ALNA'S POV:~
The air crackled with tension as I plunged into the fray, a whirlwind against a wall of steel. These weren't mere sentinels; they moved with a practiced precision, a deadly ballet choreographed by their master. Elites, undoubtedly, yet their skill, though formidable, couldn't mask their fundamental weakness against my own honed edge. Still, the sheer number was a suffocating tide, each parry a desperate struggle against being overwhelmed. My muscles burned, the clang of steel a relentless percussion against my ears. Every strike, every block, was a Herculean effort, a desperate attempt to create even a sliver of breathing room.
It became clear: they weren't aiming for the kill. Their intent was a brutal eviction, a human barricade erected to shield their master from my reach. I could have dissected them, one by one, a methodical dismantling of their ranks. But the relentless onslaught, the sheer, suffocating volume of attackers, made even a single, decisive blow impossible. I was a lone rock against a surging wave, slowly being eroded, pushed back, forced to yield ground.
Then, a guttural scream tore through the chaos, a sound that chilled me to the bone. I spun, my gaze snapping towards the source. The sight that greeted me was a grotesque tableau of vengeance. The noble, once a figure of arrogant authority, now lay prostrate, his face buried in the dirt.
Naofumi, his expression a mask of chilling serenity, had planted a booted foot on the noble's thigh, his other hand gripping the man's leg with a brutal, unwavering force.
A slow, sickening crack echoed through the courtyard as Naofumi, with a horrifyingly casual motion, ripped the noble's leg from its socket. A raw, animalistic howl erupted from the victim, a sound that sent shivers down my spine. Even the hardened guards recoiled, their faces etched with a mixture of fear and revulsion.
Naofumi, his eyes gleaming with a predatory intensity, repeated the gruesome procedure, this time with the noble's right arm. He pinned the man's shoulder with his foot, and with a sickening twist, tore the limb away. The noble's pleas, his desperate cries for mercy, were met with Naofumi's unnerving, almost blissful smile.
He had bypassed the need for brute force, the limitations of his own attack power. He understood that leverage, raw physical manipulation, was a weapon in itself. It was a macabre display of ingenuity, a brutal reminder that power wasn't always about striking, but about tearing, rending, and dismantling.
The noble, a broken, mangled husk, writhed on the ground, his screams a symphony of agony. I couldn't help but wonder, a dark curiosity gnawing at me: what unspeakable sins had this man committed in Naofumi's past life to unleash such a terrifying, visceral wrath? What depths of cruelty had been plumbed to forge such a chillingly precise instrument of vengeance?
Naofumi vanished, a flicker in my peripheral vision, and then materialized beside me, his face now a mask of calm composure, as if the brutal scene moments before had been nothing more than a passing breeze.
Abruptly, a sphere of impenetrable darkness enveloped us, a suffocating void that swallowed the sounds of battle and the flickering torchlight.
"Alna," his voice cut through the silence, sharp and decisive, "unleash an explosive spell on the wall above the entrance. Collapse it, seal us in."
"But—" I began, questioning his sudden shift in strategy.
"Trust me," he interjected, his eyes holding a quiet intensity that brooked no argument. That single phrase, a simple plea for faith, was enough.
The black sphere dissipated, leaving me blinking in the sudden return of light. I obeyed, channeling my mana into a potent explosive spell, targeting the keystone above the entrance. The stone groaned, then crumbled, sending a cascade of debris crashing down, sealing the passage behind us with a resounding thud.
In the next instant, the familiar surroundings of the courtyard dissolved, replaced by the cramped confines of the small room where the two young girls had been hidden. Then, as quickly as it had shifted, the room vanished, and we found ourselves standing amidst the dense, shadowed trees of the surrounding woods.
Naofumi, with a practiced gentleness that belied the ferocity he'd just displayed, scooped one of the girls into his arms. I followed suit, cradling the other child, her small body trembling slightly. We began to move, the soft crunch of leaves underfoot the only sound in the hushed forest.
"What's happening?" I asked, my voice a low whisper.
"I can teleport," he explained, his voice even and controlled. "It's a costly ability, draining a significant amount of mana and leaving me with a throbbing headache. We need to find an inn, leave the girls in safe hands, and then return to the estate. We can't leave any witnesses behind." His words were delivered with a chilling pragmatism, a stark reminder of the ruthless efficiency that now defined his actions. Every loose end, every potential threat, had to be eliminated.
"But there are more than forty soldiers!" I exclaimed, the sheer number of our adversaries a daunting prospect. "We can't possibly win against them all!"
"Are you scared?" Naofumi asked, his voice flat, devoid of any hint of mockery.
"Absolutely not," I retorted, a surge of adrenaline coursing through me. "For me, this is a boon. I'll gain a tremendous amount of experience. But you'll need to disband the party temporarily. Otherwise, your level will increase as well, which you don't want."
"We can't," he replied, his gaze unwavering.
"If I disband the party, your experience bonus will disappear."
He was right. Disbanding the party would cripple my progress. Even if I single-handedly slaughtered every soldier, my level would barely budge, a mere one or two points at most.
We found a secluded inn, a haven of flickering candlelight and hushed whispers. We gently placed the two girls in a room, setting a simple meal of bread and cheese on the table. The innkeeper, his eyes widening slightly at the crimson stains that marred Naofumi's clothing, remained silent, perhaps attributing the blood to a recent encounter with wild beasts.
"Are you ready?" Naofumi asked, his voice a low, steady rumble.
"Yeah," I replied, my hand instinctively gripping the hilt of my weapon.
With a silent surge of mana, we teleported back to the basement, the scene of the previous carnage. The moment we materialized, I unleashed a whirlwind of destruction, my blade a blur of lethal motion.
This time, Naofumi fought alongside me, his movements a swift, deadly dance, far exceeding my own speed and precision.
The air filled with the clang of steel, the guttural cries of dying men, and the intoxicating rush of leveling up.
Level up!
Level up!
You are now Level 45.
The notifications cascaded through my mind, a symphony of power.
Level up!
Level up!
You are now Level 47.
Level up!
You are now Level 48.
Level up!
You are now Level 49.
Level up!
You are now Level 50.
Level up!
You are now Level 51.
Level up!
You are now Level 52.
Level up!
You are now Level 53.
Level up!
You are now Level 54.
Level up!
You are now Level 55.
Many of the guards were seasoned warriors, their levels ranging from fifty to sixty. Yet, they fell before us like wheat before a scythe, their numbers dwindling with each passing moment. One by one, I cut them down, each kill fueling my growing power. Now, only one remained: the noble, a broken, whimpering figure huddled in the corner.