Let This Grieving Soul Retire! Woe is the Weakling Who Leads the Strongest Party 1

He was quickly thrown against the wall. A moment later, we all heard the dull sound of armor being pierced. The cave shook. The laws of physics were going haywire.

His eyes rolled back in his head, his armor caved in, and his hands were twitching nonstop. What a noble sacrifice.

The Great Greg rushed over to him, helped him up, and gave him a potion. Li’l Gilbert had guts, but he should’ve sized up the enemy first. Liz was faster and more volatile than anyone else here, by far.

Not even bothering to look at the guy she’d just wrecked, Liz looked behind me at a shrinking Tino. “T, what the heck am I supposed to do? Am I incompetent? Did I mess up your training? Are you not talented, were you not paying attention, or did you not want power badly enough?

“Hey, answer me already, you little shit! You freakin’ trash heap! I didn’t raise you to be garbage! Krai’s gonna hate me now because of you! You made me look terrible! Die! Just die if you’re not up to the task! Die in a ditch! Choke on your tongue and die!”

“I’m sorry, my dear sister! I’m sorry! It’s all my fault. I’m sorry for being such a problem. It’s all because I’m so weak! I’m sorry!”

Liz spat abuses at Tino, while Tino apologized like a broken record.

“Don’t apologize to me! There’s someone else you should say sorry to!”

Everyone was cringing hard. Even the boss!

Tino had been giving it a hundred—no, a hundred and ten percent. It wasn’t Liz’s fault, either. The real problem was me, the guy who’d pushed this stupid request on her. But if I said it was my fault, no doubt Liz would still blame Tino. That was just her nature.

Instead, I placed my hands on Liz’s shoulders before she could get a hold of her. “Liz, Tino really gave it her all. She took down phantoms, and she found the rescue targets we’re here for. Yep, I’d say she did a good job.”

Big words, coming from me of all people. No doubt everyone here was thinking the same thing.

But as she didn’t know the circumstances, Liz was shocked. Her attitude did a complete one-eighty as she looked up at me and asked, “Huh? She really did a good job?”

“Yep. They all worked together and took down this one big, white wolf. That’s pretty great work, if I do say so myself.”

“One? Only one? Is it really worth letting her live after all?”

What in the world was pulling at her heartstrings right now? While I sang Tino’s praises, Liz cocked her head in confusion. It felt like I was consoling a terrifying monster. Oh, wait. That’s exactly what I’m doing.

“Yeah, totally! I want her to keep living. And good job to you, Liz, for learning to hold back a little.”

“Oh, you noticed! Cool, right? I remembered to stop just before hitting people! Only because you made me do it, though.” Liz lit right up. Her rage from seconds ago was gone with the wind.

That was a normal hit, wasn’t it? She didn’t stop, did she? But Li’l Gilbert was still alive, so I figured that was progress. Past Liz would’ve squashed him flat. Look at me, teaching the genocidal beast restraint. Am I a genius, or what?

Not that I had actually done anything.

“Sorry for being such a problem, Master.” Tino’s faltering, fragile voice came just in time.

She wasn’t Liz’s long-time apprentice for nothing. She knew what we needed here.

“Look, T, you’ve got talent. You just lack motivation, effort, and the readiness to die for what you want. Since you’re a hundred times weaker than me, you gotta work a hundred times harder.”

“Uh, yeeeah. Totally.” I didn’t know what she was talking about, but they must’ve had some master-pupil telepathy going on.

She was still stomping on the ground like she was mad, but for the most part, Liz’s anger had subsided. Liz was a moody one, so there was no telling what might set her off into a blind rage, but at the very least, it never lasted too long.

While we bickered, the bone-masked boss didn’t move an inch. It just held its sword at the ready, watching Liz’s every move with utmost caution. Despite having taken a blow from her, the phantom’s body showed no signs of damage. Unlike Li’l Gilbert, its armor wasn’t even cracked.

Just then, we heard footsteps approaching. From the direction Liz had come, another creature appeared. It was a giant, almost as tall as the ceiling. I remembered that figure, the one stooping over in the cramped space: it was one of the silver-pelted wolves from the boss chamber.

The gun it carried was probably used for rapid fire. Most firearms phantoms carried were based on those of civilizations that had flourished in the field of physics for a time. Many of them couldn’t be replicated by modern tech and came with enough power to pierce muscles hardened by mana material. They were tough for hunters to deal with.

The boss looked up at the wolf knight, much larger than itself, and gestured our way. It silently turned toward us.

So the reason he didn’t attack us wasn’t because he was waiting for an opening, or because he was scared of Liz... but because he was waiting for his buddy?

Well, Liz was really the only person the boss had to worry about. The rest of us were six half-dead hunters, a few healthy-but-weak hunters, and me, the guy who just had a high level. The influence of a high level might work on hunters, but monsters and phantoms didn’t care one bit.

Liz didn’t even turn to look. When she spoke, she sounded completely uninterested. “Huh. Still more, eh? T, d’you want one?”

“Oh, Lizzy, I—”

“Don’t disappoint me, ’kay?”

She was around thirty feet away from the enemy, with its oppressively large weapon. It was too far. The boss was next to it, too. If any one of us took a step out, we’d be full of holes in an instant. In this tiny tunnel, the enemy didn’t even have to aim. Even Tino couldn’t hope to evade it. I mean, no normal hunter could do that.

The sound of armor scraping together interrupted their conversation.

“I’ll guard. No matter what, I’ll try to make an opening for you.” Rudolph, previously frozen in fear, now gripped his shield and stood next to Liz.

His raised shield, its green paint fading and covered in small scratches here and there, was as thick as a mini-brick wall. It wasn’t enough to cover him fully, but at the very least, we could rely on it to block the bulk of the gunfire. He was a pretty good guy.

Liz shot a quick glance at him, and the pleasant look on her face slid right off. “Ugh, no thanks. You spoiled it.”

“What?”

“I was gonna have T do it for me, see, ’cause I’m pooped. Gotta have time to cool down, right? But now people are gonna talk shit about me and it’s all T’s fault. Ugh, I’m pissed. I can’t take it anymore!”

Liz’s slender fingertips picked up her mask and pressed it onto her face, hiding her contorted expression. At almost the exact same time, loud gunfire rang out as countless bullets erupted from the wolf knight’s massive gun. Each flash at the end of the barrel lit the darkness.

In the face of the bullets raining upon us, there was an unidentifiable scream. Then, the darkness returned. It had aimed for Liz and those of us around her. However, nobody fell.

Liz opened her outstretched hand, dropping metal fragments on the ground. They were the bullets that should have rained upon us. The wolf knight lifted his gun again in fear. Unsatisfied, Liz let out an ungodly howl.

Aw hell, she’s pissed again.

“You think normal bullets are gonna work on meee?! Stupid-ass dog, with your stupid-ass, outdated physical weapon! I’m better than that! Don’t assume I’m all the way down at your level! You’re just tryna make a fool outta me! AAAAARGH!”

Another hail of bullets came, shaking the narrow cavern. Liz didn’t move a single step, yet all the bullets disappeared. The bullets, having lost their momentum, fell comically to the ground.

She continued to yell, her breath not labored in the slightest. “I don’t need a goddamn shield! T, you really had trouble with these weak, slow-ass attacks?! Were you even learning from me, kid?! What, you tryna shame me with your incompetence?! This is what you should be doing!”

Truthfully, it was a bit too much to ask.

Rhuda was full-on pale. Could she see Liz’s movements? Rudolph was at a loss as well.

With a smile plastered on my face, I watched Liz have her fun. I couldn’t keep track, of course, but I knew what she was up to. After all, one of the reasons I had so thoroughly given up on my dream of being a hunter was because I had seen all this.

What Liz was doing was simple: she was stopping these bullets with her bare hands and tossing them aside. That was all. Though I understood the basics, it was something beyond simple speed. When she’d first shown me that she could do it, like she was showing off a new toy, her smile was downright traumatizing. In treasure vaults that would require these sorts of beastly abilities, an average guy like me would never be able to keep up.

After one final spray, the wolf knight was out of bullets. I was a little curious as to how he would fight now that he had no ammo, but I’d never get the opportunity to find out.

Liz Smart had plenty of weaknesses: she couldn’t use magic, she acted on impulse, she was rough on her students, and she hated sweets. She really sucked at reading the room, too. But she excelled so much in one area that no one else could hope to measure up: Liz was fast. Faster than anyone else in the world. She was so fast that she hardly left a shadow in her wake. Funny, then, that they called her the Stifled Shadow.

After clapping her hands together a couple of times, Liz looked at the two phantoms. I couldn’t see her expression through the mask, but I could more or less imagine it. Then, the massacre began.

I couldn’t see a moment of it, as if the whole process was omitted and I was just being shown the result.

“When you’re up against armored phantoms, see, you just gotta smash ’em! Armor can only be so hard! Hit ’em from the top, too! Really knock their damn heads off! Kill, kill to your heart’s content! What could be more fun than this?!”

After a single step forward, she kicked the wolf knight without even giving it a chance to brace itself. The impact crumpled its thick, black armor like it was a sheet of paper. The wolf, a giant compared to Liz, was hurled into the wall. It vanished on impact, leaving only an indent behind. In mere seconds, one threat had already been eliminated.

Without bothering to look back, the laughing bonehead turned toward the boss. It was hard to tell which one was the real monstrosity. The boss readied its sword, wary of Liz. From the masterful way it carried itself, it was clear that Rudolph had not been exaggerating. Straying too close to the beast would have you cut down with ease. Its intense fighting spirit was palpable even from afar; out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rudolph stiffen. And yet, Liz walked up to it like she was on a nice stroll.

Liz seemed unaffected as she entered death’s domain. The sword flickered and vanished, like a flash of lightning, but no scream followed. Rudolph’s eyes bulged in their sockets.

Just hearing about it, you would think this was all a joke. The slashes were invisible to the naked eye, but the wild blade continually struck nothing but air. It was as if Liz were dancing with the sword. She was a Thief, so she didn’t have much resistance to damage. She’d be in trouble if she misstepped even once, but the blade couldn’t even graze her.

“Swords are easy! Grab ’em, parry ’em, dodge ’em, do whatever the hell you want! How the hell could you have a problem with this?!”

Far from it, Liz easily stopped the sword—so fast that you couldn’t even see the afterimages—between her fingertips. The boss tried to fall back, but its sword wouldn’t move.

What’d that guy say? This thing is supposed to match up to the Protean Sword?

Liz had dueled the Protean Sword countless times. It was just one element of Grieving Souls’ intense training. I didn’t know what exactly they were doing now that they were at this high a level, but in Liz’s case, at least, the boss wasn’t even worthy of caution.

Good thing nobody made that Protean Sword comparison near Liz. She didn’t take kindly to people who underestimated her friends.

While she hollered, Liz started lazily toying with the boss. A single bare-handed strike broke through the phantom’s guard and crushed its armor.

“Just DO it! Dodge, they can’t hit you! Hit them, they can’t dodge you! Get into your groove! Kill ’em like you’re dyin’ tomorrow! Get it, T? Don’t neglect your talent, you lazy shit! Hurry! Live fast and hard! You’re running out of time, T! Remember, you gotta work a hundred times harder than me, or else I’m gonna keep getting better than you! Damn slowpoke!”

I couldn’t follow what she was saying anymore. Subjected to this storm of abuses, Tino started crying as she clung to my back. Poor baby. Liz definitely wasn’t born to teach.

“I was in such a good mood, too! Shit!”

As a finisher, Liz lifted her leg—covered by a boot-type Relic called Apex Roots—and sent a powerful kick right into the boss’s side. A dull thud shook the cave, and Rhuda gasped. Liz’s leg had pierced right through the armor and penetrated the boss’s torso.

The phantom spasmed, and an unearthly scream echoed throughout the cavern. Blood gushed out of the wound, splattering onto Liz’s mask. I really should’ve picked a different symbol...

“You calm down yet, Liz?”

“Yeah, a little.”

Her voice was different from when she had been screaming at Tino. Tino stifled her tears, careful not to put Liz back in that bad mood.

She yanked her leg out of the boss’s body with a disgusting schlop. The boss then collapsed to the ground. Seeing as it wasn’t disappearing, it was likely still alive. But that was definitely a fatal wound, so it didn’t have long.

Having lost interest, Liz turned away from the fallen boss and coolly walked over to me. Her boot was soaked in blood. Splotches of it had gotten on her clothes and skin, too.

Overpowering strength. Thorough, unrestrained violence. The result of enormous talent that was lacking somewhat in the humanity department. That was Liz Smart, the genocidal beast who I still couldn’t believe was living within normal human society.

Rhuda and the others sank weakly to the floor. They couldn’t believe it, but that was our Thief. But more than a Thief, I always thought she seemed more like a Brigand.

Liz removed the mask once more. She put a bloody finger in her mouth, stared right at me, and smiled in embarrassment. “Oh, I forgot to say: I’m home, Krai Baby.”

“Welcome back, Liz.” I reached out and pulled her into a big hug.

She was hot, like a fire had been lit inside her.