-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonita swung her sword up from below in a wide arc.
Swish!
Bonita's sword sliced right across the tiger's lower jaw.
Krrraaaang!
The tiger, which had been about to bite down on Bonita's upper body, paused in its tracks.
Bonita's sword then began to repeatedly slash at the tiger's neck and chest.
A barrage of sword strikes.
It was an attack method that directly reflected Bonita's usual swordsmanship tendencies.
In particular, Bonita Portis detested hesitation.
Her swordsmanship did not include hesitating or briefly retreating.
She would unconditionally charge in and exploit the opponent's weaknesses.
Once she succeeded in exploiting the first opening, Bonita's world would unfold from then on.
Swish! Chop!
The tiger struggled and flailed its front paws around, but Bonita's attacks were faster, more accurate, and more deadly.
Thud.
The massive tiger's body eventually toppled over to the side.
It was barely clinging to life, just wheezing.
"Ah, right!"
Only then did Bonita tap her head as if she had remembered something.
"They said it'd lose value if I made too many wounds!"
She had completely forgotten about it after seeing the tiger's threatening front paw attacks.
But oh well, there was nothing she could do about it.
She wasn't a professional hunter, after all.
How could she catch a tiger this big without leaving any wounds?
Bonita took out a long rope from the backpack she had been carrying and began to tie up the tiger.
Unless she called Nubes, it was impossible to carry this down the mountain alone.
After firmly securing the rope to the tiger's body, Bonita decided to drag it down the mountain.
Just then.
Swoosh.
A sharp whistling sound.
Bonita quickly ducked down.
Thud!
A long arrow pierced into the tiger's body behind Bonita.
"Who's there!"
"Hehehe."
"Hehe."
Large men began to emerge from the forest one by one.
There were nine of them in total, appearing with chilling smiles.
"We thought a guy would show up for the hunting game, but a beauty like this comes into the mountains. Hehehe."
"Should we thank the boss for giving us this kind of mission?"
The men slowly approached, licking their lips.
They were the mercenaries led by Kane.
It seemed that the mercenary leader Kane was not present, and only his subordinates had come.
Bonita bit her lip.
"You guys... were planning this from the start!"
Venato, who was also participating in this hunting competition, was among the group of mercenaries.
"I'll take good care of that tiger. Pretty lady."
A man with a large scar on his face next to Venato stepped forward with a swagger.
"How about the pretty lady plays with us for a while?"
The moment the swaggering man got somewhat close.
Tap.
Swish!
Bonita's sword was different from those of other academy students.
Her swordsmanship skills were, of course, outstanding, but.
In actual combat, she showed no hesitation or mercy.
"Cough!"
The swaggering man clutched at his neck and staggered backward.
Then, he collapsed with a thud.
Blood gushed out from his half-severed neck.
"That, that bitch! Attack!"
The mercenaries drew their respective weapons and charged in at the same time.
A combined assault by eight people.
Each and every one of them was a seasoned veteran, and they were well-coordinated due to their long mercenary activities.
Just when she tried to find an opening in one of them and stab her sword in, the others would charge in from the side or behind.
A one-on-eight battle.
She was somehow managing to avoid fatal injuries, but minor wounds began to increase.
She had already been kicked and rolled on the ground several times.
It was better to be kicked than to be hit by an ax, so there was no other choice.
Swish!
Bonita, still on the ground, threw herself forward and slashed at the ankle of one of the mercenaries.
"Aaargh!"
The mercenary with the severed ankle collapsed and rolled around on the ground.
'Seven left now.'
If she took them down one by one like this, she could win.
At that moment.
"You stupid bastards! What are you doing, still can't take down one little girl!"
It was the voice of the mercenary leader, Kane.
He must have started late, as Kane was coming up from the bottom of the mountain.
The battle briefly came to a standstill.
The mercenaries surrounded Bonita to prevent her from escaping.
Despair settled on Bonita's face for the first time.
The mercenary leader, Kane.
She remembered fighting him during the last traces heist.
Of course, it was a speed battle to quickly strike and retreat, but he was a difficult opponent even when Dabián and she were fighting him together.
'Latia ended up finishing it off.'
But this time, Dabián and Latia were not by Bonita's side.
Instead, Kane had seven subordinates with him.
'It's over. There's no point in fighting. It's too disadvantageous.'
She would exclude the lower part where Kane was coming up.
She decided on the side with the seemingly weakest guy among the remaining directions.
'Quickly break through and get out of here.'
The moment Bonita took a step to the right.
Swoosh!
Thud!
An arrow was planted right in front of Bonita's feet.
'Damn it!'
The first attack started with an arrow as well.
But none of the mercenaries who mixed swords with Bonita were holding bows.
'Damn it. I'm going to get completely screwed like this.'
Bonita looked at each of the mercenaries' faces.
It seemed like the entire mercenary group she saw in the plaza during the day had come.
That meant Leonel had also sent people here.
And a highly skilled archer at that.
'Leonel Specula. He deliberately sent an archer. To avoid being caught sending his own people.'
As expected, he was meticulous.
He sent his own people because he didn't trust the mercenary group, but if things went wrong, he would cut them off and put all the blame on the mercenary group.
"Hoo..."
Bonita took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Screw it. I'll kill you all. I don't hesitate like someone else. Never."
Bonita threw herself forward.
Swoosh.
As expected, an arrow flew in.
She lifted her sword and easily deflected the arrow.
As long as she wasn't running away with her back turned, she had nothing to fear from this level of arrow.
And.
Clang! Clang!
The direction Bonita threw herself was towards where Kane was coming up.
The mercenaries rushed in at once, and it became a chaotic mess again.
This would make it difficult for the archer to fire arrows.
Swish.
Kane also drew a large sword from the scabbard he was carrying on his back.
"Huff, huff."
Bonita was barely standing, holding her sword up.
Her body was covered in countless cuts, both large and small.
Her clothes were also torn and ripped in places, making it difficult to even recognize that it was an academy uniform.
Around her were six mercenaries who had been incapacitated and were lying on the ground.
Unfortunately, the mercenary leader Kane was not among them.
There were four mercenaries remaining, including Kane.
She had reduced their numbers a lot compared to the beginning, but Bonita's physical condition was not good at all.
"She was an incredible bitch."
"Guys like you don't scare me, no matter how many of you come."
"You can't even move properly now, and you're still bluffing. Do they teach that at Elton Academy?"
"Shut up! You cowardly ruffians."
"Ruffians? I'm a mercenary officially affiliated with the Mercenary Guild."
"The guild that accepted guys like you must be just as bad. Huff, huff."
She had only exchanged a few words, but her breathing, which she had barely calmed down, became rapid again.
In fact, her vision had been blurring for a while.
'It must be because I've lost too much blood.'
Suddenly, her deceased father's face came to mind.
'I won't go as meaninglessly as Dad did.'
Gritting her teeth.
She put a lot of strength into the fingers gripping the sword hilt, then released it again.
'I'll take at least one more with me.'
Kane, who had been catching his breath for a moment, shouted.
"Attack!"
The mercenaries were also injured to varying degrees.
But their long experience could not be ignored.
They attacked with a new combination tailored to the four-man system.
Clang!
The swords of Kane, who rushed in first, and Bonita collided strongly.
"Kuh!"
Her shoulder wound opened up, and she almost dropped her sword.
She spun her body to barely deflect Kane's attack.
Immediately following, another mercenary's attack came in.
'I can't block this.'
Bonita, who was about to lower her sword to defend, mustered all of her remaining inner energy.
A gap in the mercenary leader Kane came into Bonita's sight.
A gap that had been created because he had just swung his sword at Bonita.
It was a gap that wouldn't have occurred in a one-on-one battle, but they were currently in a combined attack.
In fact, a mercenary's sword was being swung towards Bonita's side.
As she concentrated all her senses, her peripheral vision blurred and only one point was visible.
'If I stab there.'
Kane would die.
And if she stabbed there.
Bonita's side would also be cut.
It didn't matter anymore.
This attack was the last one anyway.
'You're going with me, Kane.'
A touch-and-go situation.
A panoramic view that transcended the flow of time passed through Bonita's mind.
It was as if the world had stopped for a moment.
The panoramic view, which had started from when she was young, stopped at one point.
The day her father died.
Her father had always been the best swordsman to Bonita.
His attitude towards swordsmanship.
His skill.
Nothing seemed to be lacking.
Her father was the best.
In fact, Bonita's father was an excellent swordsman.
Bonita's talent was practically inherited from her father.
The day assassins infiltrated the family.
Even on that day, her father was the best swordsman to Bonita.
He cleanly cut down more than ten top-notch assassins with his swordsmanship.
Bonita watched without blinking as he defended his family, his back to her.
After defeating all the assassins.
The moment when he would kill all the assassins with the final strike.
The assassin knelt down and begged for his life in tears.
His weapon had already been thrown far away.
He pleaded that if he was spared, he would reveal everything about those who had ordered the assassination.
"I don't need it! How dare you try to harm my family. I already know who ordered it anyway. A bloody war will begin soon."
Despite the assassin's pleas, her father raised his sword again.
The desperate assassin shouted.
"I have an eight-year-old daughter! Please. Please let me see my daughter's face one last time."
The assassin threw off the mask he was wearing.
"My name is Ochishio. For an assassin to reveal his face and name is as good as being dead! I promise with my life and the honor of my family that I will come back and kill the one who ordered the assassination! Please... please just let me see my daughter's face one last time."
Bonita was eight years old at the time.
Bonita could see her father's sword hesitating.
Her father briefly turned back to check Bonita's face.
Bonita's eyes met her father's.
A warm smile that was hard to believe came from someone who had slaughtered ten elite assassins with just one sword.
Bonita also gave a bright smile to her father, whom she respected the most in the world.
At that moment.
Thud.
A hidden weapon that the assassin had taken out from his chest pierced her father's abdomen.
"You bastard!"
Swish.
Her father's sword cut the remaining assassin's body in half.
Thud.
Her father's body collapsed to the floor.
"Dad!"
Bonita could no longer see her father's strongest swordsmanship or the bright smile that warmed her heart.
The panoramic view ended there.
Memories up to the age of only eight.
The panoramic view ended and the world began to move again.
'Sorry, Dad. I haven't become the best swordsman yet.'
But.
'I won't hesitate like Dad did. Not in any moment. Never.'
Thud.
Comments
Post a Comment