CH 87

Chapter 87

“Hehehe… Sorry, but I can’t let you do that. You could ask Gray for help if you want. If you think you can, that is.”

“Ah, I’ll kill that bastard for sure.”

The men smirked and took a combat stance.

(As I thought… It’s not going well. There are six opponents. It’s tough for me alone… But I can’t afford to lose.)

Ares motivated himself, glaring at the men with sharp eyes as he drew his shortsword.

“Gray won’t lose to scoundrels like you.”

From Ares’ perspective, Buzz and the members of “Jinrai” in front of him didn’t seem stronger than Gray at all. No, even facing all six of them, he felt more pressure when he confronted the Holy Knight Rondy.

Considering that Ares had grown physically and mentally since the time when Holy Knight Rondy was alive, it should be even more apparent.

However, that didn’t guarantee he could win against six opponents.

“You should have said that earlier… Don’t think dying will be easy, brat!”

Tensions were high. It was uncertain who would attack first… In that moment, Buzz spoke as if panicking.

“W-Wait! We should incapacitate this brat and capture him alive. Absolutely no killing!”

“Huh? Why… this guy!”

When Buzz’s words were met with discontent from the leader of “Jinrai,” Ares saw an opportunity and swiftly moved into the men’s ranks, attacking one of “Jinrai” members with his shortsword.

The scout couldn’t defend in time and let out a short scream as Ares slashed his torso. However,

(…No, it’s not enough, too shallow.)

Ares’ strike didn’t deliver a fatal blow to the scout. He regretted not going deeper with the attack. Just then, as Ares was dealing with avoiding the attacks of the other four members, the scout who had healed his wounds with a potion joined the fight.

At the critical moment when Ares was in a desperate situation, Buzz yelled at the members of “Jinrai.”

“Stop it! I told you to capture him alive!”

“Dammit, you’ve been saying that from the start! Why that brat…”

As the leader of “Jinrai” argued against Buzz’s words, before he could finish, Buzz continued speaking.

“That kid is a hero. If we manage to take him back to the headquarters along with the Teleportation Kid… “

“A hero?”

“Hero?”

The members of “Jinrai” reacted to Buzz’s words.

(He knows about me…!)

Ares was momentarily taken aback that the man he was conversing with earlier had figured out he was the former hero. But he didn’t miss the opening shown by the men during their conversation.

Ares swung his shortsword at the leader of “Jinrai.”

“Tch, dangerous.”

However, that attack didn’t reach its target. Instead, the leader of “Jinrai” counterattacked with his fist, sending Ares flying backward.

“Ugh…”

Sweat trickled down his cheek as Ares let out a pained voice, but he managed to regain his posture.

Apart from physical capabilities, the experience gap and the numerical disadvantage were too significant.

(If only I had managed to take down at least one of them with the surprise attack… But I can’t retreat now.)

As Ares prepared to step forward again, he heard a voice from somewhere behind.

“Hey, what kind of situation are we in here?”

“…Are you sure the headquarters of the Goddess Cult is really located here?”

Emilia asked with a puzzled expression while looking at the spread-out map.

On that map, there was a mark indicating the location of the so-called headquarters of the attackers, which they had learned from interrogating them.

“If we’re wrong, these guys will suffer even more.”

The attackers shuddered at my words. Honestly, this issue was no longer a request that concerned me.

However… that aside, I really wanted to hurry home and hug Nina and the others.