’s over.”
Karla’s heart was pierced from further behind by a thin needle.
“—【Digvolt】—!”
And then, Elgrim’s Digvolt, unleashed as if stealing Karla’s specialty, burned Karla through the needle.
“Elgrim-sama!”
Is she really dead this time? If she’s still alive after this, she wouldn’t be human.
It was precisely because they were assassins that they thought this, and precisely because Elgrim had been killing people for several hundred years that he was convinced he had killed her for sure.
“—【Acid Cloud】—”
As if aiming for that moment of relief, the Level 4 water magic 【Acid Cloud】 raged.
【Acid Cloud】 is an area-of-effect attack, nearly impossible to evade in a narrow passage, but if the opponent is a Magician, it can be countered with water or wind magic. That’s precisely why she had been waiting for that moment.
“Thank you. For coming closer.”
【Karla Lester (Count’s Daughter)】【Race: Human ♀】【Rank 4】
【Mana Value: 259/550】【Stamina Value: 1/53】
【Overall Combat Power: 1069 (Magical Attack Power: 1648)】
“!”
Elgrim, who had been watching for a chance to counterattack even while being burned by the acid, momentarily froze at Karla’s ghastly smile.
Karla is thought of as a genius by those around her, but she is not a genius but rather a talented hard-worker type, and all her power is the fruit of training since her early childhood. To kill everything, she had continuously dived into the Dungeon alone, seeking knowledge even begrudging sleep, and gradually increased her power.
Poisons? Just erase them with [Detox (Treat)] before you die.
Needles? As long as you avoid muscles and internal organs, there’s no damage.
Lightning attacks, too, she channeled into the floor using an ice whip.
That was something she learned from her. Karla had watched Aria’s battles. She had seared into her memory the fighting styles of the formidable foes Aria faced.
All so she could kill each other (dance) with her in a sea of blood where everything had been slain…
That’s why Karla had memorized everything about her.
“—[Pain]—”
“Gugh?!”
An excruciating pain, the likes of which Elgrim had never experienced in his nearly thousand years of life, assaulted him. It was the agony of “death,” a pain one should never feel while still living.
Moreover, it wasn’t just Elgrim; the excruciating pain was unleashed simultaneously upon everyone present. Nearly half the warriors lost consciousness, and blades of ice pierced the heads of those who fainted.
Even so—
“I told you not to underestimate me!!”
The old warrior of the Evil Race, close to Rank 6, endured the acid damage and the excruciating pain of death, activating a Level 5 fire magic: [Fireball].
“You shall die here!!”
Elgrim was convinced that Karla would undoubtedly become a calamity for the Evil Race. If he used magic here, half of his Magician clan’s warriors would likely die. Even so, compared to the danger of letting this wicked Magician live, he considered it all trivial.
A blazing Fireball was unleashed, and as if to engulf all the warriors present, flames raged through the Dungeon passage.
And finally, the flames swallowed Karla’s body, a faint smile still on her lips.
※ For those who couldn’t understand Karla’s feelings, your sensibilities are perfectly normal.
Next time, the concluding part. At last, she takes a step forward on the path to becoming the strongest.