Volume 6 Chapter 17
Volume 6 Chapter 17: Strategy
Facing the armored knight—the divine avatar—I gripped my sword and took several steps forward.
「I feel like I have to beat up a god every single time I enter a divine domain. Is that some kind of tradition?」
The armored knight accelerated sharply, rushing at me with tremendous speed.
Its sword was already drawn back over its shoulder, ready to strike without hesitation as soon as it reached me. Knowing full well that holding back wasn’t an option, I launched myself into battle:
「【Dragon Strike】—into 【Dragon Sword】.」
Going all-out from the start, I swung my sword horizontally with everything I had, slamming it into the knight.
A fierce metallic clang rang out, reverberating painfully through my arms. The knight had simply taken my attack head-on, without even bothering to block.
A shockwave erupted around us.
The double-link combo skill was designed specifically to pierce dragon scales. Landing a direct hit meant tremendous destructive power unleashed internally, which is why the enemy wouldn’t be knocked back far.
And yet—
The armored knight was thrown only a few meters away.
「【Good…!】」
After landing, the knight instantly bounced back, swinging its sword down fiercely from above.
I quickly drew my blade back overhead to parry the incoming strike, using the chance to glance at its body again.
「Just a scratch, huh…」
Only a faint white line marked the armor’s side.
My previous combo had focused both slash and shock internally, meant to inflict heavy internal damage. Despite that:
「This thing is pretty tough…!」
Not cracked, not even properly scratched. In fact, the resistance I’d felt through the blade—
「So, this armor’s made from the same material as my sword?」
Given how similar our swords appeared, I’d suspected as much. Hearing me mutter that, the helmet once again twisted, expressing a smile, as the knight swung his sword horizontally.
「【Good eyes, child of man.】」
「Thanks for the compliment.」
Blocking the sweeping swing, I thought.
Same material means I might shave it down slowly, but it’ll never cut cleanly through.
Slashes to the torso weren’t very effective, even less so against rounded surfaces. Then perhaps—
「Next.」
As the knight swung from overhead again, relying purely on brute strength, I aligned my sword precisely with the flat of its blade—
*Thunk.*
Its sword missed completely, stabbing deeply into the ground. The knight stumbled forward, exposing its back and knees clearly.
「…【Dragon Strike】!」
Aiming for the joint behind its knees, I drove my blow in hard.
A solid strike powerful enough to shatter a dragon’s claws.
*CRASH!*
An even heavier impact rang out.
「【Good aim!】」
Yet the knight didn’t even fall to its knees. Instead, it effortlessly yanked its sword free and swung horizontally.
「I see, so joints won’t work either.」
I stepped quickly back, avoiding the knight’s horizontal slash.
Now, the question occupying my mind is…
How do I break through this thing…?
Increasing slashing power might help, but against material this tough, it seemed unlikely to be very effective.
Thinking back on it, I already had a similar problem, when I fought the Dragon God…
Back then, I’d ended up punching it bare-handed, not sure if it was because weapons wouldn’t work or because they were sealed.
If I could remember clearly what happened back then it could’ve provided a clue for a breakthrough here, but alas.
I had to find another way.
Shattering divine armor with just my current equipment, huh…?
In the past, I ended up destroying a spear by overloading it with skills.
That meant that be it divine sword or divine armor, if enough pressure is applied, they still could be broken.
But—
My weapon would probably break too.
It was worth trying, but if I failed to take it down in one blow, I’d lose my only reliable weapon.
Such gambles were the last resort.
As such, for now—
「I’ll test for softer spots.」
I murmured, continuing to rain blows upon the armor.
I still felt excitement at finally being able to wield my sword at full strength again.
〇
Watching Axel clash blades with the armored knight, Daisy murmured quietly in disbelief.
「You’ve gotta be kidding me… That thing can fight evenly with my friend?」
Her surprise reflected in her expression.
She’d hardly ever witnessed anything like this before, so her reaction was understandable—even expected. Even if she was aware of that herself, she still couldn’t suppress her astonishment.
「He’s not strictly defensive, yet Axel seems hesitant, like he’s holding back.」
Lorie, who was right next to her, had the same look of surprise.
Axel occasionally hesitated mid-attack, pausing unnaturally between swift movements. But she knew the reason.
「He hasn’t found anything effective…」
All they heard were metallic clanks, no sounds of clear cuts.
Even Axel’s sword should easily slice dragon scales, let alone ordinary metals.
「…That armor is insanely tough…」
「Yes. Axel’s putting far more magic into his strikes than what I’ve seen on his sword during the combat with sprites, but it still isn’t enough.」
Just as Lorie said, Axel continuously adjusted and recombined skills, but nothing went through that armor.
「With that toughness, our magic would likely do no different.」
「It doesn’t seem particularly weak to magic attacks. Or rather, that armor seems to have tons of resistances stacked.」
So unnecessary magical support would only hinder Axel. That’s why they couldn’t interfere.
Moreover—
「That knight keeps glancing our way.」
「Yes… It isn’t exactly murderous intent— but he does seem to view us as combatants.」
Every time it tried to target them, Axel intercepted swiftly. Axel’s efforts had spared them so far, but—
It’s clearly waiting for an opening.
That much was obvious.
「This isn’t good.」
Lorie commented on the situation.
Daisy also was aware of that.
「I know. My friend can keep at it as long as his stamina allows, but…」
They were evenly matched, which in turn meant that Axel can’t win as things are at the moment.
Even their support wouldn’t make a difference, which meant…
…My friend is likely to take a bad gamble.
Axel was capable of ignoring his body’s limits and using skills from his Dragon Knight days.
He’d already shattered a divine spear before, so victory wasn’t impossible, rather, it even seemed promising.
…But the risks were immense, and there were no guarantees.
If it could be avoided, I’d rather avoid it.
If there were another way, I’d choose that instead.
Relying completely on Axel, leaving everything to him—that’s not what a best friend should do.
…If that’s the case, then think. Think, me.
I have to come up with a way out of this, while there’s still time.
Isn’t there something we can do?
Daisy fixed her gaze on the movements of Axel and the armored knight.
Is there some kind of opening—anything at all?
In her line of sight, a sword fight was unfolding—movements faster than the sound that followed them.
The force of each clash between blades burst outward, striking the surface of the spring as gusts of wind.
*—Boom*
A splash of water shot into the air with a loud noise.
The water hung in the air for a moment, then fell back into the spring.
And at that moment—
「Ah…」
An answer came to her.
It formed in her mind in an instant—thought through and resolved—and then burst out of Daisy’s mouth as words.
「Friend! If you had a weapon stronger than that sword, could you take him down?!」
Axel, still locked in combat, answered while crossing blades.
「Possible! But do you have something in mind?」
Daisy replied with both words and a nod.
「Yeah! We’ll fix your spear! Using the water from this sacred spring!」
Axel didn’t stop moving at those words.
While deflecting an incoming blow, he looked over at her from the corner of his eye.
「Will you do it?」
It wasn’t a question of can you.
It was, will you, plain and sure—words of trust.
So Daisy answered, to return that trust.
「Of course. The only step left in the spear’s tuning is refining it in a spirit spring. And I can feel it—this spring has the magic of the spirit realm. —That said, by my estimate, we’ll definitely need Lorie’s help.」
「My help?」
「Yeah… It’s a bit of a reckless plan, but—will you lend a hand?」
Lorie’s answer came without hesitation.
「Of course. You don’t even need to ask. After all you’ve done for me, this is the least I can do. I’ll give you all the strength I’ve got.」
That kind of quick, decisive answer—right now, it was exactly what they needed.
With that thought, Daisy shouted to Axel again.
「So please, friend! Give me three minutes of focus! Give me time to make you a weapon!」
And the reply came back—
「Then I’m counting on you.」
At the same time Axel pulled the spear from his travel pouch and tossed it toward them—
「—【Dragon Tackle】」
He charged the armored knight head-on, blasting away from their position and putting as much distance between them as possible.
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