Taken (11)

― SHWAEEEAK!

Right before Dellen's sword split Yuria's head in two—

― KKAANG!!

A shadow suddenly leapt in, fiercely deflecting Dellen's sword.

"What!?"

― CHUK!

Reacting to the third party's intrusion, Dellen quickly leaped backward, widening the distance.

"Who are you...!"

Dellen's eyes widened as she glared ahead.

The forest was as dark as the deep sea, but as a master with refined senses, Dellen too could pierce through such darkness easily by focusing her aura in her eyes.

"A boy?"

The shadow standing protectively in front of Yuria was that of a boy.

He wasn't very tall, had a slender build, and a young, boyish face.

And also...

His hair was ash-gray, like the mud of tidal flats, and he had that peculiar, calm gaze.

"You're...!"

Dellen recognized him too.

She had seen his face at the Sword Dragon Training Hall's entrance exam.

"I—Ian Greysel!?"

The boy who'd recently drawn the greatest interest and affection from Lord Darkan, head of the Heavenly Sword Family.

Not only did he earn the acknowledgment of the head at a young age and become a guest of House Hisperion, but at the Sword Dragon Training Hall's entrance exam, he'd even overwhelmed Yuria—hailed as the greatest genius in the history of Hisperion...

Lately, he was the number one topic of conversation in the Heavenly Sword Palace.

"Cr—damn!"

Dellen looked around wildly, backing away.

The fact that this boy had shown up here... Could it be!?

'Have the Hisperion bastards already chased me down here!?'

She had already guessed that Javier—the leader of Investigation Division of the Heavenly Sword Knights—was somewhere nearby.

While waiting at the mansion, she'd heard that tremendous thunderclap, so loud it ripped through the clear sky.

That unmistakably hefted, chilling thunder was the sword sound of Caladbolg, Javier's trademark weapon.

The moment she heard that sky-shredding roar, Dellen immediately fled here with Yuria.

Originally, her plan was to meet the dark mage Rudeus here, open the escape portal he had prepared in advance, and flee somewhere else.

But Rudeus hadn't come, Dellen didn't know how to open the portal, so—pressed for time—she meant to kill Yuria and escape alone.

Yet.

'Tch...!'

She'd only been hiding here for less than five minutes.

Yet somehow, she'd already been found.

'What the hell are those five Barbarian muscle heads doing?!

They should have been holding off the Hisperion bastards for sure!

'Any other enemies...?'

Dellen scanned all directions, raising her senses.

"... Huh?"

But oddly, she sensed no other presences at all.

― FWOONG!

Even spreading her senses wider, she got nothing.

'Huh?'

The only presences she felt here were Yuria and Ian, right in front of her.

'What, he didn't come with the knights?'

Then...

'Don't tell me he came alone?'

Dellen cocked her head.

"Sheesh?"

An early-stage Swordmaster herself...

And Ian, likely just at the Expert rank, actually came here alone to confront her?

'Why?'

If Ian was only an Expert, all coming here alone could accomplish was dying together with Yuria.

'What is this?'

First came confusion, then curiosity...

Then a thought struck her.

'Wait a second...?'

Something felt strange.

'What's going on?'

For that boy to be here alone meant he'd tracked her himself, following her trail.

'... How?'

Dellen had erased every trace she possibly could while coming here.

She'd set fire to Rudeus's mansion—where Yuria was held—in order to destroy clues, used the lake to slip out of the village unnoticed, and even took extreme care not to break so much as a single blade of grass or twig while crossing the forest.

'Then how on earth...?'

How had that boy tracked her all the way here?

He was just fourteen.

Way too young to have learned proper tracking skills.

It's not like he had eyes in the sky!

How in the world?

Unease at the strangeness crept over her, and chills ran down her spine.

― CHUK!

Dellen glared with her Four White Eyes, pointing her sword at Ian.

"You...! How did you get here!"

Normally, with the risk of the Sword Knights barging in at any moment, it would be best to just kill Ian and run.

But if the Hisperion bastards had some method for tracking her, running farther wouldn't help.

'I need to find out how he tracked me, first!'

Only knowing that would allow her to shake off pursuit and escape properly.

'Hmph.'

In answer to Dellen's question, Ian clicked his tongue calmly.

'She's not attacking immediately, huh.'

He found it surprising.

He'd assumed Dellen would see his young face, underestimate him as a fourteen-year-old, and rush right in.

― SWISH.

Ian relaxed his prepared counterattack stance—Frenzied Insight Style: Reversing Heaven.

"How did I get here, you ask...?"

Honestly, it wasn't much.

'I had to find Yuria like this many times in my past life.'

During the Hisperion civil war, during the Human-Demon War...

There had been many chaotic times, and he'd often been forced apart from Yuria. He had to keep finding her again and again.

So he'd developed a unique technique to conveniently track Yuria down.

'Frenzied Insight Style: True Heavenly Tracking.'

It was a technique to sense and track Yuria's unique light aura—Heavenly Energy.

To use it, he needed to spread a large amount of aura and focus for a few minutes, and if Yuria was too far away, he couldn't sense her at all, but if they were in the same town or city, it worked pretty well.

'I was surprised that Yuria was closer than I expected.'

The moment Ian saw mansion no.12 catch fire, he used Frenzied Insight Style: True Heavenly Tracking, and immediately sensed that Yuria was on the other side of the village's lake.

Following the presence he sensed with True Heavenly Tracking, he swam across the lake and cut through the forest, arriving right as Dellen was about to split Yuria's head—saving her by a hair's breadth.

'Whew...'

Thinking about it now, it was truly a heart-stopping moment.

Ian let out a silent sigh of relief and glanced back to check Yuria's condition.

'She's bleeding...'

The long wound on her forehead was painful to look at.

The only consolation was that it didn't seem life-threatening.

"Ian...?"

Yuria looked up at him, her face half out of her wits.

"Y-you... How are you here...?"

She had a thousand questions to ask, but—

― KAANG!!

"Ugh!!"

Suddenly, Dellen rushed in like a lightning bolt, clashing swords with Ian.

― KKAANG! CHAENG! KAGAGAK!

Once, twice, not just one or two, but three and four times.

Ian barely managed to block Dellen's endlessly fierce sword strikes.

"Lost focus, did you?! I asked! How did you get here?!"

Dellen had no intention of giving Ian and Yuria pause to exchange words.

The Sword Knights could barge in any moment.

She had to wring the tracking secret from Ian and escape.

"Answer me!"

― KKAANG!

Dellen brought her sword down, four White Eyes blazing.

"How did you know I was here?!"

― KKAANG! KANG! CHAENG!

"Ugh!"

Relentless attacks rained down.

The [Elegance Armory Longsword Lv.53], copied using Authority of Projection, was incredibly sturdy and blocked every strike, but a master's sword was still heavy and fearsome.

The nannies of Hisperion, after all, directly served and protected the head's children; each one was a master or stronger.

No matter who Ian was, Dellen was not a foe to be taken lightly.

'I thought I could buy some time with conversation...'

It seemed Dellen had chosen torture, not dialogue, to satisfy her curiosity.

― KKAANG! KANG!

"Ugh...!"

Sword strikes poured like a monsoon rainstorm.

It seemed as if Dellen wouldn't stop until Ian lost an arm or a leg.

However.

'Still, this is doable.'

― KKAANG!

Dellen was not using the Swordmaster's special technique: enhanced energy.

― HWARUK!

― KKAANG!

All that shimmered on Dellen's blade was faint, wavering sword energy.

If she used enhanced energy, the massive aura shockwaves would immediately reveal their location to the Sword Knights—she was mindful of that risk.

― KKAANG!

But mere sword energy alone couldn't break Ian's defense.

― KAANG! CHANG!

Already, Dellen's sword strikes had been blocked more than ten times.

'W-how...!'

The murderous glint in Dellen's eyes faded—replaced by distinct confusion.

'Wasn't he just an Expert...? This is Expert-rank...? N-no! That's impossible!'

Ian was supposed to be the same age as Yuria—a mere boy of fourteen.

A child being an Expert was strange enough, but for a mere fourteen-year-old to be parrying a Master's sword like this...

― KKAANG! KANG! KAANG!

Dellen sped up, but it made no difference.

― KWANG! KOONG!

Even putting more weight behind her strikes, he countered-nimbly.

― HWIRIK! SHIIIK! KKAANG!

Mixing in plenty of feints only backfired.

― KANG! KWANG! KWACHING! CHAENG! KWAANG!

The number of sword exchanges Ian blocked was already well over thirty.

"N-no way..."

Yuria, sitting behind Ian, was just as astonished.

Her mouth was agape, as if she were in a daze.

― KKAANG! KANG!

Dozens of exchanges had occurred, yet Ian's defense showed not a hint of an opening or any sign of wavering.

As far as Yuria knew, Ian was at the Expert rank.

Could an Expert really parry the sword of a Swordmaster that perfectly?

That degree of skill was a distant level even for Yuria—called the greatest genius in history, with heaven-sent talent, and at the center of everyone's expectations and caution.

'W-what is this...'

She'd been planning to at least grab some dirt and help Ian.

Even if her feelings toward Dellen were in turmoil, she couldn't just sit by while Ian risked his life to save her.

But...

― KKAANG! KANG!

Watching Ian's meticulously calculated sword routes, she simply couldn't interfere.

If she did, it seemed she'd only disrupt his flawless movements.

― KKAANG! KANG!

In less than a minute, more than fifty sword exchanges had already flown by.

So far, Ian had only defended.

'I could do this all day.'

If Ian attacked, he might open himself to risk, but if he focused solely on defense, he could block Dellen's sword strikes endlessly.

'It'd be great if I could keep stalling like this.'

Although Ian clearly had the advantage over Dellen in swordsmanship, he still wanted to avoid a direct showdown with her if possible.

'That sword she's using...!'

Because of the sword Dellen wielded.

'That was the sword Yuria's nanny used...?'

Flostilla.

Once its sword spirit is released, it could summon countless petal-shaped blades and freely control them, like cherry blossoms in full bloom—one of Hisperion's famed swords.

'Damn...!'

In his past life, Ian had used this sword himself.

'If this person is wielding that... I might not even win unless I risk a serious injury!'

Up to early-stage Swordmaster, Ian could overwhelm anyone using Frenzied Insight Style and Authority of Projection, but if that Swordmaster wielded a famed sword of Hisperion, it was a different story.

'If possible, the best move is to play defense until Sir Javier arrives here.'

But.

'That might not work...!'

Dellen wasn't a fool.

She wouldn't keep swinging, repeating ineffective strikes, until Ian's backup arrived.

― CHUK!

Indeed—as soon as their sword exchanges reached about one hundred...

Dellen suddenly leaped far back, putting great distance between them.

'She's changing tactics now.'

Either using enhanced energy or the sword spirit release.

She'd take out something Ian couldn't easily counter.

"Kuh...!"

Her teeth gritted, Dellen glared at Ian.

'Cocky brat...!'

At first, she'd thought she could take Ian's limbs in three moves—an absurd underestimation.

In under two minutes, she'd unleashed over a hundred sword strikes, the last ten or so at near full power (just without enhanced energy), yet none had broken his defense.

In other words, unless she used advanced techniques, she could never defeat him by wielding her sword alone.

'He's 14...? An Expert...?'

No, that was impossible.

From a swordsmanship perspective, it made no sense.

No matter his talent, that level of composure was impossible for a fourteen-year-old, nor was his aura control at a level an Expert could achieve.

'If I get careless, I'll lose!'

Dellen no longer underestimated Ian.

'Can't be fooled by that kid's looks! He's at least a Master! Whether it's enhanced energy or the sword spirit release—it's my only option!'

At first, she hadn't wanted to use either technique.

If possible, she wanted to subdue Ian without revealing either, and that was still the case.

Both techniques caused enormous aura shockwaves and could easily expose her location.

But...

'That kid tracked me down alone. That means...'

There might already be a way for the Heavenly Sword Knights to track her beyond normal means.

If her location was already blown, there was no reason not to use enhanced energy or sword spirit release.

And if she must pull out a big move, the stronger, the better.

A technique to crush Ian quickly and surely.

"Sword Spirit Release!"

― PWAT!

― HWAAAAAA!

With Dellen's shout, a vast silver flower field bloomed instantly across the earth.

"Flostilla!"

In response to her command, silver petals surged up like a tidal wave.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】