Chapter 161

161 – The Eighth Stratum – The Realm of Military Might and Duels 4

No words are spoken between the two people facing each other. There is no need for that.

There was only the sound of wind.

The raging storm was drawn to the holy sword and coiled around it, eagerly waiting for the moment it would be released.

「……」

Furcus’ white skin was tinged with scarlet and a bump-like structure rose from her forehead.

It had a close resemblance to the appearance of the Ogres heard of in the legends.

Furcus ran through the rain of wind blades released by Aerial.

She would find a narrow opening and leap into it, and if she couldn’t avoid it, she would choose the route that would cause the least damage. It was an artful sprint derived from her vast amount of combat experience.

Seeing such movements from his opponent, The Storm Hero smiled happily.

The distance between them shortened at an astonishing speed, the two of them approached each other at such a high speed that everyone thought that they might crash into each other.

Aerial was ready to attack her and showed a stance with his weapon facing the sky.

Furcus still didn’t stop.

Just as she was about to step within the range of the sword, she…stumbled.

No… She kicked up the floor.

The impact caused the floor to turn over upwards. The size of it was like a wall.

Suddenly, there was a wall between them.

Aerial didn’t move.

「…It’s such a shame.」

No words are needed for this battle.

So that sentence was meant for the fact that they were unable to compete earlier.

Aerial turned the tip of the holy sword to the right from his point of view.

A man-made catastrophe assailed that direction.

A storm that would normally be directed by the heavens is now being manifested by a human.

This is one of the Spirit Magic that Aerial is allowed to use since he is the Contractor of the main body of the Wind Spirit. The restriction of its range of effect was something that he placed on himself.

A tyrannical wind blew through the line from the tip of the sword to the wall. The floor was destroyed and the only thing left is dust.

Furcus’ left foot was no exception.

She passed by Aerial and was heading towards Hamill.

Furcus, who had lost one of her legs, leapt with her remaining right leg.

She accelerated by stepping on the floor so hard that her footprints were etched on it.

Hamill, who is located right where she was heading towards, attacked her with his Flying Slashes and Aerial follows up with a Wind Blade.

Furcus sprinted with both hands on the floor, just like a beast. She also avoided the oncoming attacks.

And that’s not all.

「No way, what exactly is that movement…」

I can’t feel any impatience from Hamill’s appearance, although he’s pinching his cheeks.

Furcus held the wreckage of the spear in her mouth, then with the same momentum, she rotated her body in that position. In the middle of that process, she picked up another wreckage and threw it at Hamill. Hamill tried to deflect that sky-rending javelin with his Flying Slashes but…

「…!」

He wasn’t able to achieve his objective.

His skill is top-notch. He never misses his target.

If he ever missed his target, it’s either because his opponent is also top-notch, or because the target changes their movements after recognizing the attack, as was the case with Sitri.

In Sitri’s case, she avoided the blow to her neck by changing her form from Lemegeton to her Dream Demon form.

But what Furcus threw was a spear. She can’t deceive a top-notch warrior just with that.

So yes, it was Furcus who did it.

She used the second throw to hit and change the trajectory of the first spear.

And with the third throw, she adjusted the trajectory again.

This was done in an instant.

「Haha, this is quite the-」

Hamill must have noticed. Even if he already knew it, he should have strongly re-recognized it.

Furcus is not just an excellent armor manipulator, she is not strong just because she is an Ogre.

She has extraordinary strength, a sturdy body, and delicate techniques.

That is the current Reaper Knight Furcus.

At the very last moment, Hamill deflected the spear fragment.

However, his counterattack towards Furcus, who had caught up with the spear she threw, was also delayed by that amount of time.

Furcus’ hand was blurred. Actually, it was because her hand was so fast that it looked that way, she had actually hit Hamill’s arm with the back of her hand.

This had easily shattered his bone and his arm was bent towards its joint,  a result created by the violence.

Naturally, he can no longer hold the magic sword.

Furcus caught the magic sword as it fell.

…I guess that means that what a disciple can do, the master can do as well…

I might be thinking too much.

However, I did snatch the Magic Tool from the Warrior Alba from the Fenix party during the battle in the tenth Stratum and from Furcus in the Tag Tournament.

「Wow, this is embarrassing.」

He kicked Furcus in the chin with his knee immediately after his arm was broken, but she was unfazed.

Then Hamill’s leg was also broken, but he was able to avoid getting defeated.

That’s because he was turned into a living shield by Furcus who is grabbing him by the neck.

Aerial stopped attacking.

At Furcus’ current speed along with the increased weight, it should be possible for him to cut her.

However, that would be like killing his own comrade along with the Monster.

Moreover, it’s not like the enemy is manipulating his comrade, like that time with the Samurai Masamune.

For those who are standing on the justice side in the setting, it is an act that they would hesitate to do, and the decrease in the number of people in the Raid Battle will affect the subsequent clear. As a method of clearing one of the Stratums, the decision to desert one of their comrades is a heavy one.

Furcus fired off Fflying Slashes in all directions.

Louie and Fran, who somehow have managed to avoid defeat, were rescued by Wraith.

The Gale Hero Ewan is still caught in the left hand of Furcus’ armor. It seems that he is being restrained by a very strong force.

And the one trying to help him is the Thunderclap Hero Scathach.

The Faceless Archer Suuri and the Thousand Form Summoner Margret are fighting with the Dragonkins. There was only one left and his eye had been pierced by Suuri’s arrow.

The wreckage of the spear is burning due to the breath of the Dragonkin. Smoke is coming out of it and the visibility is poor.　

There is no way for Hamill to kill himself now. His arms and legs are broken.

The Withdraw feature is designed in such a way that it cannot be used if the distance to the opponent is too close. One of the reasons for this rule is because in the past, there were many Adventurers who wanted to avoid taking damage since it would make them look uncool, so they would Withdraw right before they were attacked by the Monsters.

Nowadays, it is used only when an Adventurer is caught in a trap that won’t cause him to die, but he also cannot escape from it.

「You also can’t hold out much longer, can you? Even if you managed to defeat me, then what’s next? How will you fight with one leg, no weapons, and no subordinates?」

Furcus didn’t respond to Hamill’s words.

Slowly, the members who are available approached Furcus.

But because of the Flying Slashes, things don’t seem to be going as planned.

At that moment, when all of their attention was on her, except for Scathach and Ewan,

She moved.

To be more precise, she and…her armor started to move.

「…?!」

All of the Adventurers are surprised.

The armor that had no one in there began to move, so it is natural for them to be surprised.

There was no one else inside the armor.

When I saw the screen, I was as surprised as the Adventurers, but I was also trying to comprehend the situation.

「…Well, she never said that she had to be inside the armor in order to manipulate it.」

I guess she had a way to control it remotely.

Considering that she is usually inside the armor, is there a demerit such as a decrease in operation accuracy if it is manipulated remotely?

Anyway, the armor is moving.

The large black armor has lost its left arm and its right hand is unable to grip anything properly thanks to Herv.

The armor kicked a broken spear that’s about the size of a log, since it had been used by the big armor, that was lying by its feet.

The spear flew with tremendous force.

The armor then approached Scathach. Fran and Louie are running for cover.

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Aerial was in the trajectory of the broken spear.

He would be able to handle it…if everything was normal.

「Eh? Uwa…?!」

That was Hamill’s voice.

Furcus threw Hamill at Aerial.

「…!」

And she tried to attack them with Flying Slashes.

Naturally, Aerial protected him using a wall of air and also caught his body with Wind Magic, then he moved Hamill away.

It would be extremely difficult even for him to completely destroy the broken spear while doing this in an instant.

Aerial chose to move himself and Hamill out of the spear’s trajectory.

After losing her living shield, Furcus was only left with Hamill’s magic sword.

When Furcus pointed the sword to the front, an arrow hit it. The arrow was deflected and it flew away. 

It was Suuri who did that.

He had already moved to avoid the Flying Slashes that was let loose just before.

That was enough. She had already bought enough time.

Furcus…jumped onto the broken spear that was approaching her with a great force.

Then, she immediately executed an extending motion that seemed to have caused the growth of plants of several hundred years in an instant.

This was all that was left of the spear. In other words, this is the main body now.

「Haha, it’s fun, isn’t it Furcus?! The Big Four of the Demon King Castle are all interesting!」

Furcus wrapped a part of the spear that had stretched like a spider’s web around the base of her missing leg to make it turn into an improvised artificial limb.

The Hero of the Cursed Sword Hervor approached her.

Furcus did not stop Hervor from running on top of the spear again. Furcus also started to sprint and the two of them approached each other.

Then the two of them held up their fists and smashed them at the same time.

A dull sound echoed.

After a moment of stalemate, both of their arms were repelled at the same time.

Both of their hands were crushed. I’ll say that this was a tie.

In a simple fist match, Furcus is equal with the Hero of the Cursed Sword.

However, Herv’s side has the ability to regenera-.

「Hm?」

I just realized that there was a spear wrapped around Her’s body like a rope

「Hey hey, that’s not right!」

Furcus’ objective was only to stop this Hero for a moment.

The confinement is achieved. Even if she escapes from the restraint, she won’t be able to catch up to her immediately.

Aerial was injecting an Avatar Repair Medicine to Hamill so that he won’t have to leave the field.

Although he released a Wind Blade to destroy the web of spears, he prioritized the rescue.

「She’s aiming for Ewan!」

Wraith shouted. He didn’t even use any honorifics, probably because of the urgency of the situation.

Furcus continued to shoot Flying Slashes at him.

Suuri is unable to fire his arrows because he doesn’t have a clear line of sight.

Margret is too far away.

Fran and Louie are fighting against the armor.

The reason why Ewan couldn’t escape from the arm was also revealed not long ago. She must have continued to put a lot of pressure on the armor’s arm remotely. That’s why he couldn’t get out of it. He must have been locked in place with just the right amount of pressure.

「I won’t let you get to Ewan. I’m here.」

Scathach stood in the way.

Furcus landed on the arm of the armor.

Scathach’s sideway swing is much faster than before, probably because he had accumulated Magical Energy.

Furcus’ crushed right arm is amputated from around her upper arm.

The second attack approached immediately after the first one, but the trajectory was slightly off.

Furcus hit the armor’s arm with her left arm and that impact made the arm shake.

Furcus stopped the deviated slash with the magic sword.

Furcus endured the damage, although she trembled when the lightning made by the Holy Sword struck her. For the average Monsters, it was an attack enough to make them leave the field several times, but that was still not enough to defeat her.

「I admire your endurance. But-…?!」

Scathach is defeated.

Suddenly his neck was severed and he was defeated while his head was flying through the air.

Furcus swung her non-existent right arm.

No way.

The Ogres are a race with excellent life force. They convert the food they eat into life force, which supports their unusual endurance and physical strength.

And this is the basis of the world, Magical Energy is the power that is the source of everything.

It is said that Magical Energy forms all things.

That is why it is possible to imitate all things with magic.

The reverse is also possible, depending on the race.

There are Vampires that can suck Magical Energy from blood and Dream Demons that can extract Magical Energy from vitality.

What if the Ogre race has the ability to convert life force into Magical Energy?

What if she can turn that extraordinary life force into Magical Energy and wrap it around her arm to be used as a substitute for her severed arm…and use that to strike?

Consequently, this result is not impossible.

Although the person in question is Furcus, it is still hard to imagine that she would be able to produce the equivalent of high-density, high-purity Magical Energy without the help of horns or a wand.

Even if she could do it, it would probably only be for a very short time, like one-hundredths of a second.

She managed to do something like that?

Even after being struck by the lightning created by the 5th-ranked Hero and missing two of her limbs.

「…?」

Furcus didn’t move.

More like, she wasn’t able to move.

She seemed to be imprisoned by Wraith’s Air Box.

And in the meantime, they had gathered.

Aerial, Herv, and Wraith.

「I’m sorry, Scathach…!」

Ewan is also refining his Magical Energy.

A simultaneous attack by the four Heroes.

In this state, even Furcus won’t be able to avoid it.

By this time, her skin tone and bump had already returned to normal.

I felt I saw Furcus looking at the camera for a moment, instead of looking at her opponents.

It felt like my eyes met with my master’s.

Yes, I have been watching properly.

This is what Furcus once taught me.

She acknowledged that my strength was being able to assess the situation and then figure out the winning move.

Of course, the first priority would be to win.

As it was a Raid Battle, she had decided to reveal a number of her undisclosed techniques.

But Furcus proved to me that she could fight this far with my method.

Not with Lemegeton’s, but with Lem’s method.

Keep thinking, increase the options, and then win.

She and I have very different cards to play, but I think I understood what she was trying to say.

「……I’m hungry.」

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I’m not sure if she actually said that or if I’m just hallucinating.

The third of the Big Four, the Reaper Knight Furcus was defeated.

The number of Adventurers was reduced to nine and the eighth Stratum has been cleared. They obtained one resurrection right.

There are only two Floor Bosses left to protect the Demon King.

Only the Time Demon Agares and the One Horned Dark Sorcerer Lemegeton are left.