Chapter 36

My body, unable to withstand the impact, was sent flying into the air.

My vision went white from the pain in my arm followed by the impact of the fall.

My power drastically increased my recovery, but it didn't increase my pain tolerance.

"Ryan!"

Lirisa's cry pierced my ears, and I barely managed to regain consciousness.

I almost passed out.

"Gasp…. Haaah…."

I raised my head and looked forward, seeing Byan flying through the air, bleeding.

Scattered blood flew onto my face.

Along with the metallic smell of blood, a hot warmth, the feeling of life that had been surging within Byan's body just moments ago, was vividly conveyed.

Balta, also covered in blood, shook off the blood from his weapon and stared at me expressionlessly.

Sergel sprang out and lunged with his spear.

At least to me, it was a perfect strike, launched from a clean, flawless stance.

And then.

"Though I am an Archmage in name only, I will do my best to support you."

Black magic erupted from the rear, and dark smoke enveloped Balta.

With his vision completely obscured, Sergel's spear sharply pierced the center of the smoke.

"……?!"

But Sergel, instead, retreated with a look of surprise.

The tip of his spear, which emerged from the smoke, was roughly severed.

The smoke cleared.

No injuries could be seen on Balta, who acted as if dusting off his body.

The broken spearhead dropped from his wide-open hand with a clattering sound.

"…Is he a monster?"

CRASH!

Balta's swinging fist struck Sergel.

He tried to block it with his broken spear, but the fist simply shattered the spear shaft and buried itself in Sergel's abdomen.

I was certain Sergel's internal organs were now completely mangled.

It was an injury severe enough to potentially cause death if he was unlucky.

Meanwhile, the soldier from Unit 450 rushed to Sergel, who lay as if dead, and poured recovery potions on him.

Gurgle, gurgle.

I heard a gurgling sound.

Looking down at my arm, I saw repulsive bubbles covering and healing the wound.

The pain from the arrow being pulled out of my back jolted me awake.

Thanks to Sergel and Byan buying me time, I was able to recover from my injuries to some extent.

As the pain slowly subsided, the flesh, which had been exposed to the bone, was covered by new skin in that short time.

As soon as the short rest ended, Balta's attacks poured down on me in quick succession.

The speed was so great that it was difficult to even follow with my eyes, let alone react.

Judging that it was impossible to block or evade all attacks, I focused on avoiding only fatal injuries.

I exposed myself to light attacks and reliably dodged or blocked strikes aimed at vital points.

Of course, even that wasn't perfect, and my blade chipped and the tip broke off.

A swinging axe forcibly broke my defensive stance and carved a long wound across my chest.

I hastily threw my head back, but perhaps my timing was late, as the axe, moving up from my chest, grazed my left eye.

I could somehow endure the pain with willpower, but my vision in one eye momentarily disappeared.

"…Tch."

Balta clicked his tongue and tilted his head slightly.

An arrow, carrying strong momentum, grazed Balta's cheek.

The arrow's trajectory was altered, so it was clear the attack was successful, but not even a tiny scratch appeared on his cheek.

However, Lirisa's attack was effective.

Judging that aiming normally at the enemy was useless, she had begun to specifically aim for Balta's eyes.

Thanks to this, I gained some breathing room, and my left eye gradually recovered, and my vision began to return.

While Lirisa harassed Balta from afar, Latia suppressed her presence and circled widely to get behind Balta.

Surprisingly, Balta hadn't noticed her movements.

Looking at it this way, I wondered if she was more suited to be an assassin than a swordswoman.

Lirisa's eyes glinted as she drew her bowstring and shouted, "Lupel! Please use the magic you mentioned earlier! Now's our chance!"

"…Uh. Uh, what?"

In contrast to the confident shout, Lupel, who was called out, looked utterly confused as to what was going on.

Perhaps the quick thinking had an effect; for a moment, Balta's gaze turned towards Ruppel, and Latia's strike, seizing that opportunity, plunged into Balta's wide-open back.

Thud!

The attack was successful.

But it wasn't fatal.

Her sword managed to penetrate Balta's back just a tiny bit, but that was all.

Latia let out a hollow laugh, looking at her sword, which broke in half without going any further.

"What is this…? Ugh!"

Balta, trained by Odin, was fundamentally different from Agris, who was a hothouse flower.

Balta immediately counterattacked Latia without even a groan, let alone a scream.

"Aaaaargh!"

Latia screamed and dodged the attack.

In fact, it seemed she didn't so much dodge the attack as she got lucky with her timing by flinging herself away out of sheer terror just from seeing the preparatory motion, but that was as far as it went.

As soon as Balta realized his attack missed, he kicked her.

Perhaps her bones were broken, for she curled up and merely screamed.

Meanwhile, I lunged at Balta.

Of course, I didn't cause a miraculous change in this desperate situation either.

It just prolonged the time I could endure a little longer.

It was the same as accumulating wounds on my body unilaterally before being knocked out.

"Ryan…."

Lirisa's voice, calling my name as I lay battered and rolling on the ground, was filled with moisture.

I wanted to tell her to focus on the fight, but my vocal cords were injured from the blow to my neck just now, and no sound came out.

I guarantee that if I hadn't acquired regenerative abilities, I would have died four or five times by now.

"Commander… when will she arrive?"

Finally, a tear fell from Lirisa's eye.

Byan, having regained consciousness, jumped in to buy time.

During the brief 5-6 second respite, another long wound appeared over the forcibly sealed injury where he had used a healing potion, and Byan lost consciousness again.

Perhaps there were no more healing potions left, for the Unit 450 soldier was merely glaring at Balta, trembling with his weapon in hand.

Lirisa repeatedly tapped the field commander's insignia that I had given her beforehand.

The signal kept going out, but there was no response.

'…Did I trust people too much?'

As the wounds accumulated and pain compounded, my mental strength also seemed to drop, leading to negative thoughts.

Even as I whispered to myself that it couldn't be, I found myself thinking that it might be true in my head.

But since Selina was the last hope, there was no other way but to trust and wait.

My breathing was rough, and the blood circulating in my body was as hot as lava.

My vision was blurry.

I lifted my head.

Beyond my blurry vision, I saw Balta slowly approaching.

He wasn't being complacent.

Even in this situation, he wasn't letting down his guard.

"…Ah."

Suddenly, Balta stopped.

He frowned slightly, concentrating as if thinking about something, and then briefly cast his gaze upwards.

"Are you perhaps waiting for that mage's help?"

"......"

"If so, you'd best give up. I blocked the entrance when I came in to prevent outside interference. I also jammed communications in the area, so requesting support will be impossible."

Balta rummaged in his pocket and presented a rectangular blue gem, speaking.

I recognized the gem's identity through the Eye that Seeks Truth and almost let go of the thread of hope I was barely holding onto.

It was a communication jamming stone.

As its name suggested, it was a tool that emitted disruptive waves, jamming communications in the area around the gem.

Moreover, it was a top-grade gem, probably bought with Odin's full financial power.

The range of communication disruption would likely be extensive enough to cover not only these underground ruins but also the city above ground.

This meant that not only could we hardly expect direct support from Selina, but it was highly probable that our situation hadn't even been conveyed to command, let alone receiving support from the mainland.

Clatter.

Something dropped.

Lirisa had dropped her bow.

I couldn't help but understand her feelings.

Her last hope had been shattered.

Having pushed herself to her limits, she had nowhere left to lean on, so as a human being, no… because she was human, she had no choice but to collapse.

Even so.

"Lirisa."

"......"

"Pick up your weapon."

I would rather have run away than quietly accept death.

If I had been willing to die quietly, I wouldn't have come this far.

I got up, intending to struggle to the very end.

Balta also took a stance to finish the drawn-out battle.

From behind, I heard sniffling and the sound of a dropped bow being picked up.

The lull was brief.

Balta and I took a step towards each other, neither waiting for the other, when—

CRRRRRASH—!

The earth and sky shook with an enormous roar.

"What…!"

The tremor was so strong that it was impossible to stand properly.

Lirisa and Ruppel simply collapsed, and even Balta seemed too preoccupied with maintaining his balance to fight.

Fine dust and small stones rained down like raindrops from above.

The source of the sound was the ceiling of the ruins, far above.

Knowing I shouldn't take my eyes off Balta in front of me, I couldn't help but look up.

"…What is that?"

I couldn't believe my eyes.

A hole had been punched through the stone-covered ceiling of the ruins.

And a half-destroyed airship had thrust its head through the hole into the ruins, spewing out massive amounts of fire and smoke.

Around it, large boulders fell, crushing the buildings of the ruins below, raising a thick cloud of dust.

As sailors frantically suppressed the airship's flames, someone fearlessly leaped from the airship.

A voice was heard.

"You, son of a bitch—!"

Along with a hearty curse, the person plummeting towards the ground was the commander of Unit 917.

It was Selina.

Her eyes glowed with a blue light.

Blue magic gathered at her fingertips, raised above her head, and was swung from top to bottom, leaving a long trail behind it.

"Mage…"

Balta calmly maintained his balance, preparing for the magic that would be unleashed upon him.

However, there was one fact even I didn't know.

Selina's magic couldn't be prepared for, even if one tried.

Thud.

"……!"

With wide eyes, Balta fell to his knees.