CH 97.2

Chapter 97 – Erika’s Talent [Part-2]

“–”

She drew her sword.

She cut up, cut down, and cut back again.

From the moment she reached close enough to use her sword, Kelly was assaulted by well trained swordsmanship techniques.

“Oof!“

“Nnnn!”

She barely avoided the whip just in time by ducking, and then continually directed her swift blade that was making gusts of winds at Kelly.

He fought back with his whip while retreating, but Erika continually and steadily closed the gap between them.

By imitating techniques she had seen in the past, she demonstrated her natural talent by doing things such as switching her weapon to her opposite hand.

“Nuh!?“

Erika’s dancing sword glinted in the morning sun each time it flashed.

She cut into Kelly’s clothes, skin, and flesh, until finally, she was able to etch a large gash onto his cheek.

“Shhh!“

She slashed up with her hand that was posed behind, then switched to her forward hand and slashed down with it.

She took a half step forward, and performed a swing with her body weight that could easily cut a man into two.

“-unavoidable.”

He was being forced to use the secret move that he had planned to leave for using on the servant.

“Huh?”

Erica jumped back abruptly.

“…unexpected. Before, I had been astonished, but now I can faintly see the shadow of that servant. The Light bloodline is full of monsters…“

In Kelly’s right hand was an iron whip.

It was not as long as a regular whip, but it was obviously thick, sharp, and heavy.

“This is the style of fighting I have adopted against that servant. This iron whip is not as fluid as a regular whip, but it is powerful is tremendous enough that it is not something you can handle with your bare hands… I never thought I would be using it on a princess of a kingdom…”

“……”

Erika broke out in a cold sweat.

Honestly, she was not confident that she could handle two whips at all.

Moreover, the iron whip would surely kill her with a single blow if she took it head on.

The knights who had been chasing them were not in sight anywhere around her.

“-Princess Erika!”

“……”

Two figures landed next to her.

“…Who are you?”

“I’m Hierre, a passing magic swordsman!”

“I am Mantis.”

These two, who had competed with Lilia at the Sword Saint selection, seemed to have heard about the commotion and rushed to the scene.

“We will be on your side, assisting you. Don’t worry.“

“……”

Both of them, who had been through many hellish ordeals, looked at each other with strong eyes, as if they were not intimidated by such a foe at all.

“…tactless. –Three beastmen.“

“What!?“

Three shadowy figures fell behind Erika and the other two.

“Deal with the intruders.”

Three men in black with a strange presence.

“…Princess Erika. I might need to… take a moment, please.“

“These men…. may be very good.”

“…Oh, you’re sweating a lot. Are you sure you’re okay?”

They were suddenly making weak remarks after appearing so cool, but nonetheless, they were reinforcements that were trying to help her, no doubt.

“But you’re a big help. Thank you! Thank you, uncles who were returning from the red light district!“

“Please don’t call me that!”

“……”

There were quite a limited number of things people in the vicinity of this area at this time could have been doing.

The two, who had hit it off after the Sword Saint Selection, spent their days working hard together and relaxing in the entertainment district.

“–”

A ‘leopard’ began running this way stealthily.

“Whoa, you’re surprisingly fast…”

“Ahh…”

A wall of ice was formed to block the leopard, but a small shadow jumped on top of it.

“Sweet!”

“–”

Mantis knocked down the eagle’s double-handed thrust with his two machetes.

“Mwu—–!“

A huge ‘bear’ broke through the ice, while screaming in a muffled voice.

“Princess Erica! I’ll take care of that thing! I won’t let it get in your way!“

“I won’t be slowed by cowards who do not dare show their faces. I will fight to the bitter end.”

Heirre and Mantis were facing off against the three beastmen, delivering strong and encouraging statements to Erika as they dispersed.

The two, who had become much more skillful than before, using their past failures as a springboard, could be expected to fight more than evenly against the three beastmen.

“Now, we can fight fair and square. It will be a good preparation for fighting him.“

“You’re a second-rate fighter who couldn’t even get a foot in the door against Glass. Aren’t you ashamed of talking like your top-notch?”

They all jumped out at the same time.

The whip cracked and tried to strike Erica, who was running.

Erika had a lot of high quality and abundant mana, though not as much as Hakuto.

With her irregular and fast movements, she dodged the whips in all directions, and she closed her distance to Kelly.

The whips kept cracking into the air multiple times, but they didn’t even scratch Erika.

If the battle was based on pure skill, Erika may have already won.

“Nurui!“

“Huh?!”

He swung the iron whip in his right hand as hard as he could, but not at Erica… rather, he swung it at the ground in front of her.

“Ggh!”

The debris of the shattered cobblestone scattered like bullets.

“The distance of the sword. At such a close range, there would be no way to avoid it. That servant’s strategy is being used to its fullest by you. What would I call this but a preparatory exercise?”

“……”

Kelly provoked her with a satisfied look on his face, but Erika didn’t have enough energy to get angry.

The stone debris had grazed her body in multiple spots, and her right thigh and left bicep had been slightly gouged.

She would be out of the fight the next time Kelly attempts something similar as before, after understanding the way the debris scattered.

“Princess! Are you all right?“

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me!“

Hierre and Mantis were not backing down at all against the three beastmen, but rather, were gaining the upper hand.

However, they couldn’t afford to help Erika, because if they were not careful, the beastmen could turn the tables on them quite easily.

“Well, the outcome will be the same, but you can try to hold your ground and struggle. No, I won’t kill you. Your screams will be sweet in their own way.“

He cracks his whip against the ground, seemingly unable to contain his excitement.

“…soooo…..”

She took a deep breath.

“…hot fighting spirit should be controlled by cold thinking…”

“What are you mumbling about, princess?”

Kelly’s words, the lack of knights, her anger at the lowlife in front of her, she stifled it all, thinking only of victory.

“……”

She drew her sword.

She drew her sword, and lowered her hips slightly.

Instead of the stance she had previously used, she was now using a stance in which the blade was already drawn.

“A warrior’s end is often a disappointing one. Prepare yourself.“

“……!“

Erika rushed out abruptly, sheath in her left hand and sword in her right.

“That’s the spirit! Then I’ll show no mercy!“

“–!”

Her brother Alto was blessed with exceptional talent.

Otherwise, he would not have survived all the real battles he had faced and become as strong as Celestia.

However, Alto had said.

Erika was a—– genius.

The blade was charged with orange magic, as if it was heated.

A steady and unbridled light illuminated the blade.

Even with her wounds, Erika’s sprint was undimmed.

She left a trail of orange as she rushed towards Kelly.

Erika did not have as much mana as Hakuto, nor the magic eye that Oswald had, but she was getting stronger by leaps and bounds.

“Nuey!“

The whip attacked Erika with a powerful crack.

And at the moment of impact.

Kelly tugged at the whip and it cracked again.

Erica’s eyes caught sight of the whip as it went to her forehead.

And then…

“Nah!”

Kelly gasped.

The whip, which had fluidly leapt like a snake, split in two.

Erika’s sword glid across the ground before cutting the whip in half.

A gift of discernment, and a uniquely swift and magical gait.

The whip roared as it moved distortedly, but Erika’s technique precisely severed the center of the whip.

“Gnu! –Enough! I’m done playing!“

Erika’s hand came extremely close to the whip as she sliced it into two.

Kelly let go of the broken whip and swung at her with his iron whip.

“Deeee!“

The iron whip cracked.

Erica’s left hand. The scabbard in her left hand.

The scabbard, imbued with a fiery hue of magic, was destroyed from its midpoint.

“Idiot, don’t…!“

“The knights should be here any minute now…!”

“–Shhh!”

The sword and the scabbard, charged with as much magic as she could muster, swung down at Kelly at the same time.

The sword could cut a human body in two without even resistance, and the scabbard could crush flesh and bone without mercy.

“–ggh? What?“

Erica’s sword suddenly stopped.

“I took care of the knights, so I came to…. What are you doing? No time to play.”

There was a man in a ceremonial dress that Erika has never seen before.

The man she did not recognize stopped her sword and sheath with a familiar ice sword.

“…Bishop Yang. It is not yet past the appointed time. I’d appreciate it if you’d stay out of it.“

Kelly replied to Bishop Yang without hiding his disgust.

And then, the skin of the monsters came off.

“..lie..”

Wings of magic sprouted from the backs of both Kelly and Yang.

The raging magic made Erika feel so small and insignificant.

Even though they were far from the demon king, they demonstrated an extraordinary amount of mana.

“The orc is stronger than we expected. I’ll take him and leave here as soon as possible.“

“No. We can’t leave the royal capital until I defeat him.“

Now there were two of them.

“Damn it!”

She took a big step backwards and moved away.

Erika complexion was pale and she felt like she was about to be crushed by the cold magic.

She had no choice but to run.

As soon as the rational part of her brain whispered this to her, she started to put mana into her legs.

But….

“……”

A presence appeared immediately behind her.

Shadowy figures were appearing to her left and to her right, staring at her closely.

She was not allowed to move, let alone run away, and the emotionless, inorganic stares were frightening her to death.

“Hmm, that’s the bait, isn’t it? It doesn’t need to be alive… does it?”

“Gah!?“

Yang lightly swung his magic sword, and an oversized block of ice flew out, easily knocking Erika into the air.

“Wow, that’s a lot of mana! A magic sword is not to be underestimated.“

“Killing…. immediately is too different from your style.”

Erica’s slender body, covered in scars, soared like a piece of paper, and appeared lifeless when she fell.

Hierre and Mantis fell to the ground in tatters, not knowing if they would survive.

There was no one present there to help them.

“….hmm?”

“You’re here…. but is this the downside of being strong…?”

Out of nowhere, a new shadowy figure jumped out.

It hoisted Erika into the air along with it and quietly landed on the ground.

“……?”

Erica opened her eyes at the sudden feeling of warmth enveloping her.

“You are pushing yourself too hard again, aren’t you? Why don’t you ever take proper breaks?”

A familiar servant looked at her with a troubled expression on his face.

“….You always have good timing, don’t you…?”

“No, this time… I’m not quite on time. I guess I’m no hero after all…. But you can leave the rest to me.”

“No…. run away.”

He tried to leave Erika in the hands of Mob, who had been accompanying him at the porridge stall, but Erika firmly held on to Glass’s clothes and did not let go.

“…really strong, run away… it’s dangerous…”

“……”

Even though it was Glass who was going to fight, there were multiple opponents and the magnitude of their mana was in a different realm.

No matter how skilled you were in martial arts and fighting, you couldn’t reach the realm of these people with a human body.

Erika knew that, just like the Demon King, these people were in a realm of existence that they couldn’t resist.

“….I’m sorry, but I can’t stand to be silent in front of those who bully you, Erika-sama.”

He gently let go of Erika’s hand and said, mimicking the antics that she herself has uttered before.

“No, please. Just leave me here…”

“You’re not making any sense. Besides, I already have enough power to not have to leave you behind. I can crush any great evil with my own hands.“

His eyes were clear and dark, with no hint of fear or anxiety.

“You’re too stubborn…. Then… you must win. Promise me….“

“Got it. I promise. So, Erika, you can… relax in peace.”

Perhaps relieved by Glass’s strangely powerful and fearless smile, Erika’s tethered consciousness finally left her.

All that remained were the mighty winged men and the three ruthless beasts…. and the attendant and servant, who stood with a promise in his heart.

“…the princess has been a great help, hasn’t she? Now, what shall we do?”