Chapter 147

Chapter 147

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“Wow, I’m so honored to meet the famous Scarlet Scales Mercenary. I hear the commander of the mercenary corps uses multi-attribute magic without chanting? I’ll take a look at it this time.”

Unlike the stiff Sorin or the jerk Dreyfe, Jeriel had a friendly side. Cadel also treated him in a gentle manner without any discrimination. Dreyfe felt his stomach twist at their casual conversation.

“Enough chit-chat, the mercenary corps clear the Red Men army. Once the mercenary corps are done with it, Jeriel will move to the magic circle, and I’ll take on the demon named Sellev.”

“You’re going to take on the demon on your own, Dreyfe? And you’re going to do it in front of the Scarlet Scales Mercenary?”

“Hmph, I can do this on my own. I could use some mercenary help.”

Dreyfe raised his voice to be heard and glanced at Cadel, but Cadel meekly accepted the offer without a reaction. He was only half-amused by Dreyfe’s rudeness.

“What is that ignorant guy doing, Commander? Shall we sneak up and stab him like it was a mistake?”

“I’m tempted to say yes.”

Perhaps Van was holding back his anger in his own way, he was revealing his bloody inner thoughts so that only Cadel could hear. If it had been in the past, this would have been enough for a collision to happen right away. It was so commendable that Cadel gently patted Van on the shoulder.

“But hang in there. I told you before, count to ten before you get mad.”

“I’ve already counted at least five times.”

“Good boy, good boy.”

Cadel’s soothing words softened the sharp glare Van had been sending at Dreyfe. That was enough for now.

‘My goal is not to be recognized by Dreyfe or the Guardian Knight Order. As long as I can raise my performance, it doesn’t matter whether I am bullied or persecuted.’Explore new novels on novelbin(.)com

Successfully completing the given mission was Cadel’s primary goal. Everything else was secondary.

He turned to the two battalion captains who were discussing the sum of their advance.

“We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get right to it, and I’ll try to make the path as straight as possible.”

Cadel didn’t even bother to listen to their answers.

The first to deploy was Lydon’s [Great Frozen Ground]. An ice spell with a greatly reduced range sliced between them and Sellev, shackling the monsters’ ankles. Next, Van’s [Thorns], which unleashed his Blood Flow Sword, swept across the ice, crushing the monsters’ bodies, and finally, Cadel’s [Fire Serpent Den]. Dozens of fire serpents slithered across the icy path, melting the ice and incinerating any of the monsters Van couldn’t handle.

At the end of the path, which was cleared in short order, was exactly where Sellev and her magic circle were. Any nearby monsters were bound by slippery ice and aura, unable to approach.

“Let’s go.”

Pointing at the empty front, Cadel turned around and saw the bewildered faces of Jeriel and Dreyfe. Dreyfe, who belatedly became conscious of Cadel, immediately changed his complexion, but Jeriel was busy marveling at the path the mercenary corps had made for him.

“It’s even better than I’ve heard? An aura user and a fairy....... Your subordinates are quite skilled, but I must admit, I’m fascinated by you, Mercenary Commander. Such talent, if there were still the Lytos in the Empire, it would have been rumored that you were a magician who could rival them.”

“......Is that so?”

“Well, they’re all dead traitors now. It would be an insult to be compared.”

Following in Jeriel’s wake, Cadel tried to keep a straight face, his heart racing at the sudden mention of Lytos as if the slightest hint of suspicion would give away his identity.

Meanwhile, as she watched the five men stride fearlessly across the center of the battlefield, Sellev slowly collected the demonic energy she had been scattering over the magic circle.

How brave of them, to dare to put themselves in front of her, to attack head-on. With a light flick of her wrist, she murmured with an eerie smile.

“I’ve been wondering when you’d like to play. To come to visit me directly, it must have deepened the consideration of the new human world that I have not seen before.”

“Jeriel! I’m going to take her out, so get to work!”

The first step to dismantling the magic circle was to get the occupying demon out of the way. Running ahead of Jeriel, Dreyfe crossed his twin swords.

The X-shaped blade struck Sellev in the front. A preemptive strike to draw attention.

A searing heat. Dreyfe’s gaze shifted quickly, his dark green eyes flickering slightly as he took on the appearance of the mercenary commander. He pressed his hood down so deeply that one might wonder if he could still see anything, but he was watching Dreyfe and Sellev in the distance.

“Was I in the way?”

He pretended not to know even though he clearly knew that he saved Dreyfe’s life. He had a nasty attitude, but Dreyfe wasn’t one who didn’t have enough common sense to build up his ego even in such an urgent situation. Dreyfe disapprovingly said, not missing the gap Cadel had made and getting out of Sellev’s range.

“If you have nothing better to do, why don’t you help me, Mercenary Commander?”

“But I have a lot of work to do?”

“.......”

“Well, it’s hard to ignore when you look at me so earnestly.”

The soon-to-be-dead face was very refreshing. Cadel stifled the sneer that kept escaping him and looked back at his waiting subordinates.

“You protect Sir Jeriel. Lydon, if possible, join Sir Jeriel and help disarm the magic circle.”

“Yes, Commander. Leave the battle to that ignorance as much as possible. Okay?”

“Disarming magic circles is no fun. Can’t we just fight, darling?”

After sending his subordinates to Jeriel with appropriate care and disregard, Cadel focused his five senses on the battle between Dreyfe and Sellev.

At Van’s urging, Cadel wanted to avoid direct conflict with Sellev as much as possible.

‘My body is weak. A brushing of her fist and I will die.’

A one-on-one head-to-head fight was out of the question with the lanky magician’s body, so it was better to have Dreyfe who didn’t mind breaking a few bones to keep Sellev at bay and dealing damage whenever possible.

“Sir Dreyfe! Don’t think about defense, just fight!”

“What? You want me to get beaten to death?”

“Would I say that in this situation?”

How could he place his trust in that mercenary and leave him with defense? Borrowing and relying on power were completely different. Because of that, Dreyfe tried to insist on a passive combat method that focused on defense.

‘......It’s not like I can’t use it at all.’

Before Dreyfe had a chance to defend himself, a barrier of fire was being generated that blocked all of Sellev’s strikes. A barrier of minimal range, blocking exactly one fist. An instantaneous barrier that matched the timing and speed of Sellev’s attacks, protecting Dreyfe.

He was wondering how great it was to be a magician without the need to use chanting. It was great indeed. The feast of the barriers, which never stopped appearing, was completely unrealistic. It was almost as if he was surrounded by several magicians who were only looking out for him.

“......Tsk.”

Eventually, Dreyfe had to admit it. The mercenary commander was as brilliant a magician as he’d been rumored to be.

Dreyfe reversed his earlier defensive stance and went for a more offensive move. The sword energy of his broken blade dug relentlessly into Sellev’s left arm.

‘She’s putting most of her weight on her right side, so she can draw strength to swing her left arm. Since she’s apparently a left-handed demon, I will break this arm first.’

A fighter’s entire body is a weapon, and a breakdown in any one area can tip the balance of power. Especially if it’s a dominant part. As long as he could make use of the barrier in front of him and attack, he had a chance.

‘The mercenary commander would have judged that as well.’

Dreyfe could tell by the fact that he was helping to defend without getting involved himself. As much as Dreyfe hated to admit it, this was the most they could do right now.

All that remains was to attack Sellev step by step and buy time to destroy the magic circle.

“Save the best for last......That was my creed. However, this won’t work. I can’t take this anymore.”

But Sellev betrayed Dreyfe’s wishful thinking. Her gaze, which had been on him the entire time, flickered with a murderous intent.

She couldn’t ignore this. How perfectly that human had blocked all of her attacks. He was slowly but surely getting on her nerves.

Cadel froze in his tracks as he realized that her murderous gaze was on him. Dreyfe hurried to get in her way, but before he could get a good swing in, Sellev lunged at Cadel.