We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Two Dragon Race people.
“What do you mean?!”
I instinctively look at Kiiri and Inea.
“I’ll explain later. We need to escape now.”
“That’s right. We’ll hold them back, so please escape during that time.”
“We’re not Battle Priestesses, you know. We’ll be doing our best just to hold them back!”
As they spoke, the two began chanting incantations of Hōjutsu.
Unlike Ruiseine, Kiiri and Inea are ordinary priestesses. Therefore, within the Hero’s entourage, they were basically in charge of rear support.
“Hearing that you’re a Magic Sword user, we can’t just run away with our tails between our legs.”
“Zan is right.”
Zan and Sestarinis smile fearlessly.
Adventurers wielding a Magic Sword that emanated an ominous presence, looking exactly like a Holy Sword, were rampaging. Meanwhile, Zan and Sestarinis stood ready with their fighting spirit fully exposed.
The people on the Main Street fled, distancing themselves from both sides.
Some ran down side streets to escape. Others fled into nearby buildings, securely barring the entrances.
In the blink of an eye, the Main Street was devoid of people except for us and the rampaging adventurers.
The adventurers, wielding Magic Swords that resembled Holy Swords, were all equipped with quite splendid gear. However, cursed by their Magic Swords, they rampaged with bloodshot eyes.
They seemed to have completely lost their reason.
The adventurers, who had fallen to become Magic Sword users, aimed at us who remained on the Main Street and attacked.
“This time, you can just watch. Stay there and protect the woman.”
It was Zan who made the first move, saying that to me.
As soon as I thought he had lowered his stance, Zan had already plunged into the group of adventurers.
It wasn’t teleportation. It was just too fast for me to follow with my eyes.
At Zan’s feet, who had infiltrated the group of adventurers, flames erupted. Then, a single spinning kick.
The flames swirled, attacking the adventurers, and then exploded.
The adventurer caught by Zan’s leg turned to charcoal in a single blow, and the adventurers engulfed in flames writhed in agony from the intense heat.
And then, Sestarinis approached the remaining adventurers who had been blown away by the blast.
He swung down his two-handed axe.
Sestarinis cleaved through an adventurer who tried to block with their Magic Sword, bisecting them along with their weapon.
“Um, if possible, please refrain from killing…”
Kiiri gasped as Zan and Sestarinis killed the adventurers without question.
“It’s useless. These people have already had their minds broken. There’s nothing to do but kill them.”
At Sestarinis’s words, the priestesses Kiiri and Inea bit their lips.
I understood their feelings as priestesses, wanting to somehow save even those who had fallen to become Magic Sword users.
However, I agreed with Sestarinis.
I had heard that there was a very high-level Hōjutsu that could purify any curse.
But neither Kiiri nor Inea could possibly use such high-level Hōjutsu.
It was likely impossible for all the priestesses in the Armēdo Kingdom and the Yorttenitos Kingdom.
The headquarters of the Temple Religion was located even further west than the Demon Race’s Country. Even someone like me, who was not involved in religion, knew that only the greatest authority of the Human Race residing there, the Miko Queen, or her top attendants, the most senior priestesses, could use it.
Therefore, the adventurers who had fallen to become Magic Sword users, though pitiable, had to be killed.
One of the reasons Zan told me to just watch was that he sensed the sin of humans killing each other.
That’s why Zan and Sestarinis fought with all their might, ensuring that the adventurers wouldn’t head towards us.
Zan’s fist roared. The blow, wreathed in flames, exploded upon contact with an adventurer, felling them in a single strike.
Sestarinis wielded his two-handed axe with monstrous strength, bisecting even defenses effortlessly.
The two suppressed the Magic Sword users with overwhelming power.
It was my first time seeing them fight with such seriousness, and Kiiri and Inea were simply stunned, their eyes wide open in surprise at the overwhelming offensive power of the Dragon Race.
Sestarinis’s two-handed axe left a black trail as it bisected adventurers, coming to a stop with a deep gouge in the ground.
Zan grabbed the last adventurer by the scruff of their neck and slammed them into the ground.
An explosion occurred, powerful enough to cave in the ground, and the adventurer turned into a charred black husk and died.
It was a battle that lasted only a moment, but the Main Street had been transformed into a scene of carnage.
The adventurers faced by Sestarinis were either crushed or bisected, their blood and flesh scattered across the Main Street. And those faced by Zan had all turned black and carbonized, succumbing to their fate.
There is no such thing as prettiness in a fight to the death.
Seeing Zan and Sestarinis’s battle and the devastated scene, I felt it deeply.
After confirming that there were no other adventurers who had fallen to become Magic Sword users, Sestarinis proceeded to crush the remaining Magic Swords with his two-handed axe, as they couldn’t be bisected along with their wielders. Zan’s flames were so fearsomely hot that all the Magic Swords held by the adventurers he faced had become black and burnt, crumbling into ruin.
Only when everything had died down did the副都 (Fukuto – Sub-Capital) guards finally arrive at the scene.
“Y-You guys!”
“What is this…”
The guards who had rushed in with vigor were rendered speechless by the gruesome scene.
“This is going to be troublesome.”
Zan clicked his tongue.
Are you saying that now? I gave a bitter smile, slightly exasperated.
“I want no part in getting entangled in human affairs.”
No, Sestarinis, what are you saying now?
With a sigh, the two hurriedly returned to me.
And then, just like that.
“Kyaaa!”
“Uwah!”
“Oh my!”
Zan grabbed me, and Sestarinis scooped up Kiiri and Inea under each arm, and fled the scene like fleeing rabbits!
“Hey!”
“Wait!”
The guards hastily tried to give chase, but there was no way the speed of the Dragon Race could be matched by humans.
We lost the guards in an instant.
Leaving the Main Street, we turned down several side streets and in the blink of an eye, we arrived at a deserted back alley.
On both sides of the road stood the walls of houses. A narrow path that only the local residents would likely use.
Then, suddenly, Zan and Sestarinis stopped.
Kiiri and Inea were dizzy in Sestarinis’s arms.
“Oh?”
“A skilled opponent?”
Zan lowered me, and Sestarinis handed Kiiri and Inea over.
I had also noticed it from the very beginning.
From the time the adventurers were rampaging until now. Someone had been observing us from the shadows.
“Who are you?”
At Zan’s sharp voice, a figure appeared from the depths of the back alley.
“Ho ho.”
Sestarinis raised an eyebrow and looked at the figure who had appeared with interest.
“Aah!”
“Found you!”
Kiiri and Inea, who had been dizzy, quickly stood up, and I quickly got into a defensive stance.
The one who appeared from the depths of the back alley was a man clad in full black armor.
“A Demon Race?!”
I wondered why there was a Demon Race member within the Armēdo Kingdom, but Sestarinis denied it.
“No, this person is Human.”
At Sestarinis’s confident assertion, the man in black armor squirmed slightly.
“Please, capture that person for us.”
“You were searching for that person, were you?”
At Kiiri and Inea’s plea, Sestarinis faced the man in black armor and readied his two-handed axe, saying “Is that so?” However, the man in black armor grinned fearlessly and drew his sword.
“Hmph. You have quite a few weapons that look the same.”
What the man in black armor drew was a sword that looked identical to the Holy Swords wielded by the adventurers who had fallen to become Magic Sword users. However, the sword did not possess an ominous presence, and I felt it wasn’t a Magic Sword.
“Zan, leave this one to me.”
Saying that, Sestarinis took a step forward.
Zan, understanding, took a step back.
“Hmph. In this narrow back alley, do you think you can fight with such a ridiculously large weapon?”
The man in black armor readied himself.
Indeed, the back alley was too narrow for Sestarinis to swing his two-handed axe.
The man in black armor attacked first.
He unleashed a sharp thrust at Sestarinis, his blade wreathed in flames like a Holy Sword. However, Sestarinis blocked the thrust with the flat of his colossal two-handed axe and then swung his weapon sideways.
The man in black armor charged, as if challenging to swing if he could in the narrow alley.
“Wooden structures are nothing more than paper.”
Sestarinis, grinning with bared teeth, swung his two-handed axe.
A black trail lingered.
And then, with speed that even the obstacles like the walls of the adjacent buildings couldn’t impede, he slammed the two-handed axe into the man in black armor.
The man in black armor’s eyes widened.
However, he was immediately split into upper and lower halves and collapsed to the ground.
“Pathetic.”
Sestarinis spat, shaking the blood and flesh from his blade and returning his two-handed axe to his back.
Weren’t you a skilled opponent…?
“Ah well, I went and killed him.”
“To kill so wantonly in front of priestesses.”
Inea said in exasperation, and Kiiri grumbled slightly displeased.
“To a Dragon Race, telling them about priestesses is pointless.”
Sestarinis returned, seemingly unconcerned by Kiiri’s displeasure.
“But I don’t think it’s right to attack in front of girls.”
“Hmm, that’s a fair point. My apologies.”
In response to my retort, Sestarinis honestly bowed his head to Kiiri and Inea.
He’s a scoundrel, but he has an honest heart.
“But with this, we’ve lost another clue.”
“We came all the way to the Sub-Capital for this.”
Kiiri and Inea lamented.
“You were chasing? This man in black armor?”
“Yes. This incident, I don’t know how to explain it but…”
As Kiiri pondered, Sestarinis, who had returned, scooped her up.
“Sounds like an interesting story. Let’s hear the details in a more relaxed place.”
Saying that, he also scooped up Inea and left the back alley, ignoring their protests.
“Uwah, wait!”
About to be left behind, I hurriedly followed Sestarinis.
And then I noticed.
“Oh? Where did Zan go?”
I looked around, but Zan was nowhere to be seen. When did he disappear?
“Didn’t I tell you, he’s skilled?”
“Hmm?”
“It seems Elnea didn’t notice. There was one more person observing us. Judging by their presence, it was likely a Demon Race.”
“What?! I didn’t notice at all.”
“Is that so? As the Dragon King, you still have much to learn.”
At my surprise, Sestarinis smirked.
“The man just now was a subordinate. Capturing someone like that won’t yield much information. It would be more beneficial to pursue the one behind him. Right after I defeated that guy, another presence hurried away, and Zan pursued it.”
In other words, from the beginning, Sestarinis and Zan were targeting the other person who had been suppressing their presence.
That’s why Sestarinis engaged the man in black armor who appeared in the back alley, and while attention was focused there, Zan disappeared his presence and pursued the Demon Race.
Given Zan’s expertise in concealing his presence, he must be pursuing the Demon Race without being noticed.
We quickly left the back alley.
By the way, would it have been alright to leave the corpse of that man in black armor there…?
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