Chapter 139

Author’s Note

This is the update to the 2nd story.

If you haven’t seen the previous chapter, please read that first.

Amira Berglet, Assistant Commander of the Second Legion.

The magic she dealt with was, as she said, extraordinary.

If you confronted her with a sword, the flames that drifted around her would attack you, and if you attacked with magic, the flames would turn around and go on the defensive, burning away the magic, and she had an overwhelming fighting ability that no one could come close to.

“Hah!”

And most astounding of all, her movements themselves had been enhanced.

At first glance, it looked similar to the cold air generated by Karon-dono’s axe that we fought with in Miarak, but Amira’s was fundamentally different.

If she jumped forward, the flames on her body would explode and accelerate her momentum, and if she swung her sword, the residue of the flames would scorch the surroundings black. The flames themselves have become a combination of assisting movement and defense.

It is like the incarnation of fire.

This is the ultimate form of magic, which is different from systemic strengthening, where the flame itself is clothed by magic.

But even in the face of a far superior enemy, there was a reason why I could never back down.

“Ku, ugh ……!”

I managed to stay on the defensive as I blocked and deflected the blow of the sword that was boosted by the flames with the flaming sword clutched in both hands.

Don’t fight head-on.

Don’t stop breathing even when it’s hot.

Don’t lose your concentration.

Use the angle skillfully to soften the impact to a minimum.

I breathed in the hot air that almost burned my throat and concentrated on the sword in front of me.

“You’re surprisingly persistent……!”

“Fuh ……”

I blocked the sword that was approaching in an arcing trajectory with the scabbard that I pulled out as quickly as I could. I threw away the cracked scabbard, letting the impact escape behind and looked ahead. Without pausing, a crushing slash came from above.

In the face of a clear sense of death, I immediately put magic power into my flaming sword and swung it up, creating a flame that erupted from below.

The slash of flames swung down was offset by the flames that erupted from below and disappeared.

Amira’s reaction was a little surprised, but she didn’t stop slashing at me with her sword.

“…… You’re a skillful guy. You look like a force to be reckoned with, but it’s not that surprising.”

“Thanks for that……!”

I managed to catch the sword, but I’m about to be crushed. ……!

Unlike me, who was dying to get through each blow, Amira had a clear margin of error.

It’s no wonder.

What I do with my sword, she does with her whole body, and she does it in a natural way.

Our death-defying attack is just a sword fight for her.

“But still, you’re not far behind me. ……!”

“……!”

“Release!”

In the heat that almost burns my throat, Amira supremely calmly tries to crush me with force.

However, just before she does, Hayate-dono and the others provide magical support, and I manage to dispel her sword and shoot a magic bullet to separate us from the distance.

“That level of magic won’t work! Any half-hearted attack will result in death!”

“Ah, everyone, get out of here!”

She drowns out the magic with her side-swiping flames and shoots a crescent-shaped flame in the direction of Hayate-dono and the others. The flames hit the spot where Hayate-dono and the others were and created a huge spark.

They seemed to be able to avoid it just in time, but a few of them lost their will to fight because of it.

“You can’t afford to be concerned about others!”

“Hah.”

I huffed and turned my attention back to Amira, she was already raising her sword.

Once again, as I boosted my magic power to surpass the onslaught, something blue entered my vision from the side.

“Guo!”

“I won’t let you!”

“What?”

As I was about to swing my sword at Amira, Bluerin and Nea in owl form were rushing towards me from the side.

I fired a flame with my non-sword hand, but it was nullified by the resistance spell that Nea had cast on Bluerin, and she finally backed away as soon as she evaded.

“I see, I thought that an owl that understands human language was rare, but …… you’re the vampire from earlier, if you’re going to handle magic, I can’t be more careless—-“

“Bluerin!　Retreat!　I-If I get hit by that thing, there won’t be any dust left, let alone a roasted owl! You have to be discreet about it, don’t let it catch you attacking!?”

“Guru.”

Bluerin shakes his head and sniffs at Nea’s words.

When Bluerin returns such a reaction, Nea gasps and holds her mouth with her wing and hits Bluerin’s head with the other wing.

“Can you not show such motivation?!?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that thing is? Don’t fight that thing head on!”

“…… guh.”

Following Nea’s instructions to pat him on the back and urge him to run away, Bluerin keeps a certain distance from Amira.

Amira was momentarily taken aback by Nea’s unexpected speaking, but she quickly regained her composure.

“That’s really interesting. You’d think he’d be the only one who stands out as a healing magician, but colour me surprise. It’s worth it for me to come up with this technique.”

I take a moment to breathe as Amira lowers her sword.

She pointed at the wall of flames and gave a small smile.

“You guys can hear it, too. The sounds of battle echoing from behind this wall.”

“The sound ……?”

I listened carefully to her words and heard a sound coming from behind the wall of flames.

The sound of something hitting something and the sound of steel clashing.

I didn’t have to think about the source of the sound. It was the sound of a battle between Usato-dono and the commander of the Second Legion.

“I’m sure they’re fighting over there, too. And it’s an unusual fight. They said he wasn’t that serious, but that’s probably a lie. There’s no way he wouldn’t get serious against that Rose disciple.”

“…… He’s still fighting? Usato-dono is …….”

I was relieved.

He’s still fighting.

He is undaunted by the enemy, who is probably just as good as she is in front of me.

That alone was enough to keep my heart from faltering.

“You are a strong warrior. There’s no holding back in any of the attacks you’ve made so far, so I’ll ask you —- why aren’t you using your flames for real?”

“……!?”

I felt my heart being grabbed by those words.

I’m not sure if the astonishment is showing on her face, but Amira still has a calm expression on her face as she speaks.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I’m a warrior who deals with fire magic. I understand fire better than anyone else.”

Even so, I hadn’t expected her to notice me that much.

Before my own strength, she had a better sense of what it was like to be a flame wielder.

“I’m a warrior like you. I’m sure there’s some reason for that. ……, but that is not my concern. Either you will die without it, or you will use it and die.”

With that, Amira showed her stance.

The flames that had been flickering around her gained momentum as she did so.

“…….”

At this rate, she’s probably right, I’ll be killed.

No, on the contrary, Bluerin and Nea, as well as Hayate-dono and his friends will be killed without any way to do so.

…….

“Nea, I need a favour.”

I talk to Nea where she is on Bluerin’s back and has moved up diagonally behind me.

Nea, who had been concentrating on Amira, let out a confused sound.

“I don’t mind, but are you sure?”

“Yeah. Can I have …… put a resistance spell on me?”

“Resistance to fire, yes. That’s fine. But I’m not sure you can withstand that many times against that many opponents. ……”

“No, that’s wrong.”

Nea looked at me suspiciously.

I didn’t mind her words, but I say words that can be called my own determination.

“Please build up my own resistance to magic.”

“…… Alright alright.”

“Thank you very much.”

She must have guessed.

She’s a smart girl. She must have understood what I was trying to do, since I was afraid to use my own magic.

My magic is fire magic with a power that is extremely close to systemic enhancement.

Normally, I try not to use it, but it is a double-edged sword that can burn me down if I try to use it spontaneously.

I’ve hurt a lot of people with it, and in some cases, I’ve given them scars that will never heal. No matter how much I regret it, no matter how much I cry, I can’t do it again.

“……”

I’ve always been afraid.

I’ve been afraid of the power that could be turned against even those I swore to protect.

So when I turned that power on Usato-dono, my core froze. I knew that I had attacked him with a dangerous technique that, if it struck even once, would have resulted in serious injury.

Even so, Usato-dono, …… Amako-dono, Nea, and Bluerin all relied on me.

It’s time for me to face them.

In the battle against the wicked dragon, I unexpectedly turned my power against Usato-dono.

In Mia Rak, my sword was broken and I was knocked unconscious.

I am a coward who is too afraid to even use my own power. I’m a fool who faked my true intentions even to my friends and didn’t think to use it until Amira told me.

“…… It was always me who was being saved.”

This journey has saved me.

It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced in my life. Somewhere along the way, the time I spent traveling with them became an invaluable asset to me.

“That’s why.”

I want to protect it.

I want to make sure that all of us can return to the Kingdom of Lingle with smiles on our faces, without missing a single one of us.

I pulled out another, smaller sword from my waist and gripped it with my other hand.

“I’ve been finding reasons to wield my power.”

For that, I don’t hesitate to fight.

As soon as Nea’s resistance spell is cast, I pour all my magical power into the swords in my hands.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“Yes.”

The flaming swords emit more brilliance and heat than ever before.

But the heat is too powerful, and Nea’s magic of resistance is cracked.

I can’t pretend to be something I’m not.

As Amira said, I made up my mind, grabbed my sword, and slashed at her with two swords.

“A flaming sword that could be mistaken for a systemic enhancement. Is that your true magical power? I knew that there were rare people who had that kind of talent, but to actually see it in person is tremendous.”

“I’m honoured if you can describe me as such!”

I maneuvered my sword and exchanged sword fights with Amira, trying not to let her sword swing from her strength.

But even so, the difference in ground power — the difference in skill and amount of magic power —- is highlighted, but to make up for it, I now abandon my defense.

A person with magical power similar to that of a systemic enhancement.

In the Kingdom of Lingle, Olga-sama, who belongs to the rescue squad team, has the same predisposition as me. I wasn’t a very dexterous person at first. That’s why, when I was just learning magic, I often let my magic run wild, causing trouble for those around me.

“All my life, I’ve hated this power.”

As I grew, my power grew stronger, and the power of my flames increased to the point where it was dangerous to not suppress my strength. Once I began to feel the effects of the flames even on myself, due to the harmful effects of the magic that was close to system enhancing, I trained myself to suppress my magic desperately.

“I hated this power that could hurt me, hurt my friends, and burn up everything I cared about around me. ……!”

It’s been in my mind forever.

The first time I hurt someone. The eyes of the people who looked at me like I was a monster.

I threw away my defenses and slammed my right sword into Amira.

But even so, she still tries to deal with it calmly, and the small sword I hold in my other hand is cut up by her. She narrowly avoids it, but the glowing, red-hot sword cuts through her flaming armour.

“……!”

“But there are friends who need this power! There are people who are inexplicably kind to me, who rely on me like this!”

Every time I swing my sword, I hear the sound of something shattering.

It’s the sound of a resistance spell being broken.

The heat from my hands is so hot that it almost starts to burn, and the magic itself runs from my arms to my back, releasing it as if it were burning.

The pain is so intense that I can’t even stay conscious, but I still cross my arms and charge at Amira.

“I’m going to use this power to clear the way!”

“Come!”

Flames collide with flames.

Even after going this far, I’m still pushed, but.

“Haaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!”

“……!”

Even so, I pushed forward and swung both of my swords as I passed him.

At that moment, the fire that had spread from my sword-holding arm to my back and the armor of flame that clothed Amira disappeared.

“…… ugh.”

I drop the hilt of my sword, which has become charred and tattered in my hands, and fall to my knees.

Breathing hard, I looked behind me and saw Amira, still unharmed, lowering her sword in one hand.

“…… Human persistence is a tremendous thing. Even though it was a suicide attack, it was still able to cut through this magic of mine.”

Amira put her hand on the cut on her cheek.

The magic on her body had been sliced through, but the blade had barely reached her flesh.

The flames that protected her were so tight that it was all she could do to peel them away. But I wasn’t despairing.

After all, I had accomplished my original goal.

“But I’ve arrived.”

“Yes, you did.”

Behind Amira, a wall made of flames was sliced open in a cross and fizzled out.

The scene inside becomes clearer as the fire scatters. I become dazed and almost collapse, but Bluerin supports me just in time.

With his back to me, Nea is looking worriedly in the direction where Usato-dono might be.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do anything about it…. Nice work, knight.”

Amira puts her sword away, but there is no hint of fighting spirit in her appearance.

This time, I look beyond the wall that has disappeared.

Then, the scene that jumped in front of my eyes–

“Oh no ……!”

The scene that jumped in front of me was that of a beast-like monster about to swing its sharp claws down on Usato-dono, who was bleeding from every part of his body.

I couldn’t help but shout his name at the sight.

Author’s Note:

The next chapter will be updated today.

The next story is scheduled to be updated at 18:00 today.