Beyond the Limit

"Careful, everyone. Someone's nearby."

"Hold formation. Spread out and search."

The one-eyed man gave the order curtly, and the group following behind him immediately fanned out, checking both sides around the sewer.

Rudeus's heart gave a violent jump at the sight.

"Have we been exposed? How did they find us?"

"I don't know, but..."

Hilde's tongue lightly ran over her pearly teeth.

"We can only fight."

"How?"

"Same as usual. I'll handle the frontal fight, and you support me with feints using magic."

"No, your stamina..."

"If I say I can, I can."

Hilde had no intention of arguing with Rudeus over this.

Through the gap around the corner, her eyes locked hard onto the one-eyed man standing in place and looking around.

Judging by the way he acted, it did not seem like he had noticed their trail through some trace. It seemed more like he could sense their positions.

But if that were the case, then what method was he using to perceive them...

While she was thinking, the group's search range was gradually expanding.

At this speed, they would reach their side in ten seconds at most.

Hilde gripped her sword hilt. Not yet. She still had to wait.

She had to wait until they had spread out as much as possible...

Just as Hilde thought that...

In the next instant.

The one-eyed man suddenly spun around and raised his arm, aiming at the direction where Hilde and the others were.

Click—

An extremely faint snap of a mechanism.

What followed was the illusion of a sword being pressed to the center of her brow. Every muscle in her body tensed in an instant, and almost without thought, she swung out the swordsmanship carved into her flesh.

Clang—

With a crisp ring, a crossbow bolt was knocked aside by Hilde's sword and stabbed into the wall beside her.

A crossbow bolt?

Hilde abruptly raised her head and saw that the mechanism on the man's arm was indeed a portable crossbow.

"What?"

The one-eyed man froze for a moment when he saw Hilde.

It was not because he was surprised that Hilde had actually deflected his surprise attack with the crossbow bolt.

It was because he was surprised by Hilde's age.

No matter how he looked at her, she was only a child.

In that brief moment of distraction, Hilde had already shot out like an arrow loosed from the string, swinging her sword at an enemy who was already almost within arm's reach.

The enemy decisively swung his sword, utterly unconcerned about trading wound for wound.

Hilde's eyes widened.

The instant their bodies crossed, she turned sideways. Her left shoulder brushed past the blade, and her sword edge swept upward with the motion.

The enemy screamed and retreated, staggering before collapsing to his knees.

The angle of that slash was exceptionally vicious. It had castrated him outright.

The one-eyed man's crossbow fired again.

Hilde seized the slumped enemy by the throat. Her seemingly slender, frail arm erupted with astonishing strength, and she lifted his entire body with one hand.

Schlk—

The crossbow bolt shot into the enemy's back, drawing another scream.

"Flank her from both sides!" the one-eyed man roared.

The moment his words fell, Hilde hurled the corpse in her hand at him.

Enemies on the left and right closed in with swords, trying to catch Hilde between them.

But before their rapidly charging steps could bring them close to Hilde, they suddenly stopped. A mud pit appeared without warning beneath both their feet, making it difficult for them to move.

"Mire"

Rudeus's support arrived just in time.

Hilde drew a deep breath, forcibly squeezing out what little stamina remained in her body, then stepped forward hard and swung her sword in a slash.

Clang—

The enemy, unsteady on his feet, counterattacked in haste, but that was exactly what Hilde wanted.

A flash of sword-light swept past, and his head hit the ground.

The enemy on the other side had yet to realize what had happened. His gaze was fixed so tightly on Hilde that he did not even notice the Rock Shell fired from around the corner. In the next instant, his head exploded outright under everyone's eyes.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The one-eyed man fired crossbow bolts in rapid succession.

Hilde twirled her sword in a flourish, and several bursts of sparks exploded in front of her.

She glanced at the one-eyed man keeping his distance, and at the other enemy holding a sword in one hand.

There were two enemies left.

"How did you find us?"

Hilde asked.

The one-eyed man did not answer, but gave his companion a look.

The latter understood and approached at a slow pace, giving Hilde no chance to pick them off one by one.

Naturally, Hilde would not let them have their way.

The instant the enemy made his move, Hilde charged forward again, keeping an eye on the crossbow in the one-eyed man's hand while swinging her sword.

"Careful. Her sword style is mixed and unpredictable," the one-eyed man warned in a low voice.

The other man understood.

Yet this time, Hilde used no sword technique at all. She simply gripped the hilt with both hands and swung with everything she had—

Crack—

The tremendous force rang out in a brittle snap as sword met sword, and the sword in Hilde's hands shattered on impact. Though it had been a birthday present, in the end it was only an iron sword made of ordinary materials. After enduring such high-intensity combat, it had reached its limit.

The enemy's sword brushed past Hilde's ear. She slammed headfirst into his chest, and the broken blade, carrying the weight of her body, pierced through his abdomen. The veins on Hilde's arm bulged as she twisted the hilt with astonishing wrist strength, forcibly churning the muscles and organs in his belly to mush.

The whole thing took barely a second.

When Hilde squeezed out the last of her strength and kicked the enemy's corpse away, she felt as if her entire arm was about to catch fire and no longer obey her. Even the simple act of lifting her arm had become unbearably difficult. Darkness swam before her eyes, and she panted violently.

Her stamina had reached its limit.

But even in this state, she still did not make the one-eyed man dare to lower his guard.

"All right, all right, I surrender."

The one-eyed man took half a step back and undid the crossbow device on his arm.

He raised both hands to show that he had no intention of fighting anymore.

Did we... win?

Seeing this, Rudeus unconsciously let out a breath of relief.

The next moment.

On the arm from which the one-eyed man had just removed the crossbow device, a two-foot-long blade suddenly sprang out.

Under Rudeus's stunned gaze, it stabbed straight toward Hilde's throat at an astonishing speed.

At the critical instant.

Hilde suddenly swung her fist, meeting the sharp blade head-on with her knuckles.

Squelch—

The blade pierced flesh and sank deep into the bones of her palm.

And Hilde maintained the posture of a clenched fist, forcibly gripping that blade in her hand.

The one-eyed man froze.

He couldn't cut down?

What kind of joke was that?

He tried with all his strength to pull the blade free, but he simply could not do it.

The palm that had nearly been cleaved in two now erupted with astonishing grip strength. With the muscles acting upon the incredible hardness of the bones, they locked the blade firmly in place, leaving him completely unable to move.

The next instant.

Hilde's fist flew out.

Like a cannonball, it punched straight through the one-eyed man's abdomen.

His eyes went wide, and his face turned visibly pale at a speed the naked eye could see.

"Ghhhaaaaaaaaa—"

She roared, strength bursting out of her from who knew where.

Hilde gritted her teeth. In that instant, her slender, petite body was like steel. She clenched her fist in the blur of flesh and blood, then forcibly yanked her arm back.

"You..."

The one-eyed man looked at Hilde, drenched head to toe in blood, and still seemed to want to say something.

But he could not even stay on his feet. He staggered, collapsed to the ground, and vomited great mouthfuls of blood.

"In your next life, remember this."

Hilde panted as she threw a lump of bone wrapped in blood and flesh in front of him, looking down at him from above.

It was a section of spine that had been snapped off by brute force.

"Those who surrender never come to a good end."