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Chapter 37 – part 6

「…Honestly, she’s such a brute… I suppose this is talent… in other words… she is quite the Hero.」

Lilith muttered irritably and put more strength into her running.

Currently, Cordelia was exerting her power beyond her limits, rushing forward at full speed.
If Lilith were to lose sight of Cordelia and Cordelia end up alone in the enemy’s territory, it would be a very dire situation.

ーLilith was entrusted with Cordelia by Lute.
And she knew that Lute only entrusted tasks to those who he thought were capable.

Therefore, Lilith needed to fulfill Lute’s request without a hitch, or rather, she had to fulfill it flawlessly.

「…However, she’s just too fast. How much of a brute is she?」

Lilith clicked her tongue.
Cordelia’s figure was getting farther away with each passing moment.

If things continued like this, she would lose sight of her.

Just as cold sweat ran down Lilith’s back, Cordelia’s sword dance came to a stop.
In the distance on the road, Cordelia and about 200 ogres could be seen.

Of course, such a group of ogres would never be able to stop her charge.

Cordelia had a valid reason for stopping.
Firstly, there were about 50 Ogre Generals present.
Even for a frontier lord, this number would be an astonishing force that might make them seek help from the main country or the adventurers’ guild.

However, from Cordelia’s perspective, as long as she didn’t reach her physical limits, defeat was nearly impossible.
At the moment, she was pushing her body to the extreme with full output, so she needed to quickly engage the Ogre Generals and eliminate them as soon as possible.

But she can’t do that.

If she rashly launched an attack, she would be counterattacked in no time, and even Cordelia in her current state would end up turned into a mass of flesh.

Right ahead of Cordelia’s gaze stood a giant and obese-looking Ogre Generalーan Ogre King. An Ogre King was a monster that required a party of around B+ to A-rank adventurers for subjugation.

And there were two of them.

Upon seeing the two Ogre Kings, Lilith muttered in a matter-of-fact tone,

「…As expected, when it comes to Ogre Kings’ level, even the Dragon’s Secret Technique… Even my camouflage might be seen through.」

Lilith quickly applied camouflage to herself upon seeing the two Ogre Kings, but just as she had said, it was futile.

One of the Ogre Kings remained locked in a staring contest with Cordelia, while the other directed its gaze towards Lilith.
Catching the movement of the Ogre King’s gaze, Cordelia also noticed Lilith’s presence.

While facing the Ogre King, she didn’t even turn her head and casually remarked,

「Well, considering you’ve been hitting the target so accurately, I naturally thought you were close.」

Finally catching up to Cordelia, Lilith replied, breathing heavily,

「…I am close. Lute instructed me to protect you.」

「Protect, huh? I don’t really like being looked down upon.」

Cordelia responded, brushing her hair back, looking annoyed.

「What do you plan to do? Shall we cooperate and take them down together? If you and I cooperated, we could probably defeat them easily.」

Lilith, not hiding her displeasure, retorted,

「…Cooperate? I don’t like jokes. Let me tell you something right now, Cordelia Allston.」

「What?」

「…I don’t like you.」

Hearing such a straightforward statement, Cordelia’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
After pondering for a moment, she smirked and replied,

「Oh? What a coincidence.」

「…Coincidence?」

Nodding, Cordelia smiled with a glint in her eye.

「I don’t like you either. I have absolutely no intention of getting along with you.」

「…I see. I thought our personalities were incompatible, but it seems we miraculously agree on that point.」

Both nodded at each other and exchanged smiles.

ーHowever, neither of them was genuinely happy.

Nevertheless, Cordelia put her hand to her chin and scanned the group of ogres.

「Let’s put our feelings aside for now and focus on the current situation. We probably can’t handle this alone, right? If we don’t cooperate, how do you plan to get through this?」

Responding with her usual lethargic tone, Lilith said,

「…The answer is simple.」

「Simple?」

Extending her staff and focusing her thoughts, Lilith unleashed a high-level magic classified as ‘Vacuum Blade’ directly towards the center of the group of ogres.
The Vacuum Blade was about three centimeters wide and three meters tall, cutting through around ten ogres as it moved forward.

「Vacuum Blade…? What’s your plan?」

Cordelia asked.

Lilith nodded as if in agreement and said,

「…This is the answer.」

As she spoke, Lilith pointed to the marks on the ground that were gouged by the blade.

「…The right half from this line is mine.」

Cordelia seemed satisfied with that explanation and nodded cheerfully.

「So, the left half is mine, right?」

「…That’s right. Basically, let’s not interfere with each other. Any objections?」

「No, none at all. It’s actually quite straightforward… Perfect!」

With that settled, the two turned their attention back to the group of ogres.

「… Crimson Blaze.」

Uttering the word lazily, Lilith unleashed her spell ‘Crimson Blaze’, and dozens of ogres were incinerated in a single strike.
Crimson Blaze was an advanced range magic that regular magicians wouldn’t casually use multiple times due to its high MP consumption.

However…

「…Crimson Blaze, Crimson Blaze, Crimson Blaze, and another Crimson Blaze… Plus, Crimson Blaze.」

Lilith nonchalantly cast her magic, and several scorched areas appeared before her.
Although it seemed that she couldn’t defeat the Ogre Generals in a single strike, the normal ogres were instantly turned to ashes.

Not to be outdone, Cordelia swung her sword with tremendous speed and expressed her amazement by saying,

「You’re really something else. When was the last time a magician outperformed me in terms of annihilation speed in a large-scale battle?」

Hearing that, Lilith shrugged, seemingly unbothered.

「A swordsman with annihilation speed that rivals ranged attack magic by a magician using a sword… You are such a brute. Honestly, it’s astonishing.」

They both chuckled at each other’s remarks.

Cordelia increased the speed of her sword dance, plunging into the group of ogres, while Lilith retrieved dozens of iron stakes from her pure white robe.
On one side, the whirlwind of crimson blood and flesh created by the Bloody Princess.
On the other side, the magician wielding the Dragon’s Secret Technique, unleashing the divine spear.

In an instant, Ogres and Ogre Generals were slaughtered.
The Ogre Kings also realized that there was no way to deal with these two opponents.

They stood there with contorted expressions, helplessly watching as their subordinates were mercilessly annihilated.

Around five minutes had passed since Lilith declared the “Right half, left half.”
The result was that an immense pile of corpses lay on the ground, leaving only two Ogre Kings.

「Well, the small fries are taken care of.」

Following Lilith’s nonchalant words, Cordelia said:

「Shall we go for the main course?」

She wiped some sweat off her cheek as she continued,

「Although they are lower-ranked opponents, they are classified as A-rank in difficulty. If something were to happen to you, I might not be able to help.」

Lilith chuckled and replied,

「…That goes both ways.」

They faced the Ogre Kings and readied their sword and staff.

Then, at that moment, Lilith’s face turned pale, and she collapsed to the ground in an instant.

「Huh? What’s wrong? All of a sudden?」

In response to Cordelia’s words, Lilith gestured for her to get down as well.

「Huh? Why should I get down?」

Lilith’s voice began to mix with irritation.

「…I said get down. It’s better if you do.」

「Why? Why should I get down on the ground?」

「…I really don’t want to say anything bad… Just get down.」

Confused, Cordelia tilted her head slightly.

「No, really, why should I?」

With that, Lilith screamed loudly enough to startle even Cordelia,

「ーJust get down, Cordelia Allston!!!!」

Taken aback by the unprecedented forcefulness in Lilith’s voice, Cordelia reluctantly got down on the ground.

Immediately after, a few strands of crimson hair gently fell in front of Cordelia’s eyes.

「Is this… my hair?」

Baffled, she looked around and fell silent.

「The Ogre King…!」

The Ogre King’s upper and lower bodies were severed slightly above its navel, displaying a truly regal air.
The intense crimson hues of the spilling liver and colon distinguished it from the other ogres.

Cordelia mumbled in amazement,

「Could this be… a sword technique?」

Nodding, Lilith said,

「Vacuum Slash.」

Once again, Cordelia was left speechless.

Cordelia was also capable of using Vacuum Slash. As a skilled swordsman, it was a skill that she could naturally wield to some extent.
However, the current phenomenon unfolding before her eyes was on a completely different level.

Ordinarily, Vacuum Slash had a range of about 10 meters and was merely a restraining move against opponents.

Even if Cordelia were to unleash a Vacuum Slash towards a regular ogre from 10 meters away, it might cut through its flesh and skin, but it would never reach its bones.
If it’s a range of about 2 meters, it could have a certain effect, but getting that close to the enemy would be better dealt with by a straightforward slash.

Just now, the source seemed to be over 20 meters away based on her estimation.
From that distance, someone unleashed a Vacuum Slash and easily slaughtered the A-rank level Ogre King.

「At this distance… Vacuum Slash… and with just one long-distance hit… effortlessly took down an A-rank dangerous creature in a single strike? What kind of joke is this? Don’t make fun of heroes… seriously?」

Stunned and mumbling to herself, Cordelia received Lilith’s happy nod.

「…This is just the beginning. When he gets serious, this is akin to nothing.」

After a few tens of seconds, with a bright smile as if it were a clear sunny day, Lute McCrane appeared and opened his mouth.

「Hey, you two! Are you getting along well?」

Upon hearing his words, Cordelia fell silent for a moment.

「First, you leave the village, then come back and defeat the evil dragon, then immediately leave again to enroll in the Magic Academy, and just when I thought we could finally be together, now it’s this training camp, and on top of that… you still rush to help when I’m in trouble!」

「Huh? What’s wrong, Cordelia?」

「Don’t mess with people so much, you idiot!」

With those words, Cordelia’s right straight punched Lute on the left cheek.