Chapter 513: Resistance Due to Experience Gap
Ank left his usual bar on the tavern district and went into a back alley, where he found himself sobering up in the square.
Something like a primal Instinct or gut feeling was prompting him that perhaps it was better for him to sober up.
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 his waist to look back.
With the momentum of the twist, the Great Magic Sword he carried on his back clanged a metallic sound as it blocked something.
“Tch!”
Behind him, a figure wearing a hood pulled down over their eyes stood, holding a dagger, despite there being no sign of anyone just moments before.
Ankh immediately leapt backward to put some space between himself and the attacker.
It seemed that by twisting his waist, the Great Magic Sword he was carrying on his back narrowly prevented him from being stabbed from behind.
“…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 this would be the easiest, but maybe it’s the result of age…”
The voice sounded like a man’s.
“Who are you calling an old man!”
Ankh didn’t draw his great sword yet; instead, he drew a short dagger from his waist and prepared himself.
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, then suddenly closed the distance between him and Ankh, aiming for his stomach, an area that was not protected by armor.
“Fast!”
Ankh again reacted purely on instinct, narrowly parrying the attack with his nimble short dagger.
One after the other, the opponent repeatedly aimed thrusts and slashes at Ankh’s vital points.
Ankh defended with precise timing, using his armor and short dagger to block just in time.
“…Looks like I won’t be able to kill you with this inferior short dagger, it’s not really my forte.”
The man with his hood pulled down over his head said this, and put the dagger back into the magic storage and took out a sword instead.
Ankh’s entire body bristled at the sight of the opponent’s stance
He realized there, if things continued like this, I might die!
His instincts warned him that even if he exerted all his efforts, survival was uncertain.
Ankh sheathed his short dagger and finally readied his great magic sword.
Compared to the dagger, the great sword was less maneuverable, but since the opponent also switched to a sword, their match-up wasn’t bad.
But even so, the only opponents he felt he couldn’t win against were the dragon people race, but this man was human.
“…You. You’re a hero skill wielder from Marquis Haragura’s place, aren’t you?”
Ankh judged instinctively and asked without much hope.
The enemy man reacts with a start.
“…I’ll make sure to kill you as well.”
Alexa, an enemy with the Hero skill, quietly readied his sword.
“First move wins!”
Ankh swung his great magic sword in a sideway cut.
Unleashing a flying slash with wind magic attributes.
This technique of Ankh’s was a surprise attack that most opponents couldn’t react to at first glance.
However, the hero was different.
As if protected by some kind of barrier, Ankh’s flying slash was deflected and shattered.
“!”
“Now, this is getting dangerous… It seems of all the members of the Black-Golden Wings, you are the one who needs to be killed the most.”
The hero readied his sword and attacked Ankh.
Despite its appearance, Ankh’s great demon sword was surprisingly very light.
This was thanks to Tauro’s modifications that made it lighter.
Ankh used his great magic sword to block the hero’s strike.
“What a powerful slash…!”
A cold sweat suddenly broke out on Ankh’s back.
The hero continued to attack like he was trying to cut through both Ankh and the great magic sword itself.
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.
“Let’s go for my trump card.”
The hero said that and struck again, just as sharply as before.
Ankh responded with his great sword to block.
In the next instant, blood splattered from Ankh’s thigh, which should not 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 using wind magic in his slashes!?”
To his surprise, Ankh saw through the hero’s tactics.
“…You saw through me well. I see, you’re the main force of the ‘Black Golden Wings.’ If I kill you, the other two will be easy,”
Ankh reacted with a start to the hero’s words.
“…What did you say?”
“The only ones left besides you are the child leader and the daughter of a noble.”
“You bastard… I’ll kill you even if it means my death…!”
The usually nonchalant Ankh was no longer there,, replaced by a demon burning with rage, his body stained red with his own blood.
“You’re the one who’s going to die,”
The hero said that and suddenly, instead of slashing, lunged at Ankh, catching him off guard and stabbed his sword into his defenseless stomach.
“Guh!”
His internal organs were injured, and Ankh spat blood.
“This is the end.”
“No… that’s what I should be saying…! I won’t let you get away…!”
Ankh let go of the Great Magic Sword with his right hand and grabbed the hero tightly and with his left hand, he held a dagger he had grasped unnoticed.
He stabbed the dagger into the hero’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.
And when the figure of the horse and rider came into view— an arrow was fired from the child on the horse.
The hero uses 『Teleportation』 to move away from Ankh in order to precisely dodge the arrow aimed at him.
Tauro on horseback stepped in between them, and with a potion in his hand, he immediately poured it 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 clutched the short sword “Tauro Kai.”
“You came to me yourself? That saves me the trouble. —That man is already beyond saving,”
The hero responded without knowing how effective Tauro’s potion was, and then faced the leader of the “Black-Golden Wings,” his final target.
“After I defeat you, I’ll treat you properly Ankh. Don’t worry.”
Tauro said, the whole time pouring more potion onto Ank, not stopping.
—