Episode 17 – The Gargoyle III
Nada and the gargoyle hesitated for a moment, then immediately closed the distance.
Both thrust their weapons straight like arrows. Their weapons grazed past each other’s sides, the tips aiming for their faces, but Nada twisted his neck to dodge, and the gargoyle deflected the attack with its horn.
The gargoyle instantly shifted its body and spun. Its tail whipped around like a lash. Nada ducked under it and flicked his crescent blade upward from below.
However, the gargoyle leapt high into the air, so the blow ended with only a shallow cut, and from above its glaive came crashing down. Nada jumped back to dodge again, but as if expecting that, the gargoyle thrust the glaive forward. It struck Nada’s chestplate cleanly, but slid across the armor. Nada took almost no damage, though an unpleasant sound rang out—metal fittings breaking.
Stepping back to gain distance as if fleeing the gargoyle, one of the joints on Nada’s chestplate gave way, and part of the shoulder armor slowly fell to the ground. After enduring so many ferocious attacks from the gargoyle, the fasteners had given out first. Nada had no leisure to care and immediately rushed in to slash at the gargoyle.
With his doubts blown away, Nada found he could observe and think through the fight with composure.
Even so, trading countless blows with the gargoyle, he realized clearly that this battle was stacked against him.
Each time they crossed blades, each time he dodged the gargoyle’s strikes, pain lingered in his body, and his armor took more damage.
He had sworn to defeat the gargoyle.
But he was forced to feel just how harsh and rugged the path ahead truly was.
Nada’s resolve and mindset had changed, but his actual combat power had not. His strength hadn’t suddenly increased, nor had he gained a new Ability or Gift. His weapon was the same as always.
To win, he needed—an accent, something extra.
Nada was now near the path leading deeper inside.
The gargoyle flew out as if leaping and planted itself in the way, blocking the path. With its glaive at the ready, it lunged forward for a body slam.
Nada tried to dodge, but the gargoyle stepped in one more pace and spun its glaive. Nada reacted and blocked with his crescent blade, but was crushed from above and blown away.
Apparently, the gargoyle didn’t want to let anyone pass beyond that point.
It seemed the gargoyle had its own reason to win.
Of course, Nada had no intention of losing either.
Lost in those thoughts, Nada was blasted several meters away.
By chance, he slammed into the wall right beside the entrance.
As Nada raised his gaze toward the gargoyle, the corner of his vision caught the figure of an adventurer.
—It was Iris.
She immediately curved her lips into a smile.
—Need a hand?
Nada felt as if he heard her voice.
A sense of nostalgia washed over him. Back when they were in Aghiya—when Iris was still the leader—Nada had often worked as the vanguard or protected the rear. They had encountered hordes of monsters many times. And every time, once Iris noticed the situation, she would say something just like that in a small, clear voice.
Now it was practically a conditioned reflex; just seeing her lips move made the memory replay.
Nada’s reply from those days was always the same.
Holding the crescent blade in his left hand alone, he used his tightly clenched right fist to strike twice over the left side of his chest, where his heart was, refusing Iris’s assistance.
It was a hand sign he often used back in Agiya.
Its meaning: Leave this to me. Or I’m fine.
In short, no backup needed—he would push through on his own.
Iris returned his gesture with a smile, and silently sheathed the rapier she had drawn.
And just like always, she quietly spun her usual words.
“O god, grant that hero the glory known as victory—”
Nada thought it was unnecessary meddling, but he accepted Iris’s gift without complaint.
A senior he respected was certain he would win.
There was no greater comfort than that.
Then Nada quickly unbuckled the pouch at his waist and anything else weighing him down—
and bit down on the last Ferocious Tiger Pill, crushing it.
◆◆◆
Nada and the gargoyle both closed the distance at the same time.
Their weapons—Green Dragon Crescent Blade and glaive, two massive polearms—clashed together.
When Nada brought his downward strike from above, the gargoyle swept it up from below, deflecting it. As the gargoyle spun and whipped its tail, Nada blocked and guided it aside with the pole of his crescent blade, both of them fighting without taking a single step back.
Whether it was because Nada’s hesitation had vanished, or the boost from Ferocious Tiger, or the pressure of being watched by his senior—or perhaps Iris’s gift—Nada was actually holding his own against the gargoyle’s relentless techniques.
Right now, despite the difference in race, their abilities were evenly matched.
So even with the difference in weight, neither could simply overpower the other. Nada blocked the gargoyle’s glaive; the gargoyle blocked Nada’s crescent blade.
As they circled and clashed, their positions shifted little by little.
Nada moved as if luring the gargoyle toward the cluster of crystalline ice pillars—those very pillars the gargoyle had dropped earlier in an attempt to kill him. Their tips were sharp enough to embed themselves into the floor. Each was about two meters long, enough to hide Nada’s body if he crouched.
Weaving through them, Nada disappeared from the gargoyle’s line of sight and, still hidden, launched a sudden assault from the right.
The gargoyle took the blow, but its thick muscles made the wound shallow. It quickly pinpointed Nada’s location and swung its glaive in a wide arc. It didn’t care about the pillars—its strike smashed through several of them as it swept toward Nada.
Nada never saw it coming from behind the ice. The blow hit his waist. Thanks to his armor, he was barely injured, but the impact rattled his body, and even his sturdy surcoat was cleanly torn apart.
After that, Nada stopped trying to hide behind the pillars. He smashed through them like sugar sculptures as he attacked the gargoyle. The gargoyle did the same.
While clashing, the two warriors sent shards of crystal spraying everywhere. Each swing of their polearms shattered more of the ice, scattering it like glitter—as if celebrating their battle.
It looked beautiful, almost nothing like a fight to the death.
A battle that should have reeked of blood and grime looked more like a choreographed performance.
But this battle was definitely grinding away their lives.
With every strike, pieces of Nada’s armor peeled away; with every strike, the gargoyle’s skin split and bled.
The Green Dragon Crescent Blade, though sturdy, was slowly shifting out of alignment under the countless impacts, and the gargoyle’s glaive—abused by its wild strength—had chips forming along its blade.
The end was near.
Nada, almost down to bare body beneath the remnants of his armor, sensed it instinctively.
The gargoyle’s harsh snorts sounded like it sensed the same.
Nada stepped back from the exchange and threw a fallen throwing knife at the gargoyle.
The gargoyle dodged with a glide.
Nada forced his ragged breathing into order and waited for the gargoyle to come.
The gargoyle skimmed low and slashed at Nada in a single pass. Nada struck it downward as if pressing it toward the ground. The gargoyle immediately kicked off the floor to knock aside Nada’s polearm, but by then Nada had already moved to its flank. Gripping the crescent blade near the blade with his left hand and pulling the shaft with his right, he slashed at the gargoyle’s side.
Shallow. The gargoyle’s hardened muscles stopped it from becoming fatal.
The gargoyle kicked Nada in the abdomen to push him back, then slammed the tip of its glaive down again. Nada blocked it, but this time the tail came right after. Nada braced himself and took it—
His chest caved under the blow, ribs snapping and scraping his lung.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Staining the corner of his lips red, Nada swung the crescent blade downward with his full body weight, slicing off the gargoyle’s left wrist. Black blood spurted like a fountain. Howling, the gargoyle swung its glaive one-handed. One of its attacks tore open Nada’s abdomen, sending more blood flying, though not deep enough for his organs to spill out. But then the gargoyle kicked the wound with its hoof. Nada’s stomach caved in, and his injury worsened drastically. Even so, Nada didn’t lose. As he took the blow, he thrust the crescent blade upward, using the impalement to soften the gargoyle’s attack.
Nada, through a vision rapidly growing hazy, recalled a single line of advice.
—If you’re planning on using a spear, then make better use of thrusts—something a greatsword can’t do.
Spewing blood, Nada mustered the last of his strength.
He pulled the crescent blade out of the gargoyle.
The gargoyle let out a scream and began swinging its glaive wildly in all directions—there was no longer even a trace of reason left.
But before that overwhelming violence, Nada didn’t yield a single step. He crawled low across the ground, closing in on the gargoyle that was wielding its massive polearm like a short sword, and slashed at its shin. Still shallow. The next moment, the gargoyle smashed him from above with the butt end of its glaive. Having his chest struck, Nada once again spat blood onto the floor. When the gargoyle withdrew its weapon and tried to stomp him flat, Nada rolled away just in time.
He sprang to his feet—only for the gargoyle’s sweeping strike to come barreling at him.
Nada no longer dodged it. He didn’t block it either. His vision blurred from massive blood loss, his thoughts dulled by the searing agony coursing through him—yet what remained was the immense flame burning in his chest. That enormous heat alone sustained him.
Screaming, Nada accelerated the spear with his left hand, while pushing forward on the butt of the weapon with his right, and drove the Green Dragon Crescent Blade forward with all his might.
It pierced straight through the gargoyle’s neck, but the gargoyle’s glaive also struck Nada. Its momentum did not falter. The blow crashed into Nada’s breastplate, sending his body flying all the way to a distant wall. The impact slammed him so hard he could no longer get up. It seemed he had hit his head; blood trickled from his skull, and the wound in his abdomen showed no signs of stopping. Every breath brought a cough, and blood spilled from his mouth as well.
By then, the crescent blade had already left Nada’s hand and remained lodged in the gargoyle.
The gargoyle clutched its own neck with both hands and rampaged.
Its roar shook the chamber. The frenzied beast tore through the room, smashing crystal fragments and the remaining intact icicles scattered about, until its movements gradually weakened—and a few seconds later, it stopped completely.
Then the gargoyle returned to stone, crumbling like a ruined statue unable to maintain its form. As it collapsed, the crescent blade was pulled free and tumbled easily to the ground.
Half-dead, Nada watched this unfold, meeting the gargoyle’s gaze as its head toppled. Even now, its eyes glowed red.
As crystal shards fluttered down around him, Nada, with his consciousness fading, kept his eyes fixed on the shining light before him.
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