Teaming Up with Bete

Allen was about to mock Liber, amused by his words.

Suddenly, a chill ran down the back of his neck. He tilted his head and dodged.

Allen's expression shifted as he saw the longsword appear beside his ear.

"Bete!"

Liber, standing some distance away, saw Allen dodge the attack. He waved an arm and shouted Bete's name.

Bete was slightly taken aback by the sudden appearance of the longsword, but Liber's shout snapped him out of it.

He dashed toward Allen, saying without a shred of courtesy,

"Don't go ordering a captain around just because you're a rookie."

After dodging, Allen watched Liber's movements and Bete charging at him, his face turning savage.

He was about to charge forward when the longsword beside him suddenly slashed at him. He had no choice but to twist aside and put some distance between himself and the blade.

Bete watched Allen dodge the attack with a vicious grin. He raised his right leg and kicked at the cat person's face.

Having missed his best chance to deal with Bete's attack, Allen could only block it with his arm.

The cat person was still unsteady on his feet when Bete's kick sent him flying.

Seeing Allen tumble through the air and land awkwardly in the distance, Bete lowered his right leg and taunted him.

"Getting pushed around by a rookie. So much for the Chariot—you're nothing but a pushover."

"You bastard!"

The cat person stood upright and heard Bete's jeer. The arrogance vanished from his face as he glared at him through gritted teeth.

Then he abruptly turned toward Liber, his face full of resentment, and said,

"Once I've tortured the location of the goddess out of you, I'll break every bone in your body."

"Save it until you wake up."

Liber replied coldly.

Seeing the two men he had previously manhandled now mocking him, Allen's expression darkened.

He steadied himself, then suddenly lunged at Bete.

The two traded punches and kicks. After a few exchanges, Allen used his superior physical strength to completely overpower Bete.

Bete repeatedly blocked his attacks, but the pain slowed his movements. Allen kept his eyes fixed on the opening he exposed.

A murderous glint flashed in Allen's eyes as he kicked at Bete's unguarded waist.

Just then, the longsword blocked his kick, and Bete, having recovered, kicked him in the shin.

Allen again had to retreat awkwardly. His resentment toward Liber, who kept interfering, surged.

Liber interrupted him again as he fought Bete. After dodging Liber's attack, Allen turned and ran in another direction.

Liber and Bete were caught off guard by Allen's sudden move.

Seeing where Allen was headed, Bete quickly reacted and ran after him in the same direction.

Liber watched the two sprint toward the same spot, puzzled.

Allen reached the spot and snatched up the spear he had been kicked away from earlier. He planted one foot to stop, spun around, and hurled it at Bete, who was chasing him.

Bete dodged the spear flying toward him, only for Allen, following right behind it, to kick him away.

After kicking Bete aside, Allen kept running after the spear, straight toward Liber.

Seeing the spear hurtling toward him and Allen close behind, glaring savagely, Liber remained calm and watched them both.

They rushed at Liber with a gale in their wake. Seeing that Liber remained composed, Allen accelerated again and caught up with his spear.

He reached out and grabbed his weapon, then abruptly stopped. Every muscle in his body bulged as he hurled it at Liber with all his strength.

"Bang!"

A cloud of white mist burst from the air in front of him. Accompanied by a thunderous boom and a gale, the spear shot toward Liber.

Watching the spear reach him in the blink of an eye, Liber silently activated his magic.

Ripples appeared soundlessly in the air before him. Allen looked at them with some confusion.

What happened next made his eyes widen. The spear, flying with the gale, silently slipped tip-first into the ripples, then emerged from ripples in another spot.

In an instant, the spear reversed direction and flew back at him even faster.

Allen stared in disbelief as the spear he had hurled with all his strength came hurtling back at him.

He was about to kick the returning spear away, but felt his strength faltering and changed his mind, dodging to the side instead.

A whirlwind carried the spear past him and sent it plunging into the ground behind him.

"Boom."

The force concentrated in the spear erupted the instant it struck the ground, making an explosion-like boom.

Dust billowed from the impact site, rising higher than the nearby chimneys. Shattered gravel flew over the rooftops before raining down toward the ground.

All kinds of debris on the ground were flung in the opposite direction, hurtling toward Allen and Liber from behind the spear.

Liber, with his spatial magic active, ignored the flying debris. He merely heightened his vigilance and narrowed his eyes, watching the cat person's silhouette flicker in the smoke.

Bete, who had been kicked away, was hurrying toward them. When he suddenly saw what had happened before him, he too stopped in surprise and stared at the two men completely swallowed by smoke.

In the distance, the people fighting at the entrance to the Familia were drawn to the sudden commotion. They stopped what they were doing and looked toward its source.

The crisp clash of weapons abruptly ceased, and the street fell strangely silent.

When the smoke cleared enough for everyone to see, surprise showed on their faces. Even the usually composed and stern Ottar looked startled.

"Drip..."

Half his clothes had been torn to shreds by the gale, and there was a gaping hole in the fabric around his waist.

One hand pressed against his waist as blood poured from the wound. It gathered at his fingertips before dripping to the ground and blooming into a tiny bloodstain.

As the smoke slowly cleared, everyone saw Allen standing in the middle of it, badly wounded.

They looked at Liber, standing unharmed across from him, and stared in shock, unable to understand what had happened.

Allen slowly raised his head, his right hand still pressed against his wound. He saw Liber standing before him, completely unharmed.

The savage look vanished from Allen's face. Without expression, he straightened up, reached his left hand behind him, and gripped the end of the spear embedded in the ground.

He released the wound with his right hand and abruptly pulled out the spear, pointing its tip at Liber as he took up an attacking stance.

Liber looked at the radiating wound on Allen's waist, with a large patch of flesh exposed to the air.

With Allen's every breath and movement, the blood seeping from the wound gradually trickled together and ran down his thigh.

Seeing that some muscle had been torn from Allen's waist but that his body remained intact, Liber looked somewhat disappointed.

The spear had only grazed some of his flesh. Even without a healing potion, a high-level adventurer could recover from an injury like that after resting for a few days and using a few herbs, thanks to his robust physique.

Allen, holding the spear in both hands, saw Liber's disappointed expression. The veins on his forehead bulged.

"Kid, feeling pretty pleased with yourself, huh? Huh?!

"I've made up my mind. First, I'll chop off your arms and legs, then we can talk about the rest."

As he spoke, he ignored his worsening injuries and advanced on Liber with his spear.

Bete had already rushed toward the two as soon as he saw Allen take up his stance.

Seeing Allen close the distance to Liber in an instant, Bete knew he had no chance of stopping him in time. He stared at the scene before him, eyes nearly splitting with fury.

Allen closed in on Liber and thrust his spear at him. Just like before, the spearpoint emerged somewhere else.

His expression remained cold and unchanged. His hands suddenly stopped moving. He crouched and swept toward the spot beside Liber's feet where no ripples had appeared.

Liber watched Allen's attack with a trace of helplessness in his eyes.