Chapter R3. Ambush
"Sir Reinhild, preparations are complete. Shall we depart immediately?"
In the early morning Hetaro, the vice-captain of Iron Fangs, ran up to Reinhild, who had been keeping watch through the night, and asked.
His voice was very faint—an aftereffect of overusing his roar-type attacks.
Just as he wondered if Reinhild had even heard him, Reinhild suddenly opened her eyes.
Reinhild surveyed the camp.
A night of rest had improved the condition of the severely wounded, and the white whale's head had been secured.
Truly, this was the best condition for travel.
In fact, lingering longer under the blazing sun would be tantamount to cruelly roasting these brave warriors. However—
"Hahaha, who would've thought even you had a human side.
But I think you could trust them more.
No matter the enemy, with that setup, there's no way they'd be taken out instantly.
Even in the worst-case scenario, you'll make it in time to support. And anyway, to take care of the injured and transport the white whale's head, we won't be moving that fast, right?"
Wrapped in bandages from head to toe, Ricardo rubbed Hetaro's head and spoke to Reinhild.
"That's true, but..."
"It's fine. Who would be stupid enough to attack after seeing the head of a white whale? Even if someone was, we've got the famed Sword Saint escorting us. Let's just move forward with a field-trip mindset."
"You're right. Then let's proceed as you suggest, Captain."
"I'm terribly sorry. I promise I'll get you all safely to the royal capital."
Reinhild bowed and confidently addressed the two before leaping onto the dragon carriage at the front of the convoy.
At that moment, the vast caravan began its journey toward the royal capital.
Ricardo's reasoning was perfectly sound—by normal standards.
But in this world, not everyone is normal. Under the scorching midday sun, a figure stood in the middle of the road, blocking the caravan's path.
A young man who seemed entirely "white" stood there, defenseless in appearance.
For a moment, Reinhild doubted her own senses. But only for a moment.
[Divine Protection of First Strike]
The blessing that prevents surprise attacks activated instantly.
Realizing this, Reinhild, who had taken this escort mission with utmost seriousness, immediately snatched the sword from a nearby knight and unleashed a full-power slash.
However—
[Divine Protection of First Encounter]
The blessing that drastically boosts one's intuition and reflexes during a first encounter activated.
To Reinhild, it felt like being in a time-stop mode from an action game, where everything slowed to a crawl.
In that nearly frozen world, Reinhild released all her divine protections, pushing her physical abilities to their limits.
And then she saw something unbelievable—tiny grains of sand slowly passed through his steel-slicing slash and shot toward the caravan.
—Block with the sword sheath.
The blessing offered a countermeasure.
Reinhild reacted instantly.
No attack could destroy the sheath that held the Dragon Sword.
She sprinted forward and held the sheath out along the sand's trajectory. With a barely noticeable impact, the sand dropped harmlessly to the ground.
[Divine Protection of Return]
In the next instant, Reinhild continuously adjusted the sheath's position.
The blessing drastically improved her ability to parry previously encountered attacks.
She successfully blocked every grain of the scattered sand. At the same time, her original slash struck the white-haired young man.
"Tch... It would've been better if you hadn't done that…"
A carefree voice came from the smoke.
Reinhild quickly checked the caravan behind her and then dashed into the smoke to confront the white-haired man.
But something puzzled her deeply.
The young man spoke idly, as if unaware of her presence.
His eyes weren't even looking at her, like a truly ordinary person.
-"Reinhild… I leave my old friends in your care."
Any hesitation was quickly quashed by Reinhild's sense of duty to protect the caravan.
She swung diagonally at the youth's shoulder.
[First Strike] [First Encounter]
"Here we go…"
??!!
Two of Reinhild's cornerstone blessings—ones that made her virtually invincible—activated simultaneously.
Yet Reinhild couldn't even see the attack. The young man kept talking as if uninterrupted.
A moment of hesitation.
Then, steeling herself, she resumed the attack—but sudden pain shot through her arm.
It was caused by numerous invisible, ultra-thin, and incredibly strong threads.
While they couldn't pierce the sword sheath containing the Dragon Sword, Reinhild's own sword speed caused the threads to act like razor-sharp blades, slicing through her arm with ease.
"Haah..."
Reinhild let out a breath and pressed on without hesitation.
She lacked healing powers, but the spirit particles in the air would automatically begin healing her.
Their speed rivaled even Felix's resurrection abilities.
Her arm, which had nearly been sliced into pieces by micrometer-thin wires, began to knit itself back together the moment it exited the trap.
BOOM—
The Dragon Sword's sheath struck the young man's shoulder.
The resulting shockwave blew the smoke away.
The ground around him—within several meters—caved in half a meter deep from the impact. Yet the young man remained completely unharmed, while the Sword Saint was knocked back by the recoil.
"What…?"
Reinhild looked in shock at her trembling hand. The sensation from that hit—
No.
Reinhild rejected her own naïve thoughts.
Her strike could reduce boulders, armor, and even fortresses to dust.
This youth's abnormal defense had surpassed anything known in the world.
"Killing someone without even letting them speak—that's not something a person should do, right?"
The youth finally finished his sentence and looked at the contemplative Reinhild.
"All of you—drop your unnecessary weapons and scatter in retreat."
At that moment, Hetaro and Ricardo also grasped the situation.
They exchanged a look, reaching the same conclusion.
In a split second, the clash of these two monsters made them realize they were entirely outmatched. Ricardo gave a loud order to the others.
"How cruel. Attacking while someone's talking. Interrupting while someone's mid-sentence. What kind of manners were you taught? I was talking. I am talking, aren't I? Isn't it a bit wrong to interrupt like this?"
The youth, visibly annoyed, muttered while lifting a stone at his feet.
Reinhild, ever vigilant, instantly blocked it with her sheath.
At that moment, the gazes of these two otherworldly beings met.
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