Chapter 39

Chapter 39

What the Hell Is Wrong with This Guy...?

There was no time to be surprised by the Silver Saintess blocking my sword with her spear.

Because I immediately had to angle my sword and block the spear sweeping horizontally toward me.

CLANG-!

The heavy force behind the strike sent me sliding backward.

‘...She knew how to use a spear too?’

My palm tingled.

The ease with which she'd brushed aside the attack I'd launched to kill Cassian, and the weight and speed behind that last spear strike, were both extraordinary.

‘...Come to think of it, Clarice called her the Silver Holy Spear, not the Silver Saintess.’

I'd vaguely heard she fought at the very front whenever the Eris Order entered the Demon Realm to subjugate demonic beasts.

I'd dismissed it as embellished propaganda created by the Eris Order.

...I'd been too obsessed with my own plans, overlooking the information around me and interpreting everything through a narrow lens.

That was something I needed to correct.

“Hey, I asked who the hell you are.”

Beatrice smoothly spun her spear once and leveled the point at me.

An extraordinary pressure radiated from her.

‘She's strong. I can tell without even fighting her. Far stronger than Leonid.’

If Beatrice stood in my way, killing Cassian wouldn't be easy.

But I didn't change my plan.

If anything, the thought that I had to kill Cassian somehow only grew stronger.

Because if she was this powerful, she'd become an incredible asset.

I couldn't afford to lose her.

“Saintess Beatrice. I am Kael, Hero of the Justitia Order.”

“...The Hero?”

Beatrice frowned after hearing my answer and lowered her spearpoint slightly.

“That's a pretty excessive greeting between Heroes, don't you think? And what the hell did you do to turn our Leonid into a bloody mess?”

“...”

“Oh? You're really savoring the act of ignoring me, huh?”

“Please move.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't come up with anything appropriate to say.

So I ignored Beatrice's question and demanded that she move.

“And if I move, what? You're going to kill this bastard?”

“Yes. I am.”

Beatrice looked utterly dumbfounded by my firm answer.

Understandably so.

Beatrice didn't know what kind of man Cassian was, nor what he would do in the future.

From her perspective, I must've looked like some lunatic who'd suddenly barged into another Order's residence swinging a sword and declaring he would kill their Hero candidate.

“Do you have some kind of reason?”

“I do.”

Judging by how calmly she asked, was there room for negotiation after all?

“What is it?”

“I cannot tell you.”

But I couldn't explain the reason.

To reduce variables as much as possible, the fewer people who knew about the future, the better.

“Haha, you're fucking insane, aren't you? Looks like you ate something bad somewhere and it went straight to your head. I'll let this much slide for Clarice's sake, so get the hell out right now.”

“If you refuse to move, I'll have no choice but to hurt you.”

“You son of a—”

This bastard doesn't listen to a damn word I say either.

Is not listening to other people some passive skill everyone in the Holy Nation gets?

Beatrice muttered the complaint under her breath.

Maybe spending so much time around Holy Knights in the Demon Realm had roughened her language.

Or had she always been like this?

Beatrice let out a faint sigh, then shifted her gaze toward Leonid lying on the ground.

“Hey, Leonid.”

“...Ugh.”

At Beatrice's voice, Leonid groaned and stirred where he lay.

“You alive?”

“...Sis, does this look... alive and well... to you right now...?”

“Your mouth's still working, so you're fine.”

Beatrice turned toward Cassian.

Then she let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground.

“You dropped your sword, and then closed your eyes while a blade was coming straight at you? You're seriously hopeless.”

At her exasperated words, Cassian lowered his head and couldn't answer.

“And the most hopeless one here is you, asshole. You barged into another Order's residence, beat the Vice-Captain half to death, and tried to kill their Hero candidate?”

Finally, Beatrice looked at me and growled.

I knew the future.

And I had personally seen what became of that strong, proud woman.

I slowly closed my eyes.

[Ahh, Beatrice? I liked her pretty face and that obscene body of hers. And the way she kept fighting back so fiercely. She was the perfect woman.]

The past...

No.

Should I call it the future?

I remembered the conversation I'd had with Cassian immediately before fighting him when I stormed the Eris Order after it had become a den of demons.

[Even after Lilith's curse swallowed her and she was writhing beneath me, she still clenched her teeth and cursed me to the end. Even then she kept calling Eris's name, trying to endure it... Honestly, I wanted to completely break her, so I tried just about everything, but she never surrendered. She was one stubborn bitch.]

Cassian had laughed vilely.

[Of course, later I thought maybe I'd make her carry a demonic beast's child, so I threw her among the beasts of Lust. After that she finally broke completely, so she stopped being interesting. Such a shame. Like watching your favorite toy after it's been ruined.]

[You bastard...! You still call yourself human?!]

Kael opened the eyes he'd squeezed shut.

The rage he'd felt then remained vivid as though it had happened yesterday.

And even more so because he'd personally witnessed Beatrice after rescuing her from Cassian.

She'd stopped eating and drinking, locked herself away in a room...

And eventually committed the one taboo no clergy member should ever commit.

“Saintess, do you truly have no intention of moving?”

“Hey, do I look like someone who's planning to move?”

Beatrice raised the spearpoint she'd lowered and aimed it at me again.

“Huu... My apologies. It seems I'll have to be somewhat rough.”

We had no choice but to fight.

I adjusted my grip on the sword I'd lowered toward the ground and drew a deep breath.

Against a spear, I first needed to close the distance.

With that thought, I tried to rush in.

But before I could even take one step, an icy feeling crawled across my skin, and I instinctively raised my sword.

CLANG-

“Ghk...!?”

Fast.

I'd expected her to answer my advance with a thrust.

I'd planned to knock it aside and continue forward.

But there wasn't even time for that.

Even after barely deflecting the spearhead, another thrust came before I could reset my stance.

Clang-

“Ugh!”

Forced to block from an unstable position, I had no choice but to stumble backward.

The gap between Beatrice and me hadn't shrunk at all.

“What? You're better than I expected. Leonid isn't some pushover, so I guess there was a reason you left him looking like that.”

“...You are strong. I cannot afford to hold back against you.”

That brief exchange made it clear.

If I wanted to break through the Saintess in front of me, I would have to pour everything I had into it.

And so I drew upon the special divine power granted only to a Hero.

Divine power of starlight.

“...Wow. You're even using divine power now? Are you serious?”

“Yes. I am serious. I'll ask one last time, Saintess. Will you hand over Cassian's head?”

“Nope.”

Silvery-white divine power surged around Beatrice.

The two divine powers crashed violently against each other, whipping a fierce gale through the previously quiet training ground.

“Cassian, take Leonid and back off.”

Cassian hurried over, grabbed the bloodied Leonid, and dragged him away.

The moment Leonid left the combat zone, I kicked off the ground and charged Beatrice.

Wrapped in starlight divine power, I moved at a speed incomparable to before.

Even the Captain of the Justitia Holy Knights, a Saint himself, had admired this speed.

I was certain merely reacting to it would be all she could manage.

That confidence shattered in an instant.

Shiver-

“...!?”

Time slowed.

Had I entered the state of selflessness one sometimes reached in battle?

No.

My instincts had sensed mortal danger and forcibly slowed my perception of time.

If I continued forward, I would die.

At that terrifying warning, I stopped.

Forcing myself to halt so suddenly made the bones and ligaments in my knees scream with a grinding creak.

But that didn't matter right now.

SHWOOOSH-!

The air ripped apart.

Within the slowed world, I barely managed to catch the spearpoint crashing toward me like a streak of light.

CLAAANG-!

“Ghk...!”

I deflected the attack through instinct alone.

Because I'd received it from an impossible posture, pain tore through my grip as though my hands were splitting apart.

The impact also forced both arms holding my sword upward.

My torso was completely exposed.

I tried to recover my stance and charge again, but Beatrice didn't allow it.

CLANG- CLANG!

Another vicious thrust came.

I barely blocked it, but my body couldn't withstand the force and slid backward again.

‘She's exceptionally skilled at controlling distance.’

Her meticulous spacing never allowed me inside sword range.

I could do nothing but dance to her rhythm.

Scratches rapidly began accumulating across my body.

A spear thrust was dangerous not only because of its reach.

Its greatest difficulty lay in the fact that it was a ‘point’ attack.

Unlike a slash, whose trajectory drew a ‘line,’ a thrust concentrated entirely on a single point.

For the defender, it was difficult to predict the final destination of the attack until the very last moment.

Even so, if you read the direction of the opponent's shoulder muscles or the angle of the extending arm, it was troublesome but still manageable.

At least that was how spearmanship worked according to everything I knew.

But...

‘...I can't read the trajectory.’

Even if I watched her shoulder and arm, the spear that had been traveling in a straight line would suddenly twist like a snake.

And the speed was monstrous, so fast that I could barely catch its afterimage.

“Ghk!”

A thrust I failed to avoid sliced deeply across my shoulder.

Blood sprayed upward.

I staggered back several steps, retreating entirely outside spear range.

Clutching the shoulder burning as though scorched by fire, I suppressed a groan.

“Well? Bit different from what you expected?”

Beatrice's voice reached my ears.

“Maybe it's because I'm a woman. Or maybe because I'm a Saintess. Everyone looks down on me at first and comes charging in just like you.”

She smoothly spun the spear and rested it over one shoulder, one corner of her lips curling upward.

“And every single one of them ends up making the same stupid face you're making now.”

“...I admit it. You are strong.”

Yes.

Beatrice was stronger than me.

But I'd defeated countless demons stronger than myself.

I was far more accustomed to clawing desperately from the edge of defeat than standing above an opponent and overwhelming them.

With my current skill, there was no way to break through those thrusts without taking damage.

Then there was only one option.

Sacrifice flesh to break bone.

Force my way inside her range.

BOOM-

I kicked off the ground and charged.

I stared directly at the spearpoint shooting toward me.

I couldn't fully grasp its trajectory with my skill.

So I would watch it to the very end, twist my body at the final instant to avoid a fatal wound, and take the attack with my flesh.

The moment Beatrice entered my sword range, victory would be mine.

SHNK-!

“...Hey, are you fucking insane?!”

Shock flashed across Beatrice's face.

Naturally.

She probably never imagined I'd willingly let the spearhead punch through my shoulder just to close the distance.

Now I was completely inside my range.

“It's over—”

CRACK-

Just as I moved to thrust my sword, certain of victory, a dull impact struck my jaw.

The world spun.

Strength vanished from my entire body for an instant, nearly making me drop my sword mid-swing.

I barely tightened my grip in time.

But with my brain rattling inside my skull, I stumbled several steps backward...

CLAAANG-

And I barely managed to block the thrust that instantly exploited the opening, sliding backward once again.

The distance I'd sacrificed a shoulder to close had been opened again in an instant.

‘...What happened?’

I couldn't understand.

Inside sword range.

At a distance where a spear should've lost its power and become useless, what exactly had happened?

“Hey, are you insane? If I hadn't twisted the spearpoint aside, you'd have a ventilation hole through your throat right now.”

Beatrice's voice echoed inside my skull as though coming from deep within a cavern.

I felt ready to lose consciousness at any moment.

No.

I couldn't.

No matter what happened, I had to kill Cassian here.

I clenched my teeth and dragged my fading consciousness back, drawing out even more divine power.

Fortunately, the transcendent body of a Hero and the authority of starlight let me recover quickly from the blow.

My shoulder remained a mangled mess, but I could still hold and swing my sword.

If I stopped now, I'd only be slowly worn down.

I had to close the distance again.

And I was gradually growing accustomed to the trajectories of those unpredictable snake-like thrusts.

“...Wow. Did you seriously eat something wrong?”

Beatrice looked disgusted when I charged back into her spear range, but I barely heard her.

I simply focused on defense and desperately blocked the rain of thrusts pouring toward me.

And then...

‘Now!’

The instant I saw an opening, I smashed the spearhead aside with my sword again and closed the gap.

My eyes widened as I focused completely on Beatrice.

Unless I discovered what that strange, unidentified impact had been earlier, I had no chance of winning...

‘She's closing the distance first?’

The instant I stepped forward, Beatrice stepped toward me instead.

For a spearman, willingly entering sword range was practically suicide.

‘No... This is...!’

Because Beatrice stepped forward at the same moment I did, the distance vanished twice as fast.

This wasn't sword range anymore.

Rather...

THOOM-!

“Ghuuugh...!”

My vision flashed.

A heartbeat later, I realized Beatrice had driven a fist into my temple.

My consciousness blacked out for an instant, then returned.

The sensation of my brain rattling inside my skull forced a strangled cry from my throat.

‘Hand-to-hand combat...!’

THUD-

Before I could respond, Beatrice spun and kicked me in the abdomen.

The blow sent me flying across the ground, rolling several times.

“Ghh... Ugh...”

It felt like wandering through fog.

I struggled as unreachable mist slowly devoured me.

Then, whenever I desperately managed to close the distance, the mist suddenly became a stone hammer and crashed down on me.

Soft spearmanship combined with hard martial arts.

I couldn't see any way through it.

Yes.

This woman stood at a level far beyond mine.

I forced myself to rise, but my legs had already lost all strength and refused to obey.

My staggering body finally collapsed onto the dirt.

All I could do was drive my sword into the ground and use it to keep my upper body from falling completely.

Step-

Step-

Calm footsteps approached, and a shadow fell over my head.

“Cool your head a little?”

I lifted my gaze.

Beatrice looked down at me with an indifferent expression.

Her breathing remained perfectly calm.

I couldn't stop.

I had to kill Cassian here.

‘Move...! Move, damn it! Please!’

I screamed at myself again and again internally.

But my exhausted divine power and ruined body betrayed my will.

In the end, I collapsed face-first into the dirt in a ridiculous heap.

Contrary to the tragic determination and desperation flooding Kael's mind, Beatrice's thoughts were somewhat different.

Namely...

‘Holy fuck, is this bastard actually insane?’

He'd suddenly charged in saying he was going to kill Cassian, and before I knew it, I'd beaten him down on reflex.

My plan to go easy on him had flown straight off to Andromeda the moment the bastard rushed me with his eyes rolled back.

The fists I'd used to hit him several times were still tingling.

A Hero's body wrapped in starlight was as hard as iron.

But more importantly...

‘What the hell is wrong with this guy...?’

The Hero I knew from the original story wasn't anything like this bastard.

My head began aching almost instantly.