“Let’s get out first.”
Arden said this as he knocked aside chunks of stone falling from above.
“Agreed. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to read this in peace.”
“I concur. It seems something has happened, and this is no time for it.”
“Yeah, let’s hurry and help them.”
Kane grabbed the notebook and followed after Arden. Derek hurriedly moved alongside him as well.
THUD!
At the same time, the bedroom collapsed.
“That was close.”
“Seriously.”
“…I don’t believe we have time to stand around like this.”
The three of them glanced back for a moment, but they could not stop.
The ceiling of the passage was steadily lowering.
Arden quickened his pace and headed back the way they had come.
Kane ran as though he were practically dragging Derek along behind him.
RUMBLE!
Just before the passage collapsed, Arden slipped out through a narrow gap.
Kane came rolling out after him, half-crushed. Derek was beside him as well. Unlike the composed Kane, Derek’s face was pale.
“I-I almost died….”
“You lived. That’s all that matters.”
It was just as Kane got up, dusting himself off.
“Reveal your identity. Who are you?”
Dylan’s voice came from above the pit.
He was facing off against an unidentified man.
Berua was positioned behind Dylan, both her hands dyed pure white.
It seemed she intended to use support magic the moment the fight began.
“…My identity.”
The man facing Dylan murmured.
His skin was so pale that he looked sickly.
Yet unlike his complexion, his body was firm and well-built. The pressure he exuded was no ordinary thing. It was roughly on the same level as the dragon they had met on Snow Mountain. Arden’s skin tingled.
He appeared to be the leader of the Red Hawk Bandit Gang.
There was no other explanation unless he stood at the threshold of becoming a Swordmaster.
“Black Mage. Is that bastard the one who killed my younger brother? Or is it… one of the rats hiding over there?”
The man turned his head toward where Arden stood and asked.
The Black Mage tucked beneath his arm answered.
“Y-Yes! He is! That bastard! That bastard!”
The Black Mage pointed at Arden.
At those words, the man slightly raised an eyebrow.
“That little bastard?”
“If not, then kill me!”
He meant it. For the first time, he had caught a signal.
It was strange that the target was such a little bastard, but he had to say it first.
There were too many things he had yet to achieve to die here.
“I see. Then he must have something special about him, unlike what he appears to be.”
The man nodded, set down the Black Mage, and drew his sword.
SHING—
An ordinary sword without a single pattern gleamed as it caught the sunlight.
At the sight, Dylan also drew his greatsword and took his stance.
He looked ready to charge at any moment.
“Get lost. I have no interest in you bastards.”
“What…?”
BANG!
With those words, the man’s figure vanished.
In that fleeting instant, Dylan stared at the spot where he had been standing with an incredulous expression.
Berua and Derek were the same.
Kane was the only one who had reacted at all, but even he had not properly grasped what had happened.
However, Arden saw it clearly.
Within the slowed time, he saw the man kick off the ground. It was a simple action, yet even Arden found it difficult to follow with his own eyes.
“……!”
In the end, he drew his sword while relying half on instinct.
It felt as though his muscles were twisting.
Tap.
“Answer me. Did you kill my younger brother?”
The man stopped directly in front of Arden, placed a sword against his neck, and asked.
But Arden did not remain still either. His drawn sword was aimed beneath the man’s chin. His intent to stab him at once was unwavering.
“…….”
“Ridiculous. Do you think you can survive here?”
The man twisted up the corner of his mouth and looked at Arden.
“I’ll ask again. If you want to save even the others, you had better answer properly.”
“…….”
However, Arden did not answer this time either.
“…Is that so? Black Mage. Call the rest of them as well. These bastards will die here.”
“A-Are you going to spare me?”
“Yes. You found the right one.”
“Understood—!”
The Black Mage grinned and raised a hand.
The moment he did, Derek fired his gun from behind.
At the same time, Dylan swung his greatsword.
CRAAAAASH!
The attack struck in an instant. The Black Mage’s body collapsed. Yet no blood flowed out. Even though a bullet had pierced his head and his upper and lower body had been severed, there was no blood.
It was as though a doll had simply fallen over.
“…….”
That was when it happened.
SSSSS…!
The Black Mage sprawled on the ground scattered into black powder.
Then he emerged from beneath a half-broken tree.
“Isn’t that a bit harsh? Going that far just to catch one person.”
The Black Mage shrugged as he spoke to the man facing Arden.
“Mr. Kyle, I’ll handle these bastards.”
The cowardice he had shown at first had long since vanished.
The constant anxiety over not knowing when he would die had ended.
It was all thanks to that boy.
Thanks to him, he had regained his original personality, and his level had risen by another step.
Simply being freed from death felt like casting off shackles that had bound him for a long time.
The Black Mage felt his fiercely beating heart and drew up mana.
“…You must have been terribly afraid of dying. I did not expect your level to rise in the meantime. Fine. Show me.”
Kyle, the leader of the Red Hawk Bandit Gang, nodded.
He had confirmed the Black Mage’s change.
“One minute. Finish it within that time. I do not think there is any need to drag this out.”
The battle began the instant his emotionless voice fell.
…!
A sword silently thrust toward Arden’s throat. At the prickling sensation, Arden immediately bent his upper body back and thrust his sword beneath the man’s chin. Then the figure blurred, and Arden’s sword cut through empty air.
Tsk—
Arden clicked his tongue and immediately kicked off the ground.
BANG!
His body shot out of the pit. At the same time, he knocked away the sword burrowing toward his side.
CRASH!
The recoil flung his body away. Arden rolled across the ground for a moment, then immediately rose to his feet. He spat out the dirt that had entered his mouth and looked around.
In that brief interval, a sword flew at him as though to cut off his arm, but he knocked it away with all his strength and gathered his thoughts.
For now, everyone else had engaged the Black Mage. Strangely, he was vastly different from how he had been when he was trembling in fear at first. He was even different from the bastard they had met in this pit. Divine Power did not seem to have much effect despite pressing down on him.
But that was the end of his thoughts.
CLAAAAANG!
A sword shrouded in bluish energy plunged straight down. Arden immediately redirected it with the flat of his sword.
SCREEECH!
Even though he drew power from his heart, his sword scraped against the attack. His body staggered to the side.
“You’re holding out better than I expected.”
Kyle, who had appeared before Arden again, spoke. A bluish haze rose from his entire body, as though he were wrapped in Aura.
“Keep trying.”
The moment he finished speaking, Kyle simply swung his sword.
However, its path rushed at Arden from above, below, left, and right in an instant. A chill ran down Arden’s spine as he knocked aside the sword extending from the left and flung himself backward.
CRUNCH!
He pushed through the dirt to widen the distance a little further. But with one kick off the ground, Kyle was already right in front of him.
Arden gritted his teeth and drew out every bit of power in his heart.
THUD!
Only then could he barely keep up with Kyle’s movements. A pure white haze rose from Arden’s entire body.
Of course, he had no choice but to fall behind in terms of density.
“How fascinating. There is certainly something about you.”
Kyle spoke as he swung his bluish sword wide. Rather than answer, Arden had to use all his strength to block the crescent-shaped Sword Aura that shot from its blade.
“Hup!”
He inhaled and tilted his sword horizontally.
The blue Sword Aura struck the broad side of the blade. Arden was pushed straight back. A long trail formed in the ground where he was dragged.
That was not all.
Something metallic rose up his throat as though his insides had been overturned.
CRAAAAASH!
Arden twisted his body and redirected the Sword Aura, then spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
“Ptui!”
His heart throbbed as well. It seemed that his internal injuries, which had not fully healed yet, had worsened.
It was just as Arden let his arm hang limply and tried to catch his breath.
“By the way, that thing on your left arm….”
Kyle asked as he slowly approached.
Arden wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and kicked off the ground. He could not even afford to speak. He had to conserve as much breath as possible.
CLANG!
Their swords collided in an X shape. At first, they held evenly, but Arden was gradually pushed back.
He recalled fighting at the orphanage, but he could not use that method now.
The man before him would not let his guard down.
A worthy opponent.
Kyle considered Arden a worthy opponent. From being born a slave in the north to rising to this position, he had never once underestimated an opponent.
He had always done his best.
He would do the same this time.
After confronting Arden for some time, Kyle stepped back once, then lightly thrust his sword forward.
It split into more than a dozen paths and burrowed toward Arden’s limbs.
It was a swift sword technique.
SLASH!
Arden hurriedly shifted his stance. He dodged what he could and knocked away what he could with all his strength.
But he could not block them all.
Cuts appeared all over his body, and blood flowed from them.
Then the mass of fluorescent liquid on his left arm began to move.
It divided into several pieces and clung to his wounds.
Kyle showed interest for the first time at that sight.
“How fascinating.”
But his observation was brief.
As though long conversation was unnecessary in battle, he immediately kicked Arden with his left leg.
CRAAAAASH!
Kyle was so fast that Arden could not properly block it.
Arden’s abdomen caved in as he was flung backward. Trees shattered, and rocks he struck broke apart.
After flying for a long time in that state, Arden rolled over the ground several times.
He lost consciousness from the impact, then woke again from the pain.
“Bleegh!”
Arden barely opened his eyes and vomited a mouthful of blood while lying face-down.
It felt as though his insides had been shaken apart.
It was beyond comparison with his internal injuries.
But he could not stay like this.
Thrust!
Arden drove his sword into the dirt and forced himself up, then looked ahead.
“…….”
His vision was blurred.
His body swayed with every step.
The more it did, the more he thought of the others fighting the Black Mage.
Even if he died here, he had to inflict as many wounds as possible.
Only then could they kill him in his place.
‘I have to do it.’
…But how?
At the thought that suddenly came to him, Arden could not find an answer.
The gap between them was too great.
Look at him now. Enduring was the best he could do.
But that did not mean an answer would appear if he kept enduring.
He would only be driven closer and closer to death.
‘No.’
Arden shook his head at the unhelpful thought.
If he kept thinking like this, he would lose even a fight he could win.
Right now, he needed to think of only one thing.
Endure somehow and land a blow.
Even if all he could do was cut off a finger.
He could not fall before then.
“You’re in better shape than I expected.”
It was as Arden strengthened his resolve.
Kyle, who had strolled over, stood before him.
“Let’s finish this.”
Kyle raised his sword high.
WOOOOONG!
The bluish Aura swelled further.
In an instant, the sword grew nearly three times longer.
The air trembled.
Arden’s skin tingled.
“…….”
Arden drew in a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly.
He drew out all the power he had reserved for defense and concentrated it into his sword.
It meant he was staking everything on this attack.
Sssss….
The tip of the sword grew bright, then became tinged with red.
At the same time, his vision turned red, and the metallic scent of blood stung his nose.
Kyle frowned when he saw it.
“…I cannot drag this out any longer.”
At the unfamiliar phenomenon, Kyle immediately swung his sword down.
SLAAAAASH!
Space warped, and searing heat touched Arden’s face.
Within the slowed time, just before the sword rushing down vertically reached Arden—
FWOOOOSH!
Golden light flowed from his chest.
Then a pitch-black space opened behind Arden.
Before he could even sense what was happening, Arden was sucked into that space.
CRAAAAASH!
At the same time, Kyle’s sword struck.
The ground caved in, and everything around it exploded.
The pit was left with nothing in it.
Yet Kyle did not feel as though he had cut anything.
He looked around and frowned.
“…….”
Arden had vanished without a trace.
“I should go over there for now.”
However, if that bastard had disappeared for the moment, he only needed to go somewhere else.
Kyle lightly shook off his sword and turned toward the pit where the Black Mage was fighting.