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“Nice moves. Rather than self-taught, it is more like you are used to brawls though.” (Murshto)

There’s no strength in the attacks of Murshto, most likely because we have the advantage of numbers.

Even so, what I could tell after fighting him is that there’s not one bit of softness in his swordsmanship.

“That’s right. Getting in brawls with adventurers in the bars was a daily occurrence after all!” (Haaku)

The soldiers and knights working under a nation would mostly fight while upholding appearances.

They do so because they have learned that makes them strong, and the reality is that they have no openings.

But mastering it yourself is a different story.

That’s why you can trip most of the strong people of that type. Even if they have no openings, you can create them after all.

I grab a cart nearby and throw it towards Murshto.

He avoided like normal, but I went around to the place where he avoided, and tried to strike him with my tonfas.

“Uoh?!”

Murshto must have grabbed a wooden box on the cart while evading, he threw it at me when I went around.

I reflexively broke it with my tonfas and a lunge of his sword jumped at me.

“Hahaha! That’s an impressive reaction speed. No, this is beyond reaction speed? It is as if you detect danger beforehand.” (Murshto)

“Damn it, if you are the bodyguard of a princess, fight with a cleaner battle style.” (Haaku)

I have seen his swordsmanship countless times. It resembles that of the soldiers of Serende.

But it is not like it is polished. It has been tinkered to match his own style. Basically, he is making the swordsmanship he learned his own while breaking from conventions.

These types are extremely flexible and troublesome.

“That’s not something you should be saying.” (Murstho)

“True… Wait, Masetta! Can’t you provide a bit more support?!” (Haaku)

We have had an exchange of blows a few times since the fight began.

Masetta was shooting magic in between my attacks at first, but now she seems to be in a weird state.

Even though she should be able to shoot magic from her position. Please get a grip!

“I can’t shoot them! My magic has suddenly disintegrated…! I think a magic seal stone has been hidden somewhere…!” (Masetta)

“Seriously? Let’s see—?!” (Haaku)

The moment I tried to use detection magic, the construction disintegrated.

This is definitely the effect of a magic seal stone.

“It is a magic seal stone for war that was stored near the capital of Serende. It was apparently transported by undead, but it looks like it has arrived.” (Murshto)

“Making it so that your own country can’t use magic. Are you insane?!” (Masetta)

“I don’t know if I am sane. What I know is that the Yugura Church can’t use the purification magic they are so proud of. It means that, even if you were to ask for help from Mejis and they were to respond, you won’t be able to solve this situation so easily.” (Murshto)

That princess called Hilmera is nuts.

How do they plan on cleaning things up…? I don’t think I would be able to get along with her as a clean freak.

But it would be better to assume I won’t be able to get help from Masetta anymore.

The Yugura Church’s clerics specialize in situations where they station themselves somewhere to control the area with magic, but they are almost completely useless when it comes to using mana strengthening for close combat.

If they can’t use their sturdy barriers to make up for it, it would only be harsh to have her help out.

“It can’t be helped. Let’s fight fair and square like a man. Masetta, you run away…is what I would like to say, but with you unable to use magic, it wouldn’t be good for you to be moving around carelessly.” (Haaku)

“I only plan on killing him, so I don’t mind sparing you if you stay put.” (Murshto)

“So it seems. Looks like I am the popular one. Jealous?” (Haaku)

“You…” (Masetta)

Now that it has come to this, there’s no choice but to defeat him by myself, but…not being able to use magic means that I also can’t use my trump card, which requires a small barrier.

Mana strengthening and my own skills are areas that I am not confident in, but this isn’t the time to be complaining.

If I am going to create a decisive move, it would have to be with this right arm. I will bet my chances on this.

“Your basic combat power is low, but your reflexes alone are the top of the top. Looks like a part of your body is different from that of your regular person.” (Murshto)

“That goes both ways…you see!” (Haaku)

I continue narrowly avoiding the slashes of Murshto.

I can pull off things like this without difficulty with the help of Instinct-sama.

First, get used to the range of the sword and the speed.

How do I connect it from there…? Alright!

“This is…” (Murshto)

I jump to avoid the sweeping slash of Murshto’s sword and transform the devil in my right arm.

I order it to just spread out single-mindedly, turning it into a giant cloth-like shape.

“—Go!” (Haaku)

The devil assails Murshto as if covering him up just as I ordered.

He judged that it would be difficult to avoid it, so he stabbed his sword into the devil and created a big opening in the cloth that was trying to cover him up.

“There’s no sturdiness to it… It wasn’t to bind me but to cover my vision, huh.” (Murshto)

“That’s right. So that I can hit you with a big move…you see!” (Haaku)

I cut off the cloth part as I stood right in front of Murshto, and smashed my strongest blow onto the chest of Murshto with my tonfas.

I could tell that his armor was dented and the bones in his chest broke.

Now that magic can’t be used, this damage will be pretty big against him.

He won’t be able to heal his wounds or soften the pain—?!

“Uo!”

I felt a front kick on my stomach from Instinct-sama, and my body moved away from Murshto.

What I saw with my vision was a sword trail passing in the place I was standing.

Damn it. I injured my muscles.

I normally am in a state where I can take in any forceful input from Instinct-sama, but that just now caught me completely off-guard.

“You can avoid even this timing, huh. You don’t lower your guard at all.” (Murshto)

“…I should have broken your bones there. Why do you look like you are totally fine?” (Haaku)

Murshto sliced off the part of the devil that I made into a cloth shape and I could see the whole body of Murshto.

My attack definitely landed directly on his chest, and I can also see faint blood coming out from his mouth.

Murshto checks his own chest, and takes off the chest part of his armor that was dented.

“It did hurt, but this much is nothing.” (Murshto)

I have also fought with broken bones. I even managed to get up when my arms were blown up.

But even if I managed to stand up, I couldn’t move satisfactorily.

If I were to force myself to move, the bones would stab on my flesh and sharp pain would assail me.

My body would try to get away from the pain and my movements would dull.

And yet, the counterattack just now was sharper than any before and his face was completely unfazed, giving off a creepy feeling.

Ah, I see. So this is his talent as an Illegitimate.

I don’t know the details, but it would be better to think that this guy can fight like normal as long as he is conscious.

“Good grief. There should be a limit to being able to endure pain…” (Haaku)

“This is like a scratch compared to the guy I failed to finish.” (Murshto)

“This is a scratch? What monster did you fight…?” (Haaku)

“A guy named Arcreal. Know him?” (Murshto)

The face of Masetta on the other side is crazy. I am probably making a similar face.

No no, you fought Arcreal?! Moreover, failed to finish him?! No way. That guy has the battle sense of the legendary hero Yugura!

When we went to capture Seraes before, we saw Arcreal and could only run away.

Instinct-sama told me I absolutely must not enter the range of his sword. It was even pulling back the skin on my whole body.

“How are you alive…?” (Haaku)

“I thought it was trouble when his blade managed to reach all the way to my heart though. Man, he was strong, but I was saved by the fact that he was brittle.” (Murshto)

You normally die when the blade reaches your heart though.

Wait, maybe this guy is not human? Let’s just think that. Yeah.

“…Can I beg for my life?” (Haaku)

“That would be difficult. I understood after receiving your attack just now, but I really can’t seem to read your actions. Hilmera-sama will probably get thrown off rhythm if there’s a variable like you taking action.” (Murshto)

Alright, I give up on winning.

Let’s just think about how to get out of this situation.

As if I can deal with a guy that can corner Arcreal when my trump card is currently sealed.

I will let Masetta escape first, and then I will run all around Serende while being chased. If I use Instinct-sama to its fullest to run around, I should be able to buy a decent amount of time.

If I just have Masetta call Wolfe and Sis Ilias while at it, we might be able to manage somehow.

Even if that doesn’t work, Brother should be able to do something about Princess Hilmera if I continue running around.

“Now then, I have gotten used to this sword now, so…let’s step in.” (Murshto)

“Masetta, you run away fi—?!” (Haaku)

The tendon in my left leg suddenly tore.

It wasn’t the attack of Murshto, but Instinct-sama crumbling my posture with unbelievable strength.

I obviously couldn’t stand. My body buckled and went to the ground…

“Gah!”

My right shoulder was blown off as I was falling.

Then, a nasty shockwave hit my whole body and was sent flying.

I was smashed somewhere in the time my vision was spinning, and I crumbled to the ground just like that.

“Haakudoku?!” (Masetta)

What just happened?

Murshto looked big for an instant there and…?!

Murshto is at the place where I was standing just now.

He slowly returned his stabbing posture to normal while looking at me.

“…That’s impressive. You can react even to this speed.” (Murshto)

“What…did you do…?” (Haaku)

“It was simply an attack with mana strengthening.” (Murshto)

I was cut? No, stabbed?

That alone was enough to gouge my right shoulder and send my whole body flying?!

It is true that there’s no doubt that he dashed in just now with mana strengthening when we can’t use magic, but that speed just now was on the same level as Sis and the others… No, even faster than that…?

That kind of speed would be impossible normally.

Wolfe manages to finally draw out that speed when she erupts a massive amount of mana, you know.

Being able to draw out even more power than that…is like my trump card…!

“Super dense compression…huh…” (Haaku)

“Aha, you really do know that way of using this. That right arm of yours was the effect of a spontaneous discharge from that technique?” (Haaku)

I am beginning to see a number of tricks that make up his strength.

This is the talent he himself created by matching it together with his talent as an Illegitimate, just like how my detection magic technique rose, pulled by my talent to avoid danger.

You need to have a body that can endure the enhancement of your body with mana strengthening.

The higher the strength of that body enhancement, the higher you can get the limit of your body to be.

The limit of Sis Ilias’s body enhancement is extremely high. In the case of Wolfe, she uses outside factors like bursting mana out instead of body enhancing to make up for it.

And then, when it comes to Murshto, he is outrageously sturdy with his talent as an Illegitimate. The hardness of his bones may be normal, but the flexibility of his muscles is abnormally good.

Even if his body is cut, he can stop the bleeding immediately by freely controlling his muscles. So he can bring his heart back to normal by force even if it is cut.

It is like being in a mana strengthened state in your normal state.

If you were to increase the strength of your body on top of that, I can understand this abnormal speed.

“Gafuh…”

The bones around my right shoulder are pretty broken after my right shoulder was blown up.

I can’t breathe properly because of the blood coming out from my mouth.

This is a bit bad…

Instinct-sama forcefully cut off the tendon of my leg because it judged that I wouldn’t be able to avoid it with my movements.

So I would have definitely died otherwise.

That’s the reason why Arcreal was defeated when he could use the best moves by instinct, huh.

I am sure Murshto can attack even faster than just now.

Arcreal can retaliate while avoiding that speed, but the burden on the body to keep up with that speed would be astounding. His stamina must have run out and got caught.

A guy that doesn’t die no matter how many times you slash him, and comes at you endlessly with outrageous speed is not something to joke about.

“Enhancing your body is proportional to your strength of will. You either polish it and make it even sharper, or push it up to that point with explosive emotions… I am the latter. Is this talent or a disease…? Doesn’t matter, I guess.” (Murshto)

He is amplifying his emotions to an explosive degree to strengthen the enhancement of his body. It is an acceleration on the level of exploding mana inside your body.

A normal person would be crippled with just one attempt.

Murshto slowly walked this way.

I want to run away, but my body can’t move as I want.

The trembling of my body doesn’t come from the damage.

I would normally be able to get up forcefully with stuff like guts and all that, and yet, I am being pushed back by the pressure I felt in the attack of before.

“…Oi, stop it, Masetta.” (Haaku)

Masetta stood in between me and Murshto as if protecting me.

I can’t see her face, but I can clearly tell that her legs are trembling.

She was shown the difference in levels right in front of her eyes, so she would obviously be scared.

“Masetta, I would be classified as abnormal, but it is not like I want to kill anyone in sight. I have judged that I have to kill Haakudoku there, but I think it is fine to let you live.” (Murshto)

“…”

“Killing you or not won’t change much. But I personally don’t want to kill you.” (Murshto)

“I can’t….” (Masetta)

“There’s a lot of other things you can do. There’s no need for you to pointlessly—” (Murshto)

“I can’t just say ‘okay’ and abandon him!” (Masetta)

Aah, damn it.

I understand how she feels.

I get you, Masetta.

If the positions were reversed, I would have also protected you without caring about being killed.

But I don’t want you to do that.

This may be my selfishness, but please take that into account… Damn it.

“You got me there… If you show me that resolve, it is unbelievably hard to do this, but… Oh well.” (Murshto)

“?!”

I saw Masetta’s body collapse, and Murshto wiping away the blood at the tip of his sword and sheathing it.

Blood was flowing out from the collapsed Masetta, and it was slowly spreading.

“Masetta…! Murshto…! You bastard…!” (Haaku)

I grinded my teeth to a degree where I might break them and get my body up.

My broken bones stabbed me here and there, and I can tell my flesh is getting rended, but I don’t care.

Aah, damn it. I am so pathetic.

So late.

Why couldn’t I stand up before this happened?

What would it change even if I were to stand up now?

I can’t forgive him. No matter what—

“I haven’t killed her. She will die if left be though.” (Murshto)

“Wa…” (Haaku)

I move my gaze to Masetta.

She is reacting to the pain and trembling.

She hasn’t died yet.

“My objective is to get you away from this turmoil. If I let you two go, Masetta might carry you out to a place outside the effects of the magic seal stone and treat you. When that happens, you might return in good timing. I want to avoid that.” (Murshto)

Murshto pointed in one direction with his back turned.

The direction is opposite to that of the Serende Castle.

“If you head in that direction, you will be able to get out of the range of the magic seal stone quickly. If she is still conscious until then, you might be able to do emergency treatment on her yourself. You won’t be able to treat yourself, but well, you won’t die from just those wounds…probably.” (Murshto)

“What…are you pulling here…?” (Haaku)

“I could understand her feelings after all. Now that I understand, I don’t want to kill you. That’s why I prepared a path where you can survive.” (Murshto)

Murshto said this and left.

I returned to my senses and went to where Masetta is, and confirmed her state.

Her organs have not been cut, but the wound itself is not shallow at all.

I change the devil in my right arm into a cloth and wrap it around Masetta’s body to stop the bleeding.

“Oi, Masetta…can you hear me?” (Haaku)

“…Kind of.” (Masetta)

I got a response.

I can tell she is in a lot of pain.

It seems like she is concentrating on mana strengthening to keep the bleeding to the bare minimum, but I don’t think she will be able to endure for long.

We need to get out of range of the magic seal stone to heal her.

I carry Masetta and slowly get up.

“Igih?!”

My right shoulder is in pain, but the torn tendon is several times worse in terms of pain.

It is already rough with my weight alone, so the burden is quite a lot with two people.

But this is also good.

With this, I don’t even have the leeway to faint.

“…Leave me behind…is something you wouldn’t do, huh…” (Masetta)

“I might have…if you didn’t stand in front of me.” (Haaku)

“…Then, that wouldn’t have happened.” (Masetta)

Masetta didn’t speak anymore after that. It means that’s how little leeway she has.

I have to move quickly.

I slowly move one step at a time, heading towards the direction Murshto pointed at.

—-

Author: I feel like Arcreal will concentrate on increasing his stamina next.

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