A Flash of White Lightning and Glittering Eyes

Raphael burst into even louder laughter at my words. Watching him laugh so hard he nearly ran out of breath made me feel strange.

Lately, he was acting completely different from the way he had before joining the adventure. Before the subjugation started, he had been obsessively persistent and creepy toward Judas, but since we began, he hadn’t shown that chilling obsession. Even more surprising was that he didn’t show any annoyance or anger at the blatant hostility from me or the other knights.

To put it simply, he seemed less like a madman and more like a flippant, lighthearted guy.

Is this his true nature? I couldn’t get a grasp on who Raphael really was or what he was thinking.

At first, he seemed like a character who cherished his family to a fault; then, he seemed like a cold-blooded tyrant; after that, he was like a child with a strange fixation on Judas. At one point he seemed insane, and now he felt like a high-born young master with a casual attitude that wasn’t particularly hard to deal with.

“I happen to like people who are capable and confident.”

“Ah, right.”

“You don’t seem to belong to the Knight Order, and you look more like a wanderer. Am I right?”

“Ah, right.”

I answered Raphael’s questions half-heartedly, barely listening.

Raphael noticed this and asked with a grin.

“I’ll treat you well, so why don’t you come to my country?”

“No.”

Did he really think I’d fall for that? When I looked at him with an ‘as if’ expression, I saw him feign indifference as if he hadn’t expected much anyway.

Looking at the quest information, the time to stop him would surely come, but the more we talked, the more strangely familiar Raphael felt. It was starting to become problematic.

“It is nearly time to head out—”

“—Get down!”

A sharp arrowhead thudded into the spot where I had been sitting just a second ago.

Even if it had hit, it probably would have just felt like a sting, but I gestured my thanks to Azrael, who had pulled me out of the way.

As the arrow struck the ground, everyone drew their weapons. I gripped my staff tightly.

Perhaps because they knew their opportunities were running out, the assassins brought many magical tools this time, unlike their usual attacks—tools to temporarily bind feet or dull bodily movements.

As the knights’ wounds increased, I grew anxious.

“…These magic tools aren’t things that should be handed over to mere assassins. They must really covet the weapons.”

Azrael nodded in agreement at Raphael’s remark.

“Your life must be quite exhausting, isn’t it?”

Azrael glanced at Raphael as the latter added the playful comment. An assassin lunged, seizing that opening, but Azrael parried the attack effortlessly without even looking.

“It is quite amusing to hear that from the person closest to me who desires the weapons.”

Azrael adjusted his grip on his sword. Raphael chuckled as if he had heard a hilarious joke.

“To treat me the same as those thugs. I should really find a time to tell you how much I cherished my younger brother.”

At those words, everyone reacted with a look of utter disbelief.

Despite the chaos, the tide of battle was on our side. However, just as the fight was nearing its end….

“……!”

A massive monster revealed itself.

Where did it come from? The giant turtle-shaped monster appeared without a sound, a feat unimaginable for its size. The moment the monster appeared, the confrontation with the assassins ceased.

HP: 120,000.

“…….”

Someone inhaled sharply in tension. The turtle, which stood nearly 5 meters tall, was surprisingly quiet and fast.

With a single jerk of its head, one of the assassins was killed instantly. I gripped Azrael’s cloak, trying to look away from the remains.

This was dangerous even for Azrael. This opponent was dozens of times stronger than the average monster in Knights of Dark Ages.

If it only had high health, they could chip away at it over time, but……. I wondered if his attacks could even deal effective damage.

If the level gap is too large, attacks won’t go through due to natural defense. It was a relief it wasn’t the type to travel in groups, and while Azrael might be able to deal damage since he had the Holy Sword…… what about the other knights?

His knights, whose health and levels were lower than Azrael’s, were already heavily injured. Even if Azrael could subjugate this monster, could they stay alive until the fight was over?

Even as I thought this, the monster attacked the next target with terrifying speed. I barely managed to cast a barrier on John right before he was hit. Though the barrier must have absorbed most of the damage, John coughed up blood immediately after the impact.

The assassin who took the next hit, naturally, died instantly.

“Hurry! We cannot handle a monster like this. Run!”

Raphael shouted, having quickly assessed the situation.

I looked at Azrael. Do you want to run too?

The expression he gave me was complex. In that split second, he calculated and considered countless factors. If they ran now, could they actually escape this monster? Would dragging it out only lead to unnecessary casualties?

“What are you doing! Run, quickly!”

As Azrael and I stood still, staring at each other, Raphael shouted at us while picking up the wounded knights.

Azrael bit his lip. He seemed truly reluctant, but the duty he carried finally forced his mouth open.

“Andrealphus.”

A breath filled with tension broke the momentary silence.

“Please, save us with your power.”

As if I had been waiting for those words, I slammed my staff into the ground and deployed a massive, brilliantly glowing defensive barrier.

The moment the barrier went up, the monster’s heavy attack slammed into it. I didn’t know its patterns well, but I felt a strong attack was coming, and I was right.

“……!”

The defensive barrier shook with a tremendous roar. Not only Raphael but even the knights couldn’t hide their anxiety, fearing the barrier would break.

But there was no way my barrier would falter from this level of damage.

For the first time in a long while, the thrill of a real battle made the corners of my mouth curl up. I reached out and began preparing the next incantation.

Baffled that its near-finishing move had been rendered futile, the giant turtle lunged backward.

The ground shook slightly. Whether the turtle retreated or not, my incantation was complete and light flickered. As white lightning flashed, nearly 40,000 HP was shaved off in an instant. The turtle twisted its body, letting out a scream of agony.

Enraged to its core, the turtle slammed its body into the barrier with even greater force than before.

At that moment, my second attack struck the turtle. It was a bolt of lightning so massive it bathed the surroundings in pure white light.

The turtle finally collapsed with a painful cry. As the massive carcass crashed to the earth, the area shook violently as if an earthquake had hit. I shielded my eyes from the resulting dust storm.

It was a clean death.

No unnecessary blood spray, no gruesome scenes—the kind of clean clear where the corpse vanishes immediately and only items remain.

Since the battle didn’t leave me feeling disgusted or uncomfortable, it was refreshing and fun. In fact, in a way, I felt a bit disappointed. By The Hunters standards, it was still far too weak a monster. I smacked my lips and looked back at the knights and Raphael.

The knights’ reactions were varied as always, but since that was nothing new, I set them aside. What I was most curious about was Raphael’s reaction. Not only did he not know I was strong, but he didn’t even know I was capable of attacking.

I thought he would be terrified, or stunned, or paralyzed with fear.

However, when I turned around, Raphael’s eyes were sparkling.

……Huh?

I rubbed my eyes and looked at him again. But even upon second glance, he was undoubtedly looking at me with a pure, glittering face. I reflexively took a few steps back at the unexpected reaction.

What is it? Why is he looking at me like that? It was John’s groan that pulled me out of my bewildered panic.

“Ugh…….”

Right, I hadn’t healed John yet after he coughed up blood. I snapped out of it and ran toward him.

John was still bleeding from the corner of his mouth. After I cast a simple recovery spell, his complexion immediately returned to normal. However, I didn’t dare turn my head back around.

After the battle with the giant turtle, our journey became easier in a way.

Not only because I could now participate in monster battles, but also because the assassins stopped appearing—perhaps shocked by the fight with the turtle.

The progress was so smooth I felt like humming.

……If it weren’t for Raphael, I probably would have been humming. Since then, Raphael had been acting no different than usual. It was the exact opposite of what I expected. I thought the moment he saw my power, he would try to win me over by any means necessary…….