Chapter 73


    Chapter 73


    Inded right next to Garron, carrying a bleeding little girl in my arms. She looked up at me weakly as I gently ced her on the ground. There were dozens of other injured figures lying here. One of them— a young man who was mostly unhurt— gaped at me in shock


    “W-who are you?” he asked.


    “This girl needs a healing potion,” I said, kneeling down before the little girl and ignoring the question.


    Garron nodded as he produced a healing potion and handed it to me. I raised the little girl’s chin, before gently tipping the vial into her mouth. She gasped as her wounds began to close, and I got back to my feet.


    I dusted my hands off, turning back to the Steel Tank. “That should be enough. Is anyone else in critical condition?”


    “No,” he replied simply. He nced down at the lying figures before looking back up. “I have tended their wounds. Now…”


    I watched as his gaze drifted to the side. Garron was staring into the distance at a figure striding forward. His eyes were fixed entirely on Noele the Noble Spellsword. She unsheathed her sword— evidently shorter than it used to be— as she approached the [Witch].


    I raised a brow. “Do you want to help her?”


    Garron the Steel Tank harrumphed as he took a step forward. “I will observe for now. There is much for me to learn from watching.”


    “Fair.” I shrugged, and pocketed the healing potion. “Although… you better pay careful attention. Because this fight is going to end in about a minute.”


    The B-rank adventurer nodded, his gaze not leaving Noele for even a single moment.


    —--


    And the Cloying Witchshed out. A second powerful explosion rocked Wolfwater. A purple st that shot out like a fireball. It struck the ground where Noele the Noble Spellsword stood, but Zevya knew it wasn’t over.


    There was a sh of light just before the explosion. Zevya’s eyes flickered, and her eyes darted to the sky. She saw her target leaping into the air, carried by a movement Skill— either [sh Step] or [Quick Teleport].


    The Cloying Witch gritted her teeth as she pointed. “Destroy that bitch, Nyxi!”


    The spider golem moved. It swung out with its scythe-like limbs as the Noble Spellsword dove straight down, her de glowing with a golden light. Zevya’s eyes flickered as she sensed the overwhelming magic. She leapt back as Noele screamed.


    “Glorious Noble sh!”


    Zevyanded a dozen feet back as her spider golem was consumed by the golden st. The shockwave from the st sent her stumbling back as she nted her staff into the ground. She cursed as a spell circle shed beneath her feet.


    Noele twisted in the air over Nyxi’s crumbling corpse. Twisted roots shot into the air, intercepting her. But she unleashed a flurry of strikes, and des of light shot out.


    “[Unending Dauntless Fury]!” Her attack tore through the roots, and shended right before the Cloying Witch. Her eyes flickered when she saw the broken roots zipping past her, forming a wall of figures just ahead.


    Zevya began to rebuild her small army as a purple aura wreathed her body. Her eyes burned with fury as she shook her head.


    “You killed Nyxi. You killed Odell. I will kill you, you stupid blonde fuck!” She pointed, and dozens of haphazardly formed golems charged.


    Noele narrowed her eyes before raising her de. Tiny twinkling stars glimmered into existence around her as she pointed. “[Scintiting Arrowfell]!”


    The hail of projectiles struck down the golems one after another. Zevya had hastily summoned them. They weren’t durable in the slightest— even a low-level Skill could quickly wipe out a substantial chunk of their numbers. Noele dashed forward, slicing through a pair of lumbering golems.


    “I did not kill Odell,” the Noble Spellsword said, kicking another golem back. “But I’ll dly kill you to put an end to this madness!”


    She vanished as Zevya blinked. The Cloying Witch spun around, seeing a blurred figure flicker behind her. But when she readied a spell, Noele was already gone.


    “Where are you?” Zevya cursed.


    And the rustling of boots on gravel echoed behind her. She nced back, only to see the sh of a golden light. And nothing. Noele circled around the Cloying Witch. The Noble Spellsword was moving so fast, using movement Skills in quick session.


    The Cloying Witch wrinkled her brows. “You’re hoping to catch me off-guard, aren’t you? Well, nice try, bitch!” She raised her staff as the aura wisping off her coalesced into a sphere. “Try breaking through my [Forcefield]!”


    Sheughed wildly as the sphere shimmered with power. It was the Void’s power. On its own, the Skill would have been able to repel even an A-rank Skill. But now, empowered by the depravity of the Void, it was strong enough to even block an S-rank—


    “Elegant Noble sh!” Noele said as she appeared before the barrier.


    “What—” Zevya blinked, watching as the sphere was sliced cleanly in half. “Is that an… [Aura de]?”


    For a moment, both halves of the sphere stayed connected like they hadn’t just been cut through. Then the barrier popped like a bubble. The Noble Spellsword thrust forward as the Cloying Witch reeled.


    “Take this, you piece of shit!” Zevya hurled a snare at her opponent.


    It caught Noele''s de— a chain that yanked the sword to the ground. But the blonde girl dropped the weapon, deftly sidestepping the spell. Zevya blinked as the blonde girl drew a second sword from her side. A short sword. Maybe even a dagger.


    And the Noble Spellsword closed the distance in an instant as the Cloying Witch tried to conjure a second snare. But the blonde girl stabbed, impaling Zevya straight through the chest.


    “I—” It happened so quickly— Zevya couldn’t even parse it. She tried to work her jaw, only to slump over. “N-no… what the fuck…?” she sputtered as she dropped to her knees.


    Noele simply drew back, shaking her head. “You swear too much.”


    “Fuck you—” Zevya spat, and the short de shed through her neck.


    —--


    Noele took a step back as Zevya’s decapitated body copsed. The battle was swift— quick, even. But it still exhausted the Noble Spellsword. She nced back as the remaining golems crumbled to dust, and the attack of Wolfwater was finally lifted.


    “The Cloying Witch… I remember hearing about her story even back when I was a little girl…” the Noble Spellsword murmured. “To think I’d be the one to defeat her one day…”


    It was almost surreal. But Noele knew this was a reality. She nced down at her shortsword, before turning the de over. She saw her reflection on the metal.


    Her sword had been shattered in half during her battle with Odell. Well, it wasn’t shattered into two exact halves. It had been broken into multiple pieces, but the Noble Spellsword had managed to salvage thergest chunks. And thanks to Saros the Gnome Inventor’s help, she managed to salvage her broken sword into two new des now.


    Contrary to the gnome’s Title, he was not an inventor, but a [Tinkerer]. So he specialized in harvesting old, typically broken artifacts to create new, functional trinkets. It took him a day to forge these two des, which Noele collected before leaving Whiteridge a week ago. However, even though she had these weapons for a while now, she still wasn’t used to dual wielding swords.


    The blonde girl sighed as she picked up her dropped sword and sheathed it as well. It didn’t matter. Thanks to Amelia’s training, she could now fight enemies far above her level. Her skills— not Skills— were more than enough to match S-ranks in battle, even though she was only A-rank.


    “I wonder if I can defeat Jax now?” Noele wondered aloud. But she quickly dismissed the thought. He was the Forsaken Archer— one of the highest-leveled adventurers in the world. In fact, it was entirely possible he was the highest-leveled adventurer in the world.


    And she had seen his battle against Amelia. His repertoire of Skills was too great for either Glorious Noble sh or Elegant Noble sh to ovee. Still, Noele looked at herself, seeing her stark improvement over such a short period of time. She felt like she could catch up to him… eventually.


    “Anyway, what was up with her?” Noele nced down at the corpse of the Cloying Witch. “That power… was Zevya Void-touched too?”


    The blonde girl pursed her lips. She thought of the Miststorm Riders— of Odell. He had been Void-touched. Or maybe he had even been empowered beyond that. Noele didn’t know. She just knew that he had drawn from the Void for his strength, and the fact that Zevya was looking to avenge him meant that…


    “The Sect of Abyssal Thorns must be involved in this,” the Noble Spellsword said, raising her head in thought. “But… why?”


    And she didn’t know the answer. She just turned away from the fallen body of the Cloying Witch, mulling over her thoughts.


    —--


    Zevya was dead. Or so she thought. But somehow, even as an encroaching darkness consumed her, she felt like she was still alive.


    Her body was numb. She couldn’t move. Everything went cold. And yet, the Cloying Witch was convinced she wasn’t dead just yet. Something had saved her. It was keeping her in stasis, even though her head was no longer connected to her body.


    What… is this? she wondered. Her thoughts felt so ephemeral. But somehow, they didn’t drift off into nonexistence.


    Suddenly, an odd sensation gripped her. It began to reform her flesh. It mended her broken body. Her corpse shifted as something filled her. Her vision began to return as her head started to regrow. The numbness from before vanishing as a crooked smile slipped onto her lips.


    And she sensed it. Zevya’s drifting thoughts gathered back together as she began to grasp what this was. It was a power that she couldn’tprehend. A depravity that tainted her soul. A magic overwhelming. A blessing that came from below Vacuos. But it was also familiar.


    Because it was the Void’s Call—


    “I’m not letting that happen again!” Noele shouted as she appeared before the Cloying Witch, raising both des.


    Zevya blinked in her half-dazed state. “What…?”


    The Noble Spellsword swung down as her swords were wreathed in golden auras. The magic on the shorter de wisped wildly while the magic on the longer de burned sharply. And the Cloying Witch could only stare.


    “You cannot kill me. The Void has—” Zevya started.


    “Shut the fuck up!” Noele yelled, unleashing her attack. “Glorious Noble sh and Elegant Noble sh!”


    “No!” the Cloying Witch screamed. She tried to grasp for the Void’s power— but it slipped from her fingers.


    And the golden st engulfed her entirely.


    Once again, Zevya’s vision began to fade. But this time, there was no echo in the darkness. And her thoughts finally drifted away into nothingness, freed from the Void’s touch.


    —--


    “Alright,” Noele said, taking a step back. She dusted her hands off as nothing remained of Zevya’s body. “That should do it for real this time.”


    The Noble Spellsword had seen such a transformation once before— back when she had fought against Odell. But back then, she had been unprepared for it. She didn’t expect that the Void’s power could bring the Monster of the Mist back from the dead.


    Now that she knew that was a thing, she anticipated it would happen, even though she had cut off Zevya’s head. So Noele finished the job, sting the Cloying Witch into oblivion. Nothing but ash and a smoking crater remained.


    The blonde girl spun around, shaking her head. She stepped over the piles of rubble that had once been the gathered golems, and a figure stopped her.


    “What just happened, Noele?” Garron asked. He stared at her quizzically, blinking a few times as he nced between the blonde girl and the gray column rising to the sky.


    Noele just sighed. “I honestly have no idea. You should ask Amelia instead.”


    The two adventurers turned to face Amelia. The brown-haired woman stared back at them for a moment, not saying anything. Then she shrugged.


    “Why are you guys looking at me?” she said. “I should be asking you guys that question. I literally just got here a few months ago, remember?”


    “Right,” Noele said. “Well, it should be over now.”


    And it was.


    MsD


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