While watching the enemy fight Colonel Klaus, Hiruko and her comrades were surprised by the sudden trajectory taken by Gaga.
- Phew, I didn't understand what happened, but fortunately the colonel is alive,' said Hiruko to Uli with relief.
- I haven't had time to get a good look myself, so I can explain.
Gaga, observing his arm, asked: 'Why doesn't my right arm want to move?' he asked, only to see a knee blow break his jaw and take him to the ground. This blow came from none other than the number 01 of the Pheoris Military Academy, 'Konrad'. To the astonishment of his colleagues, Konrad wasted no time and tried to immobilise Gaga's left arm by piercing it with his sword, leaving Gaga at the mercy of the colonel who rushed forward shouting: 'Uli, give me your spear, quick!' Uli, who was still unable to deal with the situation on the ground, took a little time to synchronise with the colonel, and Selene quickly snatched the spear out of Uli's hands and threw it to the colonel, who grabbed it and tried to pierce Gaga's heart. This was a poor indication of Gaga's fighting spirit in the face of death and the spear the colonel intended to pierce her with. Taking advantage of the time Uli had lost, Gaga regained his guard and gave Konrad a serious kick, propelling him several steps. Gaga then placed his hand to counter the spear that the colonel intended to attack him with, giving him time to pierce his hand and deflect the spear from its initial trajectory towards the ground. Unfortunately for the colonel, he found himself at Gaga's mercy. Gaga had risen to his feet and wanted to give him a powerful kick to break his bones, but fortunately Selene stopped Gaga's leg with her whip-like blade, which she wrapped around Gaga's leg, allowing the colonel and Konrad to get away from the danger.
'Shit, we took too long,' said Konrad, disappointed to see Gaga still standing.
- Don't worry, next time you'll get it right. encouraged the colonel.
The others were stunned by Konrad's performance.
Klaus: 'Hey, I told you to leave. You've seen for yourself just how dangerous this man is for your level. I'm going to borrow your spear, Uli, and I'll find you once I've finished with this brute.'
- Hiruko: What about Konrad? He helped you a lot, didn't he? Do you want him to go too?
- It's true that the boy lives up to General Jones's expectations of him and I have less chance of beating Gaga on my own than with Konrad's help. However, I don't want to waste such potential, because Gaga's blows are as powerful as a jengu's. And it would take a lot of experience to beat him. And you need a lot of experience to fight him. The slightest mistake and the kid would be crushed by his fists. I don't want to take that risk. And it's my fault for going to the front without proper weapons, I won't justify myself by saying I was under the influence of the moment' he murmured before telling Hiruko that he would face the enemy alone.
-Hiruko: But Colonel...
-That's an order.
-' I've now understood what happened when the colonel received Gaga's charge. He deflected it to change its trajectory and take it to the ground. Konrad understood that before, that he's good, but it's my fault, I was too slow on the trigger. If I'd thrown my weapon a few seconds earlier, to the colonel, the enemy would already have been neutralised. So it's all my fault.' He murmured these words while giving himself plenty of remorse.
- 'He's beaten me again,' murmured Hiruko, jealous of Konrad's performance.
Klaus: Uli, Hiruko, stop putting all this on your head, it's not your fault. Go with Grimaldi. I think he's already scanned the dungeon, so all you have to do is get away from his men by sneaking into the various dungeon galleries while waiting for reinforcements.
Opposite them, GAGA congratulated them as he put his dislocated shoulder back in place. 'A nice try, I must admit that you were very close to getting me on this one and I'm glad I crossed your path, because none of my opponents has ever lasted this long in a single combat against me. But alas, your ashen-blue-haired wimp was too late for you to deliver the coup de grace. And you're too talented, especially at your age, Konrad.'
-Klaus: You're talking a bit too much, even though you said you weren't. It's not a little.
-Gaga sighed and smiled at the colonel's provocation.
Klaus: Anyway, I wanted to ask you a question, Gaga. To find out what treatment to give you.
-Gaga: I'm listening, Klaus.
-Klaus: How many children and soldiers have you and your group killed in this dungeon?
-Gaga: Well, so far we've had to kill 11 of them and I personally have killed 6 because I couldn't manage to take them alive without them dying. So that makes a total of 16. But don't complain, it's not my fault they were so fragile. Otherwise, are you satisfied, Colonel?
-Thank you for your honest answer. I'll kill you horribly, so no regrets and no remorse.
-' What? Did you see yourself before you spoke, you weakling? With what? Are you going to carry out your threats? With that toothpick you use as a recruit?' Suddenly he saw Hiruko stand up from where he was standing.
Uli tried to dissuade him from taking part in the fight: 'Hiruko, stop it, it's not out of pride that you should put your life on the line.
-Uli, my friend, are you still thinking of competing with Konrad when there have already been more than 16 deaths, not counting the young people persecuted by their peers for absurd reasons to satisfy their perverse desires?
Uli insisted that the danger would be immense and Hiruko replied: 'In the face of this danger, the danger of the dungeons as well as the danger of this world, He has told me to always move forward before I am swallowed up by the evils of this world and if I don't want to be devoured, then I owe it to myself to annihilate the threat hanging over me first.'
Uli had never seen Hiruko so cold. After his speech, he realised that it was Gaga's words that had put him in this state, and he saw Hiruko leap towards Gaga, throwing a violent punch at her neck. Gaga was shocked by the power of the blow.
Gaga: 'I can't believe he's so powerful for his age and stature! He grabbed Hiruko's neck and tried to break her with his palm, but Hiruko reacted and, separating Gaga's gigantic hands with her own strength, broke her fingers. Then he stepped back.
Gaga: 'You bastard' before reacting to the flash of Colonel Klaus appearing in front of him and breaking his right elbow. He then proceeded to hammer away at him with blows all along his body at unparalleled speed. When Goro tried to hit Klaus, he saw a kick carry him off into the air. It was Konrad, synchronised with the colonel and Hiruko. In the air, they saw Gaga rip his stone from his gloves and try to swallow it, but he was surprised to see a rope tied around his neck, preventing him from swallowing his Arcanum Stone of the Dungeon. With a small smile on his face, the colonel realised that this was Selene's doing. It didn't take her long to pull on the rope and throw Gaga to the ground. Gaga turned just as he hit the ground, without suffering any damage, and began to pull on the rope with his brute strength to bring Selene back towards him. What Gaga wanted was to deliver a blow so powerful that it would have ripped his head off if Selene had been touched. But she wasn't afraid, because she trusted her team-mate. She said: 'It's time to stop crying and deal with this child killer. Uli!' She knew that Uli didn't have his spear and Uli himself didn't know what to do. But he had seen a flash of lightning split the air beside him. In those tiny fractions of a second, Uli had seen, in slow motion, that it was indeed Colonel Klaus who had walked past him and dropped his weapon. 'So this is the colonel's speed? He'd picked up Konrad, who was still high up, while keeping Hiruko at bay, he's incredible', and the colonel, at this speed, continued to run towards Gaga before he crushed Selene. In the meantime, Uli had worked out what to do with the spear at his side. It only took him a moment to grab his spear and throw it at Gaga, piercing him through the heart. The colonel, who was running with the spear thrown by Uli, overtook her, rushed up to Gaga and grabbed his head, then spun around until he broke his neck. By the time the spear reached Gaga's heart, he was already dead. The ColoneI then continued to pull Selene away from the danger. This action had earned the respect of the soldiers present to witness his show of strength.
Klaus: It's over. As much as I wanted you to suffer for what you did, you filthy pig.
- Grimaldi: Wow, Colonel, is it really over? I congratulate you!
- What is it? How did I end up here all of a sudden? Hiruko wondered, amazed at the way the colonel had moved him and Konrad.
-: You didn't even have time to see that it was the colonel, did you?
Not wanting to lose face at Konrad's comment, Hiruko pretended to tell Konrad that he was well aware that it was the colonel who had saved him and taken him to safety.
-' I don't feel sorry for you, Hiruko, because even I didn't see that. What's more, it's astonishing that the colonel did it without any weapons. He's not only too clever, he's also too strong. It's certain that without him, we would have lost a few of our men in that battle. That was Konrad's own admission.
- Selene, are you all right? I got here in time, didn't I?' asked the colonel.
'Of course you did, Colonel. He didn't even have time to touch me. Thank you for that. It's you who should be telling us how you're doing, you took the full brunt of his attack.'
-' Ah it's nothing, just that my suit wasn't spared, I paid so much for it, maybe it was ridiculous after all. This suit. Next time I'll try to come dressed simply and not make a big deal of it.' After these words, the colonel showed signs of weakness by bowing to his soldiers before standing up, which worried everyone.
-Grimaldi: Colonel, you're not well, let me treat you, I can help.
- No, Grimaldi, I'm fine, I just have a few aches and pains. Apparently resting for several days has made me soft. He then sat down on the floor and Grimaldi rushed over to start treating him.
- Hiruko: What does it say, Grimaldi? Is he injured?
-No, he's just been using too much arcane energy for too long and now he's paying the consequences.
Uli: But it's true, he arrived a day after us and it didn't take him long to find us, so I suppose he must have...
-Selene completa: He fought several battles and did everything he could to find us as quickly as possible, fearing that one of the participants might be in trouble, and all this required him to use an enormous amount of magic.
-Hiruko: Wait, I don't understand. How could he use arcane energy knowing that he himself says he left his weapon in the capital? So it's possible to use magic without stone or anima?
-Grimaldi: No, Hiruko, that means that once a mage has found an arcane stone compatible with his magic in a dungeon, it takes him several years of intensive training to be able to synchronise with this arcane magic. The body then records the data of the magic obtained by the stone and it then becomes possible for a very experienced mage to use arcane magic without equipment or slaker for a while, but...
-Konrad: He exposes himself to an increased risk of petrification. So that flash of light I saw coming from the height I was at came from the arcane stone in the dungeon. So it must be the stone of the Enlightenment?
-Klaus: 'Good guess, my boy, but we haven't got much time to lose. We need to find other participants and get out of this dungeon as quickly as possible.' Then he saw blood coming out of his nostrils. He added: 'And it's going to be even more complicated if we have to face people like the one we've just met every time. We don't even know his level compared to the others, whether he was the weakest or not.'
From the other gallery of the dungeon, there were two slender girls, each measuring 178 and 179 cm in length, one with straight hair and the other with black hair. One was preparing food while the other was putting on make-up and chewing Shwengum.
Hey you, are you going to continue wearing make-up? I'll have you know that staying in make-up isn't going to give a woman a home.
- Let go of me, Disa. I'm doomed to die inside this dungeon, so I don't see the point in trying to gorge myself on too much food and then getting fatter so that I'm an ugly corpse when they come to find me. says Isabelle, continuing to put on her make-up.
-Disa: 'You're far too pessimistic. I do believe that a charming man will free me from this dungeon. Together we'll travel the world for the rest of our lives, and I'll cook him meals every day and fill a man's stomach to keep him close to you, because beauty is fleeting, my dear Isabelle.'
- No, my man must be rich for my beauty and we'll have cooks to prepare the dishes he wants while I do my grooming to maintain my pretty body.
As she lifted the ladle she was using to stir the broth in her little pot, food residue had reached Isabelle's back. She complained: 'That's hot, are you blind or what? Didn't you see where you were putting your ladle? Or are you so jealous of my beauty that you wanted to burn my face? '
-Shhh, I hear a noise, Isabelle. I don't know where it's coming from, but there's a threat approaching us at high speed.
- What is it, Isabelle? Are you sure it's coming from deep inside the galleries?' asked Isabelle.
- Yes, get ready, Isabelle,' said Disa, after he had put himself on guard. Isabelle did the same.
At the end of the gallery, they saw a purple silhouette. It grew larger as it approached. They realised it was a giant Draugr, five metres tall.
'A draugr!!! Is it huge?' cried Isabelle in fright.
Seeing the huge draugr speeding towards them, Disa summoned up her courage and picked up her weapon, which was a fau, and stood ready to face it. However, they saw the draugr's head fall to the ground. They were astonished to see a man appear from nowhere and rush towards the draugr's motionless body, piercing both cores until they were destroyed.
- Damn, I guessed his weak spot wrong again.
- Don't worry Angèle, I've finished the job and thanks for your help. It's amazing that most of the draugrs we had were Jengu,' said Abel as he walked over to Disa to ask her how she was doing.
Abel: I hope you're well, young lady, and that you haven't hurt yourself. In any case, don't worry, we're the cavalry.
Still trying to pick up young ladies? So this time you're not watching yourself during working hours, Abel,' replied Mégane.
- Abel, that's not true, I just asked the question.
Astonished, Disa and Isabelle felt a hand touch them on the back, and it was Jack who had marked them.' That's it, they're the first and I've finished marking them,' he says.
-Hey you, what did you do to us?' asked Disa, and Isabelle.
- Don't worry, we're from the Kingdom of Dawnchester and we're part of General Jones' unit.
- And what are you doing here, sir?
- Well, you can call me Captain Jack, and I can see from your uniform that you're with the EISHIN military.
- Isabelle: Er, yes, we're here to take selection tests to be admitted to the military coalition. 'He's so young and already a captain?' she murmured.
- We know that,' Angèle replied.
-Ah, you're not all to my taste, and it's not you I want as my saviour. It's obvious that you saved our lives, because you thought it was safe for you to do so, and that's all there is to it. I'd have liked it if a man who wasn't sure about the situation had still decided to risk his life for me. Disappointed I am.' Adisa said with great disappointment to the men who had come to rescue them, which surprised Abel and left him speechless.
-Abel: Er, I'll take that as a thank you.
- Jack: Who cares what you think? Besides, we're looking for our friend. Did you come across a tall man with blond hair? He's in our age bracket.
-Isabelle : I've always had a soft spot for blonds, and if he's going to be there, he must be pretty important and not short of dough. I'm already interested in him, even before I've met him.
-Disa: He's blond and tall and if even a captain went looking for him, what he thinks is that this man entered this dungeon unaware of the danger and still came into this danger to save me. Now that's the kind of man I'd have wanted him to find me first, and he sure must be cute.
*Author's words: his two ladies were all stunned by the description they'd heard of Colonel Klaus. Anyway, we're not going to dwell on her anyway lol.*
Ah! Quiet, you're starting to get on my nerves. All you had to do was answer me if you knew him or not, you idiots! Captain Jack scolded them, because he'd had enough of them.
- I don't like pretentious, uncourteous men,' reacted Isabelle.
- What's more, you claim to be our saviour, when it was the lady and the other gentleman who saved us. You've done nothing but scold us from the start and, no, we haven't seen your friend,' replied Disa with a disappointed look on her face.
- Hey, Jack! This isn't how I taught you to talk to women, and even less how to talk to the people you've just saved. You have to be exemplary,' said his general, who had just joined them.
- Arhhh, he's even older, I don't like men approaching forty', were the words of Disa and Isabelle that shocked the general.
- Jones: You're still kids, I understand if you don't, but this ordeal is coming to an end now.
Why?' asked Isabelle.
She had seen a kitchen knife thrown in her direction stopped by General Jones, who had held it on his sleeve.
Astonished, Isabelle asked the general what had just happened and saw that all the members of the general's group had their eyes on the corridor from which the Jengu that Abel and Angèle had killed had emerged. The man emerged from the darkness, juggling his knife, and said: 'Well done! I wanted to butcher the face of this beautiful lady in make-up so I could sew it onto my back.
-General, do you know him? Is he the friend you were looking for? It seems to me he's not our ally.
- Jones: All I can say to you is that you may stand back, for this man is dangerous and lacks style.
-Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Renji and I like to slice flesh in half. If you say I have no style, we'll see if you can still use your hand.'
-Renji pointed his knife at the General, who then noticed that the knife he was holding was moving. It only took him a moment to realise that the knife had sliced through his hand, ripping off his ring finger, and was heading towards Renji.
-Renji: You know, you're good because I wanted to take your whole hand. I'm surprised you managed to be more reactive, but it doesn't make sense. In any case, I've been given carte blanche to eliminate you all.
-And who gave you that order? So you obey a master?
-Obeying a master? I don't think so, I'm obeying the will of the Cult of the Blood and our Father. That is the way for all of us, the children of the Lord Saviour of the Blood.' He said this as he swallowed the General's finger after retrieving the knife thrown at Isabelle.