How to Live as a Knight After the Ending-Chapter 502

Seren saw the sharp claws approaching right before her eyes. However, even seeing them, she didn't bat an eyelash.

Scrape.

The Wolf Fang Slash passed through Seren's body and cut the wall behind her. The thick, solid wall was sliced smoothly. Delford frowned at the sight.

"You use a mystical power."

It was visible to the eye but couldn't be felt by touch. It felt like cutting through a mirage. Unlike what was visible to the eye, it was an ability where the substance itself disappeared.

"It is mystical. Though I'm dying because of it."

Seren left those words and disappeared from her spot. Delford frowned. He couldn't detect her presence. Even her scent was the same. It was as if she had literally vanished from this world.

Soon Delford noticed a scent coming from behind him.

Delford leaped high from his position. An awl aimed at his ankle pierced through empty air. Seren could be seen clicking her tongue. She soon disappeared again.

'The awl itself is ordinary. The problem is the power it produces when combined with her ability.'

Delford quickly grasped Seren's ability. Her power was a defense-ignoring attack that penetrated any physical barrier. Tough hide, coarse fur, and even dense muscle were useless before Seren's awl. It would be the same even if armor was worn over it.

It was literally an attack that pierced space itself. Though it seemed to cut through space, it was qualitatively different from his Wolf Fang Slash that exerted physical force.

'This way, I can't even control my strength properly.'

He had no ill feelings toward Seren. If anything, he even felt a kind of kinship with her. But he couldn't leave Cromwell alone because of that kinship.

Cromwell was dangerous. There was no telling what experiments he might conduct in the future. He might create more ancient beings besides himself. Most of all, the greatest threat to Delford was that Cromwell might develop a cure for him.

In the old days, he might have accepted it gladly. Because of his appearance, he had been discriminated against. The evaluation that he was more dangerous than a beastman in constant transformation was a bonus.

But now it was different. Delford had a family. They had accepted Delford as he was.

Because he had a precious family, for the first time Delford felt the power of the Ferocious Wolf was like a blessing. Because of this power, he could protect his precious family. He could survive in this world.

So anything that threatened that, or had even the slightest possibility of doing so, had to be eliminated without fail. That was why Delford had accepted the Puppeteer's proposal.

That Osian was involved in this was unexpected, but he still didn't stop what he had to do. Owing him a debt of gratitude was one thing, and Cromwell was a top priority elimination target.

But to be obstructed like this in this place.

'I can't let time drag on like this. I'll ignore her and target Cromwell first.'

Delford's gaze turned toward Cromwell. His body spun like a top in midair, sending out a sharp slashing attack. The fan-shaped slash flew precisely toward Cromwell's neck.

Clang!

A cyborg blocked it. His entire body was gleaming like metal.

"Doctor! Please evacuate quickly!"

The cyborg intended to take the Wolf Fang Slash with his body. However, Delford didn't just watch.

Delford stopped spinning and dropped down like a hawk targeting prey, stepping off the ceiling. The cyborg tried to block by crossing his arms.

Crack! Instead of swinging his claws, Delford threw a punch. The cyborg's two arms that took the punch dented and broke. The Ferocious Wolf's power was shooting slashing attacks from his entire body, but his pure physical abilities were also monstrous.

"Khup! D-Doctor. Please run away..."

Even with broken arms, the cyborg somehow tried to hug Delford's waist and hold him. Delford grabbed the cyborg's head with an indifferent gaze and lifted it, then applied force.

-Splat.

The skull was crushed and red blood flowed down. Delford shook off the blood on his hand once. Magic beam attacks flew consecutively at such Delford.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang! Another cyborg had compressed high-density mana and shot it like a cannon. Delford, who took the hit, was embedded in the wall, but soon lightly brushed himself off and walked forward. His clothing was slightly damaged, but there were no injuries whatsoever. The cyborg's eyes widened at the sight.

"H-how. It was clearly enough power to subdue and more."

"It certainly was powerful. If it were the old me, I would have been helpless. But your information update is slow."

From the fight in District 17, Delford was in a much stronger state than before. Though unintended, by releasing the Ferocious Wolf's power, its genetic assimilation rate had increased further.

Now it was possible to withstand such attacks without major damage. Delford moved, targeting the gap of the flustered cyborg. His giant form disappeared, leaving afterimages.

His sharp claws aimed for Cromwell's forehead. Thud!

The elongated claws struck the ground. Just as the claws were about to pierce his forehead, Seren appeared from thin air and pushed Cromwell's body to the side.

Because of that, Seren had to take a laceration on her shoulder. Red blood flowed down along Seren's shoulder.

"You continue to be bothersome."

Delford stared at Seren with a cold gaze. Even if she was Osian's companion, there was no reason he had to spare her.

"Thinking of my connection with Sir Osian, I won't take your life. Still, it will hurt a bit."

Delford clenched his fist and threw it to knock Seren unconscious.

Kwang!

Delford's body flinched. Without him noticing when it appeared, a giant black furball had blocked his fist.

"This is..."

Soon, from inside the black furball, golden pupils popped out. Seeing that, Delford felt the hair all over his body stand on end. It was a self-defense instinct that occurred when meeting a natural enemy that caused physiological revulsion.

"No matter what, you shouldn't throw a punch at a lady."

The giant cat monster said that and grinned wickedly. Immediately after, from beyond that passage, a pure white flash flew toward Delford.

Delford tried to take it with his body, but instinctively realized he shouldn't and jumped back to evade.

What flew in was a bullet. It wasn't an ordinary bullet as divine power was imbued in it. The evidence was the pure white light afterimage left along the bullet's trajectory.

Fwish! Fwish!

The shooting was persistent. Looking at it, it was one person shooting, but they were effectively restricting his movements. It felt like being driven as prey.

The moment he stepped on the ground, a giant hammer fell above Delford's head. It was a high-mass spell made by gathering pure magical power.

Kwang!

The giant hammer struck down on Delford.

Cha-cha-cha-chak!

Flashing slashes occurred repeatedly from inside the hammer, and the hammer shattered into countless fragments. From within, Delford rose up with his fur fully bristled. His upper body had grown even larger.

"Grrr."

Delford, who made a beast's growling sound, glared at the uninvited guests. At some point, fog had filled his surroundings. It was a peculiar fog that confused even Delford's keen senses. Naturally, there were few people who could use such fog.

"This is troublesome."

Delford couldn't help but know who had come here.

"Y-you guys."

Seren Gracia's eyes widened seeing the appearance of her comrades who had come to rescue her. Mist, Edgar Rowe, Diolan, and even Lorraine. The comrades of Violet Fox had come all the way here to help her.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Why? Obviously we came to help."

Diolan answered as if asking what kind of obvious question that was. The other comrades all nodded, acknowledging it was true.

"I never said a single word asking for help."

"Do we only help if you ask for help?"

Lorraine pulled the slide to eject the shell casing, then reloaded.

"How long have we been together anyway? When a comrade is in danger, of course we should step up."

Seren's expression changed. It was a complexity hard to express in words, seeming both happy and sad.

"Seren. We know you haven't told us your story until now."

Edgar, who had candy in his mouth, said.

"Everyone here has their own unspeakable past. It must be the same for you. From the start, among the people Ronan gathered, there wasn't a single normal one anywhere. Including me."

"Edgar."

"We could have just kept things hidden from each other and stayed as distant acquaintances. That's how it was until now. But still."

Edgar crunched his candy as he spoke.

"That doesn't mean when a fellow comrade is in danger somewhere without knowing why, we can just sit by and watch."

"You weren't originally like this."

"I guess it rubbed off from hanging around with those idiots."

He said that, but Edgar's expression looked somewhat relieved. For the first time, innocent emotions could be felt on the face of the boy who had been cynical and adult-like beyond his young age.

"For now, let's focus on subduing that thing."

Delford, who had been quietly watching the situation, let out a sigh.

"It seems that now that it's come to this, controlling my strength is impossible."

Violet Fox was famous even in the fixer industry. Though composed of a small number, they were all gathered with outstanding experts.

Wasn't that very Osian affiliated there? Very early on, when the youngest, Daver, returned with his arm cut off by Osian.

If it had been an ordinary fixer office, they would have all been slaughtered by Grace already. But Grace didn't touch Violet Fox.

'Because they're that dangerous.'

Fortunately, Basilio wasn't visible. But that didn't mean he could feel relieved. Even excluding Basilio, the rest couldn't be ignored either.

Especially if there was one that bothered him, it was Diolan who had blocked him first.

Just looking at the giant cat monster made irritation surge. Was it because he was canine? From deep in his genes, fierce emotions toward the other rose up.

"But I can't retreat like this either."

He had finally found Cromwell after tracking him for so long. Retreating with him right before his eyes was impossible.

Crack. Crack crack.

Delford's body grew increasingly larger. The vitality disappeared from his pupils, bloodshot filled them, and madness dwelled within. Opening its giant maw, the ancient Ferocious Wolf said to have even devoured gods.

Delford, who had released that destructive fierce nature, let out a great howl.

Awoooooo!!

Just the aftermath spread a massive shockwave around. Even the fog spread by Mist was pushed outward in an instant. Minute slashing attacks were mixed within the roar.

Everyone tensed up completely and finished preparing to fight.

The Puppeteer, who had been trying to corner Osian, had to hide his irritation.

To say cornering, the automatons he had prepared were collapsing helplessly under Osian's sword. Same with the giants. Such things could be replenished as much as needed.

That wasn't what was important. Delford, whom he had sent to kill Cromwell, had encountered an unexpected obstacle.

Checking in real-time through observation drones, Osian's comrades had appeared and were fighting Delford. Their skills were on a different level from ordinary fixers. They were fighting well against Delford who had burst his fierce nature.

"You seem impatient."

Osian muttered as if seeing through the Puppeteer's inner thoughts. The Puppeteer deliberately didn't respond. But that was the same as acknowledging Osian's words.

-Scrape.

Osian cut down all the few remaining automatons. Now they couldn't form formations or tactics. A military force that could handle an army had been smashed by a single individual.

'Unbelievable.'

Truly a one-man army. He knew Osian was strong, but he had become even stronger than before in the recent short time. At this point, it was questionable whether he was even human.

"I have many things I want to ask you, but it seems difficult to get answers."

Osian gazed at the last remaining automaton. Anyway, that was nothing more than something the Puppeteer controlled remotely. There was no way to extract information. More important than that was what was happening inside where fighting was still continuing.

He was concerned about the Current Wise King Solenon, but since there was no way to find out immediately, he decided to let it go for now.

"Just pass on my regards. Let's meet someday."

Osian split the last remaining automaton vertically. Before he knew it, the fighting inside was subsiding. Osian sprinted through the passage at high speed.

Arriving at the scene like that, Osian discovered a hole blown through the ceiling. Delford's figure wasn't visible. That hole appeared to have been made as he escaped.

And beneath the light pouring through that hole, Lorraine lay collapsed, bleeding from her abdomen.