ust as violets or purple are generally considered symbolic concepts of death, dual-wielding weapons are also a representative symbol of death and defeat.
Wielding dual swords is like a vow that you wouldn’t complain even if you died by being struck by hail while walking down the street, and dual spears were simply natural death itself from the start.
It means that being dead is more natural than being alive.
It was a jinx widely accepted as fact among adventurers. To the extent that there was a joke circulating that if a party member picked up dual spears, you should cut off one of their arms before entering the dungeon.
The existence furthest from victory. That was precisely a dual-spear knight. An existence you could confidently expect to win against if encountered as an enemy.
Crackle!
…There was a time when I thought that way too.
“Ugh… this is, more than expected…!”
“Fast…!”
The close combat with the Valkyria that had descended to the ground.
I thought we could easily handle it given that it was two against one and we had weapons blessed with holy oil and a holy sword, but experiencing it firsthand, it was unexpectedly tricky beyond imagination.
“Dauði kappanum…. endalaus kuldi…!”
Death to the warrior. Endless cold.
The Valkyria, facing me and Friede simultaneously while exhaling curses close to imprecations. The ice long spears grasped in both hands writhed like snakes, scattering frost.
Speed, power, and technique. Martial arts threatening to the point of being flawless in every aspect.
Whether because it was undead and had no limit to its stamina, the power of Iron Arm showed no signs of fading, and despite being a spirit with dulled reason, the spear tip it thrust out was surprisingly precise.
“Tch… why is it so agile?”
I clicked my tongue quietly while barely deflecting the creature’s spear that shot out like a bullet.
Before I could finish speaking, I twisted my body to avoid the spear thrusting out again, then parried the third thrust while diving in, only to be kicked and pushed back far.
“Ugh…!”
The greaves engraved with leg strength enhancement and shock absorption formulas. The gauntlet that received the kick was deeply dented in the shape of a foot.
“Hyaaaaaah!”
Friede, who had been repelled like me, swung her holy sword to shoot out sword energy. The amber-colored slash that destroys evil split the desolate paving stones as it extended.
However, the Valkyria simply avoided this by leaping up as if performing acrobatics while thrusting its spear into the ground, then threw the spear to knock Friede far away.
“Uwaak!”
Friede, who had received the thrown spear with her sword blade, flew with a short scream and crashed into the collapsed wall of a building.
Perhaps because the recovery formula was broken due to the damaged pauldron, the power was less than half of the first thrown spear, but that was enough to send Friede flying like a baseball.
“This…!”
Seeing her get up immediately, it seemed she wasn’t badly hurt.
“Svikari…!”
“What traitor, we were never on the same side to begin with?”
While Friede, who had shaken off the pile of debris and stood up, was running back towards us, the Valkyria pulled out the long spear it had thrust into the ground and unleashed a rain-like series of attacks on me.
A series of attacks at supersonic speed with powerful strength and cold added. It was spear technique like a small, compressed snowstorm whirling around.
‘I heard Eisenstein spear techniques were nothing special except for throwing spears, but this is far from nothing…!’
I swung my longsword endlessly to face it while breaking out in a cold sweat.
Is this a Valkyria?
A remnant of the old era when demons who had risen to the ground, dragons soaring through the heavens, heroes of all races, and warriors chosen by the goddess for humanity fought fierce battles.
Befitting a strong being once called the ghost of the battlefield, even though it had fallen to become a spirit and was seriously weakened, its skill alone was truly at a monstrous level.
Ice fragments melting and scattering with sparks mixed in. The ice spear blade that shattered upon colliding with sword and armor regenerated perfectly the next moment, persistently aiming for the gaps in my armor.
It was too fast and skillful to parry everything.
Swish!
The spear blade grazing past my cheek, thigh, and forearm. The spraying blood gradually dyed the creature’s spear tip red.
“Haaah!”
A counter-strike thrust out. It gets caught firmly by the Valkyria’s gauntlet. For a moment, my vision darkened and my knees buckled. My breath was suddenly choked off.
“Kuhh…!”
The sensation of strength rapidly draining away. I remembered the information that the Valkyria’s gauntlet was engraved with a vitality absorption formula.
Probably to replenish the stamina consumed by Iron Arm. When it was alive.
“Let go… of that hand!”
I gritted my teeth and pulled my sword to shake off its hand. With a bright spark flying from inside the creature’s grip, one finger along with the gauntlet was sliced off and fell with a thud.
However, as if losing one finger was nothing, the Valkyria swung its spear shaft to strike my temple.
Though I blocked it with my left arm, due to my unstable posture, I was thrown sideways and rolled on the ground. The taste of dust was fishy and stale.
“Dauði!”
“Miss Hilde!”
Friede, who had somehow run up close, deflected the Valkyria’s spear that was about to strike me down, then leaped into its embrace as if spinning and brought down her greatsword.
Crackle!
Perhaps this couldn’t be completely avoided.
The Valkyria activated the defensive formula on its breastplate to cover its entire body with a magic barrier, but the holy sword tore through the magic barrier like paper and burrowed deep into the Valkyria’s armor.
“Kyaaak…!”
The Valkyria let out a fierce scream. Along with scattering ice fragments, its left arm was cut off at the pauldron and crashed into the ground.
“Kvenhetja…!”
The Valkyria, having lost its left arm to the new era hero, glared at Friede with eyes full of resentment and thrust out its spear―
Thud!
The dagger I threw while lying down pierced vertically through her lower jaw.
* * *
Do spirits have the same weaknesses as when they were alive?
As the dagger, hastily blessed by breaking a bottle of holy oil, pierced through the jaw and burrowed into the skull, the Valkyria creaked like a broken wind-up doll, then immediately lost strength and collapsed.
Sssss….
Then, like ice cream on a midsummer day, it slowly began to melt away, leaving only bones behind.
“Are, are you alright, Miss Hilde?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. More importantly, for now…”
I took Friede’s outstretched hand to stand up while looking at the gradually disappearing corpse of the Valkyria.
No, more precisely, at the remains it left behind and…
“Huh? That’s…”
…the relics it left behind.
‘Well, I got one at least.’
The remains of the Valkyria, now just a pitiful skeleton left behind.
The armor it had been wearing also disappeared as if melting away with the ice flesh… but there was one part that remained without vanishing.
The greaves pitifully fixed to the legs that were now just bones.
Unlike its former appearance adorned with gold and silver craftsmanship, the black-gray greaves had become plain with all the craftsmanship erased, like an ornament left neglected for a long time.
This armor was the reason I came to Banaditsa and the early-game hidden piece of this dungeon.
「 Damaged Armor of the Eternal Maiden 」
Befitting its plain appearance with the craftsmanship erased, the magic formulas embedded in it were also weakened or completely lost… but this was enough.
The damaged parts were only the magic formulas, while the cloud iron plate itself was intact without a single scratch.
In the very early game, full-body cloud iron armor is the hidden piece, what else could be?
Rare metals are hard to obtain even if you spend money.
Just gathering all five parts available here would make the equipment value comparable to Heid or Gunther.
I had hoped for a helmet or pauldrons as the first spoils of war, so it was a bit disappointing that it was greaves, but still.
“I’ll take this. Is that okay?”
I broke the legs of the remains to remove the greaves, then turned to Friede and asked decisively.
“Ah, yes! Of course! Of course it’s yours, Miss Hilde! It’s your ancestor’s after all!”
Hmm. That doesn’t seem like the right thing to say to someone who just put that ancestor to rest and then broke their leg bones.
Well, whatever.
“Thanks.”
I grinned as I removed my dented greaves from during the battle and replaced them with the relic gifted by my ancestor.
Befitting the expensive rare metal, it was harder than black iron yet surprisingly light. It felt more like wearing leather armor than metal armor.
Click.
The moment the greaves’ locks were perfectly secured, a faint magic power frosted over the black-gray plates, and a strength like that of a wild horse settled into both legs.
It disappeared immediately after settling in because the breastplate was needed for continuous magic supply, but still.
The magic formulas attached to the Valkyria’s greaves were a buffer formula to dissipate landing impact and a leg strength enhancement formula.
The buffer formula was completely destroyed, but the leg strength enhancement formula was working properly, albeit weakly. Just as in the original novel’s setting.
“Yeah, it fits perfectly.”
I pulled up the corners of my mouth in satisfaction as I plopped down on the bare ground to catch my breath and rest.
Good. I’ve got one for now, and the remaining parts are just the helmet, pauldrons, breastplate, and gauntlets.
It was impossible to obtain the cloak imbued with flying ability.
Unlike the cloud iron plates that had easily withstood hundreds of years in a damp environment, the cloak was just cloth, so it had long since rotted away.
So now, once I get the remaining four parts, it’s goodbye to this dungeon. At the very least, once I get the helmet and breastplate, I won’t have to be chased around anymore.
The formulas attached to the Valkyria’s helmet were stealth with presence concealment and resistance to magical effects that penetrate through vision.
If I remember correctly, the helmet’s formulas were also damaged and the magic resistance was completely gone, but the presence concealment formula was sure to work, albeit weakly.
We probably can’t become completely invisible like the Valkyria that ambushed us, but just wearing it would activate a perception interference effect.
What’s a perception interference effect, you ask? Simply put, it means that even when looking at me, people won’t feel any difference from an ordinary passerby.
More precisely, it should be said that they can’t pay any more attention than that?
People don’t remember those they pass by without interest.
A person with a perception interference formula could literally become like background melted into the crowd.
Unless they do something conspicuous like drawing a sword to attack someone or dancing in the street, no one would pay attention, that is.
In other words, if I just take the helmet from here, there won’t be any problem walking around cities openly from now on.
It means the range of movement will be greatly expanded.
Considering my current situation and the future, it was undoubtedly the equipment I needed to get my hands on before anything else.