Strongest Swordman’s Re:START
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Chapter 21: The Remaining Wolf
CHAPTER 21 – THE REMAINING WOLF
Their party’s strength was truly second-grade1.
With Jonahim and Elea cooperating, leave alone taking a step back, they were putting pressure on the Ghezo Velche.
“HYA!”
When the Ghezo Velche dodged to the right as Elea thrust her spear, Elea swung her spear to the right as well, chasing it.
“Grrr!”
While lowering its body to allow Elea’s spear to pass over its head, the Ghezo Velche noticed Jonahim swinging his sword down at its head. The Ghezo Velche extended its wings and fled away from the attack.
“Grrrr!!!”
It then tried to counterattack by spitting a fireball, but Jonahim disregarded it and raced right into it, Elea trailing close behind.
Jonahim was able to erase the Fire Ball with a single sweep of his sword and continued advancing towards the Ghezo Velche. The Ghezo Velche, on the other hand, used its quick wits and agility to attack with his front legs at Jonahim, who had been left wide open after his swing.
Elea leaped from behind Jonahim and stabbed the Ghezo Velche’s paw with her spear, splattering blood all over the place.
“Grrr!!!”
With cries of pain, the Ghezo Velche retreated. Its stab wound, however, did not erupt in flames.
“Fire Resistance, huh…”
Merc quickly deduced why the Ghezo Velche’s wound hadn’t burst into flames like the Velche’s.
The Ghezo Velche, who was regarded as a high-ranking Magic Beast, possessed a Fire Attribute. It was only natural for it to be resistant to its own attribute.
Elea and Jonahim were aware of this as well.
They continued to examine the Ghezo Velche without batting an eye.
Suddenly the Ghezo Velche flew up in the air. It rained down numerous fire feathers at them after reaching a height where neither Jonahim’s sword nor Elea’s spear could reach.
“An attack from a safe area, huh…”
“How cheeky of it…”
Jonahim struck the fire feather with his Anti-Mana Sword with a grimace on his face, while Elea spun her spear above her head to reflect them.
Both of them easily fended off the attack, but they would make no progress if things remained the same.
Jonahim raised his right hand towards the Ghezo Velche while swinging his sword.
“Water Arrow!”
Countless water arrows shot out of Jonahim’s hand, heading for the Ghezo Velche.
They weren’t slow in the least, but they couldn’t compare to Luka’s fire arrows. Jonahim’s Water Arrow was easily avoided by the Ghezo Velche, which proceeded to pour down fire feathers.
Elea, however, had launched her Liquid-Ignition Spear just behind the water arrows, which sliced through the air at a terrifying speed and pierced one of the Ghezo Velche’s wings.
“Yip?!”
As it began to fall down, the Ghezo Velche let out a shocked groan. Despite the fact that its wings appeared to be formed of flames, there was a perfectly natural wing beneath the flames. After its real wing was pierced, even the Ghezo Velche couldn’t escape unhurt.
“HAA!”
Jonahim leaped towards the Ghezo Velche, which had managed to land on its feet despite falling. The Ghezo Velche, however, spat forth a fireball with the spear still lodged in its wing, as if it had anticipated this.
It intended to attack Jonahim after he used his Anti-Mana Sword to extinguish the Fire Ball… Jonahim, on the other hand, had an entirely different strategy in mind.
“Water Wall!”
A sizzling sound reverberated throughout the region as the Fireball collided with Jonahim’s wall of water.
Immediately following that, a considerable amount of vapor appeared in the vicinity.
The whole area became covered in a white haze.
“Grrr?”
The Ghezo Velche let out a frantic groan as the vapor obscured its vision, thwarting its intention to attack Jonahim after he had used his sword to destroy its Fireball.
Jonahim, on the other hand, had foreseen the circumstances and acted accordingly.
“Hya!!!”
Jonahim’s sword slashed sideways, cutting off the Ghezo Velche’s right front leg, and then twisting his blade up, he left a clean deep cut across the Ghezo Velche’s face with a single swing.
“Growl……”
The Ghezo Velche, which had received a fatal head injury, opened its eyes wide and collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from both its head and leg.
The Ghezo Velche’s unique flame wings vanished after a few convulsions, leaving just a wolf’s carcass, slightly larger than a Velche’s.
After exhaling its last breath, the Ghezo Velche soon came to a complete halt.
“Awooooo!”
When one of the Velche who had been surrounding Luka noticed the change, it sent out a loud howl toward the Cave of Horror.
More of its friends were most likely hiding inside the cave. And it was most likely alerting them of the death of their leader.
It can howl all it wants; in the end, it’s futile…
Merc sighed inwardly after confirming the Ghezo Velche’s death, caressing the back of her itching neck.
The mission’s goal, the extermination of the Ghezo Velche, had been accomplished. All that remained was to clean up the remnants… This, however, was a bad thing for Merc.
“Awoo!”
The Velche surrounding Luka all attacked her at the same time, having lost all reason as a result of their leader’s death. Luka, on the other hand, simply raised her wand.
“Fire Wall!”
As they all struggled to stop themselves, a wall of fire appeared in front of the Velche. They all plunged into the wall of fire without being able to stop, their bodies catching fire immediately.
“I’ll help you!”
Elea shouted as she drew her spear from the Ghezo Velche’s body and dashed towards Luka. Jonahim, on the other hand, supported himself with his sword as he appeared extremely tired.
Merc noticed that Jonahim’s remaining Mana was nearly depleted when she inspected it. Mana was closely tied to a person’s vitality.
Therefore, it was no surprise that he was unable to walk.
Jonahim had been forced to cast a large-scale Water Wall without chanting in order to block the Ghezo Velche’s Fireball. His Mana pool had surely been depleted as a result of his actions. It was only logical that he couldn’t walk.
“HYA!”
“Fire Spear!”
Elea and Luka brutally slaughtered the remaining Velche with their leader in the background. The Velche numbers dropped till there was only one left.
“Grrrr.”
The very last Velche groaned as it retreated slowly, as though waiting for a chance to escape. The adventurers in front of it, on the other hand, were not so courteous as to allow it to do so.
“Stop right there!”
Elea’s pink hair fluttered as she rushed forward and stabbed at the Velche, which was slowly withdrawing.
“Yip?!”
The Velche died instantly with Elea’s spear lodged between its brows, letting out a final moan. It was a truly quick death.
“Phew. We’re done.”
Elea exclaimed as she drew her spear from the Velche’s corpse, a sensation of accomplishment washing over her.
“Looking forward to the reward.”
Luka remarked, tucking her wand away with a little smile. She was clearly weighing the prize for completing the difficult task.
“Haa… I’m beat.”
Jonahim finally plopped down on the ground after straining to stay up till the end of the battle. It was astonishing that he had managed to keep upright up to this point.
Good grief. They’re quite the party these three. Nonetheless, this has shattered my plans to leave the village…
Merc decided to go to Jonahim, who was closest to her, with mixed feelings fluttering in her chest. It happened just as she was about to take her first step.
“…?”
She spun around reflexively to see what was going on as shivers ran down her spine. As she did so, she noticed a Ghezo Velche racing down the mountain towards them2.
Robinxen: I know this is a compliment but it still feels like an insult. Robinxen: It had a mate!