Glen’s face was so gentle that it was unbefitting for someone facing an enemy on a battlefield. For some unknown reason, Lara thought his current condition was like a volcano that was about to erupt.
“I didn’t expect to meet you here at all.”
“Really?” Lara also responded calmly, but she was warily holding up her guard against him. She thought Glen would pull out his Tornium and bare his fangs any moment now.
“Were you hired by the Steelwalls?”
“I suppose I can say that. I also participated in securing the Steif Fortress last time. Did you not notice me then?”
Glen scowled slightly. He was too focused on gaining fame before Zich did that he didn’t survey his surroundings. It was the same right now too, and he only happened to spot Lara by coincidence.
‘What should I do with her?’ With a serious face, Glen thought about how he should take care of her. They were companions before after all—but not for too long.
‘Is there a need for me to think? She’s the enemy anyway.’ Furthermore, an enemy in the most important war for Glen. He might have changed his mind if there were signs that Lara would come back to the ‘right path,’ but no matter how much he thought about it, it seemed like that would never happen.
‘She’s already ruined anyways. It might actually be better for me to get rid of her with this chance.’ Glen was already being driven mad by the countless changed variables in this timeline, and so he thought it wouldn’t be bad to prevent more changed variables by getting rid of one.
“Regardless, the fact that you are standing on the battlefield right now means that you are prepared for death, right?” Glen asked.
Lara gulped realizing that Glen’s atmosphere changed, but her eyes still blazed with determination. She answered, “That’s right.”
“I understand.” Glen raised Tornium and said, “Then, die.”
Glen sprung forward and swung his sword. His speed was fast and the power he carried in his swing was enormous. Mana spewed out of his sword blade as if it was going to chop up everything in its path. It was such a fierce, aggressive attack that it would make most fighters step back unconsciously. Yet, Lara’s eyes didn’t waver at all as she faced this attack.
Clang! The two’s swords clashed.
“Urgh!” Lara groaned. The might of Glen’s sword was truly enormous. Her body wavered while her legs lost strength. Her palms hurt like they were going to rip apart, and it felt like she would lose her grip over her sword at any moment. Still, Lara endured, and Glen’s attack failed to pierce Lara’s sword.
“Huh?” Glen looked stunned as if he saw something that was never supposed to happen. Glen swung his sword again. Clang! Lara blocked his attack again. Clang! Glen’s attack was blocked once again. Clang! And again. Claaang!
Glen swung his sword with more force this time, but the result was the same. Lara’s body wavered and shuddered like a leaf shaking in a typhoon, but she managed to block his attacks in the end. She even made counterattacks at times. Of course, the attacks she sneaked in while she was busy with blocking posed no threat to Glen, but the important part was that she managed to counterattack in this situation. Glen was aware that it hadn’t been long since Lara was able to solely focus on training with her sword; furthermore, his skills and power had become incomparably stronger since he separated from Lara.
Yet, with all things considered, Lara was managing—although gruelingly—to block his attacks. This was astounding even if Glen wasn’t giving his all right now and indicated that Lara had made exponential progress in the short time period since they last conversed. Rage shot up inside Glen. A brilliant, natural talent that he wished for but didn’t have was soaring in front of his eyes. How dare a broken doll who refused the right path he had prepared for it boast its talents in front of him?
“Huff! Huff!” Lara heaved. Death crept right up to the ends of her feet, and her body became soaked in cold sweat in fear of it. However, Lara’s expression wasn’t downcast. She didn’t know what happened, but as Zich had warned, Glen had become much stronger. Yet, she managed to endure his attacks right now. This was clear evidence that her swordsmanship skills which had been denied for so long had truly improved. Furthermore, the one who was proving this change was Glen, who had dismissed her talent. Thus, Lara felt a strong sense of pride even in this unfavorable situation.
Regardless of what emotion Lara felt, it was clear that she was in a dangerous situation. Lara also noticed that the way Glen looked at her had completely changed, and he was ready to kill her. No matter how much Lara enjoyed a battle that proved her abilities, it wasn’t to the point that she would give her life up for it. At the same time, it was difficult for her to seek help from those around her right now. Others were also busy fighting enemies intently since their enemy forces held at least the advantage in numbers. Above all, Lara knew that the moment she took her eyes off Glen to seek help, her head would fly off her body.
‘He told me to send a signal when I met Glen,’ Lara thought about what Zich told her. ‘Will I be able to do that?’
Sending even a simple signal seemed difficult right now considering Glen’s current condition. However, in the end, Lara collected her thoughts.
‘No, I can do it. If I give up one arm, it’s possible.’ Fortunately, the Steelwalls had an unbelievably great Karuwiman priest on their side. Although the Karuwimans were maintaining a neutral position, from the conversation she heard between her companions, Zich seemed to have a close relationship with the Saintess. Thus, Lara thought the Saintess would easily heal an arm if she asked for it. Moreover, there was no other solution that she could think of than this.
Bam!
Glen stamped his feet. Lara steadied her sword and prepared for Glen’s attack.
‘Huh?’ Yet, her preparation was useless. When she realized it, Glen was right in front of her.
Lara screamed and fell backward. Her hair flew in all directions by the fierce winds that arose from the explosion. However, even in this situation, Lara clearly saw what happened. A man with a white sword was standing in front of her.
“Are you all right?” Hans said while slightly turning back. “I’m sorry. There were some knights who were in danger near us so I moved away for a bit.” Then, Hans moved his gaze back to the front because it was too dangerous for him to continue talking while looking at Lara.
Glen said, “You’re…”
“It’s been a while.” Hans lightly greeted Glen.
Glen also knew who Hans was—he was one of the people that wretched Zich had brought along. However, it was not Hans’ appearance that was important to Glen right now. Glen looked back and forth between Hans and Lara, who was standing behind Hans. Since Zich and Glen’s party had met each other a couple of times, there were chances for Hans and Lara to meet each other. Since they were now on the same side, they might have gotten a bit closer in their relationship. However, in Glen’s eyes, their relationship looked way deeper than just two people on the same side.
“…You guys look close.”
Hans slightly frowned because he didn’t think this was the appropriate time to discuss such a subject matter. However, since this wasn’t a hard question to answer, Hans easily replied, “It’s because Ms. Lara is part of our party.”
“…Our? That punk Zich’s party?”
“Sir, you’re not close enough with Sir Zich to address him as ‘that punk.’” Hans felt angry and retaliated against Glen’s words, but Glen was too taken aback to reply. The only thing on his mind was that the broken doll he threw away was now under Zich’s control. It was a betrayal. Even though he was the one who tried to control Lara however he wanted and chased her out after she refused to blindly follow him, he still thought Lara betrayed him. He could never allow such an injustice.
Glen’s eyes became bloodshot. Even though Hans couldn’t guess what Glen was thinking, he could clearly see that Glen was angry. Hans had no idea why Glen suddenly got so angry.
“Ms. Lara!”
“Yes!”
“Please immediately send a signal to Sir Zich!”
Glen didn’t give any time for Hans to rest as he immediately swung his sword. Tornium voraciously gobbled up his owner’s mana and a tremendous amount of power exploded. Likewise, Estellade also let out a bright light and clashed with Tornium.
Bammmmmm! A powerful sound rang out on the battlefield, incomparable to the sounds that Lara and Glen made when they were fighting.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The loud sounds of swords clashing continuously rang across the battlefield. The sight of Estellade’s white light clashing with Tornium’s black light looked straight from a depiction of an ancient battle in mythology.
“Ugh!” Hans was pushed back a couple of steps. The light coming off from Estellade dimmed a bit.
‘He’s strong!’ It was an extremely simple assessment, but this was the best word to describe Glen’s current skill. ‘Is he really the same person I saw last time?’
Hans had also seen Glen fight a couple of times while following Zich. After seeing Glen fight recently, he thought that Glen’s skill was fairly similar to his. He was even amazed and found it ridiculous that Glen always openly challenged Zich with such subpar skills. However, Glen’s skill was currently far beyond his expectations.
‘He might be on the same level, or even stronger than Sir Zich.’ Hans now understood why Zich kept warning him about Glen, and Hans realized that no matter what he did right now, he could never beat Glen.
Swish! Glen swung Tornium again, and Hans frantically blocked his attack. The amount of power and speed that Glen instilled into his sword far surpassed Hans’ skill. Regardless of how much light Estellade let out, Tornium’s black blade shattered Estellade’s light and pierced through with ease. Various wounds began forming all around Hans’ body. He hadn’t received any critical injuries yet, but his wounds weren’t small either. However, Hans’ movements were still light.
‘Compared to training, this amount of injury is nothing.’ Hans was covered in blood whenever he trained with Zich; there was no way this amount of injuries would hinder his movements.
‘It’s actually pretty tolerable?’ Hans had been shocked by Glen’s substantial increase in skills for only a few moments and was now even thinking other thoughts. His opponent’s skill was definitely above his and even above Zich’s. As someone who learned from Zich by getting beaten up like crazy, Hans was definitely sure of this fact. However, it was also true that Glen’s attacks were easier to endure than Zich’s attacks.
‘There’s something a bit awkward about this person’s movements.’ Hans remembered that Glen’s movements were extremely clean. Even though Hans thought he wouldn’t lose to Glen in a fight, he thought that he needed to work a bit harder to catch up with Glen in terms of swordsmanship. However, Glen’s current movements were no longer the same as before.
‘It’s very small, but there are gaps in his movements.’ This was the reason why Hans continued enduring Glen’s attacks. Of course, this didn’t mean that Hans could win, as it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to endure Glen’s attacks for long. However, Hans also had no intentions to finish this fight either.
‘Sir Zich said that this person is his prey.’
A sword suddenly intervened between Hans and Glen. The mana that clashed between them bounced back on both sides. Glen balanced his body and his gaze headed towards the man who interrupted their fight. The murderous intent in his eyes deepened.
Zich chirped, “You two look like you’re having fun. Why don’t you let me join?”