Chapter 118 – Adversary (9)
At the time when Roden made his name as a hero, he single-handedly dealt with a 7-man demon lord subjugation party, and then immediately engaged in a bloody battle with the former demon lord and won… It has a rather colorful past.
When the subjugation party was dealt with, after consuming a certain amount of physical strength and mana in battle with the demons, at the most vulnerable moment, they took advantage by removing one person with a surprise attack.
Even taking into account the singularity of being able to lead the battle to an advantage by completely grasping the opponent’s breathing and patterns with vivid memories of the previous rounds, Roden’s armed forces at that time were not inferior to being called “The strongest in name and reality”.
However… There was no need, no opportunity, no reason to become stronger, so it was unavoidable that 15 years, which cannot be said to be short, gradually rusted in one’s skills.
“Heh, heh, heh… !”
Shit… I’m already running out of breath. It’s starting to become increasingly difficult to maintain my aura. Have I gotten tired of the peace that has been going on?
Roden, who was visibly out of breath in the fight that led to a long battle, threw the blood that had pooled in his mouth while exchanging fists with Escalos on the ground, and spit it out to shake off the fishy taste of blood.
This was the first time he had fought so fiercely one-on-one with someone since the bloody battle with the Demon King.
Roden stared at the enemy in front of him, Escaros, in order to overcome this situation, even though he thought that if he got over the current crisis, he would have to regain his senses by doing at least some basic training and exercise.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever had such a fun fight. It’s a skill that I don’t think of as a shady person trying to brainwash the demon lord’s vessel and scheme nonsense.”
“Ha… ? Brainwashing? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Are you trying to pretend you don’t know? It is about that girl you are carrying with you, about my own people.”
Throwing the greatsword she was holding with both hands over her shoulder, Escaros extended her free hand and pointed at Loxia, who was standing with her twin sister at a distance.
“The current situation where the hero of the past and the vessel of the demon king of this generation are living together… Isn’t it too exquisite to dismiss it as a mere coincidence? I don’t know what circumstances it might have gone through, but your side must have deliberately approached that girl.”
“It’s not complete bullshit.”
Looking back, when Roden first saw Loxia being sold as her slave at her auction house, she had a faint sense of the demon lord’s power she harbored, so she didn’t dare to spend her money. I went in and bought her Loxia.
In order to clearly confirm the doubtful mind in case.
If you look at it closely, it is right to see it as an intentional approach.
At that time, if Roxia was an ordinary demon girl with no distinctive features, she would have passed her on the spot without going through the trouble of purchasing her girl due to her Roden personality.
After she had satisfied her curiosity anyway, she had already spent a lot of her own money to purchase her, and she needed an employee to help with the work of her future potion shop, so she I took it as it was and started living together.
As the time spent together with her and her memories piled up, Roxia gradually became a precious existence to Roden.
“… So, what do you want to say?”
“When I heard from Merlin, he said that the girl had already been thoroughly brainwashed. When I came all the way here and checked for myself, she used the title ‘Master’ and volunteered to become a slave. Now, I intend to free the girl who is the vessel of the Demon King.”
Having said that, Escaros straightened the greatsword slung over his shoulder, meaning that from now on he would only speak with his sword instead of his mouth.
Roden also grabbed the black sword in response. It was a state of being quite tired from fighting a long-term battle more than expected, but he accumulated considerable damage and consumed all the annoying Blinks.
The swords they wield against each other this time will clearly decide whether they will win or lose.
“Whoa… !”
After regulating his breathing and drawing out his concentration and aura as much as possible to close the distance, Roden’s black sword moved faster than the flash of light.
A slash that instantly creates the illusion that his black sword splits into eight pieces. Each attack from a completely different angle attacked Escaros’ body from all directions.
… This is really amazing. To think that you were leaving this skill behind to see a clear win at the last minute. It’s amazing.
At the end of a ritual where time seems to have stopped, Escaros, who barely followed with his eyes the afterimages of the black sword trying to slash his body from various angles, could only block or dodge these slashes with his own physical abilities and reflexes. I intuitively felt that five times was the limit. After that, the remaining slashes could result in fatal injuries or death.
Since all of the Blinks used to escape were consumed, Escaros decided to temporarily pull out the limit.
As a magician who can handle both sword and magic freely, he can use only one type of attribute magic, but it has been sublimated into an advantage that he can focus on only one.
Escaros explored how to use mana of the lightning attribute in close combat and created a special means to enhance his combat power to the limit.
ㅡPajijijik!
By putting himself under a powerful electrical load, Escaros makes his entire body move with reflexes that skip his brain’s commands…
ㅡKaang, Kang, Kakan, Hung-! Kagak! Whoo! Kaaang!
It became possible to respond perfectly, such as blocking or avoiding Roden’s 8 consecutive attacks from all directions with a sword one by one.
Kang!!! The moment Escaros deflected the last attack, Roden, unable to withstand the intense impact, let go of his weapon.
Roden wanted to move his body to pick up the black sword, but Escaroth’s greatsword, which was ready to slash without hesitation if he moved even slightly, was aiming sharply at him.
“Hehe, it’s over with this. Escaros-sama’s complete victory.”
As expected, compared to those days, I have become quite dull.
Merlin muttered while looking at the whole scene and began to walk slowly towards his lord with a satisfied smile.
“Master!!!”
“Roxia!! It’s dangerous to go that way now!”
The three of them watched everything together, and Roxia ran ahead with an urgent face, followed by her twin sisters, who started running side by side to stop her girl, albeit belatedly.
The girl who ran as hard as she could at her full speed reminded me of a squirrel so fast.
Before long, Roxia returned to her master’s side and stood in front of Escaros with her arms outstretched.
The girl looked up at the sharp sword shining in front of her eyes and thought it was scary, but she managed to open her mouth.
“Su, the match is over now. If you ask me to follow you, I will follow you, so please don’t do anything to the master anymore.”
In the middle, Roxia, feeling the eyes of Escaros and Merlin on her and dimly realizing that their final target was herself, made such a decision to protect her master.
“Oh, no! Get behind me right now!”
Of course, Roden shouted as hard as she could to tell Roxia to leave, but now she was unmoved.
Escaros, who happened to point the tip of his greatsword at the girl, opened his mouth.
“Poor and pitiful thing. Trying to protect that man even at the cost of oneself… It must have been thoroughly brainwashed and tamed.”
I’d rather let it go comfortably in one blow.
The same demon… Even more so, I want to avoid cutting a girl like this as much as possible, but I can’t help it.
With that thought in mind, Escaros slowly lowered his gaze and met Loxia’s face up close for the first time.
“…”
What? It’s a familiar face for some reason. It can’t be that it’s the same as mine… ．
ㅡBy the way, Patter!
When the agitation caused by fragments of memories arose in Escaros’ mind… The part that protects the face of the helmet, which had cracks here and there from the impact of the fierce battle, was completely broken.
A face like a nobleman with clear features, eyes like melted gold, and a distinctive crescent-shaped scar next to Escaros’ right eyebrow were revealed.
Seeing the face of Escalos hidden under her helmet, Roxia spoke out, recalling some of her memories from her childhood, from her time living in the Netherworld.
“Th-those eyes and scars… ! Maybe acid oppa…Is not it?”
“!! Do you know its name… You, what’s your name? Where are you from?”
“Loxia… I’m Loxia from the Kambau Facility in District 4 of the Nation of Darkness… I haven’t heard the answer yet, but you’re Acid oppa, right?”
“… Yes. It definitely had that name in the past. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. You’ve grown so fast that I can’t recognize you while I haven’t seen you.”
After retrieving his old memories, Escaros, whose tone became softer, slowly and obliquely lowered the greatsword that was aiming at the girl.
On the other hand, Merlin, who was very embarrassed by the unexpected change of situation, kept his thoughts as calm as possible in his head even though he opened his eyes without realizing it.
“Sir Escaros?!”
Maybe this story will go in a completely wrong direction… ．In case of emergency, I have no choice but to use the one I planted in my head.
Merlin thought of tough measures to reverse the worst, but she decided to wait a little longer to see how Escaros would turn out.
