CHAPTER 16 – VICTORY

Translator: Homia

Arsene immediately led the squires and ran towards the battlefield between the knights and the demons.

The two knights were fighting desperately, but their side was clearly at a disadvantage.

The fox demon was gaining momentum because they handled the most threatening Entir, and the tree snake demon covered the gap between the big attacks.

Entir’s corpse was left somewhere in the distance.

It was surprisingly the tree snake demon who threatened the knights.

It is an opponent that can be easily dealt with because it had few combat abilities for a demon, but it was extremely difficult to deal with as he was being protected within the attack range of the fox demon, wielding its sword.

In addition, the sword of the black knight held by that demon was not a simple item, but a strong magic device. It was a weapon equivalent to Palato’s javelin, Entir’s ax, or Genovia’s spear.

Even the knights’ magic armor, which could ignore any simple attack and mitigate even a powerful strike, would be torn like a piece of paper in front of that weapon.

In fact, Palato’s armor’s right flank was split, and Genovia’s helmet had a bent cheek.

Both were the result of confronting the fox demon’s claws.

Perhaps if it weren’t for the magic armor, and if it was hit by a knight’s sword, not by a demon’s claws, Palato guts would have poured out from his side, and Genovia’s head would have flown away.

“Hey, it seems all the trash on our side has been beaten, brother.”

“Damn it.”

Looking at the coming enemies with a quick glance, the fox demon calculated.

The enemy’s level wasn’t very high, but such variables weren’t welcome in the prevailing situation.

In fact, the fox demon’s slimy skin was weak against fire, so even if the possibility was small, there was a guy with a tool that made a fire in front of the cave, making it dangerous.

Compared to dealing with the knights, the more the number of opponents, the higher the probability of an unexpected attack.

The demon, being a fox with a brilliant brain, used its arms, not legs, to flick her body, blocking the gap between the knights and the squires coming.

It was a situation in which the narrow entrance of the valley was properly blocked, so no matter how the jin was used, it was a terrain that could not be passed.

“I’ll buy you time, kill them all first.”

“Great!”

While the fox demon blocked the knights from intervening, the tree snake demon approached the squires with its sword.

At that moment, Arsene, seeing this, quickly left the ranks and flew to his left.

It looked like he was running away from the tree snake demon.

“Sir Arsene!”

“What the hell…?!”

The squires were shaken by the sudden situation, but Arsene ran without explaining.

Because he couldn’t tell why he was running to the demon in front of him.

The tree snake demon is weak for a demon, but he was still one, and the squires will be slaughtered.

Even though he was a knight, Arsene, who was below the standards for both combat ability and equipment, was highly likely not to be much different from them.

However, there was still another move that could turn the game around.

The chief squire of Palato, who looked to the left and realized why Arsene was running, shouted loudly.

“Attack! Attack!”

As the servants attacked while screaming, the tree snake demon, who was briefly interested in Arsene suddenly fleeing, took up his sword and started slaughtering them.

The two most courageously leading squires collapsed in an instant as their heads and body were cut into pieces, because their opponent, who had high physical abilities, was using a weapon that could cut easily their equipment, even when faced against their swords and spears.

Three people died in the fight a while ago, three died this time, and now there were only seven remaining squires.

However, the chief squire did not give in and constantly encouraged them.

“Fight!”

The tree snake demon, who had slaughtered several squires and soldiers, rushed in to kill the chief squire who was in command, swinging its sword.

The chief squire confronted it bravely.

His weapon was cut off in one blow, while he avoided any harm to his body through years of combat experience, he eventually collapsed with a single kick that followed.

The sound of his ribs breaking was clear.

“It’s terribly noisy…”

The moment he was about to finish the chief squire, there was a shadow approaching the tree serpent demon.

As a relatively weak demon, the tree serpent demon, who had developed survival instincts, intuitively turned around and tried to dodge.

Something with an elongated shape appeared next to the approaching shadow, trying to split the body of the tree serpent demon.

He instinctively raised his sword to block it, and his body was sent flying, but it was a dangerous enough moment for him to be thankful he didn’t die.

“What!?”

It was the little boy who ran away alone to the side a while ago.

Surprisingly, the boy didn’t run away, but picked up an ax from the knight he killed a while ago, then mounted his Jin and attacked!

“I didn’t know a baby knight is such a nuisance. I’ll recognize grown-ups by their height, but it’s hard for the young ones.”

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In front of the demon, who murmured in anger, Arsene regained composure so as not to show his hand trembling, shocked by the attack a while ago.

The tingling sensation was not coming off easily.

‘You monstrous bastard!’

An attack from above, with a heavy weapon, with acceleration.

Even though it was an attack that combined all the elements that could be beneficial in a cold weapon fight, it didn’t succeed.

Even though he had no armor or Jin, the opponent’s physical ability itself was at the level of a proper knight.

‘I have the upper hand in mobility, but I can’t beat him head-on!’

The feeling of riding in a Jin was very strange.

It felt as if one more body of a beast was formed under a person’s body, and the two bodies were controlled at the same time.

Thanks to Palato letting him ride it a few times, he learned how to ride it, but he had never used it in battle.

In addition, Entir’s ax was too heavy and large.

If a small and light person like Arsene wielded it, the weapon would swing his body around, regardless of physical strength.

Fortunately, it was thanks to riding a Jin and attacking suddenly that he managed to wield it.

“Why aren’t you attacking me, kid? Are you scared? Do you miss your mom? Do you want me to send her to you later?”

The demon sarcastically provoked him, but Arsene was unshakable and rode the Jin around the demon slowly.

Like a beast looking for a weakness, with the ax in both hands stretched out.

“I don’t have a mother, you bastard.”

Arsene’s calm retort briefly colored the demon’s face with absurdity.

For a moment, the demon’s gaze turned toward the squires.

“If you’re not coming, I’ll kill them first!”

As the demon turned around, Arsene immediately used the Jin and rushed toward him.

The demon immediately turned his head and swung the sword.

However, Arsene had no intention of getting hit in the first place, so he stopped sharply just before entering the sword radius, dodging it.

The distance between the two was once again the same as before.

“This…”

The demon understood Arsene’s intentions.

He won’t attack straightforwardly. However, he will keep at a distance, so anytime he shows a gap, Arsene will strike.

It is a typical time-consuming tactic, but the word “typical” also meant that it was a standard tactic with no gaps.

“Matra! Help Sir Arsene with me! The rest go there!”

With his hands wrapped around his side, Palato’s chief squire took command. It was an unbelievable force for a person with a broken rib.

At that order, two of Palato’s squires joined Arsene, and the rest ran to help the two knights.

“Surround him!”

When the two squires aimed their spear from the left and right, the demon looked perplexed.

“Try it, you bastards!”

The demon decided to take the initiative, and swung his sword as if he had a seizure, attacking the chief squire who couldn’t move swiftly due to injury.

Arsene urged the Jin at the same time as the demon attacked, swinging his ax.

The body of the chief squire, who couldn’t bear the attack, was torn apart, while the spear from the other squire dug into the demon’s side.

At the same time, the demon stretched out one of his hands and grabbed the hilt, not the blade, of the ax that Arsene was wielding.

The sound of his palms breaking could be heard, but he successfully received the attack and threw Arsene away together with the ax.

Arsene screamed at the pain of being smashed down to the ground with tremendous force, breaking his leg.

“Damn bastard, I finally got you!”

At the moment of crisis, concentrating on the battle, the pain in his leg disappeared and Arsene’s spirit was awakened with clarity.

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Arsene immediately put away the ax he couldn’t wield properly, and drew the sword from his waist.

The demon rushed in brandishing his sword to kill Arsene before he got up properly.

Very slowly, at a crawling speed.

Arsene, momentarily bewildered by that strange sensation, unwittingly moved his sword and tried to deflect the demon’s great sword.

Arsene’s body also moved slowly, as if submerged in water.

The attempt to deflect the attack was meaningless, and Arsene’s sword was split by the demon’s greatsword.

As if filmed in slow motion, the sight of the metal sword splitting in two was quite surreal.

The great sword, that crushed the defense attempt, came down aiming at Arsene’s head.

He tried to dodge, but Arsene’s body could not move quickly, as if this slow speed applied not only to his opponent.

‘I’m gonna die!’

The moment he felt he couldn’t stop it no matter what he did, there was a sound of something breaking somewhere in Arsene’s body.

Along with it, he could feel the confusion of the demon in front, too.

The great sword was no longer advancing towards Arsene, but was shaking lightly.

Arsene, realizing that the sword right in front of his forehead did not only appear to be slowing down, but had indeed stopped, immediately swung his split sword.

The demon’s head was cut off helplessly.

“…Ah!”

It took him a while to watch the head fly, before time began to turn normally.

With the feeling that the surrounding time was back to normal, the tension was relieved, and excruciating pain came from his legs.

Unable to stand up any longer, Arsene collapsed on the spot.

“W-we won!”

Even hearing the shout of the surviving squire, Arsene couldn’t believe his victory.

It was an enemy he thought he couldn’t win against, and the process of victory was so ambiguous, that he felt like his opponent just collapsed on his own somehow.

Just now, stopping to check what sound came from his body, he felt something like a shard in the bag on his waist.

When he took it out, the wooden statue he received from Elise in the estate was shattered.

‘Maybe this thing did that a while ago…’

“Arsene! Are you okay!?”

Palato’s voice was heard from afar. Arsene saw Palato running towards him.

Palato’s appearance was also far from intact.

His right arm was drooping as if broken, and there were traces of blood oozing from somewhere in his body armor.

“This can’t be… Did you kill him by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“…That’s amazing, to be honest, I thought you wouldn’t last.”

Arsene also agreed with Palato, who seemed impressed.

Even though he was on a Jin, a single mistake nearly cost his life.

If the sword hadn’t stopped briefly just before his head was split in half, he would have surely lost his life.

His skills weren’t that great, but the difference in his physical abilities and weapons was huge.

“The other demon… How is Dame Genovia?”

“We finished him. The fire was his weakness. Dame Genovia is well. I think she’s in the best state among us.”

Arsene smiled, recalling what Genovia said the previous day.

As expected, the reality is different from the movies, so raising a death flag doesn’t really mean you’re going to die.

“Something’s wrong?”

“No, I just… thought I’m lucky.”

“I don’t think so, didn’t you break your leg? It’s all your hard work.”

“This…”

Arsene was about to say that he was fine, but he swallowed his words when he saw the object Palato was holding.

It was the great sword that the demon was wielding a while ago.

“There has been only one case where the knights of our territory have lost their weapons recently. It’s probably your father’s sword.”

”.”

Tl/n: It was like this in the raws…

Arsene received the sword, plunged it into the ground, and used it as a cane, trying to stand up.

Unfortunately, it was way too sharp for that purpose, because it sank deep into the ground.

Palato, who was looking at the silly display, smiled and reached his hand out.

“Give it to me, I’ll move it for now.”

“…Yes.”

Palato, who received the sword, skillfully tied the sword to the Jin he rode with one hand.

“Let’s go back to the fortress first. Most of the blood is that of the looters, so it’s okay for now, but the demonic beasts will come soon.”

“Okay.”

Arsene, supported by one of the surviving squires, climbed back onto Entir’s Jin and connected their minds.

The squire’s eyes were filled with reverence and respect.

“You’ve worked hard, Sir Arsene.”

“No, your name is…”

“It’s Matra.”

“We’ve worked hard, Matra. We won.”

Speaking back to himself, Arsene moved the Jin and looked around.

As Palato said, the place was filled with a disgustingly thick bloody smell.

The cave was still full of smoke, so they had to go back to the fortress, unless they wanted to fight a swarm of beasts attracted by the smell.