CH 247

Chapter 247 – Shiki Dies?!

“Not good! Hold on tight!” (Bouchi)

As we went through a particularly abrupt change in direction, I nearly fell off the [Jet Book], but I managed to somehow hold on without being shaken off.

The flash of light that we had just dodged by a paper-thin margin whizzed past us and wiped out a nearby iceberg. While being cowed by the sight, we flew along at low altitude. But at that moment, a Killer Turtle shot out of a hole in the ice in front of us.

“In front of us too?!” (Bouchi)

I braked as hard as I could, bringing the [Jet Book] to a stop. I was almost thrown forward, but Kaza grabbed me and held me from falling off.

As all of that was happening, the Killer Turtle was soaring through the air towards us with its sharp, shark-like teeth bared.

“You are nothing on land!” (Shiki)

Shiki quickly leapt forward and tore the Killer Turtle to pieces with his scythes in spectacular fashion.

But right after that, more and more Killer Turtles began to shoot out of the holes in the ice one after the other.

“Milord, there’s a light at our rear—!” (Kaza)

“Daaaamn iiiit!” (Bouchi)

I immediately soared upwards in a completely vertical trajectory—but that was when I noticed. Shiki was still on the ground.

“Shikiiiii!!” (Bouchi)

I immediately looked down from the [Jet Book], but by the time I confirmed Shiki’s figure, the flash of light had already arrived. The force of the attack sent snow flying up into the air, wrapping the Killer Turtles up in blast as well.

“N-No way… Shiki-san…!” (Sol)

Sol’s expression also turned pale. If there was a shadow around, he could have submerged into it and avoided it, but as there were no obstacles nearby, there couldn’t have been any shadows.

In other words, he…

“Shiki… There’s no way.” (Bouchi)

“Milord, it’s not over yet!” (Kaza)

The onslaught of Galafegorn wasn’t finished. Another flash of light shot towards our position in the middle of the air.

For now, we had to prioritize evading, so we dove into a conveniently positioned crevasse in the ice and dodged the attack.

It had finally lost sight of us, so the attacks from the flashes of light stopped. And since we weren’t underwater, the Killer Turtles were also nowhere in sight.

“““……”””

But instead of feeling a sense of relief at the moment’s repose, all we felt was a sense of loss because of Shiki’s absence.

“M-Master…” (Sol)

“Milord…” (Kaza)

The two of them called out to me, concerned about my dazed state.

It was the result of my poor judgment. As long as they were in the water, I should have guessed that the Killer Turtles would wrap around and get ahead of us so that they could attack from the front. No, I was just too naive in my thinking while up against an S-Rank opponent.

These weren’t ordinary monsters that could somehow be dealt with if they got the flank on us. There was no way I should have let such a blind spot go overlooked so easily.

I should have planned my strategy more thoroughly. I had the power to do so, too.

Instead… I made my choices based on vague probabilities.

“Damn it…!” (Bouchi)

My chest tightened painfully. I remembered this pain well.

It was the same pain that I’d felt when my parents died.

On top of that, I felt a sense of emptiness and anger towards myself that I couldn’t even put into words—-for bringing about this difficult reality as a result of my own hasty judgment.

I suppose this let me understand just how much I cared for Shiki.

As I was gloomily reflecting on my own pathetic self and wallowing in the grief of losing someone important to me, a Killer Turtle suddenly broke through the ice ridge and lunged towards me with its mouth wide open.

—Swish!

But at that moment, the Killer Turtle in front of my eyes was severed in half right down the middle.

“….Eh?” (Bouchi)

My eyes widened in astonishment as I looked to the one who had performed this action.

I thought it had been Kaza protecting me, but there was someone else.

There was no doubt about who this being was.

“—Shiki?” (Bouchi)

“Are you unharmed, milord?” (Shiki)

“Shiki… Shiki…! You, are you alright?!” (Bouchi)

“This one managed to slip into the shadows just in time.” (Shiki)

So he said, but his right arm was missing, and I could see that he was bleeding profusely from the wound.

“Your arm…?! And what shadow… There were no shadows for you to slip into…!” (Bouchi)

Everything seemed to be happening in rapid succession, leaving me momentarily confused and unable to keep up with my own thoughts.

“Milord, this place is not completely safe. Now that Shiki-dono is with us, it would be better to go further in.” (Kaza)

“Ah, yeah, you’re right. Shiki, let’s go!” (Bouchi)

With that, we immediately left that spot and pushed deeper into the crevasse.

We created some distance, so Galafegorn probably wouldn’t pursue us this far. Either way, I still decided to have Kaza and Sol keep watch while I went about treating Shiki’s wounds.