Chapter 181 : Chapter 181
Chapter 181: Hunting (4)
“Mi, Michael…?!”
Johannes, having his gag removed, was greatly flustered upon seeing the appearance of another son who suddenly appeared in front of him.
Because he never imagined that he would meet him again in a place like this, in a situation like this, after he had suddenly left home.
“How did you……”
Looking at Johannes who was staring at him as if he couldn’t believe it at all, Michael smiled softly.
“Let’s get out of here first, Father.”
As if asking him to trust him just this once.
“You can move, right?”
At that, he who had been flustered by the appearance of another son he hadn’t thought of, soon nodded his head.
“…Right.”
Because he understood that there was no leisure to just be surprised in the current situation.
“Father!”
“Move! You bastards!”
Then Johannes got off the wagon and came face to face with Gabriel and Raphael who came running while breaking through the soldiers blocking them.
“You guys…”
“Don't worry. We will protect you now, Father.”
“The three of us. Me, Gabe, and even Miki.”
At those words, Johannes slightly lowered his head as if hiding the fact that he was making a facial expression mixed with many emotions for a moment.
“…Thank you.”
Meanwhile, Etian was watching with a dazed expression as the four Irons began to sweep away his subordinates in an instant.
It seemed he couldn't believe it at all.
He didn't even know when they approached him and ‘stole’ the contract, but on top of that, without getting caught by anyone in that interval, they not only opened the iron cage Johannes was locked in but completely undid even his restraints?
‘Just, how……?’
Thinking back to the way that Dark Elf suddenly revealed himself, he must have been in a ‘stealth’ state.
So I could understand that he wasn’t noticed.
Also in that situation, I could accept it if he managed to do at least one thing.
If it’s an excellent ‘rogue’, slipping an item or picking a lock without being perceived would be possible.
But, doing all of that?
This wasn’t simply a matter of skill.
It was a matter of time.
Unless time stopped, doing all of that simultaneously was an absolutely impossible task.
And yet, he did it.
So he had no choice but to be dazed.
Because the thought that he had really been hit by [Time Stop] was something he couldn't even imagine in the first place.
As he kept trying to find another rational reason, Etian's confusion only intensified further.
However.
“…Damn it!”
Before long, he understood.
He didn't know ‘how’ on earth, but the fact that his advantage of holding Johannes captive had disappeared in an instant was something he could absolutely not deny.
Of course, his soldiers were near Johannes, but the problem was that those soldiers were being swept away one by one right now.
“Get lost, you bastards!”
“Uooooo──!”
The Halfling knight who appeared suddenly falling from the sky, the two Irons brothers who charged in as if they had been waiting as soon as he appeared, the escorts standing beside them, and Johannes whose restraints were undone by the Dark Elf and even the freed Johannes himself.
They were sweeping away and organizing the soldiers, even the ones brought along as elites, like fallen leaves.
Etian, who was blankly watching that spectacle, finally came to his senses late and got off his horse.
And.
“──Hello, Etian.”
He came face to face with the human with long black hair, the only one who didn't join that mess.
『Kneel.』
“──!”
The moment he heard that stern single word, Etian immediately knelt.
He couldn't understand.
Why he had unintentionally ended up kneeling.
Why he thought he had to kneel.
“You bastard…!”
As if obeying the Demon King’s command.
“What did you do to me…?!”
Because there was no way for him to know that he was forced to be hit by [Word Command] definitively due to the effect of taking off the [Witch's Eye], and that he had merely followed the order in reality.
He just suffered the humiliation of kneeling without realizing it himself.
“You just wait there for a bit.”
Looking down at such Etian, Bin raised the corners of his mouth into a leisurely grin.
“Because we are reducing the number of nuisances.”
“…!”
Seeing that ‘evil smile’, Etian realized instinctively.
“You bastard…”
That very guy was the one who planned all of this current situation.
“Just who are you...?!”
“You ask who I am?”
Hearing that question, Bin chuckled once more and spoke.
“Who else. I am your master.”
***
Etian looked like he couldn't accept the current situation where he, an executive of the Demon King’s Army and one of the seven devils evaluated as the strongest, was kneeling in front of a mere human.
“This, bastard…!”
Even more than the fact that his soldiers—whom he brought as elites—were being swept away moment by moment.
Especially Etian, he was a so-called ‘strength build’.
He is a person who is prouder of his strength than anyone else.
And in reality, it was worth being proud of.
Johannes Irons isn't just some ordinary knight; he is an existence called one of humanity's strongest combat powers.
Didn't he defeat such Johannes in a fair 1-on-1 and even take him prisoner like now?
Of course he would have pride.
However, as strong as that pride is.
“How does it feel, Etian?”
To kneel to a mere bard who looks frail and weak just by looking at him? It had to be humiliating.
“Kneeling before your master.”
Actually well, in a sense, since the ‘Primordial Demon King’ and I are virtually the same person, it’s not just words meant to scratch his nerves.
“I will kill, you…!”
“You say that with your mouth, but your body seems anxious to serve me?”
“Son of a, bitch…!”
“No matter how I look at it, aren't you the dog right now?”
While I was scratching the nerves of Etian who was under the domination of [Word Command] with my arms crossed, my companions were gradually reducing the number of soldiers.
The three Irons were doing so too, but my companions were in a situation where they had become extremely accustomed to this── a situation of fighting multiple soldiers.
They weren't even just regular soldiers.
They are fighters who survived from Krom's fanatical Dark Elf warriors and even Shurina's Northern Elves.
Subordinates (who are a bit strong) of a Demon King’s Army executive are nothing now.
Of course, they were certainly elites.
Literally, they were ‘Elite Enemies’.
It wasn't simply a matter of level; they were systematically a bit different from ‘Normal Enemies’.
Therefore.
“How dare you, do you know who I am…!”
We failed to clean them all up by the time Etian eventually broke free from the domination of [Word Command].
Still, well, it didn't matter.
It was within the expected range.
From the start, I didn't think we could clean them all up during the duration of [Word Command].
Anyway.
“Leave this place to us, Miki!”
We had the Irons.
“You are their knight, aren't you! We will handle Father somehow!”
“…Yes! Please take care of it, brothers!”
While they, the best ‘knights’, dealt with the soldiers, our party would catch Etian.
From the beginning, this was the plan for this hunt.
KABOOM──!!
As soon as [Word Command] was released, Etian slammed down his large greatsword clad in [Hellfire] as if pouring out all the anger he had held back at once, smashing it along with the ground.
However, that was my projection, and the real me had already distanced myself long ago as soon as [Word Command] was released.
Swish!
And Ibi passed by my side, trailing a purple glint like a strip that couldn't possibly be caught up with in speed.
“Another guy running wild trusting only his strength?”
Whirrr, throwing two daggers like boomerangs aiming for both of Etian's sides.
“──!”
And before those daggers could reach, Ibi dug in front of Etian.
“I've already killed plenty of bastards like you!”
Clang!
He hurriedly lifted the greatsword stuck in the ground and succeeded in blocking that [Feint Attack], but he couldn't block the daggers that flew in afterwards.
Chaeng!
However, those daggers couldn't pierce Etian's steel-like skin and eventually bounced off.
“Ugh…!”
Not that it didn't deal any damage, though.
While Etian staggered for a moment, Ibi, who lightly jumped up using the greatsword as a stepping stone, ‘retrieved’ those bounced-off daggers and distanced herself again.
In that gap, Toric, who had activated [Rage], rushed in.
“Uooooo──!”
KA-BAM!!
He slammed down his axe with a shout filled with such anger.
This also couldn't completely pierce skin like Etian's armor, but it succeeded in inflicting a large blow.
If not, there wouldn't have been an instance where the bastard stepped back beyond just staggering.
Crackle!
At the same time, with a sound like the air tearing apart, a huge lightning streak── 8th Circle magic, [Unlimited Lightning] struck Etian.
“Kuaaagh──!”
Unlike [Lightning Bolt] or [Chain Lightning] which end with one streak (of course, even that single streak produces formidable power), the lightning streak pouring from the tip of Rine’s staff ‘did not end’ as the name of the magic suggested.
The only way to cut that lightning streak was for the caster’s ‘concentration’ to break.
And naturally, Rine had no intention of stopping that lightning herself until she burned Etian completely.
Etian, who intuited this while groaning in pain, eventually kicked off the ground nimbly and rushed toward Rine.
Clang!
However, that large greatsword enhanced with [Hellfire] ultimately could not reach Rine.
Lily’s blessing, a barrier, blocked the slammed-down greatsword.
And when that barrier eventually couldn't withstand the power of the greatsword and broke, Rine had already disappeared through [Windstride].
“Cunning, trickster bastards…!”
However, since the ‘concentration’ was broken, [Unlimited Lightning] was also cut off, and Etian, freed from the lightning streak, kicked off the ground again── this time rushing toward Lily who had just cast the barrier.
Targeting the mage or cleric who is weakest in close combat.
Correct judgment.
The bastard certainly knew how to win a fight.
『──The die is cast.』
“…!”
It’s just that I know the bastard better.
So I quickly switched places with Lily using [Change] and leisurely dodged the greatsword the bastard swung.
“You're slow.”
“How…!”
And while we earned one turn like that.
『Your opponent is me!』
Miki, who broke through the soldiers’ encirclement with the help of the Irons and ran to [Guard] me, swung his shield along with a [Taunt].
Clang!
Miki’s shield, of course, couldn't pierce his hard skin.
In the first place, a shield is not an object for piercing, but for striking away.
『Blow!』
BANG!
The [Tailwind] attached to the shield released the accumulated damage in a single breath, and Etian, whose posture had already collapsed, eventually couldn't withstand that strong wind and ended up flying far away.
He regained his posture quickly, but looking at his expression, the sign of being considerably flustered seemed large.
“You bastards, just what are you…!”
It was a look saying he couldn't understand the current situation where he, an executive of the Demon King's Army, started being pushed back unilaterally like this.
Looking at such Etian, I spoke firmly as if making a declaration.
“──We came to catch the Demon King, Etian.”
Grinning, raising one corner of my mouth.
“Because we've already caught guys like you plenty of times.”