Chapter 755

Suddenly, a question about the name was blurted out. If it were humans, they would have ignored it and continued the battle without a care…

“Kuh…!”

In the fairy society, where respect for family and tradition is so deeply ingrained that it has become a rigid custom, not answering someone who asks for your name is a grave insult.

How grave, you ask? It’s so bad that you’d be openly called a “filthy rat” who tarnishes the honor of your family and race, and you’d be subjected to a lifetime of social ostracism.

In fact, there’s even a story about a fairy who did such a thing and, before committing suicide, left behind the words, “Even if I had rolled around in bed with beastmen, I wouldn’t have been despised like this.”

Think about it. Considering the lifespan of fairies, it’s not just ten years—it’s over five hundred years of nationwide bullying. If you could endure that, you wouldn’t be a fairy; you’d be a Buddha.

So, even though the guardian facing me understood that this was my trap, he had no choice but to raise his left hand in front of his face and introduce himself according to the ancient, musty etiquette of the fairies.

“…I am the guardian of the great mother World Tree and the glorious Alvheim. Tersillius Zephinia Carnel—”

“Too long!”

Of course, I wasn’t going to wait for him to finish.

I pushed Durandal forward, pressing down on his sword, and aimed an ice blade at his exposed neck.

“Kuh, how despicable…!”

He must have anticipated this, as he twisted his body to dodge, but in doing so, his already precarious stance crumbled even further.

“You barbarian who knows no manners!”

“Your name is just ridiculously long!”

I laughed as I swept my right foot low, kicking his leg.

With a loud explosion, he hastily summoned a rock spirit to wrap around his leg, preventing it from being blown off, but he lost his balance, spun halfway, and left a huge opening.

“Kuh—!”

“Te… what was it again? Anyway, goodbye!”

Durandal’s blade came down like a drill. His pupils shook violently.

“Get away!”

The fire spirit he frantically shot out hit my face and exploded, but it was nothing more than a futile struggle. Of all the spirits, he had to choose a fire spirit. What an unlucky guy.

“Too bad?”

I smiled through the flames covering my face and thrust Durandal toward his heart—

“Tersillius!”

[Behind!]

—only to twist my body and draw the Red Scale Saber to block the sword of another guardian charging at me.

-Kaaang!

The clash of two legendary swords scattered sharp sparks. The flurry of thrusts coming at me like a snake was impressively refined swordsmanship.

“And who are you—”

“Ereneisia Fulvercus Draherekes! The one who will kill you!”

Ah, that didn’t work.

The guardian named Ereneisia quickly introduced herself before I could even ask and continued her attack.

I guess they only fall for that trick once. A textbook response.

If the opponent asks for your name, you have to stop and formally introduce yourself, but if you introduce yourself first, there’s no need to do that.

“Do you really think you can do it with that skill?”

Well, I didn’t expect the same trick to work twice. I just tried it on the off chance.

I blocked Ereneisia’s sword with the Red Scale Saber in my left hand while using Durandal in my right to fend off Tersillius, who had risen with a face full of rage and was charging at me.

On the back of a high-level wind spirit circling the battlefield, four blades clashed like a storm, scattering sparks.

“You can use a sword too? I thought guardians just rode on high-level spirits and shot arrows.”

I brushed off the tattered edges of my clothes, paying my respects to their skills.

I was conserving my strength by avoiding using Reversed Heaven, but even so, there were no swordsmen in the Empire or the Great Plains who could hold their own against me like this.

“Do you think we, who have lived for centuries longer than your short-lived kind, haven’t honed our swordsmanship in all that time? How arrogant. Even your ancestors weren’t that bad.”

“How old are you? From the way you talk, you must be at least a few hundred years old.”

I continued the conversation while blocking, deflecting, and parrying the relentless attacks from both sides.

“Just a few hundred years? Is that the limit of your imagination?”

“Then I guess you’re around fifteen hundred years old.”

At that age, even among fairies, you’d be considered an old man. Though he looked surprisingly spry for his age.

“Fifteen hundred years, huh? That’s impressive.”

“Now you see? No matter how much you short-lived ones struggle—”

No, I didn’t mean his skill was impressive.

“Two guys over fifteen hundred years old can’t even take down one of me. Where did all those years go?”

“…What?”

I smirked with a look of contempt and shook my head lightly.

“And yet you’re still alive. How did you survive the era when the Twelve Knights were active? Did you strip naked and beg for your life?”

“You… you vulgar…!”

I must have hit a nerve. Ereneisia’s face twisted into something demonic in an instant.

Even her delicate fairy features were so distorted that she looked no different from a kobold.

“Ah, sorry. Did I hit a sore spot? I might have been too rude to someone who could be a distant relative of mine. Your bloodline might be mixed with the descendants of the Twelve Knights.”

“You short-lived scum… how dare you defile my purity? If it weren’t for the Heavenly Barrier, someone like you—!”

…Fifteen hundred years old and still a virgin? That’s shocking in its own way.

Unable to bear the taunt about bearing the child of an enemy to survive, Ereneisia gnashed her teeth and charged at me like an arrow.

Her straightforward movement and the trembling tip of her sword from anger made her an easy target. It was obvious where she was aiming.

I lowered my stance slightly and pulled back the Red Scale Saber. I planned to deflect her obvious attack and counter by piercing her enraged face.

“Ereneisia! Calm down!”

However, Tersillius intervened, stopping her, and my taunt failed to achieve its purpose.

Ereneisia, doused by the waterfall Tersillius summoned, stopped in her tracks, startled, and quickly regained her composure.

“Ha… sorry, Tersillius. I almost fell for it.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment and lowered my raised sword. Just when the meal was ready, someone had to ruin it.

“Hey, what’s with that woman? Is she really a descendant of the Twelve Knights? Her way of speaking is so rude and vulgar, even street thugs would bow their heads to learn from her.”

“Don’t engage with him. He’s just a savage beast.”

Tersillius spat out the words while glaring at me with contempt.

“Calling me a beast just because I didn’t return a greeting? That’s harsh.”

“…Ha.”

True to his advice not to engage, Tersillius responded with a short, mocking laugh and raised his sword.

“Despite your arrogant and rude demeanor, all you do is shake us with lowly taunts and look for openings. If we ignore your barking, you’re not a difficult opponent.”

“Oh, is that so? Shouldn’t you say that after you’ve actually managed to wound me?”

I sneered, mocking him.

Even though my armor was scratched here and there from their attacks, my body was still unharmed.

However, Tersillius gritted his teeth and ignored my taunt, focusing only on his companion.

“We’re changing the battlefield. Not here, but to the ground. Since his flying speed surpasses ours, the wind spirit is useless.”

“Right. That’s better.”

As Ereneisia nodded, the wind spirit that had been our footing disappeared in an instant. We were twenty meters in the air.

“Ha, do you really think that will change anything?”

I spewed Up-hwa, turning my fall into flight, and charged at them, swinging my sword and saber.

“It won’t.”

However, unlike the other two guardians who had fallen helplessly and were attacked by Damien and Milia, these two summoned low-level spirits to use as stepping stones and somehow managed to defend against my strikes even while falling.

Until our feet finally touched the ground.

And then.

“Groooar!”

The next moment, a rock giant missing its lower half and an ice giant that looked like a half-finished clay figure appeared simultaneously, roaring fiercely and swinging massive fists at me.