Seeing Raymond in such a state, they cried out in alarm.
"Master, it's dangerous!"
"Master, please stay back, it's dangerous!"
"Brother, we'll take care of this place!"
It was Elmud, Christine, and Rao in turn.
Duke Leif also shouted with a pale complexion.
"Quickly retreat and flee! You are the best martial arts potential that will bloom someday! Save your life!"
But Raymond didn't back down.
He was frankly terrified.
Even with a C-grade heart of steel, he couldn't feel the pressure of battle.
'Ugh... After this, I won't even look at a sword.'
Raymond was acutely aware that he was a healer, not a knight.
He wasn't cut out for it.
But now he had to take up the sword.
To live!
'Use your skill, Healer's Reanimation!'
[You are facing a powerful enemy to protect your patient!]
[Skill, 'Healer's Reanimation' is activated!]
[Stamina stat increases by 1.3x! Senses stat increases by 1.5x!]
[Stamina: 63 → 141.35]
[Senses: 52 → 120.3]
In an instant, his stats jumped.
Raymond's body became stronger, more agile.
And.
[Healers who step up to defend their patients are tough!]
[Momentarily, the 'fighter's instinct' kicks in!]
The message struck home.
Raymond's world changed.
For one thing, fear was gone.
All that was left was a fierce fighting instinct!
'I have a fighting instinct?'
Raymond thought in bewilderment.
To use an analogy, he felt like a mother bird who became aggressive to defend her young.
Even more surprising was the fact that he could see the battle unfolding before him.
While he couldn't track every intricate sword trajectory with his eyes, he sensed the movements instinctively.
He could anticipate the current swordplay and even predict the next moves.
'...This is the effect of 'fighting instinct'?
In the heat of the moment, without conscious thought, he thrust his sword forward.
It wasn't a deliberate attack; it simply felt like the right thing to do-a pure impulse guided by his newfound fighting instinct.
A crude yet powerful straight line of attack shot towards Kalis.
"How dare you...!"
Kalis was furious that the healer had dared to point his sword at him.
'I'll cut your throat right now!'
Kalis's eyes widened as he tried to dodge and slit his throat.
'This, this?'
While it might not have been an extraordinary attack, it was fast and surprisingly strong.
It could even be compared to the strikes of the advanced Sword Experts surrounding him.
As a Sword Master, Kalis could have blocked it easily.
But the problem lay elsewhere.
'Why this angle?'
The attack was coming straight for his right shoulder.
The problem was, he couldn't dodge it.
'If I dodge that, it'll throw me completely off balance.'
In this one-on-many fight, Kalis had to consider the angles of the other swords aimed at him.
Dodging Raymond's attack would create a dangerous gap that his opponents could exploit.
'Damn this!'
For a moment, Kalis swore.
He would give him his right shoulder.
Even if he dodged and exposed the gap, he was done.
It was a one-two punch.
'How does he do this?'
Kalis made his choice.
If his right shoulder is pierced, he is incapacitated.
He dodged Raymond's attack,
'Gap!'
Duke Leif, Elmud, and the other knights took advantage of the gap.
Elmud was the first to strike.
A fierce blow tore through Kalis's back.
"Keuk!"
Behind him was Muhad, the Lan warrior.
Kalis barely dodged the blow.
He parried a series of blows from Viscount Thys of the Kingdom of Droton, but he couldn't avoid being knocked completely off balance.
Finally.
The moment he met Duke Leif's icy eyes, he knew his fate.
'N-no.'
Pow!
Duke Leif's aura blade pierced Kalis' heart with precision.
***
After the battle, silence descended.
Everyone looked at Raymond in awe.
They all knew.
They were shocked, especially those who had been with Raymond for so long.
'How did Master do that?'
'I knew Brother had talent with the sword, but this...'
'Is my lord truly great with the sword as well?'
Of course, they all knew that Raymond was talented with the sword, but the attack he had just executed was on a whole different level.
First of all, the speed and strength behind it were comparable to that of an advanced Sword Expert.
It was astonishingly strong, yet surprisingly crude-just a simple straight line, as if someone who didn't know how to use a sword had delivered it.
And yet, the power and impact of the strike were incomprehensible.
It defied the conventional understanding that the strength of a sword strike came from a perfect stance and a well-executed sword path.
Even more astonishing was the exquisiteness of the attack.
'At the precise moment, he delivered an attack that couldn't be countered. How did he perform such a strike?'
Christine, Rao, and Elmud looked at Raymond in disbelief.
The others were equally stunned.
'Baron Penin had such sword skills?'
Even so, Raymond was amazing.
He had a genius mind, a healer's ability, and a personality that was admired by all.
But when he showed off his sword skills like that, they all stared at him in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Raymond coughed in vain at their stares.
'Ahem.'
He had no choice, but he might have made a big mistake.
'...Well, it's a skill, but I think everyone's misunderstanding. What shall I say?'
Raymond rolled his eyes.
'I don't think I'm in a position to say I got lucky.'
Raymond thought hard.
'It's not my talent, it's the skill that made me lucky.'
Still, he felt the need to explain.
'But it's not a bad thing, is it? I've done a great job, and if I package it well, it's an image-making opportunity.'
Raymond decided.
He coughed again and opened his mouth to speak.
"You shouldn't look at it that way, I just got lucky."
"Lucky?"
Viscount Thys, Droton's Senior Expert, shook his head.
"To say that a blow of such magnitude was luck, that's too modest."
Muhad, the Lan warrior, spoke up.
So it is, Light of the Foreign Lands. That was a great strike."
Raymond shook his head.
"I am, of course, a genius of the sword, but that blow just now was not accomplished by mere genius."
"Then?"
"It was because of my desire to help you, and because of that desire, a miracle happened."
Everyone looked puzzled. It was a look that said, "What does that mean?"
"Do you know the story about how a mother bird, when her young are attacked, can display incredible strength in an instant?"
"I do. What do you mean?"
"Yes, it seems that my desire to protect you allowed me to manifest powers beyond my capabilities for a moment."
Raymond wore a burdened, caring face.
"When you were in crisis, I did a lot of thinking. How I could help you."
"..."
"After much contemplation, I came to the realization that there was only one course of action: I had to risk my life to capture Kalis's attention. So I took that daring risk to assist you, and surprisingly, it turned out well."
Raymond continued, his voice rising.
"Perhaps it was my desire to help you that gave me the strength to do so."
Their stomachs sank.
'His desire to protect us gave him superhuman strength?'
If that was true, it was amazing.
Several figures nodded in admiration.
First, King Macapell III.
"Superhuman strength fueled by a desire to help others. Truly, Baron Penin, you are... I admire you, and I will strive to be more like you."
He blushed with childlike sincerity.
Christine, Rao, and Elmud also bit their lips in admiration.
They had always known his saintly heart, so they were easily convinced by Raymond's words.
'It's certainly possible for the Master to do this. How big is his heart for others that he could perform such a miraculous strike? I was just fighting for my life, I'm ashamed of myself.'
'Brother, I admire you.'
'Elmud, you pathetic bastard! What did you do as a relief knight? Watch and remember. Let us see and remember that my master is the epitome of a relief knight.'
Each of them felt respect and shame, acknowledging the stark contrast between their own actions and Raymond's selfless determination.
The others nodded, some still in awe, while others grappled with the idea, struggling to believe it.
Yet, when Raymond explained it to them, they found it hard to refute.
Especially when it came to Raymond, the shining light of the great Houstonian army, whose sole purpose was to serve others!
With such a great man, it was understandable that he would manifest superhuman strength in the service of others.
But one person.
There was one who snorted at Raymond's words.
"You're talking nonsense. Manifesting superhuman strength for the sake of others? Is that even possible?"
"...!"
It was Duke Leif! He looked at Raymond with sharp eyes.
"I swear by the eye of a Swordmaster that the blow you just struck was not such a thing. Baron Penin, you must have executed that run strike with a stroke of genius, don't you think?"
'No. What is the matter with him?'
Raymond made a puzzled face.
"Your innate martial prowess is a gift from the heavens."
Duke Leif looked at Raymond with fiery eyes.
Somehow, it was even more fierce than the last time.
"You have saved my life twice. Once during my previous treatment and again today. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I will never fail to repay this favor."
Duke Leif repeated, as if swearing an oath.
"I will... I will repay you."
A grateful gesture, but why?
It reeked of sticky obsession.
Raymond swallowed hard.
'No way. You don't mean you're going to repay me by teaching me swordsmanship, do you?'
Somehow, it seemed like a possibility.
'No, that's not what I was hoping for, I was hoping for you to become my bodyguard.'
Raymond thought as he healed Duke Leif.
But as it turned out, Duke Leif was no pushover.
Far from being a pushover,
'He's getting more obsessed!'
Raymond screamed, feeling the obsession even more fierce than before.
He saved his life, and now, out of gratitude, he was even more obsessed?
'N-no. All I wanted was a generous marrow-sucker, not an obsessive stalker.'