It marked the start of the battle.
"Chi!"
I shoot another round of Stone Cannon at Auber.
Now that he has better footing, I was sure Auber would parry it without difficulty.
"Toaaa!"
Luke approached from behind.
Shifting his body weight to his left hand, Auber deflected Luke’s sword.
While still lying down, he knocks Luke off balance and tries to stab him.
I intercept it with the Stone Cannon.
"Nukku!"
Auber jumps up and stands up on one foot.
With one of his leg incapacitated, most of Auber’s mobility is gone.
While steadily standing on one leg, he looks at the front, back, me, and the horse-drawn carriage.
"......"
Following his line of sight.
During that moment’s exchange, I managed to grasp the flow of the battle.
Exactly as Eris declared, she defeated those two people alone.
But Eris wasn’t unscathed, her shoulder is injured.
Her left shoulder is hanging loosely.
But, Eris didn’t care about her own wound and turned towards here.
Her line of sight is on Auber.
Ghyslaine had overwhelmed Wii Taa.
Wii Taa had already lost one arm.
Wii Taa had lost his shield while Ghyslaine is uninjured.
Ghyslaine is delivering the final blow to Wii Taa when I looked her way.
"Aubeeer!"
Wii Taa shouts.
And, at the same time he threw something on the ground.
A powder-like [bafun] sound is made and we were instantly wrapped in black smoke.
Was it some kind of magic tool? Or magic item?
Wii Taa used the black smoke at night for blinding.
But, even if I understood it, experiencing it felt different.
I could not see anything.
In this dense fog, the sound where Wii Taa was running to can be heard.
Following him is Ghyslaine’s footsteps.
I quickly avoid it.
Wii Taa ran by me.
Was he aiming at me?
No, he was aiming at the horse-drawn carriage.
"Leave it!"
The next moment, the door of the carriage opened and while Sylphy was coming out, a magic was released.
Melded magic 『Flame Tornado』.
The melded magic of wind and flame blew away the black smoke and shed light on the surroundings.
Status check.
Ghyslaine, alive and well.
Luke, alive and well.
Sylphy, alive and well.
Eris, also alive and well.
Wii Taa disappeared into the alley.
Did he run away?
Fair enough, even if we failed to catch Wii Taa, I only need to kill Auber.
Auber.... is not here?
Where is he?
"Rudeus!"
Eris shouted.
Looking at her line of sight, Auber was using claws to climb the wall like a cockroach.
He disappeared into the top of the wall at an incredible speed.
The others cannot follow him.
And, now is not the time for hesitation.
"We will follow Wii Taa!"
The decision was made immediately to enter the alley.
Can we catch up?
A small part of me thinks, is this the wrong decision?
When Wii Taa fled to the back alley, should I immediately give chase?
That guy is missing an arm.
His body is out of balance, you cannot run quickly like that.
But, since it’s North God Style, their training might...
And, when I stepped into the alley to think, I stopped walking.
Wii Taa is dead.
A large hole is agape in his small body, and he fell into a pool of blood.
This method of death felt like a deja vu.
I’ve experienced being killed in that manner.
No signs of anyone around.
However, he ought to have been here.
And he did it.
Orsted, that is.
"Rudeus......you did it."
Looking back, Eris was there.
From the roughly slashed shoulder, Eris shed blood and got sluggish while laughing and grinning.
"Oh, right ..."
For now, I cast healing magic by touching Eris’s shoulder,.
It is a terrible wound.
Although it didn’t sever the tendon.
Seeing you injured like this makes my heart ache.
"Thank you."
A simple thanks from Eris before she turns around.
She yelled out after returning back to the road.
"Rudeus killed the little one just now!"
At her words, sighs of relief flowed around.
"I'm sorry, I was a nuisance."
"No, I know Rudeus obviously did that so he can focus on Auber but ......"
"It was a good opportunity when he got attacked by me earlier, but I was a little slow."
"I also missed a chance, it happens!"