Episode 45 Despicable Challenger II
「A duel you say? Ridiculous. You think I'm going to sign that paper?」
Kian's eyes twitched as he held up a torch to the papers thrown at him.
Serena, who was standing right next to him, stepped forward to protect him.
「Enough, Funnelwing. Twenty-three against one in a duel? That's just a lynching. There's no way the guild would approve.」
「Ha! Are you an idiot? 『Dead men tell no tales』. Honestly, I can give any number of reasons after I kill you!」
「Wha ......! You ......! Francisca! And Roses! Do you guys know what you're doing!?」
Francisca looked down silently at Serena's sharp voice.
She has no initiative.
She is just following along from behind because her friends told her to do it.
Serena clicked her tongue and looked at the delinquent monk, Roses.
Roses laughs kekeke.
「Get out of the way, Serena. I'm going to get rid of that 『Garbage Scavenger』 now!」
「You think I'm going to let you do that? Kian is my party member now. If you attack him, I will attack you too!」
Serena said this, and a murderous atmosphere rose up in her.
She may have been using it unconsciously, but a tremendous amount of magic power was being released from her slender body.
Her light blue eyes sparkled brightly, and her center of gravity dropped to just above the ground.
The twenty or so adventurers backed away as if frightened by the presence of a predator on the verge of pouncing on them.
「Wait a minute, Serena-san! The only one we are challenging to a duel is that 『Garbage Scavenger』 over there. We are not picking a fight with you. You are an outsider. If you hurt us, you will be sanctioned by the guild. If you mess up, you could be wanted as a mass murderer! If you understand that, you'd better back off quietly!」
「What a bunch of nonsense! This duel is invalid! You're the one who started the fight! If you think you can talk me out of it, you're mistaken!」
Serena's light blue eyes widened.
「You can't fool me, ......! I can hear your heart beating loud and clear. It's thumping against your ribs like an early bell. You're feeling more impatient than ever.」
Funnelwing's handsome face was distorted into an ugly face in the middle of her speech.
「......Tsk, I can't get through to you. This is why I hate brainiacs who live by instinct. If you insist on doing it, I have no choice. Hey, get your crossbow ready. Aim first at the elven magician in the back. Francisca, start chanting――」
「Wait!」
Kian raised his voice, interrupting Funnelwing's voice of instruction.
「If I accept the duel, you guys won't make a fuss for nothing, will you?」
「――!? Kian, what are you saying! You don't need to listen to these people! Get behind me. I'll take care of them all!」
Serena turned her angry eyes to Kian.
Kian called out to the handsome cat-haired swordsman.
「Funnelwing, give me some time.」
As Kian says it, he kneads magic power and sends out a command for the crows to gather.
「Ha! Are you going to beg for your life?」
「I have no intention of running away, though. If you are going to kill me, then I'm going to smash you head-on 」
「Then!」
「But first, let me talk to my companion. If you've been monitoring us, you know that our High Elven Sister is on loan from the Western Church. If anything happens to her, it won't be just our fault.」
「Hmm ......?」
Funnelwing opened his slit-eye and looked at Arueno.
Arueno put her hand on her cheek with a puzzled expression.
Kian continued.
「Let me talk to Serena and Arueno-san. I am willing to accept the duel, but they are confused about the situation. I want to explain my intentions to them.」
「By 『My intention』, Kian, do you really want to take on this many people by yourself?」
Serena looked at Kian with a stern expression.
Her eyes were fixed on his meager weapons, a wooden sword, and a club.
「That's what I intend to do.」
「Don't, I'll fight too!」
「...... Hmph, fine. Three minutes. I'll give you three minutes.」
Funnelwing signaled, and the two dozen or so adventurers lowered their weapons and descended into the wilderness.
Kian walked back to Arueno's place with an angry Serena.
「Arueno-san, there is no need to interfere. You intended to activate the magic at the same time Serena jumped on them, didn't you?」
When Kian said that at the outset, Arueno raised her eyebrows.
「Killing people is going to kill your career. Killing twenty people is a big deal. ...... Serena-san, you should stay out of it. I can silence these kids with the tip of my finger, so I'd like you to leave this to me.」
「You have prepared some kind of magic to suppress them, aren't you? But Arueno-san, I don't think we should let those people off the hook here. It's too dangerous to let them stay there. We should kill every last one of them right here and now.」
Serena said with a stern face.
She has no mercy or naivete, as she was a member of the strongest mercenary group, the 『Storm Crowd』.
Her light blue eyes were blazing with anger.
Kian shrugged his shoulders.
「I thought you were a gentle girl who hated killing.」
「Of course I don't like killing. But there are times and situations when you have to kill. This is the first thing even those weak mercenary groups learn. That's exactly what's happening now. We have the evidence of the dueling documents, and we should kill them all in 'self-defense'.」
「I think killing them all is too much. ......」
「If you kill them, you can't sue for excessive defense. It's near the labyrinth, and if you feed their bodies to the monsters, it won't be a problem. Anyway, there is absolutely no way we are letting them get away with it here! It's our lives in danger from now on!」
「H-Hmmm... As a Sister of the Church, I can't so actively encourage killing ......」
「I figured that's how we'd disagree, so I waited.」
Kian looked at them alternately as he said this.
He continued his words.
「As for the duel, I'll do it alone. Neither Serena nor Arueno-san can touch them.」
「But why? I'm not convinced.」
「Kian-kun, think about it. There are other ways not to sign the dueling papers.」
「No, Arueno-san. I thought for a moment earlier about a way to avoid the fight ......, but they're probably going to surround us and torch us to death even if I don't agree to a duel. They're maxed out on killing, and it wouldn't be wise for us to let them off the hook. I foolishly thought that at the very least, I should sever the nerves in their limbs so that they can never face me again. ――Serena」
「What?」
「You need to collect travel expenses to avenge your brother's death, aren't you? Don't get your hands dirty by getting involved in a bottom-feeder's fight here.」
「You are an important comrade. And I will never abandon you. I will protect you with my pride.」
「Don't hang your pride so easily. This is not a place for justice, it's a place for killing. Leave them to me alone. That was my problem. I don't want to cause any trouble for you guys.」
「But!」
「...... Let's see, if you're going to bring up the pride, I'm going to bring up the pride too. I'm proud to be here to deal with them all as I move forward.」
「.............! So you're serious about taking on their challenge as a warrior? Do you have a chance to win?」
「I wouldn't accept a duel if I didn't.」
「Okay......」
Serena shrugged and withdrew, still looking like she wanted to say something.
Her right hand is still on the hilt of her longsword.
Perhaps if Kian is in danger, she will not hesitate to draw her sword and intervene.
「I'm really sorry, Arueno-san. We were only supposed to be investigating the labyrinth, but I got you involved in a situation like this.」
「Don't worry about me. Putting that aside, are you sure you're okay? It's not a good idea to show off」
「I'm fine. Trust me. With the blessing of the goddess that is you, I am invincible.」
「It's hard to respond to flattery at a time like this. ......」
「It's already three minutes!」
Funnelwing shouted loudly.
The adventurers who had been waiting in the wilderness were now coming toward Kian in droves.
「Let's hear your answer, 『Garbage Scavenger』!」
「I'll take the duel alone. The two behind me have nothing to do with it. Don't ever touch them.」
「Kekeke, that's a good attitude. We don't want to waste our lives either. ...... Serena-san, and that lady over there, please stay out in the wilderness. You don't want to get hit by a stray arrow.」
「Hyahaha! Oi, 『Garbage Scavenger』! You're with us, over there! It's a one-way carriage to hell!」
Roses, a delinquent monk, said so in a crazy, high-pitched voice and pointed to the 『Rose Labyrinth」.
He said they were going to do it in the square in front of the labyrinth.
「Kian ......! Good luck with your duel.」
Serena steps out with a slightly tearful look on her face for some reason, and Arueno quietly joins her hands.
Kian raised his right hand and returned it to them as he moved to the front wall of the 『Rose Labyrinth』, surrounded by the Roses.
「Not yet!」
Funnelwing stood in front of the wall of roses, holding back the adventurers who were drawing their weapons around Kian.
With the great sword at his back, he slashed at the rose wall with his spirit.
The rose wall was gouged out and a maze opened up.
Inside was a rectangular garden as large as the current square.
Apparently, the master of the labyrinth is also interested in this large-scale spectacle.
The space was just large enough to facilitate a duel.
「If you go inside, you will not be covered by these women. If you're afraid, you can scatter your tail and run away, you know?」
「I'm not going to run away, though.」
Kian stepped into the dueling space surrounded by rose walls without a care in the world.
Funnelwing and the others that followed in from behind surrounded Kian as they drew their respective weapons.
「Twenty-three men out in one-on-one(?)―Not to say that, but you're going to have twenty-three people attack me all at once?」
Pulling his wooden sword from his back, Kian looked at the men holding the crossbow.
Seven in the vanguard.
Eight in the rear guard.
There were five men who were not used to fighting and were moving left and right, trying to decide what to do.
Funnelwing and the other 『Falcon Clan』 were standing closest to Kian, facing each other.
「It really is a lynching. Can't you stand up to the enemy without a group? Cowards.」
「Please tell me I'm being cautious. ...... Everyone be careful! This guy can use some strange tricks!」
Funnelwing's neat face contorted as he held a large sword as tall as he was with his eyes straight.
The male and female adventurers in the vanguard held up large daggers.
「Oh, vanguard squad (you guys), let's go all out!」
「Ahaha! I'll cut your dick off and stuff it up your asshole! Self-anal fuck!」
「Francisca, chanting!」
「O-Okay, Roses Senpai ....... Spirit-san, spirit-san, please.」
The defective sorcerer (Francisca), who doesn't even understand the laws of magic, begins to pray to the heavens.
Kian opened his mouth while observing his surroundings with guarded attention.
「Before we begin, can I ask you one thing?」
「What it is?」
「Not to you, Funnelwing. To the twenty adventurers around me, you see. ――Do you guys have a good enough reason to kill me? Some of you I've never even spoken to before, though.」
「Huuh? What are you talking about?」
The female thief in the vanguard scoffed.
「If you kill one of the lowest-level adventurers, you'll get money from the 『Falcon Clan』!」
「I'm just pissed off because I got fired! I'm killing you because I want to kill you!」
「It's your fault I got fired, you 『Garbage Scavenger』! That's why I'm gonna kill you!」
「That black coat is going for a lot of money! I'll kill you, strip you of it, and give that money for tonight's booze!」
Kian let out a sigh as the adventurers chimed in.
「I get it now. In other words, you are a bunch of scum, huh?」
「Aahh? You're the scum, 『Garbage Scavenger』! If you run away, I'll kill you!」
(They're not making any sense. Are they on drugs?)
『Ho-ho. Oh, ho. They're delightful clowns. They will not suffer. Bathe in their blood and feed yourselves.』
(No need to say it.)
Kian kneaded out the magic power that lay dormant in his body, and then covered it around the wooden sword.
Holding the wooden sword in front of his right eye, he shifts his standing position while his gaze always swings directly to the right and left.
Funnelwing howled.
「Go! Kill him!」
× × ×
Just as the rear-guard crossbowmen took aim at Kian, something unusual happened in the sky.
A flock of black mass-like birds swooped down from the sky all at once.
「W-What the hell? Aggyah!?」
「Aghhh! My eyes, my eyeeeees!」
It was the crows.
The birds that had become Kian's familiar turned into a flock of madness and attacked the adventurers with bows, willing to make sacrifices.
Even when they are struck down with their arms, they persistently cling to their faces and necks, gouging out their eyeballs and skin, depriving them of their freedom of movement.
「What!?」
「Kyaaaah! Roses-senpai, help me!」
「Francisca! Damn you! Get off me!」
The 『Falcon Clan』 and the rear guard are in chaos.
However, the swordsmen in the vanguard did not seem to think of them as friends and rushed toward Kian without care.
「Oraaaaah!」
First, a thief man in the vanguard leaped on Kian's head, brandishing a dagger.
It was an ape-like leap.
He stepped forward with his right foot and at the same time slashed down between Kian's eyes, and when Kian evaded, he flicked his arm to the side and aimed to slice Kian's neck.
Kian ducked backward to avoid the third horizontal slash, and at the same time raised his wooden sword.
「Heat ......!」
The thief man stops moving.
He doesn't realize it yet, but the inside of his wrist with the dagger is already two-thirds gouged out.
Kian grabs him by the throat as if he were dazed and utilizes his body as a shield against the female thief who is attacking him from behind.
「Ogga!?」
「Damn it, get out of my way!」
The male thief's wrists are shredded and bleeding, and the female thief takes his body and lungs on the spot. Kian pierced the male thief's chest, and at the same time, he also pierced the female thief's throat together.
「I got youuuuu!」
「Die, you piece of trash!」
Three swordsmen came from behind.
Two more from the flanks.
Now the vanguard is all of them.
「――!......!」
Kian pulled out his wooden sword and quickly kneaded his magic power as he readied his sword at his side.
Then, he released the magic power he had gathered toward the three men who were rushing toward him.
A swordless 『Shoot』.
The three swordsmen fell back as they were hit by the shockwave.
One of them, a female swordsman, flew through the air due to her light weight and hit the back of her head against the ground.
「Chieeeee!」
「Kieeeeeeee!」
A surprise attack from the flank.
One attacked his neck.
The other is a stab aimed at the side of his head.
Their longswords easily penetrate Kian's body.
The two swordsmen lifted the edge of their mouths.
But then――
「――――」
Kian, who should have been pierced, squinted his eyes ― and a moment later, his figure faded away like a black fog, and he disappeared into the darkness.
「......!?!? Huh ......?」
Kian appears behind the two astonished people, as if the fog is taking shape.
He had moved using a 『Blink』 at the moment of the stabbing and let them pierce through the afterimage.
The two swordsmen were shot in the neck and their heads were slashed off without them noticing Kian standing behind them.
The headless bodies shake with shock.
A spray of blood spurted out and drenched Kian's entire body.
The coat of 『Twilight』 that he was wearing rippled as if it was rejoicing in the blood rain.
「M......, Monster!」
「Lutz, Max! Goddamn it!」
The two swordsmen who had just been staggered by the shockwave of the 『Shoot』 were staggering back into position.
The two staggered back to their stances as they readjusted their longswords in front of them.
Kian lowered his left hand holding the sword and pointed his right arm at them.
A moment later
「Ugh!」
「Ah!? Ggaghh......!?」
The two swordsmen dropped their weapons and fell to their knees on the spot.
As Francisca, who could see the flow of magic power, could tell, the two swordsmen had had their magic power sucked out of them by Kian's 『Art of Spirit Absorption』.
The two swordsmen were drooling with white eyes from the tremendous pleasure that assaulted their bodies.
The swordsman, who could only swing his sword, was no match for Kian, who had received a large amount of magic power from Arueno.
The only thing that can happen is that he will be blown away by 『Shoot』 like this and his life will be sucked out by 『Art of Spirit Absorption』 before he can get close again.
「Aghh....., ahh.......stop, it...., no, noo......」
The two kneeling men's faces wrinkle like an old man's, and their hair turns a bright white.
Kian walks up to them with his hand still pointed at them.
「......Gi......ihh......」
The swordsman becomes an old man whose eyes widen in fear as Kian caresses their cheek.
They shed tears from their eyes and grabbed Kian's right arm.
But there was no strength in their hand.
As it was, the two of them lay on the wet ground in a crumpled heap, as if a sand castle had collapsed.
「What the hell is this ......? What the hell are you doing?」
Kian looked up at the voice and saw Funnelwing trembling with his great sword at the ready.
His eyes, which always seem to be relaxed, were wide open, and his forehead was covered in greasy sweat.
In the pouring rain, Funnelwing's voice echoed weakly.
「Ridiculous ....... They ......, become an old man and die? What, what have you done to them?」
「............」
Kian took his time to look at Funnelwing and at Roses and Francisca, who was struggling with the crows behind him.
Francisca would be able to resist the Art of Spirit Absorption with her magic resistance.
Roses and Funnelwing would not be able to resist with skin contact.
But if they can be touched, it would be more efficient to kill them with a wooden sword.
「Well, well, what shall we do?」
Kian muttered to himself as he approached the last of the fainting vanguard ― a female swordsman.
She is a woman with red hair, freckles, and a lack of refinement.
Kian grabs her by the hair and lifts her up.
「Aghh ...... gahh ......!」
「Wake up. You are my 『friend』 from today.」
He shot the magic power in his body into her.
It took several times the magic power of a crow, but he succeeded in turning her into a servant.
「Okay. ......」
The female swordsman stands up shakily.
Kian rubs her vulgarly open bosom with his hand and sets his teeth on her neck.
「Nnahh......♡」
「Kill that guy.」
「Okay ...... ♡」
「You too. Get up.」
Kian shot magic power into the body of the man who has become an old man and is out of control.
This one stood up shakily like a zombie because his elemental body is dead.
「Fight for me.」
「Arrrr ......」
「You too. Come with me. We'll kill those bastards together.」
「Arrrrr ......, Arrrrrr ......」
The three swordsmen turned into puppets.
Eight of the rear guard of the Adventurer Legion had already been killed by the crows and were being dismembered.
Of the remaining eight, five were unfamiliar with combat and were moving to the right and left, and Kian sent three puppet swordsmen to them.
「Eeekkk!?」
「O-Oi! Why are you pointing your sword at your friends!?」
「Are you, dead ......, agyaaahhhh!?」
「Kukuku......」
Kian lifted the corner of his mouth and turned to face Funnelwing once again.
The handsome, cat-haired swordsman thrust his great sword toward Kian and backed away slowly.
The roots of his teeth don't fit together, making a clattering, and annoying sound.
「The only ones left are you and the rest of the 『Falcon Clan』.」
「......kuhh......!」
「F-Funnelwing! Formation! Let's go!」
「I-I know! Francisca! Your magic is not ready yet!?」
「S-Something's wrong here! Spirit-san won't use magic!」
Francisca shouted, trying to keep up with the sound of the rain.
Her arms and face had been bitten off here and there by the crows and were bleeding bright red.
Incidentally――
Francisca's inability to use magic is not the fault of "Spirit-san".
In the first place, she cannot use the magic that she asks "Spirit-san" to do.
In principle, magic is the art of manipulating and controlling the movement of something.
Asking a spirit to manipulate or control something is considered 『Ritual Magic』, but it was too advanced for Francisca, who had no knowledge of magic.
The reason why Francisca cannot use magic is that the 『Rose Labyrinth』 is preventing her from manipulating and controlling the soil.
The ground under her feet is the body of the 『Rose Labyrinth』, and there is no way that Francisca can manipulate it even if she interferes.
If she wanted to use it, she would have used wind magic to manipulate the flow of air (Francisca can only use magic that manipulates the movement of earth, wind, or water), but she is unable to switch between them because she usually uses magic without knowing what to do with it.
Something happens.
Something is going to happen.
Francisca has no choice but to repeat the Why, why and continue praying to 『Spirit-san』 until there is magic other than the magic that produces spears of earth and lumps of water.
「Damn ......!」
Funnelwing bit his teeth.
Roses lined up beside the cat-haired swordsman with his mace at the ready.
「Damn it, you! I'll fight you! I'll kill you! Oraaaaa!」
「It's commendable that you haven't lost the will to fight yet.」
With these words, Kian embraced the female swordsman who had killed five of her comrades and returned covered in blood.
She pressed her ample breasts against Kian's and leaned down to pamper him.
Kian accepts the bloody longsword from her dead-white hand.
「Thank you, my friend. I don't need you anymore.」
「Ah ......? Ah, arrrr, aahh, ahhhhhh!?」
The female swordsman, her life force sucked out of her, dies as an ugly old woman.
Kian throws her body down to the ground and stomps on her neck, choking her completely.
「C-cruel ......!」
Francisca shuddered and stared at Kian.
「Funnelwing, Roses-Pitt. The magician (Francisca) back there won't work here, you hear? The only way to beat me is for you two to do something about it.」
As Kian said this, he put his wooden sword back on his back, and with the longsword he had taken from the female swordsman, he cleaned the blood by swinging the sword.
A spray of blood splashed like a fan on the rainy ground.
Funnelwing gritted his teeth.
He took off his raincoat, perhaps thinking it was in the way, and readied his greatsword, soaking all over in the rain.
「OOooohhhhhhh!」
The handsome swordsman's magic power flared up.
Physical Ability Enhancement――.
The thick swordsman's arms are even thicker ― swollen like a bear.
Roses also took off his rain gear and knocked his mace into his shield, threatening Kian.
「Oraaaa! Are you scared of me, you 『Garbage Scavenger』! Come at me, bastard!」
「Fine」
Kian nodded his head and swung his longsword arm in a sword dance.
The longsword left a beautiful silver line in the darkness.
The quintessence of Kian, who continued to master the sword in a foolhardy manner.
He has no intention of losing to any other swordsman in terms of technique.
The sword dance is over.
Kian points the tip of his sword at Funnelwing.
Kian raised his eyebrows.
His dark eyes fixed squarely on the two warriors.
He felt a drop of rain dripping from his forehead and running down the bridge of his nose.
「Azrair's Killer Sword ― I'll show you.」
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