CH 132

Episode 132 – Defensive Battle

I returned to the rear guard where Porta and Nina were positioned and left the little girl in their care. I then immediately turned around and ran back to the vanguard where Lyra and Byrne had taken over.

The two of them had managed to fend off the purple Troll’s attacks by making use of their numerical advantage and amazing coordination, but I saw two Ogres coming towards them from the side street where the little girl had run out from. If we ended up in a numerical disadvantage, the situation would fall apart quickly, so I decided to instantly kill the two approaching Ogres before going to help Lyra and Byrne.

It looked like the two of them were managing to defend against the purple Troll’s attacks, but I could tell that they were barely holding on, whereas the purple Troll still had a comfortable smile on its face. The purple Troll had uncanny strength and high intellect, and it was using proper fighting techniques. If I didn’t come to their aid quickly, there was a good chance they would be killed.

“Nina!! I need you to help cover Lyra and Byrne!” (Lewin)

“I know that! It’s just that when I shoot an [Anti-Heal]…!” (Nina)

I didn’t have the room to comprehend the reason for that at the moment since I was still trying to deal with the Ogres first to prevent them from grouping up with the purple Troll. There was no time to lose. My strikes had to be one-hit kills here.

I raised my sword into an offensive overhead stance, syncing my movements to the running Ogre—and swung my sword down.

The only thing that I concentrated on was that moment of explosive power. Making sure my entire body’s strength was being properly transmitted to my sword swing without waste, I put all of my might into that overhead slash.

I bisected the first Ogre right down the middle and immediately turned to the second one. I cleaved horizontally, tearing deeply into the second Ogre’s abdomen. Just as I had planned, one hit, one kill.

I wanted to take a moment to catch my breath, but I had no time. I turned around and went straight towards Lyra and Byrne to back them up. They were still being toyed with by the purple Troll, and I could tell that they were beginning to struggle with keeping up with its attacks. Every one of its attacks looked so heavy that, if that first attack that I had blocked to protect the little girl hadn’t been a downward slash, I probably would have been blown off my feet.

As I ran towards Lyra and Byrne, I was desperately thinking, trying to come up with a way to defeat this purple Troll that surpassed me in speed, power, and even technique.

“Lyra, Byrne. Thanks for covering for me!” (Lewin)

“No need for thanks! More importantly—we need to do something about this guy, fast!” (Byrne)

“Guhehehe!! Y’all can fight pretty well, can’t ya! All those other weaklings in this city couldn’t even put up a fight, ya know?! Do yer best not to die, and show me a good time!” (Purple Troll)

I could tell just from the purple Troll’s movements and expression that it was still holding back. The fact that the speed of its attacks increased even more when I joined the fight proved as much.

The three of us were covering for each other, but we were barely managing to endure against the insane speed and power behind the purple Troll’s attacks. It looked like the purple Troll was swinging lightly, but each blow was so unbelievably heavy that I was getting blown away every time. On top of that, though we were only defending, we were starting to run out of breath. Even now, the purple Troll was still waving its greatsword around as if it was having a blast.

I didn’t want to admit it, but this purple Troll… actually had a similar level of combat ability compared to Kirty. For now, until someone came along to help, I had no choice but to try my best not to die.

★　　　★　　　★

Several dozens of minutes had passed since our battle with the purple Troll had begun. In that time, we were unable to initiate a single attack and were stuck on defense. After receiving a continual barrage of overwhelmingly weighty blows, the three of us were all completely drenched in sweat as if we had just jumped into a river. Our muscles were starting to convulse and cramp from the perpetual strain, and if it weren’t for the periodic support of Nina’s [Heal] orbs, there was not a single doubt that we would have already met our limits and been killed.

“Guhyahahah! Fun, ain’t it? …Isn’t this just so much fun?!!” (Purple Troll)

In stark contrast to the three of us who were struggling to stay conscious as we desperately blocked attack after attack, the purple Troll was wild with laughter, cackling madly as if it were insane. Nina’s [Anti-Heal] didn’t seem to be working on the purple Troll, and it had such an unfair degree of physical vitality that didn’t even seem possible for a living organism to possess… Doubt began to fill my mind as I started to contemplate defeat.

There was no sign of anyone coming to help, so I wanted to try to find an opportunity to escape… But I knew that the moment I tried to turn my back and run, I would be cut down on the spot.

This is just… perhaps I have no choice but to go for a single blow that would turn the tables in an instant.

These past few dozens of minutes made me painfully aware that there was no way I could defeat this purple Troll in a fair fight. In that case, just like that time when I was attacked by the Angry Wolf alone on Mount Cornello, I had no choice but to use items to try to break out of this disadvantageous situation.

Fortunately, since I had been taking lessons in potion brewing from the grandma, I had several items I could use. I wasn’t certain if any of the items would be effective against the purple Troll that even [Anti-Heal] didn’t work against, but it was obvious that if I didn’t give it a shot, we would lose in the next few minutes.

“Byrne, Lyra. Even for just a moment, do your best to hold out with just you two!” (Lewin)

Making an absurd request to the other two who were pushed to their limits just as much as I was, I stepped back and fished a potion out of my holder on my waist.

This potion was brewed from a large amount of Angel Grass and Linrin Weed, and it was extremely poisonous. After selecting the strongest potion in my possession, I swapped places with Lyra and Byrne and threw the powerful poison at the purple Troll.