Wandering Mercenary in an Open World

Chapter 43:

Chapter 43:

The arrow of light cutting through the night air struck its target’s head with pinpoint accuracy.

Perhaps not expecting an arrow to fly at him without one being nocked, the opponent hastily brought his hand to his waist.

The cold glint of the blade split the arrow in half.

‘Impressive.’

Ruon couldn’t help but marvel at the man’s immediate reaction.

Even in this world, it was not common for someone to deflect an arrow shot from a longbow like that.

If he were a mage, Ruon would have expected the arrow to be deflected with a protective barrier, but seeing that wasn’t the case, Ruon slung his bow over his back again.

Lowering his stance, the man who had been preparing for a continuous attack glanced at Ruon with a grin.

“Are you giving up the advantage of range?”

“What makes you think a close combat fight would be any different?”

“Interesting.”

The brief admiring remark from the swordsman was followed by him flicking his head towards the narrow alley behind him and stepping backward into it.

‘Is he inviting me to follow?’

Although he didn’t particularly want to, Ruon followed the man wordlessly. There was no way he was going to get into a stabbing match on a city street.

After their brief confrontation, the two passed through the narrow alley and reached a considerably wider space.

The open area, connecting several alleys, seemed to serve as a public dumping ground, as various debris cluttered the ground.

Addressing Ruon with a grimace due to the stench, the swordsman said, “At this hour, no one should come here, so feel free to engage.”

“Confident, aren’t you?”

Ruon furiously closed the distance and swung his Holy Sword.

His opponent swung back, undeterred.

The clashing of steel and the accompanying sharp sound echoed through the alley.

“Ugh!”

Overwhelmed by Ruon’s sheer force, the man staggered backward. Despite this, he quickly regained his balance and attempted to counterattack, clearly displaying his skill was beyond ordinary levels.

Several short exchanges followed. When the man’s sword wavered unsteadily after clashing against the Holy Sword, he quickly regained his footing, revealing a determined expression.

“Although I want to keep clashing swords… I have no choice.”

After taking a moment to steady his breath, he quickly closed the distance and swung his sword with vigor.

As the man’s sword flew towards his heart, Ruon held the Holy Sword firmly and easily parried the strike.

However, the man had waited for this, as he twisted his wrist and turned the horizontal strike into a vertical one.

In an instant, the man’s sword, guided by the edge of the Holy Sword, aimed for Ruon’s face.

Swiftly, Ruon ducked his head back, allowing the blade to pass just above his face, then using his leg to forcefully strike back.

With a thud, the man’s chest was struck, and he stumbled back, making a sound as the air was knocked out of his lungs.

Struggling to keep his balance, the man spat out blood mixed with saliva as he wobbled.

Looking down at his crumpled breastplate with a slightly disgruntled expression, the man weakly bit his lip.

“Your swordsmanship… doesn’t seem to be very complex… no… with that kind of strength and speed… the concept of swordsmanship itself might be meaningless.”

“Is that so?”

Just as Ruon was narrowing the distance to finish off his struggling opponent, he swiftly used the Holy Sword to deflect something flying through the darkness.

The intangible force, split in half, scattered in the air. In the aftermath of the rushing wind, Ruon narrowed his eyes.

He could see a black silhouette supporting his staggering opponent.

“Why are you displaying useless bravado? Do you even care about your order not to move recklessly?”

“I was simply curious about the power of a warrior acknowledged by Tibella.”

“So, you thought you’d just engage him as an ordinary human? Do you really think that’s acceptable for a subject who embraced his father out of a need for power?”

An unidentified figure suddenly appeared and rebuked the examiner. Turning to face Ruon, the figure shouted. Though their face was concealed under a hood, their voice was thin and high, indicating they were a woman.

“Do not forget, lowly follower of the teachings of mercy. Don’t forget that the only reason I am not tearing you apart here is because the Great Apostle has told me to watch over you for now.”

The woman hurled her insults and made a short gesture with her hand, causing darkness to surge from the alley, enveloping both her and the swordsman.

Instinctively, Ruon realized it wasn’t preparation for an attack.

“Running away.”

Just as he was about to bring his Holy Sword down on the mass of darkness, a voice shouted loudly from behind.

“Ruon, lower your head!”

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ruon instinctively lowered his head, and at the same time, a shield passed over his forehead, striking the darkness forcefully.

Through the shattered darkness, a woman’s voice, almost a scream, rang out.

“W-What is this!”

And then, at that moment, Ruon’s right hand, holding the Holy Sword, dropped with a thud.

The woman, who had been staring blankly at the light splitting through the darkness, was saved by the swordsman standing beside her.

Realizing that his companion’s incantation had been cut off for some reason, the swordsman quickly lifted his sword to block the attack.

The man’s stance didn’t falter under the force of the Holy Sword.

Seeing his forehead sizzle and melt, Ruon put more force into his arm and pushed the man away.

Smoothly creating distance between them, Ruon smirked as he watched Kyle approach and pick up the shield from the floor.

“Did you throw it?”

“They looked like they were in bad shape, so I didn’t want them to get away.”

Kyle shrugged and drew his knight’s sword from his waist.

“I’ll take care of the mage.”

Kyle addressed the bewildered woman, who was still recovering from the broken spell, with determination.

Looking at his still drunken face, Ruon asked, “Are you okay to fight in that condition?”

Kyle nodded.

“Not really, which is why you need to kill that freak and help me. Sounds good?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Smirking, Ruon turned his head and looked at the transformed swordsman, who had become a full-fledged monster.

The man had grown in size, his muscular body covered in thick armor-like scales, his snout elongated like that of a beast, and sharp fangs gleaming menacingly below it.

The man growled.

“Warrior, now that I’ve shown you this form, there’s no more honor in this fight.”

‘What is he even trying to say?’

The monstrous swordsman threw the sword he held to the ground and tore off the armor that tightly clung to his body.

“Technique is fleeting In the face of this overwhelming physique.”

Gazing at his own body with ecstatic yellow eyes, the man’s gaze slowly turned toward Ruon.

“Here I come.”

At that moment, the man’s body blurred, and the stone slabs beneath him shattered. The monster charged forward with incredible speed, swinging his arm forcefully in a rampage.

Ruon leaped back to evade the attack and turned his head.

“Go.”

With that, Kyle immediately rushed toward the mage.

“You damn bug! What the hell is that shield?”

He could vaguely hear the curses of the woman, who had regained some of her senses, but Ruon didn’t bother to turn his gaze in her direction.

It was Kyle’s fight too, and in front of him was a raging monster charging like a madman.

A literal monster, the swordsman unleashed a torrent of attacks, displaying overwhelming power and speed.

As Ruon narrowly evaded the arm swung at incredible speed, the monster grinned and spread his fingers.

Hidden claws extended to fill the gaps, slashing across Ruon’s chest as they passed by.

The monster didn’t stop there, using his thorn-covered shoulders to ram into Ruon forcefully.

To prevent a counterattack, the monster swiftly spun backward in mid-air, distancing itself.

‘This is annoying.’

Ruon frowned as he looked at his armor that had been torn to shreds in an instant.

As he crudely rubbed his palm across his sore, blood-soaked chest, the creature spoke.

“Warrior, I acknowledge the strength you have built. It must have been a long process accompanied by bone-grinding effort. I know that effort better than anyone.”

With a growl, the monster continued.

“But look here. This unreasonable strength that tramples all that effort…”

Ruon cut him off.

“I have no idea what you’re babbling about instead of fighting. I thought you were the quiet type, was I mistaken?”

Before the monster could respond, he stomped the ground. Ruon, his shoulders tensed, extended the Holy Sword and released a bright burst of light.

A clean thrust devoid of any formality pierced beneath the monster’s clavicle.

“Kaaah!”

As the monster roared and swung his arm downward, Ruon, who lowered his head to evade, boldly let go of the hilt of the Holy Sword.

Creating distance between them, Ruon quickly grabbed a bowstring from his back and unhesitatingly pulled it back.

An arrow of light struck the monster’s face as he struggled to withdraw the sword that had pierced his body.

“Keaak!”

A rain of arrows pummeled the creature’s body before it could finish its agonized scream, and an arrow laced with divine power pierced its eye.

Ruon staggered toward the creature, whose body had been tattered in an instant by the terrifying speed with which he had shot without having to nock arrows.

“It’s not really unreasonable strength, is it?”

Ruon’s fist, with his fingers curled, struck the monster’s face.

Boom!

The face of the already barely holding-together monster exploded completely.

Pulling out the Holy Sword stuck in the collapsing corpse, Ruon approached Kyle, who was engaged in a back-and-forth in front of him.

‘He seems to be doing fairly well.’

Despite the groans, Kyle was clearly giving it his all.

Blocking sinister magical flames with his shield, he wielded his knight’s sword with his other hand, launching calculated counterattacks.

However, his sword, which was ordinary in comparison to his shield, seemed inadequate to pierce the opponent’s protection, leading to a fruitless standoff.

As the mage’s spells kept failing to hit their mark, she cursed in frustration.

“I’ll blow up the whole place and see if you’re still alive, you bastard!”

Recognizing the symbol of Belducias in the shadows of the hooded figure, Ruon immediately brought down his sword.

The Holy Sword pierced through the woman’s shield in an instant, piercing her forehead. She futilely flailed her arms towards the air and then collapsed.

“Damn, that surprised me.”

Ruon, who had approached beside the startled Kyle, spoke with a faint smile.

“You looked like you were having trouble back there.”

At that moment, a rush of exhilaration surged through Ruon’s body, spreading like a wave from deep within him, and he quickly closed his eyes.

It was a rare level-up, a sensation he hadn’t felt since hunting the harpies.

After a moment of contemplation, he poured all the bonus stats into Holy Power.

Naturally, this was a choice completely separate from his faith. Considering the battles ahead, he was sure having more Holy Power would be vital.

“… Ruon?”

“What?”

“I thought you had passed out standing up. Is something wrong?”

“No, everything’s fine.”

With a lowered head, Ruon removed the Holy Sword from the woman’s forehead. Kyle, watching, spoke up.

“A while ago, the light pouring out of the Holy Sword absorbed black stuff from those guys’ bodies. It was just like when you killed that mage back in the old church.”

As if proving his words, the pulsing energy within the Holy Sword had become much stronger. Seeing this, Ruon couldn’t help but smile with a sense of satisfaction.

“I thought I’d lost them both…but thanks to you, I got them both.”

“I’m glad I could help. Are these guys the lackeys of that so-called Apostle?”

“Probably. Although they seem to be acting on their own…”

At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from within the alley.

Kyle frowned.

“Could it be the guards?”

According to the words of the deceased swordsman, no one should come here at this time, but given the cacophony of battle, it wouldn’t be strange for patrolling guards to show up.

“Before things get more complicated, we should…”

As Ruon spoke, he trailed off upon seeing two figures appearing at the end of the narrow alley.

“…I guess we don’t have to.”

It was Igor and Stravo who came running out of the alley.

“Sir Ruon! Are you alright?”

Seeing Igor loudly shouting, Ruon let out a wry smile.

“You’ve come rather quickly.”