Chapter 117:

The advantage of a surprise attack did not last long.

The Ravens, who had quickly reformed their ranks, had a clear objective.

It was obvious they planned to tie up me and Hugo and deal with the Imperial Guard first.

The Imperial Guard still maintained a solid defensive formation, but with a significant number already injured, it didn't look like they could last long.

'Are they trying to stop the officially sanctioned Imperial Guard from reporting this?'

The Eight Council and the Three Blades were, in the end, organizations that moved in the shadows.

They had the advantage of being able to commit dirty deeds that couldn't be done out in the open, but they couldn't step into the spotlight.

But the Imperial Guard was different.

They were an official military organization that protected the Emperor and also served as his limbs.

Word of the Ravens' intervention reaching the Emperor's ears would be a problem on a whole different level from the displeasure of the Dukes or myself.

I rushed toward the thinnest part of the encirclement.

The Ravens stepped back one by one, seemingly having no intention of actively blocking my path.

'...It seems they're not just harassing the Imperial Guard for that reason alone.'

The path the Ravens opened by retreating led to the Imperial Guard.

This way, it would be logical to naturally join the Imperial Guard and fight.

In the meantime, Ivan would get further away.

I changed direction and charged toward the most densely packed area of the enemy.

I had no intention of moving according to the opponent's thoughts.

This time, the Ravens showed no signs of backing down.

Pajijik!

As I slammed my staff into the ground, lightning sparked out in all directions.

Even the most well-trained person couldn't help but hesitate in a situation like this.

'That's enough.'

While they were loosened by the brilliantly spreading lightning, I quickly escaped the encirclement.

There was no need to deal with each and every one of the guys trying to tie me down.

In the end, if they wanted to take the commander's head, they had no choice but to follow me.

The ones who noticed my scheme began to follow, but they were too slow to catch me.

Seeing me right in front of him again, Ivan clicked his tongue.

“Where do you think you’re going without catching up with me first?”

“I don’t think there’s anything for us to catch up on.”

“That’s what you think. I have a great many things to ask.”

Perhaps thinking it was pointless to run, Ivan assumed a fighting stance.

“If you have so much to talk about, why don’t you put down your weapon and come here.”

“As you can see, I am completely unarmed. This staff is just for my aching legs….”

I heard the sound of a blade approaching from a blind spot.

I lightly twisted my body to dodge it, then struck the head of the retreating Raven with all my might, and the fellow collapsed limply.

“…you see. Well, except for cases like this, of course.”

“In that case, I suppose I should respond in kind.”

Ivan waved his hand a few times, and the number of Ravens glaring at me with wide eyes decreased.

“You’re very confident.”

“It’s just that having too many people around makes things rather awkward.”

Ivan, retorting nonchalantly, pulled a wand from his coat.

It was an item like a magician’s essential, but it wasn't a common sight in the world of The Path of the Demon King.

This was because a wand wasn't absolutely necessary to use magic.

No, in fact, it was common here to manipulate mana without such things.

I was a case in point, and even Til, who was hopeless at magic, could use a 9th-tier spell without such an auxiliary tool.

There were two main reasons for using a magical tool like a wand.

Either you needed to finely control the power of the magic, or you needed to amplify it.

Kwang!!

With a tremendous explosion, a large crater formed at my feet.

If I hadn't dodged in time, even Valheit’s body wouldn't have escaped unscathed.

The power was a problem, but the tier of the spell he used was also a problem.

There were about four or five spells similar to what I just saw, and all of them were 5th-tier or higher.

“I didn’t know you were so well-versed in magic.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than another explosion shook the ground.

“Thank you for the compliment. Shall we continue?”

Ivan's expression as he aimed the wand was quite serious.

Seeing him show no signs of fatigue even after unleashing such power, this was not a fight that would end easily.

I straightened my disheveled clothes and put a smile on my face.

Because smiling in times like these was the Valheit way.

“I’d love to.”

***

'Shit, there are so damn many of them.'

Til scowled and swore inwardly.

Finding the Ravens' pursuit team wasn't difficult, but dealing with them was another matter.

They kept leaving one or two people behind to stall for time, making it difficult to approach the main body of the pursuit team.

Their skills were nothing special compared to Til's, but when they were determined to defend and buy time, even Til had to hesitate.

“How important is this guy that you’re throwing away your lives to chase him?”

Instead of an answer, a blade came flying.

She parried it lightly and slashed the opponent's shoulder.

His arm was already in tatters from being cut several times, but the opponent showed no signs of backing down.

'Tsk. This one seems intent on clinging to me until he dies too.'

It had been like this the whole time.

When one fly that gnawed at her nerves died, another one came.

There was no end to this.

The last time she checked, they hadn't caught the curse-weavers, but it was hard to be sure if they were still successfully on the run.

But for now, there was no other way but to slice through the flies one by one.

Just as she made up her mind and gripped her axe again, an unfamiliar noise brushed past her ear.

Shweek!

The opponent also noticed the source of the sound and swung his sword wide.

The arrow that hit the blade fell powerlessly to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, the Raven's head rolled to a stop next to the fallen arrow.

Wiping the blood from her axe roughly on her clothes, Til looked in the direction the arrow had flown from.

It wasn't someone from the Eight Council.

Among the count shadow corps or the Demon Tribe, only one or two people could handle a bow properly.

Besides, the only one with the skill to shoot an arrow so close that it almost grazed Til while hiding it from the Raven was the demon Hillia.

And right now, she should be moving with Kaseph, just like the other demons.

“Hey now, there’s no need to be so cautious.”

“…Come out.”

“Yep, of course.”

A man with a crossbow slung over his shoulder hesitantly emerged from the bushes.

Aside from the twigs and leaves stuck here and there, he was neatly dressed.

“A merchant?”

“Oh, how did you know that?”

“That insignia on your shoulder, it's what merchants usually wear.”

“To be precise, it's a commerce permit, but I guess that’s… wait, where are you going?”

As Til turned her body, the merchant raised his voice and waved his hands as if flustered.

But his expression didn't look urgent at all.

Rather, seeing that face, which even held a hint of a smile, Til felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“I’m busy.”

“May I follow you?”

“Hah… do as you please.”

She didn't have time to get into a scuffle with a guy like this.

If she moved fast enough, he'd probably fall behind on his own.

The next fly had already appeared.

A faint sense of bewilderment could be felt on the opponent’s face, as if he felt the line of defense had been broken faster than expected.

Chaeng!

Blade met blade, creating a sharp noise.

Perhaps because of that, the Raven missed another sound.

“Ugh?!”

An arrow was lodged in the man’s thigh.

He staggered once and tried to regain his posture, but his neck had already been half-severed by Til.

'He's no ordinary guy.'

She muttered inwardly as she pushed away the falling corpse.

There were countless cases where even trained people couldn't keep up with the speed of her light movements.

Even in the count shadow corps only Ede could keep up; the rest would quickly fall behind.

It didn't make sense for a merchant to have kept up with that speed.

'Well, that's not what's important right now.'

Following the trail left by the pursuit team, she cut down two more Ravens.

She didn't really want to admit it, but the arrows that flew in from time to time were actually quite helpful.

After saving time like that, the main unit came into view.

An expression of astonishment crossed the faces of the pursuit team as they confirmed Til's presence.

It didn't take long for an axe to be slammed into that surprised face.

Compared to the flies that were determined to cling to her, dealing with these guys who were completely unprepared for battle in their haste to give chase was easy.

She also had the help of the arrows that flew in between.

Just as she was driving a bodkin into the last one’s heart, she heard the sound of someone approaching with difficulty.

“Hah, hah. Is someone going to kidnap you if you slow down a little?”

Til glanced back.

He clearly hadn't followed with ease.

His ragged breathing and reddened face showed that he had used every ounce of his strength to keep up.

And yet, an indelible smile remained on the merchant's face.

Til didn't like it.

“Who are you?”

“Shouldn’t you, ugh, say thank you first?”

The axe blade came to a stop just short of the merchant's neck.

But the merchant was too busy gasping for breath to be particularly surprised.

“Such a bad personality….”

“I asked who you are.”

“My name is Falsh. I came to help at Mr. Brauder's request.”

Til frowned, wondering why Brauder's name was suddenly coming up, and then she remembered that Valheit had said he met a merchant and used the alias Brauder.

“That guy asked you for help?”

“Of course. Why else would I be here.”

So he had even prepared insurance like this.

It wasn't strange, seeing as he was the type to prepare everything while smiling his silly smile all the time.

'That Valheit fellow is way too cautious. Though I did receive help.'

Til, withdrawing her axe, fell into thought for a moment.

How much had Valheit told him?

If he had just told him to help the white-haired woman, she couldn't tell him everything.

He should have told her beforehand so she wouldn't have to worry about this.

“Thanks. You can go back now.”

“What? Isn’t there other work left to do?”

“Did Val… no, Brauder, tell you that much?”

“Nope. I figured it out with my intuition.”

Falsh grinned, tapping his own head.

It was a smile that strangely made her anger surge.

Suppressing the urge to kick him, she nodded her head.

If Valheit sent him, it probably meant his skills and security were guaranteed.

“We need to safely capture and move two people.”

“From whom?”

“These guys.”

Til kicked a corpse with a hint of annoyance.

She didn't know why, but just looking at this guy named Falsh made her irritation well up.

“Ah, I see. Then how should we, should we split up and search?”

“There’s no need for that. I already know where they are.”

Til whipped her head around and glared at the space between the shrubs.

“You two in there, come out. Unlike those bastards, I don’t need to capture you with all your limbs intact.”

Hiccup.

From between the quiet bushes, the sound of a startled hiccup was heard.

They tried to stop it in a hurry, but the hiccup didn't seem to stop.

“I’ll give you five seconds. 5….”

“P-please spare our lives!!”

A demon suddenly popped out and slammed his head to the ground very neatly.

***

Kwang! Kwaang!

A chain of explosions erupted, and dirt and vegetation rained down from the sky.

Spitting out the dirt that got into my mouth, I shook my head.

“This method doesn’t suit intelligence work at all.”

“I know how to be quiet when necessary, but I can’t afford to save my strength when dealing with you, Count.”

Now I roughly understood why he had pulled his subordinates back.

He intended to wreck this entire area.

“By the way, how long do you plan on ignoring me? You should give up on the idea of winning with only such low-tier spells.”

“Haha, that’s quite embarrassing.”

I laughed it off, but inwardly, I was stung.

Valheit’s bottomless mana and mastery of spells were certainly incredible, but as long as I was using low-tier spells, there was a limit.

Usually, that limit was unnoticeable, but against Ivan, it was a bit of a struggle.

'So this is what it feels like to fight a proper mage.'

If I dragged this out any longer, I would be fine, but I didn't know what kind of trouble the Imperial Guard or Hugo might run into.

“Then I’ll get serious for you.”

“…The Count with his eyes opened. I didn't mean for you to get quite that serious.”

Ivan lamented in a rather serious voice.

I cleanly ignored his lamentation.

The duration of the Weapon Demon is 1 minute.

I have to defeat him within that time.

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