Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 91

Grave Assassination Battle (2) -Intruder-

We had tracked traces of Grave into the forest along the road, where he was said to be hiding.

This area seemed to be filled with water from a lake, so the ground there was always muddy and dotted with small marshes like invisible pits, making it a dangerous place for the people unaccustomed to its terrain.

Even if it was difficult to keep an eye on this place, the terrain itself was troublesome. The reason was that the road, although it was called a highway to the neighboring country, it was nothing but a “path” that was linked by flattened ground and rocks that were connected at certain key points.

The bridge was not what one would normally imagine, but rather simple structures without handrails, consisting only of log piles driven into the muddy ground and thick wooden planks placed on top of the log piles.

Even so, there was no damage done to the wood, which was usually treated with magic or alchemical agents, and the base itself was made of wood that was resistant to the humidity of this area.

In short, almost everyone who passed through here went via the road. This road was a kind of safe zone where even monsters could tell that armed people were passing through, so anyone who passed through here would be discovered just by keeping an eye on the road.

Therefore, we, who were now considered a party with only light armored people, dared not to take the safe and convenient road and proceeded to jump from tree to tree in the forest.

Concealment could not be used to hide our presence because of Samantha, who would only use it if she felt like doing so, but it was still

supposed to be difficult to detect our actions because we didn’t take the the highway, which was considered a safe path.

***

“Long time no see, Viro.”

“Grave…”

“…”

Within half a day’s walk through the forest along the road, Grave had presented himself to us. I didn’t know how he found us, but all I could say was that it was bad luck.

At this point, our plan to surprise Grave became meaningless, and we were moving in the forest, where the foothold was bad.

Originally, the probability of being able to surprise Grave was about 50-50, but the reason Grave appeared without running away was because we didn’t have any heavy warrior types with high attack and defense capabilities in our party… but it was also understandable after we saw Grave’s fighting strength.

[Grave] [Race: Human male] [Rank 5]

[Magic Power: 215/220] 30Up [Strength: 308/360] 10Up

[Total Combat Power: 1425 (With Physical Enhancements: 1848)] 209Up

I wondered how much he had trained since then, his combat power had increased considerably.

According to the information Viro had received from Dark side, only swordsmanship and Taijutsu were Level 5 for Grave, but perhaps some of his melee or magic skills had been upgraded.

Grave, who was barely at Rank 5, was now a true Rank 5.

But more than that…I felt a chill in my heart when I saw Grave’s eyes on me.

“Grave, you know why we’re here, right? You’re not going to turn yourself in?”

“That’s a stupid question, Viro. I have work to do. Even if that old woman there is the Witch of Dust, one of the founders of the Rainbow Sword, she’s not a threat.”

“Hihihi, I haven’t heard that name in a long time. You think you can beat me now?”

Samantha’s mood instantly changed to one of combat readiness, as her true identity was revealed.

Grave was not going to back down even when he found out that Samantha was a Rank 5 magician.

I had fought strong enemies because I could not retreat, but Grave seemed to be choosing not to retreat on purpose.

The reason for his strength and confidence might be the technical skills he had developed or his beliefs. Grave might have something up his sleeve as well, because the fighting powers that could be seen were not absolute.

Grave’s way of life was crazy, but I could understand some parts of it. But when I came here, I realized that Grave and I were fundamentally different.

Grave, who had been conversing with them, turned his gaze from Viro and Samantha to me again.

“On the contrary, I ask you, Aria. You, a mad dog like me, cannot be a dog on the government side. The world is too small for a person like you to live in. Come to my side, and I will give you a place to live.”

“You!”

“Viro.”

I stopped Viro, who was about to strike Grave, who had for some reason reached out to me. I stepped in front of Viro, who was standing there protecting me, and looked at Grave with narrowed eyes.

“I refuse.”

“Well… why? Is it out of courtesy to the princess?”

Grave smiled sarcastically at me as I rejected the offer. But the question itself was meaningless.

“Grave, you are my enemy.”

What other reason did I need to kill him?

“Hi-hahaha!!!”

At that moment, Samantha laughed and fired multiple shots of Stone Lance.

Grave was suddenly and unexpectedly struck by nearly ten rock spears, which he deflected and smashed with two one-handed swords he had pulled out before we knew it.

“I knew it was going to be like this!”

Viro reacted instantly, throwing a knife at Grave’s side as he complained.

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“–Shadow Pain–“

I shot dark magic in response, not sparing Grave. My moves were already known from previous battles, anyway.

“Ha!!!”

But Grave, with a gasp of air and sheer guts, endured my Shadow Pain while blocking Viro’s knife with his sword.

I used to be able to stop him with Shadow Pain for a moment, but that was no longer possible.

*Don!

Kicking as he stomped through the earth, Grave leaped towards Samantha.

“I won’t let you do it!”

*Gin!

Viro intervened and caught the sword with his knife, but was blown away by the difference in strength and size.

“Damn!”

“Get out of the way, boy!”

Samantha activated a Level 4 earth magic Sandstorm, but Grave avoided it in the same direction as Viro, who first avoided it after Samantha declared.

Then I released a Slash Type pendulum, and Grave jumped back to avoid the blade, while Viro, still sprawled on the ground, kicked Grave in the leg.

Grave defended himself by matching Viro’s kick with his own as he threw his hidden weapon to keep me in check.

Samantha, seizing the moment, shot Stone Shot like a rapid rain, and Grave realized that he could not dodge the attack, so he swung his two-handed sword and unleashed strong magical power.

“–Vorpal Blade–“

The Combat Skill of the one-handed sword, which was released with not one but two swords, went wild, slashing away dozens of Stone Shot that previously seemed impossible to avoid.

“…”

Grave was strong after all. While fighting head-on with the three of us, we were more than evenly matched in combat.

Grave took a step back as if to reposition himself, and then he made sure to keep all three of us in his sights at the same time as he held up his weapon.

“Viro has improved, but Aria still continues growing stronger by the second. I think it’s dangerous to fight with you guys. And I suppose it’s about time… can you hear that?”

Did he prepare something for us beforehand? As we all listened carefully, wary of Grave’s words, we heard something approaching us from a distance.

“I’m the one who called it to this place. I am aware of its behavior.”

A violent presence was approaching. A powerful magical power that seemed to be gushing out… this was…

[Guaaaaah!!!!]

The roar of the beast as if it were cutting through the heavens.

From the depths of the forest, a huge black panther emerged from the trees.

“Coeurl!

This was the Coeurl, the ancient phantom beast… I was momentarily blinded by its mesmerizing, yet strange appearance.

I didn’t know why it appeared. Was it because we started fighting, or did it attack us because we were human?

All I knew was that I had to deal with not only Grave, but also this phantom, and I quickly moved to Samantha’s side to protect her.

However, the phantom beast ignored me and Samantha without hesitation and attacked Grave and Viro, using two tentacles extending from its ears to attack them like a whip.

“Crap!”

Viro quickly took the whip with the belly of his knife, and Grave ducked behind him to use Viro as a shield.

Did Grave just say he summoned Coeurl? If so, it was possible that Coeurl’s target was Grave, but Coeurl attacked both side, as if he did not know the difference between people.

From Grave’s movements, I got the feeling that he was trying to rub off the phantom beast against Viro. Even if we let Samantha escape as originally planned in case something unexpected happened, Viro would surely lose his life in return.

If what Grave said were true, he was confident that even if Viro died, he could escape alone.

If that’s the case… then it couldn’t be helped.

Gosh!!!

[Guaoooh!]

Coeurl’s head, which was about to leap at Viro, was struck with Heavy Type, a pendulum reinforced with centrifugal force and magic power, slightly deflecting the attack.

“Aria!!!”

“…”

Viro’s reproachful voice echoed but this was the best I could do at the moment.

Viro was stronger than me, but as an orthodox scout, it was hard for him to fight Coeurl.

Samantha was stronger than me, but as a sorceress, she couldn’t handle Coeurl.

Then–

As soon as I made my move, Coeurl’s tentacles snapped like a whip at me, and using the cloak I had taken off as bait, I moved like an acrobat spinning around and dodging, while using the Heavy Type pendulum I launched from an unseen position struck Coeurl in the head.

[Guaaaaah!!!]

“I’ll keep this guy in check!”