379. Lena Ep – One Hit

At first, it looked pretty manageable.

Sure, it was quite big, but it was all alone, and compared to that mountain of a monster, it seemed rather unimpressive.

Just a slightly weird-looking monster.

So, Leira crossed her arms and watched the battle unfolding in front of her.

However, that thought changed rapidly.

The two-headed monster’s first attack was a spear thrust. Five royal guards were skewered and lifted into the air like skewers. Leira Ainar didn’t even realize she had uncrossed her arms.

Whoa… that’s a bit strong?

Still, there was some room to breathe. Our numbers were overwhelming. Unless it created its own allies with magic, it wouldn’t stand a chance.

But then, BAM!

The monster swung its spear. Despite its grotesque appearance, the movement was almost beautiful.

It never swung its arms wildly. That would be foolish. The monster spun the spear around its waist.

Then BAM! The sound of air bursting filled the space. To Leira, the spear was invisible. All she saw was a red disc where the spear had passed.

Even from afar, it was shocking; what must it have been like for those up close? Before they could even register what happened, their heads and waists were severed. Those were knights.

‘We need to go.’

Leira thought to herself. To that creature, which could easily turn humans into pulp with its long spear, numbers meant nothing.

But how should she confront it?

Leira imagined herself standing in front of that thing. She thought of charging in using Abota as a shield, only to be stabbed to death. Even approaching cautiously with a sword would yield the same result.

She couldn’t handle it right now.

Leira evaluated her skills with cold clarity. If that’s the case…

“Barin. Neil. Wendy. Go. Take it down.”

At that moment, three royal knights appeared from behind, pushing through the soldiers.

Leira had just been thinking she needed a sample. She needed time to observe how to deal with an enemy wielding a spear.

As they passed by, a slightly shorter knight was heard joking around carelessly.

“A spear, huh? Hahaha. Joen should have come. Spears are his specialty.”

“Sir Neil, please be quiet.”

“Who cares? Honey, you know I always love you, right?”

“Now’s not the time for that! Ugh, I’m so embarrassed I can’t take it!”

Neil seemed to be sensing impending doom. Yet he kept rambling, seemingly trying to lighten the mood.

He wasn’t very sharp.

As those three advanced while listening to Neil’s silly jokes and confessions that had gone unsaid, they didn’t look back even once.

“Wow, f*ck, that’s super scary.”

Finally arriving in front of the monster, the three drew their weapons. Even then, Neil’s mouth didn’t stop.

“Should we turn back now? I mean, loyalty and all, but isn’t our lives more important? Hahaha. Let’s make sure we come back alive, okay?”

Leira closed her eyes and looked at them, paying silent respect to those who would soon meet their end. How could they possibly take on that thing…

“Huh?”

“Whoa, Honey. Did I just see that? It almost took your head off!”

“Shut up, please! Focus!”

Wendy thrust forward. Although it missed, how was that even possible? Leira was in awe.

They seemed to read the spear’s trajectory.

One moved first; when one was in danger, the other two attacked fiercely. For a moment, a glimmer of hope appeared, but…

“Phew.”

The monster ceased swinging the spear. Grabbing it waist-high, it jabbed both forward and back.

BAM, BAM!

And then an ensuing shove. The monster raised its spear to block Sir Barin’s sword and pushed him back with great force. Sir Barin was losing his stance.

“Ah! Fall b…”

– Thud!

In that moment, Neil’s head was pierced by the spear. It was utterly unpredictable.

As the monster thrust its spear with both hands, it curled up in a sort of victory pose.

That’s when Leira saw it.

The spear had been so strong it bent.

The monster released its right hand, crushing Sir Neil’s head from behind. Neil had yelled out to his wife, thinking the monster would let go of its left hand.

“Honey!!”

A foolish husband.

Not a hint of charm and always spoke harshly, they’d been bickering since apprentice days.

After ten years of quarreling, they finally got married due to some strange affection. Even their cousin Rudy had tried to talk them out of it.

The spear struck her.

*

“…That’s enough. Let’s go.”

Sir Barin fought bravely but died.

It wasn’t much of a consolation that the lives of the fallen felt like scraps of paper, but Leira had gotten the hang of it.

Leira dragged her long sword forward and moved on. Ray followed, and Sir Reb pushed through the crowd as well.

Strangely familiar yet unidentified young swordmaster was with them too.

Ray was stronger than her, and Sir Reb was the champion. And that boy was a swordmaster, so maybe it was best to leave the fighting to them?

─ Leira thought like that.

It wasn’t fear; it was about efficiency. It was the right call. Yet, a burning desire ignited within her.

– “Leira, you’re going to do great things. Having the god’s weapon means just that. It’s truly magnificent! You’ll accomplish something extraordinary… something I couldn’t even dream of…”

Where on earth did that old man Boris disappear to? It was ridiculous that she was feeling flustered by a senile old man’s drunken ramblings. Yet her heart raced.

‘If I die, I die. I have no complaints if it’s because of my own incompetence.’

If she died, someone else would pick up her sword and finish it for her. Leira smiled at Ray.

Ray smiled back and nodded. It gave her courage.

But why was Sir Reb also smiling like that? So awkward.

They approached the monster with smiles. The only one looking tense and serious was the swordmaster. He seemed scared.

What’s up with that? So unreliable.

If he’s really a swordmaster, shouldn’t he have said something cool like, “Just follow me”?

But he didn’t.

He was shaking and forcing his arms down, looking like he might pee his pants.

This was seriously disappointing, she thought as they faced the monster. At that moment, Leira felt a strange sensation.

[ Leo, you and Lena have overwhelmingly defeated a strong opponent together. For that achievement, you receive the ability {Joint Skill}. ]

Attacking one target with multiple people was surprisingly difficult. You had to worry about interfering with others’ movements or accidentally hitting them.

She had practiced enough with Ray, so she’d be fine with him, but it would be incredibly awkward with everyone else.

But it certainly felt seamless.

So they were both champions, and that boy really was a swordmaster, huh?

Sir Reb and the young swordmaster split off in different directions. Ray took the front, and she assumed a side position.

Her sword was a heavy weapon, making it difficult to wield easily. The monster scowled unpleasantly.

“Replicas.”

Not sure what that meant, but it seemed like it was looking down on them. It was a good thing. Ray went on the offensive.

“HAH!”

The moment he swung his sword, Sir Reb and the boy moved in perfect synchronicity. They didn’t attack all at once but spaced their movements.

To make sure their attacks would come one after another.

To block the monster’s dodging maneuvers.

Leira too –

– Grurururur

Drew her sword along the ground, preparing for an upward slash to follow. Of course, things rarely went that smoothly.

“Phew.”

The monster brought the spear down with one hand and spun it.

The spear was swung down to counter Ray’s attack, and the tail of the spear was then raised to block the swordmaster’s horizontal slash.

And with its left hand, it reached out to grab Sir Reb’s neck. The moment the eagle claw reached towards Sir Reb, I had to do my part.

– Grurururur!

“UAAAAAH! Eat this!”

An upward diagonal slash that swept across the ground.

I had such a moment in my mind, but the monster’s goat leg began to glow.

With a POP, it slammed to the ground without any preparation.

Or was it always in that curved position, ready to go? Either way, it lunged towards Sir Reb like it was trying to crush his neck.

“Ugh!”

Sir Reb’s sword struck down upon it. However, CLANG! It was blocked by its goat horn.

If only Sir Reb hadn’t rushed in and it had been the swordmaster, how delightful would that have been?

In that case, the horn could have been split right along with the head. Of course, it would understand to target Sir Reb instead.

It was a dire moment.

Sir Reb was on the verge of being seized, and the monster cunningly used its right hand to swing the spear back, blocking Ray’s approach. I was struggling to maintain my balance due to the weight of my raised sword.

“Ugh!”

At that moment, the young swordmaster did something.

An over-seven-meter-long Oblivion Blade burst forth from his sword and plunged down towards the monster attacking Sir Reb.

Hey! You idiot… or maybe not.

For just a moment, she was taken aback by the immense Oblivion Blade, nearly scolding him.

If that monster was struck down, wouldn’t Sir Reb be split in half too? she thought.

The monster seemed to think the same way and dodged aside.

– CLANG!

But Sir Reb survived. He barely managed to block it with his sword, which was oddly the exact same sword as Ray’s.

The monster muttered.

“It was Leo’s left sword, huh. Well, look at that. Even that has multiples. Baneka will love this.”

No matter what it said, they quickly reorganized.

Regaining their stances, each reflected on the skills they had just displayed and contemplated their next moves.

The exploratory phase was over.

The monster seemed to have gauged their skills, holding the spear at waist height.

With its right hand, it held the spear behind its back, while its left hand relaxed as it extended. That posture…

“Dodge!”

The vicious sound of slicing swept through the area.

No, the sound came later; we barely ducked under it. The slicing noise only followed after the attack had grazed over our heads.

The monster swung the spear around, leveraging its back as a pivot. And it happened more than once.

“Run!”

It swept the returning spear with its left hand. A series of red arcs followed, the same motions it had used to mow down everyone before.

There was no way to dodge it based on reflex.

You had to predict its preparation. Unfortunately, that usually came with its own set of troubles.

“First, one of them.”

It seemed the monster chose to eliminate Ray first. As Ray hovered in midair to dodge, the monster’s spear was ready to plunge.

But why Ray first?

The swordmaster was also floating right next to him, and I was here too, right? It was a blow to her pride.

For reasons unknown, it seemed the monster considered Ray the greatest threat. The spear charged toward him.

– BAM!

“Ugh.”

Whoa. That was good.

Ray managed to control his sword even in the air.

He deflected the monster’s spear tip with the edge of his sword and minimized damage by rolling on the ground. Sir Reb rushed in to block the monster’s follow-up attack.

And again came the young swordmaster’s Oblivion Blade crashing down.

It seemed that attack was the most threatening to the monster.

But why did it target Ray first? Ah, who knows. It must have really disliked Ray.

After that, the monster and the rest of us exchanged blows.

Thanks to the priests giving blessings from afar, they barely survived, and there were moments where the swordmaster’s blunders nearly cost everyone their heads.

Leira felt that this wouldn’t do.

They were tiring, but the monster was still lively. The young swordmaster seemed inexperienced in battle, and the monster registered that weakness, starting to exploit it.

Indeed, he was very young. He looked about thirteen or fourteen at most.

Leira took a step back from the fray. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her stance.

She held the sword with a shorter grip. Though still large, it became much easier to handle.

“Leira?”

“Don’t talk to me, focus.”

However, with that choice came a heaviness to her body. As she gripped it wider instead of just by the hilt, the center of gravity moved closer to her body.

With that, dodging the monster’s attacks would become more difficult. But there was no choice; she couldn’t continue as she was.

She decided to stab forward like she was digging with a shovel. Just once. Let’s get a hit in.

Leira inched closer to the monster, moving carefully.

Of course, the monster would have noticed her change in posture and would be on high alert.

And sure enough, the monster initiated its move.

“Phew.”

The violently rotating red disc. She ducked down to avoid it. She was getting the hang of this now.

What came next was terrifying.

Whether she ducked down or jumped, as soon as she lost her stance while dodging the disc, it lunged forward with a thrust.

With a sword as tall as she was, there was no way to evade it.

She simply trusted Ray.

“Where are you going!”

The moment the monster took its thrusting stance, Ray charged in, launching himself at the three-meter beast, ready for a close-quarters fight, and the monster seemed unnaturally wary of Ray.

Now was her chance!

With her sword low to the ground, she dashed out, intending to slip past the monster’s side while Ray distracted it.

Being left-footed was actually to her advantage.

She quickly turned to stab at its flank, but that grin. The monster looked down at her with a grotesque smile.

Its spear spun around to swat Ray’s sword away, then it snatched it with its right hand, turning backward. The spear, now rotating behind its back, collided with Sir Reb and the boy before lunging at her with a thrust. She was going to die…

The tip of the spear was just a dot, aimed straight for her forehead. She gritted her teeth and leaped down toward the ground. Forward.

She was as good as dead already, so please, just one shot…!

And that’s when it happened. Ray laughed brightly.

“Gotcha!”

The moment the spear was about to pierce her forehead, CLANG! A blue hemisphere burst.

She felt the necklace Ray had given her snap around her neck, and she could see the panic in the monster’s eyes.

Without a moment to recover the deflected spear, the monster clumsily scraped its clawed hand toward her.

As her left foot stretched forward, she thought, ‘What just happened?’

Just like that lady knight named Katrina, she forced her center of gravity to shift as she fell sideways. Using the momentum from falling, she stabbed upward, deep.

“KRAK!! I, I…!”

The sword that proclaimed it had cut a god. A’ bota plunged into the body of the thunderous God Lachar let out a booming laugh.