Chapter 14. Silver-Haired Maid (4)
"We have arrived. Please come in."
The banquet hall, which she had arrived at with Lien's guidance, was empty and plunged into darkness as expected, without any sign of people.
Enoch slowly stepped inside.
Squeak….
The huge door of the banquet hall was closing on its own, making a faint noise. Accordingly, the appearance of the banquet hall, illuminated by the light of the increasingly narrowing hallway, was quite large and elegant.
'This is where I've only seen it a few times in the game….'
Chandelier made of jewels and glass.
Snow-white and luxurious tablecloth.
A long and huge table where many people can dine at once.
On top of it, cutlery such as spoons and knives were lined up in a row in the darkness in preparation for the banquet. Enoch stared at it for a while and opened his mouth.
"It's too dark to teach dining etiquette."
"Is that so."
Behind him, Lien replied with an emotionless expression.
Her slender fingers were already slowly rolling up one side of the maid outfit's skirt.
Lien's white thighs were exposed between the black and white skirts.
Swish
Enoch's pitch-black eyes sharply watched it with a sidelong glance. The light entering through the closing door of the banquet hall gradually narrowed.
Enoch also grabbed the string of the cloth bag that was hiding the sword, keeping his presence suppressed.
Swish
The entrance of the cloth bag with the knot untied. The sword hilt revealed its appearance in the last ray of light coming through the crack in the door.
And the door of the banquet hall, which was closing slowly on its own, finally locked tightly as it interlocked with each other.
Kuuung!
A heavy darkness fell in the room.
As if signaling it, the bodies of the two moved almost simultaneously.
Pheeiiiik!
A sharp metallic sound rang in the air.
Enoch immediately twisted his body and tilted his head to the side. By a hair's breadth, something containing mana that was shining in silver-white brushed past his body.
'A thin thread. Is it Lien's magic armament?'
While evading the attack instantaneously, Enoch's eyes narrowed for a moment as he caught it.
'A combat method and magic armament that I don't know. It's unique magic.'
He knows all the types of general magic that mages below the 10th class learn in the original game.
But he can say for sure that the magic Lien uses is none of those magics.
'…No way.'
Enoch, who had that thought, unknowingly swallowed dry saliva.
Then the identity of the maid named Lien was surprisingly….
'A magician of the 10th class or higher!'
A chill ran down Enoch's spine for a moment.
Among magicians, the 10th class is the realm of those who have gained <Enlightenment beyond the limits of a magician>.
'An area that can only be reached by a few among many magicians and must be backed up by talent.'
Magicians who have reached this class use unique magic that they have created themselves, and they are described as ridiculously strong without exception.
In the original work, magicians of the 10th class or higher were all powerhouses boasting performance of 1 tier or higher.
'I can't accurately grasp what class it is even with the Sense of Mana, but if she really uses unique magic, at least Lien is a magician of the 10th class or higher. There is no possibility that I can win in an all-out war with my current self.'
Being able to use unique magic means that she is a high-ranking magician who is over the 10th class.
There was no need to mention the difference between lower magicians who had not reached that and magicians of the 10th class or higher.
'It's like the difference in strength between an adult and a child in simple comparison.'
Also, at the same time, he had a strong question.
'…But how can a magician of that level be just a maid.'
It doesn't make sense for a magician of the 10th class or higher to be doing such chores as a maid.
She's more capable than Enoch can even compare, so why is she doing a maid under him?
There were still a few things that hadn't been figured out about Lien, but it was certain that she was a person who broke away from the existing common sense in many ways.
'Well, it doesn't matter right now.'
Nevertheless, Enoch smiled leisurely.
He had already established a kind of hypothesis about Lien.
'Anyway, no matter how strong Lien is, I can fight this battle without any burden.'
Swish
Enoch turned his body and drew his sword at the same time as landing.
The blade that appeared in front of Enoch's pitch-black eyes reflected the silver-white mana that Lien was deploying in the darkness and shone white.
Wiiiing
Cyan mana rose from Enoch's sword, driving away the darkness.
Silver-white mana and cyan mana emitted black and white light clusters in the darkness and lurked towards each other.
Cutting off the momentary confrontation, Lien stretched out her hand. According to her movement, the silver-white thread was again rapidly ejected towards this side.
Enoch calmly raised his sword.
Whether she intended it or not, the movement of that unidentified thread is not that fast. If he times it right, he can cut it with a sword.
Hwirik!
Soon after, the blade that drew an accurate trajectory severed the rushing silver-white line─
Kaang!
─He couldn't!
Enoch's eyes widened at that moment.
The silver-white thread, instead of cutting it, wrapped around the cyan sword like a spider web.
A strand of thread that had wrapped around Enoch's sword in an instant took away the freedom of movement.
'The metallic friction sound I heard when I swung the sword just now.'
Of course, it's not a thread made of common material.
Then the identity of the silver thread Lien uses is….
'Wire?'
Metal thread, wire, sharply filling the space.
Moreover, it is a material that is so strong that it cannot be cut even with a sword swung with all its might. He felt that it was not a simple wire just by looking at it.
Click.
Lien, who had now pulled the wire taut to suppress the sword, was slowly walking towards this side.
It was definitely not a good situation. But rather, Enoch smiled faintly as he looked at her.
'It worked out well.'
It's an opportunity to use the technology he learned in the inner world.
Squeeze.
The sword tied to the wire. He concentrates his senses on the hand holding the hilt.
In his mind, the information of the swordsmanship he had inherited from the inner world was now floating.
- ? First Form - Exploding Sword
Deploy the mana projected onto the sword to each part of your body, and detonate it to accelerate the motion.
Honestly, he hadn't been able to grasp it well until now because it was such an abstract explanation.
Transferring the mana injected into the sword to the body.
He could barely inject mana into the sword just two days ago, so how can he understand such nonsense at once?
'But that's just the feeling of an ordinary person.'
He looked down at the sword wrapped in cyan mana.
'It's nothing to Enoch's body, who is a <Genius of the Sword>.'
Cutting off his thoughts and taking a deep breath.
He concentrates his senses on the hand holding the sword.
Cyan mana that blooms while dyeing the sword. He imprints that light in his head and sends it to his body.
Soon he felt the flow of mana spreading all over his body, riding on the arm holding the sword.
Before he knew it, the arrangement of mana was flowing through Enoch's body similarly to what he had seen in the Sword Saint.
Wuuung
Concentrate and arrange the mana of the sword on the forearm of the arm.
He felt the sensation of the crystals, made of the cyan light clusters flowing out from the sword, taking a definite place like constellations on his right arm and emitting light.
And the next moment-
Cyan mana burst out like an explosion, accelerating the direction of his right arm like crazy.
Kagagagagagak!
The sword and the wire wrapped around it screamed as if they were being torn apart.
Cyan mana and silver-white mana rubbed against each other, and intense sparks flew in all directions.
Eventually, the sword's movement, which had accelerated too rapidly, momentarily lost its power and missed the sword.
The cyan sword's trajectory escaped the silver-white wire, drawing a large semicircle in the air.
Her cyan eyes narrowed slightly as if surprised when she confirmed the appearance.
But the distance between Lien and Enoch is still far. He had only regained the freedom of the sword, but the priority of attack was still with Lien.
Pheeiiiing─
Just as he heard the sound of another wire being ejected, the next moment Enoch's vision was abruptly reversed.
His back roughly hit the ground. His breath was exhaled due to the sudden impact.
"Keuheok!"
It was so instantaneous that he didn't even know what he had been subjected to.
He tried to get up, but another wire that was ejected wrapped around his arm.
Jiiiik!
In an instant, one arm was perfectly bound by Lien.
But he can still move within the radius where that wire is spread between Lien and this side.
Lien waved her arm and ejected wires in succession.
Enoch immediately got up at the same time, jumping over the huge banquet hall table and dodging the wires that were flying in addition.
All the plates and cutlery lined up on the table soared into the sky and scattered due to the impact.
Following that, the wires that destroyed all the objects that soared into the air and aimed for Enoch swept his back, drawing a large semicircle as if chasing.
Chaenggeurang!
Breaking through the storm of porcelain fragments, Enoch used the acceleration to slide on the floor and land.
Immediately after, he began to rush towards Lien as it was to narrow the distance, detonating the mana concentrated in his legs.
He began to rush towards Lien with the explosive mobility of 1st Form.
Shhhwik!
As if not allowing that approach, one wire suddenly soared from the floor.
Enoch barely hung the guard of the sword on the table and urgently braked his body.
Enoch, who had evaded the unexpected attack solely relying on his dynamic visual acuity, hurriedly turned his gaze to check the surprise attack just now.
'Where did the wire suddenly pop out from?'
Enoch, who quickly grasped the situation while scanning the surroundings, felt a chill run down his spine for a moment.
It was a sudden surprise attack, but he could easily guess the cause.
Enoch's pupils dilated as he looked around the huge interior of the banquet hall once.
'Could it be that the wires I avoided earlier….'
Silver-white wires lurking like spider webs in all directions.
The wires that had missed him earlier were now lurking taut in the air, drawing complicated paths between the floor and the table that were submerged in darkness.
Like a densely designed spider web.
'The evasion path has already been completely blocked.'
He couldn't pay attention because he was frantically evading the wires being ejected towards this side.
The range of action that can utilize the mobility of 1st Form has already been considerably reduced.
He can no longer use the method of approaching while evading magic by using the space widely like before.
Since Lien can freely handle those wires, those wires will bind this side as soon as he approaches.
If that happens, there is no answer.
Besides, his left arm is already bound. It goes without saying that the range of action is further limited.
Even though it was clearly a high-speed battle, the more he moved his body, the more he felt like he was being driven into a checkmate.
'The problem is that it's not just a feeling, it's actually true.'
Lien's cyan eyes beyond the darkness were coldly watching this side as if piercing through.
Facing those eyes that seemed to declare that it was over, Enoch slowly gripped the sword again with his tense hands.
So it ends up like this.
'Was I already losing in the numbers game from the start of the battle?'
Of course, it was an expected development.
He had been hearing so much about how strong magicians of the 10th class or higher were in the Empire from the game, and he had enough experience raising game characters.
But when he actually experienced it, he didn't expect that he wouldn't even be able to find a gap to this extent.
Pheeiiiik!
Another silver-white mana-filled wire was ejected with a small sound.
The thread cutting through the darkness spread quickly.
Enoch's eyes widened at that moment. Lien's wire was even faster than before.
'As expected, she hadn't exerted all her strength yet.'
But he still didn't feel much of a crisis. Enoch had one hypothesis that was almost certain.
'Then where, shall I check it.'
Turning the sword to his side, Enoch again deployed mana to his body.
There's no problem anyway.
Lien's attack will never be able to harm this side.
'In the inherited memory, the Sword Saint also used 1st Form to narrow the distance.'
That means the versatility of 1st Form is endless.
Recalling the movements the Sword Saint had shown in the inner world, he concentrates again.
Wuuung
Deploy mana to the body. The mana that stretched out through the blood vessels was concentrated at the bottom of each part (脚部) of the left side.
The mana, concentrated for detonation, roared fiercely, waiting for the will of the owner to be the trigger.
Taaang!
Eventually, the mana detonated.
With Enoch's entire body leaning forward with his left foot powerfully kicking the ground.
But no matter how fast he was, Lien would have reacted enough and grasped it.
'Truly the dumbest move Enoch could take.'
An enemy flying in a straight line, accelerating so honestly that he can't even change direction.
If Lien was trying to kill him, she wouldn't have to do anything.
The speed attached to the body would be so scary that it would cut Enoch's body on its own by brushing past the wire that Lien manipulated.
'If I come out like this, what are you going to do?'
Enoch's black eyes, racing through the air, and Lien's cyan eyes, standing in front of him, accurately stared at each other through the sparse curtain of wire.
But the next moment, Lien's eyes wavered slightly, and a faint groan leaked out from between her lips.
She bit her lip, turned her head to the side, and lowered her arm powerlessly.
Swish.
The silver-white mana scattered according to Lien's will. The barrier of wire that had been spread out in front of his eyes was released in an instant.
Enoch smiled slightly as he confirmed it.
'As expected, you can't attack.'
Shhhwik!
Crossing the wire that Lien had released, Enoch's sword, which had rushed to Lien's eyes in the blink of an eye.
It was already too late to turn the sword back due to the crazy inertia and speed that had flown straight through the air like a shooting star.
The cyan blade that had rushed in a straight line like a meteor that cut through the night.
Lien's eyes, facing it, were dyed with a pale blue color as they received the light.
And the next moment.
Lien grabbed the wire with her left hand, which she had hidden behind her maid outfit's skirt.
Pheeing, Kagagagak!
The next moment, Enoch's sword, which was rushing in at an enormous speed, suddenly stopped in the air due to an invisible force.
Enoch's arm creaked as if it would break, unable to withstand the inertia.
Wuuung
The blade that was accurately aiming for Lien's neck was stopped right before piercing her thin and white neck.
But the tip of the sword could not move even 1 millimeter further to Lien there.
'And as expected….'
Enoch glanced and looked at his back.
'I can't handle it.'
Crack
Behind him, there was a space woven with silver threads throughout the banquet hall submerged in darkness.
The legs of the table.
The chairs and the platform.
The chandelier on the ceiling.
The silver wires that entangled Enoch's sword, using everything in the banquet hall as pulleys and supports.
Enoch, who had identified the identity, laughed in disbelief after realizing the absurd fact.
'All the wires I ejected to a while ago.'
The wires spread throughout the banquet hall were precisely dispersing power and delicately catching Enoch's sword so that he wouldn't get hurt.
And all those wires were exquisitely connected to Lien's left hand, which was hidden behind her back.
In the end, it means that she was calculating his movements and designing a way to suppress them.
Enoch turned his head again and looked at Lien, who was now right in front of his eyes.
The imminent situation where the end of Enoch's sword was on Lien's neck and Lien's wire was wrapped around Enoch's sword.
"Answer me."
It was Lien who broke the precarious silence first.
She looked at Enoch with cold eyes and asked.
"Where is the real Young Master?"