“Tch… How many is that?”
Jesha, swinging her Magic Steel Two-Handed Axe to fling off the gore, spat out the words as she looked down on the Rank 3 monster, a Thunder Tiger, that she had just crushed.
“Don’t say that, Jesha. Aria is drawing the enemy’s eyes. We decided to advance as far as possible in the meantime, right?”
Camille, similarly wiping the gore off his Demon Sword dagger, said as if to admonish her. Kadri and Iseru nodded in agreement, and Jesha let out a sigh.
“…At least if these guys were tasty, I’d be more motivated.”
“No doubt.”
More than a week had passed since the Ceremony of Selection began.
In that time, Camille and his group were targeted by all the participants, but so far they had only fought the Magic Clan’s attackers, and had not even encountered warriors from other clans.
The reason for this was that Camille and his group, who had no clan to support them, were taking a different approach than the other clans. Camille and his group had no scouting units to gather information about the enemy, nor supply units. Some of the clansmen in the fortress provided Camille, who was a prince, with supplies, but due to the difference in power, no one directly helped them.
Camille and his group, worried about damage to their weapons and armor, and forced to rely on the monsters in the Dungeon for food, would have a hard time winning against other clans in a head-on battle.
That is why they aimed for victory in the Ceremony of Selection not by the method of previous Ceremonies of Selection, which had always been settled by “defeating the warriors of the enemy clan,” but by the original settlement method of “obtaining proof from the depths of the Dungeon.”
But that is not an easy path. In the first place, the reason why it had become a warrior’s killing match was because no one except the first Evil King had ever reached the depths of the Dungeon.
The Dungeon under the fortress had become a more complex labyrinth than any other Dungeon. If they went further, they could certainly avoid fighting other clans, but in return, there was a constant attack of Monsters.
Fortunately, the higher the Rank of the Monsters, the fewer the number that appeared, so Camille and Jesha were somehow able to defeat them, but after more than a week of Dungeon exploration, fatigue was showing on everyone’s faces, more mentally than physically.
The meat of the Monsters was nutritious, but it was just too hard. It was okay if it was a small amount, but spending more than a week with it as the main ingredient was enough to make even Jesha, who was used to camping, complain.
Still, it was probably better than Aria, who was holding back Rank 4 and Rank 5 warriors alone, reducing their numbers. Camille and Jesha were Adventurers and used to fighting Monsters, but fighting people was not their profession.
“…Something’s coming.”
Feeling something urgent in Iseru’s voice, who was scouting ahead, Jesha took up her weapon and stepped forward.
“We can’t avoid everything after all…”
The presence of people is different from that of Monsters. To be precise, Monsters do not attack humans out of hatred. Only humans attack humans just to kill them.
Camille had Kadri and Iseru step back, and he stepped forward and took up his weapon next to Jesha. Several figures appeared from the darkness ahead of the passage.
“Prince Camille… Is that you? Where is that woman?”
The female warrior, Aishe, a general of the Evil Race Army, wearing a Demon Iron chainmail and Magic Steel partial armor, glared at them, sending out an Intimidation.
The reason Aishe and the others were here was that the situation of the Ceremony of Selection had progressed, and the battles of the warriors of each clan had begun to move the battlefield to the depths of the Dungeon. The number of warriors she was leading had been reduced by half, perhaps due to battles with other clans, and the clan’s support did not reach this far, but conversely, it could be said that the warriors who remained in this place were the true strong ones who had survived the fierce battles.
“What do you intend to do by asking that?”
Jesha stepped forward, blocking the gaze directed at Camille.
As a warrior hired, Jesha’s job was to protect her employer, Camille, but more than that, Aishe’s attitude, as if she had no one else in her eyes but Aria, irritated Jesha as a warrior.
“Get out of the way, Dwarf woman. You’re just a small fry who ran away from the warrior’s battle.”
“Huh? The young lady general who was protected by the men around her is barking a lot.”
Jesha taunted back at Aishe’s contempt.
Aishe’s subordinates, feeling that they had been insulted along with her, overflowed with anger and Killing Intent, and Aishe, suppressing it with a swing of her sword, showed a ferocious smile as if baring her fangs.
“You asked for it, you barbarian brat.”
“Hah, are you an old hag instead of a young lady? You’re saying it yourself.”
Killing Intent sparked between the two, and at the same time, they stepped forward with such force that their feet, covered in armor, crushed the stone floor.
“…Die.”
“You’re the one who’s going to die!!”
GAKIIIIIN!!
In the next moment, the Magic Steel one-handed sword and the Two-Handed Axe collided, shaking the atmosphere of the Dungeon.
“Jesha!!”
Camille involuntarily shouted Jesha’s name at the battle that had begun.
Even if the battle could not be avoided, it should have been possible to have something like a duel depending on the flow of the conversation, but once it had come to this, it would not end until one of them was annihilated.
He didn’t want a total war without Aria, but Camille immediately switched his mind and threw a chain weight at the feet of the warrior who was trying to surround Jesha.
“Nuu!?”
The warrior with the long sword noticed it at the last minute and tried to jump away, but Camille slashed with his Demon Sword at the moment when the chain got entangled in one of his legs, unable to dodge it completely.
GIN, the warrior blocked with his long sword while losing his balance. Camille, who had been blocked, pulled the chain strongly to try to further disrupt his balance, but the other full plate heavy warrior, noticing this, charged with his shield raised.
“Tch!”
“I won’t let you!!”
Both were Rank 4 strong enemies, the same as Camille. Camille immediately judged that it would be bad to deal with the heavy warrior with his dagger, and kicked the heavy warrior’s shield to jump away with the reaction force, and swung his Demon Sword to unleash its power on the long sword warrior.
“–【Release…”
“Haa!!”
But that attack was also interrupted by another warrior wielding an unusually long Spear from the side. Camille, who was cut shallowly on his shoulder and arm by the thrusts and slashes that lashed out like a whip, could not attack and involuntarily distanced himself.
“…Tch.”
“That’s the Demon Sword… Be careful.”
The Demon Sword, given by the current Evil King to protect the human girl he loved, was a memento of Camille’s mother, and at the same time, it was a detestable object for the Evil Race who hated humans.
As the long Spear warrior said so, keeping an eye on Camille’s Demon Sword without letting his guard down, the long sword warrior and the heavy warrior nodded silently and surrounded Camille.
There were four of Aishe’s warriors. All of them were in the upper ranks of Rank 4, exceeding Camille’s combat power.
Kadri and Iseru were holding down one of them, but he felt it would be cruel to expect their support. Jesha was already doing a great job just by taking on Aishe, who was Rank 5, by herself.
The warriors were acting cautiously while surrounding Camille, who was inferior in combat power, because of Camille’s Demon Sword.
Like Aria’s Iron Rose, there was a risk that the situation could be reversed in an instant if they let their guard down. But that meant that Camille’s Demon Sword was the only means of countering them in the current situation.
“…………”
Even Camille, who was silently holding the warriors in check, could not easily use his trump card. Activation consumes Mana. Even though he could handle Rank 5 Combat Arts, there was a reaction, and if he used it carelessly in a situation other than to deliver the finishing blow, it could become a fatal gap.
The sound of iron clashing violently echoed in contrast to Camille and the warriors glaring at each other in silence.
Even Aishe could not easily defeat a Rank 4 Dwarf heavy warrior. But Jesha had no decisive move to defeat a Rank 5 warrior.
Jesha was able to endure it because she was Jesha, but Camille would not be able to endure it for long. However, Jesha could not defeat Aishe, and Camille’s Demon Sword was needed to defeat her.
While watching that, Camille and the warriors were looking for an opening, and as the intense striking sound echoed, grating on their sharpened nerves–
“Switch!!”
“Tch!?”
Jesha, who suddenly cut in between Camille and the others, turned around and slammed her axe into the long sword warrior, blowing him away.
“Tch!”
As if in exchange, Aishe, sword at the ready, leaped before Camille. They clashed weapons as if they had planned it, avoiding a direct hit, and despite losing their balance, they ended up locked in a chaotic struggle.
Whether by chance or design, Jesha, having pitted the two commanders against each other, swung her axe wildly, ignoring her remaining stamina to prevent any interference, and grinned at Camille. Jesha’s fighting style wasn’t suited for taking on multiple opponents of Camille’s caliber, but she could endure. That’s why Jesha provoked Aishe, suppressing the warriors in turns, betting everything on Camille’s strike.
“——【Release】——”
Understanding this, Camille immediately unleashed the Demon Sword’s power. Even though they were both off balance, Camille, lightly armored compared to the heavily equipped Aishe, was slightly faster.
“——【Dancing Ripper】——”
The Combat Art of Dagger Arts level 5, 【Dancing Ripper】, activated, unleashing a raging storm of eight consecutive strikes from the left and right blades, assaulting Aishe. Aishe, having been fighting the heavily armored Jesha, hadn’t yet switched from a defense-oriented to a speed-oriented combat style.
“Haa!!”
Even so, she wielded her longsword and shield to parry the eight strikes. However, even Aishe couldn’t deflect all of the Combat Art’s attacks, taking half of them upon her body.
“Aishe-sama!!”
Aishe’s warriors, who were fighting, couldn’t help but cry out at the sight, and Jesha smiled faintly at this. No human could withstand a level 5 Combat Art unscathed. Everyone thought so, based on common sense. But——
“…Light.”
“Gua!?”
The moment that faint mutter was heard, Camille’s face was struck by Aishe’s shield. In contrast to Camille, who was blown away and staggered, Aishe stood up, licked the blood that spilled from the corner of her lips, spat it out, and directed a scornful gaze at him.
“Is that all you’ve got? Or is that your limit? It seems you haven’t fully unlocked the power of that Demon Sword. You might have been able to defeat ordinary people, but… do you think you can defeat me with such borrowed skills?!”
“Kuh.”
Aishe had certainly taken damage. Realizing that she couldn’t switch to a speed-oriented style, she had received the attacks in a defensive stance, but even so, if it had been a genuine Combat Art, Aishe wouldn’t be standing here. Right now, she felt more anger at Camille for trying to defeat her with such skills than at her wounded body.
If there was a model technique, even without power, one could have approached it by training desperately. Aishe had done just that. Chasing after the image of her vanished “sister,” she had engraved that technique into her body at the risk of her life.
Aishe, in her anger, swung her sword with brute force, blowing Camille away once more.
“…”
“I’ll show you a real 【Combat Art】.”
Aishe thrust her shield forward and swung her longsword in her right hand far back. Seeing this, Jesha and Kadri hurriedly moved, but this time, Aishe’s warriors held them back.
“——【Vorpal Blade】——”
The five consecutive flashes of swordsmanship unleashed from the level 5 Swordsmanship Combat Art assaulted Camille. Unlike Aishe, Camille had no shield and was only wearing leather armor, leaving him with no way to defend. Just as Camille, who was supposed to be torn to pieces, braced himself to receive the attack with the Demon Sword——
“What?!”
Suddenly, Camille’s body was flung sideways, and Aishe’s slash only damaged the dungeon floor and walls. What had happened? Camille wasn’t in a state where he could evade on his own. As Aishe searched for the cause, sensing the surrounding presence, a sudden, immense presence fell from a passage that had opened in the high ceiling.
“Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
A beast’s roar that made even the warriors tremble. The massive beast, like darkness made manifest, dashed across the walls and ceiling with blurring speed, mowing down the warriors.
“…I thought that if I disappeared, at least you would be able to live properly.”
“——!?”
Aishe immediately swung her sword at the voice that suddenly came from behind. The woman in the cloak dodged the horizontal slash by crouching and evaded the shield strike that was immediately launched by stepping back. Her physical abilities were clearly inferior to Aishe’s, or even Jesha’s. But she didn’t get hit. As if she knew Aishe’s habits, the woman avoided the attacks, leaped over Aishe’s kick that was aimed at her feet, changed her posture with a kicking motion in the air, and kicked the astonished Aishe’s jaw.
“…I-Impossible… That technique is!?”
Before Aishe, whose eyes were wide with shock at the impact that was far greater than the damage she had taken, the cloaked woman quietly lowered her hood, and Aishe’s eyes widened at that familiar face.
“…Sister!!”
A figure whose identity is obvious appears in the crisis of Camille and the others.
What will Aishe do next time?
[Book publication from TO Books! ]
Book title: “The Strongest Survival as the Heroine of an Otome Game” (formerly “The Strongest Survival [as] the Heroine of an Otome Game”) For details, please see the activity report!
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