NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30
30. Insufficient
Salome, along with other adventurers, knights of the kingdom, and wizards, proceeded along the ridge of the canyon.
Below, there was the figure of the Demon General advancing slowly.
They would encounter Luca and the others waiting for them if they advanced further.
Salome and her comrades planned to flank the enemy from behind accordingly.
One of the magicians was equipped with a Magic Missile.
The other one was with Luca’s squad, likely to be used by Dalton.
They only had two precious Magic Missiles left at the guild’s capital branch.
They needed to time it right and ensure a direct hit.
As they continued marching,
“What’s that—”
Sarome casually looked back and saw a carriage approaching the canyon.
Evacuation advisories should have already been issued in the surrounding area.
It seemed unlikely for someone to approach the battlefield willingly—
At that moment of suspicion, a dazzling golden light overflowed below.
Simultaneously, shockwaves blew fiercely, shaking Sarome and her comrades’ footing.
Looking down, they saw the Black Knight and Luca’s group facing each other.
It seemed that Dractio had defended against the Demon General’s shockwave slash with a defensive spell.
“It’s begun…”
Salome gulped.
What came to her mind was the sight of Egil City devastated by the Demon General.
The face of the kind woman who had treated her in the cafeteria.
The faces of the comrades she had befriended at the guild.
All of them lost instantly, turning the town into a hellish scene.
She would never forgive the demons who had taken so many lives.
She wasn’t sure if she had the right to be angry, considering her past as an assassin who had taken many lives.
However, since ‘that incident’, she has changed.
She had learned the value of life.
Even if she was a criminal, she now had the will to protect many lives.
“Watch… I’ll be the one to kill him.”
This time, she would use that ‘trump card’—
A dark intent filled Sarome’s eyes.
※
The final form of Greed Bite, [Icicle Rondo].
With the ability to create sixteen duplicates through sub-light movement, Luca unleashed this technique with absolute confidence.
There was no way to defend against seventeen simultaneous slashes from her and her duplicates.
The swords unleashed at overwhelming speed could cut down anything.
(It’s over now.)
Luca chopped the Demon General’s entire body into pieces.
The distinctive blue blood of demons splattered dramatically.
There was a sense of delivering a fatal blow.
“…Insufficient.”
A voice came out.
“Eh…!?”
The next moment, Luca barely blocked the horizontal slash with two swords.
If she hadn’t drawn her sword in time, she would have been split in two from the torso.
Even so, unable to completely nullify the impact, the young knight got sent flying heavily.
She slammed into a rock wall and collapsed.
“That…—”
Weakly standing up with two swords as support.
“It’s a pity, humans…”
Even after receiving numerous slash wounds all over his body Gyrasvrim remained standing.
His armor was shattered in many places, and blue blood was spurting out.
“Indeed, I’ve sustained quite a bit of damage…! I admit it. You are quite a formidable opponent. But, it’s not a fatal wound…”
There was a slight decrease in vigor in his voice.
However, it seemed that he hadn’t received a truly fatal injury, as his words indicated.
(Why!?)
Luca stared at the Demon General in astonishment.
“Your sword… lacks weight. It might suffice against ordinary demons or beasts but against a Demon General? It seems that the power you’re drawing from that sword is solely that of the Sin Emperor Supreme Dragon Greed.”
(Lacks weight…?)
Luca groaned inwardly.
Indeed, her sword was known for its ‘speed’ due to the characteristics and factors of the Focus Greed.
But a sword that strikes at sub-light speed boasted enough power to cut dragon scales like butter.
And yet he said it ‘lacks weight.’
The Demon General’s durability was monstrously high.
“If… you could draw out the power of Vim Focus… the battle might have been more interesting… Considering your qualities, perhaps you could have even faced the Demon General as a mere human… Truly regrettable…”
Gairas Vrim swung his sword casually.
Luca was blown away again by the ensuing gust of wind.
“Kyaa!”
She was blown away and slammed into the cliff.
Then she bounced and fell to the ground.
“Ugh, ugh… The time limit is…”
While the melee factor could dramatically enhance physical abilities, the recoil afterward was also tremendous.
It couldn’t be used for a long time.
It seemed that she had reached her limit in no time, having engaged in intense combat with Gairas Vrim and used the final form of her techniques.
“It seems… this is as far as I go… My enhanced physical abilities due to the factor have also reached their limit.”
Gyrasrim shouldered his red giant sword and slowly approached.
“Luca! Damn it, everyone, provide covering fire!”
Dalton shouted from behind.
However, the knights on the verge of panic stood frozen in place.
“[Fire Bomb]!”
“…It’s futile.”
Dalton continuously cast fire spells alone, but the Demon General easily brushed them aside as if swatting flies.
They couldn’t even hold him back.
Dalton had one Magic Missile, but it took time to activate.
The Demon General wouldn’t wait for that.
They should have fired the Magic Missile without reservation during the initial barrage.
Everything was underestimated.
The ease with which Dractio’s defense was broken.
The ineffectiveness of Luca’s technique.
(“The demon general… is this strong…”)
“It’s over… For a human, you’ve done quite well…”
Finally approaching Luca, Gairas Vrim slowly raised his sword.
Luca couldn’t move.
She tried to stand up with her sword’s support, but her limbs no longer had strength.
“Luca Abasta was it? I’ll remember your name in my heart. That there was a strong human. Farewell, brave knight…”
The Demon General, who quietly spoke, swung down his red giant sword.
(“It’s come to this… I guess…”)
A quiet resignation spread in her heart.
Mixed with the regret of defeat and the satisfaction of facing such a formidable enemy even in defeat.
The next moment, her body would likely be bisected.
She reflexively closed her eyes.
—The expected shock and pain did not come.
“Eh!?”
She opened her eyes in surprise.
What first caught her eye was a dazzling kaleidoscope of colors.
And a pattern resembling that of an angel spreading its wings.
It was familiar.
That light that had intercepted her full-powered sword, defying it.
The boy she recognized as a strong opponent—.
“Are you okay, Luca!”
Haruto, who stood protectively in front of her, intercepted the Demon General’s sword.