Due to his usual carefree deanor, it’s easy to forget for a mont.
But there is one undeniable fact that cannot be denied.
The man standing before is the legendary figure who single-handedly repelled the knight order.
Of course, the knights also have so excuses for their defeat.
They had been accumulating fatigue for a month in the unfamiliar Forbidden Forest, and they claid the fog at the ti had severely limited their visibility.
But that doesn’t change the fact that they were defeated.
Even under those dire circumstances, Yor was in the sa position. In fact, he was in an even worse state.
Unlike the knights, he was alone, and his opponent had the counterasure of holy water.
Yet, despite all of that, he survived.
I had long been aware of his greatness and had expected him to be strong, but…
‘I never imagined it would be to this extent…’
Odilia watched the battle with admiration.
The monster, which the knights couldn’t even push back when they grouped together, was being forced back by a single human. Although not a fatal blow, a deep wound had been inflicted on its arm.
Thinking back, when Yor fought the knights, his powers were nearly useless due to the holy water.
But this ti, there were no such restrictions, and he was free to unleash his full strength.
Clank- Crash-!
The blades collided with each other. With each strike, the demon, Andras, was pushed back slightly.
Screech-!
“Tch…”
Of course, that didn’t an Yor was maintaining dominance the whole ti.
After all, his opponent was a demon, and the flas surrounding its sword were incredibly threatening.
When Andras’s sword brushed against Yor’s arm, he grimaced in pain and quickly pulled back his arm.
It wasn’t quite accurate to say his skin was cut by the sword, but even though the sword only grazed him, a burn mark was left on his arm. The pain must have been significant, as he had trouble relaxing his furrowed brow.
“Hmph.”
It was only then that Odilia regained her composure and joined the fight.
“Anyone who’s injured, fall back! Don’t throw holy water, he may still be hit. Instead, slowly restrict his movents.”
The situation quickly turned in their favor. Odilia thought to herself.
If things went well, they might be able to capture him without too many casualties.
(Later Section)
“Yes, this bastard… quite the blood manipulation skill. Who did he learn this from?”
Blood manipulation… It’s a fitting na for the technique that uses blood as power.
It’s not a bad na at all. I had been struggling to find a na for the most commonly used ability, and now I had one. I decided to adopt his naming sense for myself.
“Do you think they’ll believe if I say I learned it on my own?”
Clank, clank.
By then, the knights had started moving. Led by the 2nd Knight Captain, Odilia, they began pressing in on him.
The situation, which had been getting difficult, was now finally seeing reinforcents.
It’s true, demons were not easy to face alone.
Especially this one, whose sword was surrounded by flas, making the pressure increase with each strike. Even now, I could feel the heat from the sword intensifying.
Of course, that heat wasn’t limitless. I could feel the imnse amount of mana being consud in real ti.
Once his mana ran out, the heat from the sword would subside.
‘The problem is, I don’t know when that will happen…’
Of course, the plan was to finish him off before that heat peaked.
I began to join the knights in pressing him.
I dodged attacks that seed like they would hit and waited for the right mont when soone restricted his movents to strike.
Having already injured one of his arms, he couldn’t block all the attacks.
His smooth skin was beginning to accumulate bio-energy.
As expected, group attacks are the best. It was frustrating to be on the receiving end, but it was so much easier when attacking.
“You damn bastards!”
At that point, Andras began to roar. His previously expressionless, handso face twisted with fury.
“When Lord Amon appears, you’ll be turned to ashes with a single breath! You reek of filth, not knowing your place and causing chaos! Ah, it’s so lantable that this isn’t the inferno of a kiln!”
I focused on the word “Amon.”
‘Dantalion? He kept summoning Paimon...’
Now the na Amon ca up. It was likely the king of the faction he belonged to, I cautiously speculated.
For a while, Andras continued to roar, then boldly made a decisive move.
Swoosh-!
He dug his sword into the ground for a mont, then threw a heap of dirt at us.
It was a childish attack, but the dirt he threw had been heated by his flaming sword.
“Ahh- hot!”
The dirt burned much more than expected, and we were forced to retreat for a mont.
Seizing the opportunity, he began to flee. Even demons, when the situation turns unfavorable, know how to escape.
“Catch him!”
Of course, we weren’t going to just stand there and watch.
We each quickly started pursuing him.
“Hah, finally arrived… no, where is he going again?”
“Seriously…”
Because of that, Chae-rin and Haneul, who had finally arrived, were once again left behind. But there was nothing that could be done. Not only them but even the knights were falling behind.
Though his defense wasn’t particularly high, his mobility was sothing else.
As a result, it was only Odilia and I who were able to chase after him.
The scenery of the territory rapidly changed as we moved. I frowned slightly.
‘...Not good.’
With this much power, we could push him, but capturing him would be a different story.
Still, we couldn’t just let him go, so I imdiately began to use the “Blood Manipulation” technique he had ntioned and launched an attack.
The red blood gathered in the air, turning into sharp blades that flew towards him.
He seed to try to block them with his sword, but a few of the blades inevitably grazed his body.
Seeing this, Odilia spoke in disbelief.
“What’s this, how did you—ugh, never mind.”
It seed that the attack was quite a spectacle. After all, it wasn’t a common ability.
But even so, the distance between us and him didn’t shorten. Even if his wounds healed, his bio-energy would still be exhausted.
I briefly thought to myself.
‘Damn it, are those Leton bastards actually coming?’
Just as I thought that, sothing unexpected happened.
“Suu- Hah…”
Suddenly, a chill swept through the air.
For a mont, even the heat radiating from Andras’s body was pushed back by the intense cold.
It was only for a brief mont, but it was enough to create a noticeable change. A massive ice wall appeared in front of Andras.
Crash-!
“...Ck!”
Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the wall, Andras had to stop moving.
Turning toward the cold, I saw two familiar won approaching. Nikki and Sephir.
Sephir was the one who had used magic. I could see shards of ice floating around her.
“This… seems favorable. I was just planning to observe, but it looks like I need to help.”
They were definitely a strong reinforcent.
But before I could smile, I had to worry first.
Though our goal was the sa, they were from Leton, and Odilia, the captain of the knights, was here.
“Wait, Sephir? Why are you here?”
For a mont, Odilia had a confused look on her face. This was a perfect opportunity for a joint attack, but she instead stood defensively with her greatsword, clearly on guard.
Well, from her perspective, she might have been worried about getting attacked from both sides.
I understood that, but it wasn’t the best attitude to have in this situation.
After all, Andras was already lting the ice wall with his sword.
“Don’t tell you’re here to rescue another demon? Ha! Not this ti!”
“Calm down. This ti, we’ve co to deal with him. How about we cooperate for a mont?”
“Don’t lie!”
At that mont, I decided to charge toward Andras. It seed like the conversation would take too long.
“You’re asking to trust a demon-obsessed woman who even abandoned her position as the tower master of the White Mage Tower?”
“…Don’t speak carelessly about that.”
Before charging, I caught a glimpse of Sephir’s face. For a brief mont, her usually expressionless face tightened in a frown.
‘What’s that?’
It seed Odilia knew a bit about her past. She wasn’t talking about being a faction leader but sothing else.
My curiosity was piqued, but I decided to ignore it for now.
And even then, the ice wall was slowly lting.
Though it was large and thick, it was still just ice. Eventually, it would break under the intense heat of his sword.
Crack-! Crack-!
The wall, which had withstood a few strikes, began to crack.
Frustrated, I shouted at them.
“Stop fighting and attack him! You didn’t co here to decapitate him?”
At my words, they stopped their standoff and finally began to focus on the fight.
Odilia swung her greatsword horizontally, aiming for Andras’s side, while Sephir created an ice spear in the air and shot it rcilessly toward his head.
Sotis, a single action speaks louder than dozens of words.
The more urgent and decisive the action, the more sincere it feels. And right now, Sephir attacked the demon without hesitation.
Towards his head, where one blow could kill.
At the very least, it was clear that they both shared the sa goal.
If the attack landed, it would have been perfect… but unfortunately, it was already too late.
Or rather, it was more accurate to say that he had one last hidden move left.
Andras placed his sword against the cracked ice wall.
It wasn’t a swing, nor a thrust, but a peculiar posture. It almost seed like he was preparing to fire sothing.
And my prediction was right.
“Release!”
With his shout, a trendous fla erupted from the tip of his sword.
It spread in all directions like a wildfire, as if it were trying to consu everything around it.
The visual pressure of the flas forced us to retreat montarily.
“Ck!”
When the flas subsided, he had already disappeared from sight.
In a daze, they stared at the place where he had vanished.
Annoyed, I scolded them.
“You guys made miss him.”
“...Hmm.”
“...”
No one had an excuse.
Although we missed him, we couldn’t just give up.
We quickly gathered and started discussing.
“He probably didn’t go far.”
The eting included Sephir and Nikki temporarily.
It felt a bit awkward, but since we shared the sa goal of capturing the demon, we were cooperating without really cooperating.
Though Odilia’s expression remained tense, she didn’t seem pleased.
Fortunately, we quickly found out where he might have gone.
“The demon was looking for sothing.”
The man the knights had rescued gave us the information.
“Polauros, he was looking for sothing… he must have gone west for that.”
With that, our destination was clear. The goal was the west, towards a place with an ever-burning tree.
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