Chapter 85: I’m Telling You, It’s Dangerous
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85: I’m Telling You, It’s Dangerous
“A-Aven...?”
Belinda lowered the mechanical crossbow she had been aiming at the Antonio Brotherhood, struggling to process the scene before her eyes.
“...What the hell?”
The assassin’s gaze pierced Aven’s chest. Red blood seeped out, soaking down to his solar plexus. He had clearly felt his blade carve through the heart and drive forward. How was this brat still standing as if nothing had happened?
That wasn't all. When he had thrust the knife in to slice the heart, the lungs must have been punctured as well. Naturally, the moment a blade pierces a lung, a person finds it difficult to breathe, let alone speak properly.
Yet, seeing him speak without the slightest hint of distress, the assassin realized that the wound had been healed by some means.
Is it Rapid Regeneration?
He hadn't lived as a human hunter for a short time. He had, of course, seen low-grade explorers who were lucky enough to acquire a Rapid Regeneration skill.
Fitting for its outstanding performance, the backlash was usually severe, typically manifesting as a total depletion of mana.
If he just cut him down enough times, the boy stood no chance.
“You’re only making it more painful for yourself. I’ll make you regret having that skill.”
Being able to heal multiple times simply meant he could be cut down multiple times. Humans were not immune to pain, and they were creatures capable of judging a situation to realize when they couldn't win.
“What are you even babbling about, you piece of shit?”
—Flash!
The assassin, who had been standing half-turned away, blurred like mist and reappeared in front of Aven in an instant.
Thump—!!
“Kh...!”
The assassin dropped low and delivered a lightning-fast kick to the abdomen.
Judging by the sensation of driving the knife toward the heart earlier, Aven’s physical durability wasn't particularly high. He was well-trained, sure, but his defense was only at the level of an average adult male.
Against those with Rapid Regeneration, the assassin knew it was more effective to leave large, difficult-to-heal wounds over a wide area rather than focusing on lethal, pinpoint strikes.
The force of the kick was enough to rupture the stomach and shatter the internal organs of an ordinary person. As Aven’s body was launched into the air and sent flying into the distance, the faces of Belinda, Benjamin, and Rubia turned pale with horror.
“Y-You...!!”
Rubia gripped her hammers tightly in both hands, glaring at the assassin. She desperately wanted to charge in, but she was currently standing in front of Belinda and Benjamin. She knew that the only reason the assassin hadn't targeted the two behind her yet was because of her presence.
The moment she moved recklessly, he would slip behind her and attack the siblings. She had to find a way to break the stalemate while protecting them at all costs.
To the assassin and the other criminals of the Antonio Brotherhood, Rubia was the only one who looked visibly strong, so it was natural for them to be wary of her.
Crash—!!
The three of them had watched him fight before. They didn't know exactly what skills Aven possessed, but this situation was the complete opposite of the dependable figure who always took hits with stoic resilience.
“Ha, what? He’s dead after all?”
“I thought he was going to do something. What an idiot.”
The criminals approached Aven, who had fallen to the floor with a loud thud, and sneered down at his prone form.
“Dumbass. This is why you shouldn't mess with the Anto—”
—Clink.
“W-What...!”
Despite everything, Aven began to stand up again.
“Just stay down and die already...!”
The three criminals loitering around him drew their weapons to pounce the moment he moved.
Squelch—!!
“Urgh...”
In the deep darkness, something resembling a heavy mooring rope used for ships swung through the air in a wide arc at incredible speed.
—Splat.
Their bodies were torn apart, separating upper and lower torsos as if they had exploded. The entrails and flesh of three men splattered against the walls.
—Crackle....
Bits of meat scattered in every direction. The lanterns the criminals had hanging from their waists shattered, spilling oil over the gore, and before long, red flames began to flicker to life.
In the center of the suddenly illuminated passage stood a single man. Behind him, a tail studded with unique scales undulated like a wave, reflecting the bright light.
“A-Aven...?”
Aven, who now had a long tail—resembling that of a dragon—sprouting from his lower back, tossed aside the helmet he was wearing and spoke.
“Next.”
“You crazy son of a bitch—!!”
The man who appeared to be the leader of the criminals shouted in a voice cracking with rage. The remaining five criminals, who had been cautiously watching for an opening, clung to the walls of the wide passage and scrambled toward the assassin.
“That would be you, you piece of shit criminal.”
And, through that last attack, Aven had realized something.
This is bad. I don't have many other internal organs stored up.
His digestive tract, including his intestines and other organs necessary for a living creature to exist, had taken significant damage from that one attack.
Since they weren't organs needed for combat, he rarely had a reason to 'eat' them unless he swallowed a whole animal. Because of that, his stored supply of those organs had run low. And this was what he realized:
During a fight, there was no benefit to keeping those organs inside his belly. Organs involved in digestion and excretion wouldn't cause any immediate problems if they disappeared right now.
I’m removing everything unnecessary for combat.
He stored all the organs filling the peritoneal cavity below the diaphragm and replaced the space with flexible, supple muscle. He was crafting a body solely for war.
Hard, rigid muscles with a narrow range of motion could hinder movement. Instead, a level of physical strength incomparable to before gripped his spine firmly, adding power to his entire body.
In addition, he could add strength to his diaphragm.
“Ssssp... Hooo...”
To say one breathes with the lungs is half-right and half-wrong. Because the lungs, which absorb oxygen, must be physically squeezed by the diaphragm to force air in and out.
By adding powerful muscles to his diaphragm, he felt a level of respiratory strength that was on a different dimension. It felt as if the air was desperate to burst through his nostrils.
“Good. You learn as you fight. Come.”
Though unintentional, his ruined lungs and heart had been replaced with something else. The only problem was that waiting for the skill to react and change based on organ damage took quite a bit of time.
If a problem arose, it seemed much better for him to change things manually and immediately.
“Pathetic. You cannot defeat me.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Judging by their mana levels and the guys who just became piles of meat, the others besides the assassin didn't seem particularly skilled at fighting.
Rather than trading blows with this assassin right here, it would be a much better judgment to lure him elsewhere.
“Catch me if you can.”
“No matter how much you run, you’re the one who dies.”
He had no choice but to leave the other six to Rubia. Since she was Platinum Grade, he trusted she would handle that much.
“Come on...!”
* * *
BOOM—!!
The assassin surged forward, shattering the stone floor of the labyrinth with a thunderous roar.
Skreeee—!!
Aven slammed his tail into the ground to propel himself backward, vanishing into the darkness. The assassin followed close behind, swinging his blade as he gave chase.
“W-Wait! Where are you going?!”
Left behind in the wide passage were the six members of the Antonio Brotherhood, and the trio of Rubia and the siblings.
“B-Boss!”
“Hyaaaaaah—!!!”
The moment the assassin disappeared, Rubia, who had already tripled her stacks, hoisted her massive hammer high. She gripped it firmly with both hands and slammed it into the ground with a shout.
“You’re all dead!!”
“I-I’ll provide cover too!”
Belinda aimed her bow, and Benjamin calmly began casting offensive magic from the rear. When Rubia touched the brooch pinned to her neck—the one set with a blue gemstone—it flashed with a brilliant light, generating a shield.
“Physical Guard!”
—Zzzzt!
With a thick mana barrier wrapped around her entire body, Belinda and Benjamin began their support fire from behind her. The criminals of the Antonio Brotherhood, who still hadn't fully grasped the situation, were busy panicking. Taking advantage of the chaos, Belinda’s bolt flew true and struck the leader in the thigh.
“Aaargh! What are you doing?! Fight, you bastards!!”
“Y-Yes, Boss!!”
They had twice the numbers, but they were merely thugs who had hired a human hunter with money. They weren't particularly good fighters. The members of their cell who specialized in combat had already been slaughtered by Aven.
Crash—!!
“Gah!”
“Move! You, the leader!! What was that about stripping us and doing what?!!”
The impact was powerful enough to make the ceiling rumble. That massive hammer wasn't something that could be blocked with a sword or a shield. Every time it connected, limbs gained extra joints, and the group of six criminals was being thinned out one by one.
“God dammit...!! Where did you go, Lugus, you son of a bitch?!!”
The leader of the group, watching the scene from the back, could only scream the human hunter’s name.
“B-Boss! We can't win this...!!”
“We have to land at least one stab so we can run! That bitch is faster than us!!”
The situation had reversed in an instant. The fleeing leader of the Antonio Brotherhood reached the ascending stairs, with Rubia hot on his heels.
“Stop right there!! I’m going to finish you for good!!”
“Hieee!! S-Shit...! Sorry, Drek!! You go instead!”
“B-Boss! No! You motherfucker!!”
The leader of the Antonio Brotherhood kicked his subordinate in the stomach, sending him tumbling down the high stairs and crashing into the pursuing Rubia.
“Kyaa—?!”
“Rubia! Are you okay?!”
“Ugh, seriously...! I lost him because of you!”
Wham—
Rubia sent the subordinate who had rolled down the stairs flying with a swing of her hammer and looked up. The leader had already fled quite a distance. Whether he had a mobility-related skill or not, his fleeing speed was extraordinary, making it difficult even for Rubia, with her increased strength, to catch him.
“Haha! Hahahaha!! Catch me if you can, you moron!”
“That...! That piece of trash...!”
Rubia stomped her feet in a fit of rage as the leader mocked her from above, looking back over his shoulder. However, before he could get much further, the fleeing leader suddenly froze in his tracks.
—Thud.
Someone was standing in front of the leader as he climbed the stairs while looking back.
“What the— get out of the wa—”
Before he could even finish his sentence, the leader’s head was severed from his neck and came rolling down the stairs.
“That person is...?!”
* * *
Slash—
“Kh...!”
The floor was slick with blood, as if a bucket of red paint had been overturned. Aven had fled to a wide clearing to draw the hunter away from Rubia’s group, but the situation was worse than he had expected.
“You certainly have a peculiar ability.”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“It’s a shame you weren't my target. We might have even worked together.”
That was a lie, of course. Through his Evil Eye, Aven could see that the man’s hostility was skyrocketing.
I don't have many spare hearts left...!
To minimize damage, Aven had been retracting his lungs and other vital muscles the moment the man’s attacks connected, preserving his functional lungs as much as possible.
The biggest problem was that he couldn't do that with his heart. A creature can hold its breath for a few seconds, or even minutes. But the heart is different; the moment blood circulation stops, the body begins to stiffen.
The hunter’s attacks were far sharper and more agile than Aven had anticipated. Even through the Drake scales, the impact was so great that the muscles throughout his body were screaming.
—Step.
During a brief standoff, Aven spoke.
“Hey, your employer is dead now. You’ve been paid, so let’s call it a day. From what I can see... you’re not even part of the Antonio Brotherhood, are you?”
“But I am deeply involved. They are one of my primary clients.”
“I’m giving you one warning. Attacking me any further is dangerous.”
At Aven’s warning, the hunter let out a smirk.
“Why? Is that fancy skill of yours reaching its limit?”
“Yeah, it actually is. But it’s a bit different. You’re the one in danger, not me.”
“There’s a limit to how much one should bluff.”
“I’m serious. If you attack me any more, something inside me is going to wake up.”
“Right. Let’s end the idle chatter.”
An attack surged forward in an instant. A heavy, crushing impact. A spray of blood erupted from between the hard Drake scales protecting his chest, and Aven coughed up a mouthful of gore.
“You’re a persistent one.”
Though he acted otherwise, the hunter’s body was also a mess. Leaving behind Aven, who had collapsed face-down on the ground, the hunter prepared to leave the blood-stained clearing.
—Shiver.
“...!”
What caught the hunter’s eye as he turned around was something shrouded in violet-black flames.
“Hey, I’m telling you, this is really...”
Something covered in black scales, something that was no longer human.
“...Dangerous!”