I'm glad I'm not one of those guys——.

「Chi」

『Move it—!』

「Gya Gyō!」

「Ge Gya Gya!」

The Evil Beings surrounded Fran and started to clamor, but it obviously wasn't the meaningless grunts and shrieks that Goblins and Orcs normally make.

Although I don't understand it myself, no matter how I look at it, it seems that they are trying to communicate and coordinate their attacks. Although the individual strength of these Evil Beings isn't great, their teamwork is surprisingly effective.

Emboldened by their cooperation, the Evil Beings seemed to feel no fear, even in the presence of Fran's overwhelming strength. Every time Fran attempted to advance, the Evil Beings behind Fran would seize the opportunity to hara.s.s her, while the Evil Beings in front of Fran would attack her with spears. They never attacked alone.

Moreover, as soon as they judged that they were going to be killed and couldn't be saved, they would charge forward in desperation to tackle Fran. This may be because they are Dungeon Creatures, or because of their coordination, or perhaps it's the effect of Valkyrie's Morale Boost skill. They were happy to sacrifice their lives if it meant they can kill Fran.

In addition to all this, their attacks using Spear and Bow Techniques were extremely fierce, so Fran had to use the Mana and Life Thief skills continuously. As a result, our mana was suffering. Over and over, the nicks and cuts from the Evil Beings' attacks would acc.u.mulate, and Fran would repeatedly use Life Thief or Heal to repair them.

「Tsu!」

「Nice dodge! It seems like your reaction speed is increasing!！」

If we show even the slightest opening we will be bombarded by Valkyrie's arrows. She is firing at us from on top of a platform created using Earth Magic. Although we want to counterattack, Valkyrie is always guarded by the Dullahan.

Since they can deflect most of our attacks, it would just be a wasted effort.

「Hm. We're taking quite a bit of damage. Should I be worried?」

So far, I knew that Valkyrie was just pa.s.sing by. But now it seemed that it finally coming? However, Valkyrie did not release the arrow, but began to speak gently.

「What are you even fighting for anyway?」 — Valkyrie

「?」 — Fran

「Why are you sacrificing your life just to eliminate a few Magic Beasts? Did someone hire you? What puzzles me the most though is why you attacked head-on. You seem h.e.l.l-bent on annihilating us.」– Valkyrie

「No pa.s.sing!」

「Hm?」

「Everything! I protect.」 — Fran

With this brief explanation, Valkyrie suddenly understood, nodding vigorously.

「Ah, the Black Cat Beastman.」

「…En!」

「In order to buy time for their escape, you'll even defy death to stop us; how heroic and moving! Kuhahaha」

Contrary to her words, Valkyrie's face was full of mockery. Then, she said something even more shocking.

「Did you really think that these are all of Murellia's subordinates?」

「!」

「Kukuku, in addition to the group I lead, there are two more groups marching south from the east and west. Their target is Greengoat. Although they aren't as strong as me, their commanders are competent combat veterans. Hope they don't catch your little friends ~ 」

「Tsu!」

「Well, they're an a.s.sault team after all. They aren't a large group, but they move quickly since they are mostly calvary soldiers.」

At this moment, I felt Fran's impatience surge straight through her hand into my hilt. Yikes, that really got her stirred up. If she lets this upset her too much, she will blunder into Valkyrie's trap!

（s.h.i.+shou, she said…）– Fran

『It's true. She didn't lie. However, we must stay calm! Right now, we can't help it! We just have to pray that the army and adventurers will make it in time! No matter how fast I am, there's no way to catch up with the a.s.sault team!』

There's still time. Regardless, I need to appease Fran.

「Got it. Win fast, then go help.」

『Fran! She is trying to make you lose your temper! Don't attack recklessly!』

「You still want to buy time? Ah, yes. If you're relying on the army, then too bad. They haven't even finished their preparations yet.」– Valkyrie

「… Kill you, protect everyone!」– Fran

「Try it!」– Valkyrie

d.a.m.n, she completely flipped Fran's switch! It's impossible to stop her now! To what extent can I support Fran…!

「Brilliant Lightning Rus.h.!.+」

Oops, Fran was really planning to launch a swift attack on the enemy! But the Mana and Life Thief skills cannot be always out of stock.

We teleported right over the enemy. However, at that moment, Fran was penetrated by Valkyrie's arrow. Did she perceive the distortions in s.p.a.ce? How on earth could she predict our teleportation destination in advance?

However, as expected of me: I immediately triggered the Dimension s.h.i.+ft skill, a.s.sisted by Crisis Detection, Vigilance, and Reaction Speed Increase.

Using Dimension s.h.i.+ft, I was able to respond in time to the Arrow of G.o.dspeed that I wasn't even able to perceive until now. However, if I use it recklessly, my mana will run out soon. It can't be used frequently in a protracted battle. But since Fran is preparing for a blitzkrieg, I can use it without hesitation.

「Haaaa!」

「It is really difficult to deal with opponents who can use s.p.a.ce/Time Magic so freely!」

「Sword Lord Techniques・Broken Sky」

Sword Lord Techniques… I can probably only launch one shot. However, one shot should be enough.

Both in speed and power, Sword Lord Techniques・ Broken Sky far surpa.s.ses G.o.dspeed Slash. And more importantly, Broken Sky seemed to have a time-accelerating effect. It's not an effect of s.p.a.ce/Time Magic; rather, my potential was stimulated at that instant, and my reaction speed was abnormally increased.

I wasn't using Reinforcement skills yet, and the power of the Sword Lord Techniques made my whole body tremor.

I could feel that this attack must be a decisive one. I saw the Dullahan's line of sight s.h.i.+ft, and his arm suddenly moved. He probably wanted to s.h.i.+eld Valkyrie. However, we are moving much too fast and there is no way for him to catch up.

I plunged into Valkyrie's shoulder, slicing through her collarbone and plunging towards her heart.

「Crack…!」

Easily, I cleaved Valkyrie's heart in two. The force of my strike severed her body. I felt her magic stone break, but for some reason, I did not absorb it. What was the problem?

As I stared in disbelief, an incredible scene emerged. Somehow, Valkyrie's corpse, which had fallen to the ground, recovered in an instant.

Valkyrie shouldn't be able to use the Instant Recovery skill. In any case, since the heart and the body were divided into two, it was definitely impossible for Valkyrie to heal so fast…

At the same time, a few meters away, the Minotaur Dark Paladins began to spurt blood. In the next moment, mana poured into my body. However, the mana was not from Valkyrie's magic stone. Instead, I was absorbing the mana from the Minotaurs' magic stones.

It's the same skill that transferred the damage from Kanna Kamui earlier! And it seems that not only Dullahan, but Valkyrie can also use it. What a cheap gimmick!

「Ku, Kuhahaha. Sword Lord Techniques! d.a.m.n! You scared me! Seriously!」

Valkyrie laughed as she retreated to a safe distance! However, her face still showed a hint of fear. She seemed warier than before since she was almost killed this time.

But what the h.e.l.l? We used up our one chance, and all we did was spook her? d.a.m.n it! Sure, we got the Minotaur Dark Paladin, but that's just peanuts!

To give Valkyrie an opportunity to heal her wounds, the Dullahan s.h.i.+elded her retreat, while the Evil Beings began once more to attack Fran all together.

『If we let her pull back, she'll pelt us with arrows again!』

「Move!」

「GeGyaGya!」

「GyoGyoGya!」

Despite Fran's intimidation, the Evil Beings did not falter. They guarded Valkyrie desperately and stood together to form a wall.

Time was running out.

「AhAhAhAh!」