The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

There were benefits and drawbacks to improving one’s swordsmanship and spellcasting at the same time. The benefits included being able to use many fighting methods, but the drawbacks were that one would be mediocre in both fields.

In that case, what was the Sorcerer King like?

The two of them studied each other, and then they slowly began to move.

They closed the gap between them, until they were in melee range. Buser launched the first strike.

“「Shield Bash」.”

It was a sudden charge, made with a shield held in front of himself. And the Sorcerer King took it head on with his sword.

As expected, there was no way to take the force of that massive body as it suddenly charged forward. The Sorcerer King was sent flying. No, his feet were still firmly planted on the ground when he landed, so that did not quite fit. Rather, he had been knocked back.

While the fact that the Sorcerer King — who could crush a Bafolk’s skull with his bare hands — had been knocked back was quite surprising, surely a body of bones would not be able to completely defend against that attack. From what Neia knew, there was an advanced martial art called 「Fortress」 that could completely nullify the force of an impact, but that was a technique only a veteran warrior could use.

The two of them stepped forward, and their swords collided with each other.

Their back and forth was too fast for Neia’s eyes to follow. The only things she could clearly see were the brief moments when their blades hit each other and froze in place.

If Neia joined this battle, she would surely be hacked to death.

Steel clashed with steel at high speeds, and the ear-piercing sound of metal echoed all around.

Both of them had equivalent arm-strength, so when they crossed blades, their attacks and defenses took place simultaneously.

Should she be impressed by how Buser could swing such a heavy blade with one hand, or show respect to the Sorcerer King for wielding a two-handed sword while being a magic caster?

This was a super high level battle of the sort she had never seen before, and Neia was certain that she could not possibly interfere.

In order not to get in the way of their fight, Neia slowly shifted behind a piece of cover and hid herself.

They’re swinging at each other like that, but neither of them is hurt… speaking of which, the Sorcerer King seems a little too strong...

Neia’s brain could no longer keep up with a magic caster who could fight with a sword to this extent.

Did he use some kind of amazing spell?

All Neia could do was attribute it to some form of incredibly magic she had never heard of before.

Even so—

If this keeps up, there’s no doubt that the Sorcerer King will win. No, was he planning to draw out the battle because of that?

The undead did not feel fatigue and they would not be shaken in combat. All of these were unfavorable to Buser.

Buser seemed to realise this, because his face started to contort.

If he has some sort of trump card—

Neia was shocked. The Sorcerer King had suddenly thrown his huge sword at Buser.

After that, a hemisphere of light appeared around Buser and blocked the thrown sword.

The bubble of light vanished, and the thrown sword had only slightly scratched Buser.

This is bad!

Neia prepared to rush out from behind her cover. The Sorcerer King was unarmed now—

“—Huh?”

At some point, a jet-black halberd had ended up in the Sorcerer King’s hands.

Buser must have felt the same way as Neia. His eyes were as wide as saucers.

“You didn’t incant a spell, how did you do it… And where did that sword you threw go to…”

“I simply cast a silent spell. Don’t worry about it… All right, my subordinate taught me this, but I’m not very confident in my skills. I apologize in advance if I end up fumbling around.”

The Sorcerer King readied his halberd. He radiated a strange sense of oppression.

Warriors often favored weapons within the same broad classes. Swords, axes, maces, that sort of thing.

The Sorcerer King used momentum to swing his halberd. He attacked Buser’s feet — which were hard to defend — with a sweeping motion. This was a technique one could only perform with a long-shafted weapon.

Just as Buser brought his sword low to try and block the attack, the halberd suddenly jumped up.

It was a feint.

This was a move that would require considerable arm-strength to perform, but Buser raised his sword to block it in an instant.

As expected, the Sorcerer King favored the sword, and he did not seem very skilled with the halberd. While he could elegantly execute textbook attacks, there seemed to be something strangely off about his attacks, and even Neia could spot it with her eyes.

After blocking the halberd’s momentum, Buser leapt back.