Chapter 94: All the way

Chapter 94: All the way

The Bandit Leader retrieved another ordinary-sized silver axe from his [Item Box] and held it in his left hand. He then attacked with the two axes in hand. First, he used the smaller axe for precise slashes, followed by incorporating heavy strikes with the larger one, sending them toward the two of them.

Since there was no reason to engage these attacks head-on, Ai skillfully dodged them while carrying Tatsuro using [Air Walk].

During this time, Tatsuro left all the dodging to Ai and focused on creating a new spell, even though he was uncertain about his ability to perform unfamiliar magic. Somehow, he managed to complete it.

"What!. Gah!?" (Bandit Leader)

It was a combination of water and light magic, similar to something like a highly compressed water release, akin to a "Water Cutter." Tatsuro created five of them simultaneously and directed them towards the man in front of him.

With extraordinary physical abilities, the man managed to evade three of them, but the remaining two pierced through his right forearm and left calf, leaving small holes.

"Is this water magic? You can do that too?" (Bandit Leader)

"Just surrender already. I still have several means at my disposal, and you can't win against me." (Tatsuro)

"Can you be so sure about that? Ah!" (Bandit Leader)

"What's going on?!" (Tatsuro)

"What!?" (Ai)

Suddenly, the man bent his body into a k' shape and yelled towards the ground. Ai and Tatsuro watched in disbelief as the blood flowing from his right forearm and left calf stopped, and the wounds began to heal.

When the man raised his head, two fangs had extended both upward and downward from his mouth, and a single white horn had grown from his forehead.

"Weren't you a human?" (Ai)

"Well, to be precise, I'm a half-breed, a mix of human and demon." (Bandit Leader)

"So, you mean there are demons" (Ai)

"Well, yeah, there are. It might be rare in these parts, though." (Bandit Leader)

In response to Ai's words, the man's arm muscles bulged as he swung both axes down.

"Ryaaaah! Still not enough? Are you two really just regular humans?" (Bandit Leader)

"Well, who knows? We might be an extraordinary kind." (Ai)

"Good, that makes it more interesting!" (Bandit Leader)

"He seems like a battle maniac, doesn't he?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah." (Ai)

Recognizing that Ai's barrier was impenetrable to long-range Energy slash attacks, the man, who had temporarily boosted his physical abilities through partial demon transformation, tried to handle the situation with his speed. However, Tatsuro's magic interfered with his plan.

Tatsuro released a large volume of water around the man and manipulated it to submerge him.

Despite the decreased speed due to the water's resistance, the man managed to strike the ground with both axes, creating a shockwave to propel himself out of the water. But in that instant, he encountered the tip of Ai's whip, with a weight shaped like a triangular cone, which struck and snapped the horn.

"Gaaahhhhh!" (Bandit Leader)

"I guess it really wasn't a good idea to break that thing." (Tatsuro)

"Why would you increase your own vulnerabilities? Seriously." (Ai)

While they bantered about, the two of them had heightened their physical abilities to the point where avoiding the broken horn should have been a simple matter. It was just the peculiarity of their teamwork that made it seem strange.

Unaware of this fact, Tatsuro and Ai gazed at the man, who was groaning in pain on the ground.

"Hah, haa haa I never expected to be humiliated like this" (Bandit Leader)

"That's what we've been saying. It's futile no matter what you try." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, if you just behave, it won't hurt any more than this." (Ai)Follow the latest novels on no/velbin(.)com

"Hah, you guys are naive." (Bandit Leader)

(N-No, there are skills without levels. It can't be helped. If it wasn't for these, He might not have had a chance.) He thought.

Tatsuro started by reducing the level of [Axe Arts]. The man's movements visibly slowed down, and he could no longer release energy slashes that he had mixed with regular attacks.

Confirming the effects had significantly weakened the man, Tatsuro continued to lower the levels of the other skills as well.

Level: 67

Skills: [Human-Demon Transformation], [Demon-Human Transformation]

[Axe Arts Lv.0], [Unarmed Combat Lv.0], [Focus Lv.5], [Frenzy Lv.0]

[Body Strengthening Lv.7], [Ki Regeneration Lv.5].

In this way, not knowing how it would affect a human opponent, Tatsuro extracted only the essential aspects and swallowed the black sphere.

"Gah? What is this? What have you done to me?" (Bandit Leader)

When [Frenzy] wore off, and his calm judgment returned, the man noticed the abnormality in his body. He deactivated [Demon-Human Transformation] and his body shrank like a deflating balloon.

"What is this? We may not fully understand, but you're back to your original state. Does this mean you're giving up?" (Tatsuro)

"Give up? What are you talking about? Even if you manage to capture me here, it's futile. The town mayor will pull some strings, and I'll be out again." (Bandit Leader)

"To prevent that from happening. Why don't we take you somewhere else and let others know that neither the town mayor nor the lord's son are good people?" (Tatsuro)

"You guys have the wrong assumption from the beginning. In that town, it's impossible to meet the feudal lord without the town mayor knowing about it. Even if you were to show me to someone other than the lord, the mayor's connections would ultimately prevail. If you claim there's a direct way to meet the lord, that's a different story." (Bandit Leader)

Tatsuro and Ai thought that's why the man was so confident, convinced that such a direct route didn't exist.

"Don't worry, we do have a way." (Tatsuro)

"Oh? What kind of way? I hope it's not that merchant you ran into on the way to Lyadas, Gillian Mac Dermott." (Bandit Leader)

"!" (Tatsuro)

"!"(Ai)

"Well, well, I seem to be on the mark. Too bad for you. We met that merchant on the route you guys took, and we negotiated a bit. Right now, he's staying at our place." (Bandit Leader)

"By your words, it doesn't sound like you intend to kill him. Are you trying to stop us using a hostage?" (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro answered with determination, prepared to cut their losses if necessary. However, the man's disgusting smile persisted.

"No, I didn't think of that. But without him, do you think you can meet the lord?" (Bandit Leader)

"Through Lyadas' Adventurers Guild" (Tatsuro)

"Oh, that's right. The head of that Adventurers Guild is an old friend of the town mayor, isn't he? Will you be able to establish a connection with the lord?" (Bandit Leader)

Certainly, they remembered him conversing amiably with the town mayor. It was not an entirely impossible scenario.

"If not there, then we can try other towns" (Ai)

"Go ahead and try." (Bandit Leader)

They hoped that Tofas and Mimiris were hopeless cases, but in Obsul, they had Leela. She might be able to help, and they were hopeful. However, the man's confident laughter made them wonder if there was more to it than met the eye.

"What should we do?" (Ai)

"I'm not sure" (Ai)

The easiest and safest path right now would be to completely disregard everything and focus on Tatsuro and Ai returning to Japan. However, that would bring more misfortune upon Obsul. They wanted to avoid that if possible.

So, what could they do?

At that moment, the worst possible choice crossed their minds.