Chapter 30

“Let’s not ignore one crucial fact here: Adelheid’s combat experience is pretty lacking.”

She had only trained with the Tin Knight for a little over two weeks.

Her ability to dominate in the Lenart Dojo came from her quick surprise attacks and unexpected maneuvers—not because Adelheid was overwhelmingly powerful.

Therefore, Dorothea did not demand things like, “Take down your opponent.”

Just buy some time.

She aimed to just hold one of the magical beasts’ ankles in some way.

And even if things got unfavorable, there was a clause that she could run away at any point.

Adel was pleased with that consideration.

That witch, who was slightly older than her, was cruel to opponents facing a blade but had a surprisingly soft spot for her companions.

And because of that, Adelheid had no intention of running away easily.

The Tin Knight and Dorothea treated her not as a servant but as a companion.

So, Adel felt the need to show that she wasn’t embarrassed to stand among them.

– “Ukkiee!”

The bat-winged monkey soared across the first floor.

Its golden body shot down to the ground in an instant, once reaching an almost ceiling-high elevation.

Sharp claws darted toward her face.

Instead of flinching or cowering, Adel examined the attack’s trajectory and dodged out of the way.

‘I felt it in the dojo, but the training is really paying off…!

Adel felt a rush of joy.

Having gotten so beaten for repeatedly closing her eyes and losing sight of the enemy, it became second nature not to blink in such situations.

It was a truly unfortunate misunderstanding, fueled by Adel’s own exceptional talents.

Typically, repeating such actions would only lead to more trauma and make one more timid, something Adel was unaware of.

The Tin Knight didn’t originally have a heart, and Dorothea didn’t understand the training of knights or warriors, so there was no one to correct her delusion.

– “Ukkieek!”

Of course, the monkey attacking Adel had no idea about these intricate details.

The golden beast merely wanted to capture its prey that was expertly dodging its attacks.

Seeing the target evading attacks just out of reach was increasingly infuriating.

It had tried to return to its owner a few times, abandoning its prey, but each time, Adel seemed to catch on and pounce, thwarting those attempts.

Eventually, the already low patience of the monkey wore thin.

– “Kyaaaah!”

The monkey’s golden fur shimmered as it moved even faster.

Feeling an icy chill crawling down her spine, Adel quickly used her sword to guard herself.

Crunch!

Her iron sword shattered upon blocking the monkey’s attack, and shards grazed her thigh.

She felt a sharp pain, but there was no time to tend to the wound.

The monkey, releasing magical power from its wings and claws, was charging at Adel.

Convinced that even a single hit would be fatal, Adel’s body instinctively thought of a tactic to employ.

She grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at the monkey.

One would argue that such powerful throwing was basic courtesy for a trained noble lady.

– “Ukkie!”

To the monkey, however, who swung claws as if they were extensions of its body, that was just a silly attack.

With a single kick, the chair crumbled.

Next came a water bottle, but it too shattered from a mere flap of its wings.

Then a desk, followed by a picture frame, and then a poker for the fireplace… By this point, even the monkey was starting to get a funny feeling.

Wait, isn’t she throwing a bit too much stuff?

– “U-Ukkieek!”

Regardless of the monkey’s complaints, Adel was too busy tossing everything she could get her hands on.

If she closed the distance, she’d get torn apart by claws, but if she widened the gap, she’d lose her target—this was the best she could manage at the moment.

Fortunately, as the most popular tavern in town, the first-floor space was quite spacious, and Tom and the staff were collapsed in the corner, unconscious.

This meant both that they hadn’t been caught up in the battle and that they weren’t forced to watch the chaos unfolding right in front of them.

However, even this was just a drop in the bucket compared to the mayhem occurring upstairs.

***

Puhh!

Bang!

Crack!

The wall crumbled with a single punch from the monkey.

The Tin Knight stomped hard, causing the ground to dent as if it might collapse.

Gold and silver. Every time their magical powers clashed, something in the surroundings would break or shatter.

After swinging his arms and rolling to dodge the advance, the Tin Knight began to analyze the opponent’s characteristics.

The monkey with bird-like wings had a robust physique, decent flying ability, and was overall well-balanced.

While he hadn’t faced the bat-winged monkey directly, he could guess that its abilities were centered around agility and flight.

But what about the insect-winged monkey he was fighting now?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A purely physical powerhouse.

A moving mass of muscle.

It was more than one and a half times the size of the Tin Knight, with arms and legs that resembled tree trunks and fur thicker than its siblings.

The wings on its back barely served as decoration, given that they lacked flying capability in this indoor space, yet that wasn’t a major drawback.

Whoosh!

With a beast-like roar accompanying each swing of its massive arms, the Tin Knight’s body flailed like an inflatable doll.

Having lost his shield in the previous battle, the Tin Knight was left with only a single sword.

One hand wielding the sword, the other empty.

He could no longer carry out his most confident tactics, and the Tin Knight’s body continued to be battered and wounded.

This stood in sharp contrast to how he’d overwhelmed his opponent without taking any real damage in their first fight.

The opponent was stronger, and the Tin Knight was at a disadvantage.

Thus, the advantage in this fight lay overwhelmingly with—

Crackle!

—the Tin Knight’s side.

A mix of pain and confusion crossed the monkey’s face.

Despite getting battered in each collision with the Tin Knight, he hadn’t suffered any critical wounds.

Of course, if that was the only factor, there would be no reason for the monkey to lose badly.

For it hadn’t sustained significant damage either.

Though the shoulder injury from the initial surprise attack had been somewhat deep, it was well within the monkey’s regenerative ability to recover from it.

Yes, provided the monkey’s regeneration was working normally.

Suddenly, a burning pain was felt at its shoulder blade.

Not just the shoulder, but every wound that the Tin Knight had inflicted seemed to throb with pain.

Typically, such cuts could be easily ignored, but now they felt insistent, haunting the monkey.

The Tin Knight’s eyes gleamed vividly.

The sword in his hand was stained black.

This wasn’t the sword’s original color.

It wasn’t the Tin Knight’s magical color either.

Poison. And a curse.

Dorothea’s witchcraft was mercilessly digging into the monkey’s wounds.

“I have no time to leisurely get a shield. Well, it’ll be inconvenient for you without one of your usual equipment, so I’ll enhance your sword instead.”

“This spell is meant to amplify the weapons of the undead, so using it as a living being will injure you as well. But for you, I won’t need to worry about side effects.”

“Unlike last time, you don’t need to conserve your magical energy to protect me or keep your options open. Use it all up and obliterate your opponent.”

Even though there was no one to share the thoughts with, the Tin Knight shouted.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists that you and I share a hierarchical relationship!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ claims that dot damage is the truth!]

-■■■■!

The monkey erupted in a roar of fury.

Seemingly displeased with the Tin Knight’s agile moves avoiding lethal blows, it flailed its robust body wildly, turning the environment into chaos.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ gleams as it sees the pattern of illumination coming!]

The Tin Knight didn’t dodge.

Instead, he plunged right into the monkey’s embrace.

When it swung its right arm, the monkey’s shoulder would get cut.

When it swung its left arm, its shins would take a stab.

He even trampled on its tail and climbed its thigh to slam down onto its head.

This was an extremely risky move that could easily lead to the Tin Knight receiving severe damage, but his movements were as lively as someone dancing.

There was no chance for mistakes.

No way he could fail.

He was the Tin Knight.

Even if he was drastically weakened compared to his peak, he was not someone who could easily fall to a mere strong monkey.

Crash!

The floor on the fourth floor couldn’t withstand their fierce battle and collapsed again.

With the monkey’s insect wings torn to shreds, the Tin Knight shouted.

[If you want to confuse me, at least bring something like immortality!]

***

The golden wheel dashed across the floor.

As the blades on the surface met the fine carpet, it transformed into rags in an instant.

The wheel surged forward, seemingly poised to slice Dorothea in half.

But the undead monkey blocked its way.

As the blade wheel clashed with the monkey’s hands, a harsh metallic sound heralded a stalemate.

Dorothea tore open two leather pouches, scattering their contents across the floor.

A mix of translucent oil and a deadly purple liquid morphed into a swarm of mice.

Just touching them would numb the skin, and if bitten, one’s life would be in grave danger.

“Making them on the spot, tossing them as consumables once used—this truly is necromancer magic. There’s not an ounce of respect for life…”

Near Franka’s feet, a leftover golden block from the wheel was set on the ground.

While the swarm of poisoned mice dodged the block or jumped high, doing so was futile.

Because the spikes that burst forth from the square block impaled the mice.

Franka reached for a nearby vanity with her right hand.

The vanity creaked and shook violently, and in the next moment, it transformed.

The mirror became arrowheads, the wood became arrow shafts, and the fabric that decorated the area turned into arrow vanes. Somehow, they settled on the golden block, which had turned into a crossbow.

Dozens of arrows shot toward Dorothea all at once.

“So, did you have your child commit murder because you were all about respecting life? Special treatment for yourself, huh? How about a bit of consistency?”

A white bone powder scattered from Dorothea’s hands.

The powdered bones, inflated with Dorothea’s magic, formed a massive skeleton shield that deflected the arrows.

“What even is that magical automaton? How did it manage to perform such dreadful and harsh acts with an artificial soul’s thought circuit?!”

“Don’t blame me for something I didn’t make! And do you think I’ll fall for those veiled changes of subject?”

While exchanging terse verbal retorts, the two continued to wield their magic.

Dorothea’s curse was repelled by the decorative accessories adorning Franka’s body.

Right before Franka shot out a golden blade, the evil spirits summoned by Dorothea disrupted her senses.

Franka was at her wit’s end.

‘What on earth is this woman!?’

There are various schools of magic, but if one were to name the most vile, disgusting, and pathetic among them, Franka would firmly stand by “necromancer.”

They couldn’t cast high-level spells purely from their own magic and skills; instead, they used the corpses of others and the residual magic they contained.

Good souls content with their lives were difficult to manipulate, so they dealt only with vengeful evil spirits, slowly driving them mad as well.

People who simply absorbed the witch’s magic, which had not meant to imply ‘woman magician’ but rather the ancient arts of ‘witchcraft,’ becoming merely pitifully weak in some trivial skills while having ambiguous capabilities across the board.

The preparation process was lengthy, the time required was substantial, and the magic cast at such a hardship wasn’t particularly strong. Thus, there was little reason for anyone with real talent to learn the necromancer’s magic.

But the woman before her?

‘If normal necromancer magic requires 5 catalysts, 4 time, and 1 magic, this woman is compensating for every shortfall in catalysts and time with pure magic.’

From a combat perspective, this was an incredibly effective idea.

Magic that usually required numerous offerings or a grand altar could have its catalysts reduced to just small pouches, and processes that typically demanded long rituals could be initiated instantly with just raw magic input.

However, it was an incredibly inefficient action for a wizard.

A catalyst of 1 couldn’t be replaced with magic of 1. There’d be losses in the substitution process.

Franka estimated that the exchange rate was at least 1 to 10.

Thus, that witch was pouring 71 total magic units (40 for catalysts, 30 for time, 1 for magic) just to activate a mere total of 10 magical units.

This was nothing one would do while in their right mind.

More than anything, what infuriated Franka was recognizing that she was being decisively overpowered by someone engaging in such a foolish act.

And it wasn’t due to quality of magic or skill in operation—it was simply about volume!

“This… this can’t be happening!”

Tap, tap.

The accessories Franka had been carrying began to break, one by one.

The gems in her earrings shattered, the chain of her necklace snapped, and her rings split in two.

Overwhelmed by the excessive mass turned necromancer curses, the protective gear Franka had personally crafted could no longer hold together and shattered.

The golden blocks, transforming into various forms as they targeted Dorothea, couldn’t hope to penetrate the blood-red monkey with its overwhelming regenerative abilities, leading to a depletion of magical energy. And the extra blocks that were trying to counterattack while aiming at Dorothea were now struggling merely to defend Franka’s body.

“I can’t accept such a match! This, this irrationality! This injustice!”

A large black orb of magical power emerged before Dorothea’s hand.

Aiming it at Franka, Dorothea responded simply.

“This isn’t a knightly duel, nor a fair fight for witches.”

Bang!

The black flash pierced through Franka.

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