■ Hit and Run □
After a brief lull, the Beautiful Girl Mask made the first move this time.
Swish!
The whip moved as if it were alive, lunging for my neck.
I instinctively grabbed the whip, only to realize too late that it was a trap.
The aura lingering at the tip of the whip suddenly surged like a blade.
“Ugh!”
I narrowly avoided it by twisting my head, but a long wound appeared on my forehead.
In that state, I pulled the whip while spinning my body once in the air.
As a result, the Beautiful Girl Mask, who was holding the handle, was pulled toward me, and the moment I landed, I switched my talismanic armor from Whirlwind Blade Bone (旋風刀骨) to Electric Dew (電光朝露).
Crack!
Lightning rises from the tips of my toes.
I approached the Beautiful Girl Mask almost instantaneously, scattering lightning bolts.
Her eyes widened, unable to adapt to my speed, which had increased nearly threefold from before.
But by then, my fist had already reached her.
BOOM!!
The sound echoed as the Beautiful Girl Mask’s body was sent flying backward.
She rolled on the garden floor, quickly recovering from her wounds and rising to her feet, but I was already kicking her abdomen.
With an intense vacuum sound, her small body floated into the air.
I decided to unleash every attack possible before she could regain her senses.
Wind Demon Art (風魔神功)
1st Technique: One Pure Wind (一陣淸風)
2nd Technique: Gentle Wind Warm Sun (和風暖陽)
3rd Technique: Thousand-Mile Shared Wind (千里同風)
4th Technique: Swift Wind Agile Flame (風林火山)
5th Technique: Wind Finger Snap (風手指彈)
I relentlessly hammered her with these five Quadra Spells without giving her a chance to breathe.
But as expected, my opponent was no pushover.
Even though her movements were restricted due to being airborne, she managed to block or deflect most of my attacks.
She wielded the seemingly ordinary whip like some kind of saber.
They say that someone at the level of a Sword Master or John Wick could kill a person with just an ordinary pen, and apparently, that wasn’t far from the truth.
Had I known this earlier, I should’ve learned some swordsmanship myself.
I immediately disengaged and used alchemy to create chunks of metal all around.
The Beautiful Girl Mask began chasing after me as she landed on the ground.
As she clenched her fists, droplets of water poured down from all sides.
Each one was sharp like needles, and it didn’t seem like they would stop at mere pricks.
Using Electric Dew, I quickly completed the calculations in my accelerated thoughts and surrounded my body with a wall of hot wind.
Thousands of raindrops evaporated upon contact with the wind barrier.
I then rolled across the ground and pressed both palms against the earth.
Penta Spell—
“Electricity Beneath the Rock (巖下之電)”
The current coursing through my fingertips raced along the damp ground and the iron chunks at incredible speed.
Then I lifted my right hand above my head.
Hexa Spell—
“Heavenly Thunderclap (靑天霹靂)”
There is no corner untouched between heaven and earth.
No matter how fast she moves, she can’t escape the lightning.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“AAAHHHHH!”
As expected, this attack was impossible for her to defend against, and the Beautiful Girl Mask let out a painful scream as she was struck directly by the lightning.
I continued pelting her head with lightning for as long as my remaining mana allowed.
The carefully tended garden was now in shambles, but what mattered now was capturing the Beautiful Girl Mask here.
Startled by the consecutive thunderclaps, Ozma, who had just stepped outside the house, asked anxiously.
“Caldlasth! What’s going on?”
While controlling the lightning with both hands, I answered her question.
“Finishing blow.”
What’s frustrating about water mages is that unlike other mages, they possess healing abilities that nullify most injuries.
Especially when they reach the 6th rank, they’re practically immortal as long as their mana holds out.
And the most orthodox way to take down such a water mage is to keep bombarding them until their mana runs out.
Now, it’s a contest of whose mana will run out first, and I was confident in this regard.
Not only has my total mana greatly increased since reaching the 7th rank, but I also possess Unlimited Power, which abnormally boosts my mana recovery speed.
Finally, it seemed that all her mana had been depleted, and the Beautiful Girl Mask collapsed onto the yard, gritting her teeth and smoking.
Due to repeatedly regenerating while being struck by lightning, the clothes she wore had long turned into black ashes and disappeared.
Only then did I stop casting magic and approach the unconscious Beautiful Girl Mask.
The motionless white body.
I grabbed her shoulder to confirm her face.
It was precisely at that moment.
“Danger!”
Just as Ozma’s scream rang behind me, the supposedly unconscious Beautiful Girl Mask struck my chest with her aura-covered hand.
‘She still had strength left to counterattack?’
Amazed by her absurd stamina, my body was flung backward like a toy.
Suppressing the pain, I immediately corrected my posture and tried to subdue her.
However, the surroundings were already thick with water mist, and the Beautiful Girl Mask had vanished without a trace.
“…She escaped.”
Ozma and Dorothea, who had arrived late, supported me while asking.
“Are you alright, Caldlasth?!”
“What exactly happened?”
After telling the two worried faces that I was almost unharmed, I looked at the spot where the Beautiful Girl Mask had stood, now evaporated like steam.
This time, I unfortunately missed her, but next time, I will surely capture her.
“By the way, where’s Barnett?”
“Barnett? She ran off with her sword, determined to catch whoever hurt you.”
At those words, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
That sounds like Barnett.
For the Beautiful Girl Mask, who is now in the position of being chased, it must feel like a nightmare.
After emergency treatment with water magic, I entered the house with support from the two.[[#]]Sophia returned to her mansion just as dawn was breaking.
She barely managed to escape from Partarth’s mansion, only to be chased by a knight in black armor, forcing her into a life-or-death game of tag.
Although the young woman, roughly the size of a horse, wandered around various parts of the city dressed in nothing but a piece of cloth, she could at least sigh in relief for surviving.
“Master… what is this….”
“Please prepare a change of clothes. Alfredo.”
Seeing her master return injured for the first time, the elderly butler hurried over, nodding his head as he rummaged through the wardrobe in the secret room.
Meanwhile, Sophia wiped her entire body with a wet towel and said to Alfredo, who brought her fresh clothes.
“We need to add insulation functionality to the next thief outfit.”
“Understood. It must be cold, so please put your clothes on quickly.”
Dressed in a white shirt and pants, attire that emphasized activity rather than the elegance expected of a noble young lady, Sophia shook her golden hair, dulled by dust, with a towel while muttering.
“The Chief Financial Officer Partarth is indeed an extraordinary magician, as I’ve heard. I thought I was fairly capable, but being defeated like this shows the difference in accumulated combat experience.”
“Of course, our master will surely become stronger than him. After all, you are the hero chosen by the heavens.”
“I know that. But there isn’t enough time. If we had another two years… no, even a year, it would have been sufficient to match him, but it’s truly regrettable to end up like this.”
While handing over a warm cup of tea to her beloved master, the old butler asked,
“So, did you fail completely in your mission?”
“Yes. There wasn’t time to retrieve the checkbook. Unfortunately, we’ll have no choice but to unilaterally sever ties with those who have financially supported us.”
“…Understood. I’ll handle that part accordingly.”
After confirming that her hair had returned to its original brilliant blonde, she removed her earrings.
Her hazel eyes, which had been brown, reverted to their original red color.
“I want to soak my body in warm water.”
“…I’ll prepare it for you.”
“Thank you always, Alfredo.”
“Not at all. It’s my duty.”
Thus, the two masters and servants, with a considerable age gap, left the secret room and headed toward the bathroom inside the mansion.[[#]]”Beautiful Girl Mask seems to be a hero.”
This was the conclusion I reached after much deliberation.
At this, Dorothea, who had been sticking close to me and attending to my needs, said incredulously while eating.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Heroes died ages ago, didn’t they?”
“Ah, of course, that hero is dead. I’m talking about a newly born hero.”
It was evident that a new hero had been born after Arthurius died in prison two years ago.
Back then, we couldn’t find them because their whereabouts were unknown, but who would have thought that two years later, we’d finally get a lead?
“Why do you believe Beautiful Girl Mask is the hero?”
“She’s strong.”
“Huh?”
“I couldn’t see her face clearly, but Beautiful Girl Mask appeared to be roughly between late teens and early twenties. Someone of that age achieving that level of accomplishment can’t just appear overnight.”
If it were an ordinary person, word would have spread throughout the neighborhood.
“Unless they’re an overwhelming genius like you, Dorothea, theoretically, becoming a double master at that age is impossible.”
“But they exist, don’t they?”
“That’s why I suspect they’re the hero. In my knowledge, only a hero can possess such absurd talent.”
Thinking about Arthurius, who was essentially a cheat key, the new hero—namely, Beautiful Girl Mask—was undoubtedly a monster surpassing that guy.
When the previous hero fails, a stronger hero is chosen.
And there is only one way to stop a monster that grows endlessly if left unchecked.
Crush it before it gets any bigger.
