Witch Taming System-Chapter 52: Fiore [3]

"Shouldn’t you take a break?"

"It’s fine."

No matter how many times Fiore asked, his answer didn’t change. It was always "It’s fine."

Heck, even the tone stayed the same.

And that was what made it strange.

Lancel had been moving nonstop for the past two hours, fighting without pause, without taking the time to properly recover. By all means, he should have slowed down by now.

But none of that showed.

His pace remained consistent, and his stamina hadn’t dropped. It was as if he had just started.

Witches didn’t tire easily. Their bodies were built differently, capable of sustaining activity far beyond what was considered normal. Some could even go on for months without sleep.

What Lancel was showing right now was eerily similar to that. Of course, he had rested earlier, but even that didn’t quite explain it.

He had only slept for an hour at most, far less than what his condition at the time should have required.

Despite how exhausted he had looked, despite how unresponsive he had been to her attempts to wake him, it hadn’t lasted long.

And yet, he was already back to moving like this.

Fiore narrowed her eyes, but chose not to address it.

For now, at least.

Thump!

A heavy footstep echoed through the fog, followed by a low, guttural roar that shook the surroundings.

Fiore didn’t react much.

But Lancel did.

"...Darkmaw."

The same one he had nearly brought down earlier, before the fight had been interrupted.

Fiore watched him for a moment.

She still didn’t understand it.

Why would he insist on doing this himself?

Why would he choose to put himself at risk when there were easier options right in front of him?

Lancel could just...

Fiore shook her head, dismissing the thought.

"Should I help you out?"

"Mm." Lancel considered her question before answering. "Could you deal with anything else that might interfere?"

"Aye, aye. Captain."

With her here, the situation changed.

There would be no repeat of before.

This time, the fight would be isolated.

Just him and the Darkmaw.

"Alright, you bastard."

Lancel shifted his footing, bringing his dagger forward as he took a stance.

With Fiore present, he couldn’t approach it the same way as before. Fighting while mixing both his natural physique and magic freely wasn’t an option here.

But even so, this terrain worked in his favor.

Unlike earlier, when the area was open and exposed, this situation was different.

Trees were scattered throughout, breaking up the space, creating natural blind spots and cover without forcing it.

That alone was enough.

Lancel didn’t need more than that to understand his position.

In a place like this, an assassin was at his strongest.

Crash——!

The Darkmaw’s claws came crashing down in an instant. Lancel avoided it immediately, pulling his body to the side as he shifted toward a nearby tree without losing momentum.

Using the trunk as leverage, he recoiled against it and kicked off in the same motion, accelerating forward as his dagger came down.

The transition of movement flowed into the next smoothly.

Slash——!

Lancel’s blade sliced across the beast’s shoulder, drawing a deep line of blood.

The Darkmaw roared and swung again, but Lancel was already gone, darting to the next tree.

He used the thick trunk to pivot, launching himself at a new angle.

His dagger flashed once more, carving into the creature’s side as he passed.

He never stayed in one spot. A quick strike, then immediate relocation using the trees as both cover and springboards.

The Darkmaw’s massive swings kept missing by inches, smashing into bark and sending splinters flying while Lancel danced through the fog like a shadow.

Each pivot built speed. Each tree became a tool. He would rebound off one trunk, slash low at the beast’s legs, then use the momentum to flip onto another tree and strike from above.

The Darkmaw grew more frustrated with every miss. Its roars turned into furious bellows as blood streamed from multiple shallow wounds.

Lancel dropped low, slid between its legs, and drove his dagger upward into its underbelly as he passed before rolling to his feet and kicking off the nearest tree.

He came back in from the side, slicing across its ribs in one fluid motion.

The Darkmaw staggered, blood pouring freely. Lancel circled it using the trees, never giving it a clear target, and always striking from blind angles.

There was no point in playing defense. Even if a Darkmaw was fast, this was a bad match-up for it, especially in a terrain like this, where space was broken, and movement could be controlled.

Trying to meet it head-on would only waste what advantage he had.

Lancel didn’t need to overpower it.

He just needed to stay ahead.

If there was one thing Lancel was confident in, it was speed.

After all, Lancel grew up running.

Running from the organization that raised him.

Running from the enemies that came after him once a job was done.

Running from everything that chased him, everything that tried to catch up, everything that would end him if he slowed down for even a second.

That was all he knew.

And because of that, Lancel never got caught.

With a swift, decisive strike, the Darkmaw fell without even having a chance to touch him.

Slash——!

∎ Subjugate Darkmaws 1/5]

That made one.

"Four more to go..."

Lancel turned, steadying his breath as the fighting ended.

But what greeted him made him pause.

"...."

Fiore hovered there on her broom, and around her the ground was littered with a pile of corpses. Bodies of all sorts of different species, reduced to nothing more than lifeless heaps at her feet.

Right.

This sort of power, the kind that could topple any organization, was the ceiling Lancel wished to reach.

There was no need to revel in a false sense of progression when even someone like Fiore could delete him with a flick of her fingers.

"You’re pretty good."

Fiore said it lightly as she hopped off her broom, her feet touching the ground without a sound as she walked toward him.

Only when she was close enough did she stop. Tilting her head slightly, she looked at him with a smile, clasping her hands behind her back.

"But I’m starting to wonder, Lancel."

"Yes...?"

"When are you going to use magic?"