Strongest Swordman’s Re:START-Chapter 20: Struggle

CHAPTER 20 – STRUGGLE

“Elea, Luka! I’m leaving the Velche to you! I’ll get the attention of the Ghezo Velche!”

Before the Magic Beasts could even move, Jonahim gave his orders.

“… Got it!”

“… Sure.”

Elea gave him a worried look, but her response was still sharp. Luka, on the other hand, responded nonchalantly as usual.

“A sound judgment.”

Merc murmured to herself as she stood on the sidelines, observing.

The Velche, unlike the Ghezo Velche, fought without the use of spells, despite having Mana. In other words, Elea and Luka wouldn’t have to be concerned about spells.

The Ghezo Velche’s fighting style, on the other hand, was mostly centered around casting spells with its absurd amount of Mana. As a result, it was only natural for Jonahim, who wielded the Anti-Mana Sword, to engage it.

Jonahim had stated from the beginning that he would only draw its attention. He made it obvious that he had no intention of defeating it.

His orders were given with the intention of having Elea and Luka defeat the Velche as quickly as possible and then join him.

“Ha!”

Elea thrust her spear at a nearby Velche, but the Velche evaded the thrust with finesse.

Instead of pursuing the opening that Elea had created, the Velche moved back and examined her, contrary to Elea’s expectations. It was a strange response.

“What? You’re not coming? I’ll go after your friends then!”

Elea switched targets and pounced on another Velche. The Velche Elea charged at, however, flew up into the air as though awaiting her. The tip of a spear, no matter how long it could extend, could not reach a flying opponent.

And the Velche that had flown up didn’t appear to be planning an attack, as it expanded its wings and simply floated.

“… They’re fighting in an entirely different way from the ones we just fought1.”

Elea said with a perplexed expression as she stared at the Velche, who appeared to be uninterested in fighting. They had easily defeated the first wave of Velche due to their reckless charge, but now that the Velche had chosen to abuse their ability to fly and their agility, Elea had no choice but to stand down.

It would be hard to corner the Velche group the way they were acting now.

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“Fire Arrow!”

Luka unleashed a surge of mana from her black wand, which instantly transformed into arrows that showered down on the group of Velche.

Owing to the excessive distance between them, the Velche group was able to easily avoid the arrows and then provocatively bare their canines. Luka frowned.

“… I see. They’re buying time.”

“What?”

“That.”

Luka replied to Elea, who was completely taken aback, as she pointed to the Ghezo Velche fighting Jonahim.

Jonahim could be spotted struggling against the Ghezo Velche alone.

The Ghezo Velche’s speed and attacks, which were many levels stronger than a normal Velche’s, were clearly pushing even the skilled Jonahim back.

Blood was dripping from his cheeks, forehead, arms, and thighs, and his leather armor was torn in multiple places. Jonahim’s focused look indicated that he was having difficulty dealing with the Ghezo Velche.

“Jonahim!”

Elea raced in to assist Jonahim, but she instantly turned around with her spear as she sensed a killing intent coming from behind her. As she did so, the Velche running at her swiftly put some distance between them. Despite this, it made it obvious that if she attempted to rush to Jonahim’s aid, it would pursue her again.

“ARGH! You’re so annoying!”

Elea yelled, her gaze falling on the Velche group, who were battling in a sly uncharacteristic manner for a Magic Beast.

“Elea, go help Jonahim. I’ll hold the Velche group back.”

“Luka… Thank you!”

Elea hesitated for a split second when he heard Luka say that, but she couldn’t just abandon Jonahim like that.

She raced to Jonahim’s side, thanking Luka as she did so.

“Awooooo!”

One of the Velche suddenly pounced at her from behind.

“Fire Spear!”

“Woof?”

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Luka hurled a flaming spear at the easy target, penetrating its body. The Velche, which had been penetrated by the spear, burst into flames and died.

“You’re not getting past me.”

As the Velche group saw Elea joining Jonahim’s side they also tried to rush in to help the Ghezo Velche.

Luka, on the other hand, firmly pointed her wand, restraining them. The Velche couldn’t approach her without caution after witnessing the power of her spell. After all, the Ghezo Velche had ordered them to stall for time.

They wouldn’t be able to execute their order if they charged recklessly towards Luka and died. And it was most likely such thoughts that compelled the Velche group to behave in such a rigorous manner.

“Jonahim, I’ll help!”

“But Luka… No, she’ll be fine. Thank you. I wouldn’t have lasted any longer by myself.”

Elea and Jonahim began to push down the Ghezo Velche once they met up.

“Grrr!”

The Ghezo Velche opened its mouth wide and shot out a fireball. Jonahim quickly dispersed it with his sword, while Elea emerged behind him and plunged her spear. The Ghezo Velche, on the other hand, deftly avoided it.

It quickly devolved into a series of back-and-forth exchanges.

The Ghezo Velche suddenly leaped back, creating some distance from the two of them, and spread its flame wings wide. Countless flame feathers formed from its wings and shot like arrows towards Jonahim and Elea.

It was like Luka had cast Fire Arrow.

“Tsk! There’s too many.”

Jonahim couldn’t handle the feathers, which counted in the hundreds, even with his exceptional swordsmanship.

“Water Wall!”

Jonahim flung his sword to the ground and stretched his arms forward, causing a wall of water to emerge in front of him. The fire feathers collided with the wall and evaporated before they could reach Jonahim and Elea.

They’d managed to get through it somehow.

“… Hmm. Water magic, huh.”

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The usage of a spell that didn’t correspond to the party’s name caught Merc off guard2.

Even if the compatibility was perfect, Merc was surprised that a castless spell could block the Ghezo Velche’s feathers. Merc assessed that Jonahim’s best element was probably water based on the speed and accuracy with which he cast it.

It appeared unfitting for Blazing Impact’s leader in Merc’s opinion.

Maybe that’s why Jonahim was chosen as the party’s leader, or why the name was chosen in the first place. A trap to fool their enemies3.

“At any rate, they’re having a harder time than I thought they would. It’s shocking to assume that the Velche would employ such refined tactics.”

The Velche group was unable to move as it desired due to Luka’s impediment; however, if they were able to defeat Luka and join with the Ghezo Velche, the scales would undoubtedly shift. It all hinged on Jonahim and Elea’s ability to defeat the Ghezo Velche before that occurred.

… In any case, it’s all the same to me.

Even though there was no one else nearby, Merc couldn’t say those things out loud.

Robinxen: They be smarter. Robinxen: They have no style. Robinxen: Definitely reading into it too far.