Volume 3, Chapter 44: Spinner of the Truth⑥

Seeing that situation, Kreuz finally noticed Alante’s abnormal state.

But in this situation, it was already way too late for him to retreat.

His rapier was pointed toward Alante.

Alante remained bent eerily forward, with a creepy smile on his face. His waist had never stopped moving as his arms wriggled like tentacles.

‘Although there was something off about him.. he has no weapons in his hand. At this distance, I can strike him first before he uses his sorcery.’

And just like that, Kreuz’s rapier lunged toward Alante’s shoulder.

But then, Lambert’s greatsword fell right in front of him, gouging the earth as if to strike the ground.

Kreuz was really surprised and retreated immediately.

「W-what a—!」

「You’re no match for him! This fella is a sorcerer accustomed to death!」

Lambert warned Kreuz.

Alante showed an opening that looked as if he was asking to be killed by Lambert so many times.

Thus, Lambert ended up lowering his guard toward Alante.

But in fact, it was the exact opposite.

Even when the tip of Lambert’s sword was just a millimeter away from his head a while ago, Alante kept feigning ignorance till the end.

「U-used to death? That sounds contradictory. Though I’m familiar with liches, they’re supposed to be nothing more than fiction! Real liches don’t exist! The morals of the world would’ve long since crumbled if something like that existed.」

Kreuz observed Alante really carefully now.

「I am.. precisely doing that. I also have a spell that allows me to achieve that purpose, to connect the past and the present, but sorcery that grants eternal youth is bound to have some defects. Their flesh is bound to rot, and their heartbeat will stop someday. Human vessels are the worst place to preserve intelligence and one’s mind.. That’s the gist of the spell.」

In Kreuz’s eyes, there was nothing wrong with Alante’s flesh. At the very least, it looked like the latter was healthy both in body and mind.

「By definition, any “absolute” is a fallacy. It’s just a definition given by ignorant people who know nothing and can only see things on the surface. They’re just peasants who never try to reach the truth after knowing the problem. The word “impossible” doesn’t exist for me.」

Alante clicked his tongue, swinging his index finger to the side while giving such a passionate speech.

「Your true target is the one who stands before you right now. But currently, you can’t match him. Leave this place now.」

Lambert persuaded Kreuz for the second time.

But Kreuz didn’t lower his rapier.

「But I, as the captain of 『Phoenix’s Eyes』, can’t just turn around and escape with my tail between my legs when such a dangerous opponent appears before me..!」

「I need you guys to tell the kingdom about these sorcerers.」

「..Eh.」

「You still have a bright future ahead of you. That’s why you must pass this news on to the royal family. This is not a request; this is an ORDER. The scale of our enemy is far beyond my capability to take care of by myself. Kreuz, this era is that of you and your peers. That’s why, do your job now and leave this old monster to me.」

Lambert spoke with his back facing Kreuz, his line of sight never moving away from Alante.

Kreuz realized that his protector stood right in front of him.

At this point, Lambert’s armor looked so big and beautiful to him.

Fascinated by such a huge back, Kreuz was dazzled for a moment.

「HURRY UP!」

「Y-YES!」

Kreuz, who unintentionally responded with honorifics, ran in a hurry toward Elise.

「I don’t mind if one or two brats get away.. But that girl is mine!」

Alante hung his hand till it barely touched the ground, circling around Lambert and running toward Kreuz with a beast-like stance.

Lambert leapt to the side and wasted no time in brandishing his greatsword.

Alante stepped on the sword’s blade and ran toward Lambert’s shoulder.

「Begone, loser.」

「This armor is the proof of my loyalty—not something that the likes of you can just kick around.」

Lambert brandished his greatsword again to Alante, who floated in the air.

But Alante dodged the slash by a paper-thin margin. From a third party’s perspective, Lambert’s slash was supposed to hit Alante for sure when the latter was still in midair.

「Ohhh, as fast as expected..」

The first swing was followed by a second swing, and then the third swing slowly cornered Alante.

「S-stop, please spare big brother..」

Elise’s trembling gaze was looking at Alante.

Although Alante managed to dodge Lambert’s swing, he also realized that he was slowly being cornered.

Even a single mistake would cost him his life.

By the time it reached the fourth and fifth swings, Alante could only retreat.

After all, those slashes were not meant to kill him; they were to prevent him from going forward.

Lambert chose the option to let Kreuz and Co. get out of this place.

「Hmph, pitiful girl. You knights always say that you never understand us sorcerers, but the same goes for us. But well, having immersed ourselves in a sea of knowledge, we are still in the process of understanding that.」

Alante thrust his finger forward as he stooped down.

「O Earth, Become Stake!」

historical

At that moment, the ground transformed into thirty stakes that came toward Lambert.

Even Kreuz, who was looking at the situation while escaping, couldn’t hide his shock.

There was no need for a swordsman if any sorcerer could invoke a spell of that scale in an instant.

After all, the casting speed of that spell allowed the sorcerer to kill the swordsman before the latter could approach the former.

「A-armored knight..!」

But Lambert was unperturbed.

He leapt forward, skillfully dodging the stakes that were aiming for the joints of his armor, raising his sword as he inched toward Alante.

The extremely sharp-looking stakes broke apart as they collided with Lambert’s armor from the front, losing its original form.

「HAAAAH!」

And then, as Lambert raised a warcry and moved forward, the stakes smashed apart, turning into sand.

Lambert swung his greatsword from left to right.

Seeing that he was about to enter Lambert’s range, Alante somersaulted behind, and yet, there was still a wound on the abdomen of his robe.

Seeing that, Alante pinched his robe with a smile of admiration.

「As expected, splendid. I forget about my robe since I stooped forward.」

But then, a red line appeared on his cheek along with dripping fresh blood.

He wiped the blood off his cheek, his eyebrows twitching uncontrollably as he looked at the blood.

Lambert swung his greatsword from right to left.

The first swing tore Alante’s robe, and the second one tore his cheek.

「Isn’t that what you forgot? Let me guess, a graveyard?」

Alante’s face turned red from rage upon hearing Lambert’s question.

「Don’t get cocky, Lambert the loser..」

Kreuz was looking at the battle from behind Lambert.

He had no idea which side was superior.

After all, he had to do his best just to be able to catch both Lambert and Alante’s movements.

「Really, just who in the world are you, armored knight.. Are you really.. that Lambert?」

Kreuz quickly turned back to the front while pushing Elise’s wheelchair while muttering such remarks.