The Former Holy Knight. Having Lost My Job and Childhood Friend, I Decided to Start a Dark Guild - Chapter 52

Seneca swiftly cut through the grass and trees that sprouted one after another with his knife.

With the addition of the swift Seneca, the momentum of the plants that hindered my movements began to wane. I carved a path through the obstructing vegetation and launched an attack on Nadale.

For the first time, Nadale drew his sword to block my slash.

“You seem to be confident in your swordsmanship, but it’s powerless before my ability! You have no chance of winning, Leon Stein!”

Despite Nadale’s words, the sensation from our clashing swords told me that my swordsmanship was superior. I increased the number of my slashes in quick succession, overwhelming Nadale. Seizing a momentary lapse, I delivered a strike to Nadale’s arm.

My longsword cut through Nadale’s thick steel armor and deeply into his arm. It seemed like a decisive blow, but something was off.

(What’s with this arm…)

I slashed at Nadale’s arm again, but not a single drop of blood flowed from it.

Nadale raised his voice. “I told you, you’re powerless before my ability!”

As he said this, the right arm portion of Nadale’s armor creaked and split, and his arm grew significantly larger. Before my eyes, Nadale’s right arm transformed into a gigantic tree. Every branch turned into sharp spears, assaulting both me and Seneca.

Seneca and I managed to cut down the wooden spears with our sword and knife, but one of them pierced through Seneca’s leg.

“Ouch!”

Seneca, grimacing in pain, continued to wield his knife, but it was clear that his speed had significantly dropped.

I, too, was bleeding from the wounds I had sustained, significantly draining my stamina.

Nadale exclaimed, “The match was decided from the start! Weak heretics like you stand no chance against me!”

With that, countless trees attacked me and Seneca. We managed to fend them off, but we were clearly on the defensive.

Seneca shouted, “Aniki! Say something to encourage me!”

“Encourage you? What are you talking about at a time like this!”

“I’ve noticed it before, but I always seem to perform better when I’m with you, Aniki. Maybe if you encouraged me, my abilities would increase even more!”

I doubted such a skill existed in the King of Heretics’ skillset, but then Seneca called out again.

“Please, Aniki! Say something to me!”

Half in disbelief, I spoke to Seneca.

“Seneca! Your agility is incredible! Push yourself to go even faster! I believe you can do it!”

The next moment, I was astonished. As soon as I spoke, the agility value floating above Seneca’s head significantly increased. It was like some enchantment spell.

I remembered having my abilities appraised by Manina before, and the highest value wasn’t my attack power or stamina but a mana value indicating magical power. Perhaps I had just used some sort of magic.

“Aniki! It’s amazing! I really feel much lighter!”

True to my words, Seneca’s speed visibly increased. Nadale’s trees couldn’t keep up with his movements.

“You annoying brat! I told you it’s futile!”

Countless branches and grass attacked Seneca, but his speed was so fast that even my eyes couldn’t keep up. Seneca dodged all of Nadale’s attacks. However, even after being slashed numerous times by Seneca, Nadale remained unharmed.

It’s likely that the part Seneca was attacking was just an outer shell, and the main body was somewhere else. Where could Nadale’s real body be? But there was no time to think.

“Seneca! Let’s cut down the vegetation all at once and expose his real body!”

Seneca and I put all our effort into slicing through the vegetation. The growth speed of the plants was no longer a match for Seneca. Gradually, the true form became visible. Nadale had transformed his right half into plant matter, while his left half remained flesh and blood. He was protecting his left, real body with plants growing from the ground and his right half.

If we both targeted the flesh-and-blood Nadale, we could see a chance of victory. Just as I was about to give the signal, Seneca shouted out.

“Whoa!”

Seneca slipped on his injured leg. Nadale didn’t miss the moment. Plants quickly wrapped around Seneca’s leg, hanging him upside down in no time.

“Damn it!!”

Seneca tried to cut the vegetation with his knife, but his upside-down position made it difficult. Meanwhile, Nadale’s exposed flesh-and-blood body was being covered by plants again.

“Seneca! Can you use your heretic skill to get out of this?!”

“My skill can’t be activated again for a while after I use it!”

Hearing that, I gripped my hand tighter. That meant this moment was my only chance.

Facing someone who had easily defeated the holy knights and even Lilith, who had been injured but still untouched, was daunting. An ex-low-ranking knight challenging such a person would be laughable.

But no matter how incompetent I was said to be, I never stopped putting in effort. Called a talentless hard worker, I kept swinging my sword day after day. Not just that, I had faced more thugs from the Dark Guild and heretics during patrols than anyone else. Those times were not wasted.

I shouted as I swung a slash at Nadale. Nadale’s left hand sword attempted to deflect it lightly, but it was a feint. I quickly crouched and thrust my sword upwards into Nadale’s chest with all my strength.

A sound of breaking bones. Blood seeped from the wound. Nadale’s eyes widened.

“To think you would land a hit on me, Leon Stein. But a single strike won’t defeat me! Above all, you won’t be able to pull out your sword!”

True to Nadale’s words, the sword I had stabbed in could not be pulled out no matter how hard I tried, entangled by vines. While I tried to pull it out, other vines wrapped around my neck, tightening.

Nadale smiled.

“The match is over, Leon Stein. You’ve captured many heretics, but they were mere small fry. You had no chance of beating me!”

At Nadale’s movement, sharp pain ran through my left leg. A grass tendril had pierced through my left thigh, causing massive bleeding.

“Having taken your perfect toy, Lilith, I will torture and kill you slowly, Leon Stein!”

With those words, tendrils attacked my entire body. The surface of the plants was decorated with numerous thorns, each penetration causing excruciating pain.

Confident of victory, Nadale didn’t bother covering his body with plants anymore, piercing my body repeatedly.

“Don’t bully Aniki! Let me go!”

I heard Seneca’s screams. Apparently, he had no intention of killing Seneca.

Enduring the pain, I kept my consciousness and watched the ancient numbers before my eyes. 30, 29, 28… Never have I felt seconds drag on so long. Yet, as blood flowed from my body, those numbers steadily decreased. Nadale’s real body was still not covered by plants.

“This is the end for you, Leon Stein!”

As a spear-shaped giant tree appeared before me, aiming for my chest, the moment arrived. I grasped the hilt of the dagger I had on my waist. Before me lay the names of the heretic skills of those who had sworn loyalty to me.

(Thank you for becoming family with me.)

I activated Seneca’s heretic skill “Speed of Light Killer.”

Everything that followed happened in an instant. The dagger in my hand moved as if on its own, slicing through the giant tree, countless tendrils, and Nadale’s flesh-and-blood body one after another. A burst of power unlike anything Seneca and I could have produced spread throughout my body, as if all of it was channeled into the tip of my blade.

When I cut off Nadale’s flesh-and-blood left arm, a vile scream echoed through the forest.