Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Venatio Species (2)
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It was different. Definitely different. And all because a single loop of spiritual power was now rotating inside my body.
If a Heracles who can't use spiritual power is just regular coffee, then one who can is, without a doubt, top-shelf.
“Ugh-!”
“That guy's a madman!”
“I'm going to die…! I'm going to die!”
The stationed security personnel. The researchers casting magic from the rear.
And even the Imperial soldiers who were here for some other reason—a total of fifty men.
“What sins have we committed to deserve this!”
“You think you're sinless? Take it up with God when you see him. I'm just the one sending you there.”
Those fifty men were being ‘slaughtered’ in the truest sense of the word, unable to even put up a proper fight.
“Run! Just run! Run for the entrance!”
The stench of blood and death washed over the soldiers, breeding an emotion called fear.
“I… I don't want to die! I don't want to die!”
*Crack-*
He cracked his neck, and a chilling sound of bone echoed.
It was a one-versus-fifty showdown, yet it was the Imperial soldiers, not Kratos, who were backing away.
A pale gray spiritual power once again enveloped his fists.
The consumption of spiritual power was certainly high. He was using the bare minimum, coating only his weapon and fists, but it was already running low.
Still, it was more than enough to take the heads of the dozens of soldiers remaining before him.
“I'm in a very good mood. So let's end this quickly. I'm hungry.”
Kratos's aura suddenly erupted like a blazing fire.
Bones broke and were torn out.
*CRUNCH?!*
Bones were crushed, and flesh splattered like blood.
Gyaaaaargh-!
Screams erupted endlessly from the soldiers' mouths.
It was a brutal scene. Not a single one had been killed by a simple stab or slash.
Every one of them was crushed, torn, or broken somewhere.
“I wonder if you bastards can confidently claim your innocence before God.”
The floor was littered with blood and flesh, and Kratos, covered in gore, was smiling brightly.
After the brutal massacre, Kratos was the only living being left in the camp.
***
“Hoo. I'm hungry.”
A dozen or so soldiers had managed to escape to the camp outside the ruins, but I was the only one left alive inside.
It didn't seem like much time had passed since I entered the ruins.
I couldn't tell the exact passage of time, but a quick glance showed the constellations in the night sky hadn't moved much.
I thought a fair amount of time had passed.
“Where's the mess hall? The mess hall.”
The first thing I wanted to do was fill my stomach. I hadn't eaten a proper meal since just before the fight with the Desworm.
*Grumble-*
The roar of my hunger was like thunder. No matter how tainted by demonic energy these guys were, they must have eaten here.
I entered the largest tent, and sure enough, there was a feast of delicacies...
Well, not quite, but there was edible food.
*Grumble-*
Damn it. I'm starting to think I should make some high-protein energy bars later. Wouldn't it be a problem if this happened during a long battle or war?
I mechanically chewed and swallowed the food. Cooking was a luxury. I first chewed on whatever was ready to eat and tossed some meat onto the fire. To eat once it was cooked.
Even while chewing, my thoughts didn't stop.
[Name: Kratos▼]
[Strength 101][Stamina 52][Dexterity 11][Spiritual Power 31][Intelligence 71]
<Skills>▼]
Annihilate Evil - 0.1%
Ring of Spiritual Power - 1 Stroke
Spiritual Arts - 1 Star
I gained quite a few stats through this desert expedition. Though my Spiritual Power and Dexterity were still low.
‘The one silver lining is that the light motes now come in various colors simultaneously. And they're focused on my lower stats.’
I guess this is what the system meant underground when it said, ‘The light of hope will be absorbed without restriction.’
The ten light motes that popped out from the last battle mainly gave stats for my lower attributes.
My Strength is 101, while my Dexterity and Spiritual Power combined don't even reach half of that. What kind of crappy balance is this?
Obviously, if I'm thinking about balance, I should be raising Dexterity or Spiritual Power.
This was an unconditional gain for me.
And then there's this Annihilate Evil skill. I only got 0.1 percent for killing about fifty soldiers.
In any case, it was certain that it rose by killing those with demonic energy.
It meant I had to kill and kill. Whether it was monsters or humans tainted by demonic energy. It's better this way, nice and simple.
After devouring more than half the food in the mess hall, my stomach finally signaled it was full.
“Haaah. I'm full. Is it farming time now?”
Leaving the mess hall, Kratos looked at the tents before his gaze shifted to the mechanical device in the center.
Why was this antenna set up here? It's not like it's a Protoss Pylon.
“Communication? Or transmission?”
Looking closely, it resembled an antenna tower. The moment I saw it, I felt nauseous and repulsed, which made me think it was surely related to demonic energy.
I remembered that one of the documents I put in my inventory at the ruins' entrance was related to this antenna tower, and kicked the base of the tower.
*CRASH-!*
The antenna tilted, then fell to the ground with a roar, shattering into pieces.
But as the tower broke, hidden demonic energy burst out, lost its direction, and began to taint the surroundings.
No! These crazy bastards! This much demonic energy... What the hell was this antenna tower for?
The moment the massive amount of demonic energy overflowed and began to corrode the area.
*Throb-*
The spiritual power in my body began to move like a conditioned reflex. It spun crazily, like a sports car with the accelerator floored.
In response, the demonic energy before me shimmered and gathered around my body.
“What is this…”
As the demonic energy began to be absorbed, a method for absorbing it surfaced in my mind.
To be precise, it was less about absorption and more about absorbing and converting.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the demonic energy. Then, I spun the spiritual power within my body even faster.
Surpassing the speed of a sports car, it reached the velocity of a bullet train.
In response, the demonic energy gathered around me began to change into spiritual power and was absorbed into my body.
The conversion rate wasn't high by any means. But the important thing was that there was a way to raise my stats without consuming the light of hope.
That was the most important fact.
***
At the same time, the battle was still raging in Kanta Village.
The stockade had long since lost its original form, having collapsed and been reinforced in various places, and the mercenaries were also growing weary of this endless battle.
“Pour on more magic!”
“First squad is out of mana!”
“First squad, rest! Second squad, forward!”
It was a mystery where so many monsters had come from. Did this many monsters even exist in the desert?
It felt like they had killed at least thousands, no, tens of thousands of monsters. Yet waves of monsters were still swarming the base of the stockade.
“Out of arrows!”
“Then throw rocks! You want to die here?! Throw something!!”
A scene of a desperate struggle. Meanwhile, Squad 10, having recovered their strength, was also lending a hand in the defense of Kanta Village.
Still, their gazes remained fixed in the direction where Kratos was.
*Krrk-?*
The monsters that had been madly charging Kanta Village suddenly turned their heads in unison to look at a single point.
“W-what is it.”
“Why are they suddenly doing that?”
At the monsters' sudden strange behavior, the mercenaries watched their movements with tense expressions.
*Kieeeeeek-!*
Soon, the monsters began to howl madly, as if they had all been hit by a confusion spell.
“W-what?”
“I don't know! Why are they acting like that all of a sudden?”
The monsters' formation began to crumble.
The monsters in the rear started fleeing into the desert, while those scratching at Kanta Village's stockade seemed confused, not knowing what to do and began to spin in place.
“Reform the line!”
“Don't let your guard down! Keep pouring it on! What if they charge again!”
*Kieeeeeek-!*
The thousands of monsters surrounding Kanta Village suddenly turned tail and fled to all corners of the desert.
“Did... we survive?”
As a thick cloud of dust rose from the fleeing monsters, the mercenaries of Kanta Village collapsed where they stood.
“Uwaaaaaah-!!!!”
“We survived! We survived!”
“We made it out alive!”
Was it relief at being alive? Or the release of tension, thinking it was finally over? Whatever it was.
They had suffered many sacrifices, but in the end, they had defended Kanta Village and survived. The survivors embraced one another.
*Rumble-*
As they were sharing the joy of survival, a black energy suddenly began to cover the sky like a rain cloud, far away in the heart of the desert.
Fortunately, the cloud did not spread but remained shimmering in one place. Still, the fact that the omen was visible from this far away meant the situation was serious.
“Kratos!”
Seamus, who had been watching that direction intently, screamed as if his throat would tear.
The direction where the dark energy was gathering was the same direction where they had left Kratos.
“Kratos must have done something! Kratos!”
“Squad 10! Gear up and gather at the gate! We're moving out immediately!”
Lando also gritted his teeth and shouted until his throat was raw. Kratos had to have done something.
The question of how he had survived the Desworm didn't even have time to take root before it flashed through his mind.
The most important thing was that Kratos had survived, and that he might still be alive right now.
“Squad 1! All personnel not required for village defense and reconstruction, gather at the gate! You'll move out with Squad 10!”
“Glen?”
At Lando's question, Glen grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Didn't I promise? That I'd help clean up the mess when the time came. Of course, I have to go with you. Everyone's exhausted. Two are better than one.”
In less than ten minutes, ten members of Squad 1 and all of Squad 10 were lined up in front of Kanta Village. Their attire was light.
This time, the objective was not reconnaissance, but rescue.
“Kratos is definitely alive. The monsters fleeing, that dark cloud—Kratos must be behind it all. Our objective is to rescue Kratos.”
The possibility that he might be dead was not even a consideration. The only thing that mattered was the fact that Kratos was alive at this very moment.
“Everyone, move as fast as you can. Seamus. Straight ahead.”
“Understood.”
With a determined expression, Seamus took the lead and set the direction.
Please. Just be alive.
***
In the middle of the demonic energy, where he couldn't see an inch in front of him, Kratos was lost in a trance.
He was observing, remembering, and interpreting the entire process of his spiritual power spinning furiously, drawing in the demonic energy and converting it.
‘What exactly is the relationship between demonic energy and spiritual power? How does spiritual power react to and absorb demonic energy, converting it into more spiritual power?’
The question about spiritual power was the greatest. It was something he had never heard of or seen before.
Back in his days in the Empire, he had worked to purify demonic energy in the Demonic Realm to the north.
But that was only temporary. A cardinal-level priest would have to pour out all their holy power just to make the area habitable for a single day.
The next day, demonic energy would creep back into the land.
But what if this spiritual power was the answer? If so, its value would be immense.
He could feel the spiritual power within him filling up. It wasn't just a process of conversion, but absorption. With each breath, black demonic energy entered him and was exhaled as gray spiritual power.
‘The Venatio Species. Venatio. I need to look into it. There's definitely more to it.’
I thought they were just a species with immense strength, but that wasn't it. Just like in the library below, the Heracles clan had many secrets I still didn't know.
Secrets I don't yet know, secrets I must uncover in the future.
“Kratos-!”
At the edge of that trance, a voice pierced his ears, and Kratos collected his breath and opened his eyes.
[You have purified the demonic energy. Spiritual Power has increased by 20. An additional stroke is drawn on the Ring of Spiritual Power.]
Along with some very good news.