Volume 9 Chapter 7 Brother Showdown And Trash Cleanup Part ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Soyuz. Brother, won’t you concede him to me?” Mikhail called out, unfastening the whip at his waist and taking a ready stance. For him, this was a family matter, and there was no helping it.
”Understood. Then I’ll take the small-fry over here,” I said, drawing my sword and stepping toward the robed man. My three slaves (wives) followed my lead.
”Oh my, am I a small-fry, am I?” the robed man said, lifting the magic staff in his hand as he squared up to face me.
”Yeah. Just from looking, you scream ‘small-fry.’ Guys who talk like that are usually nothing special,” I replied with a lazy grin.
Of course, judging by appearance alone, he was tolerably capable. And the fact he knew my epithet meant he’d prepared countermeasures against poison. Still… he’d make a perfect training dummy for Lena and the others.
”Then shall we let you witness this small-fry’s power? Volodya—go!” he barked.
At his command, Volodya lunged at Mikhail—and, without so much as a chant, hurled a blazing fireball toward me. Fwoosh! Yep, I figured he could at least do that much.
”Vera!” I called.
”Aye-aye!” she answered, snapping her fingers.
Faster than my words, Vera wrapped the fireball in a swirling water spirit (undine) and snuffed it out with a hiss of steam. At that same moment, I flicked four throwing darts—whip-whip-whip-whip!—and as they spun through the air, Lena and Georgia closed in to strike.
”Oh, have your slaves do the fighting while you watch from on high? Refined taste indeed,” the man sneered, batting aside the darts with his staff and blocking both women’s slashes with a shimmering Magic Shield.
”Nah,” I said with a smirk, “I could fight myself—but I just found these kids a nice practice dummy.”
At my words, the three redoubled their attack. Lena pressed in head-on with her longsword, Georgia darted in with quick, vicious slashes, and Vera kept herself moving to guard and cover them both.
This was the anti-Elf style I’d drilled into them after they were trounced by Mikhail the other day. Elves—even powerful ones—had glaring weaknesses: their bodies lacked human-level brute force, and their spirit magic required the same concentration as any other casting. Lena’s frontal pressure and Georgia’s harassment exploited those weaknesses. As a half-elf, Vera couldn’t win a straight Spirit Magic duel, so her role was pure defense and support.
And they were making it their own. My diligent wives. Even though the style was built for fighting elves, it worked just as well against Magicians.
While I looked like I was doing nothing, my presence alone hindered the opponent. Magicians who feared my poison were forced to keep part of their attention on defense, fraying their concentration. That was my specialty—harassment until they broke.
”Well then, should I provide some support? Hmm… which one should I use?” I murmured aloud, rummaging through my pockets.
The man’s eyes twitched. Even that little gesture made him falter—just enough for Lena to close the gap, Georgia to snap at his flank, and Vera’s spirit-blessed weapons to slice through his magic.
A desperate magic missile shot from his staff—shoom!—only to be devoured by the salamander flames coiled around Lena’s blade. Georgia’s sylph-enhanced claws ripped a line through his robe.
Yeah, these girls were strong. They’d learned from their loss against Mikhail and leveled up. Which meant, honestly, I didn’t need to step in. Therefore—
”Hey, old man,” I said conversationally. “What’s your organization plotting? Tell me before you die.”
The ‘Apostle of Rebirth’—even their name made me cringe. Just from looking at that ‘modified’ Volodya, I could tell they were up to no good. But to what end? Reignite a human-elf war? Too brutal for just that. Maybe they were aiming higher… or lower. Like humanity’s total annihilation.
As I pondered, I saw it starting to work.
”My… body…” he groaned.
His movements grew sluggish. Perfect. I’d been upwind the whole fight, quietly letting an odorless nerve poison disperse. Vera, warned beforehand, used her sylph to block any from reaching my side. Standing downwind from a poison user was suicide. And that was why he was losing.
”Hey, hey,” I coaxed. “No chance of winning now, so just tell me, okay? If you do, I promise I won’t do anything bad to you.”
By “bad,” of course, I meant prolonged.
”Tch… at this point…”
He stopped casting and began pooling all his magic into one point. My stomach dropped.
”Everyone, back! He’s planning to self-destruct!” I barked.
Lena and Georgia sprang away. Vera slammed her staff down and summoned a spirit barrier.
The next instant—
”Die!” he roared, triggering the spell.
BOOOOOOM! A deafening roar ripped the air, a fireball blossoming like a second sun—
”Oh? That’s all it takes to try to kill us? Disappointing,” I said dryly.
Lena and Georgia had cleared the blast radius. Vera’s spirits shielded her without a scratch. I was the only one caught in it—but it was such a feeble blast, my Magic Shield held.
Again. Nearly killed again. And nobody ever just surrenders and talks. At this rate, we’d never get anywhere.
With the weaklings out of the way, we could finally head toward Mikhail and Volodya—still locked in a duel that shook the ground beneath our feet.
Notes:
• Mikhail – Volodya’s brother and a guest of the guild, seeking to defeat Volodya for destroying his village.
• Lena – Female. A young slave girl in her early teens. Her appearance is emaciated with brown skin, long black hair, and grotesque scars across her face, including one that blinds her left eye. She wears a black collar and tattered clothing. Her relationship to the protagonist is that of a rescued victim. She is silent and appears to have endured severe physical and emotional abuse.
• Volodya – A mysterious and powerful elf, never seen by Soyuz before, who seeks to purge Lucia. He exudes killing intent and is strong enough to intimidate Soyuz.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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