Chapter 148 : Chapter 148
Chapter 148:
Ede sighed, looking at the gaping hole in the roof.
Everything was fine until this morning... no, it was perfectly peaceful until just a moment ago.
Valheit, who had been skipping meals and concentrating all his nerves, suddenly....
“I must go. Please take care of the aftermath.”
...Is what he said, right before blowing the roof off.
To be precise, he didn't just break the roof, he also smashed the wall, turning the splendid mansion into an unsightly mess.
I wondered why he had to go and make such a racket, instead of just making a hole big enough for one person to get through.
Feeling the desolate wind blow in, Ede resolved to question the Count about this when he returned.
“If you surrender now….”
“Ah I told you, I'm not interested.”
A thick voice pulled Ede back to the situation at hand.
With the wall and roof torn wide open, there was no way the Three Blades waiting in the mansion would stay put.
Some went to pursue the Count, but most flocked to this room where the incident occurred.
Facing them became a job for Ede alone.
It wasn't bad.
It meant he'd gotten a chance to swing his sword properly.
Perhaps because he had disabled the three who had rushed in so they could never hold a weapon again, the movements of the Three Blades were cautious.
Ede aimed his blood-dripping blade at the Three Blades surrounding him.
“What is the Count’s objective?”
“Unlike the Count, I’m not very confident at doing things with my mouth. If you have a complaint, say it with your sword.”
“Just like a lackey working under the old snake.”
The one at the very front said, his tone full of contempt.
Judging by his atmosphere and stance, he was clearly a Short blade unit.
That level... I could probably cross swords with him.
Thinking that, Ede smiled faintly.
“That narrow-eyed bastard. I thought someone like the Count would have some dignity, but his actions are no better than a back-alley ruffian.”
“…Excuse me.”
The smile vanished from Ede’s lips.
“I don’t call the First Duke this bastard and that bastard. You should watch your mouth, too.”
“What a joke. Go tell your old snake to watch his mouth.”
Seeing his openly mocking attitude, Ede let out a small "Hmm" and fell into thought.
Before coming to Gellihau, Count Valheit had told him not to do anything that could be needlessly criticized.
Killing a member of the Three Blades was one of them.
As if having made up his mind, Ede readjusted his grip on his sword.
The man who had been mocking him also flinched and gripped his sword upon seeing his eyes, which were overflowing with a sinister, if not insane, light.
“A rude piece of trash like you isn't part of the Count's objective, but he did tell me not to kill, so as not to cause any trouble.”
“Huh, so what? You’ll generously spare me?”
“No, I’m going to make you curse the fact that you’re alive every single moment.”
Smiling faintly, Ede rushed at the Three Blades.
The metallic clang of sword against sword spread past the broken wall and into the street.
***
Kwang!
With a loud vibration, bricks rained down onto the street.
Landing on the street along with the pouring bricks, I quickly surveyed my surroundings.
Perhaps because the sounds of fighting had been audible since before, not even a mouse could be seen on the street.
It was a relief, if you could call it that, but by the time I landed on the street, the situation was already not very good.
I had planned to leap from roof to roof to get to the Royal Palace by the shortest route, but that was out of the question now.
Kung.
With the heavy sound of the stone-paved ground breaking, a fully armored man slowly rose before my eyes.
Rather than a relatively sleek, realistic set of armor, it was a crude and massive suit of armor that looked like it came out of a game or a comic.
Despite wearing such a thing, his movements were not sluggish.
Looking at the opponent who resembled a final boss, I thought to myself, This is bad.
“You’re Mr. Ragion, correct?”
“Yes.”
My opponent answered my question curtly.
He was exactly as I had vaguely sensed before, so it would have been harder not to recognize him.
The differences from before were that he was fully geared up, and his weapon was a two-handed longsword that suited his huge frame.
“I’m on my way to save the Duke. You wouldn’t believe me even if I said that, would you.”
“It would be strange to believe you.”
True, I had broken out of the mansion I was confined in, so I had no room to talk, even if I was suspected.
Even so, to assign Ragion to me.
Did they think Victor alone was enough to protect the Duke?
No matter how I thought about it, that was arrogance.
“I am short on time.”
I couldn't just blabber on like usual and look for an opening.
Two members of the Black Hand had already infiltrated the Royal Palace, and the rest were slowly approaching.
Even if the control around the Royal Palace was strengthened thanks to the commotion I caused, I had to go myself to stop the bastards who were already inside.
“If you return now, I will not hold it against….”
Pajik!
Before Ragion could finish his words, lightning wrapped around his armor.
I didn't even think about controlling its power.
Against a monster like that, I had to use my full strength.
“…You.”
Even though I'd sent a current strong enough to electrocute several elephants, Ragion didn't even flinch.
I had expected it to some extent, but it was disheartening that a spell I had put my all into had no effect.
‘Alright, this method won’t work.’
In a world with mages, what was the meaning of armor?
Instead of getting fried by a ranged spell anyway, shouldn't one lighten their body even a little to dodge?
Right after I was possessed, I used to think that simply.
But the people here weren't fools either.
In the end, magic was the act of doing something through mana as a medium.
Fire made with mana was real fire, but it disappeared when the fuel called mana ran out.
It meant it was even more unstable than fire lit with a match.
Unless it was a defensive spell that stacked mana thickly, most spells used for offense would have their power drop significantly with just a simple disturbance.
That was why the role of armor was also focused on disrupting mana.
Mages, of course, had ways to counter this.
Either by simply, foolishly increasing the scale, or by attacking indirectly.
For example….
Huk!
I picked up and threw several scattered bricks with Mana Grasp.
The bricks, which made a bizarre sound as they cut through the wind, shattered upon hitting the armor.
“…….”
Ragion didn't budge an inch.
As I thought, this method wouldn't work either.
I hadn't thrown them weakly.
You could tell just by looking at the large hole one brick that missed its target had made in a building's outer wall.
He must have slathered an amount of money on that armor that wouldn't be enough even if you sold every building, item, and person on this street.
“It seems you have no intention of stopping, Count.”
“As I said, I must save the Duke.”
No matter how much money was dumped on it, an item focused on defense like armor could not be inherently invincible.
There was definitely a way to get through it.
The problem was that the number of spells I had learned was insufficient, and I didn't have the leisure to figure out my opponent's weakness.
‘And the backlash from using Revealed Eye or Til’s skill is too great.’
Besides, all my ultimate skills came with a penalty after use.
If it would all be over by taking down the boss named Ragion, I would use them, but that wasn't the case, so I couldn't.
An opponent against whom spells, physical force, and ultimate skills were all ineffective.
If so, there was only one way.
Don't play along.
Mana condensed, creating dozens of thin, sharp blades in the air.
“That’s incredible.”
Ragion expressed his pure admiration.
To be able to do this much with an inefficient spell like Materialization.
That was roughly the sentiment.
The mana blades soon poured down on Ragion.
Ragion calmly blocked a few with his longsword.
The rest crumbled and disappeared before even touching his armor.
‘How did he distinguish those?’
Most of the blades I created were incomplete ones that barely held their shape.
Only about one in ten was imbued with enough power to cause real damage.
It was a spell that materialized already unstable mana, so it wouldn't be able to pierce, but it had enough power to at least make him flinch.
I thought it would be good if one or two of the real ones could deal some damage while he was dealing with the other fake blades... but Ragion parried only the blades I had poured my effort into.
It was a dumbfounding level of concentration, but a small opening had been created nonetheless.
While he was blocking the blades, I passed by Ragion's side.
Bung!
I ducked my head low, and a giant blade passed over me.
I felt a few strands of my hair get cut.
I practically rolled, barely managing to move behind Ragion.
“Are you planning to run away?”
“There’s no need to go out of my way to fight a monster.”
Originally, I planned to accelerate and run away the moment I passed Ragion, but it didn't seem like it would be that easy.
Ragion, wearing massive armor, stuck to me as fast as I was in my plain clothes.
Kwang! Kwang!
Every time the swung blade hit the ground or a wall, it left a crater or a hole with a loud explosive sound.
That meant he was swinging with all his strength, but somehow, he swung that huge sword again without any preparation, as if it wasn't difficult at all.
‘He’s not trying to cut me, he’s trying to pin me down so I can’t move.’
Ragion's blade was aimed not at me, but at where I would move.
I was dodging it slightly, but I couldn't get far away.
Was he trying to move the Duke to a safe place while stalling for time?
If that was the case, there was no need to rush.
Instead of running further, I looked straight at Ragion.
“Have you finally decided to fight.”
Ragion maintained his distance, just close enough to block my escape route.
I released my mana and gave a slight nod.
“I didn’t realize it, but you’re quite a bothersome person, Mr. Ragion.”
“You praise me too much.”
Ragion answered nonchalantly and changed his stance to prepare for the impending attack.
Since I was leaking this much mana, he must have thought a big attack was coming.
Unfortunately, I hadn't learned such a spell yet.
I had also used my Skill Points to learn Materialization, so I wouldn't be learning a strong one-shot spell for a while.
The spell I was actually using was Detection.
‘…These bastards haven’t evacuated yet?!’
The faint presence of the Three Blades was still swarming the Royal Palace.
It meant Johann Geller was still in the Royal Palace.
Not only that, the presence of the Black Hand inside the Royal Palace was stuck right next to the Three Blades.
If they had started a fight, the Black Hand bastards would have been dead within 10 seconds, which meant they had hidden their identities and gotten right under Johann's nose.
“Damn it.”
I muttered lowly and ignited the mana I had spread out.
Thin sparks of lightning flew in all directions, turning the street into pandemonium.
Of course, that wasn't enough to stop Ragion, who was pushing forward like a tank.
Dodging the faster blade, I slowly backed away.
“Were you not planning to fight.”
“And make who happy?”
“At this rate, you will never reach the Duke.”
Ragion said confidently, swinging his two-handed sword.
He was right.
I couldn't go on with this leech-like bastard attached to me.
I had to shake him off somehow.
It should be coming into view soon….
Just as I was thinking that, the structure I was looking for appeared.
It was a bridge.
The river that cut across the edge of Gellihain wrapped around the Royal Palace like a natural moat.
In fact, they probably built the Royal Palace next to the river to use it as a moat.
If I just crossed the bridge, it was a straight shot to the Royal Palace.
If I crossed it.
As soon as the bridge came into view, Ragion slammed his two-handed sword down.
It was much easier to dodge than his previous attacks, but after dodging, I realized my mistake.
His goal wasn't to split my head.
While I was dodging the downward strike, Ragion used his longsword as a pole to vault up and land at the entrance of the bridge.
“If you wish to pass this bridge, you will have to fight me to the death.”
The width of the bridge was by no means narrow, but with Ragion standing in the middle of it, it looked like a single-log bridge.
“Well, well….”
I bowed my head and smiled slightly.
This was my only chance to shake off that leech.
Because no matter how magnificent the armor, if it falls into the water, it's nothing more than a weight.