Yuna knew Johan well…. or so she thought.
The moment the barbarian appeared, Johan naturally seemed to take a step back.
Retreating in the face of danger.
Such behavior was a given, like an instinct ingrained in someone with the sensibilities of an ordinary citizen to his very core.
She had no intention of criticizing him for it.
If anything, it was people like Ariel and Lobelia who stepped forward in the face of danger that were the abnormal ones.
People called them heroes, but they were a far cry from the kind of person Johan was.
That was why, when Ariel faced off against the barbarian, Yuna wasn’t surprised to see Johan watching from a distance. She simply accepted it as expected.
“Oh!”
But the moment Johan who had been standing still moved, Yuna couldn’t help but be startled and impressed.
He’s not the kind of person who would do that.
For a brief moment, Yuna couldn’t understand Johan’s actions. But soon enough, she realized the reason behind them.
“Oh, it’s called Transcendence Syndrome, wasn’t it?”
The disease Ariel was suffering from
Yuna who had no knowledge of medicine hadn’t been able to recognize the symptoms when they appeared in Ariel.
Johan, on the other hand, had been trying to treat Ariel’s condition, so he had noticed the abnormal signs early on.
Still, Yuna recalled Johan’s actions just moments ago and smiled.
“That was cool.”
Clap!
She applauded.
There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in Johan’s movements.
The one who had always built walls around himself, frightened to the point of overreacting to everything, had stepped forward without hesitation into a situation where he could very well die.
It was an uncharacteristic act.
Whether something had changed in Johan’s heart, who had always run away, or he simply held a firm conviction of his own, Yuna didn’t know. But she decided to support him.
“Fighting!”
Yuna believed in him.
In the boy’s courage, in that moment he tried to become a hero, in the resolve etched onto his face.
“You can do it!”
***
“You bit*h.”
“…Are you talking to me?”
Ariel who was just out of the peak of battle looked up at me with somewhat dazed eyes and muttered.
She probably couldn’t see clearly at that point.
Her symptoms were getting worse.
Something about her condition made me uncomfortable, so instead of doing what I normally would and ignoring it, I opened my mouth to make an excuse.
“That wasn’t directed at Lady Ariel.”
The one I called a bit*h was Yuna. Not that she’d necessarily hear me.
She once said she’d save my life one day, but when that moment actually came, she decided to test me instead?
Like hell I’d ever take that lunatic’s words seriously again.
“Kuhahahahaha!”
But there was no time to curse Yuna right now. I needed all my thoughts focused on how to deal with the barbarian chasing us from behind.
The barbarian was smashing through walls and buildings with a massive club.
While I had to change directions and leap over obstacles with Ariel in my arms, he just destroyed everything in a straight line and charged forward.
I was slower than him while carrying Ariel.
Escape was impossible. He would catch up soon.
“Keep your eyes closed.”
“…Huh?”
“You might get dizzy and throw up, so just keep them shut.”
Whoosh!
I grabbed onto a streetlamp and tried changing direction once again.
It was an inefficient escape route against someone charging straight ahead, smashing through everything in his path.
But walls didn’t exist solely to block the enemy.
“With feet that slow, how do you expect to run away properly?”
Taking advantage of the delay caused by the sudden change in direction, the barbarian warrior caught up to me.
He immediately swung his large club with brute force.
Boom!
The power behind the swing was enough to crush my skull in a single blow. It sent shockwaves through the surrounding area.
“Hmm?!”
But it hadn’t killed me.
Despite putting all his strength into it, the club didn’t even graze my head. It only shattered the ground.
Illusion magic: [Mirage]
At the exact moment I changed direction, I had conjured a mirage. As I’ve said before, illusion magic was my specialty.
And creating a mirage to throw off someone’s sense of position was so simple compared to [Polymorph] or [Camouflage] that it didn’t even require preparation time.
Thud!
And in that brief moment of confusion, I drove a dagger into him.
“Hah! Not bad…”
Was it a mistake to stand and fight instead of running?
With one arm, I adjusted my grip on Ariel in my arms, and with all my strength, I plunged the dagger in—
But the dagger I drove in couldn’t pierce through the barbarian’s tough skin and thick muscles; it didn’t even lodge in properly.
At best, it was little more than a scratch.
The barbarian laughed, seemingly pleased by my surprise counterattack. But in his eyes, I could see the killing intent, like he wanted to crush my skull at any second.
“That was shallow, Sir Johan.”
A weak whisper brushed past my ear.
Even though Ariel had her back turned, she noticed it instantly.
For a moment, I wondered if her senses were returning. But I shook my head as I felt the weightless limpness of her body.
Her senses weren’t returning. They had extended beyond the physical and started reaching outward.
She was nearing transcendence.
“You don’t have to remind me. I thought I was stabbing a rock.”
I replied deliberately, with irritation in my voice.
If she’s already like this, she won’t hold out for long.
“Hoo…”
Regret settled in as I felt the dull ache in my wrist.
Damn it, I thought Ariel had softened him up enough with her magic. But apparently, it wasn’t nearly enough.
I wanted to end this in a single strike.
“I’m dizzy…”
“Endure it. If it’s too much, just puke.”
Ariel who was resting her chin on my shoulder let out a shallow breath.
No wonder she’s dizzy. I forcibly dragged her into my illusion spell.
In her current state where she was hypersensitive to mana, she must be feeling every bit of my magic as if it were her own.
“Kh?!”
Whoosh!
A hand the size of my head swept through the spot I had just been standing in.
The enemy was exhausted too, so I managed to dodge. But my knees went weak.
Damn it, there’s no time to think about anything else. Ariel or not, I’ll be the one to die first at this rate.
Thud.
I slapped my thigh to calm the tremble in my legs, then widened the distance between me and the barbarian again.
This wasn’t over yet.
“…You’ve lost your only weapon, haven’t you?”
“It was never much use anyway. And your chatter’s distracting. So please, keep your mouth shut, Lady Ariel.”
“Sir Johan. I’ll finish him off myself. I’m fine, really.”
Damn Ariel.
I wish she’d at least keep her mouth shut.
She doesn’t even realize the state her body’s in. What part of that is “fine”?
“We’ve come this far. I won’t back down just to be polite.”
If I had intended to make her do it from the beginning, would I be running around alleyways racking my brain like this?
Sure, losing the dagger was unfortunate, but it wasn’t all that valuable to begin with.
What I actually regretted was not taking better care of it in the first place.
Haah. I really should’ve maintained it, instead of leaving it alone out of laziness.
“You don’t even have a weapon now. How are you going to fight?”
“I have a different kind of weapon.”
My weapons were a brilliant mind, a kind heart, and a handsome face.
“And whether it’s a dagger or a rock…once it’s in my hands, it’s all the same.”
“Ooh…”
Of course, I meant that in the worst way possible.
Not that Ariel, in her current state, would be able to grasp the difference.
***
Yuna let out a sigh the moment Johan’s decisive blow missed.
“He rushed it.”
It was shallow.
The weapon itself wasn’t great, but more importantly, there had been a hint of hesitation.
Not the kind of hesitation that comes from being afraid to kill, though…
More likely, even in the instant he was thrusting the dagger in, part of his mind was still focused on escaping rather than fighting.
Naive. Compared to the other students at the Cradle, Johan’s lack of combat experience was striking.
“What’s he going to do now?”
He had missed his golden opportunity.
Now it was time to pay the price.
Johan still looked like he was running calculations in his head, but he didn’t have many options left.
First off, there was no way to land a decisive blow against a barbarian whose very body was a weapon.
Johan’s specialty was deception.
He might have been good at luring his opponents into traps, but he had no means to finish them off once they were caught.
Blunt weapons were out of the question.
It would be hard to take down a barbarian with just rocks or chunks of metal picked up from the surroundings.
What he needed was a piercing weapon. Something with a blade or a dagger.
The problem was, those weren’t easy to come by.
At best, he might be able to find some shards of glass shattered by the barbarians.
“Hmm… is he planning to buy time?”
Right now, the best option Yuna could think of was to stall for time.
Johan had no way of defeating the barbarian at the moment, but he had plenty of ways to deceive him.
Even with the burden that was Ariel, he could probably keep running for a while.
By that point, the Royal Knights would show up and take care of the barbarian.
If he kept moving with that goal in mind, then even if it turned into a harrowing chase, he could still come out on top.
The problem was…
“He looks impatient… why?”
Johan was acting as if that option didn’t exist at all.
As she watched his anxious behavior, Yuna was soon able to figure out the reason.
“Oh… that’s right.”
Johan must have already factored Ex Machina into his calculations.
By now, the area was probably swarming with engineers, all scrambling to analyze the machine.
And with such chaos inevitably came danger.
The mechanical device created by Ex Machina was a treasure, and those skilled enough to analyze it were just as valuable.
There would be plenty of people aiming for both.
Naturally, a large number of knights would have been dispatched to that location.
“Hmm, then what method is he planning to use?”
Thinking that things were starting to get interesting, Yuna continued to watch Johan’s escape play out.
She kept lightly leaping from one rooftop to the next and followed closely behind him.
And then, in that moment—
“Kh?!”
A sudden, violent shift broke through Yuna’s graceful movement.
“What… is this?”
Yuna flinched and brushed her cheek in shock.
Just moments ago…. without her even noticing, someone’s touch had grazed her face.
The sensation of soft fingers.
A chill that went beyond cold.
Since rising to fame as Safe Clown, this was the first time Yuna had been caught from behind.
“Hmm?”
She quickly put distance between herself and the spot she’d just been in and started scanning the area.
As expected, the presence that had approached her was nowhere to be seen.
So then, how would an opponent act in this situation?
Yuna’s mind moved fast, immediately formulating a countermeasure.
But…
“Gah!”
Her opponent was faster than she was.
Only then did Yuna realize who had gotten the drop on her.
Beneath a pure white hood, dazzling silver hair peeked through.
Fresh green eyes shone beneath gently curved lashes.
A gaze full of curiosity, entirely devoid of malice. The moment their eyes met, Yuna understood.
They’re not like me.
She had naturally assumed her opponent was also an assassin.
After all, the opponent had left no trace behind when sneaking up on her.
But no—that wasn’t it.
The way they got behind her didn’t involve advanced stealth techniques at all.
“Are you… a student?”
The person tilted their head with innocent curiosity.
A monster whose overwhelming skill casually bypassed even Yuna’s stealth.
“I think I’ll just hold you here for now.”
Saintess Tillis reached out toward the frozen Yuna.
***
It happened far too suddenly.
Booooom!
With a thunderous boom, a sweep of pure white fabric descended between me and the barbarian.
There had been no warning, no sign. It simply appeared and spoke calmly.
“Hello.”
Shortly after its arrival, someone brightened, another clicked their tongue, and I… I probably turned pale.
It was foreign.
An otherworldly beauty.
Having descended into a rough, grimy alley, such an act alone seemed capable of transforming the surroundings into a lush green haven.
A companion of nature. An elf.
And not just any elf, but a high elf who was said to be treated as royalty.
“Sir Johan, that person is definitely… Does this mean we’re saved…?”
“…Well, for now.”
I gave a vague reply to Ariel, who was chattering in a subdued voice.
But all my attention was on the one who had just appeared.
Saintess Tillis.
The person I least wanted to face head-on.
The storm had arrived.
As always, I planned to hold my breath and wait for it to pass.
“Tch…”
Then came the sound of someone clicking their tongue.
It came from the barbarian who, just moments ago, had been roaring as he chased us down.
Barbarians have keen senses.
As beastkin and warriors by nature, they could surely perceive more than what was visible.
The barbarian immediately raised the club in his hand and pointed it at Ariel, who was still in my arms.
“You there, girl. You rely heavily on instinct, but… I see some potential.”
“……”
Ariel narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. She seemed puzzled by the incomprehensible remark.
The barbarian subtly adjusted the end of his club to point at me.
“You’re weak, but not bad in your own way. You didn’t rely on grappling. You kept it as just one of many options. The way you held back, waiting for the right moment to strike… that was pure predator.”
His assessment of me wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.
I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased. After all, he had just compared me to a beast.
Then the barbarian grinned and casually swung his club to point at Tillis.
“…You, on the other hand, are an automatic failure. Monster. Creatures like you shouldn’t exist. The only thing I regret is that I don’t have the power to erase you.”
That was the end of his words.
Boom!
With that final statement, the barbarian exploded on the spot.
Like a balloon popping, his once-solid body burst apart.
Blood and flesh splattered across the buildings.
It was a really… surreal sight.
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