390. Absolute Death Sword Thermal

“W-Wait! That man is……”

Volk shouts behind me.
It’s true that just by looking at them, the man didn’t really do anything.
In fact, it only looks like he’s caring for Millia.
If I act rashly, I’ll just end up being seen as the bad guy.

But, that’s exactly why I need to beat him to a pulp in one hit and expose his poison.
There’s a chance he’s not even gonna admit it, but that doesn’t matter.
I can’t let him have his way with Millia any longer.

The man is holding Millia with both arms, and he notices me approaching them.
His eyes look at me with suspicion, and he moves one of his arms in an annoyed manner, while holding Millia with the other.

Since I’m currently in the state of〖Human Transformation〗, my attack stat is halved, but it’s still high enough to kill an ordinary human.
I don’t like it, but I’ll just hold back as I punch him in the face with all I’ve got.
I jump and clench my fist in the air.
I aim my punch at the guy’s right cheek.

But, my punch got parried.

“Wha-……?!”

Did I hold back too much?
This guy isn’t just some playboy, is he an adventurer?
Then, while I was caught off-guard by his parry, he kicks me in the gut.

He’s faster than I thought.
Just about as fast as Nell from Tallmann’s army.
Is the capital of Alban crawling with these levels of adventurers?

Hurled in the air from the man’s kick, I break the force with my feet and remain standing.

“Grr”

I can still feel the pain from my hand that got parried and my gut that he kicked.
He’s strong too.
So, he’s not a speed type then?
His stats already surpass the commanders I fought in Tallmann’s army.

“Tsk! How dare you stop my kick……”

Frustration is seen in the man’s eyes.
When he kicked me earlier, I was able to free Millia from his arm’s and got her back.
He’s more upset that I stopped his kick instead of me taking Millia away from him?

The man then distances himself from me.
He enters into a stance.

“You look angry…… is that woman precious to you?”

He asks as he holds the hilt of his sword on his waist.

“I was only worried for her since she looked pale. I haven’t done anything wrong, so aren’t you just misunderstanding things? This is clearly a mistake on your part, so why don’t you make it up to me by dying?”

Grrah!
I wanted to end this quickly in one hit, but I didn’t think he’d be this strong. Now we’re left to fight.

I look around. This is a big city, and it’s in the middle of the day.
We’re currently located at a less busy part of the city, but it’s still within public vicinity.
We might involve innocent people who’re just passing by or attract curious onlookers if we make a scene.
I need to end this soon or we’ll have an uproar on our hands.

I can’t fight properly while guarding Millia.
While keeping my eyes on the man, I let Millia rest on a wall.

“I declare it now, this will end on the first thrust”

The man holds his sword tight, bends back, and rushes straight at me.
He’s fast. And, he’s not using any skills. His speed stat is just that high.
Using skills can create advantages when fighting against an opponent, but even they have limits, and a fight using only stats ignores that.
He’s fast for a human, but still nothing I can’t handle.

The man extends his body forward and aims his thrust at my chest.
By simply bending over my body, I avoid it.

“Wha-……! W-Why you! You dare to dodge my attack?!”

The sight of me avoiding his sword thrust left the man in awestruck.

I saw enough openings for a counterattack on his first thrust, but I ignored those chances and let the man thrust his sword at me a second time.
But this time, I grab the man’s wrist and pin the man down to the ground.
His sword leaves his hand. His face is now slammed directly on the dirt.

“H-…… How?!”

The man stares at me with a glance facing sideways.
It’s futile. You no longer have your weapon. And, I have both of your arms restrained.
You were stronger than I expected, but you were still no match for me. Now all that’s left is to expose him of his wrongdoings.

But then, I felt something touch my chest.

“…… Hm?”

“Fool! You let your guard down! Hah!”

It was one of his arms.
For some reason, it got free from my hold.

“Die an agonizing death! Output, 70%!”

A reddish-purple poison coats the man’s hand as he touches my chest.
Severe pain courses through my blood vessels.

He got me.
So this is how he poisoned Millia…… it was a skill!
When I held my chest in pain and attempted to jump back, the man’s hand that was touching me punches from under my chin.
Blood spills out of my mouth.

“The heck? Just how tough are you? Here’s another serving……!”

Just as he was about to grab me in the eye with his poison-coated hands, Volk, who was previously standing by at the back, arrives and slashes the space between me and the man with his big sword, halting the man’s approach.
The force of Volk’s slash hurls me slightly away, and Alo catches me on the back with her small body.

Volk aimed at neither me nor the man and slashed the ground between us, giving us some distance.

Wait, does this mean…… I lost?
I know I was being burdened by the constant MP consumption and the halved stats, but I didn’t think I’d fall behind a human opponent by this much.
If Volk hadn’t arrived in time, I would’ve been in big trouble.
My humanization could’ve dissolved.

Despite the man glaring at Volk with sinister eyes, Volk gives him an apologetic bow.
For someone with the Dragon Hunter title who came crashing in the middle of someone else’s battle like a meteor, his behavior came off as surprisingly humble.
Is the opponent a famous person, by any chance?

“…… There appears to be some kind of misunderstanding. Death Sword Thermal, as one of the three Head Knights of Ardezia, won’t you kindly let this go?”

…… Eh?
Three head knights?! You mean the three knights who protect the princess and the ones who we’re supposed to investigate on?!

Come to think of it, he did say his name was Thermal to Millia earlier.
It matches one of the names we obtained from Volk when he told me about the three knights.
We were supposed to avoid contact with them to prevent the royal family from catching onto our plans, but here we are engaged in combat against one of them.

I bet Partner is just laughing at my reckless actions right now.
…… Regardless, even if I knew his identity beforehand, I’d still confront him anyway because of what he was doing to Millia.

Oh welp, no turning back now.
Now’s my chance to check his status.
My mind was so focused on the battle and saving Millia that I just went ahead and assumed he was some kind of high-leveled adventurer or something.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
〖Thermal Suberal〗
Species: Poison Ruler
Lv: 78/85
HP: 683/725
MP: 278/317
Attack: 547
Defense: 361
Magical: 410
Speed: 492
Rank: B+

Characteristic Skills:
〖Slime body: Lv—〗〖Automatic HP Recovery: Lv6〗〖Poison Sash: Lv8〗
〖Grisha Language: Lv4〗〖Tentacle: Lv6〗〖Swordsmanship Talent: Lv6〗

Resistances:
〖Poison Immunity: Lv—〗〖Paralysis Resistance: Lv8〗〖Curse Resistance: Lv7〗
〖Confusion Resistance: Lv4〗〖Physical Resistance: Lv3〗〖Magic Resistance: Lv4〗

Normal Skills:
〖Camouflage: Lv6〗〖Poison Touch: Lv7〗〖Poison Tongue: Lv8〗
〖Potent Poison: Lv8〗〖Poison: Lv7〗〖Detoxification: Lv6〗
〖Disease Breath: Lv6〗〖Tentacle whip: Lv5〗〖Gravity: Lv4〗
〖Self-Regeneration: Lv5〗〖Paralyze: Lv7〗〖Sleepis: Lv5〗
〖Slow: Lv4〗〖Confuse: Lv3〗〖Substitute Poison: Lv4〗

Titles:
〖King's Fission: Lv—〗〖Final Evolutionist: Lv—〗〖Tenacious: Lv6〗
〖Poison Master: Lv7〗〖Demon King's Subordinate: Lv—〗〖Three Head Knights: Lv—〗
〖Absolute Death Sword: Lv—〗〖Lust Devil: Lv—〗
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

H-He wasn’t a human all along?!
Since his species is Poison Ruler and he has that〖Slime Body〗skill, does that mean he’s…… some kind of slime monster?

We were left with numerous guesses, but to think we’d get an answer to all of them this soon right off the bat.
This is more than enough proof that the princess really has been replaced by the Demon King.

…… Still, a slime, huh.
I’m reminded of the evil mastermind behind all the incidents that took place back in Millia’s village,〖Forte-Slime〗.
If he’s the one behind all this, then it’s very much like him to choose the roundabout way of gaining experience points.
He could also be eyeing on unique or interesting skills from strong people to steal from.
But, I remember both of us plummeting down a rapid river…… if I survived, then that means he must’ve too.