A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

But the next second, a silver light shimmered amidst the dust.

"Ding!"

"Ta-da!!!"

The waltz between weapons is not over.

The fierce winds generated by their battle scattered the dust.

“The way you use the dagger… has changed too much.” Bray’s sword pressed down on Gureed’s dagger as he spoke in a deep voice.

"Should I praise your keen observation?" Gurid laughed maniacally.

Bray had fought with Goreid and knew his skill with daggers.

However, in just over a year, his skills improved dramatically.

This is not an improvement that can be achieved through practice.

"Haven't you ever thought that if I can obtain the power of a demon, why can't I obtain the skills of a demon?"

The martial arts skills of the Bronze type are far superior to those of the Iron type.

Moreover—

“And I have someone playing for me.” Gureed’s expression twisted, sending chills down one’s spine.

"Substitute?" Bray frowned after deflecting Gureed's attack.

What Gurid said was a bit inexplicable, but what was certain was that this guy's method of improving his skills was similar to what he had done after meeting the great hero.

These are combat skills that are "forced" into you, rather than solid fundamental skills that you accumulate over time.

"However, in a way, I really have to thank you."

"Without you, I wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to look for other things."

Gullid was like a man-eating beast, constantly "tearing" at Bray.

His language, like his dagger, is violent and dangerous at every turn.

If they could kill Bray, the other party would definitely stop at nothing.

"Clang!" With a deafening sound, both of them were thrown back by the other's attack.

Without anyone knowing, both of them were covered in blood.

Some are their own, and some are on the other side.

Gullid stood on the opposite side of Bray, spitting out the blood in his mouth.

Blood flowed down his forehead and down to the corner of his eye.

Blood red and dark green were surprisingly blended together without any sense of incongruity.

"Tch, this thing really is cheating." A disheveled Gurid wiped the blood from his face.

The blood blurred his vision, so it had to be wiped away.

In a fight against Bray, even a single mistake could mean death.

The reason he said Bray was cheating wasn't because the opponent was particularly strong.

Rather, they are simply impossible to kill.

Bray carried two swords, and although his clothes were covered in blood, his body was surprisingly clean.

The healing effect of the Heavenly Fox Tears is not the kind of high-speed regeneration in the usual sense; it's more like a direct return to the state before the injury.

In fact, this can no longer be explained simply by having strong vitality.

As expected, nothing of the gold standard is simple.

“You can’t kill me,” Bray said.

"Of course I know, and I never thought I could kill someone with over a hundred lives." Gureed suppressed his madness and regained his composure.

When Gureed is calm, he is completely different from the mad dog he was before.

It's fair to say they're practically two different people.

“Sherlock, that’s enough.” He shouted, and the eerie green in his pupils quietly faded.

His violent aura subsided.

Even after completely sealing off Bray's magic, he still couldn't defeat him.

If magic were not sealed, Bray could easily cleave the sky and shatter the earth with a single sword strike.

Even if he intentionally destroyed a city, he could do it easily.

No... It would be more than enough to destroy an entire province.

It would take an countless army to fight against Bray.

Bray is now practically a human monster, but he clearly has no intuition whatsoever.

“Hey, Brayclas.” Goodreed knew Bray’s name.

Whether this was something Bray mentioned unintentionally or something he looked up himself, we have no way of knowing.

But one thing is certain: he knew Bray's full name.

An ordinary name.

"..." Bray didn't speak, but looked at Gurid with a puzzled expression.

After Gurid withdrew his murderous intent, Bray also had no intention of continuing the fight, because his goal was not to kill his opponent, but simply to dismantle the airship.

Do you know what it feels like to keep your head down and stare at that dark ground?

"..."

“It’s disgusting,” Gulid said quietly, without any obvious emotional fluctuation.

"..."

“I hate guys like you who look up at the stars,” he said to Bray.

Do you believe that everything has a chance?

“I hate you too,” Bray replied, without giving a specific reason.

He simply disliked Gurid instinctively, but not in a way that made him want to kill him.

It's as if something in my mind is rejecting Goode.

“I know, of course I know.” Gurid calmly sheathed his dagger, and the dense demon tattoos on his body disappeared.

He turned around, showing no fear that Bray might suddenly attack him.

Goodrid's goal was to stop Bray from dismantling the airship, and now that he had achieved his goal, he naturally wouldn't bother with that monster Bray any longer.

Fighting Bray has a near-zero chance of victory, and most importantly, there are no gains whatsoever.

Even if he killed Bray, Gullid wouldn't feel much better, wouldn't make much money, and wouldn't gain any fame.

This year, Bray is not even twenty-one years old.

---

On the flattened mound, Levy crouched down, tears welling in her eyes QAQ.

She was telling herself to be strong and to wait for Bray to come back.

Bray was only gone for two or three hours; she can definitely keep going.

Levy thought to herself, her tail drooping.

Mine, mine, mine...

It's only been a few hours, and Bray said he'd be back soon.

"Waaaah!! Bray's gone, Bray's gone!" Finally, Levy couldn't hold back her tears any longer TAT, and tears the size of soybeans streamed down her face.

The burly adventurer who was healing his wounds nearby watched helplessly as the little girl cried, not knowing what to say.

The guy who cleaved the missile in two with his sword seems to have left the little girl behind and gone off to do something else.

"Um..." the burly man tried to speak.

"Waaaaah!! Bray! Bray can't die!" Levy burst into tears, completely ignoring the burly man's words.

After crying his fill, he lay on the ground like a crippled lion.

She's just a salted fish, and salted fish is her; it doesn't matter what happens to her.

But not long after she lay down, Levy's tail started wagging on its own.

"Mine-laying search radar activated!"

Levy suddenly sprang to her feet, startling the burly man.

After she got up, she rushed toward Bray with lightning speed, and then saw Bray's figure a second later.

"It's Bray!" Levy's expression changed from before, and she excitedly pounced on him.

She threw herself on Bray and immediately smelled the strong stench of blood.

"Is Bray hurt?" she asked, tilting her head in Bray's arms.

“No.” Bray shook his head. He wasn’t injured, he had just died once.

But as Goodrid said, dying once is nothing to Bray, who has over a hundred lives.

Moreover, these hundred-plus lives can recover on their own.

However, Bray was very curious about how Goode knew how many lives his vitality could sustain.

"Then why is there so much blood on Bray?" Levy asked, looking at the blood-stained clothes with a puzzled expression.

“I accidentally got someone else’s blood on me,” Bray said.

But as soon as he said it, Bray realized something was wrong.

That sounds just like something an executioner would say.

"Oh!" Levy, pretending to understand, immediately responded.

"Going back?" Levy asked quickly; she wanted to go home.

“Go back.” Bray nodded; he had to rush back to see what was happening in the capital.

I hope nothing serious happens. Bray kept praying that nothing bad would happen in the capital.

But as it turns out, prayer was of no use.

When he brought Levy back, the capital had already been bombed by armed airships.

Although the capital city evacuated its population, there were virtually no casualties.

However, the city itself suffered a severe blow and will not recover for several years.

In order to prevent the losses from escalating further, the acting emperor of the empire, Carrasco, stepped forward and led a small group to the capital of the federation to negotiate peace.

This is undoubtedly extremely dangerous.

But for the sake of the empire, he had no choice but to do this, and this is probably what the Federation wanted to see as well.

It is unrealistic to destroy an empire with a single declaration of war, so the purpose of war is to gain "benefits".

The empire paid a heavy price in exchange for a brief truce.

I wonder if those people in the Federation are grinning from ear to ear after they got the benefits.

Bray didn't know; all he could do was look at his house, smashed to pieces, and stroke Levy's hair.

Ultimately, I wasn't strong enough. If I had been able to defeat Gurid instantly back then, none of this would have happened.

No... Even if I kill Gurid instantly, I'll only be blocking one airship.

"Our home is gone."

"Nothing's working." Bray sighed.

“Bray isn’t completely useless,” Levy said angrily from the side, though it was unclear what she was angry about.

For a period of time after that, Bray spent his time repairing houses and doing commissions.