The weight of silence gradually pressed down on their shoulders, each bearing their own beliefs.
“I don’t really want to….”
Cheon Ha-rang, with a vague expression as if wishing to shake off that weight as quickly as possible, stepped forward first.
Then, she simply raised her right arm.
“I don’t have the luxury to concede a few moves to you.”
She swung downward.
-Thud!!!
However, the outcome was anything but simple.
As she swung her sword, a swirling dark energy rushed at the Hero and his party as if it were about to bite them.
“Dodge!”
It was beyond what could be considered swordsmanship.
“…What.”
Lucius bit his lip, overwhelmed by the pressure enveloping him.
‘I knew it, but….’
Lucius was already aware that Cheon Ha-rang was at a level far beyond his own.
There was no way around it.
Just a couple of months ago, he had faced her directly.
No, even if he hadn’t, recalling the time spent together made it clear that she was an extraordinary being.
Right, he merely knew it.
-Gggggh!
His mind could understand the situation, but accepting it was a different matter.
“…Damn.”
What she was currently unleashing was enough to shatter the spirits of the Hero’s party.
Moreover, judging by Cheon Ha-rang’s demeanor, it didn’t seem like she was putting in much effort.
The unique feeling of falling, which occurred whenever she used a major technique, was notably absent.
“How big of a wall do we have to overcome….”
That meant there was an immense gap between Cheon Ha-rang and their skills.
Even the unyielding Hero had no choice but to feel a little shaken.
“Hey, useless Hero. I doubt you can block that head-on, even if you’re ‘the Hero.’ Didn’t you receive some nonsense from that useless god?”
“…No.”
However, he was still a Hero.
A tall tree might crack under a fierce storm, but its roots remain deeply embedded in the ground.
“Well, we have to do this, don’t we?”
Lucius steeled himself as the dark energy approached right in front of him.
“What’s with the sudden positivity?”
Camilla grinned as she tightened her grip on her great sword and stepped forward as well.
“Lucius! Camilla!”
Not wanting to be outdone, Elia clenched her rosary, unleashing divine energy.
“…Saint.”
“Leave the defense to me!”
Receiving Elia’s confident claim about taking on the defensive role, Lucius shot her a worried glance for a moment.
“Alright, I trust you.”
Seeing Camilla step back in trust, Lucius nodded as well.
There was no need for doubts about whether Elia could block that strike.
If she merely held the belief that she could, the Saint would grow stronger than anyone else.
Recognizing this, Lucius entrusted his back to her and prepared to battle as Elia closed her eyes to pray.
-Fwoosh!
A brilliant light began to descend from the darkened sky, as if it would burn away the darkness.
Soon, that engulfing dark energy opened its jaws wide, ready to devour everything in its path. It met the light head-on. At that moment.
-Kaboom!
The awkward silence from earlier was shattered by a deafening noise that consumed the space, gradually subsiding.
“Got it…!”
Although most of the light faded, Elia succeeded in stopping her attack.
“…Umm, what’s there to be happy about?”
However, one undeniable fact lingered.
That attack stemmed from Cheon Ha-rang simply swinging her sword.
“From the side! It’s coming!”
“Gah!”
As Iron Blood shouted in urgency, Cheon Ha-rang’s dark energy swung again from the right.
“Hey! Seriously, cut it out!”
There was barely enough time for the Saint to pray again.
Having made a decision, Lucius grasped his holy sword and stepped forward to intercept it.
“Ugh!”
Boom. It collided with Lucius’ sword, causing a violent explosion.
Although it was just a clash of dark energy and not the sword itself, Lucius had to bite his lip hard against the overwhelming pressure bearing down on him.
‘I have to endure!’
If he couldn’t even withstand this simple swing, which was even lighter than the earlier strike, then standing before Cheon Ha-rang would be nothing but bravado and recklessness.
“Guh…”
He couldn’t back down.
Furthermore, he needed to stop this bizarre situation where only Cheon Ha-rang was held responsible, as it would inevitably lead to regrets later on.
That was the right thing to do.
A chilling sound, like cracking glass, emanated from Lucius or his sword.
“Useless! You’re going to break! Drop it!”
Camilla swung her great sword diagonally, sending the dark force Lucius was facing upwards.
-Kachunk! Bang!
She successfully sent it skyward.
“Are you out of your mind?! Don’t try to catch it!”
“…I’m sorry.”
Even as he apologized to Camilla, Lucius furrowed his brows in frustration.
‘It was impossible alone.’
If he continued blocking it, he would have shattered.
Once again, just steeling his resolve wouldn’t lead him to find a way past this towering wall.
The Hero’s worries didn’t last long.
“I can only wait so long.”
Cheon Ha-rang raised her wooden sword again.
“You useless bunch. Let’s get to it.”
“Yes. Iron Blood.”
And so, Cheon Ha-rang and the Hero’s party clashed once more.
*
At first glance, it appeared to be a balanced fight.
“Support!”
Camilla’s mountain-like strike surged towards Cheon Ha-rang without a gap.
Lucius also took advantage of the openings created by Camilla to steadily close in on Cheon Ha-rang.
“Gah!”
In Cheon Ha-rang’s eyes, she could clearly see how hard they had trained to stop her and the accomplishments they had made.
“No way…!”
This manifested in the form of Elia, who was intervening every time Cheon Ha-rang tried to take a stance with her sword.
Though Elia usually wasn’t involved in combat, she’d intermittently unleash divine energy to disrupt Cheon Ha-rang’s posture.
“…Hmm, certainly bothersome.”
Just like that, it seemed evenly matched at first glance.
No, it even appeared somewhat favorable.
The Hero’s party was relentlessly attacking, while Cheon Ha-rang seemed to be in a hurry just to defend.
However, their expressions suggested that this was not a favorable situation for them. It was off.
“Divine Slaying Sword Technique.”
Something was twisted.
Cheon Ha-rang, who should have been flustered and desperate for defense, simply observed them with a blank face, dodging their strikes like a machine.
“First Move.”
Every strike she made was a stepping stone for victory.
“Hey, that’s cheating!”
Meanwhile, Lucius and Camilla gritted their teeth and swung their swords, eyes fixated on the storm of strikes coming from Cheon Ha-rang.
“Ah! Too late! Dodge!”
“Saint’s barrier! Iron Blood, back up with me!”
“Yes!”
Every strike they carried out was a desperate gamble to avoid imminent defeat.
“Falling Sky.”
As she plunged her sword to the ground, a heavy pressure emerged, as if something was plummeting onto the Hero’s party.
“Cough.”
In an effort to resist, Elia rounded her divine energy around them.
“Phew…”
Fortunately, this allowed the party to avoid the experience of having their bodies crumpled.
However, as previously stated, this was a gambit.
The sky had already been shattered, and those hiding within it began to fall.
“Now, let’s see the end.”
A radiant golden orb gently descended before Cheon Ha-rang.
This was something they had seen before.
“Hey! Wait a moment!”
“Camilla! Don’t go out yet!”
Camilla, realizing her mistake, ignored Elia’s grip and threw herself out of the barrier created by divine energy.
“Finally came out on your own?”
“Ah….”
Before her stood Cheon Ha-rang, smirking not at her, but at the orb.
“I like to resolve annoying things first.”
“…I’ve been tricked.”
“Right, you brat.”
As Camilla, understanding her situation, gave a wry smile, Cheon Ha-rang raised her left arm, ready to swing.
“Have I waited for this day for so long.”
Just then, as Cheon Ha-rang was about to swing her arm with a gleeful smile.
“I finally get my chance to teach you—”
“Harang! J-Just hold on a minute!”
Coming from not too far away, a familiar voice reached Cheon Ha-rang’s ear.
“…What now.”
With a look of slight dread at the increasing number of fireflies, she turned to see.
“Ugh!”
Anna, who had been hiding her presence until now, leaped at Cheon Ha-rang, launching a mix of hostility and hesitation in her strikes.
“Haah… both this one and that one.”
‘Why are you bothering me like this?’
Letting out a deep sigh, Cheon Ha-rang grabbed her wooden sword again to ward off Anna’s attack.
“Master…!”
Taking advantage of the unexpected opportunity, Camilla immediately swung her great sword at Cheon Ha-rang.
“Got you…!”
However, just as they thought they had found their chance, a variable, which is, by nature, unexpected, came into play.
-Clang!!!
“…Didn’t hit.”
What reached their ears was the sound of two swords clashing rather than a hit.
“Master, did I arrive too late?”
“Hmmm… just in time, it seems.”
With a similarly expressionless face, the Nameless moved to stand beside her.
“Oh. We’re really out of options now.”
Camilla could only scowl at the sight of her great sword blocked by the Nameless.
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