Not An Enemy You Meet At The Beginning (3)

At Arka’s shout, the wolves lunged at us.

I immediately drew the cursed blade from my waist.

I ran the edge across the muzzle of the charging wolf, spun, and cut down the next one.

I plunged straight into the pack, dealing with wolves attacking from all sides.

It was terrifying.

But I could fight.

I could see their movements clearly.

Thanks to the special training, my body had been honed.

Increased strength and stamina.

Repeated sparring had also given me at least a little courage.

Still, swordsmanship and real combat experience weren’t so simple.

Frankly speaking, there was no way a single month of training could truly make them mine.

But I had the cursed blade.

“Phew—”

I moved in sync with the enemy’s breathing and landed a counterattack.

I had never properly played sports, and I had zero experience with martial arts or fighting.

Yet I could fight like this, all because of the cursed blade’s power.

Over the past month, I had explored how to use it.

What could it do besides spatial movement?

As a result, I learned something.

While the cursed blade was drawn, its power flowed into my body.

A temporary boost to my physical abilities.

And the way to wield the blade was conveyed to me through it.

How to grip it, how to stance, how to cut the enemy.

I was hopeless at swordsmanship, but once I held the cursed blade, my body moved on its own.

As if the memories dwelling within the blade were being projected.

It even felt like someone else was moving my body for me.

It was a little unsettling, but thanks to that, even an amateur like me could move like a master swordsman.

All right!

Wolves were nothing to worry about.

I got a little carried away.

A wolf that had been hiding leapt at me from behind.

“—!”

“Icicle Lance.”

A spear of ice pierced through the wolf.

It seemed Erika had cast a spell to save me.

“Don’t let your guard down, okay?”

“S-sorry.”

Her gentle smile was terrifying.

The will behind it—don’t you dare die here—cut deeper than the wolf’s fangs.

On the other side, Arka was putting on a spectacular performance.

“There you go!”

He swung a sword larger than his own body with ease.

An unimaginable level of strength for such a slender frame.

In no time, he scattered the pack of wolves.

“Phew, that should be all of them, right?”

“Seems so. I don’t sense any more.”

After Erika used magic to scan the surroundings, our victory over the wolves was confirmed.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Everyone, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“Me too!”

“I’m fine as well.”

“I see. Then it seems I didn’t get a turn this time.”

Semirena smiled happily as she said that.

Her role was recovery and support.

Thanks to her barrier protecting the carriage and Erika, we were able to fight freely.

As long as we were alive, she could heal our injuries with her prayers—she was an indispensable member of this party.

“Yes! We won!”

Arka cheered excitedly.

He looked like a child, but I was pumping my fist inside my heart as well.

The results of this past month were real.

If we kept gaining experience like this, maybe we could really get strong enough to defeat the Demon King someday.

For the first time, I could see a glimmer of hope.

That was when it happened.

A shiver ran through me.

My spine felt like it had frozen.

Erika noticed me trembling.

“Soji?”

“I-I still feel this chill…”

“You’re not actually catching a cold, are you?”

Erika gave me an exasperated look.

That couldn’t be it.

I had assumed the chill came from sensing the wolves.

But even after defeating them, it didn’t fade.

The chill only grew stronger.

My body trembled.

This wasn’t cold.

By the time I realized it was fear, I was already facing despair.

“So the info about the Hero’s party setting out was real, huh?”

“—!”

A single demon appeared before us.

It looked every bit like a demon—red eyes, black, hardened-looking skin.

Surprisingly slender, with demonic wings, a tail, and horns.

It matched perfectly the demon appearances Erika had shown us in her lessons.

On top of that, an overflowing, sinister magical aura…

I knew it instinctively.

This was bad.

All of us took a stance at once.

Fighting down our fear, Arka questioned the demon.

“W-what are you!?”

“Nice to meet ya! I’m one of the seven commanders of the Demon King’s army—Barbatos-sama!”

“A-a commander!?”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Why was a Demon King commander in a place like this!?

Wait a second!

Wasn’t this supposed to be inside the safe borders of the Kingdom of Etoile!?

I glanced at Erika.

Even she looked shaken—sweat was trickling down her forehead.

“Why is a Demon King commander in a place like this?”

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious? By the Demon King-sama’s order, I’m here to eliminate dangerous elements like you.”

“W-what…!”

What was that Demon King thinking!?

What was wrong with this world!?

Normally, you throw weak enemies at the Hero first and let them grow, right!?

That’s how it’s supposed to go!

Who throws a commander at them right from the start!?

Don’t you know the basics at all!?

I screamed inwardly.

But this was no time for that.

What should we do?

Should we fight here?

Our opponent was a commander.

“A commander or not! We’re here to defeat the Demon King!”

“Arka!”

Arka raised his greatsword and swung at Barbatos.

Despite his fear, he charged bravely—he looked more like the Hero than I did.

But her powerful strike was easily caught by Barbatos.

“Wha—”

“Lightweight attack. Is that all you’ve got?”

Barbatos brushed aside the greatsword and kicked Arka away.

He went flying, gouging the ground, until he crashed near me.

“Ow…”

“A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine! This is nothing!”

He jumped back up.

Seeing that he wasn’t seriously hurt made me breathe easier.

“Heh, you’re pretty tough. I’ll smash you until you break.”

“I won’t lose!”

Arka tried to charge again.

I grabbed his shoulder reflexively and stopped him.

“Wait! Don’t rush in blindly!”

“Why!? They’re the Demon King’s army!”

“Exactly! That’s why! We can’t beat him like this!”

I knew it instinctively.

Even at full strength, we couldn’t match Barbatos.

Arka, one of the strongest in our party, had his attack stopped with ease.

We couldn’t even scratch him.

“We retreat for now!”

“I agree.”

“Ugh…”

“Arka.”

“O-okay…”

With Erika’s agreement and Semirena’s persuasion, Arka reluctantly accepted the retreat.

I understood how he felt, but we couldn’t win.

If we got wiped out here, it would be a bad joke.

“You think I’ll let you escape?”

“—!”

The problem was how to escape from him.

Erika grabbed my arm.

“Gather up! We’re jumping!”

The next instant, we vanished from in front of Barbatos.

“—! So you can use spatial transfer. Not bad.”