"Put the baby on your shoulder!"

John threatens the man in front of him and skillfully keeps an ambiguous distance from his opponent.

It may not seem like a far distance, but it is an absolute safe distance for John. Even if the opponent is Alice, he can surely prevent the first move if he launches a surprise attack at full speed against himself at the current distance.

Even though the young man in front of him may be strong, John could not have imagined that there would be someone stronger than Alice.

You must know that Alice is the strongest opponent in John's range. Of course, in terms of speed alone, Alice's sister Sophia may be even better, but when it comes to actual fighting, Sophia's danger of making a move is far less than that of Alice.

Because Sophia is so fast, her first strike trajectory becomes so predictable that even if your eyes can't keep up with her speed, you can guess the path of her attack from the last joint trend on the eve of her disappearance - nothing more than following the nearest straight line, or drawing a smooth parabola from the side. Sophia's real difficulty is after the first blow is guarded and after the close fight with her.

And although Alice's figure can be 'captured' by the line of sight, it is also an 'impenetrable' fast attack.

It seems that it will only be a straight line assault, but it is very confusing, because it is impossible to see through the idea of her first move. Once captured within range, Alice's punches, feet, shoulders, elbows, and knees ...... Every imaginable part of the body will be transformed into a murder weapon that is difficult to distinguish between reality and reality, and from unpredictable angles, it will launch a rapid surprise attack with an unadaptable rhythm.

And the opponent in front of him is giving John a similar feeling.

"Little child, slave, no, maid, ......?" the sudden encounter with John made the young man with short white hair squint his eyes vigilantly, and he carefully lowered the unconscious little girl on his shoulder, and at the same time let out an inexplicable self-talk, "What a foreigner's thoughts are really incomprehensible...... However, since it is in such a place, it should be okay to think of it as an enemy. ”

However, he was not wrong, John was indeed a 'foreigner' to the traffickers of the territorial country. But he would never have imagined that even in the Terrence Empire, a teenager who would fight on the front line in a maid's costume would only be found by Celeria.

At the moment, the young man is not equipped with weapons, and he may be the same as his companions who met before, because he suddenly came to carry them with him. In short, he put on the same posture as John in hand-to-hand combat.

But he also had something very different from the other sailors he had struck down, and that was that the young man was not deceived by John's age and good looks, but with a serious and cautious attitude towards battle.

The two confronted each other silently, neither of them made the slightest sound, just staring at each other's every detail with their eyes. The battle seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, and it seemed like it would be silent forever.

Greta and the other children, who were watching from the sidelines, were also shocked by the oppressive feeling that the air was frozen, and they didn't dare to make the slightest movement in their bodies. Now, even the sound of swallowing saliva and sweat falling to the ground seems to be clearly recognizable.

However, the silence was finally broken, and it was actually very sudden. Without warning, the figure of the silver-armored youth suddenly flickered by, and the heavy fist rushed towards John's face door with the pace of the phantom.

As fast as the child next to him seemed to have disappeared from the spot, John opened his wrist and struck the opponent in the waist with a palm. But before the bottom of the palm that had accumulated fighting energy could touch the opponent, the palm was cut off by the knee that the young man raised instantly.

Maintaining a posture of raising his legs, the sharp leg kicks like a long whip continued to cut through the air, and John avoided from time to time, while not retreating but advancing. He understands that once he retreats, the difference in arm length between friend and foe will put him in a passive position that is difficult to reverse. Therefore, he instinctively chose to bury himself in hand-to-hand combat more thoroughly.

The white-haired young man is very good at fist and foot fighting, but his moves are not like Alice's C country martial arts, which focus on the form of moves and the changes of virtual and real, let alone precise strikes on meridian joints. Instead, he purely uses the dazzling attack speed to launch a stormy combo.

The scene turned into a breath-taking high-speed attack and defense, with John and the young man not giving in to each other, and the sound of crackling blows filled the bottom floor of the cabin, the wooden floor and walls, and was occasionally pierced by punches and kicks. Finally – John grabbed the gap between his opponent's leg sweeps, slammed his shoulders into his opponent's chest and abdomen, and before he could regain his balance, he lunged in pursuit.

This is a combination of moves taught by Alice, a routine that must win......

If it is said that the previous Iron Mountain relied on perfect hits, then no matter who it is next, it will be difficult to recover the defeat, but due to the dim light, John made a wrong judgment - at the moment of lightning, the young man crossed his chest with his two forearms, and blocked the fierceness of the mountain in one shot. Although he was knocked backwards, he did not lose his balance because of this.

Then, now the flaws are exposed, but it has become John, who is eager to pursue. There can be no slackness and mistakes in the master's moves, and victory or defeat is only due to a momentary negligence. Facing John's chasing figure, before he rushed into his arms, the young man slammed his fist to the ground and roared—

"[Holy Spirit Blessing] - 'Dragon's Tooth'!"

Immediately after, I saw the light of the young man's silver armor soar, and a shockwave condensed by cyan fighting qi shot out from the palm of his hand, turning into a sharp tooth that protruded from the ground upwards, and John, who had no time to stop, 'bit down' into the air.

Even if John defended in time, he still couldn't offset the inertia of the sprint, and the combined damage caused by the razor-like fighting spirit of the two sides, and the sharp pain in his left arm told him that his arm was probably broken.

However, the opponent's offensive is not over. John, who was originally floating in the air and experiencing the feeling of weightlessness, suddenly noticed that his ankle, as if he was being 'bitten by some beast', and the fierce brute force dragged his thin body to the side.

John only felt that the scene in front of him was spinning, and the dazzling sensation caused by the centrifugal force made his stomach churn. It turned out that the young man had taken off and grabbed John's ankle, and his body was like a spinning top that spun the little maid around. Finally, using the inertia of continuous acceleration, John was thrown vertically, breaking through a large hole in the wood of the floor.

It can be seen that the young man is very good at throwing martial arts like this, and using the inertia of his body to dance in the air like this is by no means easy to do on a whim.

In any case, the power of the blow just now was enough to decide the winner.

"That's amazing...... Unexpectedly, at such a young age, I was forced to use the [Holy Spirit Blessing] move...... It's a pity that this kind of work is done in this way......"

But instead of putting on a look of contempt or ridicule for the victory, the young man praised John's performance, and for some reason showed a look of regret.

"Hoo-ha-hu-ha...... Not...... ——! pain"

The fierce attack and defense made John panting, and the indescribable pain all over his body also made tears flow from the corners of his eyes.

At the same time, he finally realizes that he has failed, and he has not been able to save the imprisoned children as promised. Sure enough, Alice is right, if she wants to save others by herself, relying on her current self alone is just a fool's dream.

So far...... John had to admit that the mission had failed, and he was convinced that he wasn't strong enough, mature enough, and not strong enough to claim to be a man.

So it's a pity, it seems that the maid costume on her body has become tattered, and I'm afraid that she will be with me for a long time in the future.

- But......

"You're strong, but I'm sorry, I'm on a mission right now, and I can't show mercy even if my opponent is just a child. So, just wronged you to lie down obediently for a while. Anyway, if there is such a big commotion, 'your accomplices' will soon come to your rescue." ”

The young man said something incomprehensible, and with a regretful and self-deprecating smile, he left the battered John behind and returned to the girl he had put aside......

But just when the young man was about to crouch down and carry her back on his shoulders-

"[Luna Armor] ——!!"

John resorted to a tactic that was strictly forbidden by Alice.

The snow-white light turned into silver armor and pale blue crystals, which restored the tattered maid's dress, and not only that, but the surface of the beautiful armor also emitted a brilliant aurora that enveloped her body.

It was an emergency healing device buried in the [Luna Armor] that took several hours to recharge before it could barely be used once. As a result, John's injured body was healed in the blink of an eye under the aurora light.

Dressed in skirt armor and transformed into a Valkyrie, John jumped out of the pit one by one. He confronted the young sailors of Silver Armor again. This time, he gave everything he could, and he was determined to win no matter what.

That's right, judging by the subject given by Alice, John has already admitted his defeat. However, even if he fails, he must keep his promise and use all means to save the children who are wandering in prison around him.

"This ...... Armour...... ...... exactly!?"

The scene of the maid knight, who was instantly resurrected and re-blocked in front of him, was obviously beyond the young man's prediction, and his expression became sinister. At the same time, all parts of the silver light armor emitted a dangerous luster.

The real battle has just begun. Then came the second round——!

Just as John and the young man, both of them were convinced in their hearts at the same time, and pondering how to make a move, the hull of the ship suddenly shook violently in the midst of a sudden loud boom.

Not only that, but you can also hear the sound of the sea gushing violently in the distance.

Within a few seconds, the rumbling sound was incessant, and the vibration of the ship's hull became more and more violent, and even the puppet-like slaves who had lost their emotions began to scream and scream.

"What are you kidding——! it's actually naval guns from both sides!...... bastards" The white-haired young man immediately understood the source of the loud noise, and at the same time desperately protected the unconscious little girl in his arms, and then he turned to John and shouted, "Little girl, are your accomplices crazy!? They plan to sink this boat with us to the bottom of the sea!"

"Huh......?"

The young man's inexplicable words made John feel confused.

"Are you still pretending to be stupid at this juncture? The foreign slave traders on these ships are all your accomplices!"

"No, no...... I just came to the boat to save people, and I didn't know them!"

"Haaa——!?"

In this way, the two who were in a death match before are now looking at each other amid the sound of cannons...... Overwhelmed.