Noxt stood atop the wooden fortress with his arms crossed, gazing at the approaching Coldsape horde led by the Highblade. As he was squinting his eyes to try and see better, Tirka tapped his arm.
“Take this.”
Noxt turned to the side and received some kind of strange device.
“What’s this?”
“That’s something the ‘Human’ named ‘Nova’ created. He calls it a ‘binocular.’ Just put your eyes in the hole and you can see far away.”
Noxt nodded and did as Tirka said. Indeed, he could see farther away much better now. Everything, from the dirty trail of brown that followed the Coldsape horde, to the find detail of their white fur.
“Humans are truly incredible,” he couldn’t help but let out a mutter.
“Indeed.” Tirka nodded. “Apparently, this kind of device is common in their tribe. I can’t help but think how advanced they are…”
“Oh…” Noxt scratched his bone helmet. “...I’m not talking about that.” Then, he pointed to the brown trail. “I’m talking about the brown trail of shit. Truly, it’s an ingenious idea to put milk in every nearby water source.”
The Goblin scouts had reported that the Coldsapes had been shitting liquid feces and getting dehydrated. The thirstier they got, the more water they drank, leading to them getting even thirstier. This cycle continued until almost half of the horde died due to dehydration.
“If I could have my way, I’d make him my war councilor,” Noxt said.
After a few minutes, the Coldsapes reached the base of the mountain slope.
“It’s time.”
Almost on cue, deafening explosions roared from the mountain slope. Following this, low rumblings occurred. Then, layers upon layers of thick snow fell onto the Coldsapes.
“Kuhahaha, those bastards must be dead.”
They weren’t dead; at least, not all.
From the snow, several dozen Coldsapes emerged. It seemed that over half of their remaining number managed to survive. Though, Noxt could see that some of them were gravely injured.
Pointing his finger at the horde, Noxt let his authoritative voice boom throughout the wooden fortress.
“FIRE!”
Almost instantly, Noxt could hear volleys of arrows whoosing above them, all of which were aimed at the horde. Of course, most hit the ground, some bounced off the Coldsapes’ thick hides, but a minority of them hit the mindless beasts in their already exposed wounds, making them more injured, or even killing them outright.
Regardless, the Coldsapes still advanced.
And, as Nova had predicted, they fell into the pits of flames. However, as if they’d gotten smarter, the Coldsapes all avoided the traps after seeing around five of their kins falling to their burning death.
With no more traps standing in the horde’s way, Noxt finally pulled out his axe and jumped down. As he landed on the soft snowy ground, he shouted,
“SOLDIERS! FOLLOW ME!”
His booming voice resonated with the Goblin soldiers stationed outside the fortress.
“”FOR OUR TRIBE!””
With high morale, the Goblins charged recklessly at the horde without any plan. Some soldiers were instantly crushed under the Coldsapes overwhelming strength, but it wasn’t enough to make the Goblins back down. What the Goblins lacked in strength; they made up in numbers. On average, ten Goblin soldiers would be barely enough to handle one adult Coldsape; even with that, it would take around 10 minutes and a few deaths on the Goblins’ side before the Coldsape could be taken out.
However, things were better for them due to Tirka’s spells. From on top of the wooden fortress, he shot [Fireballs] that burned Coldsapes to crisps and cast spells that kept the Monsters in place so that the Goblins could make quick work of them.
Noxt didn’t need Tirka’s support. Being a Hobgoblin Berserker, he was naturally blessed with strength beyond that of his kind. With every swing of his axe, a Coldsape fell. Blood, limbs, and innard flew everywhere as he carved his wave through the horde to get to the Highblade.
“Not looking very good, are you?” Noxt snickered as he finally caught glimpse of the Highblade, which was still making a mess on the snowy ground by vomiting and shitting.
Then, he raised his axe up like an executioner and brought it down. However, the Highblade managed to react in time and blocked it.
Noxt pulled his axe back and attempted another strike, but it was parried.
They exchanged many blows; each time their weapons collided, a small shockwave knocked nearby Coldsapes and Goblins to the ground. Anyone unlucky enough to get close to them would be reduced to no more than a puddle of blood.
This lasted until Noxt accidentally tripped on one of his kin’s corpses. Utilizing this opportunity, the Highblade attacked Noxt with a slash that contained every bit of its strength.
‘Dangerous!’
Noxt hurriedly covered his entire body with Aura; and he barely made it before he received the attack in full.
“Eughh!”
Noxt groaned as his body shot back at an immense speed. He could feel himself colliding into Goblins and Coldsapes alike, involuntarily crushing their body in just a split second. He crashed into the wooden fortress, and even the entrance of the Volcanic cave. However, that didn’t even slow him down one bit. His body only stopped fighting when he made contact with the stone walls of the cave, burying himself in a Noxt-shaped hole inside the wall.
Noxt’s vision was blurry, and his body hurt like hell. However, he could still make out some things. First, to his left, was intense heat; it was most likely the Lizard hole.
Second, right in front of him, a big figure with blades protruding out of its arms was approaching.
‘H-Highblade? It chased me to even here?!’
Noxt got himself out of the hole on the wall just in time before the Highblade swung its weapon again. Looking at the large gash on the wall, he gulped hard.
Then, they continued their earlier fight; this time, inside the cave.
Noxt was at a disadvantage since his big axe was unsuited for fighting inside a space as narrow as this cave.
The Highblade, meanwhile, was not as affected.
Thus, slowly but surely, cuts began to accumulate on Noxt’s body. Eventually, his ankle was cut. Just as he was about to receive a fatal blow—
Kwang—!
—A blade intercepted the Highblade’s attack.
“Glad I made it in time.”
It was Nova.
He stood still with his blade arrogantly pointed toward the Highblade. Despite his small stature, an indescribably intense pressure exuded from him.
“Run!” Noxt shouted. He knew that even if both of them were to rush in right now, they could not defeat the Highblade.
“No.” Nova sharply replied. Then, he tensed his muscles up and…ran. However, he didn’t run for the exit. Instead, his destination was the Lizard hole.
Both Noxt and the Highblade watched the edge of the hole for any clue as to why Nova would do that, and they saw someone—that Noxt recognized as Ihwa—hugging Tirka’s staff in her arms while shaking slightly in fear.
Seeing the staff, the Highblade’s eyes shone. It lost all reason and began rushing madly at Ihwa.
*
*
*
I stared at the Highblade approaching us coolly.
‘Come on, just a little bit more…’
As soon as we were just inside the range of the Highblade, I wrapped my arm around kid Ihwa’s waist and jumped down to the pit below.
Instead of rushing wind, “searing heat” was what I felt as I fell. The closer I got to the boiling lava below, the more I just wanted to escape from here.
Even kid Ihwa was hugging me tightly in fear.
Despite that, I still had to wait until the perfect moment.
Luckily for me, that moment came soon after. The Highblade, disregarding the danger, leaped over the edge and fell down to the pit, all for a mere Mana stone.
‘Fucking finally!’
With Ihwa still in my arms, I kicked my left leg to change my direction.
[Star steps]
Immediately after, the Highblade whooshed through where we were just moments before. It tried to grab us, but all it managed to grasp was thin air. Then, it plunged down to the boiling lava with a rageful roar.
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Now that the Highblade was no longer a problem I used more [Star steps] to get back to the ledge.
Immediately, I left kid Ihwa on the ground and looked over the ledge to see if the Highblade was truly dead. When I saw its half-burnt corpse being eaten by the lizard-like creatures in the pit, I knew that the danger had passed.
After spending a few seconds to catch my breaths, I helped kid Ihwa up and made our way back to Noxt.
When we arrived, I saw Noxt tending to his own wounds.
Before I could say anything, kid Ihwa shouted in excitement,
“We killed the Highblade!”
Noxt immediately stopped what he was doing and looked in our direction with surprise.
“Really?!”
“Mhm!”
Shit…this kid…she’d just ruined my plan of killing Noxt when he was still unaware.
‘Okay, maybe I can’t take him by surprise anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t win.’
As I was about to pull out my sword again, I heard a quick chant from behind.
[Chains of Binding]
Two magic circles appeared beneath Ihwa and I before chains made of out Mana shot out from the ground, immobilizing us. We tried to struggle out of our restraints, but it didn’t help one bit.
Soon, from the darkness, Tirka emerged.
“I don’t need my staff to use spells, you know?”
‘Shit! Did he know?!’
“TIRKA! YOU LITTLE SHIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
I turned to the source of the booming voice to see that Noxt was also similarly restrained. It seemed that what Tirka was doing was unrelated to my plan to backstab him.
Unaware of my thoughts, Tirka calmly replied to Noxt,
“What I should’ve done a long time ago. You are truly a bad leader. That, in itself, is not unexpected, but the fact that you’re so arrogant makes me disgust you.”
“WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?!”
Finally, something inside Tirka snapped. It seemed that he couldn’t keep his emotions in check anymore.
“LOOK AT YOUR SOLDIERS! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU MAKE THEM CHARGE RECKLESSLY LIKE THAT? NOXT, FORTY-ONE! FORTY-ONE OF OUR KINS DIED IN THIS BATTLE! THAT’S NINETY PERCENT OF OUR MILITITA! YOU LED THEM TO THEIR DEATHS! EVEN IN PREVIOUS BATTLES, MANY DIED! MY WIFE DIED! AND YET, EVERYONE PRAISES YOU!”
Calming himself down, Tirka continued with a cold voice,
“As long as you’re alive, the tribe can’t thrive. I’m sorry, but please die.”
In response, Noxt gritted his teeth and shouted back,
“GO FUCK YOURSELF! FREE ME RIGHT NOW!”
At this point, figurative veins began popping out of Tirka’s forehead.
“You know what? Someone like you deserves a painful and slow death.” Then, he pointed his finger at kid Ihwa. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with this Human here, haven’t you?”
Noxt widened his eyes as if he knew what Tirka was getting at.
“TIRKA! DON’T YOU DARE! SHE’S INNOCENT!”
But Tirka didn’t listen to him and instead, began chanting a spell.
It was at this point that I realized what he was trying to do.
‘Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit! Is he insane?!’
I agglomerated Aura in Kirion to try and cut the Mana chains. However, it wasn’t enough.
‘NONONONONO! LET ME OUT!’
Tirka’s spell was nearing completion.
I was desperate. I squeezed every last drop of Aura out of the surrounding atmosphere and even myself; and, by some miracle, I broke the restraints just when Tirka finished his spell.
[Fireball]
A hot ball of pure, untamed flames flew toward Ihwa.
Gritting my teeth, I used whatever Aura that was left in Kirion to protect my body and stood in front of Ihwa with my arms spread out, and my back turned to Tirka.
“AHHHHHHHH!”
IT HURTS!
Despite having covered myself with Aura, I could tell that patches of skin on my back were burnt, and that some of my internal organs were close to being fried. And Kirion…it was burnt to a crisp since I’d squeezed every ounce of Aura out from it.
Before I could recover from my pain, Tirka began chanting the same spell again.
As the spell was nearing completion, I couldn’t help but have blasphemous thoughts.
‘Am I…going to die here?’
No! A Swordsmaster dying to a mere Goblin?!
‘It hurts…’
I’ve experienced worse pain than this!
‘Everything hurts. I don’t have a Sword. I’m useless.’
A Swordsmaster without his sword…
‘At least I can protect kid Ihwa one more time before dying.’
Useless trash.
‘But still…it’s a bit sad knowing I can’t revive my Ihwa…’
Weak.
‘...M-Maybe the Hero will conquer the Tower for me and revive her.’
The title of Swordsmaster was wasted on you.
Fwooosh—!
Suddenly, a burst of Aura woke me up from my thoughts. I lifted my heavy eyelids up, only to see a hue of purple bursting from kid Ihwa’s body.
“W-Wha—”
“Shhh…” she shushed me as she broke her chains. “...Noona will protect you.”
Then, she hugged me, and put her back against Tirka, who had just finished his spell.
[Fireball]
The same ball of Fire hit kid Ihwa’s back. Even from here, I could feel its terrible impact.
Despite that, her Aura was still strong.
[Fireball]
The purple hue was getting paler.
[Fireball]
Blood began dripping from the corner of her mouth. It was at this point that I realized she couldn’t take it for long.
“Let go of me!”
“No, noona will protect you— EUGHHH!” Kid Ihwa let out a groan of pain as another [Fireball] hit her.
“LET ME GO!”
[Fireball]
“No, I will protec— AAHHHHHH!”
“YOU CRAZY BITCH! LET ME GO!”
[Fireball]
“Noone p— AHHHH!”
“PROTECT MY ASS! YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!”
[Fireball]
“A-As long as you’re a— URHGHHHH!”
“P-Please…” I sobbed. “...Please let go…”
All her Aura had been dispersed. Now, she was as vulnerable as fragile as a normal 9-year-old.
“I…will…protect…”
“How touching,” Tirka said in a sarcastic tone as he wiped an imaginary tear. “I’ll make sure that you both reunite in the afterlife.”
[Fireball]
‘If she gets hit one more time, she will d-d-die!’
I couldn’t let that happen! But…at the same time…I couldn’t do anything.
‘Sword! I need a sword! Anything!’
What’s a Swordsmaster without a sword?
Sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword sword swor—
{Summon me.}
T-This voice…Avaron?
{Can’t believe it took you this long to hear me.}
Why are you here?
{Kirion’s here, so why can’t I?}
What ar—no, forget that! Come to me right now! It’s urgent!
{Yeah, yeah, whatever will you do without me…}
Suddenly, I felt the familiar sensation of something cylindrical in my hand—a sword!
Not just any sword. It was Avaron—my other Gift.
I stared at the approached [Fireball] coldly. Still being hugged by kid Ihwa, I waited until the ball of flames got in range and slashed.
The magic spell disappeared simply just like that.
“W-What?!” Tirka widened his eyes in disbelief.
I glared at him with murderous intent and pointed the tip of Avaron at him.
[Fireball]
From the tip of the blade, a deep red ball of fire emerged, shooting toward the Shaman. As the spell hit its target, the Shaman was engulfed in similarly red flames. After several minutes of screaming in agony, the Shaman was reduced to no more than a pile of ash.
Then, I turned toward Noxt, who was staring at what used to be the Shaman with widened eyes. As I was about to point Avaron at him, Ihwa stopped me once more.
“P-Please don’t…”
Alternating my gaze between Noxt and her, I sighed.
“Fine.”
“Don’t be sulky. Noona will make it up for you.”
As soon as she finished her sentence, I felt intense discomfort in my body. Starting from a tingling feeling in my heart, my body eventually erupted in agonizing pain.
‘T-This is…! Aura-deleption!’
I should’ve expected it. After all, I summoned Avaron despite me not having a single strand of Aura inside my body at that time.
Before I could let out so much as a short squeal, my vision darkened, and the world turned black.
*
*
*
Ihwa looked at Nova with extreme concern. One moment, he was fine, the next, he started convulsing and fainted soon after.
As she was still figuring out what to do, Noxt shouted,
“The potion! Feed him the potion! He’s going to die!”
Ihwa hurriedly scrambled to find the potion in her clothes as she heard this. Eventually, she found it. Pulling the cork out with her mouth, she poured the content inside Nova’s mouth.
Immediately, the effect could be seen. The burn marks on Nova’s back shrunk, albeit not entirely, and his breathing calmed. However, there were also some changes that weren’t related to healing at all.
“Just what—”
*
*
*
“Urghhh…”
I woke up with a groggy groan.
Immediately after opening my eyes, I could see that my body, specifically by back, was wrapped in a layer of white bandage.
‘I survived…’
To be honest, I didn’t expect myself to be able to survive Aura-depletion. Either this body was more resilient than I thought, or…
‘Kid Ihwa brought a very expensive potion with her.’
Either way, I was extremely grateful to her. She’d saved my life after all.
‘Speaking of her…’
Where was she?
Currently, I was inside some kind of makeshift tent; and with no kid Ihwa in sight, I could only make assumptions.
‘Is she outside right now?
Did Noxt kill her?
Did she escape the Dungeon alone?’
Thankfully, before my imagination could get too wild, the cloth that was the entrance of the tent parted, and kid Ihwa emerged from it.
She was holding a bowl of steamy soup; presumably to feed me.
As she closed the tent again, she looked up, making eye contact with me; her body stiffened upon doing so.
“Uhhh…hello.” I waved.
Surprise flashed through her face. She looked as if she wanted to just throw the bowl of soup on the ground and embrace me. However, she regained her calm and put the soup down gently to the ground…before recklessly dashing toward me to pull me into a tight hug.
‘Ah…I can’t breathe… Seriously, is she related to Mom?’
I patted her back to signal her to not hug me too tight.
“I’m fine, you know?”
She nodded.
“I know.”
"Sorry for calling you a 'bitch.'" I figured that I might as well apologize for that now.
Unlike what I'd expected, however, she merely tilted her head in confusion.
'Oh, right, she probably doesn't know what that means.'
"Nevermind. It's nothing."
She nodded and began staring at my face. After staring for a bit, she blushed.
“C-Can I touch your ears?”
‘Huh, weird request, but…’
“Okay.”
Instantly, her eyes lit up in excitement.
Unlike what I had expected, however, instead of where my ears were, kid Ihwa’s hand reached for the top of my head.
Then, I felt something, and it was definitely not the sensation of her patting my head like always.
Confused, I also touched the part of me that she was touching…
“What the actual fuck?!”
…Only to feel something…fluffy and furry.