Chapter 224: Terrible Intruder [9]
Billford's spear mercilessly smashed and tore at the scales near the creature's knees, then tore through its muscles, but that was all.
'This guy! He knows how to fight!'
Billford realized from this one moment that this monster was not simply fighting by instinct, but was a 'warrior' who fought with his own battle logic.
It was the same with Catherine; she changed her actions in an instant to save Billford, whose posture had collapsed as the point of the stab was blurred.
Puck!
Catherine, who was running on the right side of Billford, pushed him hard in the side, and Billford, in turn, pushed Catherine to the other side. The two knights split and flew in opposite directions.
Kwaaaaang!
As he turned his body, the monster's tail, barely able to escape the gap between him and the female, swept low and relatively weakly. The monster's large hand, which had made a full circle, then fell down fiercely and smashed the ground.
The place where Billford had been was completely reduced to ashes.
Movements with incredible strength, speed, and an understanding and control of how its own body moves—this male monster alone is threatening enough to overwhelm.
"Gulp!"
So, Carl, who has avoided the male and taken a detour, must neutralize the female as soon as possible.
Carl opened his chest wide as he ran, pulling the spear to the right and behind him. At that sight, the female monster let out a howl of indignation and rushed at Carl without thinking.
Rather, it's good. I'll kill you here in one go. The heart of a mother who has lost her child is so sad and useful.
Kuung!
Carl's form, which had been running at full speed using his transcendent physical abilities and even mana, stopped as if it were a lie.
He controlled that tremendous power with a single wave of his foot.
The relatively soft ground hollowed out, causing his left foot to sink in, and as he turned his rolling foot outward, the soft ground broke apart, scattering dirt in all directions.
Following the returned ankle, the knee also returned, and power was transmitted to the hip joint, waist, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingertips.
The 'finished' body was amazingly flexible and resilient, transmitting all that power without loss and greatly amplifying it.
Wedge!
The fingertips were swung so quickly that all the blood drained from Carl's arm and rushed to his fingertips, causing his fingers to swell and nearly burst, and the blood vessels in them were on the verge of bursting.
The spear flew with such tremendous force and speed that it reached its target in literally no time, not even in the blink of an eye.
Bam!
The sound wasn't that loud compared to its power and speed.
The spear that Carl threw aimed straight for the female's head, shattering the scales and piercing through the monster's body.
"Crunch."
But unfortunately, what Carl's spear pierced was the back of the hand of the male, who had been watching him with his wide field of vision without fail.
Bam.
Unable to withstand the impact, the spearhead turned to dust like a rotten log and scattered in all directions, leaving only the mangled blade that had pierced the male's hand and reached the female's head.
But the force was so weak that the impact was only as strong as if a child had thrown a rock with all their might.
The female seemed to have completely regained her composure at the incredible power that was beyond imagination, unbelievable that the small human could have exerted.
Sreung!
Carl raised his right hand, which had all its blood vessels burst, above his heart to drain the blood, and at the same time pulled out his sword with his left hand.
Thanks to its superb resilience, his hands would recover quickly. But this situation did not seem very optimistic. Carl rushed at the monsters, standing alongside Catherine and Billford.
***
Catherine and Billford didn't just sit back and watch while the male monster guarded the female monster.
The two avoided the tail and attacked the male monster's left knee, managing to land a valid blow, though it was not fatal.
The male monster had both knees injured and his right hand pierced by a spear, but he did not roll his eyes or flinch. Even though he was injured, he didn't seem to feel much of a threat.
The female monster completely regained her composure at the sight of the male's sturdy appearance.
The female monster stepped back slightly behind the male and turned around to stand slightly askew, so as not to form a single line. Because of the tail, their backs were not completely flush.
"Billford!"
Billford responded immediately to Carl's shout. The formation of the three rushing at the same time changed in an instant.
Carl was attacking alone by making a left turn, and with that one shout, Carl and Billford moved nimbly and switched positions without so much as a glance.
Now, the structure had changed to one where Billford was targeting the female monster alone, while Carl and Catherine targeted the male monster.
"Crunch!"
As the female, who lacked combat experience, turned to follow Carl, the male slapped her with his tail. The female came to her senses and faced Billford, who had come before her.
Carl's instructions were simple, but in fact had a complex purpose. First, he wanted to find out about the monster's tactical judgment. And if possible, he tried to cause confusion.
This was confirmed by the reactions of the male and female, and although it was not very significant, it was possible to delay their reactions by half a beat.
And the next goal was to make Billford kill the female. Billford managed to hit the male but failed to inflict serious damage, while Carl managed to pierce the male's hand with one javelin throw.
Of course, he would feel that Carl was more threatening. In addition, Carl was faster and stronger than Billford due to his physicality. But this was only a superficial appearance; the reality was completely the opposite.
Even when Carl fought with all his might in his duels with Billford, his win rate was still less than 20%.
This was a winning percentage that was barely achieved by mobilizing extreme variable creation from the dual sword technique and engaging in melee that was difficult to reproduce even by oneself.
Although Carl could easily be killed by any knight, he was no different from a dull club compared to Billford, who was like a sharp blade.
Carl achieved three tactical objectives simultaneously with a single command immediately after the first move, and his opponent had no response.
The price was very high.
Thud!
Catherine charged straight ahead like a battering ram, heavy and stubborn, at the male monster. The male monster's reaction was alert, but unfortunately, he was giving too much attention to Carl, who was rushing at him from the side after switching places with Billford.
It was indeed threatening as Carl rushed forward with the longsword he was holding in his left hand drawn tightly, but Catherine's skills were not lacking, even if it was said to be top-notch among ordinary mana users.
Catherine's form, which was running while hitting the solid ground, suddenly lurched to the right and turned around. A tremendous amount of stress was placed on her outside left knee.
Despite the throbbing pain, Catherine moved fiercely with a cold, calm face.
She ran with her sword raised above her and turned her body to the right.
The upper body turned first, then the lower body followed suit, changing the direction of force.
Catherine's feet were floating in the air as she glided across the ground, and for her lower body to turn, her upper body naturally had to turn to the opposite side.
The waist was turned to the right to its limit due to the tremendous force and speed. Catherine's waist twisted violently, as if she had let go of a lever that she had been holding all the way down.
Kagakak!
Catherine's sword, which had moved to the right as if brushing against the male monster's swinging left hand, cut a long line across his forearm.
From the back of the hand to the elbow, she struck and tore off the scales, inflicting a large wound with one blow. After the two passed by, blood spurted out from the monster's arm and scattered.
By then, Carl was running toward the right side of the male monster.
It was a distance where he could attack at any moment if he jumped in. But instead of rushing forward, Carl kicked the ground with all his might, slowing down his pace.
He had better physical abilities than Catherine or Billford, and his self-healing abilities allowed him to make bolder, more reckless moves.
Woohoo!
An uneasy sound and pain surged from his ankles that could not withstand the load, but Carl paid no attention. He absorbed most of the impact with his body, and instead of stopping completely, he jumped slightly with some of his remaining strength.
Kwaaaaang!
The monster's tail swooped past Carl's feet and hit the ground.
Carl, who was floating in the air, was blown backward by the wind and shock, landing softly on the ground. Even though the male was hit hard by Catherine, he still considered the dangers of Carl and Catherine to be roughly equal.
To be clear, Carl was now only a commander who assisted, provided distraction, and made tactical decisions.
The main characters were Catherine and Billford.