The brilliant sparks lit up the surroundings, and the temperature around them spiked sharply. The tiny sparks, like grains of sand, swirled around Yor. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he frowned.
"Why the hell is this happening all of a sudden?!"
It was a little unfair for him. All he had done was talk a bit when she claid to be an old childhood friend, and now she was suddenly charging at him, trying to attack. Was his refusal really that upsetting? He couldn’t help but feel flustered.
What was strange, though, was that the sparks weren’t as hot as he had expected. It wasn’t that Yor had suddenly gained fire resistance. Libya was controlling the heat herself.
If she had gone all out, he could have been burned like the adventurer he had seen earlier, but it seed she didn’t actually want to harm him. She was showing rcy, even in the flas.
Yor could feel it too.
"I don’t want to hurt you. So just co over here quickly."
Snap-crackle!
Sparks rained down on him. It wasn’t a gentle assault. The fireworks-like display was noisy and dazzling, even more so than the heat.
Yor scowled. Given the situation, it didn’t seem like they would be able to talk things through. It looked like he’d have to fight, but it felt strange to attack her without reason.
She had claid to be soone from his past, and while he had to admit that she had followed him around when they were young, he couldn’t just attack her on impulse.
It all felt like too sudden of a confession. For a mont, he even wondered if she had brought up the orphanage story to lower his guard.
‘...No, that’s ridiculous.’
He quickly dismissed the thought. After all, he had never told anyone about his past, so the fact that she knew was proof that her story wasn’t a lie.
That’s why Yor made a decision.
‘Let’s overpower her.’
He figured that, just like she was holding back, he should also restrain himself a bit while he subdued her. He wanted to know how she had risen to the rank of faction leader and why she wore those tiny sunglasses.
And so, the battle began.
Libya used her magic to restrict Yor’s movents, and Yor, in turn, aid his spear at her limbs. Thanks to the sparks surrounding them, the fight had a rather dramatic flair.
"······"
anwhile, the knight commander Serena stared blankly at the scene for a mont. Though she couldn’t fully understand what was happening, all eyes were on the faction leader, who seed to be particularly focused on Yor. As a result, the battle that had seed so difficult was actually progressing much more smoothly than expected.
‘This is the opportunity.’
Serena thought to herself. Now was the perfect ti to break through. If they moved quickly, they could probably destroy the altar sooner than expected.
She shouted to her subordinates.
"Now’s the ti! Everyone move up! Push them back while we have the chance!"
"Yeahhh!"
The roar of battle filled the air. Thankfully, the subordinates under her command were quick to recognize opportunities. The knights and adventurers poured all their remaining strength into the forward assault.
So of the Regaton mbers, panicked by the intensified offensive, frantically called out to Libya.
"Faction leader, we don’t have ti for this! If we don’t stop them, the altar will...!"
"Shut up!"
Of course, Libya didn’t have the luxury of paying attention to such concerns. To her, Yor in front of her was much more important than the altar. Why was she so focused on a childhood acquaintance? Yor couldn’t really understand, but he didn’t have the ti to dwell on it.
Regardless, the knights continued to rush upward.
The otherworlders fighting with them felt the sa. While they were curious about the fight between the faction leader and Yor, getting rewards for pushing forward was more important to them.
"Ah, what should I do...?"
Chae-rin hesitated, but then she heard Yor’s voice from afar.
"Just go ahead. I’ll handle this."
She followed the knights without further hesitation. It wasn’t like she could be of much help here anyway. It would be better to destroy the altar and return quickly.
And so, only Libya and Yor remained in the center of the mountain.
Yor looked at Libya and asked.
"Shall we talk now?"
"Would you co with ?"
"Hah, that’s not happening..."
Whoosh—!
Once again, flas engulfed them.
And so, the battle resud.
After being left alone with Libya, a childhood friend he had long forgotten, the first thing that ca to Yor’s mind was...
Fire really sucked. It just didn’t suit him.
As a simple at shield, the fire drained him excessively.
The flas were blinding and uncomfortable. The sparks that settled on him steadily heated his body, and with the wide range of the flas, evading them was nearly impossible.
Interestingly, the mithril-alloyed spear managed to deflect the magical flas, but even that wasn’t enough to block all the attacks coming from every direction.
Honestly, it was surprising. Though they were clearly holding back, Libya’s abilities were definitely impressive.
Whenever he tried to break through, the intense firewalls would hinder his path. She didn’t just use the heat of the flas. The unnecessarily noisy explosions also disrupted his vision. He had underestimated her as a magic user, but her combat sense was excellent.
‘She must have a lot of combat experience.’
As a result, the fight dragged on for quite a while. Neither side was making significant headway, though it seed like they were both trying to spare each other. But of course, mana wasn’t unlimited, and over ti, Libya’s breathing grew more labored.
"Hah, hah... how are you feeling? Getting tired? It’s hot, right? If you just give up on being an adventurer and co with , I’ll stop using magic."
Even though she seed to be exhausted, she still tried to put on a brave face and spoke with feigned confidence.
Eventually, unable to tolerate the frustrating situation, Yor made a bold decision.
‘Let’s just break through.’
The fire barriers protecting her were certainly hot, but in the end, they were just flas without physical form. If he really tried, he could break through.
With that thought, he used his blood manipulation technique to surround his body with his own blood.
It was a sort of protective shield. The blood was strong enough, tougher than steel, so it could block the flas for a while.
It had been a long ti since he last used this technique, so it felt a little unfamiliar, but it worked smoothly. Though it took so effort to envelop his whole body, the ability functioned just as he had hoped.
There were so concerns about side effects, but with the abundance of holy water recently, it was sothing he could handle.
With his thin barrier of protection in place, he imdiately charged toward Libya.
Whoosh—!
He broke through the flas in front of him, rushing toward her. The intense heat brushed past him, but it wasn’t enough to burn his skin.
In the mont of his attack, Libya’s startled expression beca clear. Yor quickly grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground.
"Aaaah!"
With a weak scream, she crashed into the ground. Yor quickly climbed on top of her, pinning her down.
With a grin, he said.
"Now, we can finally talk."
For so reason, Libya’s face turned red all of a sudden. But Yor didn’t pay much attention. Inside, he repeated her na quietly.
"Libya, Libya..."
As he looked at her now, the distant mories seed to co into sharper focus. It certainly looked like the impression from his childhood had remained. Even though it had been over 10 years, her beautiful features still held the sa charm.
The cute little girl had grown into a stunning woman.
"You’ve grown up beautifully."
Her personality might have twisted a bit, but...
Honestly, it was surprising. She rembered him from childhood and was so happy to see him.
It wasn’t that it didn’t make him happy, but the question was, could he go along with her?
"No, I have a lot of people I know here."
After all, it hadn’t been that long since the knights had declared a ceasefire. She wanted him to follow her, but that would an he’d have to oppose the knights again. He didn’t want to make enemies unnecessarily.
And even if that wasn’t the case, there were many connections he had made here, and many reasons not to join Regaton.
When he gave that answer, Libya looked at him with a sad expression. She seed disappointed by his response.
But she was already defeated, so there was nothing she could do about it.
Yor had planned to ask her a few questions afterward.
Why had she left the orphanage? How had she ended up in Regaton? And where had she learned those magic skills?
But unfortunately, he didn’t have ti for that.
The sound of knights approaching grew louder.
‘Already?’
He hadn’t expected them to return so quickly. They must have already taken the altar. Or maybe, he’d been fighting for longer than he realized.
In the end, he had no choice but to let Libya go. She would definitely be executed if she t the knights.
Though it was a bit regretful to release her after subduing her, he couldn’t just stand by while soone from his orphanage died.
Even if she had made mistakes, he wasn’t in a position to judge.
As he released her, Libya stared at him with a blank expression. But it only lasted for a mont.
"I’ll co visit you soon."
With those words, Libya left the area.
Yor sighed softly.
"Ha..."
eting soone from his past was nice, but it seed like it would lead to trouble.
He stood there for a mont, lost in thought, until the knights arrived.
"Ha!"
The knights gasped when they saw him. Chae-rin, startled, began handing him a blanket.
"···Wow."
"Shit, we need to get this on cara."
So of the otherworlders quickly turned on their caras. Yor was confused by their reactions.
But then, he looked down at his body.
It seed that because of the flas Libya had used, his upper clothing had burned off. Thankfully, his sturdy pants were still covering his lower half.
‘Ah.’
Seeing that, Yor nodded quietly.
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