Chapter 21 Steel Blades Never Bow Down 3

At the activation of the skill, Hiro pounced to meet Artorius. With the speed of both combatants being over 2000 AGI, they clashed swords almost instantaneously.

Hiro's sword skill slashed through the gale currents and shattered the dome of wind. Artorius who never expected Hiro to counterattack was caught off guard at the approaching steel. 'What? How? [Thirty-Six Gales]? SHIT! Regulus prioritize protecting me!'

The winds from the Artorius blade suddenly dissipated and formed several small floating shields in front of Hiro's blade. *TING! TING! TING! TING! TING! TING! *

The longsword's attacks bounced off the windshields one after another. A 36-layered assault combination of slashes, stabs, and arching cuts were blocked without fail. Regulus the spirit king prioritized defense above all and disappeared after he completed his task.

But the battle had yet to end, while Regulus was defending, Artorius stopped advancing and covered his face with his hand and blade.

Hiro on the other hand placed it all on the line for one last strike after [Thirty-Six Gales] ended. Immediately after being warded off by Regulus, he leaped and swung his sword into an overhead slash.

"ARTORIUS!!!!!!" Hiro roared mid-swing, and the white knight who peeked behind his hands saw the battle-frenzied expression of the bloody trash swordsman and felt shivers crawl up his spine. 'THIS FUCKER IS INSANE! HE DOESN'T MIND IF HE DIES! ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS KILLING ME!'

Paralyzed from fear, in Artorius' mind, Hiro ceased to be a man but became a demon holding a sword. The demon's eyes glowed red and its jaws opened to swallow him up. "HYUK! AHHHHH!!!! GET AWAY!!!!!!! MOMMY!!!!!" The blood-drunk saint then bent down and covered his ears like a child.

After a few moments…. nothing happened. Artorius looked up only to see Hiro unconscious on the farthest wall. His limbs were bursting with blood as if the fluids wanted to revolt against his recklessness. The trash swordsman was now out of commission. Beside Artorius was a mountain of a man with fiery red hair.

"That was beyond pathetic Arthur. You are the sub-commander of Starfall, if you act like this in the face of death you will not survive the fight in six months."

Maximilian who suddenly appeared stopped Hiro's attack and punched him into the wall. He then looked at his hand, the one he used to catch the longsword of the trash swordsman.

'This other guy, on the other hand, fears neither injury nor death. Only driven towards one goal, to rip his opponent apart no matter the cost. That strike carried enough power of a Lvl 80 individual, this guy should only be at Lvl 1 right? If I didn't step in Arthur would have died.'

Unlike Arthur, Maximilian has been in this world for five years. During that time he did nothing but fight. He immediately knew what they did to Hiro would bite them back in the ass. Through unknown means, a Lvl 1 [Sword Novice] was able to overwhelm and almost beat a Lvl 65 [Sword Grandmaster].

The danger being something he could not ignore, Max still needed Starfall for his purposes. Cracking his neck, the man pulled out a gigantic war hammer from thin air and walked towards Hiro.

If he could not be won over, he needed to be put down. After what they did to the poor bastard, the odds that Hiro would still side with Starfall were minuscule. But as he came nearer multiple figures moved to block his path.

A violet girl with a skull mask brandished a great sword and stood in front of Hiro as if to protect him.

By her side, a blonde woman in a maid outfit that had metallic arms. On the maid's left hand a curved dagger and on her right a wrist-mounted crossbow. Both pointed at the red-haired husband of Starfall.

Lastly, a small child in a violet hood with bandages all over her face and body joined them with mana circulating around her in torrents.

All three were in combat stances and stood between Maximilian and Hiro. The red-haired man grew surprised at the courage of the three. He had been here in Valorious for over five years, tales of his exploits were known, and his infamy as the crimson overlord spread across the land.

If they knew how he battled, which was by annihilating entire armies single-handedly. That either meant these girls were in love with Hiro or were insane. He needed to confirm which it was, as he disliked killing women the most.

"I believe you three should know who I am, I intend to take Hiro to the infirmary, could you three please leave, this does not concern you."

"He used my sword to almost kill Sir Artorius, If I let you take him you might pin this entire thing on me." Said the skull woman.

Max countered with "If I guarantee you will not be persecuted will you leave?" The woman didn't move but replied, "You must be the most violent nurse in the empire. The hammer is a bit much, no?"

Adding her input, the young child then spoke in a robotic voice. "Hiro. Under my protection. I heal him. Go away."

The crimson overlord then rubbed the back of his head as he asked in an annoyed fashion. "Listen you little brat do you even know who I am? Do you think you can protect him from me?"

The child then suddenly created black circles where her eyes would be as she said. "I know. Don't care. Leave."

Frustrated Max then looked towards the maid and asked. "And what's your excuse? Why is a maid even here?".

The blonde maid kept her crossbow aimed at the crimson warlord as she answered. "I am following the command of the emperor Master Andino. He forbade the murder of any transmigrator less a calamity falls on the empire."

"And why didn't you use your pea shooter to shoot Hiro down to save Artorius? He would not have died if I didn't arrive. I know you were already here before the battle began." The maid nonchalantly answered, "That's because Mitsurugi-sama is a wonderful person while Moretti-sama is scum."

Max couldn't say anything to that rebuttal, Artorius only looked like a knight, childish, arrogant, and brutish. Weak to the strong but strong to the weak. Rape, bribes, murder, he did it all, Rhyne protecting him being the only reason he still lived.

Back to the situation at hand, due to negotiations failing, no other recourse remained but violence. The law became partial to the strong in most cases. With enough strength, one can overturn even the scales of justice. And Max had arguably the second-highest STR stat among men.

"Well, I don't like killing women but if you refuse to leave then prepare to die with him."