Chapter 99: Hilda’s True Rank

BAM!

"Ngh!"

"Hilda!"

Upon being struck in the side, Hilda was sent flying several metres into the air and dozens of metres inland. She let out a sharp groan when she was hit and quickly felt a throbbing pain in her arm, which was soon followed by numbness.

’To think there was another Soldier...!’

Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious injury, for at the very last second, she had used {Barrier} to soften the blow.

Hillda soon noticed she was close to hitting the ground and swiftly spun to land on her feet. Once she did that, she quickly tried to organise her thoughts. Unfortunately, by the time she got around to it, the Soldier was already upon her, swinging its fist down.

Given no time to analyse the situation, Hilda hurriedly dashed back and watched as the Soldier struck the ground, causing it to explode with dust and debris.

BOOM.

In the small window she had, Hilda quickly tried to organise herself, but was swiftly interrupted yet again.

Seeing the Soldier tear through the cloud of dust, she hurriedly dodged back again — narrowly avoiding being crushed, like before.

BOOM.

Judging that the best course of action for now was to plan an attack, she kept on dodging. Thus, placing both the Soldier and her in a precarious game of cat and mouse.

BOOM.

As this was happening, every Vitalist were watching from afar, still standing by the quayside, in case they needed to jump in.

Each and every one of them was watching the fight unfold with bated breath, their bodies shaking with anticipation... and fear.

"I-is this really happening?"

"How could there be another Soldier...? Didn’t the military’s recon team scan out this place?"

"Shit! It’s just one thing after another!"

All of them were in disbelief. They had just survived the bloodiest battle in their lives, but now they had to deal with the same kind of Predicament that nearly killed all of them? Even under the rain?

It was ludicrous!

"When will this nightmare end!?"

"I just want to go home..."

It was like an endless cycle of despair. Whenever they felt hope for something, they would immediately face despair greater than that hope. Because of that, none of them knew what to feel anymore, except frustration and disheartenment.

Even Nadia had begun to feel such feelings.

Sitting on the ground, she tightly gripped the hem of her shirt and bit her bottom lip. ’Why isn’t she using any of her Spells?!’

Since the moment she arrived, Nadia hadn’t seen Hilda use a single Spell! Well, any spell that was visible to the eye. Could it be she was reserving her Vitality for something?

’She did arrive all bloody...’ Nadia contemplated. ’But given how she moves, she definitely have enough Vitality in store, for at least a single Spell.’

And with how well-versed she was with Talisman, it didn’t make sense why she wouldn’t use something that could very well give her an overwhelming advantage!

Could it really be to save Vitality? Or was it because...

BOOM.

... She couldn’t?

Nadia flinched at the sound of explosions. ’Now that I remember clearly, she didn’t have her bag on her... Could it be she lost all of her Talismans?’

At that thought, her expression grew grim.

As she continued to watch the fight, she noticed someone limping over in her direction before settling beside her.

"No one here is in any condition to fight, so it’s definitely going to be a one-on-one fight," Ross commented. He then asked a question that was currently on everyone’s mind:

"Who do you think will win? The Predicament or The Devil’s Child?"

Nadia bit the inside of her cheek. "I’m... not sure... both are them are strong."

’And from the looks of it, this Soldier looks stronger than the one we all faced...’ She added, internally.

Seeing the troubled look on Nadia’s face, Ross asked, "How much do you know about the SRS?"

"SRS? Do you mean the Stripe Ranking System?" Nadia inquired. Once Ross confirmed it, she immediately fell deep into thought. ’What isn’t there to know about it?’

A Vitalist’s strength was usually described using six Stripes, each corresponding to a classification of Predicament in ascending order, as well as three colours: White, Blue, and Red.

If a Vitalist had White Stripes, it meant they could hold their own against the corresponding Predicament of their rank. However, this was only if they were fighting in a team and under normal conditions.

If a Vitalist had Blue Stripes, it meant they could handle the corresponding Predicament of their rank on their own, but that was only under good conditions. Though... that didn’t mean they were guaranteed to win.

If a Vitalist had Red Stripes, it meant they could deal with the corresponding Predicament, even under horrible conditions.

Unfortunately...

"The situation at hand doesn’t meet any of those favourable conditions," Ross solemnly stated, having finished listening to Nadia’s explanation of the Stripe Ranking System.

He then turned to her. "Assuming you’ve known her the longest, and that you know about the SRS, how would you rank her?"

"Rank... her?" Nadia repeated hesitantly, her eyes blinking with uncertainty.

She didn’t have much to go on, since she didn’t have a point of reference on other Vitalists. She had only ever seen Hilda kill Scoundrels on her own, and the woman hadn’t shown enough of what she was capable of to judge accurately.

It was a bit vexing, in a way...

’She definitely isn’t White... and she’s too strong to be a Blue... so maybe...’

"One... Red Stripe?" Nadia stated, clearly uncertain.

Hearing Nadia’s answer, Ross shook his head lightly.

"That’s too low. That woman fights like a seasoned fighter. If I had to say... she definitely has the Heart of someone with Two White Stripes, or at least bordering on Two Stripes."

"Two White Stripes?!" Nadia straightened her back. "How can you be so sure? Wait, do you think she fought a Soldier in the past?"

She knew firsthand how terrifyingly powerful Soldiers were. After all, they barely managed to defeat one, and that was when it was raining! And she was certain Ross was aware of that.

"I’m not. Neither am I sure that she ever fought one, though it’s not something we can rule out," Ross instantly responded. "But I’m positive in my judgement. Miss Hertel must be someone close to the borders of Two Stripes. Otherwise... it wouldn’t make sense why Miss Hertel would be forced to take this exam if she was already so strong."

Seraphine, who was eavesdropping nearby, half-closed her eyes. She then shook her head lightly as she pensively thought, ’You’re wrong. Both of you are...’

She then sat down and rested her arms on her knees, giving off the impression of someone completely relaxed. That was because she knew one thing that they didn’t.

The narrative.

Seraphine then thought back to a small report you could find halfway through the story.

It was of an event that happened exactly one year before the plot.

It described a reconnaissance mission Hilda was a part of, one that took place in a jungle. Apparently, at that time, Hilda had only One Red Stripe and was separated from her group for a long period of time.

The report said it took several hours to track her down, and when they finally did, they found her standing on top of a corpse — a corpse that led to an immediate promotion in rank the moment she got back home.

From that day, Hilda no longer wore One Red Stripe, nor did she wear Two White Stripes.

Instead, the rank that the military believed was most appropriate for her was...

BAM!

Two Blue Stripes.

"Hahaha...!"

Seraphine woke to an ominous sound of laughter echoing in the distance. Upon looking over, she discovered the ominous laughter originated from Hilda.

The woman was lying on her back, having fallen out of the air after blocking an attack that left her arms shaking.

And for some reason...

"Hahaha! Erstaunlich, erstaunlich... ERSTAUNLICH! Hahaha!"

She had begun to sound unstable, startling not only the Vitalists, but even the Soldier, who suddenly stopped in place to watch.

Everyone began to murmur frantically.

"Has she gone insane due to stress?"

"I would too, if I knew I was going to die..."

"Ugh... is there really no hope left?"

Ross, who heard their murmuring, shook his head. ’No... this isn’t the laughter of someone mad. Instead...’

This sounded like the laughter of someone who had won a big prize!

Nadia had come to a similar conclusion. She knew for a fact Hilda didn’t seem like the person to fold under pressure. And this fact was further solidified by one thing. The translation of the word she was shouting was...

Amazing.

With puzzled looks in their eyes, they watched as Hilda pushed herself to her feet.

Hilda’s laugh then began to die down. "Hahaha... I was truly skeptical when they tasked me with coming out here. Originally, I wasn’t quite keen on the idea, even predicting it would be boring."

Her laugh then began to quickly pick up.

"Und oh-so wrong I was! Haha! In these three days, I’ve been the most entertained I’ve ever been, in comparison to the last few months! More so than on Christmas Day!

"I’ve been able to kill as many Predicaments as I want, bully as many as I want, und do anything with little to no restraint und/or supervision — all without fear of being reprimanded!" She then let out a small breath before continuing:

"Und when I thought there wasn’t more... I was gifted with such fortuitous news! Two Soldiers! One for them und one for me! Und you just so happen to be the stronger-looking one! Yes... That’s how it should be, the strong versus the strong; there should be no other way about it..."

Hilda combed her hand through her hair, her eyes closed, and her face reflecting a peaceful and satisfied look.

Once she was done, she let out a small, deep breath before spreading her arms out to the side. And with palms facing upwards, she looked up at the sky.

Then she began to grin widely, almost... devilishly, as she began to laugh with a manic look in her eyes. "I shall not waste the opportunity presented to me on this day! Yes, this day... THIS DAY WILL FINALLY BE THE DAY I DYE MY STRIPES RED!"