Sylvain was enraged by his own helplessness. Frondier had jumped up, believing that Sylvain would cut it down. But he couldn’t meet that expectation.
Frondier, who had leaped into the air, and Sylvain, who was hanging. Having lost the mobility of their horses, they were closer to death than anyone else at this moment!
Whoosh!
The Cyclops’ massive hand swung. Towards Frondier, who had jumped into the air. A merciless hand flew towards him as if swatting a fly.
Clang!
Frondier created a shield in mid-air and used it as a stepping stone to jump higher. He dodged the Cyclops’ hand by a hair’s breadth, and instead, the shield crumpled like paper and fell to the ground, soon dissolving into black water.
Sylvain raised his head and saw it. Frondier soared into the air once more. But the Cyclops’ next attack was coming.
This time, the giant hand reached up towards the sky. A downward strike. If he dodged, he would never reach the Cyclops’ head; if he didn’t, he would die.
‘Frondier…!’
When was the last time he felt this powerless, Sylvain?
When he experienced Enfer’s power? When he first faced the barrier battle? When he became a knight and realized there were always those stronger?
Or perhaps, the very moment he first held a sword—
—Commander.
At that moment, Frondier looked at Sylvain. With the Cyclops’ attack looming, he was looking at Sylvain.
There was no time to open his mouth. He couldn’t even move a finger.
Frondier simply conveyed with his eyes.
—Left hand, Commander.
“……!”
Sylvain’s wrist rotated outward. The sword that had barely cut was pulled out. As he fell through the air, Sylvain’s sword drew a circle in the air, turning to the left.
Left hand up, right hand down.
Roach Swordsmanship Basics
3rd Form
Diagonal Slash
As if standing on solid ground.
Even as he fell through the air, Sylvain displayed perfect form.
A picture-perfect stroke slashed down to the lower right.
Slice-
The trajectory not only cut the Cyclops’ calf but also severed its tendons and bone joints.
Krrrrrooooaaarrr!!
A scream filled with pain. The Cyclops roared, its large eye wide open. Unable to stand on one leg, it lost its balance and collapsed.
Thud.
Frondier’s foot landed on its eyeball.
“I offer my thanks.”
The Cyclops looked at Frondier standing on its eyeball. It was puzzling. Even though it couldn’t speak, the Cyclops was a high-intelligence individual as an external monster.
Even though it had lost its balance and collapsed, even though Frondier’s jump had brought him to a similar height, there was a difference in distance, not height. This was a problem that couldn’t be solved regardless of whether the Cyclops lowered or raised its body.
Frondier closed that distance. In mid-air. Without any petty tricks like shields.
If the Cyclops could speak, it would have shouted.
-You bastard, you could fly from the beginning!
Mjölnir, Excalibur combination
Frondier Original
Pile Driving
Crack!
Frondier struck the pommel of Excalibur with Mjölnir. It resembled his original sword technique, ‘Bombing’ but this time, he truly drove Excalibur into the Cyclops’ eyeball.
It would never miss, and since retrieval wasn’t necessary, there was no need to use as much mana as ‘Bombing’.
The Cyclops died instantly from the single blow. To the creature that would never hear him, Frondier whispered quietly.
“Thanks to you, Sylvain will become even stronger.”
He is absolutely necessary for the future.
Naturally, the Cyclops, hearing nothing, slowly tilted its body. Frondier, standing on its corpse, fell to the ground with it.
Boom
The Cyclops fell with a heavy sound befitting its massive size.
Frondier, atop the Cyclops’ corpse, looked beyond. The monsters that had kept their distance due to the Cyclops’ reckless movements. The constant stream of monster reinforcements that followed a specific path, avoiding this area.
“…It’s open.”
The seemingly thick wall of monsters, at this very moment, revealed a path beyond.
“Lord Frondier!”
Frondier was about to call Cassian, but Selena was faster. She urged Cassian forward and arrived before Frondier.
“The path is open!”
“Yes!”
Frondier mounted Cassian. Naturally, Selena moved to the back. The entire sequence flowed seamlessly.
“Frondier!” Sylvain called out to Frondier, who was once again on horseback.
“Are you planning to break through this front?!”
“That’s right.”
“Then wait for the knights to return! The knights who spread out to the left and right will regroup soon! It will be easier to break through the monster wall with them!”
Sylvain made a reasonable judgment, but Frondier shook his head.
“From here on, I will go alone.”
“…Frondier.”
“No, my escort, me, and Cassian. The three of us will go.”
Frondier smiled playfully.
His eyes were fixed on a single path leading beyond the monsters, towards their base.
“Commander, do you remember the message I sent you earlier?”
“The one that said ‘Beware of ambush’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Back then, Frondier predicted an ambush on the knights’ path. It wasn’t so much a prediction as it was a reality at the time.
A path to lure humans into a trap, inviting them to their base.
But now, the monsters were charging towards the barrier.
A situation where they wouldn’t dream of a single human like Frondier launching a solo attack.
“At this very moment, that path is the monsters’ weakness.”
Ambushes, traps, and the like were not prepared.
But the path still remained.
At this moment, the path prepared for an ambush became an incredibly convenient path for Frondier.
It was originally a path to invite them to their base, after all.
“The invitation still stands, so I must accept it.”