Chapter 33 – The Girl's War

“I… will… kill you!” Just as Punk was feeling quite satisfied with his “masterpiece,” a hoarse yet deeply furious roar exploded beside him, brimming with endless hatred that seemed to seep from the very depths of Hell’s Abyss!

A Girl Warrior clad in light armor had just withdrawn her longsword from the chest of a Konola City Guard. It appeared she had burst forth with Battle Aura to leap onto the city wall. Now, this beautiful maiden—who would undoubtedly be considered goddess-tier on Earth—was glaring fixedly at Punk with tear-filled eyes burning with hatred. The hilt of her longsword creaked under the tight grip of her gauntleted hands. The violently fluctuating Battle Aura, stirred by intense grief and rage, caused her tattered armored skirt to flutter upward, revealing jade-like legs stained with some grime yet still pure and lovely.

“It seems your friend unfortunately became… well… a gloriously fallen warrior,” Punk lightly gestured toward a patch of scorched earth below the city wall.

“You bastard, you scoundrel! You actually killed Tzikal! I will absolutely, definitely not… you vile—” Before the Girl Warrior could finish her sentence, Punk directly activated the Gaika Flame Dart stored in his staff. Terrifying flames shot straight toward the Female Knight’s head, the tornado-like burst of scorching blaze engulfing both the Girl Warrior and the surrounding Konola City Defense Army. Soldiers nearby, whether ally or enemy, were instantly reduced to charcoal in the conflagration.

Seizing the opportunity while the Gaika Flame Dart obstructed the Girl Warrior’s vision, Punk rapidly retreated. As a mage, keeping distance from combat professionals was absolutely essential!

The Girl Warrior burst out from the blazing dust stirred up by the flames. Though she had defended against Punk’s attack with her Battle Aura, she was clearly heavily drained. As she gasped for breath, her full chest heaved up and down, and combined with her tattered armor, a unique sensuality bloomed like a flower on the battlefield!

But Punk was never one to cherish beauty or show mercy—not in the past, not in the future, and certainly not now! Even if it were not just one flower but an entire garden, he would not hesitate to blast it all to bits with a spell!

Seeing her emerge from the flames, Punk took advantage of the Girl Warrior’s momentary recovery to launch another Catapult Spell. Several times more powerful than the apprentice-ranked Minor Catapult, this spell possessed the terrifying speed of over thirty times the velocity of sound. A Gold Coin (he was just that wealthy) emitting an ear-piercing shriek shot toward the Girl Warrior’s eyes, which radiated piercing hatred, with the speed of lightning!

“Clang!!!” At the critical moment, the Girl Warrior swung her sword with shadow-like speed. The Battle Aura-infused side of her iron sword deflected Punk’s Gold Coin, leaving a deep pit in the city wall.

“Wow, not bad!” Punk continued to assail the Girl Warrior with various low-cost spells while swiftly retreating under the effect of Swiftness Spell, knocking aside any ordinary soldiers blocking his path. Already pushed to her limits from the intense exertion, the girl could no longer use Combat Skills to close the distance between herself and Punk, forced instead to defensively endure his magical assaults!”You despicable scoundrel! Your cruel methods have not only insulted our warriors and… and the brave Tzikal, but you’ve even dragged your own comrades into the attack! Don’t you feel any shame?” Tears streamed down the girl’s smooth cheeks as she hoarsely roared her accusations at Punk.

“Unfortunately, while I’m aware this approach does align with the broad definition of cruelty…” Punk gazed coldly at the furious Girl Warrior, “…I… feel absolutely nothing.” Punk softly uttered these words that came from the deepest, most sincere part of his heart.

The Female Knight seemed stunned, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Punk as if looking at some indescribable, incomprehensible… monster…

“Rather, that waste called Karl or whatever seems to matter so much to you. Is he your lover? Wow~ What a pity. Now…” Punk made a gesture of surveying the corpses scattered below the city walls, “…if you hurry, you might still be able to collect some of his ashes. Of course, if your little lover didn’t have any distinguishing features… it might be quite difficult to dig him out from that pile of disgusting roasted meat!”

With detached yet mocking tones, Punk mercilessly tore open the girl’s bleeding wounds. The already grief-stricken maiden, under Punk’s cold “taunts”, angrily cracked her pearly white teeth, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

“I… WILL… KILL… YOU——”! Like a bereaved beast crying out in despair, the girl growled her furious words in a low voice. Raising her Battle Aura-infused gleaming longsword, she squeezed the last trace of Battle Aura from her petite body and charged toward Punk with complete abandonment of defense!

“Yaa~ AAAAAAAAH!”

With mad yet tragic roars, with revenge carved deep into her bones, the Girl Warrior’s longsword swept down fiercely toward Punk at a diagonal angle… but the sensation of slicing through flesh she had imagined never came. The “Punk” that had been cleaved in two by her full-powered Combat Skill slowly distorted into an illusion in the air, then dissipated without a trace…

“Farewell, unknown warrior.”

By the time the dazed girl realized what had happened, the real Punk was standing at least five meters diagonally behind where the illusion had been severed, calmly watching the pale-faced girl who had exhausted all her Battle Aura.

In truth, the moment Punk ceased his backward movement, he had already cast an Apprentice-Level conjuration spell—Minor Illusion—during the brief gap between simple spellcasting. Though this spell that relied on distorting light to create mirages was structurally simple, perfectly deceiving an enemy’s line of sight was extremely difficult. Thus, it rarely fooled more rational opponents. However, the Girl Warrior, enraged by Punk, had her mind completely filled with fury. Having resolved to perish together with her enemy, she was far from rational. Combined with Punk’s System-assisted precise analysis, the created “mirage” almost perfectly distorted the light reaching the Girl Warrior’s eyes, causing her final desperate attack to end in complete failure.”Damn it, I… how can I… fall in such a place… I haven’t… avenged Tzikal yet!” The Girl Warrior wept bitterly, mustering all her strength to lean on her longsword, her body trembling as she attempted to rise once more.

But Punk had no intention of waiting for the girl to unleash any “cosmo”—nor could she possibly possess such a thing. This was a cruel world where concepts like cosmo never existed!

The blinding gleam of a Gold Coin flickered briefly at Punk’s crystalline fingertips before a Catapult Spell shot forth with precision, ruthlessness, and finality toward the girl’s head, now utterly devoid of Battle Aura’s protection…

Countless fragmented and scattered, brilliant yet bloody blossoms erupted across Konora’s city walls, splattering everywhere under the indifferent gaze of Punk amidst the shattered ruins.

(End of Chapter)