I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents
Chapter 56: Scaldmagra Subjugation (2)

I looked at Hover.

This time, I had no intention of using the newly added feature on the Transcendent Gallery terminal, the Visographica.

Fighting against a Fifth-Rank wasn't anything new anymore.

Hover spoke to me.

"So we just have to fight right now?"

I pointed with my index finger at the wide open space next to us.

"Yes, we can fight over there."

Hover scanned me from top to bottom with his gaze.

"How do you plan to decide the winner?"

Hover pointed to his own neck.

"We can't exactly bet our lives on this, can we? Huh?"

I shrugged both shoulders.

"Until one of us surrenders."

A voice came from beside me.

"That too."

It was Resellin's voice.

"When I tell you to stop, the fight will end. I won't just tell you to stop for no reason. I'll only intervene when one side clearly shows overwhelming dominance."

Resellin added the explanation under Hover’s gaze.

"I'm saying I'll act as referee to make sure neither of you ends up unable to continue."

Hover grinned and nodded.

"Looks like you two know each other pretty well. You're putting in a lot of effort to make sure no one gets hurt. That's fine, that's fine. I have no intention of making valuable forces spill blood either."

Ignoring Hover’s rambling, Resellin approached me.

"Will you be okay? It's still a Fifth-Rank, you know."

"I won't die."

"Are you talking about yourself, or him?"

"Both."

Resellin let out a sigh.

"Alright. You must have your reasons."

Murmur—

People began gathering.

A large number of mercenaries and soldiers.

Among them, I could also spot magicians wearing robes.

And there were knights as well.

Hover spoke.

"Quite the crowd we're attracting."

It was a clear sign of just how infamous the monster called Skaldmagra was in this world.

Hover seemed to enjoy the attention we were getting.

"How about the use of Sword Aura? If you think it feels too dangerous, we can agree not to use it. Although you know as well as I do that if we want to fight realistically, we have no choice but to use Sword Aura."

"Let's use it."

Hover smirked at my reply.

He seemed surprised that I chose to allow the use of Sword Aura.

If you want to fight as close to actual combat as possible, you have no choice but to use Sword Aura.

I agreed with that.

It was something I'd felt firsthand, rolling through the tower over and over.

That physical strength alone, or skill alone, or even mana alone, was never enough to survive.

The moment one of the three fell short, you'd die without even realizing it.

'Moderately.'

I intended to finish this situation by displaying just a moderate amount of my abilities.

Hover’s weapon appeared to be the giant greatsword strapped to his back.

A double-edged greatsword.

Hover charged at me, his lion’s mane-like crimson hair flying.

Still, a Fifth-Rank was a Fifth-Rank.

The moment he entered battle, his face grew serious, and he began to emit a sharp and dangerous air.

Boom—

Hover’s left foot stomped on the bare ground.

A thick cloud of dust surged up from the ground.

A red Sword Aura whirled around the greatsword in Hover’s right hand like a storm.

Hover’s right hand moved.

A thrusting motion.

I watched the trajectory of /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the sword that tore through the air, charging toward me.

I had no intention of dragging this fight out.

I extended my sword toward Hover’s greatsword.

Ka-ga-ga-gak!

I struck Hover’s greatsword downward.

As his balance was thrown forward more violently than he expected, Hover emitted a killing intent in all directions, seemingly flustered.

The killing intent didn't even faze me.

"You wanna go?"

Grit—

Hover clenched his teeth and raised his greatsword again with both hands.

And after that, a chaotic melee unfolded.

Ka-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang!

Fragments of Hover’s red Sword Aura and the white Sword Aura coating my sword scattered.

Even amidst the melee, I could clearly grasp the nature of Hover’s swordsmanship.

It leaned more toward brute strength than speed.

It was orthodox rather than tricky.

Dragonslayer Swordsmanship also had a heavy, domineering style.

I maintained enough force not to lose to Hover’s strikes.

Ka-ga-gang!

Several more exchanges followed.

Countless diagonal lines filled the space between us.

Apparently feeling that he couldn’t end the fight like this, Hover gripped his greatsword with both hands and raised it high before slamming it down.

Kuh-woooong!

He struck the ground with his double-edged greatsword.

The earth shook for a moment.

I faced the wave of Sword Aura rushing toward me like a tidal wave.

It was threatening, but not impossible to evade.

I lightly stepped forward.

Dragonslayer Swordsmanship, Footwork Form 3.

Micatus.

The goal was to move into a blind spot where Hover couldn’t react properly.

I let a steady flow of Sword Aura spread across the blade of Mundum Exstinguit.

Dragonslayer Swordsmanship, Form 9.

Breaking Sword (PaGeom).

A technique aimed not at striking the opponent, but at making them lose their grip on their sword itself.

Kaaaang!

The moment our swords clashed.

I let out a swordwave that rippled like waves across a river.

Tiiiiiing!

Hover’s greatsword flew high into the air.

Crash!

"......."

Hover stared blankly at his sword, now embedded in the ground.

I opened my mouth.

"You can use the dagger left in your holster."

I pointed to Hover’s waist belt where a dagger, seemingly a backup weapon, was attached.

Hover’s face twisted with rage.

As expected, even among Fifth-Ranks, there were clear differences in level.

Basic martial ability.

Judgment in reading the situation.

Everything felt a step below the Fifth-Rank knight Kailas I'd fought before.

Of course, the experience and level I'd built up since fighting Kailas had also grown drastically, so that gap might feel even bigger now.

Still, there's no denying the difference in perception.

If Hover had realized earlier that I possessed strength comparable to his, he wouldn’t have let go of his sword, even with the mysterious technique of 'Breaking Sword'.

A distinct red flow of aura flickered around the dagger now in Hover’s hand.

I gripped the hilt of Mundum Exstinguit.

At the end of the sword’s hilt, using the pommel, I deflected the dagger.

─Ka-ga-kak!

Hover’s eyes shook violently.

Without missing the opening, I punched him hard in the abdomen with my left hand.

Hover’s body staggered from the impact.

Wide open.

Swaaaak!

I pointed Mundum Exstinguit at Hover’s throat.

Hover’s movements came to a complete halt.

"Let’s end it here."

A voice came from beside us.

Resellin had stepped forward.

"Hover, you lost your main weapon, the greatsword. Then, the dagger you pulled out afterward didn’t yield any meaningful results either. And finally, you were completely subdued. It’s over."

Hover didn’t offer any excuses to Resellin’s words, just remained silent.

Though his expression was rather grim.

The silence dragged on for a while.

"...Yeah, I lost."

Hover, still wearing a crumpled expression, raised both hands, retrieved the sword he had dropped, and quickly walked off.

Probably heading toward the barracks he had been assigned to.

Thus, the brief uproar came to an end.

The total time elapsed was maybe around three minutes.

It was a fight that had been decided swiftly.

I could hear murmurs from the surrounding people.

"Did they say he’s a Fourth-Rank? There’s barely any difference from a Fifth-Rank."

"No, it’s because that Fifth-Rank let his guard down."

"Let his guard down? Even taking that into account, if he’s a Fourth-Rank, he’s outstanding."

The voices of Third-Rank knights and Fourth-Rank knights like me reached my ears.

The magicians were also chatting while looking at me.

[NPC - Fourth-Rank Magician Eliard]

[NPC - Fifth-Rank Magician Croit]

[NPC - Third-Rank Magician Magawin]

"The footwork just now looked almost like Blink."

"Exactly. If someone like that is blocking the front, we can provide support with peace of mind."

Still, causing a bit of a stir had one beneficial effect.

I had earned the trust of the subjugation unit.

If I wanted to move freely according to my own will, this level of trust was necessary.

Among the many unfamiliar magicians, there was one familiar face.

[NPC - Fourth-Rank Magician Yunes]

At first, when I didn’t see her standing next to Resellin, I thought she might not have come this time.

Back when we were defending the walls of Kiklev Fortress, Yunes had come as part of the support forces with the Third-Rank knight, not as a member of the Lucerna Mercenary Corps.

The blonde-haired magician approached me.

"It’s been a long time, Yuseong-nim."

"It’s been a while, Yunes. Have you joined the Lucerna Mercenary Corps?"

Yunes trotted up to stand next to me.

"Yes, that’s how it turned out. I thought working with the mercenaries might be a good way to gain real combat experience."

"Have you ever seen a Skaldmagra?"

Yunes nodded.

"I can handle a single one without much trouble. As long as they don’t suddenly appear in groups of three or more... or show up in a hive form, there shouldn’t be a big problem."

In other words, if there were three or more, or if a hive form showed up, it would be a real nightmare.

...Yeah.

But this is Pandemonium difficulty.

I felt a very ominous premonition.

***

The next morning.

The moment I opened my eyes at dawn, I pulled out the terminal and entered the Transcendent Gallery.

[User 'Archmage' has requested an 'Interdimensional Transaction.']

[Would you like to accept?]

I pressed the blue button next to the text.

[You have accepted the transaction request.]

A separate chat system usable during interdimensional transactions popped up.

[Archmage: For now, I’ve picked out a few support spells you can use as quickly as possible. They’re arranged by difficulty, so don’t skip ahead or anything.]

[ㅇㅇ*: thx thx but is it really possible to activate magic just with an aura circuit?]

[Archmage: You don’t trust me?]

[ㅇㅇ*: I do.]

The Archmage senior was one of the people whose words were usually reliable.

I was just seriously doubtful about the idea that magic could be manifested purely through an aura circuit.

[Archmage: Then just do it. Follow the explanation. That’s all.]

[ㅇㅇ*: Got it.]

[Archmage: As for the food, give me something that matches what you mentioned before.]

[ㅇㅇ*: ㅇㅇ I'll test the magic out first then write about it in the gallery.]

[Archmage: Good, be careful.]

I grabbed one of the storage boxes from my inventory.

The thing the Archmage senior had mentioned before.

Among all the menu options currently available, it was the one that most closely resembled food from my original world.

Naturally, by my standards, it was instant ramen and a small amount of kimchi.

From what I had eaten before, it had been a properly well-cooked ramen, but I wasn’t sure if it would suit the Archmage senior’s taste.

Thanks to the storage box’s effect, there was no risk of the noodles getting soggy.

"Designate."

The storage box containing the ramen and kimchi vanished with a pop.

[The transaction has been completed.]

Chwak!

Ripping through space, a book appeared.

A spellbook.

I slowly began reading through the spellbook.

By the time the sun had fully risen, the camp grew noisy.

"Skaldmagra! They’re coming over the ridge!"

"Everyone, prepare yourselves completely!"

So they’re coming.

Since I was planning to activate the video recording function, the 'Visographica', at the right time, I didn’t put the terminal back into my inventory.

Instead, I stored it in the small backpack I was carrying.

First, I had to assess the situation.

"Yuseong!"

The moment I stepped out of the barracks, Resellin and Yunes rushed over to me.

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