“Gwoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
The Orc General, his face slashed open, groaned in agony.
I leaped over the General as if passing him by, and landed, plunging my dagger into the space between the eyebrows of an unlucky Orc that happened to be there. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I gasped for breath.
Too shallow… If I had thrust the dagger with that speed, even an Orc General should have suffered a fatal wound, but even at that speed, the General managed to slightly twist his face and avoid a direct hit.
Conversely, if it was going to be avoided, I think the repaired Black Knife would have done more damage than the Black Dagger, but the knife lacks a “finishing move” in the first place, so that assumption is meaningless.
More than that, what is this exhaustion? This sensation is… similar to when I used [Body Enhancement] for the first time. No, it’s a little different. I felt the exhaustion and heat accumulating in my muscles like when I used [Combat Art] for the first time.
I was concentrating and circulating Mana throughout my body, but what is the cause? I think it’s thanks to that that I was able to move faster than expected, but now is not the time to consider that.
Only this Orc General and two Orcs who are looking at me with fearful eyes remain. There may be other individuals left unhunted, but if they are not here, it would be fine to leave them alone.
“…You…”
The General glared at me from the gap in his hand covering the wound on his face, and uttered “words.”
This guy… I heard that higher species are intelligent, but he can speak human words? Perhaps due to the difference in vocal cord structure, the General uttered the words as if cutting them off one by one.
“Human… woman. Why… do you attack us? Why… kill comrades?”
“…………”
From the Orcs’ point of view, I am the “evil” who attacked the village and killed their comrades.
Depending on the perspective, justice and evil can change. The “human species,” including humans and demi-humans, is not necessarily justice. Even the Evil Race, the enemy of the human race, must have a reason to oppose them, and even the feared Evil Race has good-natured people like my master.
But what is the point of all this?
“I have no grudge against you. Even animals will fight to the death to protect their young if others enter their territory. You were ‘enemies’ from the moment you appeared. That’s all.”
If there was a world where everyone could be satisfied, there would be no conflict in the first place. If you came to take, you should be prepared to be taken from, right?
“…I understand.”
The General, narrowing his eyes at my “answer” and thinking about something, released his blood-stained face and held the black iron Hexagonal Rod with both hands.
From that stance, there was no arrogance as a strong person, and I felt that he recognized me as an “enemy” rather than an attacker. Perhaps feeling such thoughts of the General, the two Orcs who had been frightened gripped their weapons and lined up next to the General.
“My name is Golgol. Warrior… what is your ‘name’?”
“…Aria.”
“I see… Here I come, Aria!!!”
At the same time as the roar, the Orc General—Golgol—leapt out like an explosion and slammed the Hexagonal Rod at me.
I barely avoided it, as if grazing it. I thrust one hand into the ground where I had fallen, kicked the ground with one foot, and moved as if flowing without stopping. From directly below, I slammed the blade of my boot into the chin of one of the Orcs who had been chasing me, as if doing a handstand.
Golgol has finally gotten serious.
Even if he is weakened by poison, there is a big difference in skill between him and me, a Rank 3. The only thing I can compete with is speed. My Status has not decreased, but my Mana and HP were less than half due to accumulated fatigue.
Is there still a chance of winning in this state? Until just now, I was considering escaping as a last resort, but now I have abandoned that idea.
Golgol has recognized me as an enemy, abandoned the arrogance of a strong person, and is facing the battle with pride even with his weakened body. If I run away from this guy now, I feel like I will probably never be able to get on this “stage” again.
The strength I desire is not just “power.” I will become strong in my “heart.”
The Orc whose throat was gouged out collapsed while vomiting blood like foam, and Golgol, who was approaching using that Orc as a blindfold, thrust out his Hexagonal Rod. I dodged it as if recoiling, and took distance as if crawling on the ground.
Staff techniques are easy to understand as dangerous because they do not have a blade, so the range of attacks is wide. Thrust like a spear, slash like a Greatsword, and crush like a hammer.
It looks like I’m able to fight because Golgol’s Agility has decreased, but if I take even one direct hit, all the bones in my body will be crushed.
“—[Shadow Snatch]—”
I created four “Shadows” at the same time with Dark Magic and scattered them around.
“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”
Golgol rotated the Hexagonal Rod overhead while being wary of the “Shadows,” and then grabbed the end and slammed it down.
I was able to close the distance of more than 3 meters in an instant with the Hexagonal Rod and the length of his arm, so I slid using footwork, and fired a Crossbow arrow from the “Shadow” floating next to Golgol’s head using my own Shadow.
“Guh.”
Even though he barely avoided it, fragments of the shattered earth struck my body, and Golgol watched the arrow he was shot with and dodged it, but he was only able to prevent the follow-up attack.
[Shadow Snatch], which is easy to use, also has drawbacks.
Spatial Dark Magic requires covering an object with Mana Particles in order to exert its effect. If it’s just [Shadow Storage], I can connect bundles of threads and take out the Pendulum, but to transfer it from Shadow to Shadow, it needs to be completely isolated. In the battle with the Soldier of the Spear, I was able to let the Shadow pass because I was touching it directly, but I can’t do something like stabbing a Blade into the Shadow and attacking a distant place.
That’s why only throwing or trap-type things can be sent with [Shadow Snatch].
“Gah!?”
When another “Shadow” near Golgol cracked, a ball of light that spilled out from inside emitted an intense light for a moment.
Spatial Dark Magic contains a magic circle and causes various phenomena. So I thought that I could send other Magic directly, so I sent the Utility Magic [Light] with zero duration.
There was a possibility that it would be canceled out by light and darkness, but it was good that it was Non-Attribute, and I rushed towards Golgol with all my might the moment it emitted light as a flashbang.
Using the remaining effects of [Weight Up] and [Body Enhancement], I closed the 5-meter distance at twice the speed of a normal person and thrust the Black Dagger at Golgol, who was holding his eyes.
“Gugaaaaah!!”
But that full-force blow pierced the heart of the last remaining Orc.
Did he protect him even though his eyes were burned by the light, or was it just a coincidence? Either way, at the moment I tried to pull out the Dagger that had pierced his sternum and was buried to the root, Golgol blasted me away with the Hexagonal Rod along with the Orc while keeping his eyes closed.
“Gah!”
Blood spilled from my mouth as I rolled on the ground.
But it’s still not a fatal wound. Perhaps he counterattacked with only detection without relying on Night Vision, and the large body of the Orc cushioned the blow, so I was able to avoid a direct hit.
Golgol glared at me as if narrowing his injured eyes, and when he held the Hexagonal Rod with both hands again, I put strength into my legs and stood up.
My bones are probably not broken. There are no severely painful areas in my muscles or tendons. Still, I was aware that my HP had dropped to the limit.
If I use [High Heal], I can recover my HP and wounds, but Golgol wouldn’t give me time to construct a Level 3 Magic, and even if I could use it, my Mana would be almost empty.
I might be able to use the familiar [Heal] if I find an opening… no, let’s stop. If I’m going to consume Mana here, I should use it for attack. Even if I can heal, it’s meaningless if I don’t have a finishing move.
This is the weakness of the Scout job. Unlike Mages and Warriors, I am good at surviving, but I don’t have a “finishing move.”
I’ve managed somehow until now. I thought I could defeat anyone as long as I could stab them with a Blade. That’s fine for ordinary Adventurers. But I realized that it’s not enough to face a “strong person” of Rank 5 or higher alone.
I need a “finishing move.” A blow like the [Combat Art] that Golgol used.
“…………”
“…………”
We slowly faced each other, and when I lowered my waist and held the Black Dagger, Golgol also lowered his waist as if wary, perhaps sensing something, and swung the Hexagonal Rod greatly as if twisting his waist.
It’s Golgol’s Combat Art. While feeling the Mana accumulating inside Golgol, I accelerated my thoughts and exhaled.
Remember. That feeling from before. The blow that slashed Golgol’s face.
By training Body Enhancement, the level of Mana Control also increases, and the level of Non-Attribute Magic that handles Combat Arts also increases.
None of them are complete on their own. It won’t work if any of these three are missing. Close-quarters combat skills using Combat Arts are just an exit.
When I used my “eyes” to see the Mana flowing through my body with Body Enhancement, I noticed that it contained not only Non-Attribute Mana Particles but also faint Attribute Mana Particles.
I hadn’t paid attention to it before because I thought it was normal. But if Mana is likened to water, wouldn’t that be like impurities?
That one strike was the result of extreme concentration. I’m aware that, as a result of concentrating, I didn’t absorb Mana Particles from the surroundings and combine them with my own to create Mana, but instead used only my own Mana.
Then this time, I’ll eliminate the attributes from the Mana with my own will.
Even if it’s normally impossible, my “eyes” that see the color of Mana Particles should be able to do it.
Concentrate. With the delicacy of plucking iron particles from sand with tweezers, discard the impurities and refine the Non-Attribute Mana as if creating transparent glass.
“……ッ!”
As the transparency of the Mana Particles visible to my eyes increased, the speed of the Mana flowing through my body increased. The muscles throughout my body heated up with the speed of that Mana, putting me in a state as if I were about to use a Combat Art.
『GaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!』
Golgol, sensing my Mana, swung down the Hexagonal Rod he had raised, unleashing his [Combat Art].
In the extremely accelerated thought process, I saw the Mana of the Hexagonal Rod striking the ground and generating a shockwave.
The Mana coursing through my body was consumed in an instant, as I couldn’t control it.
At that moment, my body, which kicked off the ground and leaped out, surpassed even the limits of Body Enhancement, leaving behind even the scenery reflected in my eyes, jumped over Golgol’s released shockwave before it ran across the ground, pierced through Golgol, who had his eyes wide open, and my body, unable to withstand the recoil, was blown away, rolling dozens of meters behind Golgol.
“……cough, guh”
Blood leaked from my mouth as I coughed violently, lying sprawled on the ground. Beyond my vision, with only my pupils turned, I saw Golgol’s giant body slowly falling backward.
With my body, which had lost almost all of its Mana and HP, unable to even move, I saw the Black Dagger deeply piercing Golgol’s brow, confirmed his death, and closed my eyes as if in silent prayer, as my consciousness was quietly enveloped in darkness.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 3]
[Mana Capacity: 4/250] 10 Up [HP: 7/200] 10 Up
[Strength: 9 (12)] [Durability: 9 (12)] [Agility: 13 (17)] [Dexterity: 8]
[Dagger Arts Lv.3] [Martial Arts Lv.4] 1 Up [Throwing Lv.3] [Archery Lv.1]
[Defense Lv.3] [Thread Manipulation Lv.4]
[Light Magic Lv.3] [Dark Magic Lv.3] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.4] 1 Up
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.4] [Intimidation Lv.3]
[Stealth Lv.4] [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.4] [Poison Resistance Lv.3]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 612 (During Body Enhancement: 732)] 36 Up
The Orc arc is resolved. There are after-effects and town matters, but the battle is over.
Next time, returning to town. A new weapon. Familiar faces…
And what is the identity of the new technique?
From next time, we will return to regular updates. The next update is scheduled for Wednesday.