Chapter 480: Alteria Decisive Battle: Defeat the Famed General (1/2)

–Aegir POV–

Of course, in the corner of my brain, I understood that it was a trap.

But it didn’t stop me from swinging my sword.

By the time I realized it, I had already charged at him in a straight line and swung my Dual Crater with all my might.

Maestus, having completely antic.i.p.ated my attack, calmly receives my sword and angles his s.h.i.+eld to ward it off.

But my anger-filled strike, shatters the s.h.i.+eld to pieces as it slides off the diagonally-positioned plane, grazes Maestus’s gauntlet right as he lets go of the holding strap, and sends him flying backward.

「Hah, you have monstrous strength that doesn’t disgrace your demon name! I can’t even block, huh!?」

Maestus adjusts his body while skidding on the ground and swings his left arm at me.

A bowstring tw.a.n.gs, releasing six bolts. All of them are on trajectory to hit their target.

However, I don’t move my trunk, simply reaching up with my right hand to catch the one bolt aimed at my eye.

The remaining five stabs into my shoulder, my side, and my feet.

I don’t feel pain, but I do feel them piercing my body.

Nonetheless, my bulked up muscles stop them from reaching my inner organs or my bones.

「Yes, they hit!」

「Even he can’t dodge at that distance!」

I ignore the enemy soldiers’ jeers and slash diagonally upward with the Dual Crater which is now in my left hand.

「Gah!?」

The torso of the horse of the lance cavalry charging in from the left and the rider’s arm are cut apart.

I immediately stab my Dual Crater into the ground, partially turn to the right and catch two approaching spears under my armpits.

「Fuu, it’s not going to be that easy.」

A simultaneous attack from a crossbow and cavalry, huh? I probably would have suffered a heavier hit if I made excessive movements to dodge the crossbow bolts.

One of the riders who hesitated to let go of his spear got lifted up and separated from his horse.

The other one wisely abandoned his spear, unsheathed the sword at his waist, and slashed at my head.

Such a sudden attack was not backed by power.

Regardless, the accurate steel blade sc.r.a.pes my skin and draws blood.

I don’t groan in agony or curse. I’m not going to do those pointless things.

I change my grip on the unoccupied spear squeezed in between my armpit and thrust it backwards without turning my body.

For some reason, I could clearly see the figure of the roaring cavalry pa.s.sing behind me.

The tip of the spear bends on contact with the enemy soldier’s armor, but I forcefully push it through into his body.

The enemy cavalry proceeds to run into the ranks of my allies and the soldier falls off the horse which stopped abruptly.

Next I turn my attention to the soldier who I lifted with the other spear.

He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but I’m not here to talk.

I toss him upward into the air, skewer him as he drops back down, and toss the spear with his impaled body away.

「Commence the attack, take back the plaza.」

「Well, advancing is all we can do. Can we go to the temple before the enemy surrounds us…… this will be another tightrope maneuver……」

I hear Leopolt and Tristan before my personal army floods into the open s.p.a.ce created by explosives.

Multiple melees break out everywhere.

But I have only one objective.

That is to kill the jerk who ordered Benel’s a.s.sa.s.sination.

The other party also recognizes his lack of luxury to command his soldiers and fixates his gaze on me.

There is no exchange of cliched lines like, “I won’t forgive you” or “Try and kill me if you can”.

I simply exude my murderous intent at him and he invites me to attack with a grin.

I raise my Dual Crater as I walk, picking up speed and transitioning from a jog to a full speed sprint, then finally, I plant my foot to leap at him.

「Fast. Like a black gale!」

It was a speed I never experienced before, but he still kept composed and dodged.

I’m not done though.

Instead of raising my sword after my swing missed and it hit the ground, I exert more strength into my arms.

Rocks are the only objects scattered on the Alteria road, however my Dual Crater cuts through the thick rocks like sponge cake, and sends broken shards on impact in all directions.

「Even an orc can’t cause earthquakes by striking the ground! What herculean strength, what physical prowess!」

Maestus howls in a grating voice as he nimbly steps backward, avoiding the impact and flying debris.

「I’ll kill you.」

I utter the same words that have been running in my mind this whole time as I step in with my right leg and, after pulling my sword off the ground, lunge at him at lightning speed.

「A deadly thrust which I cannot block or parry, how troublesome!」

Despite what he said, he easily evades this attack too.

I twist my forward-moving body, take a step with my left foot and sweep at him with the back of my sword.

Maestus points his sword downward at an angle across his body to block and flies――no, he just jumped back to kill the power behind the blow.

「……」

My downward strike followed by the launching of debris, then the lunge followed by the sweep.

I didn’t do all of them to keep him in check, I did it smash him.

「You’re done? Then it’s my turn next.」

Maestus’s slashes alternate from a.s.saulting me from the left to a.s.saulting me from the right.

Slow. They’re as slow as a slug.

I casually brush aside the slashes with my sword and left hand.

「――just kidding.」

He suddenly unleashes a thrust several times faster than his previous slashes.

So his real plan was to get my eyes accustomed to the slashes he deliberately slowed down to make the true attack, his thrust, have a higher chance of landing.

The tip of his sword is appropriately aimed at my throat, but I intercept with my gauntlet, successfully blocking and snapping his sword.

「Too slow.」

It doesn’t matter if a caterpillar moves many times faster than a slug.

They’re both still considered slow. Is this the extent of his speed?

Quicker than any words could be spoken, this time I thrust the tip of my sword at his chest.

「Throwing you off with a variance of speed won’t work either! A discerning eye combined with monstrous strength, that is truly what it means to be a fierce G.o.d! How terrifying!」

Maestus bends his upper body backward almost enough to be parallel with the ground in order to dodge the thrust.

As I proceed to step forward, Maestus’s toe kicks me right on the chin, briefly shaking my field of view.

In that opening, he spins backward three times to distance himself and pulls out a new sword.

「……」

「Fumu, barely escaped with my life.」

I missed again.

My vision is already dyed red and the fighting in my surroundings, including Irijina’s thrusts, appear to be moving slowly.

I take a step onto the path, crus.h.i.+ng a stone and also creating an indent on the ground.

It seems my power is also far from normal.

He is certainly fast.

He’s much faster than the agile Celia, and he can change his movements to become irregular, making it harder to fight.

Even so, I can see all of his movements.

My eyes can naturally follow him and the current me is faster than him.

There is no contest in terms of strength.

I’m confident that I can take his upper body with me if I even graze him with a single hit.

It’s just that I can’t seem to hit him for some reason.

Reacting to the sound of cutting wind, I tilt my body to the side.

The rock that he threw skims my cheek.

Right after I shook off the child’s play and readied my sword, a second stone hit me right in the nose, which triggered a nosebleed.

「Bullseye.」

I charge ferociously at him.

I swing down, then up, then thrust, and then sweep.

Not a single hit lands.

「Woah, dangerous! That was close! You’re like a tornado!」

Maestus acts surprised as if to provoke me more and turns to the left to evade.

「An opening!!」

He suddenly crouches, tips his center of gravity in the opposite direction he turned and transitions to counterattack.

Of course, my eyes captured his movements completely.

Intending to turn the tables and cut him in half, I rested my body weight on my right leg.

「-gh!?」

My leg gave out and I felt my body tilt.

Why didn’t I feel any pain in my right leg――aah right, I didn’t feel pain anywhere.

Maestus’s eyes widen.

His aloof att.i.tude disappears and without any wasted movements, lunges at me, piercing the center of my throat.

I grab the sword once it is stabbed into my neck and crush it.

But he lets go of the sword, grabs my arm that is now on the sword, and throws me over his shoulder.

The sky and earth reverse and I dance in the air.

After flipping twice in midair, my head experiences a powerful blow.

In front of me, a wooden bucket――so I fell head first into a well, huh?

Through my blurred vision, I see my allies struggling.

A familiar face overlooks the plaza from the top step.

It’s Wilhelmina and――an old man I recognize.

「Zaphnes, get down here!」

「――Sekrit!?」

I regain my balance using only my instincts.

But because I b.u.mped my head pretty badly, my eyes and ears are disoriented and I can’t stand straight.

「Are you going to run away again? You’ve developed quite the habit of running.」

「Nonsense, I’m not falling for such cheap provocation. It’s more meaningful for me, the Supreme Commander, to continue leading the troops. What benefit is there in staying here?」

I also hear Celia’s voice mixed in with the exchange of Sekrit and the old man.

However, the ringing in my ears prevents me from hearing the details.

「Then I’ll change sides if you can make me lose. You can use me as your subordinate or a slave……or you can chop off my arms and legs and use me as fleshpot.」

「How could I do something so cruel to the woman I love!? But a victory in this place is in essence a victory overall, meaning it’s an opportunity worthy for my partic.i.p.ation!」

「……what a despicable guy. Does he not comprehend the duties of a Supreme Commander?」

I run my hand over the stab wound on my throat.

There is a hole in my trachea which is leaking out air and blood.

But the amount of blood loss is minimal so an artery has not been cut.

「Ooh, His Excellency Zaphnes will also join!? This is the stage of a decisive battle, let us fight without holding back! What, the battlefield is man’s sacred grounds, there is no need to worry about the cry of a vixen.」

Maestus’s joyful voice revives my anger and I use that as the driving force to pull myself upright.

Breathing is somewhat difficult, but I can still fight.

Losing a little blood also helped me regain some ability to think rationally――

「Oh right, Hardlett. About that woman.」

Maestus speaks to me with a condescending gaze.

「The one who took her virginity was me. I have a pretty face, you see. When I invited her to bed, she was blus.h.i.+ng like crazy. And it was amusing how she squealed as I penetrated her without foreplay. Man, it would have been nice to play with her one more time before she was killed.」

A blood vessel in my head audibly swelled.

I immediately rush Maestus without thinking, reaching both my hands forward as if trying to grab him, forgetting to retrieve my Dual Crater in the process.

But it didn’t occur to me that I was unarmed.

I was going to catch him and rip his brain out even if my heart gets pierced.

I roar animalistically, disregarding the blood that I cough out, until something pulls my ears from behind.

「Y-you――」

Then, a stupidly loud yet cute voice shouts at me.

「You idiot――!! Come back to your senses, muscle head!! Super imbecile!! d.i.c.k head! Womanizer!! Pant-wetter!!」

The shrill voice travels through my ears and shoots straight to my brain, causing my body to s.h.i.+ver.

You’re going to be last.

「Haa, haa……」

When I turned my head, I found Celia riding my back.

「I-idiot, you said? ……muscle head? Moron……d.i.c.k head……?」

My cheek gets slapped hard.

「You also have a brothel addiction, might I add! You’re a simpleton who has muscles for a brain!」

I don’t understand what’s going on.

Did Celia just insult me and hit me?

Are you telling me that cute Celia…… said something bad about me?

I notice my head cooling off.

The red in my vision vanishes.

I don’t know about the murderous intent towards Maestus, but I feel my rational thought process returning.

I also realize I am barehanded and pick up the Dual Crater lying on the ground beside me.

「Ugh!?」

My sense of pain is also back.

I feel the pain throughout my entire body, and above all else the intense pain in my throat and right leg, plus I think I pulled a muscle in my left hand.

In addition, my head is throbbing in pain from cras.h.i.+ng into the well earlier.

It hurts no matter what part of my body I move, although it won’t hinder me from fighting.

「The good part is, I have a grasp of which part I can’t move.」

「Phew, you’re back to normal. I will accept any punishment later.」

Let me survey my surroundings as well.

「Hooh, so your skill hasn’t deteriorated. I’m surprised.」

「Shut it! What’s with that strange fighting style of yours!?」

Sekrit and the familiar old man are fighting nearby.

The old man is beating Sekrit in strength, but he is bewildered by the diverse fighting styles Sekrit is using that combines clas.h.i.+ng with her sword-wielding prosthetic arm and then switching in midair to consecutive claw strikes.

With that said, he is keeping up with Sekrit, so he must be decently strong.

Elsewhere, my allies’ situation seems to be changing from a disadvantageous state to equal standing.

Leopolt and the others are fighting hard, I guess.

I pat Celia’s head and confront Maestus again.

「So, how did Benel die? Did she cough out blood, did she suffer?」

「I’ll tell you after I cut your head off.」

I plant my left leg, which is more stable than my right, and attack him.

「I see. You’re not falling for it anymore, huh?」

Maestus meets my sword with his own and parries my attack with exquisite timing.

My power that was amplified by anger had returned to normal, which allowed him to block.

But still――

「Fuh!」

I utilize the momentum from my deflected sword to spin around and sweep it at neck height.

「Tch!」

Maestus reacts quickly and dodges, but my blade grazes his cheek, spilling blood.

Although my strength decreased, this is the closest I’ve gotten to a hit.

「Well, of course it’s easy to read my attacks if I just charge in swinging my sword.」

I whip my leg out for a front kick at the unbalanced Maestus.

He puts both gauntlets in front of the kick, but is unable to completely block and is sent rolling on the ground.

I would really like to pursue here, however my inability to step with my right leg forces me to take a conservative stance.

Maestus was able to dodge my previous attacks, which should have been far faster and heavier, because he antic.i.p.ated all of them and he prepared himself to dodge before I moved.

I let anger get the better of me and all I could do was attack how my body dictated.

I couldn’t deliberately use the excess movement of my swing to generate force for a sweep nor could I use an attack with less power than my sword like a kick.

Maestus is undoubtedly an expert on the battlefield.

If he knew, “this is coming next”, then he can dodge no matter how fast the attack is.

I would have most certainly died if I continued to fight like that.

「A resourceful general who has lost his intelligence is finished, right!?」

I raise my Dual Crater and swing it down with all my might.

Determining he cannot block it head-on, Maestus steps backward to evade.

If I follow my instincts here, I would probably lift my sword up after missing and thrust at him or use the forward momentum to tackle him with my shoulder.

「How’s this?」

I instead twist my body and swing my sword horizontally.

It’s not going to hit an opponent who is moving backward.

However, my true aim is the kicking of sand when my leg pivots on the ground.

My boots spray the sand up, right in Maestus’s face.

Then, in that opening, I aim a strike at his shoulder――

「Guh!」

Unable to complete my attack, I hop backwards.

He countered with a well-time thrust.

Maestus had covered his face with his arm.

「Throwing sand is a basic strategy when the ground is dry.」

He smirks.

Dammit, he’s familiar with bandit tactics too.

「Now it’s my turn.」

「You don’t have to tell me.」

Maestus rushes forward.

He takes an amateurish stance like he was preparing for a sluggish attack and then a.s.saults me with an attack that’s faster than Celia.

a.s.sessing it in my calm state, I realize how much more annoying he is to deal with.

I couldn’t dodge in time and his sword slashes my shoulder.

「Guooooh!!」

I back away, groaning in pain.

This is a perfect opportunity for him to run in for a second slash and finish the kill.

And when he does, I’ll counter with an upward strike……

It didn’t happen.

After cutting my shoulder, he throws away his perfect chance and takes a defensive stance.

「I had a bad feeling. Sorry about that.」

His intuition is impressive.

「I’ll acknowledge it. You’re an expert.」

Even injured, my strength greatly surpa.s.ses his strength. My speed doesn’t lose to his speed either.

But I reluctantly have to admit that he holds the advantage over me in terms of combat tactics.

In that case, it’s clear how I should fight.

Let’s be prepared.

「I’ll decide it with the next attack. From the front.」

I pull my right arm back, readying a large swing with my sword.

It’s a stance that leaves my front vulnerable in exchange for setting up the fastest strike.

「Hooh……a one-strike battle? Very well.」

A joyful look briefly colored Maestus’s face but it quickly turned into a sarcastic smile.

「Here I go.」

「Bring it on.」

I purposely step in with my injured right leg first and then rapidly accelerate forward with my left leg on my next step.

On the other hand, Maestus doesn’t take a single step.

He raises the sword he held with both hands to eye level as he widens his eyes and measures my attack.

He can’t block my full-powered strike head-on.

Therefore he will probably take a step back to avoid my fast strike and aim for my neck when I miss.

「Eat this!!」

I shout unnecessarily as I hold my sword aloft, poised to swing it.

His center of gravity will s.h.i.+ft to the back and……here.

Rather than completing the downward motion, I throw the sword at him.

The throw is basically a thrust with unlimited range and he can’t avoid it by stepping back.

「I knew it.」

But Maestus returns his center of gravity to the front in an instant, planting himself firmly as he swings his own sword and deflects the Dual Crater.

He greets my now defenseless self with a lunge to my face.

I catch that thrust with my bare hands.

Maestus shows no signs of panicking.

「It is for this reason I have a double-edged blade.」

He pulls his sword back slightly before pus.h.i.+ng it forward again.

The double-edged sword slices my palms and slides through. Unfortunately, even I can’t stop it.

「Then I’ll let it stab me.」

I press the top of the sword down with both hands and guide the blade into a hole opened in my armor during the heat of battle.