Return of The Martial King

[ Chapter 35 ]

Talkata found himself slightly taken aback. Siris’s movements were faster than he had anticipated.

“Interesting!”

However, as a veteran gladiator with more than 80 victories in the Zeppelin arena, Talkata’s surprise was separate from his actions. His longsword was already faithfully following through on its trajectory.

“Slash!”

A sharp flash left a trail in the air, striking down like lightning. It was a powerful blow that seemed capable of splitting the very essence of the spirit, making Siris twist her body in surprise. The moment she did, as if Talkata had anticipated this, he swung his sword to the side.

“Ugh!”

Siris groaned as she was struck on the shoulder by the blade, sending her flying to the side. Talkata’s attack followed immediately. He lifted his longsword as if to cleave through the earth itself. The movement was large, giving Siris room to dodge, but that was precisely what he had intended. With his left fist, not holding the sword, Talkata aimed a punch at her abdomen.

Siris barely managed to dodge, but her legs got tangled. Only after stumbling backward could she regain her posture.

“I’m sorry!”

Apologizing, Talkata launched a relentless assault. The light of daggers and longswords filled the desolate winter garden. They exchanged dozens of blows, with Siris sweating profusely. To an onlooker, it might have seemed like she was defending well, but from the receiving end, it didn’t feel that way.

‘So strong!’

Talkata was only attacking with an intensity he knew she could defend against. She could barely defend, but finding an opportunity for a counterattack was impossible. Moreover, the disparity in their weapons was profound. It was absurd to face a longsword with only a dagger, and dagger technique wasn’t even her specialty.

‘I shouldn’t have left my scimitar in the room!’

The longsword danced around, occupying all directions. The trajectory of the numerous blades flying towards her was elaborate, yet none of them bore lethal intent. Talkata was tasked with capturing her without inflicting any injuries. In other words, he was deliberately fighting to exhaust her physically.

Romad, of course, did not appreciate Talkata’s intricate strategy. He just kept getting annoyed.

“What are you doing, Talkata? You incompetent fool! Can’t you capture a single elf female?”

Even though he lacked skill, his voice was loud and clear. But Talkata paid him no mind. It seemed that failing to understand one’s place was a characteristic of humans. Having seen such behavior in humans often, he wasn’t angry, just perplexed.

‘Looks like I’m going to miss dinner tonight.’

Preferring to go hungry for a day rather than leaving a scar on the elf woman, Talkata continued his offensive carefully.

On the other hand, Sillan was on the verge of losing his mind with anxiety.

“Be careful! Siris!”

“Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet!”

Although it was not a prayer, Romad reacted sensitively to the mere shout. Veins bulged on Sillan’s forehead.

‘Ah, I really want to give those guys a good hit…’

Siris thought Sillan was scared. And indeed, he was shaking, but not out of fear. He was simply infuriated.

‘Damn, there’s no opportunity.’

There was no chance to use a holy spell. Since all holy spells required calling on the name of a deity, even the mention of Philanence would have Romad hurling his dagger immediately. Sillan had considered whispering, but since holy spells, like magic, were subject to the control of words, a certain volume was necessary.

“Ugh!”

While diligently dodging, Siris finally stumbled after taking a hit to her abdomen. Again, Talkata managed to twist his sword at the last moment to hit with the flat, avoiding drawing blood. Talkata was indeed an experienced swordsman. Siris gritted her teeth.

‘In that case…’

Suddenly, Siris charged foolishly straight at Talkata. Surprised, Talkata slashed horizontally at her neck. It was a slow enough strike that she could have easily avoided it. However, instead of dodging, Siris brought her neck closer to the blade while increasing her spin.

“Taah!”

“Krugh?”

With a bizarre scream, Talkata forcefully stopped his sword. Suddenly changing the offensive caused strain on his muscles. At that moment, Siris made a long cut across Talkata’s chest. Indeed, the mithril dagger easily sliced through the thick armor and wounded the muscle.

“Kugh!”

Bleeding, Talkata staggered back. He looked at the elf girl in front of him in confusion.

‘What if I hadn’t twisted the trajectory?’

His slender neck would have been cleanly severed.

He hadn’t expected such a move.

It would have been understandable if a novice had pulled such a stunt. But with that level of skill, she should have known how difficult it was to stop a downward strike.

Siris smiled faintly.

‘I relied on your skill for that move.’

She was well aware that what she was doing was madness. Even now, her heart seemed as though it would burst from the tumult within.

Nonetheless, thanks to her actions, they had gained some distance. A momentary lull ensued. Sillan, who had been anxiously watching the situation, suddenly began to furiously scratch his head.

“Ah, damn it…….”

With a look of determination, Sillan yelled at Siris.

“Siris! Can you block a flying dagger?”

“Huh?”

“Yes? Maybe once…….”

Siris, puzzled by the question, casually responded. Sillan nodded at her reply.

“I’ll trust you!”

And then he abruptly began to pray!

“O Philanence!”

Naturally, Romad was shocked and threw a dagger. No, the dagger was already flying towards Sillan by the time he shouted. The hefty dagger was aimed straight at Sillan’s head. If it struck, Sillan’s fragile head would surely be split in two.

“Sillan!”

Siris, horrified, leapt forward and swung the dagger in an arc shape. She had said she could block it, but that was when she had a scimitar or a longsword in hand. Normally executing a sword parry with a longsword, she now had to do it with a dagger, and she wasn’t confident she could properly block it.

Clang!

Fortunately, the dagger collided with another dagger and flew off in a different direction. It was sheer luck. She was certain she couldn’t do it a second time.

‘What are you doing!’

Turning pale, Siris looked back at Sillan. He was steadfastly reciting his prayer, unaffected by the dagger flying towards him. He truly had a strong heart. After all, this was the Sillan who had remained unshaken even with a ghoul’s claw in front of his eyes.

“… May you joyfully punish that damned one!”

A prayer filled with personal feelings was completed. It was vocabulary that lacked the dignity expected of a clergyman. And yet, the holy spell was activated? Philanence, known as the goddess of love and beauty, must indeed have a special fondness for beautiful boys.

Whoom!

Pink maces began to float abundantly around Sillan. At the same time, the maces flew fiercely towards Romad and his group. Talkata, taken aback, swung his sword, but the formidable divine power imbued in those holy light maces was truly impressive. In an instant, the sword was knocked from Talkata’s grip, and the maces pummeled his entire body.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Ughhhh!”

Even Talkata couldn’t help but scream in agony from the force unleashed upon him. The others had no words left to say, as they were all being battered and continuously screaming here and there. Fortunately, the place where they stood was filled with corridors and columns lined up in a row. Everyone desperately hid behind the columns, barely managing to dodge the attacks.

In the midst of this, Sillan looked around.

It was well known that divine power, while strong against demons and the undead, had its effects halved against living beings. Moreover, even though he was of a high rank, Sillan was a pure priest, making him vulnerable to attack. Since most had hidden behind the columns to avoid fatal blows, the enemy still outnumbered them significantly. This was the moment to escape.

“Damn it, where can we run?”

Since they were surrounded by buildings on all sides, it was as if they were besieged. The only entrance was now occupied by the Romad group. At that moment, Siris suddenly kicked a longsword that Talkata had dropped.

“Taah!”

Then she executed a roundhouse kick toward the hilt of the longsword floating in the air. Whish! The longsword flew and embedded deeply into the wall of a building. Siris shouted.

“Sillan!”

“Huh?”

As Sillan turned his head unwittingly, he suddenly felt his body lift off the ground and let out a scream.

“Uwack!”

Siris had wrapped her arms around Sillan’s waist and was running towards the wall. Given that Sillan was quite light, even the still-young girl’s strength was enough to lift him. With that, Siris launched herself into the air.

“Ah!”

Putting all her strength into a push, she grabbed the hilt of the sword embedded in the wall, using the momentum to flip and turn. Performing a somersault in the air and reversing her body, Siris kicked off the sword hilt again and soared higher. Sillan groaned continuously as they spun in the air.

“Eeeeh~.”

In a single breath, they reached the second-floor balustrade, and Siris immediately broke through a window to enter. Talkata’s mouth gaped open as he watched the two flee.

‘Fa, fast.’

It all happened in the blink of an eye. No matter how light the elves were known to be, performing such acrobatic feats in this critical moment was astonishing. The skills of this girl named Siris were higher than expected. Probably, if she had been wielding a proper weapon instead of just a dagger, even Talkata might have been unable to predict the outcome of their duel.

“Wow…”

Romad and his party, hidden behind a pillar, were equally agape. They were dumbfounded by Siris’s movements, which were as swift as a water-struck swallow, until Romad suddenly snapped out of it and shouted.

“Chase, chase her!”

Talkata looked back at Romad with indifferent eyes.

“Romad, I ask you. How?”

Even though he was a veteran gladiator, he couldn’t mimic that feat. Romad realized this too and his face showed a moment of realization, but he couldn’t show his mistake to a mere slave.

“Ugh! Ah, there are stairs behind! I meant chase her down the stairs!”

As Romad was throwing a fit, a middle-aged man in his fifties quietly appeared through the entrance they had come in from. He looked around the garden and chuckled.

“What, you guys failed?”

“… Sir Lantas.”

Romad looked at the middle-aged man with a face full of humiliation. The middle-aged man continued to sneer arrogantly.

“Ugh, idiots. You can’t even catch one elf female?”

“It, it was stronger than expected…”

Given the hierarchy, Romad couldn’t help but be frustrated internally while having to grovel externally. He stuttered out an excuse. The middle-aged man looked surprised when he noticed the silent orc gladiator standing behind Romad.

“You couldn’t even catch her with Talkata? A rookie Slayer is that strong?”

It was hard for him to believe that an elf Slayer could match a veteran orc gladiator unless she was exceptionally experienced and skilled, but she was supposedly just a newly sold slave.

Curiosity sparked in the middle-aged man’s eyes as he asked.

“We must make our food worth it, right? Where did she go?”

“Over there.”

“Is that so?”

The middle-aged man glanced in that direction before leaping up in a way that couldn’t simply be described as a jump. With a light step, he soared like a bird, crossing the garden in a motion that seemed to defy the laws of gravity itself.

Reaching the second floor in a superhuman movement, the middle-aged man disappeared through a broken window. Despite the foul mood, the sight drew involuntary admiration. Romad murmured with envy.

“That’s the power of an aura user…”