The wall, already gaping with a large hole, was suddenly shattered from the outside. Immediately after, a bald man carrying a giant axe stepped through the almost completely destroyed wall.
“You brat! Regret what you've done!”
The bald thug appeared to have lost his mind because his companion had been defeated, but in reality, it was merely a ploy to obscure his true intention of rushing outside to grab his weapon.
It could only be said that Shulim's current combat experience against humans was still somewhat green. Had she been more experienced, she would have sensed that this sudden loss of composure was highly suspicious, starting from the bald man's cautious behavior at the very beginning.
“A lesson learned. I'll do my best not to make the same mistake in the future...”
Shulim murmured calmly to herself, her expression still showing little change.
“What? You little...”
Now, the bald thug was truly getting angry.
“You think you can defeat me with a lousy wooden stick like that?!”
Holding the axe high, the bald thug charged at Shulim with extreme speed, swinging it downward with immense force.
Boom—!
The floorboards shattered as a large hole was smashed into them. Innumerable wood splinters flew wildly about the room, and the blast wave even rippled toward Fran, who was lying motionless on the floor.
Shulim had slipped away from her spot the instant before the axe struck, causing his attack to hit nothing but air.
However, she also noticed that Fran was in danger of being caught in the crossfire.
This won't do... Fran might get hurt.
With that thought, Shulim instantly changed her approach. Closing the distance she had just created, she closed in on the bald thug with a sudden burst of speed.
“You bastard—!”
Seeing Shulim act with such brazen disregard, the bald thug grew even more infuriated.
Once again, the axe was raised high, then brought down heavily toward Shulim.
Yet Shulim nimbly dodged it once more. No matter how the bald thug attacked after that, Shulim was always able to evade him with superior speed.
How on earth was she so fast?!
The bald thug was utterly perplexed. Even though they were both using Reinforce, his speed could not keep up with hers at all. It was as if her Reinforce was specifically optimized for speed.
The bald thug had no idea that the Reinforce Shulim was using was no different from his own. The reason for such a gap was because Shulim had also cast Swiftness, a Second-Tier Wind magic spell that reduced her weight and movement resistance, thereby increasing her overall speed.
Since Swiftness had virtually no visual cues when active, he remained completely oblivious to it.
“Slipping around like a goddamn eel! Get—”
the bald thug roared in anger,
“—die!”
Boom—!
Immediately following, the axe began to spin rapidly with him at the center, whipped up into a perilous storm of steel.
Shulim leaned her upper body backward, letting the storm of the axe scrape past just above her face.
Straight away, Shulim extended her left hand toward the bald thug, chanting a spell rapidly.
“【ᚷᚲᚠᛏᛗᛜᛏᚠᚪᛡᛃᛋקיᛚᚺᛜᛖᚾהᛤ...】”
“?”
Seeing her aim her hand at him, the bald thug was momentarily confused, but he quickly understood what she was doing.
“Flash.”
“Ah—!”
Following a sharp cry of pain, the bald thug stumbled backward, his eyes shut tight.
Damn it! This... this brat has dual affinities?!
Angrily cursing his own carelessness, the bald thug struggled to open his eyes to make out his surroundings, all while wildly swinging his axe to prevent her from pressing her advantage.
However, the close-quarters pursuit he anticipated never came. Instead, what arrived was—
“Fireball.”
Boom!
The Fireball collided with the blindly swinging axe, erupting into an explosion that sent the bald thug reeling back several meters.
“Damn it!”
A triple-affinity mage?!
Panic instantly gripped his heart.
For a warrior fighting a mage, letting the opponent open up distance was a fatal mistake!
Disregarding the burns on his body, he forced his grip tight around the searing-hot axe and rushed toward Shulim. He swung his weapon in a chaotic flurry, hoping to land a strike through raw desperation.
Yet, utilizing her superior speed and petite build, Shulim easily navigated through the flurry of slashes completely unscathed, all while tapping various parts of his body with her wooden stick from time to time.
Although the bald thug could withstand Shulim's relentless barrage of strikes for a short time thanks to his Reinforce, it was only a matter of time before he was defeated if this continued.
For a moment, anxiety consumed him. The urge to retreat took hold, and his eyes ded around frantically, searching for an opportunity to escape.
When his gaze fell upon the bound Fran, an idea suddenly struck him.
Right... this kid is here to save that noble brat! As long as I use her as a hostage, I can get away!
Making up his mind, the bald thug did not hesitate further.
“Hyaah—!”
With a loud roar, he whipped up the axe storm once more. Forced to dodge to the side, Shulim's offensive rhythm faltered slightly, giving him the perfect opportunity.
Now!
The bald thug bolted straight toward Fran.
Watching Fran grow closer and closer, a glint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
Almost there! Just a bit more! If I grab her, I can hold her hostage to threaten this kid, and maybe even turn the tables...
With Fran virtually within arm's reach, the bald thug instinctively reached out with his left hand. In less than a second, he would secure his shield.
Yet, right at that moment, a figure suddenly materialized before his eyes in a flash.
The petite figure stood there, gripping the wooden stick tightly in her right hand. Keeping her posture slightly low, she looked up with a completely calm expression and softly uttered two words.
“Hunter's——Sight——.”
Roar—!
It was as if a titanic beast had manifested before his eyes, looking down upon him with cold disdain as a massive claw slowly swept toward him.
Three cold flashes of light slashed through the air in an instant, simultaneously striking the bald thug's neck, chest, and abdomen.
Boom—!
The bald thug's body was sent flying at a speed faster than any other today, smashing through the final intact wooden wall before crashing heavily onto the street outside, immediately losing consciousness.
The battle had finally come to an end.
The once pitch-black room was now completely open to the outside world, and the structure itself was even beginning to sway precariously.
“It looks like it's going to collapse.”
Shulim glanced up at the ceiling, which was steadily shedding debris, and quickly rushed over to Fran's side.
“Waaaah! Shu... Shulim—”
Fran sobbed, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes.
“It's fine, you're safe now. Let's talk once we're outside; this place is about to collapse.”
After using her Fire magic to burn away the ropes, Shulim helped Fran out of the room.
Not long after the two of them stepped out of the room...
Boom!
The house behind them collapsed with a deafening crash, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
“Waaaah... That was so scary! I thought my life was over! Waaaah!”
Having escaped the danger behind them, Fran's tensed emotions gave way completely, and she burst into a loud, hysterical wail.
“It's okay. The danger has passed. The bad guys have been beaten.”
Shulim did her best to comfort Fran.
“Waaaah... Th-Thank you... Waaaah... Shulim...”
The comfort seemed to have the opposite effect, as Fran cried even harder, her tears and running nose soaking into Shulim's clothes.
...
She really was frightened out of her wits.
Supporting Fran, Shulim quickly guided her out of the old district and handed her over to the patrolling guards. Upon learning that the daughter of Baron Bandun, the ruler of Mente Town, had nearly been smuggled away by foreign slave traders, the guards were utterly shocked.
They immediately mobilized a large squad of guards to raid the old district, arresting the two unconscious thugs. The entire old district was thoroughly swept as well, to the point that for a long time afterward, Shulim felt the old district had become noticeably quieter.
Rate on N.U.
