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Chapter 92
Inside the forest, 4 demi-humans and a handsome man stood facing each other.
If one were to only look at the numbers, it was four versus one. Furthermore, for some reason, the man had already suffered substantial damage before anything had even begun.
Moreover, as observed from the previous fight, the four demi-humans were individually no pushovers as they each had the capacity to easily defeat Friedrich, the sword saint who was famed to be the strongest living individual amongst the humanoids.
Nevertheless, the four of them were unable to take any action at this moment.
Against a single heavily injured stranger, they were completely mentally overwhelmed.
There was not a single opening. The four were able to imagine themselves being victims of a counter-attack no matter how they attacked the man.
It was exactly because those four were somewhat strong that they could clearly understand the differences in their strength.
However, they could see that their enemy was heavily wounded... thus they believed it was not an enemy they could not defeat.
Making such a decision, the four spread out and charged towards Castor.
"Owoo!"
"Hmph!"
First, the spiderkin and the merman engaged with Castor, both using their own weapons to attack.
In response, the merman's harpoon was blocked by the anchor, while the spiderkin's arm was stopped by a single fingertip.
However much strength the two of them used, he did not even budge for a moment. Castor first sent the merman flying backwards with a kick then backhand chopped the spiderkin, slamming him into the ground.
The spiderkin was able to respond quick enough to avoid receiving a direct hit, but - heavy!
The spiderkin suffered damage great enough to slow him down significantly, causing him to wonder why the damage was so great even though he had avoided the hit.
The merman who had been hit directly was wedged into a tree and was completely knocked out, whilst the spiderkin had his arms broken.
"Aqua Blast!"[2]
"Air Slasher!"[3]
The lamia fired a water bullet and the dryad released a blade of wind.
However, Castor swept them away with the anchor as if he was shaking off a buzzing fly and quickly moved to counter-attack.
"Ptarmigan!"[4]
The moment Castor finished calling the name of the spell, with him as the centre, lightning spread away from him if he was spreading his wings, eventually piercing through the four of them.
After being struck by the lightning, the four collapsed whilst releasing black smoke from their bodies. However, they had not yet died.
Nevertheless, with just a single attack, they had suffered severe wounds, clearly and painfully outlining the difference in ability between the two sides.
Facing the four individuals who were now kneeling on the ground, Castor continued to maintain an expression as if he was holding back.
"I've made sure you guys wouldn't end up dead. But if you want to continue, I'll need to have you be prepared for that. Now then, did you still want to continue?"
"Nu...."
The spiderkin who seemed to be their representative groaned in a muffled voice and raised his hand towards his comrades to give an order.
"...... We're retreating."
"Are you - are you for real? Some half-dead corpse like this, if we all gang up on him, it should be easy, right? We won't be careless next time!"
"We've already completed our goal. There's no point in staying any longer."
Although the dryad tried to argue against the spiderkin who had calmly ordered the rest to retreat, his decision did not change.
The difference in ability was as clear as day and night. Even if the other party was already heavily injured, it was clear that people would end up dead if they continued to fight.
Furthermore, the scariest moment was when someone with ability was driven into a corner.
As such, he decided to retreat without trying to do the impossible. He thought that was the best decision that he could make in this situation.
"Wa - wait! Who exactly are you guys!? Why have you done something like this!?"
To the four who were moving away, Sei cried out questioningly.
When he did, the spiderkin turned back once and replied in a quiet voice.
"We are those who seek to revolutionise the world."
"The world's... revolution?"
"That's right, that's right. There's only so little time left for you humanoids to keep that smug face of yours. If Leon-sama decides to be serious, you guys and the demons can be squished quickly and easily. It'll be our age then."
In response to Sei's question which they had no obligation to answer honestly, both the spiderkin and the dryad answered in succession.
Seeing the two of them answer, the lamia struck both of their heads with her fist.
"Hey, don't talk about unnecessary things. Come on, let's hurry up and go home."
The lamia used her tail to grab the unconscious merman and pulled him towards her whilst the dryad reluctantly raised her hands up.
When she did, with her as the centre, a gust of wind started blowing and lifted the four of them up into the air.
Subsequently, without even a chance to stop them, the demi-humans escaped away from that area, eventually getting far enough so that they could no longer be seen.
"Those guys, who the hell were they?"
"Somehow, they give off a really bad feeling. I think we can deduce from their words that something really bad is about to happen soon."
Gants, who was freeing Virgo and Sei from the strings, muttered a question, followed by Cruz answering with what he had deduced whilst sweating profusely.
The world's revolution, humanoids and magical beasts, and then Leon... he had a bad feeling about all of this. At the very least, he could not imagine a positive outcome.
In any event, they would have to think about all of this later. Right now, they had to prioritise figuring out what to do about the guardian dragon and their own comrades who were injured.
Cruz quickly ran towards his comrades and checked their conditions to see how injured they were.
"My... so bad..."
"I'm - I'm fine... tend to the guardian dragon-sama first."
Based on Cruz's observation, Ricardo, Nick and Jean's injuries were extremely ghastly.
All three of them had suffered deep injuries that went right down to their bones, such that even if a high-tier healing skill was used, they would still require a few days to completely recover.
With the conditions that they were in, even if they recovered, it was probably impossible for them to continue on with their journey.
Virgo, who had finally regained her freedom, bowed her head to Castor in gratitude for saving her life and quickly ran towards the guardian dragon.
In truth, she wanted to take more time to thank him, however, she needed to take a look at the guardian dragon's condition first.
"High Healing!"
She held her hands toward the guardian dragon and applied a healing light.
High Healing - It was a high-tier version of the fundamental recovery-type divine magic, Healing. Although the effective heal of the spell also depended on the user, with Virgo as the caster, the skill was able to recover the target's HP by approximately thirty thousand per cast.
In other words, in this current age, she was almost able to fully restore most living creatures' HP after a single cast.
However, the injuries on the guardian dragon did not seem to disappear nor did it open its eyes after the skill was used.
Seeing the result, Virgo turned pale.
It's... too late. No matter what recovery spell we use, it's impossible to help the guardian dragon now.
Because... it's because - because it's already dead.
"Wha - what's wrong Virgo-dono? Why aren't you healing?"
".... I'm sorry. With my ability... it's too..."
Kaineko tightly grabbed Virgo's shoulders with his hands and shook her whilst he spoke in a shaky voice. Nevertheless, Virgo simply closed her eyes and shook her head.
Indeed, there existed a skill to resurrect a person or a creature which had already passed away.
Although the skill was limited in a way that it only had any effect shortly after the death, it was indeed a fact that a resurrection spell existed within the divine magic category.
However, it was a spell belonging to the highest-tier of magic and not something that Virgo had already acquired.
Perhaps Ruphas might have been able to use such a skill. However, it was still impossible for Virgo.
"Tha - that can't be right... I've - I've heard it from Sei-dono. You're a comrade of that Ruphas Mafahl, aren't you? Th - then, a concept like impossible shouldn't..."
"...... I'm sorry. I'm, I'm the lowest level and the weakest amongst us all, and...."
".... tsk."
After hearing Virgo's response, Kaineko had a sorrowful look as he released his hands from Virgo.
His face was distorted as if he was feeling resentment, regret, or both.
But he could not direct that resentment and regret towards Virgo due to his pride as a knight. Thus, eventually, those feelings were directed at the magical beasts instead, allowing him to barely keep his sanity in check.
"Just watch - just watch, you magical beasts—!"
All of the fur on Kaineko's body were standing on end!
Meanwhile, after hearing the previous statement made by Kaineko, Castor became intrigued by what he had heard and came to stand next to Virgo after walking past the raging cat.
Then he stared intently at Virgo's face and observed her, eventually causing Virgo to become unable to endure anymore and speak up.
"Um, umm?"
"Ahh, I apologise. To stare at a lady's face, I was being impolite. Please forgive me. Are you an acquaintance of Ruphas-sama?"
"Ah, yes."
Are you Ruphas's comrade? - Her personality to honestly nod affirmatively even after being asked such a question was no doubt a bad move on her behalf.
It would not be strange if she was apprehended as a result.
However, the man instead nodded in joy as if to say, "I see, " and then reached into his pocket and took out a small vial.
He then poured that liquid into the mouth of the guardian dragon.
"Umm, that was.... ?"
"It's called Amrita. [5] It's the highest-tiered alchemical treasure which is crafted after combining the water from Urdarbrunnr, the elixir, the Dragon King's blood, phoenix's blood, and a few other rare materials in a vase. [6] Its effect is superior to that of an elixir and although the special effect only works if it's used shortly after death, it can even resurrect a dead person. It's a masterpiece that even Ruphas-sama only crafted a limited amount of."
Although Virgo could not fully understand the words that he just said, she could at least understand that it was an extremely precious thing.
As if to back up her assumption, Cruz was showing the whites of his eyes.
"The Dragon King's blood.... Phoenix's blood... Urdarbrunnr's water... aababbabababa..."
"Um, umm. Is that fine? To use something so precious."
"Ahh, it's all fine. It looks like you're my new comrade, after all. You can think of this as some meagre celebratory gift from me."
"Oh, so you too. That's what I thought."
"Ahh, I apologise for the late introduction. I am one of the pillars of the Tyrannical Ways 12 Heavenly Stars, Castor of the [Twins]."
12 Heavenly Stars. After hearing that title, Gants and the others quickly took a precautionary stance.
However, for some reason, Sei did not react like the others, and instead opted to watch the interaction between Virgo and Castor.
How should I put this?... it just feels different.
Compared to the others in the 12 Stars, I can feel calmness from this man.
At the very least, he's so serene that it doesn't make me feel like I need to put myself on guard, and not to mention, he's the one who helped us.
I just feel like to put yourself be on guard against him is just rude.
Such a thought process caused Sei to not ready a battle stance.
"Hmm? Looks like the dragon has already come back to life. Impressive vitality as expected, haha."
Everyone responded to Castor's words by looking towards the guardian dragon.
When they did, they saw that all the injuries on the guardian dragon were completely healed and it was sleeping peacefully.
After seeing that, Castor joyfully smiled and walked to the nearby tree before entrusting his back to it and sitting down.
"Ar - are you alright?"
"Ahh, there's no problem. Just became I came here, I messed up a little, you see. So I just need to rest and recover from that a bit. If I just rest for a moment, I'll be able to walk again."
Castor calmly replied to Sei, who asked in a worried voice.
Castor then looked at everyone else and continued speaking.
"But is it really alright to be wasting time with me? I don't quite know the details, but it looks like you guys are in the midst of some very complicated situation. I would have thought your time would be better spent discussing with each other what the best course of action would be."
After being reminded by Castor, Sei and the others looked at each other.
It was exactly as Castor had said. Now was the time to quickly go back and report on what had just happened.
What had just happened was unlikely to be a simple standalone attack by the magical beasts.
It was more deliberate, against the country... no, against every one of the humanoid races. One could only believe their actions to be a hostile declaration against all of the humanoids.
"You're right. Not to mention, Nick and the others also need proper medical care, so let's return first."
"But those guys might come back. Isn't it important to have someone look after the guardian dragon?"
Sei suggested that they go back and Gants suggested that they leave someone close to the guardian dragon.
When they discussed as such, Virgo was the one who volunteered to stay behind.
"In that case, I'll stay behind. I want to have a chat with Castor-san too."
"I understand... but... if he looks like he's about to do something, then quickly run away, alright? After all, he's one of the 12 Stars. You don't know what he's going to do to you."
"Um - okay."
When Virgo said she would stay behind, Cruz told her worryingly.
However, Virgo was also one of the 12 Stars. Therefore his words and actions were no different from Cruz telling her, "You're one of the 12 Stars, so I don't know what you're going to do."
Of course, Cruz did not know that Virgo was also one of the 12 Stars. As such, he did not even have the slightest intention for it to be taken it that way.
In the end, Sei and the rest left the forest whilst Virgo, Castor, and the guardian dragon were left behind.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. While healing Castor, Virgo thought that various other things were going to be coming her way from now on. This made her sigh out loud. [7]
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