Chapter 9 The Power (Patreon)

--It’s that power again…

A dazzling bright sword was in Rei’s right hand.

It was the second time that Rinna had seen it.

It was a mysterious power which only appeared when other the pendant and treasure both shine.

It enhances Rei’s physical prowess to her limits.

「But, it’s almost as if…」

「Rin, it’s coming. Go and hide.」

As compared to the alert and unharmed Orthrus, the one which had lost was filled with anger.

It charged towards Rei, with Rei’s reflection in all four of its eyes.

It moved with its remaining three legs, giving a desperate tackle.

Rei held the sword of light and ran towards the beast, whipping it out in an instant.

The exchange was instant, with the beast staying completely still.

Its two heads fell to the floor, followed by its towering body.

「Just one more!」

The unharmed Orthrus which was able to observe Rei’s abilities decided to challenge her.

She was able to easily defeat the already crippled beast but this time it won’t be so easy.

With just a single foot, Rei jumped towards the beast. 

The Orthrus closely followed her actions.

Rei spreaded her legs and jumped back to avoid it.

The hairs which were cut off danced in the wind.

「Seems like it won’t be as easy this time.」

The beast which landed jumped to the side, taking some distance between itself and Rei.

Like this, it swiftly jumped around Rei.

It was most probably searching for an angle to attack from.

However, Rei too stepped out, at a speed which exceeded the beast.

Behind the beast was Rei, who was relentlessly pursuing it.

The beast, which was likely flustered by the sudden change of events, was enfeebled.

This slight lapse was fatal.

「I’ve got you.」

Rei’s outstretched left hand grabbed the fur of the Ourutoros.

With that, she flew onto the back of the beast, riding it.

Of course, it started thrashing around to get her off its back.

「Whoaaa!」

Instinctively, Rei grabbed onto its back with both her hands.

With no proper footing, she was unable to cut this giant body down.

Rei started crawling up towards the beast’s head.

「Why you, settle down already!」

Aiming for the left neck, Rei drove her blade into its flesh.

--GUGYAAAAA!

With an agonizing scream, the left head went limp.

However, the thrashing about continued as the right head was still perfectly fine.

Rei grabbed the lifeless left head with both arms and channeled her entire body’s strength.

While twisting her body, she jumped from its back, firmly holding on to its neck and threw it with all her might.

「Doryaaaaaaaa!!!」

The Orthrus, which was flung across the air, seemed like its giant body was floating and landed on the floor on its back.

To the remaining right head which faced towards the sky, Rei landed the final blow with her sword.

「With this!」

With a swing of the sword, the Orthrus’s head was sent flying into the sky.

「...hhhaaaa, we did it」

With both heads settled, the Orthrus was completely annihilated.

Rei heaved a huge sigh, and collapsed right where she was.

With the fight over and all tensions ceased, the glow in her right hand from the sword vanished.

And with that, an overwhelming wave of fatigue hit Rei’s body.

「Hmm…? I can’t move…」

「Rei! Are you hurt anywhere!?」

Rinna hurried over to the powerless Rei, and supported her.

「Haa,haa… I’m alright, just a little tired… This, really takes up a lot of strength… Though at least I didn’t lose my consciousness this time…」

「You pushed yourself too hard. You should take care… of…」

Rinna, who was breathless, looked at Rei. However, after looking upwards, at that moment, Rinna immediately fell silent and turned pale.

「What’s wrong, Rinna?」

Rei traced Rinna’s line of sight laying her eyes on what she was seeing.

It was a creature completely covered in purple fur, with three heads resting on its neck.

Its three pairs of eyes all menacingly observed Rei and Rinna.

「It can’t be… a Cerberus…」

It was an A grade upper class summoned beast, the Cerberus.

Its speed, power and everything else was far superior to that of the Orthrus.

Rinna’s face was filled with despair.

「…Rin, I’m sorry, I don’t think I can protect you…」

It was already too late to regret letting the power of the sword of light fade.

Rei, who was faced with extreme fatigue was struggling to stand on her two feet faced the Cerberus.

However, she was already out of strength.

As it moved its arm, Rei was seconds away from becoming its food…

**Slash!!

A dual bladed sword pierced through where its right head was.

Writhing in agony, it turned its attention to where the attack came from.

「I came to see what all the noise was in the forest, it seems like trouble’s brewing here.」

What stepped out towards the monster was a female knight clad in silver armor.

「Miss Hilde!」

「Are the two of you unharmed? You’ve fought well.」

Hilde said as she looked at the two felled Orthrus bodies.

Overcome with a wave of relief, Rei slumped over, leaving herself to rest on Rinna’s arm.

「Leave the rest to me.」

Hilde pulled out a green gem from her pocket.

Holding it in her hand, she chanted, and something started taking shape in her right hand, engulfed in a green light.

「I summon you Balmung!」

As the light settled, a blue one edged sword was in Hilde’s hand.

A gorgeously decorated sword coldly shone in the sunlight.

「She summoned a weapon!?」

「Yea, she’s an arms summoner.」

「An arms summoner?」

It was something which Rei could not grasp fully.

「It’s a rare ability amongst summoners, which are users who can enhance and embed weapons with magical energy. Though, it’s not really known where the weapons come from…」

「Oh I see. But it’s almost…」

**It’s almost the exact same case as the sword of light.

After letting out its scream, the Cerberus turned its attention towards Hilde.

On the other side, Hilde raised Balmung towards the three headed beast, and whispered.

「Freeze.」

In that moment, the area around Hilde had started to rapidly decrease.

The Balmung was emitting a phosphorescent blue light, and the cold air gushed forth.

Its form changed into that of a fierce snowstorm, and surrounded the Cerberus.

With that, the Cerberus was completely frozen over and was unable to move.

Hilde proceeded to stop the cold, and sheathed her sword.

「Ha!」

It was an instantaneous attack.

With an uncountable amount of slices, the Cerberus’s body shattered like powder, scattering around like snow in the wind.

「Wow… this is the power of an S class summoner…!」

Rei said with a sign of admiration.

After sending Balmung back, Hilde walked towards the two.

「Miss Hilde, thank you so much! But why are you here?」

「I could hear something chaotic was going on in the forest, so I got curious and headed over. However…」

After looking at the remains of the beasts, she had a troubled look on her face.

「What does this mean?」

「Erm…」

Rinna hesitantly explained the situation to Hilde.

「The truth is, I think I am being hunted down by a high ranking summoner… This isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked.」

「What!? Is that true?」

「Yes… but I am clueless as to why I’m being targeted…」

「Hmmm…」

Hilde, who was deep in thought, spoke to Rei.

「On a side note, was Miss Rei the one who defeated this Orthrus?」

「Ehehe, yea it kinda happened.」

「That’s quite the feat. Even amongst the other A class summons, the Orthrus is a considerably strong species.」

「Actually…」

Rei spoke about the sword of light to Hilde.

It was a hard to believe story so suddenly, but she could only believe it given the scene before her eyes.

「I see, it gives the wielder incredible powers… it does indeed sound like a summoned arms.」

There were many mysteries surrounding the unknown attacks and the sword of light.

「Anyways I’m sure the two of you must be tired. You should head back and rest for today. I’ll send you back with one of the chariots. Leave the rest of the investigations to me.」

「Thank you. …Oh, yea! Rin, the mushrooms! 」

「Uwaa, I completely forgot about them! We need to bring 20 of them back!」

☆☆

In the middle of the forest, a silver haired female skips through.

She seems to be in a good mood, even humming a tune. 

「It seems like the ‘harvest’ is going smoothly, even though it’s just started.」

As she was smiling to herself, a spear was thrust towards her neck.

A woman clothed in a black robe appeared behind her.

「You, what was the meaning behind that last Cerberus.」

「Aww how scary, you saw it?」

Without any warning, the hooded figure appeared, with her face completely covered, making her unrecognizable.

One could see her platinum blonde hair peeking out from a opening from her hood.

「I just thought that it would encourage her powers to awaken even more. Anyways, if she couldn’t do it, that female knight that female knight would definite come to rescue. In the end there was nothing wrong, no? 」

「…Hpmh」

At those words, she withdrew her spear.

「If the worst were to have happened, I would’ve kill you.」

With that, the hooded woman turned away and walked off.

「Well, well, looks like someone’s in a bad mood. Let’s reserve our activities for now.」

With a giggle, the silver haired female vanished.