13: The Battle of the Fortress
“Damn it, we have no choice but to fight!”
Claude, shouting almost desperately, shot forward like a bullet and delivered a flying kick to the head of the lead Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper, caught in a surprise attack, rolled down the mountain slope.
“As expected of our leader. Reliable.”
Following Claude, Murakumo also slashed at the Grim Reapers.
The Grim Reapers drew their greatswords from their backs and immediately responded.
A fierce battle began at once.
In terms of speed and swordsmanship, Murakumo had an overwhelming advantage, and his sword was definitely hitting the Grim Reapers, but because the jet-black armor completely covered their entire bodies, he couldn’t inflict any wounds at all.
This was despite Murakumo’s sword being a masterwork made of special metal.
Claude, on the other hand, didn’t use weapons, instead wearing gloves on both hands. The knuckle parts of the gloves had several layers of animal hide. With thief-like agility, Claude dodged attacks while delivering powerful kicks and punches, knocking down the Grim Reapers repeatedly. However, no matter how many times the Grim Reapers fell, they immediately got back up.
“What the hell are these things?”
Claude was half amazed. Even though it was over armor, he had struck them many times and sent them rolling down the mountain slope. Yet the Grim Reapers showed no signs of taking any damage. They didn’t even seem tired.
“Annoying, isn’t it? Not only do attacks not work on them, but they never get tired either. These guys are immortal monsters.”
Murakumo, standing shoulder to shoulder with Claude, wore a bitter smile.
Behind them, Yuri unleashed magic continuously from both hands. He cast water magic from his right hand, dousing the Grim Reapers, then cast freezing magic from his left hand, turning the water he had doused them with into ice.
Covered in white ice crystals, the Grim Reapers’ movements stopped.
“Please stay still like that?”
Yuri made a wish. But that wish was quickly shattered along with the ice, and the Grim Reapers began moving again.
“That’s strange. A normal person would definitely have died of frostbite.”
Yuri frowned at this unreasonableness.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere…”
Claude wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The Grim Reapers weren’t particularly skilled knights, but they were overwhelmingly sturdy, and their simple strength was formidable, so their attacks couldn’t be underestimated either. The battle had reached a stalemate. However, other Imperial soldiers were climbing the mountain from the surroundings, and if this dragged on, Claude and his group would definitely be at a disadvantage.
Emma was watching this anxiously from inside the fortress.
The Black Knight was leading his soldiers, observing Claude and his group’s battle from about halfway up the mountain.
Like Highland, he could have fought at the front himself, but this time the goal was to recapture Emma. If he took the front line himself, there was a possibility he wouldn’t be able to secure Emma successfully.
“Quite formidable. Even Beta and the others can’t break through.”
The Black Knight didn’t call his direct subordinates by the alias [Grim Reapers], but instead referred to them as Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon respectively.
“Prepare to fire. It doesn’t matter if you hit Beta and the others.”
The soldiers were momentarily surprised by this seemingly heartless order, but remembering the toughness of the Grim Reapers who had shrugged off powerful magic, they immediately began shooting. After confirming this, the Black Knight told his adjutant officer:
“I will lead my unit toward the fortress. I leave this to you.”
“Yes, sir!”
With his adjutant’s response at his back, the Black Knight began heading toward the fortress, circumventing the battlefield in front of him.
“Tch, don’t shoot your own allies!”
Claude clicked his tongue as he was forced into even more difficult fighting due to being targeted by gunfire.
Several of the gunshots hit the Grim Reapers’ armor, making unpleasant sounds, but the jet-black knights didn’t seem to care at all. Their mental fortitude was terrifying.
Claude used the Grim Reapers’ bodies to prevent getting into the line of fire, Murakumo blocked bullets with his sword, and Yuri blocked them with magic.
“Claude, I have bad news.”
In the midst of this, Yuri called out to Claude.
“Is there any worse news in this world? Has heaven become full so we can only go to hell?”
“No, the Imperial unit that circled around is targeting the fortress. Emma is in danger.”
“That’s a problem. Can’t Yuri’s magic do something about it?”
“Do you understand how many spells I’m using in parallel right now? Even geniuses have their limits, you know?”
While saying this, Yuri tossed a new magic stone into his mouth. His magic power consumption seemed intense.
“Tch, I got it.”
Claude clicked his tongue again and lightly tapped the shoulder of Murakumo, who had been fighting alongside him.
“So I’m leaving the rest to you!”
No sooner had he said this than Claude dashed toward the fortress like a gale. Skillfully avoiding bullets as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
“I have to handle these guys all by myself?!”
While letting out a scream-like voice, Murakumo increased the speed of his sword strikes and began facing the four Grim Reapers. Even if he couldn’t inflict wounds, he managed to hold his own by deflecting their swords.
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Emma, who had noticed the unit approaching the fortress, entered an unused room on the second floor of the fortress and hid under the bed. She thought she wouldn’t be discovered here.
Her clothes and face became dirty with dust, but she couldn’t worry about such things.
“Search everywhere. Even inside the well, thoroughly.”
From the direction of the fortress courtyard, she could hear a muffled but clear voice.
Sounds came from various places. The Imperial soldiers were probably searching inside the fortress.
Eventually, the door to the room where Emma was hiding opened.
“How filthy. A princess wouldn’t be hiding in a place like this, would she?”
The soldier who saw the room seemed disgusted by the terrible state inside.
(Yes, this room is dirty. You don’t want to search it, right? So please just leave!)
Under the bed, Emma clasped her hands and prayed. The cat peeked its face out from her apron and put its paws together, mimicking Emma’s gesture. Noticing this, Emma giggled softly.
“But hey, if she’s found here later, we’ll be in big trouble.”
There seemed to be another soldier, who urged his reluctant partner to search the room together.
“Can’t be helped, I guess.”
Contrary to Emma’s wishes, the two soldiers stepped into the room.
That said, since it wasn’t being used, there weren’t many things in it.
After opening a few cupboards, all that was left was to look under the bed.
“Nothing but mice would be in a place like this, right?”
The soldier who looked in made eye contact with Emma.
“Eh!?”
“Hello.”
The soldier, surprised as if he had seen a ghost, and Emma, smiling brightly with a tense expression.
After a moment’s pause, Claude burst through the room’s window and kicked away the soldier who had been making eye contact with Emma. He instantly closed the distance to the other soldier who hastily pointed his gun at him, and Claude slammed his fist into that soldier’s face.
“Hide-and-seek time is over, Emma. Now it’s time for tag.”
Claude pulled Emma out from under the bed, and seeing her dust-covered figure, his cheeks relaxed into a smile.
“What a thrilling game this is.”
Emma laughed along with him, but soldiers who had heard the commotion came rushing toward the room’s door.
Seeing this, Claude threw Emma out the window like a piece of luggage.
“Kyaa!”
Emma floated in midair from the second floor, followed by Claude who also escaped from the room through the window.
Claude kicked off the wall to accelerate toward the ground and landed first. He caught Emma in both arms as she fell after him, then attempted to escape from the fortress courtyard to the outside.
But a man in a black iron mask stood blocking their path.
“It seems you don’t know how to treat a lady properly, thief.”
An inorganic voice that seemed to echo within the mask, jet-black armor and cloak covering his entire body.
It was the Black Knight.
“We’re in front of a lady. How about you take off that mask of yours?”
Claude retorted mockingly.
The response was a flash of the black sword he had drawn. Its trajectory accurately captured Claude’s neck, but Claude avoided it by quickly jumping backward.
Still being held by Claude, Emma gasped as the sword grazed before her eyes.
“That was dangerous! What if you’d hit Emma!”
“I am not that unskilled.”
The Black Knight’s sword, swung in rapid succession, had sharpness that rivaled even Murakumo’s.
Unable to withstand it, Claude retreated and set Emma down on the ground.
“Wait here for a moment, I’ll finish this quickly.”
“Yes. It will end quickly.”
The Black Knight responded to the words Claude had spoken to Emma.
Before they knew it, soldiers from various parts of the fortress had their guns aimed at the courtyard where Claude and the others were.
Those gun barrels all spat fire at once.
TLNOTE
While waiting for the next chapter, I encourage you, dear readers, to explore other masterpieces written by Daken-sensei :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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