Chapter 459 – The Shiver of White, Again
“Lady Sariel!”
“Seventh Apostle Sariel!”
“Angel! An angel has descended upon our plight!”
The cheers of the Crusaders suddenly erupted. It was hard to believe that they were the defeated ones with their enthusiastic sound.
As the joyous voices of the Crusaders echoed in the air, shaking the mountain, Sariel quietly began to move. With the lightness of a leaf dancing in the wind, she flew down from the headless Taurus.
At the same time as the small white body fell like a proper angel, the Taurus, whose control system had completely stopped, finally lost its balance and fell down like a collapsing tower.
The steel giant fell forward, and with the roaring smoke of snow in the background, Sariel finally landed on the ground of the battlefield.
The first thing her eerily glowing crimson eyes caught was, of course, the closest enemy – Nero.
“This is bad. Let’s get out of here.”
It was a quick decision.
Nero had faced many powerful monsters and vicious assassins in his life, but no one had ever made him feel so threatened. This, this beautiful girl, was incomparably stronger than anyone else.
“I agree. It’s not worth it to deal with that thing.”
“But, but if we run away here, …”
Safi agreed without hesitation but Charlotte was reluctant.
However, Nero did not intend to take his time to unify the opinions of his friends. He decided to pick up his childhood friend, who was still in his arms, instead of her mood.
“Wait, wait!”
Just as I was about to run like a rabbit, I heard a wild shout. Nero and Sariel looked at the owner of the voice, who was too loud and overbearing to ignore.
“What’s with the big face, little girl? You’re on your own, and we outnumber you?”
In the form of a demon, or rather a real demon, a large red Orc stepped into the crater, shouting in a southern accent. In contrast to the silvery white aura of Sariel, his entire body spewed out a red aura like a blazing fire.
The arriving figure was none other than Gustav, the leader of the Rank 5 adventurer party [Iron Demon Brigade] who was using his divine protection [Scorching Ogre King – Agni Aura].
“Hey, that’s a reckless move, old man.”
I’m sure he’s not just making a showy appearance like a slumlord thug against Sariel, from his appearance. There is no way that someone as powerful as Gustav could not have known that the girl was a monster that could rival a natural disaster-grade Dragon with extraordinary magical power and presence.
“You’ve distracted her for us. Thank you for your sacrifice.”
Safi’s tongue, as usual, was still on target, as usual.
Perhaps Gustav’s goal is to buy time.
It was clear that if we challenged that opponent with numbers, there would be unusual casualties. What we need is someone who is at least as Rank 5.
“Wait, wait, wait! If we join you, we can–”
“No, Char, we’re out of here.”
It is true that the [Iron Demon Brigade], the [Blade Rangers], and the [Wing Road] are all here right now. However, even if we three parties work together, there is no guarantee that we will be able to kill her.
“I’ve already taken the General’s head. No matter how strong she is, Spada’s victory is fixed. Leave the rest to the others, and we’ll be fine.”
“But…”
“Don’t you understand, if we fight her, we will die. Worst case scenario, we will be wiped out.”
That’s why Nero chose to retreat without hesitation.
Safi was right, it was indeed an unworthy and overly dangerous opponent, as they didn’t need any more battle results.
“… Got it.”
Charlotte may be childishly selfish, but she is a Rank 5 adventurer in her own right. Sometimes she weighs the risks against the benefits and makes hard decisions.
“Spada’s army will take care of the rest.”
And so, Nero, Charlotte, and Safi quietly walked away from the threat called Sariel.
Instead, Gustav and then his party members followed her, facing her with a desperate presence.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m pretty sure that little girl is the enemy’s leader. If you kill her, you’ll get a big prize.”
With a grin and a fierce smile on his face, he carried his beloved giant metal rod on his shoulder, looking as dependable as one can be. Most of the adventurers around him would not realize Gustav’s true intentions and would think that he was serious about taking credit.
“She looks like a doll even in front of us. Just because she’s a little cute doesn’t mean she has to be!”
A huge Minotaur with a dazzling shocking pink armor and a snorting noise, and filled with the will to fight said. The member of the [Iron Demon Brigade], Douglalas.
“She is tiny but very, very strong.
The Cyclops, Gon who boasted the largest physique of all the giant men in the group, clutching his beloved battle ax in both hands, shuddered.
“Target locked. Ready to fire.
The Golem Zedra, who had a large, geared machine bow that no normal person can even draw, and was armed with a blasting arrow, was aiming straight for Sariel, just as he said.
When his steel fingertips unleash the arrows of destruction that have been drawn to the limit of their strength, the battle will begin.
“…”
Sariel’s inorganic red eyes only reflected the enemy in front of her. In spite of the fact that there were Orc, Minotaur, Cyclop, and Golem, all-powerful monsters that boasted power far beyond that of humans, there was no flicker of emotion in her eyes.
Sariel, standing eerily silent, and Gustav and the others, who had manifested their blessings and were full of war spirit, exchanged glances.
The silence was only temporary.
Gustav let out one big, red breath of smoke, then said.
“…Here we go.”
A moment later, Sariel’s figure explodes. The shadow of the white girl went far beyond the red lotus explosion.
The arrow had disappeared from Zedra’s hand.
The blasting arrow, with its arrowhead that had the firepower to wipe out an entire pack of small monsters, had already been released with blinding speed, leaving no sound behind.
“WOOHOO!”
Gustav lets out a yell that makes everyone who hears it tremble, and rushed forward furiously. The way he rushed forward, spewing out an aura of burning heat, was like a giant fireball.
In contrast, Sariel quietly stepped out from within the black smoke that erupted in reality.
Her soft skin, whiter than snow, had not a single scorch mark on it. She was completely unharmed. It was as if she was not even aware that she had been attacked in the first place.
Sariel has a doll-like appearance and demeanor, with no hint of a human will. The spear in her right hand was the only indication of her will to fight.
Contrary to the silhouette of a large, muscular man, Gustav, with his explosive rushing speed, instantly thinned out to a defenseless walking Sariel. The huge metal rod, swung wide, emitted glowing incandescence that passed for red.
“[Burning Impact]-Ahhh!”
The Martial Arts technique that contains the power of the demon god of fire swung straight down from above Sariel’s head. But the blow, which had the heat, speed, and destructive power of a meteorite falling directly on the head, passed right by Sariel as if to avoid hitting her.
I noticed that the tip of the spear she was holding was facing the sky. The silvery-white blade shining in the sunlight was covered with a faint white smoke.
There was nothing to it, she had just parried the attack with her spear. It was just that I couldn’t see the moment.
At that moment, Gustav felt an intense shiver, the Martial Arts technique that he had unleashed with all his strength was hitting the ground with such force that it almost split the ground. At the moment of impact, the snowy ground really cracked. No, it was more like a volcano erupting, magma spewing out with a bang.
As with any Martial Arts technique of the master class, [Burning Impact] was accompanied by strong shock waves in concentric circles, but with the super high heat added by the divine protection, it instantly melted the ground, which would normally just shatter and scatter.
Even though the splash of magma that erupted like a geyser passed an inch from her nose, Sariel was still unfazed. Her red eyes were coldly focused on the enemy in front of her.
When Gustav’s attack ended in a complete failure, Sariel swung her spear, still raised in a parrying motion, diagonally downward to cut something! The trajectory drawn by the tip of the silver spear traced Gustav’s neck.
“Oh!”
Quickly thrusting his body forward, Gustave narrowly escaped the slash. Instead, he was struck in the shoulder with a hilt that appeared to be made of steel.
The handle of a long-handled weapon, no matter how metallic, would not hurt or itch Gustav’s huge frame when struck, especially when has used his divine protection. In fact, the more you hit it, the more the weapon will break.
But that’s only if your opponent is a skilled Knight or an experienced adventurer.
The girl, who was two, no, three heads smaller than him, made a careless cleave motion that sent Gustav rolling for five meters across the ground.
“[Rock Rupture]–”
“Ugghhhh!”
As Gustav was blown away, two huge bodies hit Sariel trapping her between them.
On the right, Douglalas shouted, “[Rock Rupture]” and activated his Martial Art. On the left, Gon unleashed two ax blows with his full power.
The pink pole ax, which emitted a distinctive high-pitched trembling sound, and the two battle axes, which were roaring and growling, come close to cutting Sariel’s slender body in a brilliant simultaneous left-right timing.
“…Huuu.”
With a small exhalation of air, Sariel’s body leaned heavily. She leaned back so sharply that she was about to fall.
The battle-ax’s side-swipe passes right in front of Sariel’s skyward-facing face and body. The rugged blade ended up striking out, only faintly slicing through the void and the silvery-white aura rising from her.
At the same time that she was evading Gon’s attacks, Sariel was also intercepting Douglalas’ Martial Arts techniques in this unnatural posture.
Before I knew it, the crossed spears she held in both hands were thrust out sharply while she was in the middle of leaning back. The tip of the spear was aimed not at the blade of the poleaxe, which possesses the ability to shatter anything it touches, but at the handle.
The Martial Art technique of the Minotaur’s stiff arm, with its log-like arms, raised bumps and wild blood vessels, was easily met by the slender spear thrust by the girl’s thin, slender arm. Sariel’s posture was so awkward that her back seemed to hit the ground at any moment, but she was immobile, not feeling the repercussions of stopping Douglalas’ attack.
On the contrary, she didn’t just accept it, but she went straight to counter-attack.
A crossed blade slides along the hilt of the poleaxe. At the end of it, of course, are the fingers of Douglalas, who was holding the weapon.
“Oh, no! This doll girl is dangerous!”
After a tremendous evasive reaction, Douglalas screamed out in a voice rougher than an excited raging bull.
Sariel, on the other hand, seemed to be unaffected by all the shouting and cursing, as she let go of her weapon and focused on Douglalas, who was now unarmed and raised her body like a spring to take a step in pursuit.
The two axes, or Gon’s slashes, were quickly switched and fired at Sariel’s defenseless back, her large silver ponytail fluttering, but they failed to catch her. Without even glancing behind her, she evaded the attacks.
“Ahhhh!”
Realizing that Sariel’s spear would pierce his body faster than he could prepare a new sub-weapon, Daouglalas let out an impatient cry. Of course, it was unlikely that Sariel, who showed no human-like emotions, as he called her a doll girl, would stop her attack, no matter how helplessly Douglalas begged for his life.
Therefore, the only ones who can save Douglalas are his friends.
“Hmm.”
Sariel was going straight into a beautiful thrusting motion that I would like to use as a model, but she stopped right there all of a sudden.
Immediately afterward, something very fast passed through space where she would have stepped. Even a swordsman confident in his eyesight could only tell that it was probably an arrow. However, Sariel’s bright red eyes seemed to have caught the exact line of fire and the point of impact.
If you shift your crimson gaze slightly to the side, you can see a monochrome Golem, Zedra, standing dozens of meters behind with a bow ready.
The arrow did not explode, nor was it coated with poison, it was just a type of arrow with a huge arrowhead that specialized in penetrating power. Or maybe Sariel even saw that the arrowhead had an overly jagged, saw-toothed return that was designed to prevent it from falling out if pierced. It was a vicious shape that would not only be fatal if it pierced, but would also shave off a great deal of flesh if it just grazed.
“Thank you, Zedra!”
“Don’t be happy, just pick up your weapon, duh!”
As if following the covering arrow, Gustav, recovering from the blow, fleshed out Sariel again.
“We can’t defeat her one-on-one! Attack in numbers, surround her!”
Sariel interrupted her pursuit of Douglalas as Gustav charged at her with the force of a blazing storm.
When Sariel was about to exchange blows with Gustav again, Gon, who was now free, came up behind her. The two ax blows he launched were dodged without a second glance.
“She got eyes in the back!”
“Ha, I think she can see everywhere, not just the back!”
Gustav’s metal rod and Gon’s twin axes attacked Sariel from the front and back, shooting wildly, but each of them was avoided by the slimmest of margins. She continued to evade.
“Let’s see how long you can keep this up! [Resonance Bullhorn]”
Douglalas, who had retrieved his poleaxe, jumped in to join the onslaught of the two. It was not a Martial Art, but Strengthening Magic that works on allies including the user.
“Yeah! [Heat Wave]”
Douglalas’ [Resonance Bullhorn] gives a rock-shattering tremor ability, and Gustav’s [Heat Wave] gives iron-melting heat to allies within its area of effect.
The metal rod, poleaxe, and double ax that attacked Sariel now had a double effect of tremor and high heat in addition to their original physical power. This means that a single swing of the weapon has more destructive power than the Martial Arts of an ordinary warrior.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing. If it hits, it is a one-hit move – yes, if it hits.
“Hey! Why isn’t it hitting her?”
“Don’t mess with me!”
“Mmm! Hmph! Gahhhh!”
Sariel continued to evade all of the attacks.
They formed a triangular formation with Sariel at the center, evenly spaced around her so as not to interfere with each other’s attacks and to keep their prey from escaping. The battle was a fluid one, but even so, with years of experience, the three of them rarely broke this triangular encirclement and continued to unleash the fastest and most continuous attacks they could muster against Sariel.
It was not only slashes and blows at close range that attacked her, but when she tried to break out of the formation by exploiting the slightest gap, or in between the three of them attacking in rapid succession, huge arrows with the sawed-off arrowheads like before would fly from a distance, as if to perfectly fill the gaps left.
It was a coordinated attack in a divine formation that deserved its Rank 5 status, but Sariel handled it all with a cool face.
She ducked under the swings of the metal rod that seemed to burn and blow away to the horizon with a mere touch and parried the blade that would shatter her entire body from the point of touch. Even in the midst of the stormy barrage, she didn’t allow even a single silver hair to be cut off. She also dodged the arrows that come at the perfect timing like an assassin, taking advantage of blind spots and gaps in her movements, as if she had sensed them in advance, or she escaped the line of fire after seeing the arrows released.
“Come on!”
“Just hit! Reach her!”
“Nuh-uh! Daaaaahhh!”
Even though the desperate offensive continued, Sariel showed no signs of fatigue. Not a single bead of sweat appeared on her lifeless white face.
It is common knowledge in the continent of Pandora that the power of divine protection cannot be kept active for long. The members of the [Iron Demon Brigade] are no exception to this rule. In the near future, they wouldn’t be able to maintain their current power and speed of attack.
If that’s the case, then Sariel, who was gushing out this silvery aura, must also be activating some kind of divine protection. That’s what Gustav and the other adventurers who were watching the battle around him – who had no choice but to watch in the face of this fierce battle – were expecting. The tremendous power and speed, as well as the unfathomable eeriness, must be due to the power of some powerful divine protection.
However, as she continued to quietly handle the attacks even in the midst of the overwhelming destructive power, I couldn’t help but think that she would be able to activate her divine protection forever.
Even though I knew that this was impossible, I felt a shiver run down my spine when the counterattack finally began.
“What the hell? Stop!”
Sariel passed through the hundreds and thousands of one-hit kills and escaped the encirclement. It was at that moment that Gon’s attack was disrupted by a tenth of a second, perhaps due to his youthful impatience.
The next thing I knew, Sariel was behind Gon.
She swung her spear with her right hand and stabbed the large back, which was defenseless for a moment – no, she threw it.
With only one hand, she threw her spear, without a run-up or a rational stance that transfers body weight. It was an extremely ineffective form, thrown only with a swing of the arm and power of the wrist.
But it was frighteningly fast and powerful enough to pierce through steel.
“Gah!”
Sariel’s target was not the Cyclops in front of her, but the Zedra, the Golem that provided accurate cover fire.
By the time anyone realized this, the spear had already pierced deeply into the shining Monocular Eye. In the next moment, a huge explosion of shimmering white light erupted. Blinding violence of light rushed past.
All that remained was the wreckage of the Zedra, whose neck and limbs had been blown off, leaving only the incandescent torso intact, and a crossed spear that stood out like a gravestone.
But fortunately, the three vanguards didn’t see their comrades in ruins. Even though she had thrown her weapon, the enemy was still standing right in front of them.
Of course, Sariel had no intention of surrendering, even though she was now helpless. She had already set her sights on her next target.
“No, you can’t escape!”
Gon’s swinging blow came just after Sariel had finished throwing the spear.
Normally, people and monsters alike would be torn apart, but for Sariel, rather than avoiding it, it seemed to be an opening where she could strike back.
When Gon’s right-hand ax swung down, Sariel was standing just in place to reach out and touch his thick waist. As the next axe in his left hand cleaved the empty space where there was no one to cut, Sariel climbed up Gon’s huge body like a white snake crawling.
The first step was taken on his crabby knees, and the second step was taken with just his toes hooked on the thick leather belt around his waist. There was no third step. Instead of looking for a foothold, she went for it.
Her white left hand touched Gon’s neck as if gently embracing the one-eyed big man.
The last thing Gon saw was her shining bright red eyes and the white light on the fingertips of her right hand.
“[Stinger]”
Sariel’s right hand turned into a white flash and pierced Gon’s huge eyeball. The sharp steel piercing sound was probably due to the hardening ability of his blessing, the – [The Rock Mountain – Tortoise], which he had activated.
“Giiiiigaaaaaahhhh!”
The fact that he could scream was proof that he was still alive. Sariel’s Martial Art [Stinger] could probably penetrate his whole head if his divine protection was not active.
It was fortunate only his eyeball was shattered.
But how many of us can rejoice in our good fortune in the face of blindness? On the other hand, how many of us can immediately fight back in the face of blindness?
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Just as Sariel quickly pulled out her right hand and landed on the ground again, away from the Cyclop, she was grabbed. Gon had let go of his axe, almost by intuition, but he had still miraculously managed to catch the arm of his enemy, the small girl.
A rugged gray hand that looked like it was made of rock clutched the girl’s thin, white arm as if it had already been broken.
“Vuruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
It was the perfect opportunity to stop Sariel’s god-speed evasive maneuvers. It was a great opportunity to take advantage of.
With his iron-colored aura billowing out of his mouth, and his screaming mouth fully open and drooling all over the place, the raging figure looks looked just like a monster that has become a God, Douglalas charged forward.
However, a large gray mass suddenly intervened between her and Sariel, blocking him from using his poleaxe.
“Aah!”
It was Gon’s body.
With just his left arm in her grasp, Sariel haphazardly swung the Cyclops’ massive body, which was well over two meters tall towards Douglalas.
She lifted his huge, rock-like body straight up, twisted his body in half, and threw it straight over her head with an overthrow-like form.
However, Douglalas instantly recognized that the person who was used as a shield in this way was undoubtedly his friend. Therefore, his attack stopped.
It was rather reckless to stop, but if he didn’t do it, he would have cut his precious party member and his cute junior in half with his own blow. No matter how reckless he was, he had no choice but to stop.
“Buh-hah-hah!”
Gon and Douglalas’ large, muscular bodies collided violently with each other. With a painful, dull sound, the mass of the two of them rolled away, splashing blood.
They stopped not long after, leaving behind a trail of fresh blood on the muddy ground where the snow had melted.
The gray Gon didn’t move a muscle. The brown-furred Douglalas, on the other hand, dropped the tattered pieces of his pink armor and sets his hard hooves on the ground again.
“[White War Spear]”
As if to mock Douglalas fight to get up, Sariel unleashed attack magic without chanting, a white spear about two meters long, which sewed him to the earth. It pierced him in the middle of his stomach, and he fell on his back. He would not be able to get up again.
[Burning Impact]―Ahhhhhhhhhh”]
The last remaining Gustav used the same Martial Art aiming at Sariel’s unprotected back. However, the power contained in this strike was incomparably different – he put all of his fire and heat into it as if he didn’t care if he was blown away by the scorching explosion that exploded not only the metal rod which released the technique but even himself. It’s not hard to see that this is big move was the final resort, self-destruction move. He was ready to die if he could just hurt Sariel with this attack.
It doesn’t matter how Sariel can move, she can’t escape the blast radius of [Burning Impact]. There was no point in trying to dodge it.
As the fatal blow was about to strike, Sariel countered Gustav’s last effort with a single word.
“[Come Back]”
By the time she murmured this, the cross spear was already in Sariel’s hand again. It was the same spear that she had thrown at Zedra.
The fact that it was summoned back by Summoning Magic was obvious without even thinking about it. The only thing that was unusual was the speed of the summoning. It was too fast. But in reality, the spear was coming back to her.
She held it in her opposite hand. The tip of the spear was pointing toward her back, or more precisely, toward Gustav’s, who was about to swing the metal rod down.
Then, with a light thrust, she pierced the middle of Gustav’s thick chest plate as if it had been sucked in. It was enough to stop the attack.
“Haha… haha… strong, little girl… are you really human… ”
Thus, Sariel annihilated the [Iron Demon Brigade] in less than three minutes.
She had only defeated four enemies yet. In front of her, hundreds and thousands of armed adventurers were moving about, though almost all of them had lost their will to fight. Beyond that, where tens of thousands of Spada soldiers.
Her battle had only just begun.