Lowe couldn’t look Lululee in the eye.
“There we go, friendship broken. Good job!” Smirking, Gald picked up his fallen arm. “He was originally from the Dark Guild—meaning he’s an assassin who’s killed lots of people with that skill. The Dark Guild is so unfair. They’re supposed to be a group that doesn’t rely on skills. But he was blessed with both magic and skills. One day, however, he suddenly left the Dark Guild, and now he’s saying he’s an adventurer.”
Grumbling, Gald shoved his right arm back onto his shoulder. The joint should have been burned shut, but it stuck there without any trouble, as though he was attaching the arm of a ceramic doll.
“Well, even if he did become an adventurer, can we really say that Lowe got the ‘friends’ he wanted? If he was lying to them, then they’re not really his friends, are they?”
Then Gald suddenly vanished.
“!” Lowe lost sight of him. He felt a chill, and the next instant, the blade of a knife thrust at him from the side.
He bent backward to dodge, mostly on reflex. Next, the tip of the blade flowed toward his throat, and he blocked it with his twin blades.
Gald’s dark eyes were unable to meet Lowe’s gaze as their blades clashed. “My magic will destroy even your great skill.” No sooner had he said that than he leaped away backward. He spread his arms to summon Flama in the space between them, the fire swirling around and swelling. Lowe’s eyes widened at the sight.
Just summoning Flama consumed more than double the magic power of ordinary magic. With the low amount of mana humans had, you wouldn’t be able to produce very much of it without relying on a skill. The god core really had granted Gald an incredible store of magic power.
“How are you gonna stop my Flama strengthened by the god core?” Gald laughed “hya-hya-hya-hya!” in amusement. “All you’ve got is your skill!” he cried, flinging a large ball of Flama at Lowe.
As the orb passed over the stage, the floor peeled upward from the heat, melting and deforming. Lowe nearly dodged, out of habit, only to force himself to stop. He couldn’t dodge anymore. Lululee and Jade were behind him.
“…!”
Goose bumps rose all over his body. If that fireball hit him—he would die in an instant. No—he would be erased.
Just then, his thoughts turned to Jade. He wondered if the tank always felt like this, rock-solid on the spot with his allies’ lives on his shoulders, standing in front of them, prepared to take every attack.
“Skill Activate!” Lowe steeled himself and threw his daggers. Blue flames flared in his tensed hands.
He was never going to abandon Lululee and Jade or let them die.
Lowe liked spending time with them. He’d been desperately lying and lying all this time because he wanted to protect his relationship with them.
“—Sigurth Ashinu!”
The blue dragon that burst out from Lowe’s skill clashed with Gald’s Flama.