Chapter 12

"Alright, who's next?"

At my words, the men took a slight step back.

Among them, a swordsman who seemed to have quickly regained his composure raised his voice loudly.

"Stay calm, everyone! That was just a fluke! As long as we don't let our guard down, there's no way we can lose to a mere [Void Emblem]!"

"Leader!"

"Yeah, that's right."

The spearman and the mage also regained their composure upon hearing the swordsman—our leader—speak. At the same time, a murderous intent appeared in their eyes. They seemed to be dissatisfied with the current situation where they were being underestimated by someone they considered insignificant.

"Hey, you! Don't get cocky!"

The spearman spat and charged at me with a fierce rush. His spear was indeed sharp, but its trajectory was too straightforward, and to me, it looked like a child's play.

"Where are you aiming?"

"What!?"

With a light step, I dodged the spear, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

"No way! You dodged it so easily!? Such a move shouldn't be possible..."

The shock seemed to have stopped the spearman in his tracks. I was about to take advantage of this opening to launch a counterattack when—

"What are you looking at over there!?"

"――――"

I sensed the swordsman's presence behind me and turned around. His body and sword were already enveloped in a bluish-white light. [Sword Boost]—the same skill used by the instructor knight. The skill's activation instantly increased the man's movement and sword speed.

"See how this works!"

The swordsman shouted confidently. However, in reality, his speed had increased, but his sword technique was still sloppy. If that's the case—

"Parry"

"What!?"

At the sound of my voice, the swordsman's attack was deflected and struck the ground.

"Hey, that was a parry from the [Sword Emblem]..."

"He has the [Void Emblem]!? That's impossible!"

Shock and fear appeared on their faces. The common knowledge that the [Void Emblem] cannot use skills seemed to prevent them from accepting the situation.

(In a battlefield, one should accept the reality in front of them rather than relying on prior information...)

Given their lack of experience, it was probably difficult for them to do so. As evidence—

"This was just a fluke! And such a miracle won't happen again!"

Saying this, the swordsman used [Sword Boost] again. However, the skill, released without any strategy, had no effect on me.

"Parry"

"What!?"

"Hey, wait—ugh!"

I deflected the swordsman's attack again with a parry. The deflected sword hit the spearman's spear, causing both to lose their balance.

(Good, the diversion worked.)

Parry is effective in disrupting the battle situation, especially in one-against-many scenarios. I often used similar tactics when surrounded by a large number of monsters in Creon.

However, I didn't intend to end it there. I took advantage of the opening and thrust my sword into the spearman's right shoulder. The sharp blade tore through the flesh, and the sensation was transmitted to my hand.

"Ugh!"

The spearman screamed and dropped his spear, losing his grip. I immediately picked it up with my left hand.

"To be honest, I didn't use the spear much in Creon..."

Still, my skill was better than his. I gripped the spear's handle firmly and faced both of them again. The spearman, with a tense expression, spoke.

"Y-You, what are you going to do with my spear..."

"Since you're here, I'll teach you how to use it."

"What—!?"

"What!? A wide swing!?"

I first swung the spear widely with my left hand to create distance between us. The two of them jumped back awkwardly to avoid it. Seizing the opportunity, I launched a thrust with a fluid motion.

"――――Thrust!"

"Wh-What!? Gwaaaaaah!"

The thrust, released in the midst of the confusion, hit perfectly. A hole opened in the spearman's left shoulder, and blood splattered into the air.

"Not done yet."

"Ugh!"

I then rotated the spear and used the centrifugal force to strike the back of the spearman's head forcefully. A dull thud echoed.

"Damn, you...!"

The spearman crouched on the spot, muttered a few words, and fainted. With this, he would not be returning to the fight.

Just as I thought that—

"You, stop getting cocky!"

The martial artist, who was supposed to be down, stood up and charged straight at me. He must have recovered enough to move after the earlier blow. His return to the battle, taking advantage of the moment when I had taken down one of them, was indeed effective.

However,

"If it wasn't me, that might have worked."

"Wh-What!?"

My movement was faster. I threw the spear with one hand, piercing his leg. A dull sound accompanied the martial artist's scream.

"Gwaaaah! You, you bastard...!"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice you recovering? You're leaking too much killing intent."

"Damn..."

Perhaps due to the accumulated damage from earlier, the man slowly lost consciousness. Following the spearman, the martial artist also became combat-incapacitated. Only the swordsman and the mage remained. Both were sweating and looking at me with fear.

However, a few seconds later,

"Damn it, we can't back down now!"

The swordsman, who had been charging at me, stopped using [Sword Boost] and started prioritizing evasion. He must have realized that attacking head-on wouldn't work. From my observations, as the leader, he seemed to be the most composed. Still, the difference in skill level was not that significant.

However,

"Is that okay? Just dodging won't get you anywhere."

"Shut up—now!"

In the middle of our clash, the swordsman suddenly jumped back to create distance. Immediately after,

"Magic Ball!"

The mage released the magic skill [Magic Ball]. There were over a dozen of them. He must have been accumulating mana to cast this while not participating in the battle. The swordsman's tactics were to buy time for the mage to cast the spell.

In response to my analysis, the mage called out with a delighted voice.

"You were careless! This magic is impossible for a weakling like you to avoid!"

A confident declaration. As the mage said, it was indeed impossible for me to dodge all of them.

However,

"Parry"

I used Parry again. Yes, in Creon, Parry can be used against magic as well. The difficulty is much higher than against melee weapons, but the success rate is about the same as a critical hit with a slash. For me, the world's top-ranked, it wasn't a difficult skill.

As a result, all the magic balls were deflected around me, and not a single fragment reached me.

"What, what...!"

"You deflected the magic!?"

Stunned, the two of them looked at me. I coldly replied,

"This is the end—Slash."

I quickly swung my short sword twice. The two slashes cut through their shoulders and abdomens. Blood spurted out, staining the ground red.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh... This, this can't be..."

Hit by the slashes, the two of them slowly collapsed. The shock and pain caused the mage to faint immediately.

—The battle was over. The spearman, martial artist, and mage were unconscious, and the only one still conscious was the leader, the swordsman. I walked over to him and pressed the tip of my sword to his neck.

"Ah!"

The leader, trembling, finally realized his position.

"You said earlier that this world is a place of the strong eating the weak... Now, do you know which side is being eaten?"

As I said this, I raised my sword high. Seeing this, the leader, tears welling in his eyes, pleaded frantically.

"W-Wait! We were wrong! Just, just spare my life!"

"See you."

"N-No! I don't want to—"

I swung my sword forcefully. It made a loud noise, but it struck the ground next to the man's neck, not his neck itself.

"…………(Thud)"

The man, thinking he had been killed, fainted, foaming at the mouth.

"Well, that's about it."

There was no need to dirty my hands for such scum. They were probably involved in similar evil deeds, so it would be best to take them to the adventurer's guild for judgment.

With that conclusion, I turned around and called out to Il.

"Hey, it's over. They're unconscious, but do you want to give them a hit?"

"………………"

No response. It seemed he was still in shock from the battle.

(Well, I'll wait a bit longer.)

I sighed, "Phew."

In any case, this was my first human battle in this world, and it ended with my overwhelming victory. It was a one-man show.

If you felt a sense of exhilaration and enjoyment, I'm very grateful!

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