Volume 3, Chapter 25 – The Shield Bash!

After a brief pause, as if suppressing his anger, Clementine clenched his jaw tightly.

“The Blue Sea group impersonated a client and posted a mission to exterminate a Swamp Python on the Adventurers Guild’s board. At the time, we happened to need an identity that could be recognized by the public, and the Swamp Python was the most well-known powerful monster in Antonio Lake, often attacking passing boats and residents who came to get water. To eliminate people’s fear of The Fallen, we unanimously decided to take on this mission. Not just for the high reward, but more for the status of not being discriminated against.

It turned out that the Blue Sea group had hired adventurers from other territories and set up an ambush near the mission site. Just as we were about to kill the Swamp Python, they suddenly appeared and surrounded all of us in the swamp.”

“But Clementine, you’re standing here now, aren’t you?”

Clementine took a long breath and gripped his sword hilt tightly.

“Our seniors sacrificed themselves in that desperate situation so that those of us who were weaker could escape. I still remember our Guild Leader’s final words, telling me to lead the Flame Conquerors to become the number one guild in Antonio City and to change the city people’s perception of The Fallen.”

“And you’ve already succeeded.”

“That’s right. The Flame Conquerors are now the number one adventurer guild in Antonio City, but there are still three things I haven’t done.”

Without being so tactless as to ask what those three things were, Yisi remained silent.

Clementine continued speaking as if to himself.

“I have to kill the Swamp Python to avenge our seniors, change everyone’s perception of The Fallen, and make Blue Sea pay the price they deserve.”

“Can’t you just report them to the lord or the Adventurers Guild? It’s not allowed for adventurers to fight among themselves, is it?”

“Without evidence, no one would believe us.” Clementine shrugged, feigning nonchalance, a slight curve on his lips. “Hah… For a long time, only the people in my guild were willing to listen. Miss Yisi is the first outsider who has been willing to listen to these heavy memories. The frustration I had built up yesterday is all gone now.”

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“No… I have a question. Was the previous Guild Leader of the Flame Conquerors an underage girl?”

For a moment, Clementine stiffened unnaturally.

“W-What are you talking about, Miss Yisi… Hahaha… How could the Guild Leader be a little girl?”

His reaction confirms it was a little girl.

So Clementine’s love for lolis started then. The reason he said he wanted to protect underage girls was probably to make up for his guilt from back then. No man would want to bear the reality of being saved by a young girl’s sacrifice.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. Clementine, how did you handle Blue Sea’s provocation yesterday?”

When she went to look for Tiffany in her room, Clementine was leading a group to vent their anger. At the time, Yisi thought Clementine was going to salvage the guild’s reputation, but now it seemed he might have been planning to take the opportunity to wipe out Blue Sea.

“I originally wanted to use that opportunity to drive Blue Sea out of Antonio City. But they used the same old trick and allied with an adventurer team from outside the territory. We just told them to hand over the adventurers who had attacked us, and then we had to return with our tails between our legs.”

Despite his joking tone, Yisi couldn’t find a trace of a smile on Clementine’s face. For him, as the leader of the organization, yesterday’s encounter was undoubtedly a major loss of face.

As if sensing Yisi’s sympathy, Clementine raised an eyebrow and extended his hand in a white glove, as if to pat Yisi on the head like she was a child. Yisi immediately slapped his hand away. He finally sighed and spread his hands helplessly.

“Well, many adventurers who are eyeing the Flame Giant’s reputation and bounty have come to Antonio City recently. It’s to be expected that Blue Sea would become someone else’s dog. I’ll take care of them sooner or later. But being pitied by Miss Yisi hurts me even more.”

“I just wanted to know that you don’t hold any ill will towards The Fallen, Clementine. That’s enough for me.”

After their conversation, Mary and the level 12 adventurer officially began their battle.

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“Oh! Mary-chan can run so fast while carrying that iron shield. She must be a strength-specialized warrior, right? Miss Yisi, what level is Mary-chan? To be able to fight Keqiu to a draw, she can’t be too low-level, right?”

“Clementine, you might not believe this, but Mary just reached level 8.”

“Level 8?” Clementine’s mouth opened wide enough to fit an apple, and his eyes widened in an exaggerated manner. “How can a level 8 be a match for Keqiu? Keqiu is one of the best fighters in our guild!”

“That’s why I said you might not believe it. Mary really is only level 8. Camilla can vouch for it.”

Yisi turned to look at Camilla, who was standing a half-step behind her. Camilla nodded, confirming Yisi’s words.

Clementine froze on the spot.

“Are you serious? A level 8 shield warrior can hold out against Keqiu until she runs out of stamina? Keqiu will be too embarrassed to show his face.”

“Instead of just sighing, you should pay attention to the battle.”

Camilla’s cool voice reminded Clementine. As Camilla said, the battle had changed significantly from before.

At the beginning of the fight, Mary was unfamiliar with the new shield’s width and weight, and her reactions couldn’t keep up with the adventurer’s attack speed. She could only barely avoid damage by constantly activating [Shield Counterattack]. But as Mary gradually got used to the shield, the scale of victory began to tip in her favor.

Relying on the defensive abilities provided by her Fallen’s talent, Mary held the shield with both hands to block the frontal slash. As the steel clashed with a fierce sound, she forcefully pushed the shield back, forcing Keqiu to retreat and unable to deliver a second strike.

If she had been using her old, wide oak shield, Mary would have had to either stay on the defensive or abandon her defense to find a chance to counterattack with her one-handed sword. But now, Mary had a new option.

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The Shield Slash.

Because the shield was as long as half of Mary’s body, Yisi had added many handles wrapped in felt to the back of the shield to ensure stability during defense. This allowed Mary to support the shield from two directions, giving her a more stable grip.

This directly led to Mary using the shield as a weapon.

Gripping the shield handles with both hands, Mary maintained a stance with her body hidden behind the shield. She first used [Charge] to attack Keqiu. When she saw that Keqiu didn’t choose to run, she decisively attached [Shield Counterattack] to her shield. Then, Mary’s heavy shield and Keqiu’s crossed dual swords collided.

A flash of orange light appeared on Keqiu’s body.

It was [Tenacity], a basic warrior defense skill.

Like hitting a rock, Mary couldn’t knock Keqiu away in one go, but her prepared follow-up came into play.

At the moment of impact, a layer of golden light appeared on the steel shield. This golden light then gathered on Mary’s body before spreading back to the entire shield.

[Shield Counterattack] had two parts: the first stage was to withstand an attack that she normally couldn’t, and the second was to return a portion of the absorbed force to the next attack.

After receiving the feedback force, Mary raised the shield with both hands to her upper left, then fiercely swung the upper half of the long shield down to her lower right.

“Hyaaah!”

With the power of [Shield Counterattack], Mary’s slash was much faster than its normal speed.

Keqiu, who was temporarily stiffened by [Tenacity], didn’t have time to defend. He was forced to dodge, pushing off the ground with his feet and leaping backward away from Mary. He narrowly avoided Mary’s slash, but as a result, he lost his balance and fell backward onto the ground.

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“It’s not over yet!”

When Keqiu came to his senses at Mary’s shout, his vision was almost completely filled by the shield in Mary’s hands—Mary had leaped into the air, shield and all.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone with their mouths agape, she landed directly on top of Keqiu with the combined weight of the shield and her own body.

It was a sight that brought a crushed tomato to mind.

—It wasn’t quite that horrific, but the sound of bones cracking was clearly heard by everyone.

Looks like I’ll have to use healing magic to set Keqiu’s bones.

Yisi looked at Clementine’s mouth, which had been hanging open for a long time, and awkwardly cleared her throat.

“Um… Mary might be heavier than that steel shield. You should go pull Keqiu out quickly. I know a little healing magic.”

“Ah! I’ll go right now!”

Maybe I shouldn’t have given Mary such a vicious weapon.

Yisi thought sincerely.

Translator Note

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