WeTried Translations x Flame Comics

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 107: 15. Real Combat Is Standard for Academy Summer Vacation Events (12)

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* * *

He could read the future. More precisely, he could sense danger within the next five seconds.

That allowed Ignak to fight like a seasoned superhuman using neural acceleration. No matter how fast an attack was, if he knew it was coming before it struck, he could respond.

As black mana swelled around him, his body steadily grew faster. His movements were becoming more precise.

He knocked aside a sharp sword strike aimed at his neck.

He deflected a thrust at his chest.

He jerked his head aside to evade the fire spell flying at his head.

He redirected a powerful axe blow aimed at his back with his shoulder guard.

-Klang! Krrrraang!!

Even against four opponents, he wasn't being pushed back. He was overwhelming them, with greater strength and fiercer mana. The brats before him had not fully matured yet, and they were already injured.

All four were ragged and panting, like candles that could go out at any moment. Every second, they threw themselves at him with every last bit of strength they had.

But a candle burned brightest just before it went out.

-Crunch!!

For the first time, a clean hit landed. An axe blade came down from an angle he had foreseen but couldn't avoid.

Ignak swallowed the bile rising in his throat and swung his staff.

-Crack!

But it was blocked.

Two warriors stopped the furious orc's powerful blow. Isabelle and Oscar. Their movements meshed with perfect precision as they intercepted the attack aimed at Aesidis.

Then the next strike landed.

-Fwoooosh, boom!

A fireball flew at Ignak's head. He desperately twisted away, but it was impossible in that position. He had foreseen it, yet with his staff pinned in place, he couldn't move any further.

“Grrrk!! You bastards!!”

Bloody foam spilled from Ignak's mouth. Rage welled up until his vision swam.

The longer he fought, the more clearly he understood. Because he could see the future, he understood even better.

These bastards were becoming more precise as time passed. Their bodies looked ready to collapse from a light tap, yet they gritted their teeth and refused to stop despite the pain tearing through them.

They threw themselves forward to protect their comrades, while another forced their body onward to support the one who had taken the lead.

-Boom!!

When those at the front took Ignak's full strength head-on, another drove in a blow from angles he knew were coming but couldn't dodge, at speeds difficult to react to.

Their neural acceleration was steadily becoming faster and more sharply honed.

Isabelle had already passed her limit. Her overloaded nerves were frayed as though they might snap at any moment. Still, she didn't stop. She stepped forward once more and struck.

No one can die before I do today. I will never let that happen.

Isabelle's blue eyes shone like a cluster of stars. Not even pain could cloud her awareness. Her blade finally carved deeply across Ignak's side.

-Slash!

Blood sprayed into the air. With all their perceptions accelerated to the extreme, it looked like a gliding wave. It scattered the campfire's light and rose into the night sky.

Ignak staggered, his posture breaking.

Now?

No. Not yet. His strength wasn't fully spent.

“Grrrrrk!!”

Foaming blood at the mouth, Ignak swung an arm at Isabelle in fury.

The difference in physical ability between orcs and humans was so great that comparing them was nearly unfair. Even dozens of clean hits were not enough to kill Ignak, while he could take their lives with a single blow.

So Isabelle, whose posture had collapsed after her attack, watched Ignak's enormous fist approach and grinned.

“I... protected them!”

She had kept her promise. The promise that no one would die before her.

She had protected her comrades. That strike had broken his posture, and if she took his attack here, the others would finish him.

Her only regret was that she couldn't check on Uncle one last time.

Please be alive. Please be safe.

Just as she was about to close her eyes....

-Kaaang!!

A blade wedged itself between them and forced Ignak's fist away. Oscar gritted his teeth as even the right hand holding his sword twisted at an unnatural angle.

“You idiot! You should've attacked instead of wasting time saving me!”

“But I saved you, didn't I?”

This took Oscar out of the fight. Honestly, it should have happened long ago.

At Isabelle's horrified shout, Oscar let both arms hang limp, smiled faintly, then dropped to his knees.

Ignak's eyes gleamed.

One more time. This time, he would finish them with a single blow...

-Crunch!!

An axe buried itself in his back, striking at that opening.

-Boooom!!

A massive chunk of ice slammed down like a hammer on his head as he staggered back.

Then.

-Slash.

A blade carrying starlight drifted softly through the darkness. Golden hair rippled in waves, and beneath it, an arm holding a sword swept low like water.

In that split-second opening, Isabelle had recovered her stance. Bending at the waist, she drove her blade forward.

The backs of both knees were sliced open. Blood dripped down as Ignak's posture swayed wildly.

He knew.

He had seen every one of these attacks beforehand!

But he couldn't stop them.

Death was approaching. Ignak planted a trembling hand against the ground and began to raise his staff...

-Boom!

His vision shook, and his body crumpled to the ground.

What?

When he turned his head, the forearm that had been bracing against the ground was flying through the air far away.

Aesidis stood over him with her axe, settling back into position.

A fireball slammed into his head while he had lost his balance. His vision went black, and a ringing filled his ears. His sense of balance was scrambled, perhaps because his brain had been rattled, and Ignak vomited onto the ground.

-Blegh!!

A sword drove straight down into his back.

Ignak flinched and went still.

This was the end. He couldn't move anymore.

Breathing heavily, he slowly lowered his head.

“Tumor. Guide me to the plains...”

Ignak spat out a mouthful of blood and muttered.

“If we, if we too have a heaven... Brothers, brothers... let us fight... forever....”

His lifeless eyes, clouded white, lifted with difficulty.

The four people surrounding him came into view. Above them were the brilliantly burning moon and the cluster of stars that had not lost their light beneath the moonlight.

Hero.

Ignak could trace their faces through an old memory.

Yes. They resembled those cursed bastards so closely.

Why had he failed to remember?

Hatred surged within him.

And deep satisfaction pressed down on his chest.

He had crossed blades with the Hero. He had fought to the very end, and he had fallen as a warrior should.

May Tumor not be ashamed of today's defeat. You, too, were once defeated by the Hero.

Ignak slowly closed his eyes.

They never opened again.

Blood soaked the ground dark.

Crackle. Snap.

The campfire's burning sounds comforted the silence that came after the frantic battle.

* * *

“We... won....”

“Who's hurt?”

“Me.”

“Me too.”

“Do you have to ask?”

Oscar snickered and waved his dangling arm.

“I tried making a joke. I think I'm going to die. It really hurts.”

“A knight of Tilles, brought low by this?”

“Knights are people too. When both your arms are broken, you really want to cry, but I'm so exhausted that I can't even shed a tear.”

“For your information, I've been shedding tears and blood together, so I can't see very well. This must be what sacrifice is. Grikenkos has always sacrificed for humanity.”

“Every time I talk to you, I feel like I'm learning history I never knew. Sometimes it doesn't even sound like you're talking about our world.”

“That's what being human is, having little education. Humans tend to have both short lives and little learning.”

Isabelle snickered at Elphihara's words and staggered to her feet.

“Bella? Where are you going?”

“To save Uncle. Who knows where he's lying unconscious right now? Honestly, I wonder if he's even alive.”

Isabelle shrugged and started walking. Before she could take even three steps, her legs gave out and she dropped to the ground.

Aesidis had already come to her side and supported her arm.

“Ah, thanks.”

“It’s nothing. I have the same reason. Shall we look together?”

“Uncle?”

“Yeah, my uncle. I'm worried about him. He's family, after all.”

“Faaamily...?”

At Isabelle's look, Aesidis gave her a mature smile.

Elphihara was even considering whether she should get up, while Oscar had simply sat down and decided to let things happen as they would.

-Step.

Clear footsteps echoed.

“There’s no need.”

A somehow familiar voice.

And therefore, a little unsettling.

“Eh...?”

Isabelle reacted first. She stared ahead with vacant eyes. Her focus was blurry, but she could still make out the approaching silhouette.

She raised a trembling arm with difficulty, rubbed at her eyes, then focused and looked forward again.

And looked.

“Uncle...?”

Footnotes:

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