95 - Chapter 21: Street-Slasher Later VS Disappointing Richter (Part 1)
It began without anyone in particular taking the lead.
The moment Lumilia and the others started singing and the nobles of the enemy army began their peculiar dance, magic surged from them and reached the soldiers on the front lines. Even the soldiers of the Prime Minister's faction understood that this was a type of support magic.
They understood it, but their brains refused to comprehend the phenomenon that followed.
To counter the Royalist faction, who had received the support and begun their charge, the Prime Minister's army also advanced in a haphazard manner. Upon colliding, they encountered an abnormal state.
Support magic for an entire army is an extremely high-difficulty and high-level spell. Everyone thought there must be a flaw somewhere. In fact, it did not create invincible superhumans. They were strong, and their movements were fast. That was all when a blow landed.
However, every time one was defeated, the fallen opponent would somehow stand back up, shouting, "I'm fine, it's nothing!!" and returning to the battle line while humming Lumilia and the others' song, saying, "As long as this song is in my heart...!!" From an ally's perspective, this was probably the most reliable thing imaginable, but to an enemy, it was no different from soldiers whose total number never decreased no matter how many times they were cut down, so the Prime Minister's faction quickly fell into a great panic.
In truth, a phenomenon that Geoglyph had not foreseen was occurring at this stage. Irregularities are bound to happen.
The support magic performed in cooperation with Lumilia and the others emphasized sustainability and did not grant this level of toughness. However, the soldiers who had been exposed to that song────a culture that did not exist in this world and was far too refined────had learned it during the practice leading up to this battlefield.
And then came this grand occasion.
With the great cause of the Royalists (Lumilia) on their side, and fighting on a battlefield that would decide the trend of the nation, their morale was high, and their own combat abilities had increased more than ever before due to the buff.
There was no way they wouldn't get fired up, and before long, someone on the front line began fighting while singing their Queen's song themselves. This spread to those around them, and before long, a ridiculous battlefield akin to an Indian movie was created, where the entire army fought while singing.
If that were all, it would have been a laughing matter, but the nightmare for the Prime Minister's faction was that the song took on meaning.
All living creatures in this world, regardless of the difference in strength, possess magic power. And if there is a directionality called a spell formula, even a single note can trigger the phenomenon of magic. Of course, uneducated common soldiers, who were not trained nobles or mages who had majored in magic, did not know any spell formulas.
But what happens if magic power is flowed into a spell formula in the form of a song?
The conclusion.
"I won't... give up on living...!!"
It was the completion of unconscious support magic. The combination of an area buff (physical ability enhancement) and a self-buff (physical ability enhancement + self-healing) was nothing short of a nightmare for the faction that did not possess it, and on top of that.
"What is your reason for taking up the sword!?"
"Do you abandon and even betray the Royal Family, who has supported this country since its founding, just because of a single failure!?"
"I mean, are you guys sane, pointing weapons at such a beautiful girl!?"
"That's right, that's right! Shannon-tan is moe────!!"
"Common sense says it should be Marie-tan, right?"
"Huh? You don't understand the appeal of a multipara (T/N: woman who has given birth multiple times) (sluttish mother)? Has your foreskin not even been peeled yet? Get circumcised, get circumcised!"
"Her Highness is my wife!!"
"────An impudent one has appeared! Kill him!!"
Amidst a situation where it was unclear whether it was persuasion or internal strife, an abnormal state had occurred on the front line where the soldiers of the Prime Minister's faction were losing their will to fight and surrendering one after another.
The nobles of the Prime Minister's faction, watching this with trepidation, all thought the same thing.
"What is this? Are they... are they mocking war!?"
It was a perfectly reasonable anger.
Incidentally, it is said, or perhaps not, that some nobles were stunned, thinking, "Terrifying..." or "Wonderful..." or "Unbelievable..."
And, on that front line.
"It's time for a talk about war! Hey!!"
There was the figure of a kemoner (T/N: animal lover) charging on a horse, holding a metal bat in one hand.
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When that red hair approached, the soldiers of the Prime Minister's faction stopped moving for a moment.
In this world, the pressure of the strong has physical execution power mediated by magic power. Later basically uses his own magic power internally for things like physical body enhancement, but he knows that during hunting, by releasing it externally, he can stop the prey's movement for a moment.
It was just like a wild animal that had wandered onto a road in the middle of the night, and that opening was more than enough time for him, who primarily used close-quarters combat. Driving the horse he had borrowed from his own army, he wove through like a slalom, swinging the Rig Veda which he had transformed into a long metal bat, and pushed deep into the enemy lines.
Later blew away the lined-up soldiers one by one, so much so that it could be called refreshing, but his heart was not very calm.
(I can't help it, dammit!!)
While holding back enough so that they would only suffer light injuries if they were lucky, he advanced briskly as if mowing weeds, but there was a reason he had to do so.
It was because the soldiers who received the support magic had layered buffs on themselves.
Although it was support magic with a greatly expanded range, its effect was far inferior to that of the Lotus Gang, who lived by the rule of absurdity. Only because they had increased their basic specs through hellish training could they endure it mentally, but even they could not endure it physically. It was a suicide charge based on sacrifice, where they gained power that greatly exceeded the durability limits of the human body, resulting in broken legs if they stepped in, torn muscles if they swung a spear, and shattered teeth if they grit them.
Therefore, Geoglyph had saved the support magic to some extent, and at most, they would be hit by some muscle pain the next morning. However, because they had layered self-buffs by mimicking the singing, their combat power jumped, and at the same time, the price became higher than planned.
Geoglyph had set it to about 2.5 times physical enhancement, but with the layering of self-buffs, it had swollen to 4 times. It was much better than the insane multiplier of 10 times for the Lotus Gang, but this greatly exceeded the durability that an ordinary soldier could withstand. Currently, they were managing somehow because they were also layering self-healing, but the source of support magic is magic power. Once that was used up, the price would immediately bare its fangs to them.
In short, they were forced into a tremendous short-term decisive battle.
Moreover, Later, who noticed first because he was on the front line, immediately switched his target to the generals.
(I intended to just carve a path and then ride straight through to recover the three girls...!!)
The location of the three girls was already known. The Prime Minister's residence in the royal capital. Later's role was to charge in there and recover them quickly, but due to the unexpected rampage──── or rather, enthusiasm──── of the front line, he was forced to change his plans.
Terrifying is the entertainment that Japan is proud of...! While trembling, Later ravaged the enemy lines, hunting the officers and soldiers he spotted.
"Hah, I am──── guh!?"
"I am the one in this Alberstein who is the water bird's──── gah!!"
"You! To not even let me introduce myself──── guh!?"
"Sorry. I'm not smart enough to remember every single scrub's name."
After all, this was a situation where speed was required. As Later swept through the people wearing slightly luxurious armor or costumes and cut deep into the enemy lines.
"I'll have to ask you to stop there, hey."
"Oops."
In front of the horse he was leading, a man holding a spear appeared.
With just that, the horse stopped, neighed slightly, and then backed away slowly. While calming it, Later turned his gaze toward the spearman who had appeared in his path. A giant with black hair fluttering in the raging wind of the battlefield. Recognizing the spearman clad in silver armor, Later nodded with a "hmm," then got off the horse, gave its rump a light pat, and let the riderless horse escape.
"Someone who looks like they'll be a bit of a challenge has finally come out."
From here on, a horse was not necessary. Originally, he had only recently learned how to ride and was not very good at it. As for cavalry tactics, that was out of the question, and up until now, he had simply overwhelmed them with a difference in specs, but if the opponent was of equal or near-equal level, his original combat pattern would be necessary.
Seeing Later shoulder the metal bat, the black-haired giant also let out a sigh of exasperation, perhaps having the same thought.
"It's troublesome when things don't go as planned. When a battlefield wrecker like you shows up."
"That's your problem, isn't it? Has nothing to do with me."
"I suppose that's true. You, your name?"
"Later. An adventurer hired by the Royalist faction."
"I see. I am Richter Centaur. ...Our names are a bit similar."
When the spearman──── Richter gave a wry smile, Later felt a hitch in his memory at that name.
"Richter Centaur...? By any chance, are you Shannon's master?"
"You know about that brat?"
"Yeah. She was sulking because she couldn't beat you, so I gave her a bit of guidance."
"Ho, is that so..."
When Later told him that, Richter nodded slightly.
"You did something unnecessary, didn't you?"
"!?"
Immediately after, a spear thrust flew in a single leap.
It was not a metaphor or a joke. The distance between them was about ten meters. Even considering the reach of the spear, seven to six were distant. He closed that distance in one leap, and the tip raced toward Later's chest. Later parried it with the metal bat in his hand, but he did not react after seeing it. It was mostly intuition. There was no movement of magic power, and he was not physically enhanced, it was a weight-shift based on pure leg strength and technique.
The start of the movement was extremely minimal, and while not entirely without a beat, if they had not been facing each other and this had been a street-slashing, it would have been certain that he would have taken it head-on.
"No questions asked, huh? That's not very knight-like."
Later, whose fighting instinct had flared up for the first time in a long while at an attack of that level, laughed.
"The introductions are over, right? Then after this, we just kill each other."
Richter, who had been dodged by the youth, also laughed.
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In truth, Richter was not that confident in his own skill.
He had the achievement of being a former Gold Rank adventurer. He had the pride of being the best knight in the country. However, because he had been an adventurer, he had realized that there are always those above the top. No, he had suspected it. But it was during that time that it sank in. Whether a martial artist or a mage, in the end, they were all just competing on the same stage of being human──── he had learned this during his time as an adventurer.
The investigation request for Mount Carbil. Richter had accepted that request, which was issued because magic beasts had suddenly increased recently, alone simply because he was bored, and then he encountered two ancient dragons fighting near the crater of the volcano.
The two, both exceeding fifty meters in length, were clashing for some unknown reason, and Richter remained a spectator. He had no choice but to remain one. Facing the two who breathed fire, bit, tore with claws, and intertwined while scattering blood, he looked down at the spear in his hand and asked himself.
Would my martial arts even reach those things?
A clear answer returned from the depths of his chest. No.
It was not that he had lost confidence. He had simply realized that he could only boast strength within the framework of a human. He wondered what meaning there was in that pride.
Such hesitation is common for a martial artist, and usually, one finds a compromise. Richter likewise had found a compromise between what he could do and what he wanted to do.
But now, the same emotion he felt when he gained that hesitation was evoked by the boy before his eyes.
(This guy...!)
The spear is a versatile weapon, praised as the finest among close-quarters weapons. It is good for thrusting, good for sweeping, good for parrying, and good for striking with the butt after flipping it. It has a better reach than a longsword, yet is no inferior in handling. By design, it requires a certain amount of space, but unless it is indoor combat, it is hard to think of a close-quarters weapon that surpasses it.
However, Later did not flinch at all against that spear.
(What is that artifact!)
Using the Rig Veda in his hand as a sword to parry thrusts, as a shield to block sweeps, as a spear to match parries, and as a war hammer to intercept the flipped butt. It was like a weapon trade show. However, such impressions were merely on the surface, only one aspect of this combat.
Essentially.
(No, more than that──── how many lifetimes have you lived to be able to fight in such a mismatched way!?)
Richter was wide-eyed at Later's technical ability to handle all those weapons.
The handling of a weapon, its proficiency, is in other words the history of that martial artist itself. If one grips a sword, the palm and center of gravity become suited to it, if one uses a fist as a weapon, calluses form on the knuckles, and if one takes a bow, the shoulder that pulls the string develops.
In contrast, the boy before him had uniform muscles. There was nothing extreme anywhere, and he was trained evenly and comprehensively. Such training often leads to being a jack of all trades and master of none, but the way he accurately handled multiple weapons to deal with the spear Richter swung had an air of being a versatile genius.
Yet, there was no roughness as if the whole were broken. Those who handle multiple weapons inevitably show some coarseness, but his mature body movements were instead devoid of waste, like a round stone polished by the flow of a river.
He had never seen such an opponent even in his dozen-plus years of adventurer life.
"Later, was it. You, what is your style?"
Against Later, who had parried and slashed away a full-power thrust aimed at the torso with a longsword, Richter stopped his follow-up attack and asked.
"I'd like to say my own style, but that would be far too impudent. I'll call it Earth CQC."
"Chikyuu-Shi-Kyuu-Shi style? I've never heard of it..."
"I'm telling you, you'd better not underestimate it. I've also put in the work here (in this other world), and this has a history of up to 5000 years."
"You're going back as far as the Mekshuria Civilization? Stop lying."
As Later shouldered the sword and twisted the corner of his mouth, Richter unknowingly readied his spear.
(That said, it's different from the Albert Style or the Enrai Style. No, there is a feeling close to the Enrai Style... what is this guy?)
Heterogeneous.
That word fit perfectly. Despite not conforming to any existing martial arts system, his refined techniques were so good it was strange he hadn't appeared on the main stage. Even for a former Gold Rank like Richter, if asked if he could win, he couldn't help but answer that the odds were against him.
But.
"Well, that's convenient in its own way. Don't die easily."
"You too. I don't want to kill an acquaintance's master either."
Both readied their weapons and faced each other.
Their intersecting gazes presaged each other's seriousness.
Next time is (probably) next week.