Vol 1 Chapter 16 – I Smell Villainy, Huh?

“Whoa, this is insane. I have no clue what’s happening right in front of me—and I can’t even see those two.”

Hannah peered out the window of her heavily fortified workshop.

“Gakin…”

“Gakin…”

Dull metallic clangs rang out intermittently.

Only when the clangs grew louder could she glimpse the pair locked blade-to-blade; the rest of the time they blurred about at lightning speed, each hunting for the briefest opening.

The moment either spotted even the faintest gap, the fight would be decided—by one of them dying.

Blades clashed violently. The earth was gouged, trees were sliced apart.

“So this is a clash between a Heavenly King of the Demon Lord’s army and the Hero, huh? No wonder they’re so strong. Even in a world-wide ranking they’d be near the top.”

Hannah wasn’t the fighting type, so gauging strength at a glance was tough, but anyone could tell these two were powerful.

“Alright, if I just let that girl fight while I hide and the demon wins, I’m next. She’s saving me—I have to pull my own weight.”

With that, Hannah moved. (Incidentally, had she been certain she could escape, leaving Ruru behind and bolting would have been her first choice—but that’s another story.)

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“Aaaaaah! This is brutal, nyaaaaa!!”

“Tch, can’t break her defense…!”

Ruru and Ludrick roared, trading fierce blows—locked in a stalemate, each lacking a finishing move.

A Heavenly King and the Hero. Until now, each had easily crushed every opponent, yet here they clashed on nearly equal footing.

Ludrick might savor a tough fight, but Ruru was the last person who wanted to spar with someone this strong—she hated it.

Trying to help a stranger on a whim had been a huge mistake.

“Bang!”

With a loud clang, they knocked each other’s blades aside, leapt back, and glared.

“So? At this pace, neither of us will win anytime soon. Let me do my job and I won’t kill you. You have no reason to protect the woman who ran off, do you?”

“And your job is what, exactly?”

“…Slaughtering every villager.”

Ludrick looked away as he spoke. He knew that answer was utterly wrong—but it was in the contract. Ruru stared in disbelief.

“You think a Hero can overlook that?”

“For someone so capricious, you’ve got a surprisingly strong sense of duty.”

“Otherwise, the Holy Sword wouldn’t accept me, nya.”

Ruru swung the Holy Sword in broad arcs. It chose its wielder, and usually only those with true hearts of justice qualified. Ruru might be whimsical, but the sword itself had vouched for her.

Had the person she saved bolted immediately, Ruru’s motivation might have died on the spot. It hadn’t—because Hannah hadn’t run selfishly.

“Besides, looks like she didn’t just run away, right?”

Behind Ludrick, a shadow loomed: a massive puppet. Man-made, obviously, yet moving on its own.

“Tch.”

He hadn’t sensed it—he whipped around to smash it, but it dodged with inhuman agility.

With an unsettling crunch the puppet reconfigured, its dozen arms spreading like a birdcage before clamping around Ludrick, pinning him immovably.

“This is my special-order puppet. Costs a fortune in mana, so I can’t send it far.”

Hannah watched from the window. If he was restrained, Ruru’s Holy Sword could end things. Most demons couldn’t budge an inch under that grip.

“Ugh, this is so annoying!!”

But even that couldn’t stop a Heavenly King. Trapped, Ludrick unleashed his own power.

A black, razor-sharp spike erupted from his shadow and skewered the puppet.

“Wha…!?”

Hannah was stunned. She’d never seen power like that—and it shattered her prized puppet in a single blow. She was a technician, not a warrior; watching her creation crumble rattled her.

“That opening’s enough, nya.”

Ruru, a born fighter, had already taken her stance—the stance for channeling the Hero’s power, the Holy Sword’s might.

“Same here.”

Ludrick, too, gathered that shattering force.

Hero and Heavenly King, both going all out—either could fall. Two of the world’s top warriors were about to collide—

“Sniff… sniff…”

A bizarre sniffing echoed. It should have sounded ridiculous, yet neither Ruru nor Ludrick laughed. Ruru’s tail fluffed up, rigid; Ludrick broke into a cold sweat. Nothing had touched them—sheer presence alone did this.

Only true powerhouses felt it: an overwhelming, almost violent aura capable of swallowing even giants.

Through the rustling brush stepped a terrifying figure wearing a feral grin—Alvarado.

“I smell villainy.”

“Uwaa…”

Even the spirit at his side drew back at Alvarado’s words and aura.