Chapter 110

(Erica’s POV)

【”Hey, come on, are you guys serious?”】

【”Liner, Erica, calm down!”】

【”Why should I?! Harold hurt my dad and mom! This is unforgivable!!”】

【”Yes, he’s right. Let’s fight him… If we win, we’ll hear all the answers we want directly from him.”】

【”B-but I…”】

As Erica and Harold were readying themselves to fight, Lifa and Hugo were watching from the side. They tried to change their mind, but their opinions were not welcomed.

I figured this would happen Thought Eriuca to herself, feeling sorry for her companions.

It wasn’t like she did not understand why Hugo and Lifa thought the group should not fight Harold. Erica did not want to fight him either. Herself pointing her weapon at Harold was the most abominable image she could imagine.

Harold was arrogant and selfish. He saved people arrogantly, and he let himself get hurt selfishly. He did even if no one was there to see it, even if n.o.body ever noticed.

Though everyone hated him, he was willing to keep going, even if it meant being all alone.

There could be a reason why Harold had hurt Liner’s parents and was trying to fight the group now. Perhaps it was a mistake to fight him.

Even so, Erica still chose to fight Harold, like he wanted her to.

(I’m afraid this is all I can possibly do for you…)

She was not someone who could support Harold. She was not good enough to be able to go against Harold’s flow for his sake.

Now that Erica had fully realized that, all she could do was to fully respect his wishes. No matter how bitter this decision was, she was going to fight with all her power.

【”If you do not want to partic.i.p.ate in this fight, please fall back.”】

【”Erica! Stop being so stubborn!”】

Lifa’s shouting fell on deaf ears.

Right now, Erica was trying to do the only thing she could do for the man she loved. She was not going to give that up. There was nothing to discuss.

【”No, I cannot back down.”】

【”Just listen to me, you have to stop――”】

【”Hey.”】

The ice cold voice rendered the chaotic atmosphere much more tense and serious.

Harold had yet to take any stance. He was merely holding his two swords, which were still completely lowered down. However, the pressure he exuded was much more powerful than anything the party had ever witnessed from other opponents up to now.

【”What are you going on about? If you’re not going to fight, I’ll end this right here.”】

His words were ambiguous but everyone could guess what he meant by it. Harold truly intended to fight them.

Save for Liner, who had already let the blood rush to his head, the rest of the group was probably more than a little shaken by this declaration. This included Erica as well, but she was able to bear with it, and stare straight back at Harold.

At this point, Hugo and Lifa found the resolve to join the fight, and Colette took a fighting stance as well.

【”Let’s see what you got, Harold!”】

Liner’s words were the true start signal of the fight.

◇

(Harold’s POV)

【”Ah!”】

The flashes of the inflamed sword carried with them all of Liner’s strength. As the name of the “Great Wrath Gramgrand” sword suggested, the power of the sword and flames kept growing as if they were being fed by Liner’s anger. But what was even more astounding was that Liner was able to keep up with Harold’s speed.

His sword was connected to his emotions, be they positive or negative. When he let his feelings explode, he was able to unleash his potential and increase his strength by many folds. That was Liner’s way of fighting. Harold couldn’t help himself from thinking, ‘How fitting of an RPG protagonist’.

Harold’s fighting method, on the other hand could be said to be the complete opposite. He was always observing his opponents’ movements, dodging their attacks, and making sure that his own attacks would land.

What he allowed him to adopt this fighting style was his far superior speed, but he also had another absolute advantage: the fact that he ‘knew’ the skills of his opponents and the winning tactics they might go for. And that made him no easy adversary.

Even in a situation like this one, where he had the overwhelming handicap of having to fight 6 on 1.

While Harold was caught up with Liner’s powerful onslaught, a fierce tonfa attack came from his blind-spot. Harold instantly turned 180 degrees and repeled Collette’s blow with a kick.

In addition to the hardness of the wood that was used to make the tonfa in the first place, this weapon was also endowed with magic power, which made it far more solid than any average metal. Trying to kick something this solid away was like begging to get a broken bone, but Harold made it look easy.

With a dull ‘crack’, the tonfa broke in half.

This was the ‘Artillery kick’ skill Harold had used in the past to crush the ma.s.sive branch-like arms of a hammer treant. This technique was based on a popular move that was called “Heel drop”. In the game, this move was only used to tie-in multiple combos, but Harold had improved it.

The ‘heel drop’ could now give a great boost to his leg strength and to the impact of his kick, and it was nothing like what it used to be in the original story. It had turned into Harold’s own original skill.

【”That’s impossible…!”】

Colette’s face showed great shock. She had probably never imagined that her tonfa, which she could normally use to clash against swords, would be broken by a mere kick.

Still, her attack had created an opportunity for Francis and Hugo to come closer and go for a pincer attack.

Even though he was the only one who could keep up with Harold’s speed, Liner stopped moving to allow his three comrades to go for their coordinated attack. The party had probably already figured they’d be no match for Harold in a on-on-one fight. They were making the right call.

However, Harold already knew about this coordinated attack to some extent.