Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 100

Reunion and Encounter

The dark forest itself was shaken by the killing energy emitted from the “enemy”.

Judging from this deadly energy and its combat power, the opponent was a Rank 4 scout assassin.

Judging from its previous attack, this enemy was decisive. The fact that it had no hesitation in its actions indicated that it had a firm belief and a strong will to achieve it. I was even more wary of such enemies, judging them to be more dangerous than the combat power I could see in their eyes.

In the dark forest, we both caught sight of the “enemy” for a moment. I had lost sight of him, and he knew that I had hidden myself behind this tree.

I was disadvantaged if I was on the back foot. I decided to hang the pendulum of [Scythe Type] on the branch above my head and jumped up to the top of the tree at once using the string.

However, my opponent must have thought the same thing because as soon as I jumped up, a knife flew out from somewhere above the tree.

But I had expected that attack.

I avoided the knife by jumping to another branch with the same momentum I had when I jumped up, and then, guessing the direction and angle from which the knife flew, and where I would hide in the forest if I were to, I threw the pendulum.

I changed the trajectory of the pendulum with my fingertips, and [Thread Manipulation] and aimed it at the underside of the tree, followed by the attack I heard the faint sound of a blade being flicked, and a figure jumped out of the tree.

Even if they could “see” with night vision, they could only catch the outline of the figure, as if the opponent’s Concealment Level was much higher.

But that was enough for a “killing match”. When I quickly threw the knife I pulled out of the slit in my skirt at the “figure,” the magical element of wind swirled around the “figure” like an air current, deflecting my knife.

Before I could be surprised, however, I felt something was released from the “figure,” and when I used a tree as a shield to avoid it, something hard bit into the surface of its trunk.

Was this… a gravel hammer? Less powerful than a knife, but with sharp edges, this small metal object was a kind of dark weapon that was difficult to use and could easily penetrate human skin if used by a skilled hand.

My knife must have been deflected by the [wind curtain air curtain], which was an attribute of wind magic. This was a magic which was deployed around the magician to prevent arrows, but if this was available, it meant that the “figure” was able to use at least 2 Level magic, so I should expect that my projectiles, except for the pendulum, would be almost nullified.

As you could imagine, it was a nasty opponent, but then that’s something to fight with.

“–[Illusion]–“

Jumping from one tree to another, I unleashed [Illusion], a Level 4 dark magic I had configured. With my skills, I still couldn’t make the creature appear natural, but in this “darkness”, it was a different story.

I created the presence of [bees flying wildly] from the surroundings with a “buzz…” I leapt toward the “figure” that had leapt out at that moment, kicking the trunk of a nearby tree, and then kicking at that “figure” and each other as they crossed midair.

The other’s kick had struck me in the shoulder, and my kick kicked the “figure” in the side.

But not yet. We could still attack each other while our bodies were still in the air.

“Aerial maneuvering” based on a split-second sense and judgment. They swung their legs vigorously into space, changed their stance in midair, and aimed at the “shadow” with their black daggers, but they collided with the knife that the opponent had quickly prepared, and both were repelled by each other.

The distance between the two was also shortened a little. At that moment, Aria spun and ducked the gravel thrown from the “figure” by swinging her arms, and used the momentum to throw a [Heavy Type] pendulum, which gained “weight” from the centrifugal force, cleaving tree branches around it. The [Heavy Type] Pendulum, which was thrown by the centrifugal force, increased its “weight” and pierced through the wind protection of the “human figure” while reaping the branches of the surrounding trees.

[–!]

The opponent let out a faint gasp, and the “figure” finally fell to the ground.

A woman? I immediately switched to speed-oriented combat, feeling that there was a high possibility of that, given the weight and body shape of the person I was kicking.

I also went down to the ground, but gravel was released at me, aiming for that moment. Without stopping for a moment, I evaded it by rolling to the side, and once again hit the [Heavy Type] from directly above the “shadow”.

(Huh!))

However, the opponent, in its unstable position on the ground, slid to the side to avoid the pendulum, and shot a “line” of wind magic element.

I assumed it was probably a [Wind Cutter], and although Gelf’s armor would not be damaged even if I received it directly, there was no telling what kind of attack he would follow up afterward, and I might not be able to resist it.

“–[Magic Shield] –“

I put out [Magic Shield] for a moment to match the magical element of wind that I could see with my “eyes”, and I passed the [Wind Cutter] off.

“–[Illusion] –“

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

In this dark forest, it should be difficult to distinguish between the two “me” with night vision. But the “figure” didn’t even take the time to observe, and attacked both at the same time with “gravel”.

Illusion was hit by the gravel and drowned out. But in that split second, I ducked the gravel as if I were slipping in between the two, and as I approached and launched my black dagger, the opponent again slid sideways, ducked my blade, and swung his knife down.

It was a close call, as if we were rubbing ourselves against each other. Without checking each other, I and the “figure” aimed only at the vital point where we could kill each other with a single blow, and we both barely managed to avoid each other.

I also avoided the knife that swung down at me by sliding my feet, kicked the ground by lowering my stance like a cat, and used my whole body to cleave the shadow’s feet, and the opponent increased distance again by jumping and dodging as if rolling on his side.

“…”

I remembered seeing this move… somewhere. I wondered if the other party felt the same way, and for a second or two a strange “pause” was born between us.

At that moment, my [detection] noticed several figures approaching.

(They were over here!)

Four black-armored assailants…they were in my way. As I thought that, I kicked the ground and threw [Scythe Type]’s Pendulum, spinning around as if rolling low in the air.

When the black armor running in the lead barely avoided the blade, I pulled the string at that moment, and the sickle-shaped blade tore the man’s carotid artery.

As it was, I flung myself out, my whole body flailing as if gripping the ground with both hands, and kicked the other man’s leg, rolling him over and killing him by thrusting my black dagger between his eyes to the root.

The other two men…as I looked for signs of them, I found that the two remaining men in black armor had been shot by the “gravel” and had gone rigid with pain, and then the “figure” that had jumped out had snapped their necks as if it were grappling with them. They were dead.

“”…””

We both used [Concealment] to warn each other in the dark forest, but at the same time we turned off our killing intents and stared at the other.

“…Sera?”

“…It was Aria, after all, wasn’t it? I thought it “couldn’t be” …but.”

We checked each other’s presence, and then released our [Concealment] at the same time to show ourselves.

“Long time no see, Sera.”

“It’s been a long time, but how have you become so strong in just a couple of years…”

Sera had taught me many things in addition to Concealment Warfare and Taijutsu that had helped me in my activities.

“Viro told me that you were alive and that he invited you to [Rainbow Sword] not to ‘protect’ you, but to ‘secure’ you. It seems that Viro intentionally did not tell us about your strength.”

Viro did not give all the information about me; Sera seemed to think that Viro was keeping quiet to secure me, but perhaps that was not the only reason.

There were several meters between us to indicate this.

“Aria, I heard you were attacked by Grave. So, I understand why you don’t trust us.”

“I have no bad feelings about Sera personally. But the Dark Side is different. I will not be hostile, and depending on what it is, I will even take the job like Viro, but I will not return to Dark Side.”

“…I see. But still…”

Sera let out a light sigh and stared at me.

“I never thought you would catch up to me in just three years.”

“I don’t think I’ve caught up in terms of proximity yet, have I?”

“I feel bad that Viro took you away, but I’m sure [Rainbow Sword] will help you to further develop your abilities. It’s unfortunate for my son, who was trying to catch up…”

“…?”

I tilted my head, and Sera let out another sigh and massaged her brow as if she had a headache.

“It’s also beautiful. I see you still haven’t cut your hair.”

“I ‘promised’ Sera and Theo that I would…”

The reason I had kept my hair long enough not to cut it too much was because I had made a promise to them.

I guess I trusted them a lot… I wondered how Theo was doing?

Sera’s eyes softened as she looked at me, and the air that had been deadly just a moment ago, had become less tense.

“We don’t have time for small talk here. I think that was all the attackers who came here, but if Aria is here, does that mean that the other [Rainbow Sword] are here too?”

“The only ones who came to join us are me and Feld…the swordsman guy. He went into the annihilation work on the way, so as long as there is no one as good as Sera, I think we’ll be able to get rid of them soon. Who are these guys?”

“We are here to make sure your highness is safe, so if you are part of Rainbow Sword, please come with us. We’ll have a little chat as we walk.”

“Your Highness” meant that royalty was here, right?

As we glided soundlessly through the pitch-dark forest, Sera gave me a brief overview of the situation.

The royal family’s centripetal force was declining due to a certain “cause”.

The main reason was the low status of the queen’s maternal family, and the powerful nobles of “Noble Faction” were against the idea of the crown prince, who had the queen’s blood in his veins, becoming the next king.

To stabilize the power of the royal family, they had sent the royal family and their fiancées, who had not yet attended school, into the dungeons to obtain certain things. Noble Faction” had taken this opportunity to attack the crown prince.

I didn’t know whether they wanted to assassinate the crown prince to set up the next one, or to capture him and make him do their bidding, but one of the royal families, who sensed the attack, tried to trap the “Noble Faction” by using themselves as bait instead of the crown prince.

“…”

That’s why there weren’t many guards… they had chosen knights with good skills, but even these knights said there were more than they had “planned”.

Still, it might be difficult to provide more escorts to fight against a group of assassins…

“You’ve gone too far. Who is this “Your Highness”?”

“It will be good if you can meet him in person. Normally, this will not be possible, but [Rainbow Sword] is such a high rank adventurer party.”

We continued on to a dark street where we saw a large carriage escorted by several knights.

As we approached, the knights pointed their weapons at us in alarm, but when they realized that one of the approaching knights was Sera, they let out a breath of relief.

“Sera-sama, I hope you are safe! The attacker…”

The knight rushed over to Sera and spoke to her, while glancing at me suspiciously.

“This person is from the ‘Rainbow Sword’ that His Excellency the Prime Minister requested this time. The attackers on our side have been eliminated with their help. So, how is His Highness?”

“The adventurer in question, yes…he looks very young. And His Highness…”

“Aria?”

At that moment, I heard a mild young woman’s voice, and a blonde girl, who looked about the same age as I am now, appeared from the carriage.

“Elena…sama?”

“You really are Aria after all…”

Elena Cleydale, first princess of the Kingdom of Cleydale.

She used to be so weak that she needed to rest and recuperate, but in the past three years, she has recovered a lot. She was now 11 years old, the same age as me, and like me, she had grown with magic power and now looked about 13 to 14 years old.

Staring at the other’s figure, which was no longer a little child, Elena smiled at me with a slightly weepy look on her face, and as she was about to take a step toward me–

“Wait, Elena!”

I heard a voice call out to her, and a man in his mid-twenties jumped out of the carriage and stood in front of me, as if protecting Elena.

“Uncle!”

“Don’t approach so carelessly, Elena, you seem to know him, but from the way you’re dressed, I’d say you’re a ruffian adventurer. What are you doing here?”

The man pulled a graceful looking dagger from his waist and pointed it at me while defending Elena behind him.

“… ‘Uncle’?”

I muttered and looked at Elena behind him, and she nodded quietly as she let out a sigh and told me who he was.

“Yes. This is my father…His Majesty’s youngest brother, His Highness, Amol Cleydale.