Chapter 68.2: Behemoth (10)
Proofreader: DreaMing
After the death of Behemoth, the demons—they will begin to attack in earnest.
Starting with Creas, the Heavenly King who descends first—Lich, commanding his undead corps, and then the Queen of Demons, Succubus Queen.
Big events will follow one after one.
Before they start, it is necessary for me to find and recruit Shedia, Katarina and Leslie.
That meant we had to be moving quickly.
“So I shouldn’t be interested in things like this.”
When I woke up, I found a letter pushed in the gap under the door.
It was a duel invitation penned under the name of Lorian's younger sister, Lorraine. The letter asked to come to the grounds alone tonight.
“I can’t…”
Unlike the mind, body was honest.
I had woken up late, the sun had set and I was crossing through the darkened garden and heading towards the grounds.
But it sounds like fun.
A duel letter sent by Lorian's sister.
How can I leave this go?
As I was rationalizing in my mind, I arrived at the grounds. A slender figure stood in the center where the only light source was the moonlight.
A woman with long curly brown hair.
She was Lorraine.
With only metal plates covering her vital points to retaining mobility, she had a thin, sharp broadsword belted around her waist.
“What did you do to my brother?”
As soon as I arrived at the grounds, Lorraine looked at me with a terrifyingly frigid expression, and asked.
“What are you talking about? On the side note, you were actually really waiting alone? I had thought you will have other guys hidden up to ambush me.”
There was no sign of any significant presence around the grounds. She may have hired someone with hiding mastery, enough to deceive my senses, but that's unlikely.
Why would such a great master of skills follow the orders of a princess of some Kingdom of Carta?
He would have served the Emperor instead, that would guarantee a better life quality.
Which means that Lorraine really intends to fight me damn straight.
“Answer the question I asked!”
Lorraine shouted as she drew her broadsword.
I quietly compared my sword to hers.
‘…it's again time to change the sword.’
In the meantime, I had been using it because of my positive emotions towards the old man, who I'd met in the Kingdom of Alitia, but now seems to be the time to let it go and give the rest it deserves.
“So you are not going to answer me, huh? Alright, let us both see for how long you can keep your mouth closed!"
Lorraine sprinted towards me.
She wasn't someone with just all talks and no show.
She wasn't Lorian's blood sister just in name.
I drew my sword and used the glyph.
(King's Sense)
My senses expanded.
Sense of hearing.
I could hear Lorraine's clear footsteps, her breathing, and even her heartbeat.
Sense of sight.
My vision, which had just been in darkness, opened up in gray and white. Darkness was no longer an obstacle. When I narrowed my eyes, I could clearly see the small scratches on Lorraine's sword.
Sense of smell.
The smell of my body, the smell Lorraine's body carried, the smell of earth, the smell of flowers in the garden, etc. There were various smells coming in at once, but they were distinguishable.
Sense of touch.
As Lorraine ran, I felt the air flow passing across her skin.
"Die!"
The broadsword descended diagonally.
Lorraine slashed her sword horizontally as I pivoted on my right foot, ducking her sharp sword.
The sword passed by me without landing as much as a graze.
‘Cause I had already distanced myself away from her.
All of my enhanced senses made me read her movements in advance.
“How long can you scurry away from my attacks, lowly subject?!”
Judging that her normal attacks alone were not enough, Lorraine began mixing feints.
But even that was easily readable.
It was too obvious a feint to deceive the sense enhanced by the Glyph.
After about two minutes, the expanded sensation gradually returned to normal.
As effective as it was, it wasn't long lasting.
But the loss of my enhanced senses didn't turn me hapless. I calmly dodged or knocked out Lorraine's sword moves. After participating in the sweet sword dance for quite some time, Lorraine finally became tired and plopped on her knees.
“Unbelievable… No way… This is nonsense… I-I was defeated by a c-commoner, an i-incompetent hero…”
Lorraine mumbled with a look of disbelief. Then she flared her eyes and looked at me.
“What trick did you use?!”
"Hm?"
“Don’t even think about shrugging it off! Your movements had definitely seen a sudden change in between! I definitely felt it!”
There was a huge difference in the depth of five senses I feel normally, so my movements were bound to be slightly different.
There is a big difference between reading the opponent and anticipating the opponent's moves.
However, the minor change in my movements wasn't that great.
To actually catch that, it means that she had some actual talent…
I thought she was just an end user of royalty pleasures, but I was left surprised.
"Look! I see you can't answer, so I'm right. To cheat in a sacred duel. Right, I shouldn't have involved a lowly person in such sanctity.”
And now she had brazenly accepted my silence as affirmation.
What the hell was she, for real?
“Hey, let me ask you one thing. Do you hate commoners so much? After all, your people are also mainly commoner, alright?”
I asked as I walked to Lorraine.
As I moved, she was startled, and then spoke in a voice bordering on anger.
"Hah! Isn't it natural to dislike ugly things that are dumb like mules and don't know about basic politeness? In particular, things like you who don't know their position and try to elevate themselves, are more disgusting than dirty cockroaches!"
“Please, let that hate be given to your cockroaches alone.”
"What do you—huh?”
Lorraine's eyes widened.
That was natural.
Because I stole a kiss off her lips. Lorraine, who was momentarily stunned by the sudden kiss, grasped the situation and immediately swung her sword.
I tilted my head and avoided the sword's sharpness.
Lorraine heaved as if she couldn't believe what just happened.
I exclaimed at her exhilaration towards me.
“Ever dreamed of having a romantic first kiss with a wonderful nobleman? Regretful, ain't it? Your first kiss is commoner's, miss, it's commoner Cloud's.”
“Ah… no… no no!!!”