"...If you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have let you off so easily."
Hearing Adri's words, the thought And what exactly would you have done if you didn't let me off? immediately came to mind, but I held my tongue.
After all, provoking someone who's trying to help me could backfire. I'd rather not get smacked in the back of the head.
Though, it seems like I’ve already provoked her a bit, I should probably hold back for now.
...
I have this growing feeling that my skill is gradually taking over my personality. At this rate, I might start calling people "pathetic" even without the skill, just out of habit.
“Damn brat. You take care of the one in front. I’ll handle the rest.”
'Understood.'
"Sure thing, lonely old hag."
If she means the one in front, that would be the knight who told me to step aside.
「She’s just passed the burden to you naturally, hasn’t she?」
'Really?'
「That guy is the leader of these knights. She’s asking you to keep him occupied. You understand what that means, right?」
Yeah, I get it. No matter how skilled the knights are, without someone to lead them, their coordination will break down.
And for undead, who have lost most of their reasoning, it’s even more important to have someone directing them.
So Adri’s request is for me to deal with the strongest, most annoying leader while she takes care of the minions.
After wandering the afterlife for so long, she’s pretty cunning.
She’s acting all generous, like she’s going to handle everything, but in reality, she’s dumped the hardest job on me.
But still, this is better than having to face them all on my own.
I raised my shield and faced the undead knights.
Their attention wasn’t on me, but on Adri.
That’s not only because knights hate necromancers, but because they see her as the bigger threat.
It’s only natural.
Which would you find more terrifying, a dungeon boss or a small girl holding a shield?
Normally, a tank wouldn’t be able to draw their attention here.
Compared to Adri, my presence is insignificant.
But I’m no ordinary tank.
I’ve got a taunt skill that works like a charm.
"Pathetic knights of the Trash God, dancing like puppets for the Petty Evil God♡."
As soon as I said that, all their eyes turned toward me.
"Doesn’t it embarrass you to act all tough like that?♡ If I were you, I would’ve died of shame already♡."
"Oh, you mean the Trash God?♡ Seriously?♡"
Even while being manipulated by Agra, they still cling to Armathi’s name.
How pitiful and sad.
Their anger shows they genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing.
"Did you know?♡ The Trash God doesn’t even hate necromancers, right?♡"
"I’m the apostle of the Trash God, you moronic knights♡."
The Trash God you think you’re so devoted to even pushed me to save Adri when I hesitated.
If he truly hated necromancers, that wouldn’t have happened, right?
"Wow, you guys are so dumb♡ That’s why you’re getting played by the Evil God♡ Pathetic intelligence♡ Heretics who’ve never even heard the voice of a god♡ Aren’t you afraid you’ll get purified just by looking at a cross?♡"
Consumed by rage, the leader of the knights at the front charged at me, while the objects flying around targeted the knights behind him.
Normally, the leader would have directed how to handle such threats, but now he’s too distracted by me to do that.
All he sees is my face in his sights.
I caught his two-handed sword strike on my shield.
He’s strong, no doubt about it.
My hands shook from the impact against my shield.
But I can handle this.
I’ve been through worse countless times.
“Are you really the leader of the knights? Even orcs can hit harder than this♡ Come on♡.”
Dealing with swords is second nature to me by now.
When I first started using a shield, my sparring partners wielded swords.
And more recently, I’ve been constantly training with Freyr.
Both of them are exceptionally talented when it comes to swordsmanship.
When you spar with people like them, facing mediocre swordsmen like this knight leader just makes you compare.
Freyr would’ve pressed me far harder by now.
And if it were Karl, he’d have noticed that the gap on my right side is a trap and would’ve attacked somewhere else.
Neither of them would have given me the time to swing my mace.
To put it bluntly, this knight leader’s swordsmanship pales in comparison.
Physically, he might be stronger than Freyr, maybe even comparable to Karl.
But lacking the technique to back it up, he’s no real threat.
“So this is what passes for a knight leader?♡ The Church must’ve been a real joke in the old days♡.”
“You should apologize to your subordinates for making them follow such a loser♡ And apologize to the Church for letting them knight you♡.”
"Are you mad?♡ What are you going to do about it?♡ You can’t even scratch my shield, you pathetic loser♡."
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
From the start, this knight leader’s swordsmanship was lacking compared to Freyr’s.
Now that he’s lost control of his emotions and is just swinging wildly, his form has completely fallen apart.
At this point, he’s no longer a knight.
How could you call someone who’s lost both skill and composure a knight?
He’s more like a low-level monster.
A brainless, weak creature that relies solely on brute force.
As I blocked his sword, I pushed it aside with my shield and swung my mace.
Thud!
No matter how sturdy his armor was.
No matter how strong his body was.
Since he was undead, there was no way he could withstand a mace imbued with Armathi’s divine power.
The knight was forced to retreat, clutching his side where I struck him.
“Heh♡ Does it hurt to get hit with divine power?♡ Pathetic undead♡ Even Hell wouldn’t take trash like you♡.”
Smiling, I glanced behind him and saw Adri’s magic overwhelming the other knights one by one.
That’s how it should be.
Adri, who can turn the mansion itself into a weapon, isn’t someone you can beat just by having numbers on your side.
Sure, she had a tough time earlier, but now those knights are just clueless idiots who don’t know how to deal with her patterns.
If their leader were still in command, maybe they’d stand a chance, but right now, he’s too busy glaring at me.
Without leadership, how could a disorganized rabble resist someone as powerful as Adri?
With Adri taking care of the rest, all that’s left for me to do is finish off the knight leader.
I could probably just hold him off until Adri finishes them off, but she’d probably have something to say about that.
Taking a deep breath, I began muttering a prayer under my breath.
A series of divine spells to enhance my physical abilities.
Armathi’s divine power wrapped around my body.
「Are you going to finish him off?」
‘That’s the plan.’
「Do as you wish. You can definitely win.」
I already know that, Grandpa.
Even though I answered him in my head, for some reason, a grin crept onto my face.
I refocused on the knight leader charging at me once again.
I watched his sword.
Simple. Predictable.
No subtlety at all.
It was just a mindless, rage-fueled strike.
It looked almost effortless to deflect.
As I raised my shield, the skill guiding me confirmed that my plan was perfect.
I moved with confidence.
Shield met sword, and his clumsy strike was deflected once again.
His exposed side, the one I’d hit earlier, was wide open.
I struck it with my mace, and the knight leader staggered back, clutching his side again.
Now, let’s see how durable this knight leader really is.
I struck his shoulder, making him drop his sword.
I hit his face, blinding him for a moment.
Then I kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground.
I quickly mounted him and brought my mace down on his head.
Again.
And again.
Over and over, until his form finally crumbled into ashes and disappeared.
Looking around, I saw that the other knights had already been taken care of by Adri.
“Hey, brat. You’re pretty ruthless, huh?”
Was I?
I can’t really see myself, so I wouldn’t know.
“Think there’s any guy out there who’ll want to date you, fighting like that?”
‘That’s not something you need to worry about.’
“Aww, I’m so touched that a lonely, old spinster hag is worried about me. Thanks so much.”
“Hey! You little...!”
I guess calling her a “spinster hag” hit a nerve, seeing her stomp her feet in frustration. Ignoring her, I headed for the dungeon’s exit.
The reward for clearing this dungeon is the sword the knight leader used.
It’s decent, but it’s not much use to me.
After all, I plan to keep using Grandpa’s weapon until I have no other choice.
With a semi-endgame weapon in hand, why would I use anything else?
I could sell it off through the Newman family or give it to Karl or Freyr as a gift.
Hmm. Freyr’s going to get a dedicated weapon later, so I’ll give it to Karl as a hand-me-down.
Picking up the sword, I stepped out of the mansion with Adri, where Vissy was leaning against the wall, dozing off.
I could wake her up myself, but that wouldn’t be very fun.
Instead, I glanced at Adri without saying a word. Catching my drift, she pressed her lips together.
After a moment of hesitation, she carefully approached Vissy.
Hearing the ghostly voice, Vissy slowly opened her eyes. The moment she saw Adri smiling, she grabbed her in a tight hug.
“Adri! You’re back!”
“Her? Oh! Lady Allen! Thank you so much! Truly, thank you! I’ll never say a bad word about you ever again!”
So you’ve said bad things about me before, huh?
Guess you contributed to my bad reputation too, didn’t you?
That’s kind of annoying.
I’ll let it slide since you’re crying your eyes out with gratitude, but I’ll remember this.
As I glanced at Adri, I could see her lips trembling.
Must be tough for her, pretending to be all sweet and innocent around Vissy after speaking her mind inside the mansion, huh?
Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret.
It’ll be fun to see how long you can keep up this act.
Chuckling to myself, I was suddenly struck by how unusually bright it was outside the mansion.
‘Vissy.’
“Yes, Lady Allen?”
‘What time is it right now?’
“It’s... 8:47!”
「Young lady, didn’t you say your first exam was at 9?」
Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.
I’m so screwed.
Forget this heartwarming reunion—I don’t have time for this!
I’m going to be late for my exam!
‘I’ll be going now!’ "See you later, losers!"
“Huh?!”
Jumping out through the shattered second-floor window, I bolted toward the exam hall.
I can’t afford to fail because of being late!
This exam is linked to the quest the Trash God gave me!