CH 77

“Now then. –Why did you hurt them?”

I ask this bunch, releasing the anger I had been trying so hard to suppress.

“You’re the Dragon Slayer? Yeah, you’ve got the vibe.”

A voice is heard from a person of indiscernible gender wearing a robe.

From the sound, a woman?

“I’m asking you a question. Answer my question.”

“Oops, pardon me. The reason why we hurt them, you asked? That’s because they’re related to the Dragon Slayer. If I had their corpses, maybe the Dragon Slayer would show up, I thought.”

“………… In other words, they didn’t do anything to incur your wrath, but you hurt them simply because they were related to me?”

“To put it simply, that’s it, I guess. Though, well, I didn’t expect you to show up so soon.”

You’ve got to be kidding me…….

“Got it. I’ll kill you all too.”

Since that robe girl over there seems to know a lot, I plan to half kill her.

“Oi oi, if you heard us from earlier, you’d know we’re professionals in fighting people, yeah? There’s no way you can beat us all by yourself! And there’s also payback for Gibeah! I’ll send you to hell!”

The man is making a fuss, but I have no obligation to respond.

After activating magic, I dash towards the man.

“Coming from the front, really….. idiot!”

The man swings his whip at me, but it just passes through me.

“What!?”

The magic I cast is my original magic [Decoy].

Something that combines Selma’s original magic [Phantom] and the support magic [Hide].

[Phantom] was something I saw Selma do and stole from her. 

Therefore, the method of my formula and Selma’s should be different.

I, who had become invisible, have already moved next to the man.

And like that, I wield Schwarzhaze and sever the man’s head.

Continuing on while muffling the sound of my footsteps, I approach the other woman diagonally to the left behind the robed woman as quickly as possible with a spare sword in my left hand. 

Applying [Sharpness Up] coupled with the momentum of a charge, I pierce the woman’s chest. 

Then, while turning around, I aim at the area around the robed woman’s thigh and bring down Schwarzhase.

――But before the blade could reach, it’s stopped by the robed woman’s staff. 

Even though she shouldn’t be able to see me, she’s still capable of blocking, huh?

“-su!?”

Feeling the influx of mana under my feet, I quickly distance myself as spears of earth fly out from where I was.

Immediately after that, twenty [Ice Javelins] appear, coming at me simultaneously as though to wrap around me.

(This number of advanced magic in an instant!?)

While deploying a magic barrier and strengthening it with [Mana Convergence], I guard by activating [Impact] at the moment they strike me. 

Additionally, using [Reflective Wall], I send one of the ice spears back at the robe woman.

The robe woman also blocks the ice spear with a magic barrier, but I activate [Impact] and it pierces through.

And just as I thought the spear was about to reach, she dodges with a spectacular reaction speed. 

Although as expected, It seems that she was unable to completely evade, but it grazed her side, far from a fatal wound. 

(She’s a Magician, right? What agility.)

I’m amazed at the way the robe woman can move, not any worse than advanced explorers in Vanguard positions. 

Promptly following, I flank the robe woman and swing Schwarzhase, but it’s again blocked by her staff.

Regardless, I keep swinging, but it all gets stopped.

The decoy’s also making a show of attacking, but it’s being completely ignored as though she doesn’t pay it any mind at all.

After swinging my sword about ten times, a magic barrier suddenly appears between me and the robe woman.

Then, I feel a strange flow of magic power in front of me.

“–su!?”

I instantly jump behind her, and a large explosion occurs at where my face was previously.

(Even though she shouldn’t be able to see my continuous attacks, she’s able to defend while constructing the formula for [Explosion], even if it’s a simplified version. Wait, right now–!?)

Again, the place where I am at explodes. 

As if my path of retreat has been read, explosions occur one after another along where I move.

(Damn, even if I try to block the mana from being channelled, the magic’s being triggered faster than I can block. This activation speed is abnormal……. It’s well beyond the limits of a human’s processing speed. If this is a Talent, exactly what kind of Talent is it?)

I can detect the flow of mana in advance and somehow manage to avoid it, but I feel that my movements are being guided.

By the time the chain of explosions subsides, I’m a fair bit away from the robe woman.

(The [Decoy] is meaningless, isn’t it?)

I decide so and deactivate [Decoy].

“You got out of my attack unscathed. You’re quite good, Dragon Slayer.”

The robe woman opens her mouth.

Looks like she still has some spare energy left in her.

It could be a bluff, but let’s not be over optimistic.

This guy is strong.

Compared to other people I’ve met so far, she’s definitely top class.

And I just noticed that the wound on her side has already healed.

While repeatedly casting that kind of advanced magic, and still able to use recovery magic, give me a break.

“……You, you’re a member of the “Amunzers” aren’t you?”

I’m guessing this from the “professionals in fighting people” I heard from the man I killed earlier, and from the feeling of this woman being used to fighting. 

The first candidates that come to mind when hearing the words “professionals in fighting people” are militaries of various countries.

Military are the fighting forces retained by the royal family or lords, responsible for maintaining the security of the territory during normal times and are sent to the battlefield when war breaks out.

That’s why soldiers are trained to fight against humans.

For this reason, two months ago, when the Black Dragon appeared on the surface, it was us explorers who were dispatched, not soldiers. 

Incidentally, the military personnel here in the Kingdom of Nohitant are divided into two categories: the central army, controlled by the royal family, and the territorial army, controlled by the lords.

Given what I mentioned above, military personnel rarely enter the labyrinth.

This being so, the next candidate would be “Amunzers”, an organisation that has been killing explorers in large numbers in various places.

“Correct. Your insight is also quite good. You remind me of someone I once knew. He died when I was a child, but if he had managed to grow up, he might have ended up like you.”

This distance is disadvantageous for me. Against an opponent capable of that continuous kind of advanced magic, distancing myself is a ridiculous strategy.

I don’t really want to talk to the people who hurt the three of them, but to make some time for me to close the gap, I have to resort to this. 

“……Why are you killing explorers?”

“Even I don’t want to kill people, alright. But this is the only path left remaining for us. The original has been destroyed and the replica has fallen into enemy hands. All we can do now is to hold on to a little thread of hope and earn some time.”

Original? Replica?　

I’m curious, but now’s not the time to think about it.

“Like a terrorist. If this is the only way, then give it up already.”

“Cheh, shut up……! You’re a pest that harms this world! People like you are ultimately bringing the world closer to destruction!”

For the first time, the robe woman lets her emotions spill.

(Tsk, even when she gets angry, she’s not going to show any openings.)

“–Phew. You’re not going to take the cheap shot, huh? Well then, is this enough to buy you some time?”

Immediately after her outburst, she returns to her initial coolness.

She was entertaining my conversation while knowing I was gaining time, after all. Purposely dropped some words to catch my interest.

“Let me predict your next move, alright? You’re going to close the distance at once with [Space Leap], yeah? You’re what the explorers call a Vanguard Attacker. Against me, who would be categorised as a Rearguard Attacker, you have no vision of winning if you keep your distance like that. You going to move behind me? Or to me flank? Or you dare come from the front?”

The robe woman confidently predicts my next move.

When she’s careless because of the talking, for me to use [Space Leap] to approach and attack.

I do think that’s indeed the most effective method.

But she’s incorrect.