Chapter 10

Chapter 009: Ariel's Return

"Why do we have to catch the witch?"

*Click*

"Yes."

Mew swallowed hard as he waited for Sharik's response. He had noticed a change in her eyes just now. Until a moment ago, she had been a cheerful and outgoing woman, but with just one question, she had instantly transformed into an untouchable knight.

Mew usually avoided bringing up the topic of witches because he found this side of Sharik frightening and intimidating. However, his concern for Ariel's future made him want to ask this question at least once.

"We don't necessarily have to catch her."

"Huh? Uh... then why..."

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Mew tried to think of a way to get more detailed information. However, Sharik was only staring into the forest with an increasingly fierce gaze.

"We didn't necessarily have to catch her... but now that she's come here, I might as well give it a try."

Sharik stood up with a low voice and picked up the scabbard leaning against the rock.

"Sir Sharik! Why...?!"

Mew was startled by the sudden change in Sharik's demeanor.

He had felt this suffocating aura several times since they left the cottage, but the Sharik before him now was even more terrifying and ominous.

Mew felt that something was about to happen and turned his eyes to the forest where Sharik was staring intently.

There was nothing there.

Just the white snow, trees, rocks, and patches of exposed earth. Sharik was staring at this place, and Mew was feeling anxious, not knowing what was going on.

But then, something shocking happened.

From the forest, which had been empty just a moment ago, the shapes of trees and rocks began to distort, and a black figure appeared.

*Startled*

The figure was Ariel, wearing a black robe.

Mew was both shocked and worried when he saw Ariel appear in front of Sharik.

"Ah! Ari...!"

In his haste to call her name, Mew realized that Sharik was right next to him. He had always claimed to know nothing about witches, but now that he had called Ariel's name right next to her, he had no idea what would happen to him or Ariel.

"Ah, so your name is Ariel... Hello?"

Sharik's voice, filled with a chilling aura, made Mew want to scream for her to run, but he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"With your level of skill, you could have easily escaped. Why did you show up?"

"..."

Despite Sharik's continued questioning, Ariel remained silent, standing still.

Mew was frustrated and worried, wondering why Ariel wasn't running away.

"Is it because of this one?"

Sharik smirked and pointed at Mew with her chin.

Then, the motionless and silent Ariel began to approach slowly.

Even though Mew knew nothing about magic, he could tell that Ariel was in a very dangerous state.

Sharik, still confident, watched Ariel approach while a corner of her mouth curled up.

"Let's see."

*Swish!*

The speed of the sword was so fast that the human eye couldn't follow it.

The sword was so fast that it was invisible, but what was even faster was Sharik's movement as she lunged forward. In a single moment, she covered a distance that would have taken Mew ten leaps to reach and launched an attack.

Due to the mana infused in the sword, a blue mist-like aura spread where the sword had passed.

It was a devastating strike, combining unmatched speed and a powerful aura. The overwhelming swordsmanship was what made Sharik so terrifying.

"Huh?"

However, Sharik realized that her sword had only cut through the air.

She had been carefully checking the opponent's aura, so it wasn't an illusion or afterimage created by black magic.

This meant the opponent also possessed a speed similar to hers.

*Whoosh!*

Predicting the witch's movement, Sharik twisted her body to avoid the sharp and powerful hand of Ariel that passed by her waist.

Sharik saw black smoke-like substances rising from Ariel's hand. If her body had touched that dark energy, it would have caused significant damage. Sharik's instincts as a knight told her that maintaining such a close distance was disadvantageous.

*Whoosh! Swish! Swish!*

As soon as she landed safely after her twist, Sharik immediately swung her sword in an X-shape at Ariel. She had planned to use hand-to-hand combat if Ariel had tried to close in again, but the witch was retreating instead.

'Phew... Not bad... Ah!'

Sharik thought the witch was retreating to avoid her sword, but she soon realized it was to create distance for a black magic attack, which made her shudder. As soon as the witch planted her last foot, she extended her hands forward and released a black aura.

'Poison?'

Sharik released mana to protect her body.

This method could protect her from poison and fire-based magic attacks, but it consumed a lot of mana.

'Forcing mana consumption and trying to drag it into a war of attrition? Tch!'

If the witch continued to attack from a distance after releasing poison, Sharik would have to block the poison while fighting, which would triple her mana consumption.

'Alright. Let's see how you handle close combat!'

Sharik charged at the witch, using sword techniques that were advantageous in close combat.

A series of quick slashes. Without a weapon, it would be difficult for the opponent to block or defend, and the small movements made it hard to dodge.

But.

*Clang!*

Ariel's right hand forcefully deflected Sharik's mana-infused sword, and she immediately lunged forward, bowing her upper body. It was the same attack she had used to stab and kill Viscount Luke.

'Where!'

*Thud!*

After deflecting Sharik's sword with her dark energy-infused hand and lunging forward, Sharik instinctively knew what Ariel's next move would be.

Sharik wasn't just talented in sword-based training; she was skilled and well-trained in all types of combat. This was possible because she was known as a "monster obsessed with fighting."

She extended her right knee to strike Ariel's shoulder and grabbed Ariel's hand that was about to stab her abdomen with her left hand. Then, she twisted her body and threw Ariel.

A normal person would have been thrown with a broken arm and crashed to the ground!

But Ariel landed gracefully, and Sharik looked at her with a grim expression.

It was a fierce battle in a very short time. However, due to the extreme use of dark energy during that short period, Ariel's breathing had become quite heavy.

'Where did such a monstrous witch come from! This is really the first time I've had a fun opponent in a long time!'

Sharik was quite surprised after the first exchange.

She had thought the witch would be incredibly skilled, having killed Viscount Luke and his knights, but she hadn't expected her to be strong enough to fight on par with her, even for a moment.

Now, she was extremely excited to have finally met a skilled opponent. She had never felt such a sense of crisis, even after beating knights with her sword, wooden sticks, and her hands and feet every day.

As her skills improved, she had become capable of defeating the entire knight squad at once, and she had always been thirsty for a skilled opponent.

The upcoming battle with Wissen was on the horizon, but since there were no knights in Wissen stronger than her own knight squad, she had been content with taking the head of the strongest, Viscount Luke.

However, when she heard about the witch who had killed Viscount Luke, she had entered this territory without permission, determined to capture the witch who had murdered a noble.

Just to face a skilled opponent directly.

"Wow~ You're pretty good. I heard you killed Luke... It was worth coming all this way, worth it! Hahaha! Huh?"

*Boom!*

Sharik had to quickly dodge mid-laugh.

Ariel had thrown something heavy, which exploded near where Sharik's chest had been, spreading black smoke.

"Ugh!"

To block the black energy flying towards her body, Sharik released a lot of mana.

But then, a sharp whip-like object flew at her like a snake.

"Yah!"

With a sharp battle cry, Sharik swung her mana-infused sword to cut the black whip. Or, she tried to. However, the black whip not only failed to be cut by Sharik's sword, which was surrounded by a blue aura, but it also wrapped around the sword.

"Eh?"

Ariel, having successfully bound Sharik's sword, poured dark energy from her left hand and thrust it at Sharik.

Startled by the sudden situation, Sharik, trained through countless battles and real combat, grabbed Ariel's left hand with her left hand.

*Crackle!*

The moment she grabbed the dark hand, a sharp pain shot through her left hand. Sharik kicked Ariel's leg with her left foot.

*Thud!*

Ariel's body flew into the air and was thrown to the ground, and Sharik thought she had won. With her right hand holding the sword and the whip, and her left hand grabbing Ariel's left hand, Sharik believed Ariel was now subdued.

Or so she thought...

*Smack!*

Ariel, who had been thrown to the ground, kicked Sharik's abdomen with her left foot, and Sharik's attempt to subdue her failed.

It seemed Ariel could also channel the terrifying dark power into her feet.

Sharik, feeling a significant amount of pain, let go of Ariel's hand and retreated, barely recovering her sword.

"Ugh! What kind of witch are you to fight so well? Eh? Are you a bully in the witch world?"

Sharik, wincing, rubbed her left hand and abdomen, which were throbbing with pain from the dark energy. Although there were no visible wounds due to the protection of mana, she could still feel the pain.

However, Ariel was in even worse shape.

Sharik, who hadn't received a proper hit yet, noticed that Ariel was in a lot of pain, indicating that her physical condition was not good.

"Haha. Why did you come back here in such a state?"

In response to Sharik's question, Ariel only panted heavily, without answering.

Seeing this, Sharik turned to look at Mew, who was behind her.

"Heh. You don't think I'm going to do something to that guy, do you... Eh?"

As Sharik turned to speak and Ariel followed her gaze, they were both startled.

They saw Mew lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

How did the owner of the Harem Knights

Author: Shinnae Joakga

Cover: Bbal

Planning/Editing/Proofreading: Shinnae Joakga/Jung Jae-Hoon/Jung Jae-Hoon

Publication Date: August 17, 2020

Publisher: Cheongha Books

ISBN: 979-11-970944-0-8(10)

E-mail: [email protected]

Price: Non-commercial

Copyright 2020. Shinnae Joakga. All rights reserved.

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