FVN Chapter 67 : Distortion (4)
Chapter 67 : Distortion (4)
Chapter 67: Distortion (4)"…Kugh!"
Darius let out a groan as he rolled across the ground.
A heavy impact struck his back, hard enough that it was a miracle he hadn’t dropped his greatsword.
For a brief moment, his vision went black, and his breath stopped.
But without a second to writhe in pain, he clenched his teeth, sprang to his feet, and kicked off the ground.
Kwaaaang!
The spot where he had just been rolling exploded.
Gripping his greatsword, Darius slashed through the rising cloud of dirt, facing the enemy rushing toward him from beyond it.
Bang!
He had attacked first, yet a crushing impact surged down his wrist.
Crack-crack-crack.
The force difference pushed him back, but this time he had braced himself, avoiding the disgrace of rolling across the ground as before.
"……."
Running a hand through his disheveled hair, Darius looked at the creature before him.
He had managed to draw the attention of one of the two monsters and lure it far away from the cadets.
Now, the only thing left was to either kill or shake off the one pursuing him.
Killing it would be difficult, but he thought he could at least lose it and escape.
‘Damn, it’s fast.’
But instead of managing to flee, it felt like he was being toyed with, forced into repeating this same pattern over and over.
He could endure it for now, but the other monster still worried him.
Praying the cadets would be safe, Darius tightened his grip on the greatsword.
"Fine, let’s have some fun then."
He was sick of the pattern of running, being caught, and getting attacked.
At this point, it was better to fight head-on.
Thud─!
For the first time since being chased, Darius charged toward the monster himself.
‘I have to avoid everything. Even one direct hit would put me in danger, no matter who I am.’
This wasn’t the kind of impact toughness alone could endure.
He had to minimize collisions, avoid every lethal blow, and make sure his own attacks landed cleanly.
Shaaak─!
The thick greatsword tore through the air toward the monster.
It leapt away to avoid the strike, but Darius immediately redirected his blade.
Leaping up, he swung upward with all his strength, aiming to cleave it from groin to crown.
Thud.
The monster’s clenched fists slammed against the greatsword’s blade.
Instead of resisting the impact, Darius spun his body to redirect the force, then poured more strength into his grip.
‘Hhhup!’
With nowhere for either side to evade, the next strike came.
The relentless blade finally tore a chunk of flesh from the monster’s side.
Splurt!
With the flesh came a spray of bright red blood.
Ignoring the foul sensation at his fingertips, Darius landed and threw himself to the side.
Kwaaang!
The monster’s enraged punch smashed into the ground where he had stood.
Had it connected, it would have shattered every bone in his body.
「Aaaaaargh!」
From the wound in the monster’s side, a human-shaped face let out a grotesque scream.
It was enough to make anyone frown in disgust, but Darius charged at it again.
Shhhhk!
When his horizontal slash came, the monster stretched out its arms to grab his greatsword.
But in the middle of his dash, Darius suddenly dropped his body low, sliding along the ground to evade its grasp.
‘Fiore Style─!’
The greatsword sliding with him erupted in crimson flames.
The aura, the same vivid color as his hair, surged forth, tracing an even sharper arc than before.
Sslash─!
A deep gash opened along one of the monster’s thighs.
It stumbled back, but Darius gave it no time to recover.
Swish! Slash! Thrust!
He rushed the monster again, swinging his greatsword like a madman.wo, three…
The Erendal Forest rang with the monsters’ screams.
He had no more business with these lumps of flesh.
Carl’s blade showed no mercy as he cut them down without restraint, slaughtering his way through the forest.
‘These things weren’t naturally occurring.’
They surely had something backing them.
If he could estimate their range of activity and backtrack it, he could find where they came from.
「Kyaaaaak!」
Already more than a dozen monsters had turned into nothing but splashes of blood before vanishing.
“……”
Carl narrowed his eyes.
After stirring things up this much, he expected a bite soon.
Sure enough, a deliberately released wave of energy from deeper within was provoking him.
“Interesting.”
Smiling crookedly beneath the mask, Carl gladly accepted the invitation.