Cipher sprinted toward the source of the sound, keeping low to the ground and weaving deftly through the forest instead of taking the main road. Within moments, she spotted a dozen menacing figures armed with cleavers marching directly toward the carriage. It was clear they meant trouble.
Realizing the danger, Cipher quickly retraced her steps and returned to the moving carriage. Waving her arms frantically, she shouted, "Someone's approaching!"
At her warning, the guard driving the carriage slowly brought it to a halt. Everyone tensed, alert. Cipher noticed that Aria and the other adventurers were already in combat stances, weapons at the ready, their faces grim with determination.
In contrast, the two guards—one driving the carriage and the other on horseback—wore expressions of stark terror, as if dreading something specific. From inside the carriage, Employer Pieck asked in a trembling voice, "I-is it... a knight clad entirely in black armor?"
Cipher shook her head. "No, they're probably just bandits."
Pieck visibly relaxed, muttering under his breath, "Thank goodness... thank goodness..."
Cipher's cat ears twitched, picking up the conversation clearly. It seemed the so-called "Black Knight" was the reason their employer had hired adventurers at great expense for protection. Was he an enemy?
A moment later, the dozen bandits encountered the carriage. Surprise flickered across their faces as they saw the adventurers already armed and ready for battle. A burly bandit with three scars on his face, clearly their leader, stepped forward and bellowed, "Spare me the pleasantries! Hand over your valuables, and I might let you live! Otherwise..."
His threat was cut short by the sound of a sword being drawn. Aria stood at the front of the carriage, her expression stern as she glared at the approaching bandits.
Until now, Aria had always seemed rather ditzy and cute. This was the first time Cipher had seen her so serious.
Cipher's gaze then fell upon Aria's sword. The hilt gleamed with a pale golden light, and intricate gilded patterns adorned the blade. This reminded her of Aria's earlier claim about drawing the Sword in the Stone from her village. So, this is the Sword in the Stone? It certainly looked formidable.
Douglas and the female warrior from another adventurer party stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Aria. Seeing this, the bandit leader smirked. "Looks like you're rejecting my offer? Well then... brothers, grab your weapons!"
The bandits clearly outnumbered the adventurers, and they subtly began to encircle the carriage. The bandit leader rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, his grin stretching wide as the gruesome scars on his face writhed like centipedes. With a thunderous roar, he charged toward Aria, the nearest target.
A hulking brute with a disfigured face lunging at a slender young girl—the scene looked like nothing more than a blatant act of bullying. Cipher hesitated for a moment before widening her stance, leaning forward, and assuming a sprinter's pose. Golden tendrils of electricity crackled around her.
Visibly, in Cipher's perception, everyone and everything—even the world itself—seemed to slow to a crawl.
The leaves drifting from the sky froze mid-air. The bandit leader, charging forward with a ferocious expression, halted in his tracks, his features frozen in a grotesque mask like a living statue.
In reality, time hadn't slowed down around them; Cipher had accelerated to an unimaginable speed.
According to the game's lore, tossing the Coin of Whimsy high into the air would grant Cipher, the Trickery Demigod, unparalleled Divine Speed. She had tested this ability three days prior.
Wearing the Coin of Whimsy around her neck, she had tried tossing it, but nothing happened. Through repeated experimentation, she discovered that she didn't actually need to toss the coin. By focusing her mind and consciously activating the Divine Speed ability, she could trigger it.
She didn't understand how it worked, but that didn't matter. What mattered was how incredibly cool this superpower was! It was the same Divine Speed as The Flash!
Over the past few days, while spending most of her time on lookout duty out of sheer boredom, she had diligently practiced controlling her newfound abilities. Now, she could activate and deactivate them with relative ease.
(TL Note: Lies become reality right? So in a way not knowing the truth behind the speed can also make it a reality.)
Humans were remarkably adaptable. Cipher had only transformed into her current form a few days ago, yet she had already completely adjusted to her new body. She could even control her tail with ease, as if she had been born this way.
Cipher slipped into the battlefield from the side, instantly appearing beside the bandit leader. She gently flicked aside his right hand, which gripped the sword hilt, drew the blade from its sheath, and turned to leave the fray.
She hadn't done much—merely "stolen" the leader's weapon.
And here I was, practicing finger dexterity so diligently. Is stealing really this easy? Cipher mused silently as she returned to her previous position. She casually tossed aside the stolen weapon and deactivated Divine Speed.
Even before activating Divine Speed, Cipher's speed had been extraordinary—so fast that others could barely catch a glimpse of her afterimages. But with Divine Speed, even those afterimages vanished completely from sight.
No one on the battlefield noticed the "little cat" that had just darted through their midst. The bandit leader, grinning wickedly, swung his right hand fiercely, aiming a chop at Aria.
Only then did he realize something felt terribly wrong.
But it was too late. Aria raised the Sword in the Stone high above her head and shouted, "Supreme Holy Slash!"
A dazzling light erupted from her blade. Instead of the expected clash of steel, the bandit leader's weapon vanished into thin air. Aria's strike landed squarely on his body.
A torrent of Magic Power tore a massive gash through the bandit leader's torso, nearly severing him at the waist.
With a thunderous crash, the bandit leader was flung backward like a discarded ragdoll, bowling over several of his underlings behind him. He was dead the instant Aria's blade made contact.
This was the power of a Holy Warrior. Though they possessed no inherent magical abilities, they could unleash spells through the power of their sacred oaths, expending only physical stamina.