Chapter 49

The battle between "Dancing Sword" and "Murder Circus" began.

Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage of ten against forty, the battle was surprisingly dominated by the outnumbered "Dancing Sword."

In particular, the momentum of the large axe wielded by Fand, the captain of the "Dancing Sword" unicorn hunting squad, was terrifying.

"Raaah! Oraah!"

The masked men of the "Murder Circus," restrained by the bold swings of the large axe, struggled to attack despite their numerical superiority. Even though five of them surrounded Fand, they couldn't close the final step to reach him.

Clearly the strongest among them, Fand, was someone they wanted to avoid engaging with, but as a sub-guild master, Crown couldn't let them openly avoid the fight.

The members of the "Murder Circus" didn't want to be the only ones to suffer major injuries in such a favorable battle. This background led to low morale in the fight.

"Dancing Sword" was one of the top ten strongest guilds in the city of adventurers, Baraila. Even with their numerical advantage, the "Murder Circus" thugs, who were former hoodlums, weren't easy opponents to handle without a scratch.

"What are you doing! Kill him quickly! It should be easy if you surround him!"

When Crown shouted, several masked men tried to sneak around to Fand's back.

Talmia, the lightly armored female swordsman, gracefully jumped off her horse and swiftly slashed at the masked man's neck with a double-edged knife, kicking him off and taking his horse.

"Good job, Talmia."

"It's not as impressive as the rumors. They're just thugs, after all?"

"Damn it!"

One of the masked men aimed a blowpipe at Fand and fired.

Fand, crouching, swung his large axe to intimidate the nearby masked men, forcing them to retreat and using one of them as a shield to block the dart. The masked man hit by the dart fell off his horse.

(In the midst of a melee, using unfamiliar ranged weapons and showing no camaraderie. Plus, the morale must have dropped significantly due to that reckless action.)

Fand took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

"Be careful! These guys will shoot at their own allies! They just pierced one of their own in the back!"

This was more of a strategy to further demoralize the enemy by revealing their own shortcomings to them. Upon hearing Fand's voice, the masked men clearly began to avoid the front lines.

In contrast, "Dancing Sword" formed a well-coordinated formation, protecting the non-combatant, the perception mage Leg, and repelled the "Murder Circus" attacks from all sides one after another.

Despite the numerical difference, the gap between a group of loosely organized thugs and top-tier adventurers was clear.

While "Dancing Sword" had no fatal injuries, the "Murder Circus" already had eight dead.

The difference in skill, awareness, and teamwork was stark.

"You guys, this isn't a game! Damn it, you're all useless..."

Crown gritted his teeth, his venomously red lips trembling.

To Crown, his subordinates were merely expendable pawns.

This battle clearly demonstrated that the difference in leadership decided the outcome.

"Are you just going to watch?"

The one-eyed swordsman of "Dancing Sword," Tork, approached Crown on horseback, pointing his sword at him.

"You're underestimating me, kid. Do you really think I'm going to be taken by someone like you?"

Crown, his face contorted with makeup, glared at Tork.

Tork thrust his sword forward.

Crown's figure vanished, and Tork's sword pierced the air.

"Wh... Where did he go?"

At that moment, the sound of landing came from behind.

Turning around, Tork saw Crown standing on the horse's rump.

"You really thought you could catch me with that sword? Do you think I'm on the same level as those lackeys? You're too naive. You drew the short straw, kid."

Crown skillfully twirled a knife in his left hand.

Tork, panicking, kicked his horse to jump off, but by the time he realized it, a knife was embedded in his thigh.

"Ugh!"

Tork, losing his balance, rolled on the ground, dropping his weapon and clutching his leg.

"You fell for an old trick, fool."

Focusing on the left hand that was ostentatiously twirling the knife, Tork took advantage of the distraction to throw a knife with his other hand.

This was Crown's specialty.

(But, it's too late to turn the tide now... I underestimated them. If I had contacted another sub-master, it would have been too late. I need to trap them and prevent that horn from being taken, or I'll lose the favor of the client and the master.)

Crown clicked his tongue and started to flee on Tork's horse.

Seeing this, the other masked men began to follow suit, panicking.

"C-Crown-sama!"

Talmia, seeing Tork fall, narrowed her cat-like eyes fiercely.

"I won't let you escape!"

Talmia, wielding her double-edged knife, closed the distance to Crown in one swift motion.

"You damn clown!"

One of "Dancing Sword's" adventurers, drawing a large bow, fired an arrow at Crown.

Crown turned around and deflected the arrow with his knife.

Taking advantage of this, Talmia circled around Crown and slashed at the horse's legs with her double-edged knife.

Before the horse could collapse, Crown jumped off.

"You guys! The leader is fleeing, at least try to hold them back! Damn it..."

Talmia charged at Crown on horseback.

Crown, like with Tork, jumped to avoid and tried to mount Talmia's horse.

In mid-air, Talmia and Crown faced each other.

"...Huh?"

Crown had jumped, but Talmia had also jumped at the same time.

Talmia immediately slashed at Crown with her double-edged knife.

Crown quickly drew a hidden knife from his sleeve and countered.

The blades clashed, ringing with the sound of metal.

Talmia swiftly turned her wrist, bringing the reverse blade of the double-edged knife up to Crown's throat.

Crown narrowly avoided it, but Talmia continued her rapid, alternating attacks, using both the upper and lower blades of her double-edged knife.

Crown managed to parry the rapid attacks with his regular knife, but this was Talmia's forte.

Crown, missing a dodge, finally received a shallow cut on his cheek.

Crown, eyes bloodshot, forcefully knocked the double-edged knife away, disrupting Talmia's stance, and jumped back to regain his composure.

"You did well..."

Although caught off guard earlier, Crown was confident that he could easily defeat Talmia in a straightforward fight.

However, just then, another "Dancing Sword" adventurer, Bottom, charged at Crown with a lance.

"Damn!"

Crown dodged this as well.

But, the odds were too much against him.

"Hey, what are you doing..."

Looking up, Crown was speechless.

The battlefield was littered with masked corpses.

Only about eight subordinates remained. The rest were either killed or had fled.

The eight who remained didn't want to stay, but they were surrounded by "Dancing Sword" adventurers and couldn't escape.

Two of them were raising their hands in surrender.

"You, you bastards...!"

"Give up!"

Bottom, circling his horse, returned to Crown and prepared to thrust his lance again.

An arrow was fired from far behind Crown, aimed at Bottom.

"Huh, reinforcements?"

Bottom dodged to the left... but another arrow was already there.

"What...?"

The arrow pierced Bottom's neck from the side.

The second arrow seemed to have been aimed at Bottom's evasion path from the first arrow.

However, it was impossible, no matter what.

If the same person had fired both arrows, the speed of the consecutive shots was too fast.

Moreover, predicting the head's trajectory of Bottom, who was moving at high speed on horseback, and hitting it accurately was an inhuman skill.

Bottom, in shock, dropped his lance and fell off his horse.

Instant death—this was clear.

The sudden death of a comrade in the midst of a victorious mood was a significant shock to the "Dancing Sword" members.

The "Dancing Sword" members, who had been shouting encouragement, fell silent.

A faint, hoarse voice called out, "Bottom...?" but it was lost in the wind.

"Ha ha, I hit it, I hit it."

The one who appeared from the direction of the arrow was a handsome young man with a bow.

He had curly orange hair and was dressed in a noble's green attire.

He rode a beautiful horse with a sky-like, translucent coat.

He looked like a prince who had stepped out of a book.

"Who are you...?"

Even Crown, who had been aided, didn't know this man.

"I'm just a friend to the weak! It's more fun to turn the tide than to ride the winning horse, and I love being thanked. I can't resist it."

He narrowed his eyes, smiling playfully.

"Is it... the War God Robin Hood!? You're back in Baraila!?"

Fand, recognizing the man, was shocked.

Robin Hood—originally an adventurer from Baraila.

Despite his exceptional combat skills, he was imprisoned for his combat mania and selfishness.

Sentenced to execution, he charmed the guards and escaped easily.

He loved conflict and enjoyed stirring up others' fights.

He typically sided with the underdog, but if the fight was even, he might decide by a coin toss.

As long as he could show off, anything was fine.

He might help out on a whim, but he had no real interest in helping others.

This was the fastest way to rise from zero in Baraila, even if it meant being twisted.

Robin Hood was a monster created by the city of adventurers, Baraila.

"Jesters, I, Robin Hood, will lend you a hand! I will take command from this coward who abandoned his subordinates! Do not flee, fight! Roar, do not chirp! If you wish to drink the wine of victory, join me!"

Crown, regaining his composure, shouted.