Chapter 513: Resistance Through Experience

Ankh left his usual tavern in the tavern district and entered a back alley, where he stopped in a small square to sober up.

Something like a primal instinct—perhaps simply a gut feeling—was telling him that he had better clear his head.

And just as he was sobering up, a chill ran down his back.

“…! I have a bad feeling after all…”

Ankh drew water directly from a well beside the square and drank from the bucket, staying alert to his surroundings.

“…Come to think of it, I feel like I’m being watched… I sense it from quite a distance, but is it a surveillance skill? I’m not the leader, so why am I being observed?”

His caution intensified.

In the next moment—

Ankh felt the biggest chill run down his spine and at the same time felt a murderous intent behind him.

He instinctively twisted at the waist to look behind him.

With the momentum of the twist, the magic greatsword on his back rang out with a metallic clang as it blocked something.

“Tch!”

Behind him stood a hooded figure holding a dagger, even though there had been no sign of anyone there a moment earlier.

Ankh immediately leapt backward to put some space between himself and the attacker.

It seemed that twisting around had caused the magic greatsword on Ankh’s back to narrowly block the stab aimed at him.

“…Who are you? I don’t recall earning enough enmity to be stabbed from behind by anyone, and I thought I left that kind of thing on the battlefield.”

Ankh wondered if it was because of some grudge he had incurred during his time as a mercenary, so he asked, probing cautiously, without expecting an answer.

“I thought you’d be the easiest one, but perhaps that’s what comes with age…”

The voice sounded like a man’s.

“Who are you calling an old man!” 

Ankh didn’t draw his magic greatsword yet. Instead, he drew the short dagger at his waist and took a fighting stance.

He felt that a quick and nimble dagger was what he needed right now.

“…Seems like experience really can’t be underestimated, can it?”

The man muttered that, then suddenly closed the distance and aimed for Ankh’s stomach, which wasn’t protected by armor.

“Fast!”

Ankh again reacted almost entirely on instinct and narrowly parried the attack with his quicker short dagger.

One after another, the attacker aimed thrusts and slashes at Ankh’s vital points.

Ankh defended with precise timing, using both his armor and short dagger to stop each strike at the last possible moment.

“…Looks like I won’t be able to kill you with this inferior short dagger. It isn’t really my specialty anyway.”

The hooded man said that, put the dagger into [Magic Storage], and drew a sword instead.

Ankh’s entire body bristled the moment he saw the man’s stance.

At that moment, Ankh realized that if the fight continued like this, he might die.

His instincts warned him that even if he gave everything he had, survival was far from certain.

Ankh sheathed his short dagger and finally drew his magic greatsword.

The greatsword was less maneuverable than the dagger, but now that his opponent had also switched to a sword, the matchup wasn’t as unfavorable.

Until then, the only people Ankh had felt he couldn’t defeat were dragonfolk. Yet the man before him was human.

“…You. You’re the [Hero] from Marquis Halagoura’s household, aren’t you?”

Ankh asked almost entirely on instinct, without really expecting an answer.

The man visibly flinched.

“…I’ll make sure to kill you as well.”

Alexa, the enemy possessing [Hero], silently readied his sword.

“First move wins!”

Ankh swept his magic greatsword sideways.

The swing launched a wind-infused flying slash.

It was one of Ankh’s surprise attacks, something most opponents couldn’t react to the first time they saw it.

However, the hero was different.

As though protected by some kind of barrier, Alexa deflected the flying slash and shattered it.

“!”

“Now this is getting dangerous… Of all the members of Black-Gold Wings, it seems you’re the one I need to kill most.”

The hero readied his sword and attacked Ankh.

Despite its size, Ankh’s magic greatsword was surprisingly light.

That was thanks to Tauro’s modifications, which had reduced its weight.

Ankh raised the magic greatsword to block Alexa’s strike.

“What a powerful slash…!”

A cold sweat suddenly broke out on Ankh’s back.

Alexa continued attacking as though he intended to cut through both Ankh and the magic greatsword.

Ankh was on the defensive.

“Unbelievable… I’ve never seen a weapon that can withstand my sword’s slash this well.”

The hero seemed genuinely surprised.

Then he continued.

“Then I’ll use my trump card.”

Alexa said that and attacked again with the same sharpness as before.

Ankh responded with his magic greatsword to block.

In the next instant, blood splattered from Ankh’s thigh, which shouldn’t have been cut.

“!?”

Ankh was shocked, not knowing what attack had hit him, but though the wound was deep, it wasn’t fatal.

He ignored the pain and defended again against another slash.

Then, blood sprayed from around his abdomen as if it had been sliced.

Each time he blocked a slash, an unarmored part of his body was deeply wounded as if it had been cut.

“…This bastard. He’s mixing wind magic into his sword strikes!?”

To Alexa’s surprise, Ankh had seen through the trick.

“…Well spotted. So you’re the main fighting strength of Black-Gold Wings. If I kill you, the other two should be easy.”

Ankh reacted with a start to the hero’s words.

“…What did you say?”

“The only ones left besides you’re the child leader and the nobleman’s daughter.”

“You bastard… I’ll kill you even if it means my death…!”

The usually easygoing Ankh was gone. In his place stood a demon burning with rage, his body stained red with his own blood.

“You’re the one who’s going to die,”

Alexa suddenly lunged instead of slashing, catching Ankh off guard and driving his sword into Ankh’s unprotected abdomen.

“Guh!”

The blade injured his internal organs, and Ankh spat blood.

“This is the end.”

“No… that’s what I should be saying…! I won’t let you get away…!”

Ankh released his magic greatsword with his right hand and seized Alexa tightly. In his left hand was the short dagger he had drawn without Alexa noticing.

He drove the dagger into Alexa’s side.

“Guh! You bastard, let go!”

The hero pushed Ankh away and moved away.

The sword that had been stabbed into his stomach was also pulled out in the process.

“To think that you would injure me… I’ll finish you off.”

Ignoring his own wound, the hero approached the dying Ankh.

At that moment—

The sound of hooves rapidly approaching.

As the horse and rider came into view, the child riding it fired an arrow.

Alexa used [Teleportation] to move away from Ankh and narrowly evade the arrow aimed at him.

Tauro rode between them and immediately began pouring potion over Ankh to heal him.

“Sorry to keep you waiting! I’ll take it from here!”

Without taking his eyes off the hero, Tauro poured potion after potion on Ankh.

In his left hand, he gripped Modified Shortsword Tauro.

“You came to me yourself? That saves me the trouble. —That man is already beyond saving,”

Alexa answered without understanding how effective Tauro’s potions were, then turned to face the leader of Black-Gold Wings—his final target.

“Once I defeat him, I’ll treat you properly, Ankh. Don’t worry.”

Tauro kept pouring potion over Ankh even as he spoke, never taking his eyes off Alexa.

—