Chapter 39: Sarvel's Ambition
Kaian decided to inspect the dark elves' magic circles first.
Hmm. That one looks good.
He picked a short spear that was just beginning to change direction in midair.
Whirl!
Kaian stared at the spear flying toward him and silently began casting.
[Gravity Ruler...]
It was a spell that adjusted the gravity affecting the caster.
Kaian had been researching and refining it ever since the day he'd fought his mother's residual mana inside his Core Space seven years ago.
To use any spell as naturally as breathing required endless practice.
That was one reason Kaian was always stepping through empty air or climbing tall trees.
Hummmm...
At the moment, Kaian had adjusted his gravity so he could stand on leaves floating through the air.
Now I'll readjust it just enough to ride on that spear.
Then...
When the spear came close enough to touch...
Whoooosh...
Kaian completed [Gravity Ruler].
[...Control.]
In an instant, the gravity acting on his body changed.
His right hand gently settled onto the spear's shaft.
The short spear, completely unaware of what it was carrying, rapidly returned toward one of the squad members.
Shoooosh!
Squad Member N, who had unexpectedly received express delivery of the Reaper, couldn't believe his eyes.
"Uh... Uh...?"
If the Tempest Eagle had been flying toward him, he might've understood.
But the Tempest Eagle was calmly circling high above.
Then what were those turquoise eyes rushing toward him through the darkness?
Were those really human eyes?
Did human eyes shine like that? The ones I've eaten before didn't.
Those eyes looked terrifying enough to make even a high-rank magical beast turn around and run.
Worse...
They were staring directly at the branch where N was hiding.
How? I'm using [Stealth]!
Of course, Kaian wasn't actually seeing N.
He was looking at the center of the distortion revealed by [Second Eyes].
In other words, N's heart.
This time, the spear was even delivering Kaian directly to the target.
This is really convenient.
Kaian called out happily.
"You've got a magic circle there, don't you?"
His voice was clear and bright enough to wash away the darkness.
"Let me take a closer look!"
"Huh?"
"[Control.]"
Kaian adjusted gravity again.
The spear slightly changed direction.
Then it pierced straight through N's heart.
Crunch!
Instant death.
N's [Stealth] collapsed, revealing his body.
The magic circles are on both arms.
N's body began falling backward.
Kaian immediately used [Quick Draw] to summon two sharp daggers.
Then...
Whoosh.
He cut off both arms as easily as slicing radishes.
He hated having blood spray everywhere, so as he cut, he used the flat sides of the blades to cauterize the wounds at the same time.
As expected. Combining [Double Enhance] with [Gravity Ruler] makes the cuts incredibly clean.
Kaian landed lightly on the branch and caught both severed arms before they could fall.
Tap.
He also pulled the short spear out of N's heart.
There was a magic circle drawn on it as well.
Pop.
Only then did N's body fall toward the ground.
Thud! Crack!
Kaian heard bones breaking.
He didn't care.
He was already too busy inspecting the magic circles on his newly acquired arms and spear.
Lucky.
The right arm had an ordinary [Enhance] magic circle.
The left arm carried a much more complicated and unfamiliar design.
The circle corresponding to the spear should be the one on the left.
Kaian placed both arms and the spear inside collection bags, then stored them in his subspace bag.
He wanted to study them as soon as possible.
Which means I should finish things here quickly.
Using [Gravity Ruler], Kaian rose toward a higher branch.
Tap, tap.
Then he pulled out a whistle with [Quick Draw] and blew it.
The sound resembled a wind instrument.
The Tempest Eagle circling overhead immediately dived.
Shoooooosh!
Tap!
Kaian smoothly grabbed the perch.
Finn carried him back into the sky.
If he wanted to end the battle quickly, what did he need?
A large-area spell?
Cutting off the leader's head?
No.
At a time like this, you provoke them.
Kaian's delighted shout rang across the hunting ground.
"Yahooooo!"
And that was the exact moment Sarvel's remaining reason finally snapped.
His teeth ground together.
Grit.
He remembered that day three years ago.
The first time he met that damned Reaper.
...
...
...
Sarvel had been hunting human escorts passing through the forest, just as he always did.
Then dozens of sharp pains suddenly struck his back.
"Urgh!"
At first, he couldn't even understand what had happened.
Only after falling and smashing his face into the dirt did he realize the truth.
His entire back was covered in arrows.
Which bastard did this?! I'll kill him!
Sarvel desperately lifted his head so he could see the face of whoever had ambushed him.
To his shock...
That person was already standing directly in front of him.
Neither the Shadow Squads nor Sarvel himself had noticed the enemy approaching.
I failed to sense him? Me? Until he got this close?
Sarvel told himself he had simply been careless for a moment.
But the instant he met his attacker's eyes, his thoughts froze.
Because standing there was a human child far too young to make the word "careless" sound reasonable.
A child with clear, cold eyes unlike anything Sarvel had ever seen.
"Hey."
A perfectly clear voice.
Sarvel felt as though he had fallen into a bizarre nightmare.
