Illusion Sword Master

＜ Inspector-nim’s Magic Swordsmanship (2) ﹥

The four swords I manipulated with my magic moved according to my thoughts, charging towards the orcs.

My magic, which was unmatched even among the dwarves, combined with the finest dwarven craftsmanship. The orcs’ heads and chests were pierced smoothly, like tofu.

I fixed my position in mid-air with my aerial swordsmanship, gazing down at Yelina and Belram with an expressionless face as they admired my swordsmanship.

“Get a grip and fall back for a while to regroup. I want to tell you to take a good rest, but the situation doesn’t allow it, so you’ll have to come back soon.”

I felt guilty for pushing them to fight again when they were already exhausted, but I had no choice.

Currently, excluding me, the two of them are the most important forces in the 13th Battalion.

“Yes! We’ll follow Inspector-nim’s orders!”

“Of course, if Inspector-nim says so, we’ll do it gladly.”

Yelina and Belram replied with determination.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you. The success of the mission depends on you two.”

I encouraged them and immediately changed my position.

If I blocked the orcs here, they would swarm from over there, and if I blocked them there, they would charge from the other side.

I moved around the battlefield with my aerial swordsmanship, unleashing my honed magic swordsmanship without restraint.

As a result of dedicating years to battle and training, I had become incredibly strong, surpassing my own expectations.

In the three hours since the battle began, I had single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of orcs.

The 13th Battalion’s soldiers were fighting with an unprecedented ferocity.

“Inspector-nim is watching us!”

“Wow! The Empire will be glorious!”

“Hold on a bit longer! Did you see that? Lord Ethan will kill all those orcs with his incredible technique!”

The soldiers, inspired by my actions, were fighting with reckless abandon, maintaining their formation.

One unintended advantage of my magic swordsmanship was that it looked incredibly cool, which greatly boosted the soldiers’ morale.

Thanks to this, the tide of the battle was in our favor, but the future outlook was still bleak.

Just because morale was high didn’t mean the soldiers could fight like knights. Even though I had taken out a considerable number, the orcs’ army was still more than twice our size.

Furthermore, the enemy’s main force, the orc chieftain ‘Bone Collector Bushaku’, and the black mages surrounding him were still yet to make a move.

‘Three hours until the Magic Squadron’s firepower support arrives.’

My stamina was starting to dwindle, but I had to hold on for a bit longer.

‘Fuck. I want to run away. Should I run away now?’

No. It was already too late to escape.

I shook off the weak thoughts that were creeping up on me.

The soldiers, with their backs against the wall, were building a barricade.

The enemy army, more than twice our size, was closing in on them.

─ Whoosh!

─ Zzzt!

I unleashed my sword, wrapped in flames and lightning, and slaughtered the enemies in my path.

“Ah, Inspector-nim!”

“Thank you! We owe our lives to you!”

The soldiers, who had narrowly escaped death, looked up at me with tearful faces.

Whether I wanted to or not, they believed in me and charged into battle.

If I, their mental anchor, showed even the slightest wavering, the 13th Division’s soldiers would immediately collapse.

“If morale drops here, it’s all over. We have to maintain our spirits, no matter what.”

So, I put on a confident facade, using a steady tone and calm words.

“What are your names? We don’t have time, so answer quickly.”

“I’m Max!”

“I’m Luno!”

“I’m Guillaume!”

I quickly memorized the soldiers’ names and called out to them one by one.

“Max, Luno, Guillaume. Thanks to your bravery, we’re on the verge of winning. You’ll be recorded as heroes of the Empire soon. Just hold on for a little longer. I’ll take care of the remaining Orcs.”

“Yes, Inspector!”

“Victory is within sight! Just a little more effort!”

Extreme situations like war can cloud people’s judgment.

In the innocent soldiers’ eyes, which believed that following me would bring victory, a flame of determination burned bright.

From then on, I moved quickly, rescuing the struggling soldiers and encouraging them to reorganize their formation.

Before long, Yelina and Bellam, who had returned to the front line, led the soldiers to fill in the gaps in the formation.

“Two hours from now…”

A glimmer of hope emerged that we could hold out until the Magic Division arrived.

“Get ready!”

A massive battle cry erupted from the enemy’s camp.

The ground trembled slightly, and the wind grew stronger. The size of the battle cry was a measure of their strength.

“Damn it. That’s just great.”

The leader of the enemy, the Orc tribe’s leader, Bushaku, had finally joined the battle.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With his massive body, he covered dozens of meters in just a few strides.

Just that alone sent the soldiers’ bodies flying into the air.

“We’re no match for them with just the 13th Division.”

If our formation collapsed now, all our efforts would be for nothing.

“Damn it. An Orc tribe leader again on my first mission!”

To prevent them from breaking through the Magic Division’s defense, I had to stop that monster from sweeping away the soldiers, no matter what it took.

I deployed my aerial swordsmanship at full speed, heading towards Bushaku.

Whoosh!

Four swords landed around Bushaku, maintaining a fixed distance from each other.

I activated lightning magic on each sword.

Zzzt! The four swords released a electric current that connected with each other, forming a boundary around him.

Bushaku, who had been charging forward with his massive dual axes, stopped in his tracks, recognizing me.

“Ki-sa! I’ll kill you!”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not a knight, but a wizard.”

Standing within the boundary that separated the Orc army and the 13th Division’s soldiers, I faced off against Bushaku, wielding Black Thunder.

“Don’t lie! Wizards are weaklings. They’re not even worth collecting skulls. You’re different. You must have a strong skull!”

The guy stomped his foot and retorted. The necklace made from the skulls of humans hung around his neck trembled.

“Fifteen, that’s how many I’ve killed.”

As I counted the number of skulls that made up the necklace, my previous confidence suddenly vanished.

“No, maybe I did well.”

The orcs, who seemed fearless, couldn’t approach me from behind Bu Shakur.

After the king’s appearance, the class system became more solidified, and for us, surpassing the leader who went into battle was an unthinkable act.

“Anyway, if I can just bind his foot, that’s enough.”

I pointed at Bu Shakur with the end of Black Thunder, provoking him.

“You’re the coward who steals the remaining weak skulls and pretends to be strong, aren’t you? You even have a pretty face, looking like a weak girl.”

Weak guy, pretender, coward, girl.

I emphasized the words that the orcs hated the most. Even an orc with exceptional linguistic abilities could feel the insult.

“Gaah—Aaah!”

Bu Shakur couldn’t contain his anger and let out a loud scream. If I took it head-on, my eardrums would burst.

“Lies! Lies! I’m strong! I’m brave! The skulls I’ve collected are from strong humans!”

“If you’re not a coward, then take your subordinates away and duel me. Let’s bet our skulls, your pretty and weak one, and my cool and sturdy one.”

I stopped the electric current flowing from my sword and called out to Yelina and Belram behind me. When the two rushed to my side, I spoke loudly so Bu Shakur could hear.

“Pull back the soldiers. Even if that coward summons his subordinates, I can handle him alone.”

“Wait, but Inspector… “

“Just do as I say. One inspector can take on an army led by a coward like him.”

When Yelina, who was always honest, was about to say something reckless, Belram, who had caught on to my intention, intervened at the right timing.

I added a small remark to Belram, who was leading Yelina away, not understanding the situation.

“Just retreat quietly. Don’t get caught in the blast radius for no reason.”

After confirming that Belram nodded, I turned back to Bu Shakur.

“What are you going to do? If you want, you can fight with your subordinates. If you say you’re a coward, I might even go easy on you and use just one hand.”

“Gaah—! Fine! Let’s duel! All of you, get back!”

As Bu Shakur spoke, the orcs slowly retreated.

“More! Get back more—!”

As I watched the orcs retreat in an absurd manner, I let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed that the orcs had also developed a sense of honor and duel.

“This is going according to plan.”

I just had to hold out against Bu Shakur until the magic division’s support arrived, and then I could slip away safely.

I could even prevent the 13th division’s troop losses, making it a perfect plan.

“Wait…”

I had forgotten something. Extreme situations like war cloud people’s judgment.

“And then…”

The only flaw in my perfect plan suddenly dawned on me.

“What am I going to do?”

I had neglected the most important factor – my own safety.

The enraged orc leader, Bu Shakur, lost his composure and began to rampage in front of me.

A fierce, crimson aura erupted from him, similar to the one I had seen during the Grola incident, but much stronger.

“‘You want me to take that on alone?'”

The monstrous body, wrapped in demonic power, charged at me.

#

How much time had passed?

─ Clang! Cling! Clang!

Busahak’s axe and Black Thunder clashed repeatedly.

How many times had we exchanged blows like this?

It was definitely over a hundred.

“You─bastard! You dare call me a coward! You, who are weaker than me! I’ll carve ‘coward’ onto your skull!”

Every time he swung his axe, he let out a crazed, shrill cry.

“Do you know how to write?”

I wanted to retort, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of speaking like him.

“You’re ridiculously strong.”

I had trained my body with Yeom-dong, and the Dwarf’s technique was concentrated in my sword.

My magic level had also risen exponentially.

Yet, I was at my limit when facing the monster in front of me.

Every time I swung my sword, my stamina was drained, whereas the monster showed no signs of fatigue.

Even when I struck its back with my sword several times, its wounds healed in an instant.

“Damn it, this is cheating!”

It was because of the Orc black mages who had sneaked up behind Busahak, hands outstretched to channel power to their leader.

Their goal was to drain the monster’s stamina and then retreat, but that plan had gone awry.

“Aaah─!”

Busahak let out a fierce cry as he swung his axe. Although I managed to block it with Black Thunder, I couldn’t fully absorb the shock.

─ Cling-clang!

The sensation in my hand disappeared, and Black Thunder flew out of my grasp.

My body rolled backward three times.

“It’s all over.”

The situation was hopeless.

If only those black mages weren’t there, I might have had a glimmer of hope…

Just then…

─ Kugugugung!

A bolt of lightning struck the black mages, turning them into a mess.

“Ethan! Don’t die, I told you to stay alive! What’s with that look?”

A familiar voice called out, and when I turned around, a familiar face was looking at me with a displeased expression.

Cera Zephir.

She was standing behind me, mounted on her horse.

The “damsel in distress” effect, where a person becomes more attractive in a crisis, came to mind. It was indeed a convincing theory.

The face I had been trying to avoid until now looks surprisingly lovely.

This isn’t the time for this.

I shook off the idle thoughts creeping into my mind and focused on the situation.

“Se… Se-ra Yang! Are the magic troops ready? Have you completed the bombing preparations?”

“…No. I came alone first. We still have thirty minutes until the magic is activated.”

Unfortunately, her arrival didn’t mean the situation was coming to an end.

I had to make an effort not to show my disappointment. It wouldn’t be polite to the person who had come to rescue me.

＜ Inspector-nim’s Magic Swordsmanship (2) ﹥ End