Chapter 62
─Zzzzt.
I sensed something from the direction of the entrance I’d used. An unknown pressure.
──Something was there in the darkness of the cave.
‘Damn it. What now?’
Every hair on my body stood on end. It was a level of fighting spirit I hadn’t felt since Nefertiti.
It didn’t match that Mithril-class monster, but it was the most overwhelming presence I’d faced in a fight.
─Step, step.
The source of the pressure walked out of the darkness and spoke.
“Impressive work.”
─Clang, clang.
It was the sound of iron striking iron. I thought it was his armor clanking, but it turned out to be applause. That bastard was clapping his gauntleted hands together.
“It looked entertaining, so I started watching halfway through.”
The bastard clapped as he stepped in front of a lantern in the cave.
“Heh heh. But I never imagined you’d put on a show where a bunch of trash killed each other.”
──He was fucking huge.
That was my first impression. He was a massive man well over two meters tall.
He appeared in the cavern, feeling along the ceiling with one hand as if the passage were too narrow. He wasn’t just tall; he was broad, too, packed with muscle. His mere presence made the space seem smaller.
Like me, he was completely covered from head to toe. I couldn’t even tell what color his skin was.
His pitch-black robe gave off almost the same vibe as mine. He even wore a mask.
Fran’s clothes for me were a hundred, a thousand times more stylish and cool, but we were dressed similarly in that we both wore cloaks and robes. Was this bastard the ‘buyer’ the bandits had mentioned? No wonder they’d mistaken me for him.
“That was more entertaining than a play put on by most circus troupes. Why don’t you try your hand at playwriting?”
The man, comically out of place in his massive body, abruptly spouted that nonsense and pointed at me.
I felt a strange, almost unbearable revulsion at his exaggerated gestures, but I made myself endure it. Then I asked him,
“Who are you?”
“A customer of the trash you killed.”
A customer of those bandits?
It was an unusually clear and concise answer for someone from this world. He’d come to collect the illegal slaves the bandits had captured. A heinous criminal.
A big guy, but still just a gangster goon.
“You must be angry because we wiped out the bandits.”
Even as I said it, I knew that couldn’t be it. Hadn’t that huge bastard said he’d been watching us?
Why would someone who’d hidden himself from my presence-sensing just sit there and watch until everything was over? As I expected, the hulking man waved his hand dismissively.
“Angry? Of course not. I was going to kill them anyway. There are plenty of bandits who specialize in kidnapping, but they can’t leave behind clues that might lead to the existence of the ‘sacrifice.’”
─Sniff, sniff.
The goon said that and sniffed beneath his mask.
“The sacrifice is…… over there, I see.”
The bastard looked toward one side of the cave. It would’ve been easy to see that as an opening and charge him, but the distance was a little too great. At this range, a straight charge wouldn’t let me take advantage of the element of surprise.
I cursed under my breath more than ten times before answering.
“Now that your business is finished, why don’t you go back? I happened to take care of your work for you, but I won’t ask for a separate reward.”
“No. That won’t do. My assignment was to ‘kill them all.’”
The goon spoke without letting up on the pressure he’d been radiating since before he appeared.
“The dead can’t talk. I can only say I’ve killed ‘everyone’ once I’ve killed all of you, too.”
“Right? I figured as much.”
Damn it, of course my life would go like this. I set down the box of potions I was holding as the bastard took a fighting stance.
─Slide.
Tirsi silently moved aside. Fortunately, it was two against one. We had the numbers on our side.
“Two mages. I could break your shields and snap your necks, but──”
The hulking man lowered his stance and declared,
“Let me enjoy myself for a little while!!!!”
Thoom!!
The goon charged after shouting boldly. Fast. But Tirsi’s magic was still in effect. I was much faster!!
Shwaa-pat─!!
“《Pray to the Sky God (yáǵeswō deiwōm dyēus)》!!”
I even forgot about silent casting and chanted the spell.
Beast Regression activated, strengthening my physical abilities. I charged at the oncoming goon and threw a punch at his torso.
“Good!!”
The goon reacted. His huge fist came flying at me, a hand in a gauntlet that looked highly lethal. I changed my attack’s target and slammed my fist into his.
─Thoom!!!!
“Ghh…!!”
“Ngh…!!”
When our fists collided, the impact whipped up a blast of wind. It was hard to believe that much force could come from two human fists hitting each other. Both the goon and I let out startled groans.
‘I’m losing in strength?!’
It was the first time I’d felt this way since gaining the strength of an Earth Hero.
A strength that surpassed Beast Regression’s enhancement!
It made sense, since I was seriously outmatched in size and weight, but I couldn’t believe a criminal bastard like this had more raw strength than an Earth Hero.
“Kahahaha!! You!! You’re no ordinary mage!!”
The goon laughed wildly and threw a kick. His leg suited his insane bulk perfectly, radiating such visual menace that it looked like a log being fired from a cannon!
Whoosh─!!
“You son of a—!”
I desperately dodged the kick that came at me at close range. His movements were fucking precise! This bastard had definitely trained in a proper martial art!
His thick leg swept past right in front of my face. It scraped away Beast Regression’s mana coating and left a huge crack in my mask.
─Crack!
“Ugh?!”
“You think I need to stop moving to fight?!”
As he pulled back the leg he’d kicked with, the goon stamped his foot down.
His enormous body accelerated forward, using the foot he’d stamped down as its pivot. It was a weight shift like a bullet sliding into a revolver!
My movement had slowed as I reeled from my broken mask, and a heavy attack slammed into me. The gauntlet, which looked powerful enough to deal serious damage, pounded the arms I’d raised to guard…!!
Thwhaang─!!
I hadn’t planted both feet firmly on the ground, and the blow sent me flying with unbelievable force. I flew several meters backward and slammed into the cave wall.
─Thud!
“──Guh!”
Maybe I’d hit the back of my head wrong. I lost consciousness for about a second.
What the fuck, why was this bastard so strong?! I clenched my fist, grimacing at pain I’d never felt before while in Beast Regression.
I shuddered, thinking Beast Regression might’ve ended because I’d passed out, but it remained active despite my unconsciousness. It seemed the only things that could stop it were me deactivating it or running out of mana.
─Rumble, crumble.
The wall had partially collapsed from the force of the impact. The goon walked toward me, shaking his hand out.
“Oh-ho. That mana. Were you a follower of the Nine Gods, too?”
“My family’s been nonreligious for generations, you idiot.”
I blurted out whatever came to mind while racking my brain for a way to win. I had few combat techniques in my repertoire. Now that I was losing in a physical fight, I could really feel how few cards I had to play.
“<Ice Missile>!!”
Just then, Tirsi’s covering fire came in. It was the same silent-cast offensive spell I’d seen in the sewer. About ten arrows of swirling cold shot toward him!
“Hmph. How dull.”
The goon glanced her way and swung his arm. A few arrows aimed at his face shattered at his gesture, scattering into fragments, but the rest hit his torso and covered it in frost.
“──Hm? This isn’t an ordinary low-level spell. Did you modify it?”
The goon seemed mildly impressed by the frost forming on his robe.
But his admiration lasted only a moment. The criminal bastard moved and shook off the frost before letting out a savage roar.
“A woman has no business interfering in a man’s fight─!!”
The goon charged while making a sexist remark and swung his fist at Tirsi.
‘You bastard!’
I hurried after him to stop him, but he was closer and faster. His fierce straight punch shot toward Tirsi!
─KWAANG!!
The punch was stopped by a shield before it could touch Tirsi. Was that the moving shield spell she’d mentioned beforehand?! Relieved, I charged at the goon, whose back was exposed.
“Hm!”
Maybe the <Breeze Walk> spell had muffled my footsteps? He didn’t notice me until I was almost a meter away, then turned around.
“Die!!”
“Don’t you dare!!”
My fist, packed with murderous intent, was blocked by his hand. The follow-up punch I threw quickly was caught, too.
“Your movements are obvious, mage!!!”
He squeezed down hard, as if he meant to crush my fist right there!
“Damn it……!!”
I couldn’t do a thing once he’d grabbed my hand, since I was weaker than him! He completely overpowered me in the contest of strength, forcing both my hands back behind my shoulders.
Red light flashed through the slits in the goon’s pitch-black mask. In that life-or-death crisis, my mind raced through old memories like a montage.
“Even if you play at being a warrior, you’re still nothing but a desk jockey! To challenge a warrior destined for Valhalla to a fight, you’re a hundred years too──”
“Fuck off!! <Burning Hand>!!!”
“What—Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The goon screamed at the sudden, excruciating pain. Because of the <Burning Hand> spell I’d cast, the hand he was gripping mine with started burning, too.
Fwoooosh─!!!
But the spell’s output was far beyond what I’d expected.
The <Burning Hand> I used would take all day just to burn dry firewood. That was because my skill with magic was still lacking. It had definitely been that way the last time I used it.
‘Did its output just suddenly increase?’
How had a spell that could barely burn a log gotten this powerful? I’d practiced whenever I had the chance, but today was the first time it had produced this kind of output. I couldn’t hide my confusion even in the middle of the fierce battle.
─KWAaaaargh!
That was when I noticed the mana flowing from my hand through Beast Regression had turned red.
The sight of that red light brought Hotulucil’s words to mind.
─Combining spell formulas is the foundation of magic. Once you understand the principle, it’s not difficult.
─Simple spells activated with short incantations are easy to combine, too.
‘──Combining spell formulas!’
I realized that was why the spell’s output had increased.
The <Burning Hand> I’d used before had low firepower. Because of my lack of skill, only a small amount of mana flowed into the spell. It was like trying to drink coffee through a paper straw.
Beast Regression, on the other hand, was like plugging a huge hose into my mana pool and sucking it dry!
When I cast <Burning Hand> while in Beast Regression, it was connected directly to my mana pool through that channel. That was why its firepower was greater than usual.
Because the mana I could use as fuel had multiplied several times over!!
‘This is my chance!!’
<Burning Hand> spewed out scorching heat, burning the mana coating bright red. I grabbed the goon’s hand as he tried to let go and escape, then shoved him back!
“You son of a bitch, why do you talk so much?! I’ll rip your balls off, asshole!!”
“Grrrrrrrrgh?!!!”
─Fwoooosh!!!
The blazing heat from my hand made the difference in strength irrelevant. No one could grip a burning log tightly!!
“You bastard!!!”
The iron gauntlet heated up, and as the pain intensified, the goon jerked his head back. His hood fell away, revealing his short-cropped hair.
“Let go of my hand!!!”
Whoosh!!
The goon threw a headbutt. His massive skull, perfectly suited to his enormous body, came at the bridge of my nose, hidden behind my mask! I tensed my neck and met it with my forehead!
─Thoom!!
─CRACK!!
I wondered if it was really okay for a human skull to make that kind of sound. My mask broke, and my head rang. As if he’d been waiting for that, he tried to drive his knee into my groin!!
“Fuck!!”
I hurriedly blocked it with my leg and backed away. At infighting range, that man’s combat skills shone brightest. If the goon started attacking while ignoring the pain of the scorching heat, I’d be the one getting beaten one-sidedly.
The broken mask dangled, still stuck to my face covering.
‘This bastard broke the mask Fran made for me?’
It didn’t even occur to me that Tirsi might recognize my face. I picked up the broken mask and tucked it into my clothes, then glared at the goon.
“You piece of shit. I’ll beat the hell out of you, no matter what it takes.”
“Grrrgh…!!”
With a pained groan, the goon took off his red-hot gauntlet and threw it away.
A hideous-looking burn covered his palm. The goon’s hand trembled, weeping fluid, as he shouted at me.
“Trying to gain the upper hand in a sacred warrior’s fight with magic instead of physical enhancement!!! You couldn’t be more cowardly!!! Are you even a follower of the Nine Gods?!”
“I told you I’m nonreligious, you son of a bitch. Quit running your mouth.”
“You……!!!”
The goon growled, then irritably tore off his askew mask. I’d been consumed by anger, but at the sight of his exposed face, I forgot my rage and stared in shock.
“Hey!! What the fuck is wrong with your face?!!”
“W-what?!”
He looked so flustered by my words that he seemed to forget the pain of his burns. But I couldn’t help asking.
That jutting lower jaw, with tusks sticking out of it!!
And a black patch covering one eye, too!!
“Why are you rewriting the entire history of human facial anatomy all by yourself?!!!”
I can say with absolute certainty that I’d never once insulted someone’s appearance in my life. What I’d just said was nothing but 100% fact.
A human’s lower jaw couldn’t develop that absurdly, and tusks couldn’t jut out over ridiculously thick lips like that.
Had that bastard been wearing a mask to hide his ugly face? Shocked by his strangely familiar mug, I realized who he was.
“Wait, what the fuck—are you some kind of half-orc?”
“What did you say……?”
The goon fell silent at my spot-on observation.
My conclusion had been reached through logical reasoning.
Maybe this bastard was a new species that had never existed before? Perhaps the genetically impossible crossbreed between a human and an orc had escaped from some laboratory!!
“Otherwise, there’s no way to explain that ugly face!!”
That level of hideousness couldn’t possibly be explained by calling him plain ugly!
That bastard’s bone structure and musculature were worlds apart from those of modern humans──a new branch in the evolution of humanity!!