Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

61. End Of War 3

As Nord thrust the emerald steel blade with vigor, the tip pierced through the spider’s carapace, slicing through flesh and deeply embedding itself into the marshal spider’s back.

A squelching sensation transmitted through Nord’s hands.

A moment later, blue blood began to seep from the base, then gushed out fiercely.

“Gyaaaah!?”

The marshal spider jerked its body once, then after a brief stiffening, it thrashed wildly, screaming.

It struggled to remove the foreign object from its back, moving its front limbs inward as far as the joints allowed, swinging them to rid itself of the source of intense pain.

“Guoooh!?”

On the marshal spider’s thrashing back, Nord also struggled desperately.

Amidst violent shaking that felt as if the world might flip, and deafening roars comparable to a dragon’s, Nord clenched his hands with all his might to avoid being thrown off.

The deeply embedded emerald steel blade widened the wound each time the marshal spider thrashed.

Blue blood spurted out like a geyser, its droplets floating in the air.

As the blue droplets splattered on him, Nord grimaced.

If all had gone as planned, Nord’s sword should have pierced the spider’s heart beneath its dorsal sac, killing it instantly.

However, the marshal spider, though screaming in agony, did not stop moving; instead, it thrashed more violently as the pain intensified. Clearly, no creature could perform such feats with a pierced heart.

“――Too shallow.”

The miscalculation was that the marshal spider’s heart was deeper than expected, and the thrust’s power was somewhat diminished due to prior exhaustion.

Just a bit deeper, and the outcome might have been different.

“Gruuuuaaaah!!”

“!?……Ugh…”

But Nord had no time to dwell on such thoughts.

The marshal spider’s movements to shake off the foreign object on its back became even more violent.

The intense shaking and impacts made Nord feel as if he were on a bucking horse.

(Ugh… This is bad.)

Clinging to the marshal spider’s back, Nord’s entire weight was supported by the sword’s hilt embedded in the spider’s back and his two hands gripping it.

But Nord’s stamina was nearly depleted from continuous battles, and his grip strength was weakening.

Nord felt his hands gradually losing strength.

If this continued, he would surely lose his grip and be thrown off.

And in that case, he would face the marshal spider without even a sword.

(I want to avoid that… But even if I pull out the sword now, it won’t be decisive. Though I’ve inflicted a deep wound, it’s not enough to kill.)

What should he do?

As the critical moment approached, cold sweat ran down Nord’s neck.

At that moment,

“Guoooh!”

Once again, the marshal spider thrashed violently. This time, it shook its body side to side, seemingly intent on throwing Nord off.

Amidst the violent shaking, Nord gathered all his strength in his hands to avoid being thrown off. But,

“Ugh…”

The spider’s blue blood spurted into Nord’s eye. The marshal spider’s thrashing had widened the wound on its back, causing the blood to gush out.

With his vision obscured and unable to wipe it off while clinging on, Nord closed his eyes and waited for the shaking to subside.

(Damn… The situation keeps getting worse. I guess I have to reset and try again to keep hope alive. But even if I pull out the sword to avoid the worst, how? I can’t brace myself to pull it out with this thrashing. Or maybe the widened wound makes it easier to pull out? But that’s also why I’m about to fall. If only I had one more sword…)

In the darkened vision, desperately enduring the shaking, Nord thought about what to do next.

In his accelerated thoughts, considering this and that, Nord suddenly arrived at an idea.

(The wound… Yes, the wound.)

Though it didn’t reach the heart, the spot where Nord had thrust into the marshal spider’s back was undoubtedly near the spider monster’s heart.

Nord was certain of that.

(The knight spiders and general spiders I defeated in summer, and the mutated knight spiders I just fought, are fundamentally the same monsters. Though their appearances and strengths differ, their ecology and body structures are the same.)

Therefore, undoubtedly, the heart, the absolute weak point, lies just beyond the sword tip Nord is clinging to.

The current problem isn’t whether to pull out the sword and fight or endure. It’s how to pierce that heart.

(Ideally, I should pull it out and thrust it again. That way, it would go deeper and surely reach the heart this time.)

A shiver ran down his spine.

Not from fear, but from his body instinctively confirming a way to break through the current situation, faster than his thoughts could process.

It was a reflex from unconsciously gathering his last strength in preparation for the counterattack.

(But if I pull out the sword in this unstable situation, I’ll lose my support and be thrown off the marshal spider’s back. How can I prevent that?)

The answer was simple.

――If only I had another sword.

Then, using the current sword as support, I could reach the heart.

And that sword――I already have it.

(Really… I’ve been relying on it till the end. Without this, I’d have been dead long ago.)

In Nord’s mind, a light, bell-like voice echoed.

‘This is a prototype, so its durability isn’t great. Assume it can only be used a few more times. Let’s say――’

He had used it twice so far. The first time was to escape from the spider army, and the second time was just moments ago to blind the marshal spiders.

‘――”Three more times.” That’s the number of uses left for this demon sword. ……But in return, I guarantee its power.’

The final strike was still in his hand.

§

And then, the moment arrived.

The marshal spider roared again.

To shake off the pesky bug clinging to its back.

To give this bug, the source of its agony, the punishment it deserved by throwing it to the ground.

The marshal spider’s massive body moved violently.

With a deep breath, Nord summoned the last reserves of his strength, gripping the sword hilt tightly.

Another violent shake assaulted Nord, clinging to the marshal spider’s back.

The marshal spider’s roar echoed through the forest, shaking the trees.

As the roar, which seemed to reach the distant northern mountains, filled his ears, Nord timed his move.

He leapt in the opposite direction of the marshal spider’s movement.

Using the slight protrusions on the spider’s smooth back as footholds, his leap was more like a sideways fall, but it had a tremendous effect.

Splaaash!!

The marshal spider’s movement, combined with Nord’s slight leap in the opposite direction, turned into a pseudo-powerful slash due to Nord’s full weight.

The emerald steel blade sliced through the spider’s carapace, the fat and muscles beneath, widening the wound.

Blue blood gushed out like a fountain.

“Gyaaaah!?”

For a moment, just a brief moment, the marshal spider’s movements slowed due to the intense pain.

And Nord did not miss that moment.

“This is the end.”

Summoning his last strength, Nord supported his weight with one hand gripping the emerald steel sword’s hilt, and with the other hand, he thrust the crimson-bladed dagger deeply into the spider’s gaping wound, shouting.

“――Flame, Ignis!”

Responding to the powerful words, the magic stone blade shattered.

The shattered blade melted, turning into a torrent of magic that rampaged inside the spider, then rushed to the small flame ignited at the sword tip.

Feeding on the poured-in magic, the demon sword’s flame rapidly expanded, growing into a fireball.

And then, the scorching flame exploded inside the marshal spider.

The demon sword’s power was immense.

The fireball generated inside the marshal spider burned through its heart, scorched its innards, and set its entire body ablaze, finally rushing outward in search of oxygen.

Simultaneously with the demon sword’s activation, Nord was blown off the marshal spider’s back by the explosion’s recoil, managing to land safely.

The first thing he saw was the marshal spider, now a burning wreck, flames erupting from its entire body, burning from within.

The marshal spider’s corpse stood burning for a while, then tilted and collapsed with a loud thud.

“Kyaaaah!?” “Gyaaaah!?”

Around him, the knight spiders’ army still gathered in large numbers, but they were visibly confused.

With their leader, the marshal spider, fallen, they seemed to have lost their collective coordination.

As Nord cut down a few of them, the spider army’s confusion grew.

To fight or retreat.

Their leader, the marshal spider, had just been slain before their eyes, now burning fiercely.

Unable to decide, as Nord slaughtered more spiders, some began to flee.

That was the trigger.

Like an avalanche, the spider army scattered, fleeing in all directions. Some still had the will to fight, while others froze in place, but Nord picked them off one by one.

After a while, nothing moved around Nord except the marshal spider’s still-smoldering corpse and the piled-up bodies of the slain spiders.

(Did I… win…?)

Thinking there might still be enemies, Nord scanned the surroundings, but there were none.

All he heard was the wind and the rustling of tree leaves.

Only the silence of Alba forest remained.

How long had he been like that?

Suddenly, as if a string had snapped, Nord’s posture collapsed.

He almost fell but managed to stay on his knees, using the sword for support.

He thought to rest a bit and leaned against a nearby tree.

The hard wood’s sensation through his broken armor brought an unexpected sense of relief.

His body was at its limit.

Every limb felt as heavy as lead, and he could barely feel anything.

Only the cold air he breathed in felt pleasant.

(What happened to everyone in Alba village…?)

The thought crossed Nord’s exhausted mind.

Did Newt make it safely? Was the evacuation in time?

(……Right, I can’t waste time here. I need to get to the village as soon as possible…)

Though he had defeated the marshal spider, the queen spider deep in the forest remained unharmed, along with her knight spiders.

The earlier spider army’s rout was merely temporary confusion from losing their leader.

Given time, the spider army’s invasion would resume.

Quickly, to the rescue.

With that thought, Nord tried to get up.

But,

(……Huh? That’s strange. My body won’t move… What’s wrong?)

Strange, Nord tried to move again.

But contrary to his will, his body didn’t budge.

(Now that I think about it, my body feels unusually cold. Why is that…?)

Trying to find the cause, his mind was too foggy to think clearly.

Unable to move even a finger, Nord could only shift his gaze.

There, he finally noticed.

Dawn had broken without him realizing.

Nord’s eyes caught the brightening sky.

Thick clouds covered the sky, with sunlight filtering through.

(Ah…)

In Nord’s vision, something white fluttered down.

(Snow…? Will it snow during the Spirit Festival…?)

Nord felt his strength gradually slipping away.

(I need to… get back… but I’m… sleepy…)

Little by little, little by little.

Nord’s consciousness faded.

Completely losing sensation in his limbs, his thoughts stopped, and his vision blurred.

(………………)

Gradually, the snow filled more of his vision.

(…………)

Slowly, Alba forest turned white.

(……?)

What… is this?

As his consciousness completely faded, Nord thought he heard a distant cry.