I looked out at the mountains we had crashed upon.
Baltzarond’s subordinates had already picked themselves up and raised their bows at us. Although they had been scrambling about before the ship crashed, the impact of a mere collision wasn’t enough to render them unconscious. Every last soldier was still ready to fight—it seemed they were right about being sturdier than the people of Militia’s world.
“Lower your bows. I merely demonstrated a flaw in your reasoning,” I said, but Baltzarond and his subordinates had become even more wary than before. They filled their arrows with magic power. “Hmm. Did I not show enough power?”
“You’re too strong to be from the shallows,” Baltzarond said.
“Do you feel like believing me now?”
“No. You couldn’t have stolen Atzenon’s claw. It’s impossible for someone from the shallows—a world on the first level at that—to shatter Nepheus with a single step! No such order exists across the entire Silverwater Sea!”
I laughed. “You mean no such order existed until now. After all, I’ve been inside a well this entire time.”
“Such nonsense won’t work on me!” Baltzarond gripped the golden hilt at his side and glared angrily at me. “Atzenon’s Lion of Ruin. You stole the Sword of Three Races and hid in the shallows until now, didn’t you?”
Hmm. So that’s what he thinks I am now? I knew very little about things out here, so I couldn’t predict his reactions.
“What is a Lion of Ruin anyway?” I asked. “You see, I was genuinely born and raised on my world, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Silence! Such tricks won’t deceive me!” Baltzarond shouted. He clearly had no intention of listening. “As a hunter, I am far more attuned to my sense of smell than the workings of the mind. My body moves before I think. I’m more eloquent with sword and bow than I ever could be with words.”
“You’re calling yourself an idiot?”
Baltzarond continued. “That’s why I won’t fall for the words of you Lions of Ruin! The hilt of justice in my hands should decide its next prey! It’s time for judgment, Evansmana! Burn this man and expose his calamity!”
Baltzarond raised the golden hilt up high, the blue gemstone in the guard turning red. His soldiers, watching on, gasped, their murderous intent swelling as the gem changed color.
“Behold. The Sword of Three Races has displayed the red of calamity. This is clear proof that you are Atzenon’s Lion of Ruin, a cataclysmic beast born from the depths of ruin!”
I didn’t get it. It didn’t seem clear to me how the red light coming from that hilt could frame me for a crime I didn’t commit. This man didn’t have a twisted personality like Graham, nor did he have the brains or wit to put on such a convincing act.
Even if Evansmana’s true hilt had the power to identify Atzenon’s so-called Lions of Ruin, why had it responded to me? When I had faced the one-armed man, I’d heard a weird ringing in my ears, as if my source had also seemed to resonate with him.
But what did this all mean? Did it have something to do with what he had called mom—the Abyssal Princess of Disaster? Either way, it didn’t seem like they were willing to listen to me right now.
“Call me what you want,” I said, stepping forwards calmly. “What about it? Atzenon’s so-called Lion of Ruin threw a claw at my mother. Right now, they are my enemy. If you are a hunter as you say, it’d be wiser to set me free so I can deal with them.”
I grinned at his guarded stance. “No one gets away with threatening my peace. Even so-called brethren.”
“I will not hand you the Sword of Three Races...” he muttered, as though he hadn’t heard me at all. He cast a piercing glare at me and the sword in Lay’s hand. His subordinates, too, also looked ready for war.
Then they started running in scattered directions. “Rarze!”
The soldiers drew magic circles that summoned a wind that blew across the entire mountain. Sparks flew and raged in the air, covering the entire mountain area and turning it into their hunting ground. The swirling winds obstructed my vision, preventing my Magic Eyes from seeing clearly.
“Our hunting ground is where the holy wind blows.”
The wind carried Baltzarond’s voice, making it sound like it was coming from multiple directions. Our ears could no longer be trusted.
An arrow wrapped in sparkling wind appeared in front of me. I snatched it with one hand, then several hundred more arrows appeared in my narrow field of view.
“Hmm.”
I grabbed them all with a pale blue Ygg Neas hand, missing just five. The moment the remaining wind arrows were about to bore into my body, Shin’s sword knocked them away.
“My body’s slower,” he said.
“My magic isn’t at full speed either,” I noted. The same had applied to the Jio Graze I’d cast earlier. It didn’t seem to be a matter that could be resolved by simply putting more magic power into the spell either. The enemies were able to use their spells just fine.
“You’re blinded,” the hunters said, speaking as one voice.
“You possess powers no human could have. You are a beast.”
“But in a hunting ground, the hunter has the advantage.”
“The swiftest of lions can be struck by the arrows of Hyphoria’s hunters.”
“May you spend final moments regretting ever leaving your herd.”
The sound of bowstrings being pulled layered over their voices.
“My vision is indeed partially obscured, but still I suggest you stop here,” I said, clenching my fist and releasing a swirling spiral of black particles.
“Partially obscured?”
“You think you can punch us from that distance?”
“The strength to flatten mountains means nothing if you miss.”
“Before the noble hunters, all beasts are equal.”