The group found themselves confronting a Dark Elf who was not wielding any weapons.
Nina’s attack had been blocked twice. Was Gadou a hand-to-hand combatant type of opponent? “Could it be, non-attribute magic… That’s the only possibility,” Elana murmured beside me. I vaguely recall her saying before that non-attribute magic occurred when attribute mana wasn’t used, but was this it? However, I didn’t think non-attribute magic, lacking mixed attributes, would be that threatening.
“Is that magic strong?”
“No, non-attribute magic is energy itself, without attributes. It just comes out like an impact wave. This is also my first time seeing someone use it as their primary attack.”
Does that mean he’s classified as a mage? He certainly doesn’t look like one.
“Furthermore, its effective range is short. But that man called Gadou turned that to his advantage. Magic power is a kind of ki, and it’s also life energy. He fights with a style of using ki as his weapon, with just his body. What did she call it, a Ki Master?”
I see. I had thought magic power was a different form of energy, but it’s equated with ki. It must be what is commonly referred to as life energy. It’s difficult to grasp invisible things theoretically. Meanwhile, Nina, who had been blown away, regained her stance.
“I see, it seems to be an attack that shoots something like an impact wave. And his movements are incredibly fast. We’ll go all at once,” she said.
Upon hearing her words, Philiana and Sharin assumed their stances. They glanced at each other. Nina charged again. Sharin followed behind her, running. Nina, like before, stopped abruptly just before reaching her opponent, at the very edge of its range, and then, as if leaping, raised her upper body and moved behind him. But Gadou didn’t flinch at such a maneuver. He clenched his fists at his waist and pulled his elbows back, holding a powerful stance, remaining still.
Sharin, coming up from behind, appeared as if leaping from Nina’s back, and aiming for Gadou’s legs, she lowered her posture. But in the next moment, a knee strike from nowhere struck Sharin’s chin. Sharin managed to twist her body in that instant and narrowly dodged the knee. It seemed to have grazed her chin and barely missed a direct hit. At that moment, Philiana approached silently, drawing her sword.
Almost at the same time as the sound of the sword being drawn from its scabbard, a silver blade pierced Gadou’s neck. It seemed he was truly startled by this attack, as the enemy took half a step back, avoiding the charge. Seizing that opening, Nina swung her dagger down from behind. The curved blade fell towards his shoulder like a snake’s fangs.
Then, Gadou’s body suddenly went limp, and he bent his knees, arching his body back with all his might. He then grabbed Nina’s wrist, used it as a pivot, jumped up, spun around, and landed behind her, having leaped over her. Pulled down by her grabbed wrist, Nina lost her balance and was slammed into the ground with momentum.
Then Gadou looked at us, his breathing undisturbed. I never imagined he could escape their three-pronged attack. The most surprised was the one who had been dodged. Left behind, standing there, unable to comprehend what had happened.
