Chapter 108 – The Black Hound (9)
Just now.
By the time the four black hounds disabled the potion shop’s security device and entered the house… Roden, who reacted sharply to the faint murderous intent that the intruders unconsciously spilled, opened his eyes in a flash.
“…”
When I opened my closed eyes again, the first thing I saw was a cicada clinging to a tree, hugging the owner’s legs and waist with my whole body and taking a good breath… Loxia sleeping soundly.
It is quite natural that this young girl’s cognitive abilities are sorely lacking, unlike her own, where her senses have been developed through her career of adventure so that she can react instinctively only to her enemies and murderous intentions.
I don’t have the bad taste of forcibly waking up a person who is sleeping soundly, even at dawn like this, but I can’t help it now.
“Roxia, Roxia, Roxia.”
He called her girl by her name in succession and at the same time shook her delicate shoulders and forced her to stand up.
“… Uh… Master?”
“Are you awake? I’ll explain later. For now, put on the ring.”
“… Yes… Yes.”
Roxia was in a drowsy state, but she obediently obeyed the master’s words and put her artifact ring back on the table next to her bed.
Her curved horns disappear and her elongated ears shrink, her symbolism as a demon completely disappears and she gradually takes on the form of a human girl.
In the meantime, Roden, who took out the bastard sword from the inventory, pat-duk-duk.
In the middle of the night, when she suddenly saw her master holding a weapon, Roxia, who had a vague sense that something was up with her, looked up at Roden with her nervous expression on her face.
“I’m just a petty thief. I’ll kick you out soon, so you stay here… Just in case you don’t know, keep your mind up for now.”
It is highly unlikely that the identity of the intruders, who are vaguely harboring subtle murderous intentions that would be unnoticed by non-skilled warriors even coming close to them, were petty thieves, but Roden spoke such appropriate words to reassure the girl as much as possible.
Loden nodded her head obediently this time, and as soon as he turned his back on the girl, Roden’s gentle mood vanished and changed into a cold expression that made her feel like a completely different person.
Then, without hesitation, he opened the door.
“… ！！！”
As soon as they saw the owner of the house, the four assailants covering their bodies and faces with dark clothes and masks stopped running and flinched.
“What are these at bedtime…”
—-Spot!
Two of them made eye contact, then rushed forward in a question-and-answer dance, brandishing their weapons in the blink of an eye. A sharp attack with unmistakable murderous intent.
Angle, speed, power, linkage. Everything is a perfect combo.
It must be the result of assassins with considerable skills working together for a long time to complete.
It was almost impossible to avoid or block the two-edged curved sword and the dagger full of deadly poison that aimed only at Roden’s vitals.
But the solution is surprisingly simple.
—-Chahah!
Cut. No need to dodge or block, just cut straight ahead, sharper and faster than their attacks.
The blade wrapped in a thick aura cut through the metal and flesh wrapped in a thin aura that the assailant was wielding, and the severed arm with the weapon spewed blood everywhere and spun several times in the air.
“Keuheuuuuu?!”
“Cheuk… Aww… !”
Throwing, knocking. With the sound of their arms falling to the floor, the two guys, who had become one-armed, groaned and quickly retreated backwards.
Roden tried to finish it off by swinging his sword straight away so as not to miss them, but
—-What the hell!
Several bundles of ice arrows sent by the wizard Pinet in the rear interfered with it.
“The opponent is more formidable than I thought. There is no time to immediately attach a fallen arm, so bear with this for now… Fast Hill”
The captain Borbo, who raised his hand to the two returning members, used recovery magic in succession to prevent further bleeding from the amputation.
And then stride… He walked forward, stared at Roden, clenched his fists, and spoke only in the ears of the crew.
“Since you don’t seem to be a warrior that can be easily mastered by ambush-like tricks, I will fight head-on. From now on, you guys will help me.”
While the four black hounds are changing their strategy to deal with the unexpectedly strong Roden… ．
“Was there even a magic love healer?”
‘If it’s a combination like that, no matter how much I think about it, there’s no such thing as a robber who broke in simply for the purpose of money… What are you bastards doing?’
Roden was also surprised in his heart by the fact that the assailants who burst into the house out of nowhere at dawn were originally a group of powerful people who would not have to face in such a suburban territory.
Just before, they had originally planned to cut their throats with a single blow, but both of them saved their lives by sacrificing only one arm.
The range and accuracy of the magic that flew in as a follow-up was not formidable, and the recovery magic used by a large healer in an instant was also good at first aid to the extent that it cleanly blocked the bleeding of the cut surface.
Looking at their eyes, if you talk to them in a normal state, you won’t get any meaningful information. Instead of trying to have a meaningless conversation, Roden fixed his sword.
Like Roden, Borvo, who had been staring at the enemy the whole time, lowered his stance… ．
“Sigh!”
ㅡKu-kwa-kwa!
After shattering the wooden floor with a short and thick shout, he spurred on the enemy with enough force to send a shock wave to the surroundings.
Both of Borbo’s hands, which rushed at a speed faster than arrows, began to turn golden, and Roden roughly grasped the identity of the opponent in front of him through that appearance.
‘A martial artist who can use recovery magic… You bastard, you’re a monk!’
Furthermore, the fist that Borbo is throwing at high speed contains an aura of a much higher purity than the shallow aura contained in the weapons the two guys wielded earlier.
If you allow that attack intact, it’s pretty dangerous.
The only thing that can safely block an attack containing an aura is the same aura or high-level magic.
No matter what you do, attack is the best defense. Once again, Roden’s sword, which contained an aura, swung to cut down Borbo, and the guy didn’t turn around and faced him head-on.
ㅡKaaang!
Even though fists and swords collided, a loud sound resounded as if hard iron were clashing.
“Ugh, great swordsmanship and comeback… !”
As for the attack power, Roden was more dominant, so it was Borbo who saw blood as a result.
It was a valid hit, but not a fatal hit.
As it was, he tried to put in a follow-up, but the crew behind him opened fire one after another and stopped Roden from taking action for a while.
Borbo, who had healed his injuries with recovery magic in the short gap created by the crew, swung his fist again and engaged in a head-to-head fight with Roden.
‘The whole body is a weapon, but it can even recover on its own… After all, monks are just annoying guys.’
Countless sparks flew in the workshop between Roden and the black hounds, which took place in the short time that had passed only two minutes after Roden brought out the dissatisfied words in his heart.
ㅡKang, Kaang! Kakakang!!
Compared to the heyday when he was active as a hero, the sharpness and speed of the sword had significantly decreased, but even if it rotted, it was a juniper, so Roden accumulated large and small injuries to the black hounds and had a clear victory… ．
As a result of the battle, the weapon he was holding, not Roden’s body, suddenly reached its limit.
—-Something… ．
The bastard sword, unable to withstand the successive collisions of the aura, was etched with gold all over the blade like a spider’s web, then split and scattered on the floor.
Borbo, who had no way to miss a golden opportunity when the opponent’s weapon had disappeared, unleashed a blow with exceptionally heavy power.
“Right to be shredded!!”
In the current situation without weapons, the choice is defense or evasion.
If it was Roden’s reflexes, he could have avoided it, but now with his back to the room where the girl is hiding. There is a risk that Loxia in the room will be seriously injured if she avoids the attack with that level of aura.
‘… Perhaps that guy noticed that I was guarding this room and dared to use such an ignorant attack.’
In the end, he chose defense. After concentrating the aura on both hands and crossing them in an X shape, he received Borbo’s blow as it was.
—-Pur ah ah!!
A blunt impact that felt like bones were shattering! Roden’s body was pushed back a few steps until it shattered the wall of the room he was facing. Although he managed to block it somehow, he suffered minor internal injuries.
“Cool… Cool!”
Roden, who couldn’t stand the feeling of vomiting that seemed like the contents he ate before going to bed, vomited out a strong cough in succession.
“Master!!!!!”
On the other hand, Roxia, who was hiding in the room as Roden said, vividly saw the owner who had been attacked so much that the wall was broken, and felt her heart pounding.
Naturally, the girl moved closer to the side to see if the owner was okay, and if not, to recover. Her heart was so urgent that the black hounds right in front of her could not be seen.
“Are you okay?
Roxia, not listening to her answer, hurriedly chanted her recovery spell, but Roden shook her head as she placed her hand on her head.
“I’m sorry to startle you. You’re not seriously hurt, so there’s no need to do that. Anyway, the room suddenly turned into a mess… Is Loxia not injured anywhere?”
“Yes, four! It was okay to have a seat in the far corner.”
“Whoa… That’s good.”
After making sure Roxia was all right, Roden quickly rummaged through her inventory while her black hounds picked up and healed her arm, which had been severed earlier.
We need a proper weapon that can withstand the collision between auras.
As Roden is a swordsman who lives by the sword and dies by the sword, she cannot guarantee victory if she fights with her bare fists against a group of black hounds.
Furthermore, she now has a precious existence to protect even at the risk of her life.
She said, ‘It’s a striking weapon in many ways, the one she never wielded again after that day… ．I don’t think this is the time to argue about that.’
Roden took his hand out of his inventory and held it in his hand, a jet-black longsword that seemed to suck in everything around him.
It is a weapon that has not been revealed to the world again along with Roden’s identity since the day he killed the previous demon king as a hero.
The beloved sword, commonly referred to as the ‘Jet-Black Sword’, made of hundreds of demon horns as material, is now in Roden’s hands again after almost 15 years.
