Linked Quest (9)
The wounded beast let out a ferocious roar. A gash so deep that parts of its ribs were exposed—a wound that would have been fatal for any ordinary animal. Yet the injury began to heal as if time itself were rewinding. Still, that astonishing regenerative power was nothing new to Ligret, who had already witnessed it once before.
Before the wound could fully close, a second slash descended upon the silver monster. The Headhunter tried to leap backward with its natural agility, but the movement was clearly slower than before. The powder Chrome had scattered into the air before the fight began was one of his most potent concoctions. It could induce full-body paralysis severe enough to make breathing difficult, whether inhaled or simply absorbed through the skin.
Chrome and Ligret had mitigated its effects by consuming food that built up a degree of poison resistance and by holding a special leaf in their mouths that acted as an antidote. But for the Headhunter, which had no such protections, this toxin born from humanity's malice was an unparalleled threat. It was potent enough to force even a beast several times larger than a normal wolf—with superior physical abilities—to emit the very sounds it had been suppressing for an ambush, and to dull its movements even now.
Its thickly muscled left foreleg was sliced clean in half like a sheet of paper. The cartilage and tendons at its knee were carved out and shredded by the sharp blade. A sword thrust upward into the maw that had wantonly ravaged its prey, knocking several teeth flying into the air.
"──!"
An overwhelming violation. Violence without a shred of mercy. The beast howled in agony from pain it had never experienced in its life. Yet the Headhunter's rage-filled counterattack failed to land a single blow on the girl before it.
When it swung its foreleg, she slipped into its embrace and seized its flank. When it tried to retreat and create distance, she closed in. Normally, that would have been a terrible mistake. In a forest—especially on the treacherous slope of a mountain—challenging a quadrupedal beast to a contest of speed was utterly foolish. Even humans needed proper distance to deliver effective strikes. And how much power or momentum could a girl swinging a longsword—not even a short dagger—generate from such extreme close range, practically inside the monster's field of vision?
But the boy watching the clash between human and beast knew the truth. The one who could turn such absurdity, such impossibility, into reality was a master. And the girl before him was the Nameless War Demon, a prodigy who had been born with that talent and nurtured it to perfection.
Every time the brown and silver winds crossed, new scars were etched. The blood staining the dirt and grass, the bizarre stench of spilled intestines and filth, even the screams that bordered on shrieks—all of it came from the beast. Not a single scratch marred the girl, Ligret.
Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, despite injuries that should have killed any flesh-and-blood creature multiple times over, the beast refused to die. No—its unnatural regenerative power simply wouldn't allow the silver monster to perish.
Kkigik!
The first time Ligret's assault halted was at a shrill screech like two hard surfaces grinding together. It was the same as their first encounter. Her sword could cut the wolf's flesh, but it couldn't sever bone. That was why she had been carving away everything except the skeleton. But the thrashing monster had thrown itself onto her blade, lodging it in bone.
The brief opening—less than a second—while she retrieved her weapon was the first chance the beast had to retreat since the battle began.
"Grrrrrr!"
Murderous intent, utterly savage, burned in the Headhunter's eyes. Ironically, the horrific pain and wounds it had just endured had flushed the paralyzing toxin from its body. But the price was devastating. Its once-beautiful silver fur was matted with its own blood and shredded flesh, making it impossible to tell where the surface ended and the inside began. Its left ear and eye had vanished entirely.
Whatever glowed in the beast's chest continued to exert its power, but its vigor was far weaker than before. It was as if the creature had finally reached its limit from overexertion.
Boom!
With one last chance before it, the beast kicked off the ground. Its target was a massive ancient tree whose trunk had grown so tall that human hands could barely reach it. It raced up the trunk as if sprinting across flat land, preparing for its next attack.
This was the lethal strike that had incapacitated Bargal Odina, the Eastern Army knight, in a single blow. Objectively speaking, his strength wasn't far behind Ligret's. If she took a direct hit from that downward strike—combining overwhelming muscle power, crushing speed, heavy mass, and gravity—even she wouldn't escape injury.
If the silver monster had any concern at all, it was that the small human with her absurd speed might dodge the attack instead of blocking it head-on—but—
"……!"
Upon confirming her position on the ground, an emotion that would have been called joy in a human spread across the beast's face. Had the human been too slow to react to its rapid movement? Or had she simply misjudged?
The human it had expected to be preparing a full-powered evasion was instead standing firmly on both feet, looking up at it. No matter how quick she was, there was no way she could avoid the attack from that stance and at this timing.
She might counter the moment it struck, but that alone couldn't kill it. This blow, carrying all its accumulated grudge and pain, would turn that insolent human into nothing but a splatter of blood.
Yes. At this moment, the beast had forgotten one crucial thing.
What had caused its initial ambush to fail? Who had scattered the powder that dulled its movements? No—more importantly, who had forced it down from the tree during their very first clash?
And the boy, too, had been waiting for this exact moment.
There was no technique the boy possessed that could accurately strike only the beast while it was pressed so tightly against the girl. Therefore, if there was any timing for him to intervene in this battle, it would be now. The moment the girl charged the beast, the boy had prepared a trap anticipating whatever move it might make.
The structure was simple. He had used two Low-tier Magic Shields like a tray and its lid, suspending them in the air at a sufficient distance from the ground along with their contents.
The instant the beast became certain of victory, the tray and lid closed at the user's will—
Five Attribute Crystals shattered at once, unleashing their power.
Two flames. Two winds. One pure mana.
Blades of air, terrifying heat, and raw physical force converged in judgment upon the foolish beast that had learned nothing from its past experiences.
Before the overwhelming violence, the beast's flesh evaporated. Its 'core'—located right beside the heart at the center of its body—was exposed to the open air.
Ligret, who had never considered dodging from the very beginning and had been waiting for this exact moment, spotted it perfectly even amid the storm's aftermath. Her sword flashed.
Something resembling a cross between a seed and a jewel separated from the silver monster and fell into Ligret's grasp. In its final struggle, the beast tried to bite her with a maw half-filled with broken and uprooted teeth—but the next instant, only its severed head flew through the air.
It was a death befitting the name Headhunter.
"…Didn't you say you were only going to scout?"
"I was only going to scout, but this thing attacked me first. I didn't have a choice."
A short while later, the Eastern Army knights who had climbed the mountain with reinforcements to support Chrome and Ligret breathed sighs of relief upon seeing the pair descending the trail unharmed. Then they were utterly shocked to learn that the two had slain the Headhunter.
Bargal Odina's question carried a clear note of reproach—why would they do something so reckless? But what could they say? They hadn't intended to fight, but the opponent had charged them anyway.
Eastern Army Commander Dietrich von Draug burst into roaring laughter after hearing Chrome's report, examining the Headhunter's corpse brought back in a backpack, and inspecting the 'core' that appeared to be the source of its mysterious regenerative ability.
"Hahaha! Good, very good! Excellent work, 'Imperial Skirmishers'! You live up to that grandiose name. I can entrust you with more jobs in the future."
"You're not telling us to join the Eastern Army this time?"
"Huh? Of course not. I can only give you jobs like this because you're not under my command. The bureaucratic system is a pain, but since you're nominally under His Majesty's direct authority, you get to ignore a lot of the usual restrictions."
The corpse and core were to be transported to the imperial capital for thorough investigation. If it turned out that someone had artificially granted a monster power beyond its natural limits, the empire would surely begin taking appropriate action.
"Anyway, that was some hard work. I'm tired. How about we take a break under the pretext of a request?"
"I heard Morgan Kingdom has quite a few decent restaurants."
"So the finale of this linked quest is a food tour…"
Compared to the brutal journey, it was a rather peaceful conclusion.