The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary

"How did you even get here in the first place?!"

Magna casually caught Loren's strike with his longsword one-handedly. Tricks were meaningless to him since he was superior in strength, and he met Loren's raw power with his own. But when their forces clashed, a hint of surprise showed on his face for a moment.

"By walking, of course?"

"And nothing happened on the way?"

"Nothing happened except for her fighting with you. What are you talking about?"

Pointing at Noel, who was fighting Gula, Manga replied, and Loren suddenly understood why he seemed suspicious about his question.

This mountain was inhabited by a dragon, and perhaps because of her intimidation, no other demons or animals lived here. But said dragon had offered her nest for Loren's party to rest for the night. In other words, Magna's party were able to weave their way up to the top of the mountain without much trouble thanks to that.

"There are lightning strikes, aren't there? Don't tell me that the lightning avoided you?"

"What are you talking about? When we arrived, the sky was clear."

The weather in the mountains was fickle. The amount of smoke rising from the crater was not always the same, and its density varied from moment to moment depending on the direction of the wind. And coincidentally, the lightning that had struck Loren's party seemed to have completely gone by the time Magna's party passed through.

"Damn it. We're the ones who have to deal with all the trouble, aren't we?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Loren knew that Magna really had nothing to do with it, but he still couldn't help but feel bitter. It was just a matter of timing or choosing the right path, but it was incomprehensible how much of a difference it could make. They had to deal with all sorts of hardships while Magna's party were able to reach the top without any obstacles.

Wondering if he was destined for misfortune, Loren swung his greatsword. The thought strengthened his arms' power even more, but it still was not enough for Loren's blade to reach Magna's body.

"Cut, Caliburns."

A white flash of light rushed past Loren. He managed to dodge it within a hair's breadth. A heat-wave hot enough to burn the hair on his skin struck him and Loren, frowning at the sensation, slashed his greatsword with even greater force. If he moved too far away, his greatsword wouldn't be able to reach Magna, and he would be continuously hit with the white flash with no chance for a counter-attack. But the closer to Magna he was, the more difficult it would be to avoid the flashes of light he unleashed.

Loren had deemed that it was impossible to dodge the flash of light after it materialized. The only reason he was able to avoid it was because Magna would always say a certain phrase before unleashing it.

['I'll help you!']

As Shayna's spoke, some kind of force stirred in the space around Magna. It turned the stones at his feet to dust in an instant, and Loren and Lapis, who had seen a similar phenomenon before, realized that Shayna was using <<Energy Drain>> on Magna without any reservation.

The wave of <<Energy Drain>>, which was so strong that even stones could no longer exist as stones in the face of it, must have engulfed the entire space around Magna, yet his body and equipment did not turn to dust like the stones.

By the time Loren realized that Shayna's power had been resisted, Magna's longsword had closed in. He hurriedly defended himself with his greatsword and was knocked to the ground by the force of the impact.

"Cut, Caliburns!"

A flash of light struck at Loren just as he rolled over. Seeing that he would not be able to avoid it in time if he were to stand up, Loren managed to dodge by making use of his momentum to roll away.

"You're good at dodging, aren't you?"

"That's also a skill!"

Magna may have said that to mock Loren for keeping running away, but in his opinion, evasion was a fine skill. No matter how powerful an attack was, it was meaningless if it couldn't hit.

Magna's eyes narrowed at the 'Hit me if you can!' implied in Loren's comeback, but Loren couldn't afford to provoke him. In addition to the fact that most of his attacks were ineffective against Magna, even the powerful <<Energy Drain>> that Shayna unleashed was resisted. There was nothing he could do.

Feeling like raving about the boost Magna had received, Loren searched for a way to break through the situation.

"If only we can distract him for a moment…"

If he couldn't stand against Magna in a head-to-head fight, he could do nothing but try to create an opening and exploit it. However, even if he, who hadn't been able to get a solid hit in at all, did something, it was unlikely that it would be able to distract Magna. This guy had simply too great of an advantage in terms of strength.

Loren suddenly thought of the black helmet that Lapis, who was watching the situation from nearby, was holding in her hand.

It could be said that Magna's senses were mainly focused on the black helmet. Taking it away was his goal, and he was doing everything he could to achieve that goal. If Loren used the black helmet, he could attract Magna's attention.

He considered wearing the helmet and making use of the benefits that Magna might be receiving from the armor set, but then he remembered Magna's insistence on ownership and decided against that option. There was a famous story about a certain holy sword that could only be used by the person who pulled it out of its pedestal. The holy sword recognized its owner and allowed only that person to use the power it possessed. If someone else were to hold it, it would be too heavy to lift, let alone swing, and its blade would be too dull to cut even a twig. It was possible that the armor set Magna wore was the same. In that case, wearing the helmet might lead to his own destruction.

Wondering if there was any way to make use of the helmet's existence without wearing it, Loren immediately extended his left hand toward Lapis and shouted:

"Lapis! Give it to me!"

Although the instruction was very vague, Lapis immediately understood what Loren was asking her to do and threw the black helmet in her hand at him.

Seeing Magna's eyes following the helmet, Loren believed that Magna might do what he expected. He caught the helmet with his left hand.

"What the hell are you…"

Manga's words were interrupted by Loren's next action.

Seeing Magna's gaze turned towards him, Loren threw the helmet high in the air in his direction. Lapis' eyes and mouth widened in surprise as Loren threw something that was not to be taken in the direction of the one who wanted to take it.

It was also a very unexpected move for Magna. Just as Lapis, his face twisted in surprise, but he was at a loss what to do next. He was carrying the longsword and shield in both hands. If he were to catch the helmet, he would have to let go of one, both if he wanted to make doubly sure that he could catch it. But he was also in the middle of a battle with Loren, and Magna was hesitant to let go of his longsword and shield.

[If you can use such a powerful shield bash, why don't you just knock me down and then retrieve it]

Crossed Loren's mind - although they were fighting near the crater, they were still a good distance away from the lava-filled hole. If Magna failed to catch the helmet, it was unlikely that it would immediately sink into lava, and there would have been no problem if he were to leisurely pick it up after removing the obstacles. But Magna was so fixated on the helmet that he couldn't realize it. Aside from his skill and strength, he must be inexperienced. Loren concluded this as he gripped his greatsword with both hands and held it high above his head, then kicked at the ground and leapt up.

His target was not Magna. Even though he was distracted by the helmet, if the blow had been aimed at him, Manga would probably take defensive action.

However, Loren's target was the helmet that had been thrown up high and was now falling towards Magna. He leapt up and struck down at the helmet with his greatsword.

The momentum of the strike accelerated the helmet, which was flying into the face of Magna, who was unable to grasp the situation. The thing he was after suddenly flew at his face with increased speed, and he couldn't repel it with his shield or flick it away with his sword. He took it full force on his forehead.

"Gah?!"

There was a sound of metal colliding bone, and the pain on his forehead made Magna throw his head back and scream out. He reflexively dropped his longsword to cover his forehead with his right hand.

On the other hand, the helmet bounced off Magna's forehead and flew right back towards Loren.

"Now!"

Magna was too distracted by the pain to move, and Noel was occupied with fighting Gula. Considering the situation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Loren did not let go of his greatsword to grab the helmet, but swung it sideways with all his might instead.

"Magna-sama! The helmet!"

"Ngh?!"

Noel shouted a warning, and Magna looked up in pain, but by that time it was too late for either of them.

The blade of the greatsword caught the helmet's center mid-air, giving Loren's hands a pleasant sensation, and Loren swung his sword mercilessly.

The blow gave the helmet a horizontal momentum, and it flew straight towards the lava-filled crater. The distance and momentum were just right. After confirming that it would surely fall into lava, Loren shouted without paying Magna and Noel any attention:

"Our work is done! Let's get the hell out of here!"

With those words, Loren's party left the crater behind.

Magna's party ran after the helmet towards the crater's center, but the helmet span in the air before finally landing into the lava with a splash… Though a bit close to the edge of the crater.