Reincarnated as a Sword Vol. 7, page 16
“Aieee!” The man shrieked as his nose bled. He was terrified, and Fran was Intimidating him for good measure.
“Where’s Suarez? Answer me or I’ll kill you.”
“Y-you—eeergh!”
“Heal. Waste my time and I’ll kill you. Beg for mercy and I’ll kill you. Where is Suarez?”
“Aah…gyaaaaah!” The man became unintelligible.
Unfazed, Fran grabbed his hand and crushed it. It looked like she was shaking his hand, but she could crush metal with that grip. “Heal. Where’s Suarez? Answer me and I’ll put you out of your misery.”
“Th-the command room!”
“Good. I’ll put you out of your misery now.”
“What?”
The man misunderstood Fran in his panic. She proceeded to put him out of his misery permanently by chopping his head off.
“Master, that was ruthless!”
“She’s so cool when she’s merciless!”
“We have much to learn.”
The newbies seemed a little too enthusiastic. Well, you couldn’t be too safe around pirates, so I guessed this was a good lesson for the rookies.
Now, to look for Suarez.
“Hm.”
Do you know where the command room is?
“No.”
I’ll lead the way.
Fortunately, the layout of this Sea Dragon was exactly like that of Marle’s Wishkar. The command room should be toward the bow.
“Jet, help us find him.”
“Woof!”
We split up to cover more ground. The Algieba’s fighters should have no trouble recognizing the direwolf by now. Anyone who attacked him was clearly an enemy.
We’ll take the bow, you take the stern.
“Woof.”
Capture him if you can, but come back if things get rough.
“Bark bark!”
“Let’s go.”
We parted ways and went down into the ship. There were guards posted along the corridors, but Fran disposed of them as she went. We searched until we felt a strong battle aura in front of us. Someone was fighting here.
Fran!
“Hm!”
She quickly followed the sounds of battle and kicked in the door to what turned out to be an empty storeroom. Adventurers and pirates stared each other down in there, but only the two in the middle were clashing weapons. We recognized the first as Mordred, which meant the man he was fighting must be Suarez. This was our first encounter with the former tyrant, and I must confess that he was quite strong. He had Advanced Ax Mastery, so he knew how to fight.
“Fools. Did you think you would leave this ship alive?” Suarez demanded.
“I’ll admit the Sea Dragon is the most powerful vessel in the ocean. But all I have to do is take down its captain.”
“Gya ha ha! That’s a funny joke! I’ll grind you up into paste and feed you to the fishes. Just like all the others!”
Just like all the others? So he frequently tortured people before tossing them overboard? Suarez couldn’t have been a pirate for very long and he had already done so much harm…
As I pondered that, Mordred and Suarez lunged at each other again.
“Raaargh!”
“Hmph!”
Suarez brought his battle-ax down on Mordred’s head. His attack was quite fast—if he was an adventurer, he would have made a decent C-Rank. But I wasn’t the least bit worried for Mordred.
“Too slow.”
“Impudent fool!”
Mordred drove his spear into the flat of Suarez’s ax. The diversion made Suarez sway, but he held his ground and swung again. An ordinary adventurer wouldn’t be able to dodge, but Mordred was no ordinary adventurer. He calmly deflected the fierce attack.
Suarez was a decent fighter in the grand scheme of things, but Mordred was an honest-to-gods B-Rank. And one who specialized in combat, at that. His skills and stats were leagues above Suarez. There was no way he would lose a fair fight.
“Curse you!”
Suarez charged again, refusing to accept it. He charged in recklessly, but just as he was about to cut Mordred in half, Suarez changed the course of his swing and attacked one of Mordred’s companions, instead. The mage was ill-prepared for close quarters combat.
“Gua ha ha!” Suarez cackled.
If Mordred let the attack land, he’d put his comrade’s life in danger. If he tried to stop it, he’d endanger his own life. That was Suarez’s plan.
“Fiend!”
“Gya ha ha! Give up!”
Suarez laughed as he saw Mordred’s desperation. Mordred thrust out his hand, as if he was helpless to prevent the attack. The ax came down on his right arm, but of course it wasn’t a desperate act at all.
“Metal Control.”
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Your ax is mine.”
The giant battle-ax folded into itself like clay. And the surreal scene didn’t end there. The fluid metal pulsed and writhed as if it were alive.
“Gaaah! Magic?!”
“Be bound by your own weapon.”
Mordred used his Steel Magic to wrap Suarez’s ax around himself.
“No, no, NO!”
Suarez struggled, but to no avail. He was soon wrapped up in his own battle-ax. Once the liquid metal encased his top and lower body, Mordred commanded it to solidify. Even Suarez, who prided himself on brute strength, had no way of escaping. If anything, Mordred had made the metal even harder.
“Aaaaargh! Let me go!”
“Save your energy and stop struggling.”
The tyrant was now in chains. The pirates moved in to help their leader.
“L-Lord Suarez!”
“Let go of him, you bastards!”
“Hold it.” Fran cut them all down before they had time to react.
“Gyaaa!”
“Guaaah!”
“Nice,” Mordred said.
“You, too,” said Fran. “I didn’t even get to fight.”
“Only because the ambush went well. Save the compliments for later. We’ve got a Sea Dragon to stop.”
“Hm.”
Mordred and Fran looked down on Suarez, but the former tyrant hadn’t lost his arrogance.
“You! Get me out of here, this instant!”
“Why?”
“Wh-who do you think I am, you boorish adventurer?!”
“A scumbag pirate captain?” Fran asked.
“Someone who exists only to cause trouble?” Mordred added.
“I am the King of Seedrun! Do you understand?!”
“Hmph.”
“Bastard!”
Mordred ground his heel into Suarez’s head. An excellent gesture from the veteran adventurer. Fran wasted no time in following his example.
“Stop this foolishness! Bow down to me and I’ll make you a minister!”
Was Suarez dropped on his head as a baby? How did he have the balls to make claims like that? Didn’t he understand the situation?
“I am the King of Seedrun and captain of this Sea Dragon! Lick my boots and all is forgiven!”
Suarez’s inability to read the room went beyond ordinary social awkwardness. I was amazed that he had managed to survive this long. Then again, perhaps this very arrogance was what allowed him to usurp the throne. To be honest, this kind of intimidation was probably effective against pirates. They were stupid enough to be impressed, especially with the commandeered Sea Dragon in tow. Suarez probably promised them all rewards, but that wasn’t going to work against Fran and Mordred.
“You used to be king. The current queen is Sellimea.”
“To hell with you! I am the king!”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am! I am the rightful King of Seedrun! Me! Sellimea is nothing but a dirty usurper!”
Suarez’s childish rejection sounded more unbecoming because he was so huge. Then again, perhaps he was still a child on the inside. As the only legitimate child of the crown, he was showered with undeserved praise and benefits, and had become more crooked with each day.
“Enough of this.”
“Yeah. We’re wasting our time.”
Fran and Mordred agreed their words were wasted on him. They ignored Suarez’s complaints and cranked the Intimidation.
“You. Stop the Sea Dragon.”
Fran did the talking while Mordred backed her up. I thought it would’ve been more effective the other way round, but Mordred let Fran have first dibs.
“Hmph!” Suarez turned away. Call it royal stubbornness or fighter’s spirit. Honestly, I thought Suarez was dense beyond salvation.
“Hrm.” Fran ground her heel into Suarez’s face again, harder than before.
“Gaaah! That hurts! Stop it, girl!”
How dare he! I knew people who would be beside themselves with joy if Fran stepped on them. But I supposed that, for people who weren’t so inclined, this torture was indeed painful.
“Last warning. Calm the Sea Dragon.” Fran glared coldly at Suarez, clearly displaying her murderous intent. The Intimidate of two high-rank adventurers should be enough to cause a normal person to wet himself.
Unfortunately, Suarez only glared back. “Cease your talking and let me go!”
He really was stupid.
“Alright.”
“Good, now hurry up and—”
“I’ll stop talking now.”
Suarez screamed in pain as Fran gouged his calf with her sword.
“Heal. Now, the next leg.”
“St-stop! Stop this!”
“Say ‘please.’”
“You basta—”
“Hrmph.”
“Gyaaaa!”
Fran continued healing and stabbing. It took a good five rounds before the man finally realized that the little girl was in the position of power.
“St-stop! P-please!” With fear of death back in him, Suarez pleaded for his life. Those weren’t the words we wanted to hear, however.
“Calm the Sea Dragon. I know you can command it from here.”
“Alright! I’ll do it! Just stop—”
Stab.
“Eeeegh!”
“Heal.”
“Aaaargh! Please, stop!”
“Shut up and do as you’re told.”
“Alright!” Suarez nodded, pale from resisting pain. “I-I, Suarez Azul Seedrun, command thee—”
“Gyaaa!”
“Hrm.”
A scream cut off Suarez’s incantation, but it didn’t come from the Sea Dragon’s captain. It came from one of Mordred’s men. He’d been stabbed in the stomach and he crumpled to the floor. The one who stabbed him was one of the enemy soldiers lying on the floor.
“Come on, Your Majesty. Are you giving up already?”
“V-Varthez! There you are!”
“You made for a decent show.”
“Where’s Voluze? Whatever! Hurry up and take care of these vermin!” Suarez suddenly regained his spirit. I was really beginning to think that this kind of confidence was some kind of mental disorder.
“Okay okay, quit shouting.”
There was something strange about Suarez’s champion. He looked to be one of the men who’d been knocked unconscious. I didn’t have the time to Identify all of our enemies, but there was something odd about the way he carried himself. He had not looked this dangerous before.
The man in front of us had typical brown hair and bronze skin, slender but toned. He was also emitting a fierce aura, one that Suarez couldn’t hope to match. This change told me that the man called Varthez was not to be trifled with. He could mask his abilities.
“Honestly, boss, I don’t know if I can win. But if now’s your time to go, then it’s your time to go, right?”
I had a feeling of déjà vu when he grinned. I had felt this aura before.
Fran recognized it, too. “Valuza?”
The man we’d fought a fierce duel with back in Seedrun. He was the kingdom’s foremost fighter, and a blood knight at that. He had far more skill and experience than Fran. If his blade, Soul Drain, hadn’t made me lose control, I wasn’t sure we could have won. Valuza was that strong. Fighting him was one of Fran’s great milestones.
“Oh? Are you the girl who killed my master?”
“You’re Valuza’s student?”
“You could say that. I was very disappointed to hear that a little girl took him out. But I suppose I can see how you beat him.”
“Stop talking and help me!”
Varthez smirked at Suarez’s barking. He had no respect for his employer. “Come now, don’t rush me. I’m enjoying this.”
“I’m not,” said Fran.
“Don’t say that, girl. How can you resist baring your heart to the man who is going to kill you?” Varthez’s eyes darkened. He might have been Valuza’s student, but the pupil had a deeper darkness. Varthez was an insane and sadistic murderer, and made very little effort to conceal it.
Fran, we need to heal Mordred’s mage before he dies.
“Hm…Mordred.”
“Yeah?”
“What?” said Varthez. “No one-on-one?”
“I have no time for your games.”
“Oh, this one?” he said. “You can have him.”
“Gaah!”
Varthez kicked Mordred’s teammate over and Fran caught him. Blood poured freely from his wound and she wasted no time in healing it. His face was still pale. A deadly poison had gotten into his system. Fortunately, we could still heal him.
Varthez looked surprised. “Wow, you can use Healing Magic, too?”
“Thanks, Black Lightning Princess,” said the mage.
“Hm. You have to rest now.”
“Alright.” Mordred’s man thanked her. He wouldn’t be able to fight for a while, but he would recover from the poison.
“Nice. Shame, though. I was about to give him some new friends,” Varthez said as multiple magic circles appeared around his feet.
Several figures began crawling out of them.
“Vaaaaargh…”
Necromancy. The man had reanimated the dead fighters. They retained their physical strength, but were as as tough as regular zombies. While easy to dispose of individually, they were quite dangerous in a mob. Varthez was as good at necromancy as he was at fighting. He was at least a mid-rank mage at Level 7. In fact, he could prepare this spell and delay its casting while lying on the floor.
Varthez’s mastery over magic might make him more dangerous than Valuza. Valuza had drained his enemy’s mana, but we didn’t really have to look out for any weird spells. At least Varthez wasn’t likely to be as dangerous at melee range.
Team up with Mordred and flatten him. We don’t have time to waste.
Varthez looked disappointed when both Fran and Mordred readied their weapons. “I gave him back to you. Hold up your end of the deal.”
“I don’t remember making any deal.”
“That’s right.”
“Hee hee. What a shame. But are you sure both of you should be here? I think my brother Voluze should’ve reached the other Sea Dragon by now. You should lend them a hand.”
“What?”
Mordred hesitated. He couldn’t tell whether Varthez was lying. Essence of Falsehood told me that he wasn’t.
“He should be enjoying himself right about now, probably chopping the princess to pieces.”
Should we split up or stick together to kill him as fast as we could?
Mordred decided for us. “Go on, Black Lightning Princess.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d have trouble crossing over to the Wishkar.”
“Alright.”
“Besides…” Mordred lowered his voice and glared at Varthez.
Varthez laughed with joy at the adventurer’s murderous intent. He sounded exactly like Valuza. “Hee hee hee! You’ll make a fine playmate!”
“…He got one of my men. I have to pay him back for that.”
Mordred’s not going down without a fight, Fran. We should hurry to the Wishkar.
“Hm. I’ll leave this one to you.”
“I’ve got it covered.”
***
“She’s gone.”
After the Black Lightning Princess left the room, I turned to face the lunatic Varthez. I had seen his type before. They all had different reasons, but all of them enjoyed killing, as if it were a hobby. These lunatics often treated their own lives like a toy. Very dangerous if they happened to possess any amount of power.
“He he heh. I can’t wait to play with you…I’m getting goose bumps!” Varthez readied his sword and his zombies readied theirs.
“I thought you wanted to go one-on-one.”
“I do. These boys are part of my repertoire.”
Of course they are, you cheeky bastard.
“B-boss…”
“Make sure Suarez doesn’t get away. I’ll take care of this one myself.”
“Got it!”
I gave my men the signal to leave the room, and Varthez made his move.
“He he heh. Here we go!”
Varthez’s strange sword was curved like a scimitar, but it had fine spikes on the blade. Even if you managed to avoid its business end, those spikes would probably catch you. And those spikes were definitely poisoned.
“Shaaaaa!” Varthez lunged. The sword traveled through an impossible arc, making it difficult to avoid.
“Kiieeeee!”
“I can see you!”
A tricky maneuver, but still visible. I blocked it easily, even while being attacked by his zombie horde. I began casting while still on my guard.
“Metal Control.”
“Wow! I didn’t expect you to complete a spell under this much pressure! But that! Won’t! Work!”
“Tch!”
Varthez dissipated my spell with a swipe. His sword was enchanted.
“I saw how you melted Lord Suarez’s ax. I’d love to see some advanced Steel Magic, but why don’t you stick to the basic stuff?!”
Fire and earth spells were difficult to use here. Fire would endanger the ship, and there wasn’t enough soil to use Earth Magic. But when Varthez asked me to stick to basic Steel Magic, he didn’t know what he was asking for.
“—”
“You’re casting again? How stupid can you get! You don’t have time to cast now!”
“—”
“Get him, zombies!”
“!”
The zombies lurched toward me. They didn’t care for their lives (or lack of) and their main focus was to stop me from moving.
“Where’s Suarez? Answer me or I’ll kill you.”
“Y-you—eeergh!”
“Heal. Waste my time and I’ll kill you. Beg for mercy and I’ll kill you. Where is Suarez?”
“Aah…gyaaaaah!” The man became unintelligible.
Unfazed, Fran grabbed his hand and crushed it. It looked like she was shaking his hand, but she could crush metal with that grip. “Heal. Where’s Suarez? Answer me and I’ll put you out of your misery.”
“Th-the command room!”
“Good. I’ll put you out of your misery now.”
“What?”
The man misunderstood Fran in his panic. She proceeded to put him out of his misery permanently by chopping his head off.
“Master, that was ruthless!”
“She’s so cool when she’s merciless!”
“We have much to learn.”
The newbies seemed a little too enthusiastic. Well, you couldn’t be too safe around pirates, so I guessed this was a good lesson for the rookies.
Now, to look for Suarez.
“Hm.”
Do you know where the command room is?
“No.”
I’ll lead the way.
Fortunately, the layout of this Sea Dragon was exactly like that of Marle’s Wishkar. The command room should be toward the bow.
“Jet, help us find him.”
“Woof!”
We split up to cover more ground. The Algieba’s fighters should have no trouble recognizing the direwolf by now. Anyone who attacked him was clearly an enemy.
We’ll take the bow, you take the stern.
“Woof.”
Capture him if you can, but come back if things get rough.
“Bark bark!”
“Let’s go.”
We parted ways and went down into the ship. There were guards posted along the corridors, but Fran disposed of them as she went. We searched until we felt a strong battle aura in front of us. Someone was fighting here.
Fran!
“Hm!”
She quickly followed the sounds of battle and kicked in the door to what turned out to be an empty storeroom. Adventurers and pirates stared each other down in there, but only the two in the middle were clashing weapons. We recognized the first as Mordred, which meant the man he was fighting must be Suarez. This was our first encounter with the former tyrant, and I must confess that he was quite strong. He had Advanced Ax Mastery, so he knew how to fight.
“Fools. Did you think you would leave this ship alive?” Suarez demanded.
“I’ll admit the Sea Dragon is the most powerful vessel in the ocean. But all I have to do is take down its captain.”
“Gya ha ha! That’s a funny joke! I’ll grind you up into paste and feed you to the fishes. Just like all the others!”
Just like all the others? So he frequently tortured people before tossing them overboard? Suarez couldn’t have been a pirate for very long and he had already done so much harm…
As I pondered that, Mordred and Suarez lunged at each other again.
“Raaargh!”
“Hmph!”
Suarez brought his battle-ax down on Mordred’s head. His attack was quite fast—if he was an adventurer, he would have made a decent C-Rank. But I wasn’t the least bit worried for Mordred.
“Too slow.”
“Impudent fool!”
Mordred drove his spear into the flat of Suarez’s ax. The diversion made Suarez sway, but he held his ground and swung again. An ordinary adventurer wouldn’t be able to dodge, but Mordred was no ordinary adventurer. He calmly deflected the fierce attack.
Suarez was a decent fighter in the grand scheme of things, but Mordred was an honest-to-gods B-Rank. And one who specialized in combat, at that. His skills and stats were leagues above Suarez. There was no way he would lose a fair fight.
“Curse you!”
Suarez charged again, refusing to accept it. He charged in recklessly, but just as he was about to cut Mordred in half, Suarez changed the course of his swing and attacked one of Mordred’s companions, instead. The mage was ill-prepared for close quarters combat.
“Gua ha ha!” Suarez cackled.
If Mordred let the attack land, he’d put his comrade’s life in danger. If he tried to stop it, he’d endanger his own life. That was Suarez’s plan.
“Fiend!”
“Gya ha ha! Give up!”
Suarez laughed as he saw Mordred’s desperation. Mordred thrust out his hand, as if he was helpless to prevent the attack. The ax came down on his right arm, but of course it wasn’t a desperate act at all.
“Metal Control.”
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Your ax is mine.”
The giant battle-ax folded into itself like clay. And the surreal scene didn’t end there. The fluid metal pulsed and writhed as if it were alive.
“Gaaah! Magic?!”
“Be bound by your own weapon.”
Mordred used his Steel Magic to wrap Suarez’s ax around himself.
“No, no, NO!”
Suarez struggled, but to no avail. He was soon wrapped up in his own battle-ax. Once the liquid metal encased his top and lower body, Mordred commanded it to solidify. Even Suarez, who prided himself on brute strength, had no way of escaping. If anything, Mordred had made the metal even harder.
“Aaaaargh! Let me go!”
“Save your energy and stop struggling.”
The tyrant was now in chains. The pirates moved in to help their leader.
“L-Lord Suarez!”
“Let go of him, you bastards!”
“Hold it.” Fran cut them all down before they had time to react.
“Gyaaa!”
“Guaaah!”
“Nice,” Mordred said.
“You, too,” said Fran. “I didn’t even get to fight.”
“Only because the ambush went well. Save the compliments for later. We’ve got a Sea Dragon to stop.”
“Hm.”
Mordred and Fran looked down on Suarez, but the former tyrant hadn’t lost his arrogance.
“You! Get me out of here, this instant!”
“Why?”
“Wh-who do you think I am, you boorish adventurer?!”
“A scumbag pirate captain?” Fran asked.
“Someone who exists only to cause trouble?” Mordred added.
“I am the King of Seedrun! Do you understand?!”
“Hmph.”
“Bastard!”
Mordred ground his heel into Suarez’s head. An excellent gesture from the veteran adventurer. Fran wasted no time in following his example.
“Stop this foolishness! Bow down to me and I’ll make you a minister!”
Was Suarez dropped on his head as a baby? How did he have the balls to make claims like that? Didn’t he understand the situation?
“I am the King of Seedrun and captain of this Sea Dragon! Lick my boots and all is forgiven!”
Suarez’s inability to read the room went beyond ordinary social awkwardness. I was amazed that he had managed to survive this long. Then again, perhaps this very arrogance was what allowed him to usurp the throne. To be honest, this kind of intimidation was probably effective against pirates. They were stupid enough to be impressed, especially with the commandeered Sea Dragon in tow. Suarez probably promised them all rewards, but that wasn’t going to work against Fran and Mordred.
“You used to be king. The current queen is Sellimea.”
“To hell with you! I am the king!”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am! I am the rightful King of Seedrun! Me! Sellimea is nothing but a dirty usurper!”
Suarez’s childish rejection sounded more unbecoming because he was so huge. Then again, perhaps he was still a child on the inside. As the only legitimate child of the crown, he was showered with undeserved praise and benefits, and had become more crooked with each day.
“Enough of this.”
“Yeah. We’re wasting our time.”
Fran and Mordred agreed their words were wasted on him. They ignored Suarez’s complaints and cranked the Intimidation.
“You. Stop the Sea Dragon.”
Fran did the talking while Mordred backed her up. I thought it would’ve been more effective the other way round, but Mordred let Fran have first dibs.
“Hmph!” Suarez turned away. Call it royal stubbornness or fighter’s spirit. Honestly, I thought Suarez was dense beyond salvation.
“Hrm.” Fran ground her heel into Suarez’s face again, harder than before.
“Gaaah! That hurts! Stop it, girl!”
How dare he! I knew people who would be beside themselves with joy if Fran stepped on them. But I supposed that, for people who weren’t so inclined, this torture was indeed painful.
“Last warning. Calm the Sea Dragon.” Fran glared coldly at Suarez, clearly displaying her murderous intent. The Intimidate of two high-rank adventurers should be enough to cause a normal person to wet himself.
Unfortunately, Suarez only glared back. “Cease your talking and let me go!”
He really was stupid.
“Alright.”
“Good, now hurry up and—”
“I’ll stop talking now.”
Suarez screamed in pain as Fran gouged his calf with her sword.
“Heal. Now, the next leg.”
“St-stop! Stop this!”
“Say ‘please.’”
“You basta—”
“Hrmph.”
“Gyaaaa!”
Fran continued healing and stabbing. It took a good five rounds before the man finally realized that the little girl was in the position of power.
“St-stop! P-please!” With fear of death back in him, Suarez pleaded for his life. Those weren’t the words we wanted to hear, however.
“Calm the Sea Dragon. I know you can command it from here.”
“Alright! I’ll do it! Just stop—”
Stab.
“Eeeegh!”
“Heal.”
“Aaaargh! Please, stop!”
“Shut up and do as you’re told.”
“Alright!” Suarez nodded, pale from resisting pain. “I-I, Suarez Azul Seedrun, command thee—”
“Gyaaa!”
“Hrm.”
A scream cut off Suarez’s incantation, but it didn’t come from the Sea Dragon’s captain. It came from one of Mordred’s men. He’d been stabbed in the stomach and he crumpled to the floor. The one who stabbed him was one of the enemy soldiers lying on the floor.
“Come on, Your Majesty. Are you giving up already?”
“V-Varthez! There you are!”
“You made for a decent show.”
“Where’s Voluze? Whatever! Hurry up and take care of these vermin!” Suarez suddenly regained his spirit. I was really beginning to think that this kind of confidence was some kind of mental disorder.
“Okay okay, quit shouting.”
There was something strange about Suarez’s champion. He looked to be one of the men who’d been knocked unconscious. I didn’t have the time to Identify all of our enemies, but there was something odd about the way he carried himself. He had not looked this dangerous before.
The man in front of us had typical brown hair and bronze skin, slender but toned. He was also emitting a fierce aura, one that Suarez couldn’t hope to match. This change told me that the man called Varthez was not to be trifled with. He could mask his abilities.
“Honestly, boss, I don’t know if I can win. But if now’s your time to go, then it’s your time to go, right?”
I had a feeling of déjà vu when he grinned. I had felt this aura before.
Fran recognized it, too. “Valuza?”
The man we’d fought a fierce duel with back in Seedrun. He was the kingdom’s foremost fighter, and a blood knight at that. He had far more skill and experience than Fran. If his blade, Soul Drain, hadn’t made me lose control, I wasn’t sure we could have won. Valuza was that strong. Fighting him was one of Fran’s great milestones.
“Oh? Are you the girl who killed my master?”
“You’re Valuza’s student?”
“You could say that. I was very disappointed to hear that a little girl took him out. But I suppose I can see how you beat him.”
“Stop talking and help me!”
Varthez smirked at Suarez’s barking. He had no respect for his employer. “Come now, don’t rush me. I’m enjoying this.”
“I’m not,” said Fran.
“Don’t say that, girl. How can you resist baring your heart to the man who is going to kill you?” Varthez’s eyes darkened. He might have been Valuza’s student, but the pupil had a deeper darkness. Varthez was an insane and sadistic murderer, and made very little effort to conceal it.
Fran, we need to heal Mordred’s mage before he dies.
“Hm…Mordred.”
“Yeah?”
“What?” said Varthez. “No one-on-one?”
“I have no time for your games.”
“Oh, this one?” he said. “You can have him.”
“Gaah!”
Varthez kicked Mordred’s teammate over and Fran caught him. Blood poured freely from his wound and she wasted no time in healing it. His face was still pale. A deadly poison had gotten into his system. Fortunately, we could still heal him.
Varthez looked surprised. “Wow, you can use Healing Magic, too?”
“Thanks, Black Lightning Princess,” said the mage.
“Hm. You have to rest now.”
“Alright.” Mordred’s man thanked her. He wouldn’t be able to fight for a while, but he would recover from the poison.
“Nice. Shame, though. I was about to give him some new friends,” Varthez said as multiple magic circles appeared around his feet.
Several figures began crawling out of them.
“Vaaaaargh…”
Necromancy. The man had reanimated the dead fighters. They retained their physical strength, but were as as tough as regular zombies. While easy to dispose of individually, they were quite dangerous in a mob. Varthez was as good at necromancy as he was at fighting. He was at least a mid-rank mage at Level 7. In fact, he could prepare this spell and delay its casting while lying on the floor.
Varthez’s mastery over magic might make him more dangerous than Valuza. Valuza had drained his enemy’s mana, but we didn’t really have to look out for any weird spells. At least Varthez wasn’t likely to be as dangerous at melee range.
Team up with Mordred and flatten him. We don’t have time to waste.
Varthez looked disappointed when both Fran and Mordred readied their weapons. “I gave him back to you. Hold up your end of the deal.”
“I don’t remember making any deal.”
“That’s right.”
“Hee hee. What a shame. But are you sure both of you should be here? I think my brother Voluze should’ve reached the other Sea Dragon by now. You should lend them a hand.”
“What?”
Mordred hesitated. He couldn’t tell whether Varthez was lying. Essence of Falsehood told me that he wasn’t.
“He should be enjoying himself right about now, probably chopping the princess to pieces.”
Should we split up or stick together to kill him as fast as we could?
Mordred decided for us. “Go on, Black Lightning Princess.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d have trouble crossing over to the Wishkar.”
“Alright.”
“Besides…” Mordred lowered his voice and glared at Varthez.
Varthez laughed with joy at the adventurer’s murderous intent. He sounded exactly like Valuza. “Hee hee hee! You’ll make a fine playmate!”
“…He got one of my men. I have to pay him back for that.”
Mordred’s not going down without a fight, Fran. We should hurry to the Wishkar.
“Hm. I’ll leave this one to you.”
“I’ve got it covered.”
***
“She’s gone.”
After the Black Lightning Princess left the room, I turned to face the lunatic Varthez. I had seen his type before. They all had different reasons, but all of them enjoyed killing, as if it were a hobby. These lunatics often treated their own lives like a toy. Very dangerous if they happened to possess any amount of power.
“He he heh. I can’t wait to play with you…I’m getting goose bumps!” Varthez readied his sword and his zombies readied theirs.
“I thought you wanted to go one-on-one.”
“I do. These boys are part of my repertoire.”
Of course they are, you cheeky bastard.
“B-boss…”
“Make sure Suarez doesn’t get away. I’ll take care of this one myself.”
“Got it!”
I gave my men the signal to leave the room, and Varthez made his move.
“He he heh. Here we go!”
Varthez’s strange sword was curved like a scimitar, but it had fine spikes on the blade. Even if you managed to avoid its business end, those spikes would probably catch you. And those spikes were definitely poisoned.
“Shaaaaa!” Varthez lunged. The sword traveled through an impossible arc, making it difficult to avoid.
“Kiieeeee!”
“I can see you!”
A tricky maneuver, but still visible. I blocked it easily, even while being attacked by his zombie horde. I began casting while still on my guard.
“Metal Control.”
“Wow! I didn’t expect you to complete a spell under this much pressure! But that! Won’t! Work!”
“Tch!”
Varthez dissipated my spell with a swipe. His sword was enchanted.
“I saw how you melted Lord Suarez’s ax. I’d love to see some advanced Steel Magic, but why don’t you stick to the basic stuff?!”
Fire and earth spells were difficult to use here. Fire would endanger the ship, and there wasn’t enough soil to use Earth Magic. But when Varthez asked me to stick to basic Steel Magic, he didn’t know what he was asking for.
“—”
“You’re casting again? How stupid can you get! You don’t have time to cast now!”
“—”
“Get him, zombies!”
“!”
The zombies lurched toward me. They didn’t care for their lives (or lack of) and their main focus was to stop me from moving.
