The loader truck was pulled downward by gravity, and it smashed the Rank-C Draugr's head upon landing. The library shook violently, and bookshelves crashed and fell over one another, creating clouds of dust and flying wood splinters. Unable to stand from the vibration, Klaus fell to his knees abruptly.
He tried to hold onto Brynhildr's robe so that he wouldn't fall down face first in an embarrassing manner.
"Fool, don't pull my robe! You'll rip it apart!"
"Aaaaaaaah!"
The library stopped shaking after a few seconds. Klaus took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and let go of Brynhildr's robe ever so slowly.
"Is it over?" Klaus asked as he moved closer to the spot where he'd last seen the Rank-C Draugr.
The sheer weight of the loader truck had crushed the Draugr. Klaus felt more confident about this when he saw the creature's body underneath the loader truck. The floor underneath the ape cracked from the added weight.
Staring at it, Klaus puffed his chest outward and smirked.
"Brynhildr, that's how you make use of your authority here," Klaus said to the young woman by his side.
"I want to congratulate you on the easy win."
"Thanks, Brynhildr."
"If you were fighting the Rank-D Draugrs like yesterday, I would've praised you over and over for the swift victory. However, a Rank-C Draugr like that one isn't dead."
"What?" Klaus's smile withered.
"Rank-C Draugrs have two lives, mind you."
Klaus jerked his head after hearing what Brynhildr had said. Why didn't this woman said it to him sooner? She must've kept it to herself and waited for him to celebrate!
"You and your arrogant liver. Why didn't you say this sooner?" Klaus shouted.
"Scold me all you want after this, but you have to defeat that Rank-C Draugr."
She spoke the truth. There was never a greater truth than what this woman had uttered to Klaus Weber. He shouldn't be too upset over a foe that he could defeat with ease like this. After all, the ape monster couldn't move from its spot since the heavy truck had buried the creature underneath it.
Klaus gulped his saliva and focused his line of thought. He needed to summon another object to defeat the Rank-C Draugr.
"Brynhildr, I have more questions to ask you when this is said and done," Klaus said.
"I understand."
"Good."
Klaus took a deep breath and, another truck appeared meters above the Rank-C Draugr. There was no need to be subtle about this. He wanted to end the creature quickly, no time wasted.
As he thought this, however, a thick green aura burst forth from the Rank-C Draugr, and the creature pushed itself up with newfound strength. Its muscles rippled and contracted, pushing away the truck trapping it in a matter of seconds and swiped the second truck that was about to crush it.
This ape had grown twice its size, and the injury it suffered before had seemingly healed with little to no effort.
"..." Klaus couldn't believe his eyes. He stared at Brynhildr with doubt, and the woman put a hand over her mouth.
"Did I not tell you? Rank-C Draugrs are twenty times more powerful than a Rank-D Draugr you fought before," Brynhildr said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"...You know, I'm starting to think you don't want me to survive this ordeal."
After saying this, Klaus sprinted towards one side of the library with a scrunched expression. The boy should have used up all his tricks, and running away was the only option left for him.
"Brynhildr, what happened to you today!? I was sure you would help me seriously like when the Draugrs attacked me yesterday!" Klaus said on top of his lungs.
Brynhildr hovered to his side once Klaus had stopped and hidden his figure below a winding staircase leading to the first floor. She twirled her blue hair and harrumphed.
"I'm merely in a bad mood after helping that girl yesterday. After she'd obtained her Crown, and gained tremendous power because of it, she stopped relying on me. I had helped her all this time, and she didn't bat an eye at me anymore!"
Klaus blinked a few times. That girl Brynhildr had helped must have felt proud that she didn't have to ask Brynhildr for help after this. That aside, whoever the girl was, she was definitely at fault.
"If I know that girl, I'll let her know that she had caused me quite a lot of trouble by making you upset."
"Oh?" Brynhildr tilted her head. "I'm not upset."
"You aren't? Then, tell me how I can defeat that thing!"
The Rank-C Draugr halted before a winding staircase. Its eyes followed the ascending staircase to see where the stair led to, and let out a low growl. It had heard the chattering moments ago, so its prey must be around here somewhere.
Rank-C Draugrs could think for themselves, unlike Rank-D Draugrs, who were inferior to them. While they were not as intelligent as human beings, they were still capable of strategic thinking. Their intellect increased as their rank go up.
For this particular Rank-C Draugr, it had come to Klaus's Personal Dimension because it was attracted to the new presence. Being newly introduced to his Personal Dimension, it should be easy to prey on him, thought the Rank-C Draugr.
However, the little human seemed to have quite a talent in running away that his figure had slipped his vision.
"Roar!!" The ape stomped its feet furiously, but little did the creature knew that the prey had come up with a plan while hiding.
A silhouette whooshed past the Draugr's sight.
"Hyaaahhh!"
A silver longsword pierced the Draugr's skull vertically from above, and Klaus used his weight to tilt the creature's head downward. Surprisingly, this enemy was still alive, as it tried to swipe at Klaus with both hands.
Klaus had expected this obvious counterattack before he jumped from the first floor. He couldn't evade the swipe from his position, so Klaus overcame the obstacle in front of him with his imagination. A cart laden with coal appeared from thin air ten meters above him.
He imagined a thick rope tied to the cart, somewhat wrapped around his body, and jumped moments before the Draugr's swipe could hit him.
The cart fell to the floor from high in the air.
Klaus desperately thought of a rope tied around his longsword's hilt and grabbed onto it.
"Roar!!" The Draugr was brought to its knees abruptly, and the cart crashed into a bookshelf.
"Ugh!" Klaus landed on the floor with both feet spread out to deaden his fall's impact.
The Draugr was on both knees, and there was no better chance than this to strike the final blow to the creature. Klaus imagined dozens upon dozens of longswords to appear close to the ceiling, with their sharp blade pointed at his enemy. Seconds later, pinpricks of silver light trailed down to earth and rained upon the Draugr mercilessly.
"Roar!!" The enemy let out its last breath and disintegrated into nothingness.
"Huff... Huff..."
Klaus sat down on the floor and breathed heavily. As someone who hadn't trained his body in any sports, he had used up quite a lot of stamina in a short amount of time. He didn't mind it much as long as the effort he exerted had achieved the result he'd wanted.
Brynhildr hovered to Klaus's side, her eyebrows furrowed.
"I merely told you to rain swords upon the Draugr. But it appeared you had added extra steps," the woman said.
"Well, let me give you some advice, Brynhildr. That Draugr can punch a truck to save itself, but, as you said, it wouldn't be able to defend itself against countless swords."
"Yes, that was true."
"Swords can't do much damage on their own. So, I thought I could bring down that Draugr's center of gravity a bit to make sure the swords took as much momentum as they could before they pierce the Draugr."
"...You applied physics to your fighting," Brynhildr muttered softly.
Klaus shrugged and walked towards the swords in front of him. "Simple physics at best, Brynhildr. Anyway, what's that?"
Klaus pointed towards a glowing green sword lying on the floor. He had just noticed the weapon since it didn't scintillate before. Once Brynhildr saw it as well, she nodded to herself as if she had expected this turn of events.
"The loot you get from defeating the Rank-C Draugr. Only Rank-C Draugrs and above drop loot when they are defeated."
"Loot?" Klaus had already grabbed the sword before Brynhildr instructed him to do so. The moment he gripped the sword's hilt, it dissolved into a water-like state and scattered into the air like dust.
"To use the sword, you only need to imagine it from now on," explained Brynhildr with a smile on her face.
She mused to herself about the fight that had happened before her in the library. Klaus defeated a Rank-C Draugr on his first try, and to her, this proved how competent he was.
