The tide began to turn to our advantage when the Kobolds revolted.
The Kobolds that had been assailing us left their positions and headed towards the Magician. One of them, who had been fighting my companions, went to assist their boss. It was the man wielding a large axe that had been fighting Philiana. He rushed towards the Kobolds swarming the Magician, intending to scatter them. Every step he took made the ground feel as if it were shaking, such was the sheer weight of his presence. I wondered how Philiana had been able to face such a big man. He was nearly two meters tall, like a small hill.
Cecilia, who had been dealing with a Swordsman, approached the approaching giant. The man, not giving the approaching little girl a second glance, hurried towards his boss. The two passed each other midway. The giant stopped dead in his tracks. Cecilia also stopped after passing him.
“Hey, Gilgas, what are you dawdling for? Help me already, you snail!”
The big man, called Gilgas, didn’t even turn back to Cecilia. Her sword, stained red, told the reason why he had stopped. Fresh blood dripped from the gaps in Gilgas’s robust, heavy armor. In that instant, Cecilia had maneuvered through a slight opening in the armor and landed a blow right around his waist. However, it wasn’t a fatal wound. The giant roared out, resuming his run.
If this continued, those Kobolds would be wiped out by that axe. To prevent that, Philiana chased after him from behind and cut him off.
“We haven’t finished our duel yet.”
Gilgas gasped for breath, his shoulders rising and falling, as if enduring the pain.
“Get out of the way if you don’t want to die. I won’t hold back just because you’re a woman.”
“Cecilia-san, please climb up my back and finish him off.”
Cecilia, whose name was called, widened her eyes, seeming to hesitate for a moment. She was likely remembering the time she killed the black Centaur. Without waiting for Cecilia’s reply, Gilgas swung his axe towards Philiana. He intended to crush her with a single blow. In response, Philiana assumed a horizontal sword stance, intending to receive the blow.
The axe, imbued with his full weight, swung down like a guillotine. A sharp clang of metal, like a scream, echoed with a “bun” sound. Philiana didn’t take the blow head-on, instead shifting her sword diagonally and sliding the heavy blade sideways. The impact numbed her hands, and the hilt slipped from her grasp.
Gilgas, who had committed his entire weight to the attack, also lost his balance, leaning heavily forward. It was then that Cecilia’s slender sword, having climbed up Philiana’s back, pierced him. The sword plunged into his collarbone, exposed through a gap in his armor. As she pulled it out, she slashed at his neck. A clean, red line was drawn across his thick neck.
The attack caused everyone present to stop. Gilgas staggered back a step, then another, clutching his neck and groaning in pain.
“It’s alright, I didn’t take his life. Now, Lauren, stop dawdling and hurry up and tie up that bald guy.”
Cecilia turned around as if nothing had happened.
“Ah, I, I understand! I’ll do it already.”
Lauren, who had been told, jumped down from the tree where she had been hiding and tied up the fallen Magician.
