Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

Fem was still waiting in silence.

"Can't let this one go, can you!?"

Cedric followed immediately, clutching his last remaining weapon, a large hatchet. He wanted to throw his weapon again to see if she would avoid it, but he couldn't possibly throw all of his weapons.

Fem looked on in silence.

"This time for sure... I'll slice you."

Gerald placed all his strength into his sword and gave a loud battle-cry. He chose to use a stab. With the full momentum he possessed, he was going to pierce and kill her. He ran, intending to hit the crystal behind him if she tried to evade.

Fem met the attack — in silence.

Sorry for being abrupt, but let's have a little review.

What are the requirements of a good adventurer? And how well does Gerald Layson possess such requirements? That's what this review is going to focus on.

First of all, they are competent. I would certainly not have any complaints in this condition. A swordsman who once slayed a dragon, and during this adventure, killed a manticore and a mithril golem with one strike, how could he not be considered competent?

Secondly, madness. No problem in this respect either. The way he challenged the machine gun with his scimitar. His willingness to put his and his allies’ lives in the hands of a fleeting momentary revelation. In any case, it was not sane at all. He was a madman.

Last but not least, luck. I'm sure you'll disagree with me on this one, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it.

Gerald Layson was a lucky man. Undoubtedly, he was a very lucky man.

Here's the scene to prove it.

"...............Eh?"

Someone from The Scarlet Shield let out an out-of-place voice.

The voice was either Cedric or Gotsch. Or it could have been Ninon. Whoever it was, it was not something to expect to hear from an adventurer in a battle.

Gerald was very lucky to not show confusion like that.

Then something crashed into the stone wall. It sounded like a leather bag full of water.

And the sound of Fem's feet zipping across the floor.

Finally, with a light crunch, what looked like a broken fang fell to the floor.

"Ge...rald?"

Ninon's gaze wandered around, searching for their leader. In the midst of a battle with an enemy of unprecedented strength, it was out of the question to take her eyes off her opponent. But she had to do it. It was not a problem that can be dismissed, because the leader of the party has gone missing in the middle of battle.

In the end, she finally caught sight of her leader.

Only his lower half remained and it was stuck to the walls. It was like a carriage squashing a frog.

"Huh? ...Eh?"

For a moment, silence reigned in the innermost hall of the temple. Cedric and Gotsch, who had leapt at their opponent, stopped in mid-air and landed on their feet. Fem looked around at the stiffened adventurers, steam billowing from every part of her body.

The only sound was Ninon's confused voice.

Fem lightly shaked her right fist.

"Report. 2cm crack on fist. Was it impossible to not receive damage?"

A tiny scar on the back of her hand.

That was all Gerald had done to her.

"Impossible...!"

Cedric shuddered as he realised what had just happened.

The three men of the Scarlet Shield were trying to attack her. Fem then chose Gerald to counter. She then swung her fist at him.

That was all it took.

The impact of her fist shattered the dragon fang scimitar and blew Gerald’s body into halves. One half vaporised, while the other half was smashed onto the wall. Surely it was an instant death. Clearly no human could have survived that.

Cedric wailed in despair. There was hatred in Gotsch’s eyes. Ninon’s gaze wandered, as if unable to accept reality.

Let me reiterate it. Gerald Layson was a fortunate man.

He never had to experience the sorrow of losing a comrade. He was the first to die.

He reached the peak of his life. He died in the true spirit of a warrior — in the midst of a battle with a powerful enemy.

He felt no pain, no regrets. There was simply no time given for him to feel such emotions.

To those who were involved with the monster hidden in the temple, his death was one of the easiest.

"...Auto Repair, operational. Recovery, complete."

And the wounds he left on her disappeared without a trace. This was the result of the final blow of the dragon slayer known as ‘Red Lion’, who risked his all to unleash.

And this was part of his good fortune once again, as he did not have to witness this scene.

"Arghhhhhhh!!!!"

A shadow jumped forward at the same time as the scream.

His twin dragon claws glowed. Gotsch was now in a rage. He threw away his usual calmness and swung his twin swords at the enemy. The shouting was not the result of his explosive breathing. It was just a long, drawn-out cry of anger. The party's scout, a man of calm, had given way to murderous intent and hatred.

Fem turned to him in silence and opened her arms wide, while wondering what he was doing.

"You bastard! How dare you.... to Gerald!!!"

Gotsch no longer had the calm to consider the strange response from her. If she wanted to expose herself, then he would gladly cut right through her.

Die! Die! Die!

That was all he thought as he slammed his twin dragon claws down.

"How dare you…! Our leader! Our hope! Dieeeeee!!!"

Every slash he did, streams of tears flowed down his cheeks. Normally he acted more cheekily within the party, but the truth was that he admired the leader more than anybody else. In the early days of his adventuring, when he was frustrated with his uselessness in battle, Gerald helped him train. He would never forget the feeling of happiness he felt when he was recognised as a member of the party. Whenever he disagreed with the leader, they would discuss and come to an acceptable conclusion. And so, while sometimes clashing with each other, and other times putting full trust in one another, they reached the ranks of heroes. And this damn thing killed their irreplaceable leader...

"Warning. Accuracy is reducing..."

—Clank. Suddenly, his two daggers were fixed in place. Fem grabbed Gotsch's weapons, stopping the attack.

"Question. What is wrong? The previous person provided more meaningful battle data. I request a do-over."

There was not even a scratch on the face or body of the monster. Even though Gotsch's attacks have lost some of their usual precision, his weapons were the dragon claws enhanced by his life force. How sturdy was she that not a single cut seemed to have appeared on her?

"... Aaaaah! Aaahhhh! Aaahhhh!!!"

When the weapon was suppressed, Gotsch started to headbutt her. How could a headbutt damage her when all the slashes did nothing? He had lost all his senses and all he cared about was to attack his opponent.

Fem let out a sigh at such madness. Her face and her posture showed no signs of wavering as she received the repeated headbutts.

"This is a waste of time. I give up."

"No! Gotsch, get away!"

Cedric's advice was too late. Well, even if it was on time, he would not have listened anyways.

Gotsch, with blood streaming from his forehead, continued to deliver headbutts.

"... Hunh!"

In return for the continuous headbutts, Fem blew his head away.

The headless corpse of Gotsch fell on its back with a shock. All the blood that flowed out of him, together with the gray matter and pieces of flesh, was sprinkled on the floor. Instead of avenging his leader, he died without even scratching his foe.

"Go-Gotsch, ...It can’t be, then Mr. Gerald too...?"

Ninon finally woke up from her stupor after being shown the death of another party member. But that didn’t mean things were going to get any better. Already the party had been reduced to half its original size and the fallen members were the ones responsible for most of their firepower. Cedric was the party’s shield and Ninon was the party’s healer. The two of them have no way of dealing a decisive blow against a monster that was unharmed by the claws and fangs of a dragon. Ninon’s sacred magic would not be effective at all.

In what was effectively a dead end situation, Cedric made a call.

"Run, Ninon. I'll hold her off here."

"C-Cedric?"

With his shield at the ready, he stood in front of the enemy with his only remaining comrade at his back. He was a man of valour. It was a magnificent sight to behold.

But the situation was far too dire for admiration. Even if Ninon fled, there were countless golems roaming the ruins. They may be inflexible, but they have better perception than the average monsters in the Trees of Darkness. Also, the tools adventurers use to dazzle their enemies were often designed for use against biological monsters. It was a tough enemy for an A-ranked priest to overcome on her own.