Chapter 166

Chapter 166. The Witch of the Night (7)

Uuuuuung!

The Holy Mark engraved on Aaron’s left chest emitted light.

A blue aura fiercely wrapped around his spear and blazed.

I leisurely watched Aaron raising his aura, then turned my head toward the other two seniors.

The two of them were looking this way with sparkling eyes, as if the current situation was quite exciting.

“What are you doing? Just watching from there.”

“…Huh?”

*Click, click.*

“You guys should come too. We’re in the same party, right?”

“……”

Bella and Rios let out a hollow laugh with expressions of disbelief.

Bella sighed and shook her head vigorously.

“Aaron. I think that guy might be crazy.”

“I told you from the start. You can’t trust that guy.”

Rios clicked his tongue as if he had expected this.

“Haha. Quite the confidence, huh?”

Aaron didn’t even glance at him and wiggled his fingers at Bella and Rios, then smiled at me.

His mouth was smiling, but his narrowed eyes were coldly fixed.

It seemed like he was really ticked off by my blatant disregard for him.

“Alright, let’s see if you have the skills to back up that confidence.”

Aaron’s eyes gleamed sharply.

*Thud!*

With an illusion of his body stretching long, Aaron’s spear reached right in front of me in the blink of an eye.

*Snap.*

I grabbed the charging spearhead with my hand, as if catching a fish.

“……!”

His pupils dilated.

I roughly pulled the spearhead and kicked Aaron’s stomach.

*Thud!*

“Keuh!”

Aaron was pushed back, sliding across the ground.

Aaron looked at the spear in his trembling hand with disbelief.

The spearhead was clearly blazing with a blue aura.

“How did you catch this bare-handed…?”

I knew that skilled martial artists could wrap their hands in aura to catch blades bare-handed.

But that was only possible when the difference in skill was overwhelming.

Moreover, Dale’s main weapon wasn’t martial arts, but a sword.

“So… you weren’t just bluffing.”

Aaron sharply opened his eyes and drew in his magic power.

Even though he was a junior, I thought I’d go easy on him, but it seemed like that wasn’t necessary.

“If you’re serious, then I’ll get serious too.”

Aaron adjusted his grip on the spear and lowered his stance.

The blue aura exploded, enveloping his body.

“Blink.”

*Whoosh!*

Aaron’s body disappeared into thin air and instantly moved behind me.

The spearhead, imbued with blue aura, charged toward my back.

A terrifying speed, as if he had moved through space itself.

“Seriously?”

I twisted the corner of my mouth and lightly rolled my foot.

Berald Martial Arts.

Earth Shaker.

*Rumble!*

The ground split open, and a massive surge of earth erupted.

Aaron’s balance was disrupted, and the trajectory of his spear twisted.

*Thud.*

I grabbed the spearhead again and roughly pulled it.

“Keuk!”

Aaron’s body was dragged like a fish on a hook.

I grabbed Aaron’s neck with the hand that had caught the spearhead.

“Keuh, keuk!”

“Who said you were serious?”

Aaron was clearly strong.

If he continued to grow, he could become a hero on par with Yurina in the near future.

But.

That was a story for the future.

Right now, his skills were actually inferior to Yurina, who had recently grown rapidly.

“You’re the only one being serious here, you brat.”

*Squeeze.*

I tightened my grip on his neck.

“Keuk… Keuh…!”

Aaron, who had dropped his spear, tried to pry my hand off with both arms.

His face began to turn blue, and his legs flailed pitifully.

“Aaron!”

Bella, who had been watching, drew her sword and charged at me.

Bella’s sword swung at a terrifying speed.

I used Aaron’s body as a shield and pushed him toward Bella.

“Euk…!”

Bella barely twisted her sword to avoid hitting Aaron.

Forcing the sword to twist left a big opening in her upper body.

Berald Martial Arts.

Thunder Kick.

*Thud!*

A sound, on a completely different level from when she had kicked Lanes earlier, echoed as her body was sent flying like a marble.

“Keuh! Ugh! Uweeeek!”

Bella fell to the ground, vomiting.

I looked down at her and spoke softly.

“Don’t move recklessly when your ally is captured. Or be prepared to cut down your ally from the start.”

“You… bastard…!”

Bella trembled, clutching her stomach.

“Keuk… Keuh!”

*Thud!*

I threw Aaron, who was gasping for breath, toward a nearby tree.

“Huff, huff!”

Aaron, breathing heavily, gritted his teeth and reached out.

The spear that had fallen to the ground floated in the air and tried to return to him.

*Crack!*

I roughly stepped on the spear shaft, driving it back into the ground.

I calmly spoke to Aaron, who was panting.

“A warrior shouldn’t let go of their weapon so easily. Even if it feels like you’re about to die.”

*Tap.*

I kicked the spear embedded in the ground toward Aaron.

Aaron looked down at his spear rolling toward him, his fist trembling.

“Are you… trying to teach me now?”

“I was planning to, but I changed my mind.”

*Tsk.* I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

“You don’t seem worth it.”

“……”

Aaron’s expression twisted fiercely.

“You…!”

He reached out toward the spear lying on the ground.

The spear floated up and returned to his hand.

As he gripped the spear shaft tightly, grinding his teeth, a sudden sense of unease brushed through his head.

‘Wait.’

During the fight, had Dale ever used his ‘sword’?

I quickly turned my head to look at Dale, who was standing leisurely with his sword hanging down to the ground.

“……”

So, right now.

He had been fighting both Aaron and Bella simultaneously without even using his sword hand?

And he was a swordsman whose main weapon was a sword?

“You… what are you…?”

Aaron looked at Dale with trembling eyes.

This wasn’t a matter of being a junior or anything.

‘Is he really a candidate?’

A top-tier ranker, at least within the top five among all rankers.

Something only heroes, often called ‘Masters,’ could do.

‘No, that doesn’t make sense.’

The title of Master was only given to heroes who could single-handedly match the level of an Archbishop-level demon.

Within the Hero School, aside from Raonel Liu, the ‘Brain God,’ no hero had received the title of Master.

But a mere candidate, and only a third-year at that, was hiding Master-level strength?

“…Nonsense.”

Aaron gritted his teeth and raised his spear.

“Hoo.”

He exhaled briefly.

Slowly, he drew upon his ‘Blessing.’

“Keuuk!”

Uuuuung!

An explosive burst of light flowed from the Holy Mark.

“A, Aaron!”

“Aaaaah!”

Ignoring Bella’s desperate cry, Aaron continued to draw upon his Blessing, the ‘Blessing of the Meteor.’

*Crack, crack!*

A chilling sound of bones echoed as veins, like tree roots, bulged on his skin.

The power of the Blessing was so immense that using it would require at least a week in the infirmary.

‘But now…!’

Aaron pulled his spear back and roughly rolled his foot.

*Rumble!*

With a heavy roar, a blue light gathered around his spear.

“Haaaaaaah!”

With a rough shout, he thrust the spear with all his might.

*Whoooosh!*

The blue light gathered on the spearhead exploded, emitting light.

The spear shot forward at supersonic speed.

The brilliant blue light trailing behind the spear was like a meteor falling from the sky.

*Crash!!!*

Along the trajectory of the spear, rocks, dirt, and trees were crushed and flung away, creating a crater several meters deep.

A destruction so overwhelming it was hard to believe it was done by human strength.

It was easy to see why he would later earn the title ‘Meteor Spear’ from this single strike.

But.

“You’re working hard, brat.”

Dale clenched his fist and twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Blaze.”

A fierce flame blazed around his body.

Amid the swirling ash-gray smoke.

A fist wrapped in ash fire was swung.

Berald Martial Arts.

Mountain Breaker.

*Crash!!!*

With a roar, a terrifying wave of power shook the earth.

“Keuh!”

Aaron, swept away by the wave of power like a tidal wave, vomited blood and rolled on the ground.

Aaron, flung dozens of meters away, was embedded in the ground and knocked out.

“Hoo.”

I retracted the ash fire and sheathed the sword I had never drawn.

“Rios, senior.”

“Uh, yeah?”

Rios, who had been watching the fight between me and Aaron with his mouth agape, turned to me in surprise.

“Please take care of Aaron and Bella.”

Aaron was unconscious, and Bella, though not unconscious, couldn’t move properly.

“Ah, got it!”

Rios nodded with a voice full of courtesy and ran toward Aaron, who had been flung far away and knocked out.

“……”

I turned my body toward Lanes, who was looking up at me with dazed eyes.

“…Ah.”

Lanes, who met my eyes, flinched and trembled.

*Sigh.*

Seeing her, complicated thoughts filled my head again.

Was this really the right thing to do?

Considering the catastrophe she had caused in my past life, I should be thinking of killing her right now.

But.

‘I’ve already decided.’

To take the hand I hadn’t taken in my past life.

To shine a light on the witch who longed for warmth.

“Th… thank… Aah!”

Had she hurt her ankle when she fell earlier?

Lanes, trying to get up, winced and sat back down.

“……”

Perhaps due to the influence of the Blessing of Frost.

Lanes’ lips were still blue, and her body was trembling.

*Flick.*

I lit a small ash fire in my palm and approached her.

I didn’t know if this would dispel the cold she was feeling now.

“Ah…”

As I brought the ash fire closer, Lanes’ eyes widened.

Her trembling stopped, and her blue lips returned to a bright red.

“How is it?”

I brought the ash fire a little closer and asked.

“Are you feeling warmer now?”