Chapter 65

Rio maximized his body enhancement and sprinted down the street.

Ignoring the intense pain, Rio caught up to the back of the defense force and leaped toward a two-story inn to the side. He inserted the sheath he pulled from his waist belt into the gap of the balcony railing to lift his body, took a running start using the width of the balcony to its limit, and jumped, overtaking the defense force and landing in front of them.

Without minding the defense force captain's wide-eyed surprise at Rio's sudden landing, Rio took off running again.

"Hey, wait—how fast!?"

Rio's speed was so far beyond the norm that the defense force captain, who had tried to stop the clearly battered Rio, couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

Combining his natural agility with the maximum activation of body enhancement, Rio's full-speed sprint reached its peak in an instant, leaving the dead bodies and pools of blood on the ground as mere obstacles.

On the other side of the defensive wall, beyond the drawbridge, Galdrat was swinging his sword alone. He resisted the pressure of the collar with body enhancement without wasting magic power, dodged the horns of the swarming Teroops, and avoided the tentacles and black wax thrown by the Blakurs with minimal movement.

Whenever Galdrat swung his sword in retaliation, he surely cut down one Teroop or Blakur at a time.

Galdrat was smiling contentedly.

He was able to defend this town, entrusted to him by his master and teacher, Nac Schwarca, with his life, just as he had done in the past.

He had no regrets for catching up to Nac Schwarca, a knight, and he smiled.

"...What a joke."

Rio tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

In the midst of the Teroops swarming Galdrat, a white Teroop was watching him closely. Upon catching sight of Rio, it tilted its head in confusion.

The white Teroop, which moved in a way that was almost human, seemed to have noticed that Rio's eyes were not on the Teroops but on Galdrat.

Finally, the human forces, which had just begun to regain their footing, were charging at Galdrat, the pillar of their defense, with a battered and bruised boy, weapons in hand, his anger laid bare.

The white Teroop, which couldn't understand the meaning, let out a loud cry and launched an elite force at Galdrat.

Although Galdrat's lifespan was shortened by the collar, he was still capable of fighting. Nevertheless, the white Teroop judged that it was necessary to deploy the elite force immediately because an uncertain element was rushing through the defensive wall.

The elite force, sensing the white Teroop's concern, rushed at Galdrat all at once.

Standing at the drawbridge, Galdrat barely moved from his spot, cutting off the heads of the Teroops and severing the bodies of the Blakurs as if he himself were the defensive wall.

As Rio stepped onto the drawbridge, the white Teroop let out an unpleasant neigh.

In response, the Blakurs entangled their tentacles to form a rope, using the depth of the moat to create a pendulum motion, and launched their comrades over Galdrat onto the drawbridge.

The Blakurs, launched like a pendulum from below, targeted not Galdrat but Rio and the defense force, which was maintaining formation and running at maximum speed from a distance behind him.

Naturally, Rio, running alone on the drawbridge, was the top priority for elimination.

Rio predicted the trajectory of the Blakurs descending and the tentacles thrust out or swung.

He gauged the distance to the descending Blakurs.

Pressing the flat of his sword against his right shoulder, he slid on the drawbridge.

The slide, performed at maximum speed, hardly slowed him down on the drawbridge, which was slick with blood.

The tentacles of the Blakurs couldn't reach Rio, who was moving just above the ground.

Using his right shoulder as a pivot, Rio changed the angle of his sword and hooked the tip on the drawbridge, using leverage and inertia to stand up.

He then shouldered his sword and accelerated again.

Dodging the tentacles thrust out by the Blakurs trying to block his path with his own improvised footwork, he cut them off with the sword he had shouldered.

Without finishing off the Blakur, Rio ran past it, aiming his sword at Galdrat, who was about a dozen steps ahead.

Galdrat noticed Rio and looked puzzled.

However, he must have understood that Rio's movements and gaze were targeting him. He cut down the obstructive Teroops to secure his escape route.

Perhaps unable to speak due to the collar, Galdrat directed a questioning gaze at Rio.

Why was he here, in such a battered state?

In response, Rio answered with a voice imbued with magic.

"Don't be satisfied just with catching up!"

A voice like a heat haze spread. The pure magic power emitted reached Galdrat's collar, causing the core of the spell to expand.

Rio planted his foot firmly on the ground and raised his sword, aiming for Galdrat's neck. Galdrat, seeing the sword with a look of shock, tried to evade it with a skillful footwork.

The training with his master, etched into Galdrat's body, should have reflexively avoided Rio's sword—

But Rio's planted foot, the hands holding the sword, the arms, and the shoulder were enveloped in a heat haze.

Galdrat's eyes widened. The maximum activation of body enhancement, which could destroy the body, was a forbidden technique for immature practitioners in normal schools. Moreover, those Galdrat had encountered, blessed with talent, needed vast amounts of magic power to attempt it.

The amount of excess magic power Rio emitted could only be achieved by someone without the talent for body enhancement.

But because of that lack of talent, the origin of Rio's body and actions—disappeared into the heat haze.

The tip of Rio's sword, slicing through the air, struck Galdrat's collar.

A high-pitched sound of metal clashing rang out, and Galdrat's collar lost its power.

The collar, which had suddenly loosened, broke and slid off Galdrat's neck.

So out of the ordinary was the event that Galdrat, forgetting he was on the battlefield, stared blankly at his throat.

Passing by Galdrat, Rio stopped, stepping on the Teroop corpses, and exhaled, the smell of blood mingling with his breath. He turned to look at Galdrat.

"—Get out of here!"

The moment Rio shouted, Galdrat turned and passed by Rio.

A sharp light ran through the sky, and a well-built Teroop running at Rio had its neck deeply cut and fell into the moat.

"...Get out of here."

Galdrat, who had muttered this, stroked his throat. He confirmed again that the metal collar, which had been there for so long, was gone and smiled wryly.

Galdrat, erasing his smile, glared at the enemy.

"Grateful to Rio, who gave me a reprieve to live as a knight, even though I was destined to die as one."

With his back still to Rio, Galdrat, holding his sword horizontally, looked up at the sky with a clear face.

'With repentance and shame, let us now wield our pride by your side.'

The white Teroop let out a loud neigh and charged at Galdrat, leading the charge. Its eyes were filled with a killing intent, hatred, and, more than anything, overwhelming anxiety.

In contrast, Galdrat, bathed in the bloody wind of the battlefield, wore a refreshingly calm smile.

Something swelled up around Galdrat, like the barrier of a hidden village. It expanded to nearly twice the distance of Galdrat's reach at the drawbridge and suddenly sliced through the Teroops and Blakurs that touched it.

Galdrat, standing still with his sword, cut down anyone who entered the space without question.

"...Magic?"

That was the only thought that came to Rio's mind.

The air around Galdrat had changed to something purer.

Others had also noticed Galdrat's transformation.

The white Teroop raised its two horns and let out a loud cry.

It must have believed that the reversed battle situation could be corrected if it could take down Galdrat here.

While charging, the white Teroop used magic. Its feet exploded, and it accelerated dramatically, entering the space Galdrat had created. Shallow wounds were carved into the white Teroop's body one after another, but none were fatal.

Determined to turn the tide of the battle at the cost of its life, the white Teroop faced Galdrat, who was waiting with his sword at the ready.

The white Teroop, intending to kill Galdrat with its horns without slowing down, braced its neck for the impact just before colliding with Galdrat.

Seeing the white Teroop's neck stiffen, Galdrat took a half-step back, turned his body, and slid his sword into the predicted location between the white Teroop's front legs.

He turned his wrist, directing the blade toward the base of the white Teroop's legs.

He brought his lowered foot forward, and with that step, he severed the white Teroop's front legs at the base.

A decisive blow aimed at the legs, which were constantly moving to charge, causing a fatal wound.

The white Teroop rolled down the drawbridge, its body being cut deeper and deeper as it slowed down in the space Galdrat had created. At the end of the drawbridge, its torso was deeply sliced.

With the death of the white Teroop, the Teroops and Blakurs, which had been attacking so boldly, stopped their charge.

For a brief moment, the battlefield was silent, then it was torn apart by the defense force crossing the drawbridge.

"Eliminate them! Don't let any of them live!"

As the defense force crossed the drawbridge, Rio leaned against the railing, spitting out a blood clot that had formed in his throat.

Feeling a shadow fall over him, he looked up with blurred vision.

Shiraha was looking down at him with the same emotionless eyes as when they first met.