Chapter 462 – After The Battle Against Wing Road

She stabbed Kai.

Kai’s own sword was pierced through his Dragon Breastplate and plunged deep into the middle of his chest. From the size of the sword, it was obvious that it was a fatal wound.

At last, one member of the [Wing Road] was down. This meant that the four of us were no longer on equal footing with Sariel.

In other words, we have no chance of victory.

“Kai…”

However, what came to my mind was not the rational thought to retreat, but a fighting spirit to continue the battle.

It’s not my first time seeing someone sacrifice themselves but it’s not something I can get used to.

My comrade was killed. There’s no better reason for me to be angry.

“How dare you! You bastard!”

However, there was someone else whose anger was ignited before mine. There was no way that the hot-headed Charl wouldn’t lose her temper over this.

Or maybe it was a natural consequence when I, as the leader of the [Wing Road], had the slightest inkling of a calm thought to make the right decision to immediately retreat from an unwinnable battle.

In anger, Charl pointed the ‘Crimson Bolt’, her short staff wand with a bright red spark, at Sariel.

“Stop, Charl!”

More than anger, the fear of the next victim prevailed my thinking.

Sariel turned to Charl who was unleashing her murderous intent and magical power at her.

“-[Flash Cannon]”

If the name of the spell was to be believed, the fired spell was a Light-attribute low grade attack spell at Charl. It was also a no chant spell.

However, the whirlpool of flashing lights in front of me was too huge. A tornado of light over ten meters in length swallowed the target while fleetingly erasing the thunderbolt that Charl had fired earlier.

“U… ah…”

The light passed in an instant.

When my vision cleared again, the first thing I saw was the skeletal corpse of a large Minotaur standing in front of Charl as her meat shield. The bones were oddly white, as if they had been deliberately painted with paint. The large shield in it’s hands was also stained white and crumbling as if they were weathering.

Sariel’s [Flash Cannon] completely cleansed the undead Minotaur made by Safi in one shot.

However, it seems that the power of the Minotaur’s shield was not enough to completely stop it.

“Aaah! It hurts.”

Both of Charl’s arms also raised a white vapor. The sleeves of her slightly longer robe was neatly erased, revealing painful, slender arms that had been burned by the scorching light.

Perhaps she managed to activate a defensive spell just before she was hit. Because if Sariel’s spell had hit her without the defensive spell, she would have been in the same state as the skeletal Minotaur.

However, for Sariel, it was not so regrettable that she could not kill her in one shot. If one shot doesn’t work, she can just shoot anoter.

“[White Stake]”

And she didn’t need any exaggerated techniques to kill a Mage who couldn’t even hold her wand well anymore. Even an attack powerful enough to kill or injure a defenseless civilian, is enough to take down the current Charl.

For example, yes, a single stake that pierces the vital point of the chest is enough.

The white stake released from Sariel’s right hand soared through the air straight towards Charl’s small chest.

“—Guhhhh!!”

“Nero!?”

The attack pierced the fool who was standing in front of Charl, that is, me.

As soon as Sariel had fired the [Flash Cannon], I had activated [Sonic Walker] and ran off. However, her follow up was annoyingly smooth and fast.

I couldn’t carry Charl and run away, so I could only defend her with my body.

Oh, damn, that hurt… I think she got two of my ribs.

“You…why?”

“Damn, why… did you… recklessly… attack…”

Just speaking one word was enough to cause me a tremendous amount of pain and fatigue.

It’s a good thing I didn’t die instantly, though. If I don’t die, I can use a recovery potion. Well, that’s only if I were dealing with someone normal.

“Damn it… this is it…”

The next thing I knew, Sariel was standing in front of me.

She has already broken my seal? Her ankle, which should have been frozen, was already free so she could walk here, and so was the crossed spear in her right hand. She could have crushed the ice at any time she wanted, huh.

This is exactly what I mean when she is in a different level.

Strangely enough, I don’t feel any regret. The only thing that comes to my mind is the resignation of understanding the difference in power that exists in reality between her and us.

“No, no, no! No, Nero! I can’t believe this is where it ends.”

In this kind of situation, I felt a little jealous of Charl, who could cry out her regret honestly.

I’m sure it’s because she believed from the bottom of her heart that we, [Wing Road] could be the strongest.

But I’m different. After all, my power is just like this.

I’ve already realized how powerless I am when I was a kid. Because I couldn’t save him when I was a kid and because I can’t save you, Charl right now.

“I’m sorry, Charl…”

So all I could do was apologize.

I turned my back towards Charl and stood up, holding my sword while enduring the pain of the stakes that pierced my chest.

“Run, I’ll buy you some time.”

“No .., Nero! Nero!”

King Leonhart may be able to fight against Sairel.

But he won’t be coming anytime soon.

The only people around me are adventurers who are completely freaked out. In addition, I don’t expect much help from Safi.

She’s a calm and rational person. She doesn’t do anything in vain. Even if she intervenes here, we will never be able to win against Sariel. On the contrary, she understands from the battle up to this point that the odds are hopelessly low that she won’t even be able to save me or Charl and retreat.

If that’s the case, the best thing to do would be to take this opportunity to escape alone. If she comes to save us, she would be killed as well; but if she runs away, at least one person will be saved. The numbers clearly show which outcome is better.

So I have no choice but to do it.

Even though I know I can’t win, and even though it’s doubtful that I can even buy enough time for her escape in the first place… I guess the reason I’m holding my sword like this is because of the little bit of pride I have as a man.

“Then, Charl…”

At that moment, I noticed. Sariel’s red eyes shook slightly.

It was a small change, a really small change, but it was certainly an outburst of human emotion. I think she was surprised.

I knew right away that it was not because I showed my intention to fight. In the first place, she wasn’t even looking at me anymore.

Her eyes passed by me and Charl and went further back.

What the hell is she looking at? Who’s there?

The answer to my question came shortly after.

“Saaaaarrrrriiiieeeeeelllllllll…”

It sounded more terrifying than the grudge cry of undeads. I’ve dealt with high-ranking undead monsters a few times before, but even then, I have never felt the kind of horror that made me shiver from the bottom of my stomach like this one.

It stung my skin, it was an unpleasant killing sensation that stuck to me like I was immersed in a poisonous swamp. This feeling is, yes, this is a kind of ‘curse’.

While raising such a haunting cry, a black shadow flew over my head. Black hair and black coat fluttered behind the shadow in the wind.

“You…”

“You…”

The words that I uttered without thinking were the same for both Charl and me.

“You…”

And for some reason, Sariel uttered the same words.

“[Black Calm]” (KuroNagi)

A silvery white tip and a jet-black blade clashed. The magic power of the two colors of black and white dispersed fiercely.

With a sharp metallic sound, the two sides jumped. No, Sariel stepped back.

Sariel fluttered in the air, shaking off the bloody red eerie aura and landed lightly on the ground.

In contrast, he landed with a sense of weight, as if a heavy lump of iron had fallen in front of me.

“Kurono!?”

He didn’t even react to my call.

I’m sure that Kurono never looked back and just stared straight at Sariel, who was standing quietly with a spear in her hand, with that black and red vicious look in her eyes. He was now focusing all of his attention on Sariel.

He may not even be aware that there were two people here, let alone my voice.

“Hey, long time no see.”

With that one sentence, I could tell that Sariel and Kurono knew each other. And more than anything, the unusual air that emanated from Kurono made me think that they had antagonistic relation.

“I’ve been waiting for this reunion.”

I realized everything.

Oh, right, he had joined the Galahad War for this very moment. It makes sense that he refused the 1000-man Commander post.

Kurono’s target was only one girl, Sariel. The others were just a distraction. Even the battles he had fought so far were just for fun.

In this huge stage of war, aiming for vengeance on a single person is… crazy.

But the reality is that Sariel has appeared on the battlefield. Is it really fate? If that is the case, then the Black Gods must have some bastard with extremely bad taste.

He was going to grant the wish of such a crazy madman.

“Sariel, I’m going to kill you this time!”

And so Kurono’s battle began.