108 – Tracking The Grudge – 5
Let’s briefly summarize the current situation and proceed.
He seems to be a melee fighter. He’s holding a sword, so he’s probably a vanguard… It wasn’t a simple guess. I judged it based on the muscles and footsteps revealed beneath his light armor.
I don’t see any projectile weapons. If he has a long-range attack method, it’s probably a magic projectile or magic.
The speed at which he’s charging towards me is faster than anyone I’ve ever faced. If I close my eyes and open them, the tip of the rapier’s blade will pierce a hole in my body.
First, I’ll block his approach. He seems to be a high-ranking type, so I’ll weave an illusion spell that provokes his pride.
“‘Jealousy Explosion’.”
“Huh!”
He snorted. Yeah, let your guard down. If you think my illusion magic is the same as other mages, you’re wrong…
Clang!
He deflected the magic with his rapier. Damn it.
I know a little bit about this now. When something happens that doesn’t make sense, it means that the other person is using a fable. What exactly is his ability?
Although his speed slowed down a bit as he deflected the magic, he didn’t stop his charge. I only have one turn left before he closes the distance completely.
If I use a turn to create distance, I’ll buy some time, but he’ll catch up. The difference in mobility between him and me was greater than I imagined.
I thought about various works of fiction from my previous life. East and West, the one who accurately grasps the opponent’s ability has a higher chance of winning. I decided to use this turn to figure out his fable.
“‘Ankle-Grabbing Depression’, ‘Seagull of Heidenmark’.”
I cast different types of illusion magic. One that sends out a psychic wave, and one that creates an illusion with light. And I observed without blinking.
The moment the magic entered within a 5-meter radius of him, it solidified.
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The illusion magic, which did not possess physical properties, was imbued with physical force. It was like shooting an air bullet and having it instantly turn into an ice bullet.
The opponent is capable of magical parrying. Check.
Clang!
He deflected the magic again this time. The distance was completely closed. At a distance where we could identify each other’s pupils, he smiled a wicked smile. The rapier flew in.
His eyes were filled with the certainty of victory. He must have thought he had me since the mage allowed him to approach.
…If I didn’t have AI!
Instructions were displayed on my retina. Step forward with your right foot, step on the instep, deflect the incoming rapier with the back of your hand, and strike the center line of your body with your other hand.
I gather my magic and strike as if pushing it out.
Thud-!
“Ugh!”
A loud sound like a large piece of paper fluttering echoed through the air, and he flew 3 meters into the air. I caught my breath and said quietly the line I had always wanted to say.
“Taekwondo.”
“A mage using his fists…?”
He quickly got up and dusted himself off. He showed no signs of pain.
I expected it, but it wasn’t a critical hit. If I had been a warrior and not a mage, I would have knocked out all the blood in his body with that one move, but what can I do? I have to be an illusionist to play TRPG.
He seemed bewildered, but he regained his composition and closed the distance again. The message on my retina drew several trajectories. The probability of success and the expected damage.
It was the combat assistance system of the AI, codenamed ‘Cheonma’, which had repeated countless combat simulations. I grinned.
“Mage, did you think I’d just let you close the distance?”
“You’re stumbling around with strange movements…!!”
I focus on the principle of striking first after being attacked.
Tat, taat. Pat! Pabak!
I interlock my wrists and use the incoming opponent’s force to my advantage. I aim for vital points and deliver maximum damage with minimal movement. This bastard is a master of the art of yielding and overcoming strength.
Pak!
I punched him in the jaw. The heat in the eyes of the guy whose head snapped back suddenly subsided. It was a warning sign.
Bang-! Squeeeak!
A magical explosion erupted beneath my feet, propelling my body backward. At the spot where my body had been, a five-hit combo that was hard to see with the naked eye spread out.
If I hadn’t backed down, my body would have been a honeycomb.
“Whew…”
“………………”He let out a sigh and swept his messy bangs back, chuckling as if he had noticed something.
“I’ll give you that. I don’t know why a mage would learn to throw punches, but you’re pretty good for a commoner.”
“Does it hurt less to get hit by a commoner’s punch that way?”
“…Ha, hahahaha. No amount of lip will hide your breathing. You haven’t been breathing for a while now, and your limbs are shaking. How many more minutes can you keep this up?”
“…”
Damn, I’ve been found out.
Of course, a mage’s physical specs can’t keep up with someone who specializes in close combat. So I have to read at least three moves ahead and move in advance to counter them.
I didn’t bring a simulation facility here, so the combat support system of ‘Cheonma’ has to run in my brain. My brain also has to move my body. Honestly, I feel like my head is going to explode.
The fact that my body can’t keep up with the movements is also a big problem. Of course, there are side effects when I try to use martial arts with a body that I’m not used to, my breathing is a mess, and my lungs are shrinking, making it hard to breathe.
The guy didn’t even seem to have taken a hit. Well, if you expect a mage who threw a punch to do any damage, then he’s the one weird.
Let’s buy some time to catch my breath.
I opened my mouth and spoke with magic. I pretended to speak normally, and while he wasn’t paying attention, I took a few breaths. Oxygen is so sweet.
“Did you cast a fable?”
“Fable – ‘Mana Hardening’. The magic around me takes on a physical form. Curses, blessings, everything.”
“…”
“It must be frustrating. Struggle a little more! Commoner, I’ll applaud your performance.”
So my magic turns into arrows or stones.
Illusion magic has its advantages and disadvantages, but the biggest merit in combat is that it almost always hits. So there was no need to aim. All I had to do was worry about the opponent’s mental barrier, and if I could break through it, it would hit 99% of the time.
However, if it is given a physical form, that advantage disappears. Did it make you feel better to take away the only merit I had?
You give it a physical form?
Then all I have to do is use it like a magic missile. I prepared dozens of light spells. From tickling the soles of the feet to causing hallucinations.
His fable doesn’t block magic, it solidifies magic and deflects it directly. It means that if he can’t deflect it with his rapier, he’ll get hit.
Since I’m firing them one at a time, if he deflects one, I just have to shoot enough of them so that he can’t deflect them all. Go ahead, try parrying over twenty spells at once!
“Sword Curtain.”
Shashashashashachak-!
A sharp sound like thin paper being cut rang out dozens of times, and all my magic was torn apart. It was the omnidirectional shield that Bennett used.
“…You can deflect this.”
“My fable──is the ability to put you and me, a mage and a knight, on the same ring. This is not a fight where we exploit each other’s weaknesses. It’s a fight where we compare our skills fairly, commoner.”
“Is it fair to put a mage and a knight in close combat?”
“Where is there fairness in a fight?”
“…”
This bastard.
I’m getting scratched.
The look in his eyes is still cold. That thing just now, he said it on purpose to get under my skin. But it still gets under my skin.
If you block it because it’s a simple trajectory, I’ll shoot it so complexly that you won’t be able to figure it out unless you’re a genius like me.
I shoot magic. And then, I shoot magic so that it collides with the trajectory of that magic. I repeat this simultaneously, over and over again. The magic collides with each other like billiard balls, and their trajectories become chaotic.
Ting, tididididing!
“…Residual Magic!”
Go ahead, try to calculate and block even the rebounding trajectories, you bastard!
Shooosh!
The rapier once again scattered a dazzling trajectory in all directions. But there’s no way he can block a wave with one hand. One of the spells that hit the ground and bounced off broke through his guard and went into his chest.
I hit him!
Ting!
Light poured out of his necklace and blocked the magic. I let out a sigh.
“…Artifact?””Just because you can cast magic is no reason not to wear protective gear. You didn’t think of that, did you? Commoner.”
I thought a magic fencer wearing a dress and wielding a rapier would be a stickler for their concept!
Are you saying you came here wrapped in magic items? I’m going to be sad if I lose.
If you don’t shoot a trick shot, it will bounce off and miss, and even if it hits, weak magic will be blocked. In the meantime, the rapier will pierce through at a rapid speed.
This isn’t a situation where I can pretend to create new magic, and if I can’t win, I should run away. But I don’t think I can escape by scattering clones and running away…
I’ll hold out until the purple tower master arrives. Or I’ll catch him somehow.
Artifact, the Heart Piercing String was made to pierce through things like that. If I can buy some casting time / hit it, I can win.
So it means I have to cast while fending off the trick shots that I can’t block, right? It’s not impossible. If you just give me a little time, I can do it.
Screech!
“…Ugh!”
“Are you going to struggle a little more? Huh?”
The problem is that I don’t have that little bit of time. I don’t think my body can take it anymore. I’m moving by squeezing my muscles to the limit, and it’s not human to run simulations in my brain at full speed.
I blacked out for a moment. Everything went black. I quickly destroyed my mana to activate my metabolism and regained consciousness.
Pfft.
My shoulder was pierced.
It’s like being stabbed with a hot skewer. It’s okay. I can endure the pain. It hurts like hell. The problem is that there’s no advance notice. Advance notice.
Can I buy enough time with a hologram? The prediction was pessimistic. A hologram that can only pick up something like a pebble has no stopping power.
While I was thinking, a look of impatience crossed his face. I guess he felt a sense of crisis because the wizard, who should have been dead by now, was dragging out time.
He opened his mouth.
“I heard you were a disciple of the Purple Tower Master… but you must have learned magic from a defective product, because it’s a mess.”
“…”
It’s a provocation. A primitive provocation. I’m not so shallow in my mental training that I would fall for something like this…
“Die first and wait. The purple tower master will follow you soon.”
This son of a b*tch.
I was shaken. I don’t think I would have been shaken before, but when the face of the tower master asking me out on a date flashed through my mind, my emotions flared up more than I thought.
The combat support system lit up red and issued a warning.
A fist came close.
His fist slammed into my jaw, and I was thrown backwards.
—- —-
I lost consciousness for a moment and then woke up.
My body wouldn’t move. I tried to wiggle my fingers, and it felt like I was struggling.
I felt something hit my back as I flew, and this. It looks like I broke through the outer wall of the building. How hard must I have been hit to break a wall with my back?
I think I would have died if I hadn’t instinctively wrapped my whole body in mana.
The threat of death.
“…”
I didn’t feel scared even when I was on the verge of death. In fact, it was because I had a trump card left.
I could force myself to assimilate right now.
The brain capacity I’m using to suppress ‘it’. I can draw resources from there.
I’ll temporarily regain my emotions, which have been blocked by ‘it’, and then shoot a Heart Piercing String into my head. I don’t know what will happen after that, but… in theory, assimilation will be easy .
If I just use it for a short time, ‘it’ won’t completely take over my body. It will be quite eroded, but to suppress it again… I’ll have to use a little more brain capacity than before.
But I can’t die here worrying about the future.
As I raised my body and tried to unseal the seal in my head, I saw something rolling on the floor. It was a familiar design of scrap metal.
…Armor?
It seems that the building I broke through the wall and entered was the headquarters of the Order of Paladins.
“…”
Power armor.Approaching the Knights Templar building with dust rising, Roderus, the assassin sent by Duke Redburn, had to finish off the wizard for sure.
He was a tough opponent.
The battle itself was dominated by him from beginning to end, and now he was about to deliver the final blow. However, it was because he had entered the battle with all the advantages.
If he hadn’t brought the artifact, he would have been hit by sudden magic, and if he hadn’t had a fairy tale that was like the wizard’s natural enemy, he would have been dead by now.
In the first place, it didn’t make sense that the wizard could drag himself into close combat with him. Even though he was clearly much faster, when he noticed, the wizard’s hand had already reached him.
The fact that he would have lost if he had similar specs sent chills down his spine.
The penalty for a loser is heavy. Roderus didn’t want to think about what would happen if he failed.
He didn’t know what he would do. He was careful but quick, and he thrust his rapier into his head. Roderus stepped inside, trampling on the rubble of the collapsed outer wall.
At that moment, three shadows jumped out of the dust that was subsiding.
It was a hologram wearing power armor.