𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒-𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫
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Marie eats the Cockatrice, but let’s go back in time a little.
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His name is Gilden.
He’s the leader of the S-rank adventurer party known as 【Twilight Dragon】.”
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Though he’s a man, he has long hair and a fierce gaze reminiscent of a bird of prey.
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At the young age of 24, he’s a genius who has already reached the highest rank of adventurer.
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Gilden firmly believes he’s a special existence, endowed with power from the gods.
Stronger than the royal guards, stronger than the paladins of the Heavenly Guidance Church, and stronger than any other adventurer.
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He is confident in this belief, and indeed, Gilden has the skill to back it up.
. . . . . .However, even Gilden met an opponent he couldn’t easily defeat.
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That opponent was. . . . . .the Cockatrice.
It looks like a chicken but is actually a type of dragon.
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It’s known as an ancient dragon, a matured and ferocious type of dragon.
Older dragons become increasingly powerful and increasingly vicious.
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The ancient dragon Cockatrice seems to have been sleeping in the depths of a dungeon close to town until recently.
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It appears that someone had sealed it away.
The remnants of that sealing magic were still present.
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But another adventurer party broke the seal.
A fearsome monster with magical powers from an ancient era was unleashed upon the world.
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Many adventurers challenged the Cockatrice, and all of them were defeated.
With no other options, the task fell to Gilden, the strongest adventurer.
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Gilden had a special skill known as 【Dual Wielding】.”
In this world where magic has waned, it was the only countermeasure he, who couldn’t use healing magic, had against monsters.
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A special power that improves abilities and enables attacks that are usually impossible.
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Gilden’s Dual Wielding skill allows him to freely manipulate two blades.
Normally, one can’t even swing a sword with their non-dominant hand. But he can.
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Endowed with god-given talent and accompanied by elite comrades, Gilden challenged the Cockatrice. . . . . .
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And was effortlessly defeated.
“Hah. . . . . .! Hah. . . . . .! Impossible. . . . . . My sword. . . . . . It can’t even scratch it?!”
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Gilden looked at the monster before him.
A gigantic chicken-like monster.
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Its eyes were blood-red, and not a single flaw could be seen in its feathers.
Yes, despite looking just like a chicken, it was an entirely different creature.
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No weapon could penetrate those feathers.
Both blunt and sharp attacks were completely absorbed.
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And then, those blood-red eyes.
When hit by the petrifying light emitted from those eyes, that body part turns to stone.
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“Damn it. . . . . .! Everyone’s. . . . . .! Turned to stone. . . . . .! Damn it!”
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His companions were by no means weak. They were all skilled adventurers, even if they weren’t as strong as Gilden.
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But all of them had turned to stone.
Gilden’s right leg had also been petrified.
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“Damn it. . . . . . This calls for. . . . . . My trump card!”
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Gilden raised both his arms high.
Two swords in his grasp began to glow.
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“Raaaahhhhhh!”
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Leaping into the air, Gilden unleashed a high-speed slash.
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“【Meteor Blade】!!!!!”
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The glowing, high-speed slash descended upon the Cockatrice like a meteor.
This skill, activated by using all his energy, should have shattered even the toughest monster. . . . . .but it didn’t.
A sharp noise resounded.
“What. . . . . .?! My. . . . . .sword. . . . . .”
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It was a skill meant to bypass defenses and kill the opponent absolutely.
But… it didn’t work. This was a first for Gilden as an adventurer. . . . . .no, in his life.
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He collapsed clumsily to the ground.
For the first time, he felt. . . . . .fear.
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Facing this overwhelmingly powerful monster, for the first time, he was afraid.
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“Grrraaaarrrrrr!”
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The Cockatrice’s mysterious beam hits Gilden.
His body slowly turns to stone.
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And then. . . . . .his vision fades, he should have died.
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SNAP…!
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“W, What’s going on. . . . . .”
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The next moment, Gilden was awake. . . . . .Awake?!
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“?! Why am I alive?! What about the petrification?! Where’s the Cockatrice?!”
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However, strangely enough, the monster that should have been in front of him had vanished.
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Also. . . . . .he should have turned to stone, as should his companions.
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“Uh… huh? Gilden. . . . . .why are we still alive?”
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Even when asked by his companions, he had no idea what had happened.
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“Did someone dispel the petrification. . . . . .? But. . . . . .where’s the Cockatrice?”
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. . . . . .Well,
let’s explain what happened to him.
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In fact, at the moment Gilden was supposed to have died from petrification, the witch Marie arrived.
She cast a spell called 【Thunderbolt】.
It killed the Cockatrice in a single blow.
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But that’s not all.
In fact, the aftershock of 【Thunderbolt】 also hit Gilden and his companions.
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Originally, this spell is a debuff that paralyzes the enemy.
However, Marie’s spell was too powerful, instantly killing the Cockatrice and also hitting Gilden and his companions with the spell’s electrical discharge.
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As a result, their petrification was undone. Normally, stacking status conditions is impossible.
If someone is affected by both petrification and paralysis, the stronger spell will take effect.
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In other words, Marie’s paralysis spell was stronger than Cockatrice’s petrification spell.
Therefore, the petrification was canceled.
Also, they were supposed to have died from cardiac arrest, but the 【Thunderbolt】 spell forcibly restarted their hearts.
The power of electricity made their hearts start beating again, and so they were brought back from the brink of death.
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. . . . . .And so, thanks to Marie, the Cockatrice was defeated, and Gilden and his companions, who were supposed to have died from petrification, barely survived.
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“Uh, excuse me, Gilden. May I have a moment?”
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One of his companions, a male appraiser, raises his hand.
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“There’s something strange recorded in my ‘Orb of Chronicles.'”
“What? In the Orb of Chronicles. . . . . .?”
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It’s one of the magical tools.
Magical tools are mysterious items that produce magical effects, made in an era when magic was still prevalent.
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Now, no one can create magical tools; they are all excavated from ruins or dungeons. (※Incidentally, Marie can create and repair magical tools)
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The Orb of Chronicles is one such magical tool. It can record and store video, and then play it back, a very rare item.
It looks like a small eyeball with wings.
Pressing the eyeball projects the video into the air.
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This appraiser is a fan of Gilden and uses this magical tool to record every moment of Gilden’s battles.
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“Look. . . . . .see this!”
“A woman. . . . . .?”
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In the video, a flying woman suddenly appears, generating lightning from her hands and defeating the enemy.
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Then she tears the gigantic Cockatrice to pieces and disappears somewhere.
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“. . . . . .”
“What is this…?”
“. . . . . .I have no idea.”
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No one could understand what appeared in the video, including Gilden.
A world where magic has already declined.
It’s a given that there’s no magic. So it’s not surprising that the inhabitants of such a world couldn’t comprehend the advanced magic she used.
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However, Gilden understood one thing.
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“This woman. . . . . .defeated the Cockatrice with unknown powers and revived us. . . . . .”
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Gilden chose to simply accept the facts.
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He grits his teeth. The fact that she knocked out an opponent he couldn’t stand up to in one blow. . . . . .is unbearably frustrating.
. . . . . .At the same time, he becomes intensely curious about her.
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“What is this? Who is she?”
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The video is zoomed in. Black hair, cold eyes.
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“She’s beautiful. . . . . .”
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The others nod in agreement with his comrade’s words.
She indeed has a beautiful face.
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“She fires lightning from her hands, vanishes the monster, and even revives the dead. . . . . .she’s like a goddess.”
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In a world without magic, using magic is essentially equivalent to performing a godly miracle.
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He feels like denying it. But, if it wasn’t the work of a god, defeating the Cockatrice would have been impossible.
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“Anyway. . . . . .I’m going to report this to the guild. It may even become a problem that reaches the country. What on earth is she doing now, and where. . . . . .?”
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None in the room could imagine that the woman wielding god-like powers would be casually eating kebabs in the forest and mumbling, “Delicious.”
