Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Jaeger (6)
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"Grahk!"
Ronan lunged forward and slashed his sword upward in a diagonal arc. The head of the leading were-lion soared into the air. Hot blood, like onsen water, drenched his face.
"This takes me back."
Steam rose from the spots where the blood had splattered. Recalling his past life, Ronan smirked. Fighting werewolves in the snowfields, coating himself in their blood had let him forget the cold for a precious moment, if only briefly. Before the headless were-lion's body even hit the ground...
"Die, human!"
Puhaak! A horn as thick as an adult's thigh tore through the were-lion's chest from behind. It was a rhino beastman charging right after. How brutish, Ronan muttered to himself as he dropped into a low stance and thrust. Puk! Puk! Puk! Lamancha punched four or five holes through the rhino beastman's neck before pulling free. Another gush of hot blood sprayed out. The rhino, who had been barreling forward with enough momentum to shatter a mountain, clutched its throat and collapsed.
"Urk...!"
"You idiot, don't just trip like that!"
The charging beastmen cried out in confusion. From their perspective, it was as if a breakwater had suddenly appeared before them. None of them fell flat on their faces like fools, but Ronan didn't miss even the brief opening they revealed. His blood-red sword traced a semicircle. Pbabak! The fan-shaped spray of sword ki slammed into the beastmen's heads.
"Keoogh!"
"Krahk!"
The sword intent pierced their brains and burst out the back of their skulls. Three instant kills, two wounded. Even though he'd aimed precisely for their foreheads, the fact that some dodged meant he couldn't underestimate them. They were leagues beyond the natives he'd fought in his past life—truly formidable foes.
"Show me your grit, you furballs!"
Of course, slaughtering them all was the only option. Ronan caught his breath, bellowed a ki shout, and swung his sword. Less to build his own resolve and more to draw their attention to himself instead of Adeshan. She'd already expended so much mental energy controlling the prisoners up to this point that her combat strength was greatly diminished.
Scary woman.
Adeshan was fighting not far away. Her whip, assembled from iron segments, writhed like a steel serpent, blocking the beastmen's approach. The way she kept her back to the wall showed just how much she'd grown over the past two years.
I've got to end this quick.
Even so, her limits would come soon enough. It was also regrettable that she hadn't brought a crossbow since they had to infiltrate. As Ronan dove into the full melee, slashing away...
"Ngh?!"
A sudden sharp pain engulfed his lower body. Looking down in alarm, he saw a werefox latched onto his thigh. Its unusually small frame and concealed presence had let it sneak up undetected. With its teeth sunk in, the werefox shouted.
"Gotcha!"
"Good, hold on tight!"
The beastmen who'd been waiting for an opening charged all at once. Ronan swiftly regripped his sword and severed the werefox's head. Slash! Even as its body vanished, the fox's head remained clamped on his thigh. Ronan gritted his teeth at the beastkin tenacity.
"Such a pain...!"
Thank goodness he'd reflexively strengthened his leg muscles. It stung and hindered him, but there was no time to shake it off. A man-sized battle axe and flail were flying toward his crown and torso. This time, it was two burly werebears.
"You bastard!"
"Avenger of Kanocchi!"
Whether Kanocchi was the fox he'd just killed or one of the earlier furballs, their rage was palpable—big bodies meant big strength. As Ronan pondered his options in this pinch, the two werebears swinging their weapons suddenly froze mid-motion.
"Grrk."
"Geruk."
"What the...?"
Ronan's eyes widened. The dynamically charging werebears had turned to stone, motionless. Stunned by the unexpected turn but not wasting it, he swung his sword. Slash. The blade traced a smooth ellipse and returned to position as both bears' heads thudded to the floor. Adeshan's voice came from behind.
"Ronan... huff, you okay?!"
"Ah."
The moment he saw her face, the mystery solved itself. The werebears rolling on the ground still had that dazed, ashen gray in their eyes. It was Adeshan's mental domination.
"Thanks."
"There are too many. Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?"
"I'm used to this sort of thing... What about you, senpai? You don't exactly get along with furballs."
"...Yeah. I'm fine."
Adeshan nodded. Of course, it was a lie. Every time their fangs and claws lunged, she wanted to scream and collapse. The same race that had killed her mother and brothers. Pretending it didn't faze her would be the real lie.
Still, she couldn't back down. If she let the shadows of the past crush her forever, she'd never become Grand General—let alone reach even a lowly officer's rank. She didn't want to waste the talent Ronan had shown her, the one she'd never have realized otherwise before dying.
"Hoo..."
Steeling her resolve, she gripped her whip tight. Ronan was handling most of them, but she had to contribute, even if just in small ways like this. The beastmen's encirclement, which had hesitated briefly, began closing in again. Ronan said,
"If it gets bad, run right away. I'll handle it myself."
"Yeah. Got it."
Adeshan smiled. They exchanged glances and charged in opposite directions. With her back to the wall once more, she lashed out her whip. Kwa-jajak! The steel snake swept horizontally, engulfing the oncoming beastmen. The whip she'd looted from a Nebula Klazie executive tore through their tough hides like ripened meat. Beastmen with bone-deep gashes flew back, spraying blood.
"Gyaaaak!"
"Damn it, that hurts!"
But their inherent toughness meant the damage wasn't lethal enough. As Adeshan mixed mental domination with her whip strikes to disable around five...
"You think it'll stay your way forever?!"
Suddenly, a burly were-tiger snatched her incoming whip barehanded. Even as it dug into his forearm, he didn't let go. Kwak! With a savage swing of his arm, Adeshan's body was yanked forward.
"Come here, human bitch!"
"Ugh...!"
Immense strength. She didn't even have time to release the whip. The were-tiger kneed toward the flying Adeshan. Whoosh! The preceding gust parted her bangs.
Too late.
Sensing death, Adeshan bit her lower lip. The siege ram of a knee was about to shatter her skull when Ronan burst in from the side, shoving her away.
"Ronan?"
Her eyes flew wide. The were-tiger's knee was now barreling toward Ronan's side. Calmly overlapping his hand on hers gripping the whip, he said,
"Pull."
"What?"
Ronan didn't answer. He pulled her into an embrace and launched forward. Shaaak! The were-tiger's hand tore free from its arm, still wrapped in the whip. Hot blood like a geyser sprayed everywhere. A wretched scream echoed.
"Kwaaaargh!!"
Blood reminiscent of an intermittent spring gushed from the mangled stump. The one-armed were-tiger knelt and collapsed. Looking up at Ronan, Adeshan gasped. Golden afterimages cloaked his arms like armor.
Unlike the hazy ones from before, these had a clear form resembling a feline paw. It was the body-strengthening aura he'd copied from Baren. Setting her down in a corner, Ronan returned the whip.
"Didn't expect to repay the debt this quick."
"Th-thanks."
"No biggie. Should've fought like this from the start. Strength counters strength, after all."
Ronan swung his arms experimentally and grinned. It was a change since receiving help from Navardoje. He could feel not just his own skills but also the Nebula Klazie ability to copy auras had improved dramatically.
Behind him lay the gruesomely dismembered corpses of beastmen. Shattered weapon fragments showed how recklessly he'd fought with Baren's aura-clad strikes. A were-deer in heavy armor panted as it asked,
"Huff... you... really... hak, human?"
"Probably."
"What a shame... huff, if you'd been one of us, you'd rival Lord Zaifa as a warrior...!"
The were-deer's muscle-bound body swelled as if about to burst. Catching its breath, it charged horn-first. Its ornate antlers, twisted like uprooted tree roots, bore countless scars.
"A true warrior."
Ronan's lips curled at the overwhelming presence. He didn't retreat, slashing vertically instead. The blade sheared the antlers and cleaved head from torso, emerging between its legs. Shaaak! The bisected body brushed past him on both sides.
"Even Razmush...!"
"S-strong."
Splat! The stag's halves rolled across the floor. Even the steadfast beastmen's attitudes began to shift. Fear was slowly creeping in.
"Wh-what? Why's he fighting so well?"
Jaeger, watching from the rear, faltered back. The candle flame on the verge of extinguishing now blazed fiercely, devouring the beastmen wave. Over half of the fifty elite beastmen soldiers were already gone.
"Hey, what do we do?"
Jaeger asked without taking his eyes off Ronan. It wasn't fear exactly, but it was time to plan countermeasures. No reply came from his advisor. After a long silence, Jaeger turned.
"Hey, I'm asking you ri—huh?!"
Jaeger's eyes bulged. The advisor who'd been at his side moments ago was gone. Only lingering dimensional ripples distorted the air where he'd stood.
"H-he ran away?!"
Jaeger's face hardened. Ronan, glancing that way, bit his lower lip. He instantly realized the advisor had fled—Zaifa's presence had vanished.
Damn it, even in the chaos, I shouldn't have taken my eyes off him.
A moment's lapse in attention. Now the only option left was to capture and interrogate Jaeger. As the flustered Jaeger rummaged through his desk drawer, Ronan's eyes widened at the scroll that soon appeared in his hand.
"Wait, don't tell me that's...!"
Catching on, Jaeger unfurled the scroll. Space warped around it, forming a dimensional gate. Seeing his worst fear realized, Ronan bellowed, veins bulging.
"Running away, you coward?!"
"Hmph, it's a strategic retreat! Guard squad, stop him—all of you!"
The beastmen halted their retreat at Jaeger's command. Muttering to steel themselves, they charged Ronan again. Ronan gnashed his teeth at their fanatical loyalty. He needed to grab that bastard now, but about twenty enemies remained.
"Stop right there!"
Bam! Ronan kicked off the ground in pursuit. He tried firing sword ki midair or activating aura, but a dozen beastmen leaped with him, surrounding him.
"Damn it, get lost?!"
"We won't let you reach Lord Jaeger!"
"Out of the way!"
Furious, Ronan swung. Dozens of red lines slashed across the blocking beastmen. As he landed, two werewolves' worth of meat rained down. Yet undeterred by the gruesome sight, the beastmen clung to him like iron filings to a magnet.
At this rate, he'll really escape!
Unlike humans, they were massive and tenacious. Waves of fangs and claws surged desperately. No way to break through before Jaeger left came to mind. As despair began to creep in, a chilling pulse swept through his body, freezing all beastmen at once.
"...Huh?"
Goosebumps prickled instantly. Ronan whipped around to Adeshan. She'd pulled back, glaring at the beastmen with bulging eyes. Veins throbbed around them. Realizing what she'd done, Ronan furrowed his brow.
"No way."
Jet-black mana currents blanketed the room like fog. The beastmen's eyes flickered the same ashen gray as hers. It was mass mental domination, as he'd suspected. The suddenly paralyzed beastmen voiced their shock.
"M-my body won't move...!"
"What did you humans do?!"
But it only halted physical motion. They ground their teeth, glaring daggers. She whispered hoarsely, as if squeezing it out.
"...Can't hold long."
"Senpai."
Adeshan looked on the verge of collapse. A trickle of blood ran from her nostril. An unexpected chance. Ronan's mana-reinforced thighs swelled massively.
"Just five seconds!"
Kwaang! Shouting it, Ronan kicked off and leaped. No time to waste. As he drew his sword hilt back, a burst of light enveloped Jaeger.
"Kgh?!"
The light was crimson, like a sunset. Caught off-guard by the intense flash, Jaeger blinked. The dimensional gate that had been right in front of him was now distantly far.
"Damn it all...!"
Jaeger realized he'd been hit by the same ability that got his advisor. Turning, he saw Ronan poised to swing. Too late to dodge or block, yet his expression wasn't dark. Jaeger racked his brain and shouted with a laugh.
"Idiot! It's a barrier that blocks any attack!"
Suddenly, Jaeger tore off his necklace. Shimmering mana exploded from it, forming a hemispherical shield expanding rapidly around him. Recognizing it, Ronan frowned.
"Star's Benediction...?"
"Ehyahihaha! Fly away!"
Jaeger laughed. He'd seen his advisor use it before. A shield that repelled any vicious spell or blade—his ultimate trump card in any pinch.
Now, while this mad human bounced off, he'd just use another escape scroll. Suddenly, Ronan sighed in relief.
"Lucky it's me here."
"What?"
Perplexed by the cryptic words, Jaeger tilted his head. Just as the expanding shield was about to collide with Ronan...
He calmly raised his sword vertically. Shaaak! The blade sliced the barrier apart left and right, making it vanish.
"...Huh?"
"That's it?"
No one knew what happened. The impenetrable shield was gone. Ronan resumed his swing stance. Sensing doom, Jaeger flailed.
"W-wait! Hold on. Right, let's talk it out!"
He'd gotten this far on quick wits—he knew this human was beyond him. Pretend to submit and wait for an opening. Seeing it, Ronan chuckled.
"Consistent as ever, Jaeger."
Grown stronger or not, the servility confirmed it was the Jaeger he knew. Maybe he should've spared the legs out of old times' sake. Muttering inwardly, Ronan shook his head.
"Too bad. You're already too late."
"...Late?"
Jaeger tilted his head. At that instant, red lines appeared over his left arm and right thigh. As Ronan spun his sword and sheathed it...
Shaaaak! Blood fountains erupted as Jaeger's limbs hit the floor.