v5c4 (1/2)

4 Bow and Blade

Outer castle broke down Rena sensed s collapse as she ran

Dark Nephilis shattered every time it moved and waved

its ar left of the outer castle if this kept up

“Oh my……”

Rena took a look behind as she ran swiftly then groaned Dark Nephili her while

trashi+ng with all of its four legs, each step it took shattered the stone floor

A future where nothing would be reet close to her

“To think she’d summon such a powerful spirit… It seeed or

close combat but this”

Wasn’t Dark Nephiliuardian God of the Dark Elves?

Of course, this wouldn’t have been an enjoyable choice for Chloe either It would reat loss

for the Dark Elves if it were to get injured or possibly killed

Rena sighed after gaining a safe distance then pulled her bowstring

Ping!

Arro in and pelted Dark Nephilied

as it chased after Rena

“It won’t work here…”

Dark Nephilie that no amount of normal arroould even make a dent on it A lot

of firepoas needed to finish it off properly… But it was doubtful if the shaking pillars of the

outer castle would be able to withstand such an impact

She had to escape the outer castle first

Rena ran all the way back to the hallway then jule leap People

that were passing by made surprised faces They had been worried about the terrifying sounds

co But now a beautiful Elf suddenly came

down from upstairs

“Everyone get out of here right now!”

“Hmm?”

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People that had been whispering a and stood

blinking in their places

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

But that only lasted for aDark Nephili

down shattering the stairs

“Ah, aahh!!”

“Waaaah!!”

“W, what is that!?”

Civilians that worked and slept on the 1st floor got terrified from Dark Nephilim’s appearance and

ran away But Dark Nephili too fast Not only that, but there were still many

people ere kneeling down frozen in fear

Rena wanted to help the the people running

away It was such a ferocious spirit that it naturally beca and busy

movements

“Here, come this way!”

She had to buy ti arrohile dashi+ng away,

Dark Nephilied at her

Rena quickly ran into a kitchen that was nearby She had to escape the outer castle soon as possible

to defeat Dark Nephilim But she couldn’t use the hallway that was filled with people right now

Crash!+

Dark Nephilih the kitchen door It was a wide kitchen for a human but a

narrow space for Dark Nephilim There was nowhere to escape But Rena kicked up from the

kitchen counter then grabbed the hook that was hanging up in the air

It was a hook for hanging meat

“Rwaaar!!”

“Woa!”

Rena quickly swung her body as Dark Nephili

pendulum like ed to narrowly dodge Dark

Nephili to the laws of the pendulum…… she

ca after reaching the ht of its

jump

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“hello there”

Rena smiled then kicked Dark Nephilim on the nose It was a powerful kick that would have

knocked out any normal person but it only tickled for Dark Nephilim that could easily take dozens

of arrows

“Grrrrrrrrr!!”

But it ry about it because it frantically shook its head left and right then

glared at Rena ferociously It was grinding its teeth as it glared at Rena inging left and

right like a penduluht

“Alright, what should I do now…”

Rena could take down Dark Nephili it here would

destroy whatever that was re by the sounds of people running

away in the hallway, there were still people that haven’t escaped yet

“Grrr!! Gwaaaaar!!”

Dark Nephilim must have used its brain because it tried to step on the kitchen counter that Rena

used and jump up But the counter ht

and got shattered

After an effort it put so on the floor, Dark

Nephilioing to chew her up

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you that I didn’t do anything this tih”

Rena was s bitterly then frowned froht hand

that was grabbing the cold steel hook

Creak, creak

“……Huh?”

And a strange sound was heard Rena internally screamed then looked up as the hook started to

slowly lower along with a creaking sound effect

No way, it was a hook used for hanging large animals like cows…… Could it be that Rena was

heavier than that?

It was an absurd thought in a dangerous situation like this but Rena seriously felt depressed It

actually couldn’t withstand her weight? Dark Nephilim must have realized the situation Rena was in

and was licking its lips waiting for Rena to fall down

Crack!

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“Ah, thank goodness”

Rena realized why the hook was falling down and let out a sigh of relief It wasn’t that the hook was

snapping off, the part that connected the hook’s chain fro was about to break It must

have been daed from the shock that Dark Nephilim caused upstairs

Thus, it wasn’t particularly because she was heavy!

Rena eased her ain After realizing that Rena was trying

to escape, Dark Nephili to jump in

soon as Rena landed on the ground then pulverize her

After busily swinging left and right o her hand when she

reached the left hest point, a place where she could fall down on a kitchen counter near the

Dark Nephilim noticed this and threw its entire body towards the left…… But Rena

lightly twisted her body then grabbed the same hook with her left hand this time

Law of the penduluht time that pendulum remained on

its left and right highest points Of course, that was just the principle behind the trick It was still a

very dangerous thing to try Even more so with a blood thirsty beast below

It was a trick that even an acrobat that walked on ropes and ju hoops

wouldn’t dare to mimic But Rena performed it without much difficulty

After easily fooling Dark Nephili down on the pendulum then

iot close to the floor Rather than distancing herself, it was

more important to buy ly

Dark Nephili Rena will ju Rena was

gone but it ended up running into the wall

Craash!+

A huge vibration got spread across the outer castle The wall cracked then shattered

“Oh no…”

Rena who had been watching fro on the floor

and now even running straightly into a wall……Dark Nephilim slowly turned toward Rena

Its eyes now even held loathing

It felt as if even if the world was to break down, it wouldn’t be satisfied unless it chewed Rena into

pieces Rena waved her hand as she smiled

“I’d really like it if you quietly gave up and went home”

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Most of the people should have evacuated by now Otherwise, she just had to exit the outer castle

through aand finish this

Just when Rena raised her bow to prepare for Dark Nephilim’s attack, an unexpected ansas

heard

“One who should give up is you, Elf!”

Shatter!! Chloe riding on a rope cah the kitchenand launched a kick

This was such a surprising ambush even for Rena! Rena quickly twisted her body but she had to take

the kick on her right shoulder

Crack!

“……Ugh!”

Rena sed her screa combat skills

and was experienced in both ranged and close quarter coly

Rather, you could even say she was a glass cannon

She could dodge e once she was hit Rena smiled

while pressing down on her right shoulder that was throbbing in pain

“hello, Chloe Did you follow me here?”

“I didn’t come here to talk of course I’m here for your life”

Chloe sent Dark Nephilirabbed a kitchen knife on the counter and

charged at Rena Rena quickly grabbed the steel plate beside her and blocked with it

Kitchen knife that Chloe stabbed with all her strength stopped after getting stuck in the plate half

way

“Hmph!”

Chloe gave up the kitchen knife then launched a high kick right away Rena blocked with the almost

shattered plate but its durability ot shattered into pieces

While Rena backed out frorabbed a butcher knife then

charged in

It wasn’t even a warm up exercise for a skilled Dark Elf warrior like Chloe to turn a person into a

minced meat with a butcher knife

“Chloe!”

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Rena quickly stepped back to dodge the knife getting swiped horizontally There was no moment to

rest due to Chloe continuing to mix kicks and knife attacks

“That’s enough! This isn’t the ti out Dark Nephilim put other people in

danger too!”

“So what, Elf? We’re invaders! It was stranger for us to be nice to them!”

Seeing Rena run away by distancing herself, Chloe immediately threw the butcher knife at her Rena

hit away the knife rotating intoward her with her bow But the next knife flew

towards her

It wasn’t just the knives Forks, plates, it was as if she was going to throw everything on the kitchen

counter at her

“……”

Rena gried some objects and hit others aith her bow Until now she hadn’t

used lethal attacks on Chloe because she was thinking about the future, and also because of their

friendshi+p But the story was different now that other citizens were caught up in the danger as well

Rena glared angrily at Chloe after hitting away the final knives thrown by Chloe Rena’s arroas

faster than Chloe who ran out of things to throw co close up to attack her

When Rena with her back against the wall fixed her arrow, Chloe made a satisfactory smile

“How foolish, Elf”

Gwoooooo A chill went down Rena’s spine as she was about to fire an arrow She hadn’t put too

ht into it because Dark Nephili back after Chloe had

appeared… But why did Chloe give such an order?

Rena would have certainly been in danger if Chloe and Dark Nephiliether But

that meant…

Rena’s eyes widened froathered in Dark Nephilim’s mouth

Gwooo!!

Velder Liberation ar to the outer castle saw a beam of

light flying diagonally towards the sky then stopped their steps

“Just what is that……?”

“Sir Penensio, let’s evacuate the citizens first!!”

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Vanessa shouted urgently after seeing the citizens running out of the outer castle screa

Penensio was about to give his order but looked up towards the sky fro a sudden presence

then drew his sword

Crash!+

With a sound of an explosion, Glitter soldiers fell down froroaned when

not just one or two, but almost 300 Glitter soldiers stood in their way

“Could it be that it was a trap?”

“It doesn’t matter There’s nowhere to run now that we’ve come in”

There was nowhere to run once you entered because of the special barrier over Velder Thus, soon

as they had put their plan into motion, it was either win or be annihilated for the Velder Liberation

Army

Velder Liberation Arly Penensio smiled bitterly from this

situation with no retreat then looked back at his troops Velder Knights battle hardened from their

fight in Ha at their new enemies with stiff expressions

“Victory or death……”

Vanessa also sighed then fixed her glasses

“There’s no other way, let’s fight while trying to e taken to our troops We’ll win

long as the El Search Party achieves their goal inside the inner castle……”

“Then let’s try to survive”

Penensio held up his sword and Vanessa also drew her weapon Then all the troops drew their

weapons as well Glitter soldiers started running at the as their

vanguard

Fight for survival started

Her arm hurt

Rena was standing in the outer castle’s garden panting and trying to catch her breath A giant hole

had been created on the outer castle’s wall in front of her Chloe made a cruel smile as she exited

through the hole

“You barely got out alive”

“……It was quite a good attack, Chloe”

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Rena hasn’t allowed too ht arm was now covered in blood

Actually, she should have died from that perfect ambush…

Chloe was astonished by Rena’s reflexes but still snorted

“You won’t be able to use your bow anyht arm hurt like that”

“Do you really think so?”

As Rena and Chloe exchanged words, Dark Nephilih the broken wall

Chloe proudly stroked Dark Nephilim’s chin then suddenly turned her head towards another

direction

“I hear fighting It seems Glitter soldiers were deployed”

“……Yes, do you want to change your mind now? I don’t want to take down Dark Nephilim too

much”

Chloe laughed at Rena’s cal Rena was, there was no way she could

handle her bow properly with her right ared like that Maybe she could fire 1 or 2 more

shots if she forced herself? Dark Nephilim would never be defeated with just those

“You are the one who should surrender If you do, I’ll ask D to at least spare your life”

“…Just who is this D that got you so terrified?”

“……”

Chloe face turned dark for a ht away There was no point in

talking anymore

“If you won’t surrender……then there’s only death”

Just when Chloe was getting Dark Nephilim to prepare another Dark Gravity Cannon, Rena

suddenly dashed in Rena who specialized in ranged combat closed the distance?

Chloe doubted her eyes as Rena dashed in Dark Nephilim quickly attacked with its teeth but Rena

dodged easily by sliding and slipping under Dark Nephilim’s belly

“You’re ai for the stomach? It’s no use!”

Chloe quickly e The arrow Rena fired barley missed Dark Nephilim and

fleards the sky After looking up at the arrow that had been ai for Dark Nephilim’s

stomach fly up towards the air, Chloe aze back towards

the ground

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Rena was panting while barely standing up Her ar the

bowstring with it

It was a tragic scene as if the beautiful flower’s ste

brutally torn apart

And the beast that will snap the flower off was bearing its teeth Perfectly unharmed Dark Nephilim

was growling as it glared at Rena It wanted to unleash its pent up rage

Chloe noticed Dark Nephilie and spoke

“It’s all over now right?”

“Yes, it’s over”

Rena’s cal

That Elf was strange But she couldn’t possibly act this confident after her last ditch effort had failed

It was as if……

“Chloe would have e if I just fired it directly”

Rena murmured as she held up her still unhar Rena’s

finger rise up towards the clear afternoon sky So

But Rena’s shout came faster than Chloe’s order to Dark Nephilim

“Gungnir!!”

At Rena’s shout, rain started falling from the clear sky It wasn’t a normal downpour Dozens,

hundreds of spears fell from the sky!

Dark Nephili like the divine

punishment……but area of the attack was too wide

“Gwaaaaaagh!!”

Dark Nephilim screamed and twisted its body as it instantly beca

pierced by the spears

If it was one or two spears, it could withstand theeneration or whatever

didn’t ot pierced by hundreds of spears in such a short time

Gungnir, Rena’s skill that wiped out an entire area with hundreds of ical spears This ultimate

skill held a terrifying power but Rena barely used it because other people ht up in it

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Seeing that Dark Nephilinir, Rena fixed her

arroithout hesitation

“I’ht”

Arroith a short farewell then got stuck in Dark Nephilim’s face Dark Nephilim let out a

long scream as it fell to the side

Thud!!

Rena turned around after firing the arrow Sound of a huge beast falling doas heard behind her

Rena calmly stared at Chloe as she spoke

“Alright, Chloe Surrender now”

“……You’re insane”

That was all Chloe could say after being so astonished fronir She had known

that Rena was strong, and also knew that she was going easy on her, but she didn’t knoas up

to this extent

Even Chloe as a deeneral didn’t have any talent to withstand such an attack Rather,

you had to say Chloe was chosen as a deeneral because of her ability to summon Dark

Nephilim

But to take down that Dark Nephilile skill?

What Chloe felt fro in front of her wasn’t horror,

fear or anger It was just absent- due to the

overwhel skill difference between Rena and her

“Why are you asking me when you are this powerful? Can’t you just cut off my limbs then force me

listen to you?”

“Things you say……”

Rena made a pretty frown but Chloe was serious Rena’s arm looked like it couldn’t draw the

bowstring anymore… But Chloe still wouldn’t be able to beat Rena

“What do you mean? Shouldn’t you do that?”

“Who would do such a thing to a friend?”

“……”

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Chloe blinked couple times fro some

blood? No, she did use that word couple ti her that after all of

this?

“F, friend? Who? Who is?”

“Aren’t Chloe and I friends?”

“Don’t h! Who would become friends with an Elf?!”

“But we bathed and even drank together”

Rena asked with a confused expression Chloe raised her voice

“You and I are enemies! We’re just enemies!!”

“Then we can become friends from now on”

Chloe beat her chest froht hand then frowned

“O… It was too much to fire arroith this hand after all”

“…What?”

“The cut Chloe gave me last time still haven’t healed completely”

Rena approached and held out her right hand to show Chloe Chloe saw Rena’s right hand then

frowned

“But we treated that with a potion!”

“It’s only been a day”

“……”

Wait, so she defeated the Dark Elf warriors, Chloe and Dark Nephilim with an injured hand? Chloe

was desperately hanging on to her sanity by grabbing her head when Rena spoke with a gentle voice

“It seeo and help the Velder Liberation

Army”

“…Are you crazy?”

“I got hurt like this while fighting Chloe So can you help me out?”

Rena put her left hand on Chloe’s shoulder then begged seriously

“Please, Chloe”

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“……”

She was going to go crazy Is this how it felt for a rabbit to get asked a favor from a lion? Chloe bit

her lower lips then sighed

“You’re crazy You’re seriously crazy You’re insane What kind of Elf asks a favor from a Dark Elf?”

“There are lot of elves that asks a favor from a friend”

Chloe’s face turned red when Rena spoke with a serene smile

What should she say……? She was embarrassed

There were reasons, but Chloe broke her proht

back while being careful so that no one was killed and was even careful so Chloe wasn’t harmed

Even her fight against Dark Nephilim in the end, she could have taken Dark Nephilim out any time

she wanted but held back due to the surrounding circumstances

Chloe had been just playing on top of her opponent’s hand After all of this, she should surrender,

wave the white flag But even though Chloe ad Chloe her

friend and was asking her for a favor

“…You’re seriously crazy”

“I may be”

If Rena had ordered her, if she had tried to force her, Chloe would have rather died than to submit

Even now, she had a strong feeling of just wishi+ng Rena would kill her cleanly Dying to a powerful

foe was an ending warriors could accept

“And you’reme crazy too……”

If people that were stronger showed their generosity, it was duty of those eaker to

accept it This rule Chloe had always kept as a warrior moved her heart

“What should I do?”

“You’ll listen to me?”

Chloe frohen Rena smiled joyfully

“I would have lost this life to you anyways You let me live so I’ll follohat you say”

“Then please help the Velder Liberation Ar I

should have done but……”

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But Rena didn’t have any strength left to draw her bowstring Looking at Rena’s injury, Chloe was

about to nod then her face stiffened Rena also turned around to look towards the direction Chloe

was looking then her eyes widened in horror

Dark Nephili up

Hundreds of ot pushed out as its regenerative ability

activated Dark Nephilim was indeed a powerful sprit… But the intuition that Rena had built up

over the course of countless battles had told her that she certainly took it down

Rena suspected if it was Dark Nephili by Chloe’s abhorred expression,

that wasn’t it either

“Could it be, D…?”

“Chloe, go ahead quickly”

Rena pushed Chloe as pale and frozen Chloe got pushed away couple steps then stared at

Rena in confusion But Rena was only looking towards Dark Nephiliain

It was a very serious expression that Rena hadn’t shown before

“Believe that in and help the Velder Liberation Army But if we lose, say that you had no

choice because I threatened you then go back to the demons”

“…What?”

“Go quickly I’ll take care of here”

Rena’s dry words, Chloe’s face stiffened fro

prepared for death

Chloe ordered Dark Nephili back up inside her head but it was no use Dark

Nephilim that should have absolutely followed its sulance at

Chloe now

Let’s trust Rena for now As Chloe backed away, Rena took a deep breath

“Phew……”

Beast she had certainly taken down got back up coain You could tell with a

single glance that it wasn’t because of Chloe or Dark Nephilim’s powers

That D who Chloe was so afraid of must have had a hand in this

This wasn’t an easy battle under normal circumstances and she was even injured now She couldn’t

draw her bowstring

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But she couldn’t run away If Rena ran away from here, Dark Nephilim will pulverize the Velder

Liberation Arainst the other Search Party members

“Everyone, do your best”

Rena cal their hardest somewhere else then kicked

the ground

She couldn’t use her arht in front of her

Even if her life was in danger, she had no choice but to fight

Add’s steps stopped when he caiant steel

door was blocking their way

“There’s no lock Shall we destroy it?”

“Wait, let me analyze it”

He was still holding on to Eve’s hand so he only had one free hand Add tried knocking on the door,

scanning with the Dynaure out a single

thing

“……How does this even make sense?”

A chill went down Add’s spine fros that Add’s Dynamo couldn’t

destroy but it was i that Dynamo couldn’t analyze could exist Dynamo was

even able to analyze how a space-ti in this inner castle

But this door was impossible to analyze Thus, it meant that this door was a space made from

so that couldn’t be read by Dynamo’s scans,

so that surpassed space distortion

While Add was at a loss for words, Eve pointed with her finger

“Here’s a strange slate It looks like a door knob”

Some kind of slate was attached to the part where there should have been a door knob This part

couldn’t be analyzed either Add confirmed it with his eyes then murmured

“There are 9 slots”

There were 9 ge froems

were lined up in the order of red, purple, green, grey, pink, blue, orange, red and purple Add was

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pondering if there was a special ems when Eve spoke composedly

from beside him

“They are El”

“……I know”

The realization had coate’s existence He