Chapter 87 : Chapter 87

Chapter 87 - Finding a Clue (1)

The blinding of his vision and the eerie sound happened almost simultaneously.

Artier swung his sword almost instinctively.

Clang! Thwack!

He blocked the sword perfectly, but the mace was too much.

Artier rolled on the ground, pushed back about 10 meters.

“Master!”

“I’m fine.”

Artier immediately righted his posture, but he felt a tingling shock in his shoulder from the force of the mace.

“Impressive, to do that with your vision sealed.”

Reinard lightly blew on the flame at the tip of his glove, extinguishing it.

“I’ll give you that. But it was still reckless. To get injured right away.”

“We’ll see about that.”

[Copying and using the skill Regeneration (Lv.3).]

Artier enveloped his body in a faint light.

Along with a cool sensation, the pain in his shoulder gradually subsided.

“Hoo……”

Reinard immediately raised his staff.

Soon, flames erupted from a magic circle that appeared in the air.

Boom! Clang! Thud!

In a short span of less than 5 seconds, Artier had to simultaneously face flames, a sword, a mace, and arrows.

Dodging or parrying them all, Artier calmly read the situation.

‘The person at the very back isn’t doing anything, so they must be a pure healer or supporter, and the mace user is the dealer, I suppose.’

Artier was intentionally not attacking.

He wanted to grasp the situation clearly.

As time passed, Reinard, perhaps with his cooldown reset, stretched out his hand again and snapped his fingers.

“I’ll finish this properly this time. Flash Bang.”

With a bright light, his vision was flooded with white.

He couldn't hear anything due to the ringing in his ears, but Artier could clearly feel something flying towards him.

Clang!

This time he swung his sword carefully, but the result was again a loss for Artier.

As he stood up, clutching his side, Reinard spoke in a cold voice.

“It’s over. Don’t you know that yet?”

The situation was clearly disadvantageous for Artier.

Healing magic couldn't be used indefinitely. Besides, Collie’s magic took time to heal.

At this rate, he would surely fall before he could recover.

“Hmm.”

But Artier chuckled and raised his sword.

They were certainly strong.

But there were plenty of players who showed this level of coordination.

“I think I can win.”

“……Foolish.”

[Reinard uses a skill.]

Flame Whip (Lv.2): Summons a whip made of flame.

A long flame mercilessly lashed at Artier.

It was a magic that clearly showed the intent to kill, without holding back.

“Artier!”

Gerard rushed in urgently to intervene.

But what he saw were all the whips being deflected.

“Hmm?”

Reinard, just in case, swung the whip again.

But nothing changed.

Artier moved here and there, blocking all the weapons and magic.

[Perfect Counter is activated!]

And finally, Artier’s counterattack began.

Pow!

“Keoheok!”

The mercenary holding the two-handed sword flew over 20 meters from a single kick by Artier.

He collided with the healer standing behind him, and they both fell to the ground.

“What?”

“Hey, get a hold of yourself!”

The party immediately tried to respond.

Though they must have been flustered, a mace came from Artier's right and an arrow from his left.

It was an attack where if he blocked one, he would inevitably be hit by the other, but unlike before, the speed at which Artier parried was beyond common sense.

[Avatar of Counterattack is active!]

Current 21 stacks: All stats increased by 63%

“Kuk?!”

The mace was deflected, and the arrow shattered, almost at the same time.

The warrior standing in front couldn’t even grasp how Artier’s arm had moved.

“Rei-Reinard!”

“Is it an acceleration type?”

Three people had fallen in an instant, but Reinard was not fazed at all.

“Blind.”

[Resistance Failed]

[Vision will be reduced for 1 minute.]

Artier’s field of vision narrowed in an instant.

At the same time, fireballs rained down from all directions. It was an all-out attack with random angles and directions.

‘He seems like a pure dealer, but he has a surprising number of tricks.’

Even in such a situation, Artier’s concentration did not waver.

Was it thanks to the training in the underground cemetery?

It felt like the blind spots in his thoughts had been reduced.

‘To blind me and induce a miss with irregular attacks. Clever…….’

In times like these, one should not act as the opponent intends.

Artier immediately raised his sword and swung it fiercely.

[Using Flame Cleave.]

Boom!

As the crescent-shaped flame and the fireballs collided, the surroundings were covered in a scorching heat.

The two pushed against each other in a power struggle for a while, and then the fireballs slowly began to push back the sword energy.

“Artier is being pushed back……!”

It was an absolute difference in mana.

Soon, as the flame flickered out, the fireballs rushed in and tore apart the place where Artier had been.

“……”

Reinard silently looked at the front, which was filled with a cloud of dust.

“I lost.”

Soon, he raised both hands and said.

Behind him, Artier was pointing his sword at him.

“Why didn’t you use holy magic?”

Artier asked.

If they had used holy magic, the three who had fallen could have been quickly returned to the front line. Then the fight would have become a long-term battle, and Artier would have struggled.

“……The reason we learned holy magic is, after all, to defeat the enemies of this world. It is not for use in private spars.”

Reinard lowered his hands and silently brushed the dust off his clothes.

“And if we use holy magic, we can exert two to three times our usual strength. At the point where five people were fighting against one, it was as if we were already using holy magic.”

Reinard, who had even put his staff into his inventory, bowed his head politely as if nothing had happened.

“I acknowledge it. You have sufficient ability to be the leader of the knights. I will follow you.”

“……Is that so. Collie, cast healing magic on the fallen.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Artier was also bewildered by the atmosphere that had changed as if flipping a palm, but his other comrades looked at him as if he were a monster.

“Leader, do you happen to know that guy?”

“An unfamiliar face. But seeing as he uses flame magic, he must be from the south.”

“Strange……. If he was such a unique person, there's no way I wouldn't know him.”

“Well. Perhaps it's because he's surprisingly ordinary.”

Gerard looked at Reinard for a moment and said.

“If I didn't know Artier, I would have acted similarly.”

Reinard and he had quite a few similarities.

The only difference was that the other side seemed a bit sharper.

“Then we shall depart soon.”

Artier meticulously checked the supplies everyone had brought.

Since this exploration was in an environment where it was difficult to get supplies, nothing, from food to tents, could be lacking.

“Artier, isn't one person still missing?”

“Ah……”

At Jeina’s question, Artier chuckled and said.

“It’s alright. That person is never late.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t she already late?”

“No, I’m not?”

“Aargh!”

Jeina saw Tersion standing next to her and quickly retreated.

“You scared me! Make some noise when you walk!”

“Your ears must be deaf. I had no intention of hiding my presence.”

“How did you know we were here?”

“Do you still not know my abilities? Tracking traces is my specialty.”

Tersion shrugged and approached Artier.

“Looks like things got complicated, but you managed to sort it out.”

“A lot of things happened.”

“Somehow, you always act recklessly, but it ends up being resolved.”

Her cackling laughter filled the area.

“So, where exactly are we going?”

“Our final destination is…… Baron Rice’s fief.”

Artier took out a map and pointed to a dot drawn on the northernmost tip of the continent.

The most remote frontier region of the Empire. A fief where it snowed all year round and the sea was frozen, so even ships couldn’t travel.

And it was also the place where the Hellmorphs first appeared.

“Finding the origin of the Hellmorphs there is the first objective of this expedition.”

“Then what's the second?”

“To find out the habits or behavior patterns of the Hellmorphs, and further, their weaknesses.”

“There's really a lot to do in many ways. It had better be worth it.”

As Tersion shrugged, everyone gathered.

“It’s been a long way around, but let me introduce myself. I am Artier, the leader of the knights who will lead this expedition.”

“……”

“I will appoint the vice-leader. For this quest, the vice-leaders will be Gerard and Reinard. When I am not present, please follow the orders of these two.”

Gerard and Reinard looked at each other at the same time and nodded.

“Then, the first place we will go is……”

Artier looked at the map and fell silent for a moment.

Just as everyone was looking at him with a puzzled expression, his mouth opened.

“It is Jestion’s viscounty in the north.”

“……Why there of all places?”

Jeina grumbled with a disgusted expression, and Gerard’s expression subtly distorted.

Their reactions were understandable.

That was the place where Artier had lost his memories, and also the place where the original members, Dina, Ben, and Deiker, were lost.

“It’s the shortest route to Baron Rice’s fief.”

“Most of the north is composed of high mountain ranges. If we don't use the land route, the travel time will increase exponentially.”

Reinard said, pushing up his glasses.

“Moreover, given the characteristics of the entity the leader calls Hellmorph, it is impossible for the expedition team to be self-sufficient in the north. We have no choice.”

At his completely natural manner of speaking, Artier was inwardly amazed.

Was this really the same person who had been doubting his qualifications just a moment ago?

“That's right. So everyone, get ready. Any questions?”

“I have one request.”

“Please speak.”

Reinard said with a slight bow.

“Please speak comfortably. You are the leader, and we are the members. To ensure the chain of command, the highest authority should not speak formally to anyone.”

It was a truly unexpected proposal.

However, Gerard nodded and said.

“That's right. I know why you speak formally to me and Jeina, but I think it's time to separate public and private matters.”

“Are you alright with that?”

“Of course. We are no longer a mere party.”

To have to speak informally to people older than himself.

But with so many eyes on him, he couldn’t show a weak side here.

“Alright. Then…… let's depart!”

Starting with Artier’s command, everyone passed through the castle gate.

Their first destination was Jestion’s viscounty.

The place where all of this began, and where they would find a clue.

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