A Former Child Soldier Who Uses a Magic Sword Wants to Live with an Older Sister of a Former Enemy Executive - Chapter 82

• Chapter 82 : Hydra and the trial of the Wendigo of the snow

Let’s go back in time, to the same moment Seto and Satis arrived in Hopi Mesa.

[Whoaaaah!? W-Whoa-WHOAAAAAAHH!?] (Hydra)

Hydra has escaped from the cave and was running as fast as she could on the way she came from.

She tried to do battle with the priestess who had come back from the dead in that cave, but she was no match for her.

Even when she drew her sword and tried to slice her up, she anticipated all of her moves, and even when she finally slashed her skin, her blade was repelled by some mysterious force.

Concluding that she could not win, Hydra turned her back to her and ran out at full speed.

[WHY ARE YOU CHASING MEEEEEEEEEE!!?] (Hydra)

The priestess followed Hydra in her beautiful form, remaining silent and expressionless throughout.

She was moving at extraordinary speed, and if Hydra let her guard down even a little, she would definitely catch her up.

While the snow was slowing her down, the priestess seemed to be quite used to running on it, putting the martial artist at a disadvantage.

Just as she told herself that she would definitely catch up at some point if nothing was done…

Gh…!? Th-The wind…!? Where did it come from!? It wasn’t blowing sideways just a moment ago! (Hydra)

Thinking that, she turned only her gaze in the direction the wind was blowing from, and there, she caught sight of something terrifying.

It looked like the upper body of a white giant.

It supported itself with its large tree-like arms, and moved toward Hydra.

It had countless eyes all over the body, and all of them were looking at her.

The sensation she had of being observed before entering the cave probably came from that thing.

This was the one and only… Wendigo of the snow.

The fear it invoked instantly made Hydra’s hair stand on end.

On one side, the priestess was chasing after the intruder, and on another, the Wendigo was using the wind to divert that same intruder from the totem poles.

A perfect death race to serve as a trial.

There was Hydra, who had to carry the future of the world and her own penitence on her shoulders, and then there was a creature from a higher plane of existence that had existed since time immemorial.

[RAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!] (Hydra)

Hydra was desperately running through it all.

Her fierce fighting spirit was surging from the depths of her soul, screaming that she could not let it end here.

A raging blizzard, and a priestess on her tail.

Hydra did her best to tackle the obstacles that stood in her way.

By no means had she been slacking off before that.

She underwent the harshest training regimen the masters from the village could provide.

However, as one would expect from the power of a Wendigo, the blizzard prevented her from running at full speed.

The priestess grabbed her from behind, causing her to tumble away from the totem poles.

Taking advantage of that, the Wendigo of the snow warped to the direction she was tumbling in, and attempted to swallow Hydra whole, along with the priestess.

But she managed to kick the priestess away, and avoid the creature’s incoming right arm.

If she could move back to a totem pole, the Wendigo would be unable to approach her.

First, she ran again to get within range of a totem pole.

However, the priestess was persistent.

Using her extraordinary jumping power, she leapt in front of Hydra, preventing her from going anywhere.

[I knew you’d do that… EAT THIS!] (Hydra)

Hydra shoved a large amount of snow onto the priestess’ face, temporarily blinding her.

Then she ran off again, passing by the priestess who was struggling in a panic due to her inability to see clearly.

The Wendigo of the snow was chasing after her.

However, using her well-trained legs, Hydra released an explosive amount of energy to get away from it in one go.

But just as she was about to reach a totem pole, the priestess managed to grab her from above.

She was too late to react, and just when she thought that she was done for…

[——Hydra, get down!] (???)

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice coming from the blizzard.

As soon as she did as she was told, something flew at high speed and hit the priestess straight on.

It was an iron ball slightly smaller than a fist.

The priestess was hit in the chest, and sent flying backward.

However, far from dying, she was not even injured, and tried to stand back up slowly.

Looking in the direction from which she flew, Hydra saw a face she knew.

[R… Ryodou-dono!?] (Hydra)

[I came to check on you since I got worried, and… Figured this would happen. Keep running! I’ve got your back!] (Ryodou)

Ryodou was using an extremely rare weapon known as a magic bowgun.

He used his mana to boost it, increasing the power and speed of the iron balls he fired.

Ryodou’s covering fire significantly hindered the priestess’ progress.

But the Wendigo of the snow kept interfering with them.

That creature was immune to physical and magical attacks.

Nevertheless, Ryodou kept firing his ammos to back up Hydra.

As a result, she was able to get within range of the totem poles.

From that point on, all the Wendigo could do was blow his raging blizzard at her.

The priestess was also away from her by a great distance, and when Hydra finally reached the finish line, both the Wendigo and the priestess halted their progress.

——Hydra had won the trial.

[Haa… Haa… Did I really… make it back… alive…?] (Hydra)

[Sure did… But that was a bit too close.] (Ryodou)

[Thank you… very much… for saving me. Once again… I’m indebted to you.] (Hydra)

[Ain’t nothing a kid like you should care about. There’s nothing wrong with being saved by an adult.] (Ryodou)

[But I’m… constantly receiving help from everyone. Even for this trial. It was something I had to overcome on my own, and yet…] (Hydra)

[You try to shoulder way too much with your own strength and existence. Life ain’t no easy road you can walk on your own. You already did great. There’s no need to feel guilty just because you borrowed help from someone else. You’ve tried and done something no one else could’ve accomplished. …Don’t get yourself down like that. Especially not in front of a sourpuss like me.] (Ryodou)

Then he reached out to Hydra, who was sitting on the ground.

She grabbed his hand, stood back up, and followed him back to the village.

She was crying and sobbing all the way. 

From the despair made up of the fear and anxiety born from the threat of death.

Her heart was filled with thoughts of Ryodou, who saved her from that predicament, and the other villagers, who had taken such good care of her.

The snowy wind had subsided, and they could see greenery in the distance.

By the time they returned to the village, the ice that had stuck deep within Hydra’s heart had melted, and she was now ready to take a new step forward.

Before anything else, she went to Scarlett and Gendar to show them the proof of her success in overcoming the trial.

This was the moment Hydra’s new step forward as a former member of the Hero’s party was about to begin.