Chapter 9

The number of Wights had dwindled considerably.

I’d defeated more than a third of the Wight horde by myself.

Surely even Goutan would acknowledge my promotion to E-Rank now.

Even if they hadn’t seen me in action, the adventurers who’d come along could testify to how hard I’d fought.

"Elymas-san... Should we go help Goutan-san?"

One of the adventurers asked me.

"The Ghoul Head is far higher-Level than we are. We’d be better off leaving it to Goutan."

If an F-Rank adventurer took a hit from the Ghoul Head, they’d be killed in one blow.

Trying to help might just get in the way.

I looked over at Goutan and the others.

"Gwoooooooooooh!"

"Damn it! You’re still standing, you persistent monster!"

Goutan swung his axe and darted around, but the Ghoul Head just wouldn’t go down.

Three Wights clung to him, hampering him, but he shouted, "Hah!" and knocked them away.

"Draw more Wights away, Tail, Paul! What’s with that timid stance? I can’t promote cowards like you!"

"W-We know, but if we get any closer and get caught up in the Ghoul Head’s attacks...!"

Tail stammered in reply.

It seemed the two he’d brought along to clear out the Wights weren’t doing their job, leaving him struggling to fight the Ghoul Head.

But Goutan had completely read the Ghoul Head’s movements.

He deliberately waited until the massive arm’s attack was almost upon him, dodged it, stepped into range, struck with his axe, then quickly pulled back.

At that rate, the fight should be over soon.

"〈Boulder Breaker〉!"

Goutan put his whole weight behind an axe strike that sank deep into the Ghoul Head.

The enormous Ghoul Head reeled backward.

Bright red blood spurted out as the Ghoul Head thrashed in agony.

Goutan leapt far back to avoid getting caught up in it.

I used 〈Status〉 to check the Ghoul Head’s HP.

――――――――――――――――――――

Monster: Ghoul Head

Lv: 33

HP: 28/79

MP: 14/26

――――――――――――――――――――

This could work... One more solid hit from Goutan would be enough to finish it.

Another Wight latched onto Goutan while he was off-balance.

He knocked it away irritably.

...Those Wights were getting in the way.

I signaled to the other adventurers with a glance, then sprinted over to help Goutan.

Tail and Paul weren’t managing to take out the troublesome Wights.

"Ooooo... Ooooooooooh!"

The Ghoul Head bellowed, grabbed nearby Wights in its massive hands, and shoved them into its huge mouth.

It chewed up the struggling Wights without mercy.

The Ghoul Head’s wounds began to heal.

"It has 〈Corpse Eater〉..."

It was a Trait Skill that restored HP when its user ate a corpse or an undead creature.

Not every Ghoul Head had it; roughly half of them did.

If it hadn’t had a healing Skill, someone as capable as Goutan would have taken down a Ghoul Head by now, even without anyone clearing away the Wights.

It seemed the Wights’ interference had let it use 〈Corpse Eater〉 to heal.

That said, the number of Wights had already dwindled considerably.

There were only about five left around the Ghoul Head.

"Oooooooh... Ooooooooooooh!"

Then the Ghoul Head began forcibly stuffing the five remaining Wights around it into its huge mouth.

The Wights struggled in agony, but the Ghoul Head bit into them, mercilessly tearing their bodies apart.

The Ghoul Head then frantically shoved the Wights’ mangled flesh into its mouth.

At that moment, I had a bad feeling.

There was no way it would use so many undead just to heal once with 〈Corpse Eater〉.

Whenever a monster took some unusual action, it was usually a sign that something bad was about to happen.

"No way..."

"It healed, but now those pesky Wights are gone! I’ll finish this quickly!"

Goutan charged at the Ghoul Head.

"Goutan, stop! All three of you, get away from the Ghoul Head!"

As I shouted, the Ghoul Head raised both arms and began roaring.

"Ooooooooooooooooooh!"

The Ghoul Head’s body turned bright red.

Its body swelled, growing from about two meters tall to nearly three.

It crushed the club in its hand and reached out with a hand covered in enormous claws.

【〈Ghoul Head〉 has undergone Existence Evolution into 〈Mad Head〉.】

【〈Mad Head〉's level increased from 33 to 40.】

A message flashed through my mind.

"This is the worst..."

Existence Evolution was a rare event that occurred under specific conditions.

It primarily referred to a monster on the verge of defeat drawing out its latent potential to escape its predicament, then transforming into another species.

The kinds of monsters that could undergo Existence Evolution and the conditions unique to each were fixed, but the details depended heavily on a monster’s actions, the circumstances of the battle, and random factors. Even in 〈Magic World〉, the exact conditions for every monster’s Existence Evolution had never been fully identified.

In this case, the major factors were that we’d kept the Ghoul Head cornered in a prolonged battle, and that it had already stored up enough energy for Existence Evolution by using 〈Corpse Eater〉 before we even started fighting it.

But when you got down to it, all I could say was that we’d been 'unlucky.'

"W-Wh-What just happened...?"

Faced with the suddenly transformed Mad Head, Goutan seemed unable to comprehend what was going on.