No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

KWA AAAAAANG!

The explosive sound couldn’t possibly be from swords clashing.

From my wrist to my shoulder—no, the shock surged through my entire body, flowing through the sword in my grip, rattling my very being.

“…Huh?”

Before I could properly process what that meant, my body was already smashing through the stone wall of an abandoned house like a ragdoll.

KUAAANG!

“Oof…!”

With an involuntary groan as the wind escaped my lungs, I found myself crashing into the wooden floor inside the derelict house.

Dust erupted with a whoosh, and debris from the ruined wall covered my fallen body like a blanket.

“Ouch….”

Spitting out the dust that got into my mouth, I groaned and immediately got back up. My head was slightly dizzy, probably from hitting the back of my head on the ground.

‘So, I definitely blocked that big sword… but did I really just fly and crash into the wall like that?’

I understood the reason. I was so desperate to defend that I couldn’t exert enough force to counter the impact of the clash.

Still, it was impressive. I never imagined I’d be sent flying this far. If it weren’t for my armor, I might have gotten hurt a little, right?

‘That wolf guy is tougher than I thought…’

Shaking my head vigorously to clear the dizziness, I glared at the black wolf beastfolk standing on the other side of the gaping hole in the wall.

Now that I got a taste of it, I could see.

The black wolf of Bagest, Lakan, wielding that great sword, was definitely at least two levels above what I had anticipated.

What could someone like that possibly be doing stuck in a city like this? Did he have no job options because of beastfolk discrimination?

Right up until I faced him, I had honestly underestimated him a bit.

I’d heard the rumors that Pesengwigel was the strongest, but how strong could a thug leader who couldn’t even properly take over a single city really be?

But once the lid came off, what a surprise.

In terms of raw strength and aggression, he was clearly my equal—or even stronger. He could probably defeat a kingdom’s knight.

Fighting isn’t all about raw strength, but… well, I was quite surprised. Truly surprised.

“Ha, you blocked that? And you’re still standing?”

Of course, it wasn’t just me that was surprised.

It seemed Lakan was even more shocked. The way he stood there, dumbfounded, alternating between staring at his sword and me was a sight to behold.

“Unbelievable. What, are you half troll or something?”

Ugh, that troll hybrid comment. It was getting old, really old.

If I’m a troll hybrid, what does that make him, a human-dog mix or something?

“Who are you calling a black dog hybrid? Are you a dog hybrid yourself?”

I spat the dirt and saliva onto the floor, gripping Edelmut tighter as I glared at Lakan.

“A black dog hybrid…? Hah, haha, hahaha!”

Lakan’s head shook as he burst into laughter. With the sound leaking between his torn cheeks, it echoed in a truly bizarre way.

“Really, you’ve got guts. I’d even admire you for that! To dare to speak such words to me!”

What kind of compliment is that for such a small thing?

I wanted to sarcastically ask him if he was born from his mother or father, but I held back since I had a wolf beastfolk among my companions.

Honestly, if I said that, we’d probably end up fighting to the death. So at least, it wasn’t the right moment for such words.

First, I had to clear up the misunderstanding. It wasn’t me or my subordinates who ambushed those guys.

“Anyway, seems like there’s been some misunderstanding, that ambush was—”

“And that strength! It was quite surprising. I had no expectations at all from a young human woman, but for you to be this capable….”

But this mutt wasn’t listening to me at all.

“No, listen to what I—”

“How long has it been since I met someone of such caliber!”

His torn cheek twisted into a fierce smile. Lakan cut off my words again, his yellow eyes flashing with excitement.

KWA AANG!

Then, with a powerful push against the ground, he charged at me like a bolt of lightning as if he wouldn’t even consider listening to my explanation.

“It’s been a long time; this will truly be a fun fight!”

“Damn it, let’s talk! Can we talk?!”

Frustrated, I shouted, but I had to face him and charge forward.

If our strengths were nearly equal, rushing at him with force should prevent me from being pushed back.

KWA AAAAAANG!

The second clash. This time, I didn’t fly away but was pushed back a little. Lakan’s grin widened.

“Oh? Was that not your full strength earlier? You’re even stronger now!”

“Grr, listen to me for once!”

This guy was really just saying whatever he wanted!

I gritted my teeth in mounting irritation, steadying my wobbling body and swinging my sword like a cyclone, channeling all that centrifugal force into my attack.

WHOOSH!

The sound of slicing through the air.

Lakan leaned back, step back to dodge my sword, then lunged forward, stabbing down with the great sword in his right hand.

“Ugh…!”

His reach was absurdly long, as if his body stretched like a spear. The speed even I couldn’t avoid it.

‘In that case…!’

A glimmer of light shone through the gaps in my helmet.

Time to unleash my power.

The awakened strength surged through my bones and muscles, transforming the trajectory of my sword slice meant for the air, redirecting it with sheer force.

Thus, the clash of the great sword and my sword ensued.

KAAANG!

The now-reversed Edelmut met the black iron great sword and pushed it back, piercing straight for Lakan’s heart.

“Nice! You got even faster!”

Lakan let out a brief laugh and twisted his body to evade my sword while simultaneously kicking my side.

“You bastard!”

I extended my left hand to block, sliding across the floor for several meters. My shoes left two lines on the ground from being half torn off.

“By the way… that light in your eyes, were you perhaps a high-ranking knight?”

Lakan, who had just kicked me away, glanced at my eyes and casually asked. No, I saw that as more of a murmur to himself than a question.

Why?

“Yeah, I’m a high-ranking knight! This is getting interesting, really interesting!”

He definitely didn’t seem interested in my answer.

“Ha…!”

Honestly, this guy was infuriating. Does he think he can just ramble on by himself? He didn’t listen to a single word I said.

The more I tried to talk, the more my frustration boiled.

So I decided to not hold back anymore.

“Hey, you bastard—!!”

I placed my aching left hand back on the hilt, shouting fiercely with all my rage.

“Uh…!?”

The almost vengeful roar in my voice made Lakan finally halt for just a moment.

“Do you have ears? I said! It’s a misunderstanding! We don’t need to fight! That ambush was set up by Haval!”

Finally, a chance to explain myself. I hurried to continue speaking, desperately pouring out my emotions as if to relieve myself.

“Those beggars wouldn’t listen to a word in just one day! Think about it, think!!”

“…A misunderstanding?”

Did my sincerity actually reach Lakan?

He finally listened to me properly and even questioned whether he understood correctly.

Ha, what the hell. So shouting like a lunatic finally gets him to listen, huh? At this point, I might as well just call him a beast rather than a different species.

Crazy half-human, half-dog bastard.

“Is your being a mix with a god eagle just a misunderstanding too?”

“What…? Well, that’s true, but what’s important right now isn’t that—”

“That’s enough. That cyclops jerk is a problem for later!”

As if it was enough to know that, Lakan once again firmly interrupted me, charging at me like an enraged lion.

“No, you bastard dog, you really…!”

I had to block and deflect the much fiercer attacks from his twin swords while hurling sharpened curses at him.

It was ridiculous. I was angrier than that.

‘What, is the cyclops a problem for later?’

Ha, so whether it was all Haval’s doing or not, he figured he’d definitely take me down before worrying about anything else?

This crazy half-human, half-dog bastard…!

“Fine, let’s see who dies first!”

My patience was running out.

Persuasion? Peaceful negotiation? Go shove it!

The very idea that I could persuade them with words was the foolish thought!

I finally realized that trying to talk it out with them was nothing more than a waste of time, akin to reading to a cow.

Yeah, if they could understand words, they wouldn’t be beasts.

The only way to deal with these beastly bastards was one.

Beat them senseless until they couldn’t breathe, then crush their corpses into a pulp and display them in front of other beasts.

“Stick your head on a spear in the town square, and maybe the other beast bastards will steer clear! It should have been the plan from the start!”

“Big dreams you have! But I like your idea! I’ll leave your torso intact, so come at me without worry!”

Lakan threw my insults right back at me. He claimed that if he won, he’d cut off my limbs and stick them in the town square.

That response only fueled my rage even more. Not because of the content, but because he replied to me without hesitation.

This bastard, without fail, responded to my challenge but ignored everything else.

It made sense now; he probably just thought it wasn’t even worth responding when I said not to fight.

Ha, what kind of monster are you, seriously?

If you’re going to be so obsessed with fighting, at least do it nicely; this was just plain dirty crazy.

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