Chapter 162

Ardis saw a dream .

But that was too realistic to be a dream, it was a replay of painful memories .

It should’ve been a dream . But if it wasn’t a dream――then what was it . Only the intense emotions that emerged from his heart made Ardis stood up .

「You―――! You dare……, you dare――! 」

「Wait, Ardis! 」

He ignored the voices from his side, Ardis launched himself towards his nemesis with a force that shattered the ground .

The innermost room of a fortress that took a hundred forty elites of the mercenary band to break through, the room that is likely the widest one in the fortress . Ardis’s yell reverberated in the hall that stretched more than fifty meters .

Opposite of him is a woman general with a crimson hair and eyes . The person who had welcomed Ardis and the others as the chief of the fortress said with a smile .

「It’s up to my own accord to dispose of my toys right? It’s not something scraps like you should be bothered with . 」

While dodging the heavy onslaughts with a calm face, she glanced at the black-haired mercenary .

The crimson jacket on her body swayed a little . Inside that is a set of metal armor that was crafted while preserving the body lines, and a short sword in a gorgeous sheath hung below her waist .

It is the proof that she isn’t a girl that is protected but someone who stands on the battlefield .

「Even though I prepared something special just for her, she was crying so much that I lost my interest . 」

With a scorning laugh, if only Ardis can rip that despicable mouth open, he wouldn’t regret selling his soul to a devil . Even though he would never forgive her even if she had her knees on the ground and begged for forgiveness, only his hatred for her only increased .

How much hatred can a person hold against another, there wasn’t a limit he can see yet .

「Don’t fuck with me! 」

While crying out angrily with killing intent, Ardis only continued swinging his sword . At the same time, he tried to take a distance, and sent flying swords from behind the woman general―― .

「This much? Boresome . 」

With an uninterested expression, the woman general threw countless spherical objects towards the flying swords .

The small silver spheres spanning three centimeters each arranged themselves in the air into a wall, stopping the slash . Though there were spheres blown away because of the heavy slash, there would immediately be more spheres filling up the space they left .

「Not enough……! 」

Ardis realized his disadvantage while his face distorted .

At most sixteen flying swords can be manipulated satisfactorily at Ardis’s current level . If just moving more, he can easily add a few more .

But flying swords that could only do simple move means nothing and won’t work on any experienced fighter . On top of that, his opponent is the woman general who is a country’s best sword . Even if she is a rotten person down to the core, her abilities are real .

Flying swords that could not perform skillful swordsmanship are just as well as nothing .

On the other hand, the woman general had manipulated countless spherical objects to deflect Ardis’s flying swords . Needless to say, the spheres that the woman general can manipulate is much more than Ardis’s flying swords .

Even now, the sixteen flying swords could serve nothing more than accessories around the woman general .

「Then from the front! 」

Ardis took a sword in his hand and rushed in by himself . But the woman general did not even try to dodge him .

An invisible shield that defended against Ardis’s sword . A physical barrier made from mana .

「It’s so sleep inducing . Well, it’s better than the toys just now though . 」

Ardis’s eyes filled with more rage at the woman general’s provocation .

「――You bastard! 」

Ardis left himself to his emotions and swung his sword . A single stroke took down two barriers, then another took down three barriers .

But even so, only more barriers would be deployed as they are destroyed, Ardis’s sword could never reach the woman general . Even as he yelled and slashed, the barriers only stood in his way without faltering .

「You, only you, never―――! 」

Even so, Ardis’s hand didn’t stop . If he could bring forth judgement to the woman general in crimson hair who is laughing with scorn, he would need nothing else .

With a soul dyed only in rage as he swung his sword, he only continued slashing with all his entirety .

But――― .

「Whyyyyyyyyyyy! 」

Even if he yelled with his all, his sword couldn’t reach the woman general .

The swords that he swung countless times were blocked by barriers . The woman general had blocked all the flying swords coming from different directions with the spheres, and stood against Ardis from the front easily .

In the first place, she isn’t someone suit to the sword . Easily blocking against all the slashes that came her way, the woman general swung her hand as if repelling an annoying bug .

Then suddenly, countless blades glimmering in red came at Ardis .

「Kuh! 」

Ardis who had detected danger immediately stopped attacking, and switched into defending with his all . A thick barrier that would rival a five-fold barrier . However, the blades easily encroached and melted the barrier .

「Ardis! 」

The voice that was heard from behind, Ardis quickly let go of his foothold and escaped upwards .

Right after that, a beam of light that carried a tinge of green shot through . The light that was fired from behind covered the woman general’s body, evaporating the surrounding floors and pillars, creating a large sunken floor in the hall that had become a battlefield .

「Sark! 」

「Do it! 」

The person that released that beam of light yelled, then another person released an additional attack . What was shot was pure space that is compressed to its limits .

Ten points of distortion in space collapsed and shot straight towards where the woman general was .

Then as if stopping them, the silver-colored spheres stood as a wall in the air . As if rushing to their own demise, they were sucked into the points, but as the collisions of the spheres and the points happened, the distortion of the points became less powerful .

Eventually, when the ten points of distortion had dissipated after devouring multiple tens of spheres, what was left is the figure of a long-haired woman standing as if nothing happened . Opening her vivid red lips, the woman general had an irritated expression .

「You two again? 」

She was looking at the two persons . They’re mercenaries and Ardis’s comrades wearing the same outfit as him .

One having hair about the same length with Ardis, and the other has long hair that is tied at the back . Their difference is only that . Other than that, their faces and appearances look totally the same, they’re brothers that share the same birthday .

Even though they have faces that could easily charm woman even in a tavern, they chose to be mercenaries for some reason . The greenish silver hair and bluish eyes had a gentle impression but, Ardis knew that their power can be even greater than himself .

「Can you stop . You’re making me dislike twins more and more . 」

「That is exactly what we want! 」

「We don’t want to be liked in the slightest by you anyways! 」

The two fought back with words against the woman general who said so in displeasure .

「This much is enough for impolite and barbaric people like you who can’t even follow a simple order when asking for a dance . 」

The woman general’s hand waved, and then the clump of mana that was gathered sucked in rubble from the surroundings and formed a humanoid shape .

「I will get back to you two later, play with these for the time being . 」

There were two humanoids constructed, the two humanoid golems started chasing after the twins with a speed unthinkable of something made from rubble .

「Sark, Elion! They’re not normal humanoid golems, be careful! 」

「Who are you telling that to! 」

「We know already, Ardis! 」

Even while warning the two, Ardis had not taken his eyes off the woman general a single moment . While sending glares that would be enough to curse the person still smiling to death, Ardis moved to his next hand .

Agitating the surrounding mana and gathering them to his sword’s edge, he manifested the greatest flame he could in order to incinerate his nemesis .

「Burn to ashes! 」

The same time when the sword was swung down, the white flame that was fed more than enough mana flared up and headed towards the woman general .

He knew that she isn’t an easy opponent . There wasn’t any room for him to hold back . The temperature that can instantly boil many types of metal was focused into one point, only for the cause of penetrating the woman general’s barrier .

「Don’t be arrogant! You scrap! 」

The woman general scoffed at him and welcomed the flames from the front .

The next moment, blue flames were born from the woman’s hand . The blue flames easily stopped Ardis’s attack, and in the next moment, overcame the white flames and became a counterattack .

「Shit! 」

Realizing that he couldn’t defend against the struggle of power between mana coming from the front, Ardis stopped his attack and focused on defense .

Even though he poured all his mana to make a barrier, that was only enough to weaken the blue flames a little for him to dodge it . The explosion caused by the two flames colliding easily levelled the surroundings, sending Ardis into the air .

As if looking to end Ardis who was blown by the shockwave into a wall, the woman general drew the sword on her waist and came at him .

「If that much is hard for you, it just means your limit is up . 」

The woman general that had easily closed the distance in an instant swung in a wide arc with her speed .

「Kuh! 」

As Ardis tried to defend against it with his sword, the heavy blow threw his arm up in the air . Although the woman tried to follow up with more attacks, Ardis is also a warrior that had crossed the border of life many times already .

Instinctually gathering mana into a single point to form a strong barrier to block the incoming sword, he tried to get away from the wall that is blocking his retreat .

But even the barrier made with all his mana couldn’t completely block the woman general’s slash .

「Gahak―! 」

Although it wasn’t enough to completely shatter Ardis’s barrier, the shock wasn’t cancelled out completely, and Ardis was blown away once again .

The force of the woman general’s slash that came through the barrier shook his organs . While desperately trying to hold onto his consciousness even while he was blown away, Ardis swung his sword towards the woman general .

But as if that move was predicted already, the silver spheres blocked his arm that held the sword .

「How pathetic . 」

As if to wipe off the smile on the woman general’s face, there was a voice that came from Ardis’s back .

「Ardis, get down! 」

Realizing the owner of the voice, Ardis fell on the floor without hesitation . Then several sharp icicles grazed above his head . The sudden attack that was hidden by Ardis’s body rushed into the woman general’s face from a close distance .