บท 26: Clemetine’s Fear
"Fufu~ You checked their bodies~ Not bad~"
A young woman slowly emerged into the light, and every step she took was accompanied by the clattering of metal against metal.
"You..."
"Ahhh~ they found me out, so there's no point hiding. Speaking of which~ I only hid because I couldn't use the [Conceal Life] spell~"
The orange colored short hair woman grinned in response to the somewhat angry Khajiit. Then, she smiled and turned her gaze to Aurelius.
"May I know your name? Ah, I'm Clementine. Seeing your handsome face makes me feel hot. Oh~ please take care of me~"
Clementine twisted her body while blushing. As she saw Aurelius's disguised appearance—Lucifer's face—she was momentarily stunned.
She couldn't help but feel awestruck as she gazed at Aurelius. He seemed like a creature straight out of the realm of gods.
'So ridiculously handsome. Just looking at it makes my chest heat up. Ah~'
Seeing Clementine's fishy smile, Aurelius shrugged his shoulders.
"...Well, it's kind of pointless to answer your question, but I guess I'll tell you anyway. My name is Lucifer. I am an adventurer."
"I've never heard that name before. Clementine, how about you?"
"I don't know~ First of all, I got all the information on the high-ranking adventurers active in this city, but there was no one named Lucifer among them? Still, how did you know I was here? The dying message pointed to the sewers—"
"The answer is under your cloak. Show me."
"Uwah~ Handsome~ Pervert~ Lewd~ Ecchi~"
As she said that, Clementine's face twisted. She had a grin so wide that it nearly reached her ears.
"Ju~st kidding~ you mean these?"
Clementine threw open her coat, revealing what looked like scale mail whose individual plates had mismatched components. However, Aurelius's excellent vision saw the truth immediately. Those were not the metal plates that made up scale mail.
There were countless adventurer plates. Platinum, gold, silver, iron, copper, even mithril and orichalcum. All these were the proof of all the adventurers Clementine had been killing—the trophies taken from her hunts.
"It was these prizes of yours that led me to you."
A look of confusion came over Clementine, but Aurelius did not intend to explain himself.
"...Nabe. Deal with Khajiit and the others. I'll take care of this woman."
He also quietly told Nabe to freely use her strength without reservation if the situation required it.
"Your safety is the top priority. Show them how foolish these worms are. Let them know what true despair is, Narberal Gamma."
"Yes, My Lord."
Khajiit's expression was somewhere between a sneer and a grin. The cold-eyed Narberal, on the other hand, showed nothing on her face.
"Clementine, shall we have our hot relationship over there?"
Aurelius threw out playful words and walked away slowly. Clementine gave a curious sneer but followed behind him nonetheless.
Once they had gotten some distance away, a thunderous, eye-wateringly bright discharge of lightning erupted between Narberal and Khajiit. As though on cue, Aurelius and Clementine turned to look at each other.
"Could it be that those people I killed in that store were your friends? Are you mad because I killed your buddies~?"
Clementine continued in a mocking tone:
"Ufufufu, that magic caster was soooo funny. Until the end, he believed that someone would save him~ but how could he hold out that long against my attacks with just that little bit of health... Or could it be that he was hoping you would save him? Sor~ry, I killed him."
Clementine was all smiles. Aurelius looked at her and shook his head.
"...No, there's no need to apologize."
"Really? Well, that's a shame~ It's fun to piss off those people who get all emotional when their friends come up. Oi, why aren't you getting mad? You're no fun! Or could it be they weren't your friends?"
"...Well, I will soon do something even more horrible to you. So blaming you for it would be hypocritical."
He slowly took out his Excalibur and turned to Clementine with a creepy and mockingly malicious expression.
"...Still, they were tools for building my reputation. Once they returned to the inn, they would have spread word of my deeds to the other adventurers. They would have told everyone about how the two of us were heroes who drove off the Wise King of the Forest by ourselves. But you, a lowly creature, sabotaged my plans. That greatly displeases me. What do you think I should do with you?"
Clementine grinned at Aurelius's tone.
"Hehe! A lower creature~, That comment is interesting~. I see. I am being hated. I feel sorry for me~. By the way, it is your fault for coming here. That pretty lady is a magic caster, right? Then she can't win against Khaji-chan~ though if you two swapped out, maybe you could have won. Though that girl couldn't beat me either~"
"You're an ignorant person who can't grasp the opponent's power properly. Nabe alone would be more than enough for you and that man. My presence is just a Dimensional Reductional Blow."
"Don't be an idiot~ how could a measly little magic caster beat me? It'll be over in two or three blows~ It's always been like that~"
"Idiot? I see, so you're that confident in your abilities as a warrior..."
"Yup, it goes without saying. No warrior in this country can beat me~ no, wait, almost no warrior in this country can beat me~"
"Is that so... Well, that gave me an idea. I shall give you a handicap; at least that way I can ensure you won't die instantly before giving me some entertainment. Of course, it's also because I'll have to let you feel the despair of calling me an idiot. Hehe."
Clementine's eyes narrowed, and for the first time, she had a look of annoyance on her face.
"Hello? According to the information from those chaps in the Windflower, there are only five people in this country who can give me a good fight. Gazef Stronoff. Gagaran of Blue Rose. Luisenburg Albelion of Red Drop. Brain Unglaus. Also, the retired Vestia Croft Di Lofan... though none of them could beat me even if they went all-out. Not even if I was without the magic items from my country."
Clementine smiled at Aurelius. That smile was a disgusting one.
"It's the first time I've seen such a handsome face! But it's just that. There's no way that I, Clementine-sama—one who's left humanity behind and stepped into the realm of heroes—could possibly lose!"
Seeing Clementine's enraged appearance, Aurelius laughed.
Clementine was from the Slane Theocracy. She was a fugitive who stole a magic item and ran away.
Thus, he knew that Clementine would also know about his existence, like that Nigun from Sunflower Scripture.
Aurelius wondered what she would look like if he revealed his true self and revealed that he was a cataclysmic god—the Dragon Demon God.
Would she cry out for help?
Would she run away with despairing eyes?
Or would she simply give up?
Regardless of what she would choose, her end was already decided, and that was to be Aurelius's own private ona hole, a portable pussy, and nothing more.
"So I'll give you a handicap. I'll never fight with all my heart."
…..
With her eyes wide open, Clementine glared at the golden-haired, handsome man who stood still with his sword raised in front of her.
"Why is this so difficult?" she muttered, growing weary of their ongoing struggle.
Her entire body tingled with exhaustion, and she felt infuriated as Aurelius looked at her with a disdainful smirk, his gaze belittling her.
"I can't get tired of this; I am the great Clementine!" she declared, quelling the fury bubbling within her.
With her light body, she gently swung her stiletto. Holding it in her hand even tighter, she ran in a straight line, then twisted her body, changed direction, and aimed for an opening.
However, in response, Aurelius simply raised his Excalibur and easily parried Clementine's attack.
When Clementine's blow collapsed horribly, she stepped back again and created a gap between them.
Clementine was nervous.
She knew that the man in front of her was merely playing with her. He had been standing at the same spot since the beginning, leisurely moving his hand to block all of Clementine's attacks.
But undettered, Clementine rushed once again. This time, however, instead of blocking, Aurelius countered with a swift slash of his Excalibur.
"Gagh!!"
Caught off guard, Clementine choked as she activated her martial arts, trying to defend herself against the attack with her stiletto. But to her surprise, her weapon was cleaved in half, forcing her to twist her body to evade the full force of the blow.
Nonetheless, rather than stepping back, Clementine pressed forward, hoping to catch Aurelius off guard.
Clementine wanted to use her martial arts to bridge the gap in their physical abilities, even if only slightly.
So she simultaneously activated four martial arts.
[Gale Stride]. [Greater Evasion]. [Ability Boost]. [Greater Ability Boost]
Her whole body was full of strength. The lighter, feather-like body gave her a feeling as if she were capable of overcoming anything.
Clementine's senses also reached their peak.
In the slowed-down world, she meticulously observed her opponent's movements, ready to react accordingly.
However, her focus was abruptly interrupted by a blinding white light piercing the sky, accompanied by thunderous roars as if calamity itself had descended.
The thunder came from where Khajiit and the Magic Caster girl were supposed to be fighting. But Clementine had no time or energy to spare and be worried about Khajiit.
She only gazed at it for a split second, and her attention was fixed back on her opponent.
But contrary to her expectations, this time, as she looked at him, there was no leisurely look on his face as he acknowledged the spectacle in the sky before turning to her with a smile.
"Since Narberal seems to have almost finished up there, I should wrap things up here as well."
"What? What nonsense are you babbling—? You think you can beat the great Clementine? You're pissing me off."
"I have to say, the ravings of a weakling like yourself are quite impressive."
Clementine wanted to retort, but the boiling rage in her heart dissipated in an instant as she noticed the sinister blood-red color that suddenly flashed in his blue eyes.
A shiver of fear ran through her spine.
"Playtime is over, my dear Clementine."
Hearing those words and feeling that malicious and dangerous shift in the atmosphere suffocated Clementine. Cold sweat ran down her back, and her instincts screamed like crazy.
At that moment, only one thought crossed her mind.
'Run! Run, or you'll die,' her mind cried desperately.
Alas, it was already too late.
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