The New Gate (LN)

Just then, 『Placid Moon』 came flying through the sky. Even though the fake Shin caught it with his sword, the axe spear with its jade-green hyssail blue effect did not stop.

It made the fake Shin retreat nearly 10 mels, and then return to his previous location.

“Ooooooh!!!”

Shibaid charged at him with a war cry, and Shin responded with a hail of thunderbolts.

Lightning struck Shibaid’s whole body. The 『Great Shell Shield of Collision』 he held was protecting Filma, who was unable to move immediately.

“NuuuUUUAAAAH!!”

Even with the defensive power of the shield, the damage could not be fully prevented. Shibaid moved forward using 『Placid Moon』 to repel as much as possible.

The first explosion created some distance, but it was fortunate that he was sent flying in a different direction from Schnee and the others. Shibaid arrived just in time to rescue Filma as she had fallen behind.

However, the situation was not good. This fake Shin was too accustomed to solo against multiple opponents. 

Shibaid, too, had dealt with more monsters than people. However, he had dealt with very few humanoid monsters, and even fewer had a variety of attacks like the fake Shin.

Even Shibaid did not know if he had time to recover from the damage he had sustained in his fight while protecting Filma.

Shibaid could not fight with magic like Schnee and Sety. Therefore, he would close the distance and strike at the weakened point. That was his purpose of the assault.

In close combat, the current Shibaid was comparable to Shin in his prime. Even the fake Shin could not leave him alone.

“I won’t let you get my friends!”

Shibaid broke through the rain of lightning. His heavy armor was stained black in places, and the damage that his armor could not defend was accumulating on his body.

Even so, the power in his arm that wielded the 『Placid Moon』 did not diminish.

He produced a cleave from his right, out of the fake Shin’s sword range.

Darkness exploded beside the fake Shin who dodged in time.

Shibaid’s skill in magic was not high. Even though his power was more than an average magician’s, the fake Shin was not an easy opponent to overcome.

Shibaid turned his attention to the cleave and activated his magic in the blind spot of the fake Shin’s right eye, which was still burnt shut.

The magic’s effect was to draw in everything around it, starting from where it was activated. It was a skill rarely used in battle, at best for stalling. However, if someone were suddenly pulled at an unexpected moment, they would usually lose their balance, or even if not, their movement would be delayed one step.

In a one-on-one battle, that was enough opening to decide the outcome.

With the sound of the wind, the arcing blade of 『Placid Moon』 fluttered.

No matter how much Shin’s High Human status was reproduced, the weak point remained the same. As if sucked in, 『Placid Moon』 raced toward the fake Shin’s neck.

However, the fake Shin’s right hand caught the blade. His thumb was torn to shreds, and blood gushed out from his fingers and palm, but the 『Placid Moon』 did not advance any further.

Due to temporary physical hardening skill, the fake Shin’s right hand, which should have been burned by Filma’s fireball, was moving as if it had not been injured.

“Did you recover?”

His right eye, which should have lost its light after being burned by the explosion, was looking at Shibaid. There was no sign that the fake Shin used any recovery skills or items.

Then the possible reason was due to the effect of the automatic HP recovery skill. In the game era, the skill of automatic HP recovery was not uncommon, and Shibaid also has it.

But how would it work in this world? He had no idea about the details.

The effect of such a skill could not be verified without suffering a reasonable amount of injury. And the extent to which they heal depended on the person.

The fake Shin’s recovery rate was the fastest that Shibaid had ever seen other than the real Shin.

(Does the reason why he was scattering magic so haphazardly mean that he had another purpose than stopping me and attacking Filma?)

The fact that he lost his balance due to the skill was probably a bluff to make it seem like he hadn’t recovered.

The ground rose toward Shibaid, who had stopped moving.

Quickly, Shibaid let go of his weapon and moved away.

As he was about to call back the 『Placid Moon』, he saw it was covered in a black band in the fake Shin’s hand.

No matter how much he called out, the 『Placid Moon』 would not return to his hand. It was an item that blocked the transfer of weapons – Shibaid guessed so.

Shibaid then caught the sword wielded by the fake Shin with his gauntlet.

Shibaid was equipped with a further enhanced version of the High Human’s equipment, much better than a copy of High Human’s weapon. The gauntlet fulfilled its role well and repelled the blade.

Shibaid did not take the blade straightforwardly. He caught the blade at an angle, as if to parry it, and then closed the gap between them even further. That was the distance of a fist, not a sword.

A fist wrapped in a gauntlet could become a more powerful weapon than a clumsy blunt weapon. With Shibaid’s power, even a High Human would not be able to just get away with it.

The fake Shin then received Shibaid’s powerful fist with his left hand. Whether to deflect or catch it – the fake Shin’s answer was the latter. However, what followed was beyond Shibaid’s expectations.

Shibaid’s huge body, which was so tall that Shin looked up at him, flew through the air along with his armor.

He quickly took a passive stance and did not suffer any damage, but…his body’s reaction was not good at all. It was as if his body was paralyzed, and it didn’t listen.

Shibaid instantly realized what had been done.

It was a low-damage technique for monsters 【Willow Throw】 that he had seen used many times when capturing juvenile dragons for the training of dragon knights.

It was used to capture monsters and was rarely used in a fight to the death. 

Since it was basically a technique for monsters, it did not kill the opponent; Shibaid had unconsciously eliminated it as an available option.

But now he understood. How effective was this technique, which broke the opponent’s stance and made them unable to move, in one-on-one battles.

The fake Shin was already brandishing his sword.

Shibaid noticed that Filma was approaching, but she wasn’t close enough to make it in time.

He then defended the approaching blade with his gauntlet. Shibaid’s body moved against the restraining effect of the skill, perhaps because his status had increased, or perhaps his willpower overcame the effect.

The fake Shin must have used some kind of skill, because a light, different from the sparks, flickered violently between the blade and the gauntlet.

“Kuk!”

The blade was pushed in.

What the opponent was using was probably the 【Heaven Slash】, which he had seen this technique many times. Shibaid recognized it immediately.

If the gauntlet had not been reinforced by Shin, he would have been decapitated with both of his hands by now. Although the blade was supposed to be blocked by the gauntlet, there was a line of gash on Shibaid’s neck.

The aftermath alone would exceed his armor’s protection. That was how powerful the slash was.

Schnee and the others were heading this way. Filma was moving, too. Whether his arm and gauntlet would last until the girls arrive would be a gamble.

“…Hmm?”

At that moment, Shibaid gathered even more willpower to resist until the end.

The fake Shin drew his sword, and a flash of lightning struck.

A roar and a flash. Shibaid saw that the fake Shin had been blown away with great force.

“Don’t you dare attack him in my appearance.”

Eyes dazzled by the flash formed an image. The real one was there, holding a sword clad in lightning.

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