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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Valian donned his cloak and flipped up the attached hood. It seemed useless as he would likely get soaked regardless, but it was better than nothing.
He exited the lord’s manor and walked briskly. The powerful types he had dealt with were all the same. This Viraki didn’t seem any different.
“He said to take back his gold coins?”
So Valian was able to calmly address the around twenty warriors surrounding him. Bervira spoke up.
“…Hand them over quietly and we’ll let you go.”
Valian felt his increasingly damp head, hood and clothes, thinking how refreshing it was. Perhaps because Noife was in the north, the falling rain was ice cold. He slowly moved his right hand and arm to grasp the hilt of his sword on his waist. His eyes stared straight at Bervira’s face – a very clear action and gaze that needed no words.
Bervira gave a wry smile. His hand trembled pitifully.
“Shit, shoot him!”
The loaded crossbows fired. Three men behind Bervira aimed at Valian, and three bolts flew. Bervira hoped these would kill Valian and rid him of his anxiety.
His wish went unfulfilled.
Unsheathing his sword, Valian deflected two bolts by shifting his feet, and tilting his head slightly to dodge the last. An incredible display of reflexes and speed. Amidst the spattering raindrops, he charged the man in front.
The man thrust his sword forward in surprise. Valian lightly evaded it and slashed his throat. Blood mixed with rain sprayed out.
“Fight, fight! Kill that bastard!”
At Bervira’s shout, the men reflexively moved. If they’d had a moment to think, they might have fled rather than face the crossbow-deflecting warrior. In that sense, the order was well-timed.
Bervira couldn’t think that way though. The barbaric warrior who had crossed the Perpetual Snows of the far northwest approached, cutting down one man at a time with his sword.
Valian quickly became drenched in blood. Dodging thrusting swords to strike upwards. Slashing down at the man beside him, evading a blade from the right to cleave someone’s head. The alley wasn’t very wide, but enough for a few men to move and fiercely battle. And that cramped space was a terror, not an advantage, for the twenty.
Valian felt he had ample room to move freely. Lightly evading slashing and thrusting blades, he swung his longsword in wide arcs. Limbs were severed as agonized screams rang out.
Rain mixed with blood flowed over the well-maintained city cobblestones. Corpses and severed body parts rolled along the ground.
“…Shit.”
Bervira cursed, looking to the motionless figure beside him. Unlike the amateur Bervira, this was a true blade – one of Lord Viraki’s swords. A hood obscured their face, but their visible form was quite slender.
“Esturia.”
The hooded head turned towards Bervira. Green eyes glowed from the shadow beneath.
“Fight?”
“…Please.”
Esturia regarded Bervira briefly before nodding.
She drew two curved swords from her back and slowly approached Valian.
Valian noticed her smooth movements nearby after disemboweling another man. The other warriors backed away upon seeing Esturia advance. Bervira sighed watching them – only five bore terrified living expressions.
Esturia spoke.
“Your skill is formidable, barbarian.”
Valian eyed her twin blades.
“Duel-wielding, eh? You confident you can handle those?”
“Of course. If I wasn’t, why would I carry them?”
Valian gripped his sword with both hands, baring his teeth in a smile. He muttered,
“Hopefully you’ll give good experience.”
Esturia didn’t understand those unfamiliar words – they weren’t of this land’s language. Thinking they might be the barbarians’ tongue, she lightly bounced on the wet cobblestones, making splashing sounds. The rain still steadily drenched them.
At some point, Esturia took a deep breath and shot towards Valian like an arrow. Immense speed as her right blade slashed downwards from above.
Valian blocked it by angling his sword upwards. The tremendous force made Esturia spin about halfway around. Rather than be flustered, she naturally channeled that repelling force into her left blade. The curve scraped along the ground towards Valian’s abdomen. Sparks briefly flew where stone and steel clashed through the rain.
Valian forcefully pushed down to deflect the upward slash. More sparks flew.
Esturia didn’t stop. Whether repelled or blocked, she instantly retaliated with the opposite blade. Her stance was unsteady – wobbling unstably yet explosively pressing the assault by that very instability. Both blades constantly scraped the alley walls and cobblestones.
Valian remained steady. Gripping his sword firmly two-handed, legs bent in a low stance, he calmly blocked the whip-like rain-parting curved blades with minimal movement.
Outwardly it seemed Esturia overwhelmed Valian. But neither of them thought so.
Valian focused solely on defense for a time before, at one point, powerfully thrusting his blade forward. Startled, Esturia fell back. Valian didn’t stop, taking a big step to slash upwards, raising his sword over his head.
Seeing an opening, Esturia lunged at his fully exposed torso. A mistake – she should have retreated backwards instead.
The sword Valian had raised over his head came slashing down towards the incoming Esturia. No special techniques or secret moves, he simply struck with great speed and force.
Esturia was cleaved from crown to abdomen, crumpling to the ground. Blood and entrails sprayed out, drenched by the downpour.
“Ah…ah…”
Bervira could only let out inarticulate groans. The warriors who had backed away earlier began slinking backwards.
Valian used his sword to flip back Esturia’s hood from her bisected face lying in a pool. She was a woman – the pointed ears suggesting an elf. He snickered. What did it matter now that she was a corpse?
Valian felt satisfied. The experience earned was more than anticipated – he was nearly ready to level up.
One of the warriors abandoned his backwards shuffling to turn and outright flee. The others made sure to follow suit, when something whipped through the rain to embed in the runner’s back – Valian’s hand axe.
“Where d’you think you’re going?”
Valian charged the remaining warriors, swinging his blade. Two were bifurcated, one’s head caved in by a punch. The last managed to flee a short distance before Valian whipped his sword to sink into his back, dropping him.
Valian stood before Bervira.
“Your name was Bervira, right?”
“…Yes.”
“If I kill you, will the lord put a bounty on me?”
Trembling, Bervira answered,
“…He would.”
Valian nodded.
“Nah, he won’t.”
“No, he will, I’m a soldier he-”
Valian grabbed Bervira’s throat with his right hand and lifted him up. The nearly two meter Valian easily raised the 160cm Bervira like a child.
“Urgh, plea…se, spare…”
Bervira begged with his constricted voice.
Valian applied a bit more force and there was a sickening crunch as Bervira’s neck snapped. His eyes rolled in separate directions.
And then Valian leveled up.
He briefly closed his eyes, immersing himself in his inner world. There he saw his ability scores – strength, agility and so on. Valian pondered a moment whether to raise strength or endurance before choosing strength and returning to reality.
He dropped Bervira’s lifeless body from his right hand and flexed both, feeling the power he could barely contain surge even more intensely. Satisfying.
Valian glanced around at the carnage he had wrought. A gory mess of blood and corpses. The relentless downpour washed viscera and blood into the gutters in violent streams.
Goblins would feast, he idly thought. And felt a slight pang of guilt – he had been taught killing was wrong in the world he came from. But that was now just a useless sentiment.
Retrieving his axe and sword, Valian departed into the pouring rain. His business in Noife was done. It seemed he would have to seek another city.
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