80
Chapter 80
Recalling the familiar trajectory of Magic in my mind, I raised my Staff.
A stream of water began to surge from around my waist, and the blue streams soon merged into one and shot toward the Monster.
Swoosh- Thump!
It was my most threatening Magic, the [Water Bomb].
The retreating Mercenaries reacted with surprise at the Magic I used, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
"It's completely fine...."
The Water Bomb was useless.
The splashing water scattered everywhere, but the Monster didn't take a single step back.
It was literally a giant lump of rock.
The rough and hard Outer Shell resting over its large skeleton was reminiscent of a Carapace.
Its skin was twisted like a Boulder, and red Fragments sprouted up like boils here and there.
Those Fragments were connected to black veins running under the skin, writhing like a living neural network.
It was hard to see it as human anymore.
It would be more fitting to call it a Golem.
'Four, no, is it five...?'
It was somehow different from the infected I had seen before.
Was it because of the number of Fragments, or was this a completely different stage?
What was certain was that the Monster was far from ordinary.
The Monster flinched for a moment after being hit by the Water Bullet, but soon turned its head to look this way.
The Monster, which had been staring intently at me, suddenly looked down at its own body.
And... slowly opened its mouth.
"...Body... feels... weird...."
A heavy, slow bass voice that sounded like it was echoing in a Basement Cave.
The Monster was definitely speaking.
"It's... talking...?"
Turning my head at the familiar voice, I saw Silon standing there with a terrified face, pulling his Bowstring.
Bewilderment was evident on his face, clearly hesitating over whether to shoot or not.
Silon wasn't the only one panicked.
Baldic and Eileen, standing nearby, were also assessing the situation before them, gripping their Weapons with visibly stiffened faces.
Behind them, even the retreating Mercenaries stopped in their tracks, watching the Monster with unsure expressions.
"Mon, ta...?"
One of the Mercenaries stepped forward carefully from the group.
He was a man who usually hung around Monta.
"...."
The Monster slowly turned its head, as if responding to that voice.
For a moment, their eyes met.
"Aa, ron...."
The Monster, no, Monta recognized the man's name and muttered it.
The Mercenary Aaron continued speaking, a slight hint of relief appearing on his tense face.
"Yeah, damn it... what the hell happened to you?"
"...My... body...?"
The Monster slowly looked down at its body again.
Its expression was hard to see, suppressed by its overly swollen skeleton, but the signs of pain were clear.
"What... the... hell... is...."
The Monster trailed off, its mouth trembling.
It was as if it was only now accepting the fact that it had become a Monster.
Just as I was leaning forward slightly, thinking I should step in at this point.
"...Monta, it's okay. You're still you."
Aaron spoke gently to him.
It was a cautious tone, as if trying to soothe him.
"By any chance, did you pick up some Relic without us knowing?"
"Re... lic...?"
"Yeah. That... If you ended up like this because of a strange Relic, there might be a way to fix it. Right? So for now, just stay still."
Aaron wanted to believe it.
That Monta turning into a Monster was just due to a simple magical influence, and could be reversed.
But I knew the truth.
It wasn't an issue caused by some 'Relic'.
The omens I had already seen multiple times, that progression was far too familiar.
This was definitely the influence of a Demon Stone.
If there was a silver lining, it was that we could communicate.
Since he wasn't completely ruined, there might still be some way to help.
...Just as I thought that.
The Monster suddenly dropped its gaze downward.
Beneath its feet lay the Corpse of a Mercenary it had struck down.
Its eyes were unfocused, a fixed stare aimed into the empty air.
Its chest area was stained red with the crushed marks left by something massive.
And the Monster looked at its own hands.
Crushed Flesh was stuck to its fingertips, and red liquid dripped down from the ends of its fingers.
"...Did, I...?"
That voice was a mix of shock and despair, like the final words of a breaking man.
The Monster's shoulders began to tremble violently.
For a moment, extreme confusion washed over it, and that confusion soon led to anger.
"Guh, aaaaaaaaaaah!!"
A scream rang out.
The Monster's eyes rolled completely back, and the Demon Stones across its body began to flare up with a burning red light.
Black veins spread beneath its skin, and its Magic Power surged like a beating heart.
"Get back!! Everyone, fall back again!!"
Someone's shout was heard.
Everyone knew.
Now, that thing was no longer an entity that could be reasoned with.
Soon, a suffocating aura filled the area.
Like stepping into a Sauna full of humid air during the midsummer rainy season, a heavy and unpleasant energy seeped into our skin.
I thought it was just me, but looking around, everyone was frowning and keeping their guard up against the Monster.
In itself, it was already a disaster.
Hiss-
White smoke billowed from the back of the Monster's neck.
Like a Steam Engine that had finished pumping, the Monster spewed heat and began to move.
Its movements were slow.
Heavy steps that suited its massive bulk.
'At this rate, even if we just run-'
Thud!
Suddenly, without any warning, the Monster leaped up.
An unbelievable speed and elasticity to be called a jump.
"Wha-"
Slam! Crack!
That massive weight crashed right into the middle of the Mercenaries.
The ground shook from the impact, and a dust cloud rose.
The crushed Mercenary couldn't say a word, squashed beyond recognition.
"Jack!! Damn it, run!!"
As Mister Nas's shout rang out, only then did everyone instinctively scatter.
Screams and the sound of clashing metal erupted from all sides.
Only then did everyone accept that the Monster was no longer the 'Monta' they once knew.
We also instinctively pulled back.
Silon was already fidgeting as if ready to bolt alone, but he seemed to instinctively know that running away by himself would mean death.
It kept pressing us from the side, hot on our heels.
Crash! Craaash!!
The Monster recklessly tore through the surroundings and smashed everything, like a Wildcat let loose in a Chicken Coop.
It was, quite literally, a slaughter.
...There's no way I can beat that.
That thought had already crossed my mind when I saw it remain unfazed after taking a Water Bullet.
I knew the glowing Demon Stones embedded all over its body were its weak points, but the problem was I wasn't even sure if I could break them.
On top of that, we had confirmed it still possessed some level of intelligence.
At that moment, further deliberation became meaningless.
...For now, we just had to survive.
"Run!"
We sprinted with all our might, pushing through the Bushes in the opposite direction of the Village.
Having the weakest stamina in our Party, I gradually fell behind, but I didn't have the luxury to look back.
"Guaaaagh!!"
"No!"
Amidst the fading sounds, roars and screams continued to echo from behind.
It meant the chaos was still ongoing.
I felt a brief moment of relief that it at least wasn't chasing us, but that relief quickly morphed into a thin layer of guilt.
'If this happens, the other people...."
No, the other Mercenaries must have ultimately made the same choice as us.
Even that guilt was soon pushed out of my mind by the breath that had risen to my chin.
As we exited the small forest, a vast Plains unfolded before us, and only then could we stop and catch our breath.
"Pant... pant...."
"It's not chasing us, right?"
"Pant... I think so...."
My heart was still pounding, and my breaths roughly scratched my vocal cords.
"That Monster... what in the world was it?"
Catching my breath, I retraced the stories I had heard from Marley in my mind.
Then, I summarized it as simply as possible and relayed it to the Party.
The Demon Stone. And the entity known as the 'Evil Seed' dwelling within it.
How it chooses a person, burrows into their body, and gradually mutates them.
And how, in the end, they become a Monster.
Upon hearing my words, a sense of despair instantly clouded the faces of the Party.
"...Demon Stone."
"So that thing we saw in the castle back then was ultimately that, too."
"...Yeah."
During a brief silence, Silon cautiously spoke up.
"But... it spoke. Just now, it definitely..."
He trailed off as if hesitating, then raised his head and said.
"Doesn't that mean his mind was still intact?"
At those words, Eileen also dropped her head, her lips pressed tightly together.
"That's... too horrifying."
What would it feel like to transform into a Monster while one's mind was perfectly fine?
Just imagining it made me feel like I was suffocating.
Feeling oneself being ruined while still alive.
"Is there no way to save him...?"
Eileen asked with a trembling voice.
But Baldic was firm.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't a problem we could solve. Don't worry about it for nothing."
Perhaps that was the most rational judgment.
After Baldic finished speaking, we dropped the topic of the Monster and began to figure out how to get past this immediate crisis.
"...Then what do we do about the Village?"
Silon cautiously spoke up.
"We have to pray it didn't go to the Village."
Baldic said with a sigh in his voice.
If the Monster had reached the Village, there would be no one capable of stopping it.
There was one person who came to mind... but that person didn't seem like someone who would step into a matter like this.
"...Then, shouldn't we report it to the Mercenary Guild?"
Eileen asked, and Baldic nodded.
"Yeah. As long as it's reported to the Guild, it'll probably be posted as an emergency request. A Response Team will come soon."
"Let's head near the Village for now. If there don't seem to be any issues, we can report it then-"
Thump!
A familiar jumping sound echoed nearby.
As soon as he heard that sound, Baldic's face hardened.
"Scatter!!!"
Simultaneously with the shout, everyone instinctively kicked off the ground and threw their bodies away.
Crasaaash!
A massive figure crashed into the spot where we had just been standing.
The ground shook, and a dust cloud rose.
"Ugh...!"
It was that Monster.
It seemed to have caught up to us before we knew it.
Looking even more blood-soaked than before.
The blood covering its entire body had hardened and turned black, and its hands were stained with even more Pieces of Flesh than earlier.
It meant the other Mercenaries... hadn't survived.
"Damn it... how did it follow us here."
"Does it have some sort of detection ability?"
The intelligence that had briefly remained was now completely gone, leaving only emptiness in its eyes.
Now, it was just a 'Monster'.
"Hiiisssss-"
Pfffft-
Instead of speaking, the Monster let out hissing breaths from its mouth.
Pitch-black smoke rising simultaneously from the back of its neck and its mouth.
That movement had been bothering me since earlier.
It was a breathing like a pumping motion, almost like... a Steam Engine.
"...."
We silently and stealthily backed away.
We wanted to turn our backs and run away right that second, but since the Monster was stationary and watching us, we couldn't move recklessly.
If we provoked it for no reason, it felt like it would immediately lunge at us.
Just as we were widening the distance from the Monster little by little, ever so slightly.
"Hiss...."
The smoke rising from the Monster's neck and mouth subsided.
At that moment, the stationary Monster began to move again.
Thud. Thud.
Unlike before when it was jumping, this time it was a heavy and slow walk.
Its slow approach, as if emphasizing its massive bulk, was rather even more threatening.
Just as I was wondering why it was suddenly walking like that.
"Rooooaaaar!!"
The Monster suddenly let out a roar and picked up its speed.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground shook from the sound of its massive body trampling the earth.
Running in a straight line, the Monster made a reckless charge without any consideration for its surroundings.
And at the end of its gaze,
"...Silon?"
Was the fleeing Silon.
The Monster had targeted him, the one furthest away.
"Aaagh!"
"Run, Silon!"
Startled, Silon instinctively raised his bow and fired an Arrow, but there was no way a crude Arrow would work on skin that even deflected a Water Bullet.
He threw down his bow and began to run for his life.
"Aaaaaaaagh!!"
"Rooooaaaar-!!"
But the Monster closed the distance in an instant with its wide strides.
It was too much for Silon to handle that charge.
Eventually, right before he was caught.
Silon threw himself to the side in desperation.
At that moment.
Rooaaar!!
The Monster couldn't control its speed and completely blew past Silon.
Craaash!!
The charge continued, and it came to a halt while digging a deep gouge into the ground far behind.
A cloud of dust swirled around the Monster's body as it stumbled to a sudden stop.
"Pant, pant... paaaant...!"
Silon lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath with his entire body.
'It couldn't stop...?'
I caught my breath as I looked at the spot where the Monster had brushed past.
It was clear. Once that thing gained speed, it was hard to control.
Its weight and acceleration were too great, making a sudden stop or change of direction practically impossible.
'If it's like that, we can avoid it if we lure it properly.'
It was a dangerous idea, but a necessary judgment in our current situation.
A head-on fight was out of the question. But 'baiting' it to buy time to run away should be possible.
"Baldic, Eileen. Let's run to the left."
"Are we just running away?"
"No. Lure it. If the bastard charges again, we'll change direction and slip away."
Even if we couldn't completely escape at once, this was the best method right now.
We had to widen the distance as much as possible before it changed direction.
More importantly, the bastard was still standing still, blowing black smoke from its neck and mouth.
'Is that... some sort of heat dissipation process?'
I couldn't be sure, but it always seemed to release smoke after making a powerful movement.
In other words, it had a structure where it had to 'empty' something out every time it moved.
Great power always comes with a price.
If that's the case, if we use that explosive power and weakness at the same time... maybe?
'No, taking it down is definitely impossible. We just need to focus on running away properly.'
Anyway, it felt like a glimmer of hope.
"Ugh, don't leave me behind!"
"Ugh, get up quickly!"
Silon barely managed to stand up, and at the same time, the Monster began to move again.
The bastard's gaze was firmly fixed on me.
This time, it was me.
The Monster approached with large strides, pushing its massive bulk forward.
Its pace grew faster and faster, and I shouted without even having a moment to catch my breath.
"I'll bolt towards the forest, so you guys run the other way!"
"Then you'll be the only one in danger!"
"It can't be helped. That bastard is aiming for me anyway!"
"Riv!!"
Damn it, I don't have the kind of personality to sacrifice myself for someone else either.
And I definitely don't want to die again just because I've died before.
However, asking them to come with me when I was the target would only mean asking them to die with me.
As soon as I finished speaking, I turned around and dashed into the forest.
The Party hesitated behind me, but as if reading the gaze I left them, they eventually turned away.
The inside of the forest was full of obstacles.
The Bushes, fallen leaves, and uneven roots all hindered my speed.
But I couldn't stop.
Without a moment to catch my breath, I ran desperately.
And as expected, the bastard caught up in an instant.
Its rough breathing and the earth-shaking footsteps drew closer and closer right behind my back.
'Damn it... it's right behind me!'
Right before I was caught, I squeezed out my last bit of strength and threw my body to the side.
Dash, thud!
The Monster completely blew past me, unable to stop, and charged right into a large Boulder ahead of it.
Craaash!
Pieces of the Boulder flew in all directions, and the ground shook.
From the gaps of the shattered Boulder, the Monster's figure distorted through the dim smoke as it raised its head.
And, it looked at me.
Its slightly tilted head sent a chill down my spine.
This time, the bastard moved toward me without any hesitation.
It didn't even seem to have any intention of changing its target now.
I didn't know what criteria it used to pick its target, but the fact that it was me right now was unquestionable.
I fled again, cutting through the forest.
While running frantically like that, a steep slope ahead caught my eye.
It was quite steep and high, so if I could just make it fall down there, I'd be able to buy some time.
I adjusted my speed while calculating the distance between the Monster and myself.
The moment I stepped right onto the edge of the Cliff.
Footsteps erupted like tremors from behind my back.
The Monster was charging at me like a madman.
'Now!'
I threw my body to the side just like that.
An evasion pattern I had already used twice.
I thought it would work exactly the same this time.
'It worked. This way, the Monster will go straight down-'
However, there was something I had overlooked.
That the Monster was not a simple Beast.
Above all, the fact that the bastard had been learning.
It was different this time.
The moment I threw myself, the bastard slammed its massive arm downward.
Craaash!!
Its fingertips pierced the bare earth and rooted themselves like a tree.
It grabbed the ground just like that and forcefully brought its body to a halt.
The ground twisted, and dirt scattered.
It was pushed all the way to the edge of the Cliff, but in the end, it didn't fall.
And then, it raised its head and looked my way.
There were no words.
But even on that expressionless face, I felt as if I saw a smile that bordered on ridicule.
'F-fuck... I'm screwed.'
The moment the bastard stopped right in front of me, the distance had already closed as much as it possibly could.
Hiiissss-
White smoke billowed from here and there across the Monster's body.
The only saving grace was the fact that the bastard also had to stop its actions like that.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
But this time was different.
The bastard didn't stop. It ceased spewing smoke and immediately moved toward me.
"Why isn't it stopping-"
I unwittingly muttered out loud.
At that moment, the bastard raised its massive arm without delay.
A fist the size of a Boulder flew right before my eyes.
An overwhelming pressure, like watching a Boulder shot from a Catapult right in front of me.
I reflexively threw my body backward and attempted to roll.
Clatter! Thwack.
While rolling, something hard struck the back of my head.
Along with a dizzying shock, a hot and sticky sensation soon began to flow down my head.
'...It's blood.'
I didn't even have time to wipe the blood away.
The Monster spewed smoke and literally rained down attacks recklessly.
It raised both arms high and slammed them down right in the direction I rolled.
"Rooooaaaar!!"
Slam!!
I forced my body to roll again.
It was a hair's breadth away.
Along with a pile of dirt collapsing behind my back, a Stone Fragment flew out and grazed my face.
My mouth was full of dirt and fallen leaves, and my breath caught in my throat, causing me to cough dryly.
"Cough! Keugh- pant... pant...."
It was clear the bastard was pushing itself too hard as well.
Its movements were duller than before, moving as if it was off-beat.
Unsettling motions, like forcibly running a broken machine.
However, its bulk and destructive power were still fatal.
The Monster paid no heed to effective hits, mercilessly swinging its fists.
I dodged and dodged again, but eventually, my stamina began to hit rock bottom first.
Swoosh, thwack!
"Keugh!"
I ended up taking a direct hit to my left shoulder.
I reflexively deployed a Water Barrier in that instant, but it shattered in vain.
The Monster's fist dug in as if cleaving the barrier, and landed a direct blow.
In an instant, my body lifted into the air.
I spun and was thrown to the ground, rolling several times over the rough dirt.
Clatter! Plop.
"Aaaaaaaagh!!"
The shock of hitting the ground transmitted to my shoulder as well, and a scream escaped me naturally.
Its Power seemed to have decreased from before, but its mass was still that of a massive Boulder.
My left shoulder bone felt crushed and dislocated; my arm dangled, and a suffocating pain rushed in.
I rolled on the ground and writhed.
No matter how hard I gritted my teeth, the moans wouldn't stop.
Even breathing was agony.
The Monster looked down at me and slowly came to a halt.
And then, it started spewing smoke from the back of its neck again with a hiss-.
Now, it definitely thought it had finished me off.
A prey with no strength left to run or fight.
"Ugh, uuugh...!"
My eyes grew wet from the pain.
But there was no time to cry.
Hugging my broken arm, I dragged my body with all my might and backed away into the forest.
My body was already battered, and my consciousness was fading.
I couldn't run far... but in that brief moment, the bastard finished exhaling all its smoke and began approaching me again.
However, I wasn't just blindly running away either.
Throughout my escape, I used my fingertips to feel out and scrape together the moisture hidden in the ground and the air.
The water gathered beneath the Tree Root, the Dew formed on the Bushes, the moisture seeped into the soil.
One Water Drop, then another.
Whir, whir, whir.
Then finally, a single water Sphere vibrating with heavy pressure floated in the air.
My breath was caught in my throat.
My body felt like it would break, and my fingertips trembled as they squeezed out every last bit of Mana.
Raising my quivering right hand, I fired the mass of moisture at the Monster.
Swoosh!
This wasn't a simple Water Bomb this time.
If it was something that could be ended with a Water Bomb, I would have fired it long ago.
It was obvious the Water Barrier wouldn't hold, and even if I obscured its vision with Sea Fog, the bastard had already tracked us down.
I had to assume it had some detection ability.
There was only one option left.
Driven to the brink of death, a gamble-like method I was attempting for the first time in actual combat.
[Water Prison]
Splash!
The massive lump of water spread in an instant and swallowed the Monster whole.
Inside that prison made of gathered Water Drops, the Monster thrashed about like a Beast trapped in a Water Tank.
The Monster panicked and shrieked, but only air bubbles rose up.
Taking advantage of that, I stubbornly raised my body and began to stumble away.
However, while maintaining the Water Prison, my Mana was being sucked away like crazy.
I had saved my Mana as much as possible knowing this would happen... but at this rate, I wouldn't last even a minute.
'...I have to somehow run away during this time-'
Thud.
But I couldn't go more than a few steps before my legs gave out.
Paralyzed by pain, my body wouldn't easily take a single step anymore.
While I struggled having collapsed, the water inside the prison was gradually thinning out.
Perhaps noticing that fact, the Monster stopped its thrashing and turned its head toward me.
Our eyes met.
Smirk.
Beyond the blue Water Prison, a faint expression like that of a victor appeared.
'......Is this the end.'
My Mana was already depleted, my heart beat painfully as if being squeezed, and my breaths grew short.
At this rate, I would pass out first before the Monster even tore out of the prison.
The moment I was about to give up everything.
"Befanir Style . Rupture Formula . Contract."
From behind my back, a low and resolute voice rang out.
[Constricting Breath]
In an instant, the empty air crumpled as if pressed down, and the water pressure inside the Water Prison suddenly skyrocketed vertically.
The Monster's body shrank tightly like food in a Vacuum Pack, and the gruesome sound of something breaking was heard in succession.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
Inside the water prison, the intangible pressure began to erupt in a chain reaction.
Invisible hands snapped the Monster's limbs and squeezed it as if wringing out its innards.
It was truly the writhing of a prey slowly suffocating to death underwater.
The Monster opened and closed its mouth underwater as if letting out a scream, but nothing could be heard at all.
I turned my staggering head and looked at the Owner of the voice coming from behind my back.
Beyond the backlight, a single shadow slowly walked forward.
"Tsk tsk. Making such a fuss when you can't even catch something of this level."
It was an Old Woman wearing a black Robe, Marley Befanir.