EP.16 Adaptation Training -3
EP.16 Adaptation Training -3
"Urgh...!!"
A young man knelt there, drenched in bright red blood.
The village had fallen into chaos and he had arrived too late. He'd fought hard against the terrorists, but alone, he was simply outmatched.
You could say he fought well, all things considered, but he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers and ultimately defeated.
"You stubborn bastard. What the hell's your body made of, that you're still standing after getting shot?"
"Shut up...!!"
Even on the verge of death, the young man burned with will, determined to fight to the very end.
But the thugs, seeing him in that state, just clutched their bellies and started laughing.
It was utterly ridiculous to them. What kind of resistance could a guy who'd drop dead from one more bullet possibly put up?
The terrorist leader snorted, walked up to the young man, grabbed him by the hair, and spat.
"Dumb~ass! A piece of shit like you can rant and rave all you want, it's useless!"
"Grrrgh!!"
The leader watched the young man's face twist in fury with deep satisfaction.
He'd had his fun. Now, as a finale, he aimed his gun to deliver the worst possible ending...
"Stop it!"
A woman threw herself between the young man and the leader.
"What's this? Who's this bitch?"
"I'm begging you! Please, at least spare my husband's life...!"
"Wh-what are you doing? Run away!"
"Oh-ho? You two care about each other, do you?"
The woman, with her striking blonde hair and red eyes, had aroused the leader's lust.
Watching her desperate act, the leader felt his groin swell, and he even licked his lips.
At the leader's utterly malicious reaction, the woman looked at him with disgust, but there was nothing she could do.
If it would save the young man she loved, she would have to offer up her body... and so the once-peaceful village and the beautiful woman were about to be defiled forever by the terrorists.
***
"Yuu? What's that person doing?"
"Shit?! Tia, you can't look at that!!"
"Huh? Why can't I look~?"
"Because that's... it's bad! Bad!!"
I'd screwed up!
In a rush, I'd cast an illusion, telling the terrorists to just see whatever, and this is what happened...
I don't know what kind of dream one of the hallucinating terrorists was having, but he was showing us the goddamn sight of him thrusting his hips into thin air.
It was a relief I could at least cover Tia's eyes, but there was no fixing the scene already burned into her mind.
That horny son of a bitch. How dare he defile Tia's eyes? I'm not letting him die easy...!!
So, I planted a suggestion in his head: shoot your own crotch with the gun you're holding.
Because forced neutering is the answer for a horny bastard in heat.
The crime of trying to defile the innocent Tia deserves a painful death.
"Hooo...!"
If I'm not careful from now on...
I'd created the illusion with a simple sentence, wanting to quickly subdue the nearby enemies, but I never expected it to produce this result.
I'll have to use this ability carefully so it never happens again.
For now, I decided to just burn them all to death, since the others might start doing some other weird shit too.
"What the hell? Why'd they all burn up and die?!"
"Urp...!!"
The clamor of men's voices came from behind me.
After I'd used illusion and fire to wipe out one whole team, a new team had arrived.
How was I supposed to use my abilities to deal with them this time?
As I was pondering, the terrorists realized I was the culprit and aimed their muzzles at me.
"You're the bastard! The one trying to ruin our plan!!"
"What are you talking about? You're the bastards who came to ruin my pleasant vacation first..."
"What?"
"Forget it. Just know that not a single one of you is going home alive today."
"Ha! Isn't this guy completely nuts?"
I aimed my sword at the guys aiming guns at me.
What could be more laughable and absurd? Nothing, obviously.
Unless you were really insane, there was no way you'd raise an old-fashioned sword against modern assault rifles.
But to me at that moment, guns were nothing but toys.
For good reason...
'One to my right shoulder, one to my left temple, one to my right shin.'
It was because, through future sight, I could foresee the trajectory of the bullets and dodge them.
And that wasn't all.
"Gaaaah!!"
"What the hell is this?!"
The techniques and materials used for the sword Yata made for me were from the future, so even though the weapon I held was called a sword, it was strictly a future weapon.
A sword that couldn't reach a sniper rifle's range, but easily extended to where they were standing.
It even possessed a sharpness that could slice through Divine Beasts, which were famed for their toughness, like tofu.
What did it actually feel like to cut a human? I was suddenly curious and swung, but no particular expression came to mind.
I just learned that whether it was a Divine Beast or a human, neither had any damn satisfying feel to cutting.
"Th-that bastard. How's he dodging bullets?"
"And what the hell is that sword?!"
"What are you all gawking at?! Shoot him! I said spray him! And don't just leave your Companion Animals sitting there!!"
Once they switched from single shots to full auto, I wouldn't be able to dodge.
No matter what, I was still in a human body. There were limits to how many incoming bullets and animals I could dodge or block.
Therefore, I needed to use another ability.
So I twisted every single line I could see. The air gathering toward me coalesced into a single mass.
Finally, when these strands had become a single thread, I unraveled them all at once.
A whirlwind rose, centered on me, and repelled every animal and bullet charging at me.
This was the result of training I'd gained through getting hurt hundreds of times—Tia's ability, completely mastered.
"Yuu! Amazing!! That was an amazing wind!!"
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Your movements were smooth and without waste, dear husband. All that hard work in training paid off!"
"Haha..."
But I still wasn't used to the Companion Animals' praise that came with success.
It was a good thing other people couldn't see them. How embarrassing it was to have my head patted in the middle of a battlefield...
No one but me would ever know.
"This is impossible...! A being that can cause this kind of impossible event?! D-don't tell me, you're a Divine Beast?"
"Uh? Uhh..."
I was undeniably human, but the power I was displaying was clearly that of a Divine Beast.
So, was I a human? Or a Divine Beast?
I wasn't sure what I should be called anymore.
Hmm... but did it really matter?
I was planning to exterminate every terrorist here anyway, to hide my identity.
Whether their faces filled with shock or they denied reality, it was none of my concern.
I was just going to punish these bastards to get revenge for my precious, golden vacation.
***
-Slice!
After carving through the last one's flesh, I flicked my sword once through the air.
The motion scattered the blood from the blade onto the ground, creating a beautiful trajectory.
But only for a moment. The pool of blood flowing from the corpses swallowed the spatter, then formed a single channel, dyeing my shoes red.
"I know I did it, but this turned out pretty gruesome."
I should've just burned them all to death...
Only now did I look back at the path I'd walked. It was a real sight.
Blood and chunks of flesh, and corpses were strewn everywhere, looking like a scene out of a war movie.
The spectacle, which could only be called a massacre, and the smell of blood. But it couldn't be helped. Because it was so thrillingly enjoyable...
If I compared my feelings at the time to a game, it was like this.
There had been monsters that required considerable effort and time just to hunt.
Those monsters, which I could only catch easily with my pets' help, I could now one-hit kill with my newly acquired skills.
It was wrong to compare people to monsters, but anyway, watching a character become an army of one was an excitement I couldn't suppress.
There was probably no feeling in the world as electrifying as suddenly becoming massively stronger.
"How were our abilities, husband?"
"Every single one was incredible! I never imagined dealing with terrorists would be this easy."
"If they were helpful, then nothing could make me happier...!!"
Three abilities that allowed me to crush even a one-versus-many fight, plus a foresight ability that didn't allow a single moment of carelessness.
With powers at this level, it didn't feel like I could ever lose against humans. No matter what Companion Animals they had.
Ah, but now that I thought about it, I had to exclude one person.
"Jack. Stop just watching and come on out. You voyeuristic little shit."
-Clap! Clap! Clap!
A man in a Hahoe mask emerged from inside a building, applauding.
I had no idea why he suddenly showed up wearing something like that.
But seeing his physique and his characteristic mannerisms, I knew instantly he was that total lunatic I'd met during a previous mission.
It was even more certain because I'd seen it in the future too.
"Whoa~! You actually realized I was here this time?"
"First, take off that weird mask. It looks awful on you."
"Haha! It was on display inside a shop, looking pretty cool, so I tried it on for a bit."
Even after he tossed the mask aside, the corners of his mouth were still stretched wide like a smiling theater mask. It was still a deeply unpleasant grin.
On the other hand, maybe it didn't leave much of an impression on our baby dragon, because Tia greeted him brightly.
"It's the weird mister!!"
"It's been a while, Divine Beast young lady. Glad to see you again~!"
"Is he an acquaintance of yours, Seon-ju...?"
"He's not someone I don't know... But he's not someone I'm close enough to call an acquaintance, either."
If I had to be specific, he was an enemy.
My only memories with him were his surprise attack and a self-harm show.
"Anyway, why are you here?"
"Why else? To have fun, obviously."
"You're full of shit. You're here as a mercenary for the terrorists again."
"Whoops, you caught me right away."
"But why didn't you join the fight, even while the terrorists were getting slaughtered?"
"Haha! While I was wandering around, I found this absolutely killer hot spring! To really relax in a spring like that, you need the touch of a hot spring caretaker, don't you think?"
"Don't tell me... you betrayed your employers again, for a reason like that?"
"I'm getting on in years. I gotta hit the hot springs and sauna so my bones function properly. So, I got the spring's owner to promise me I could use the spring, in exchange for sparing his life!"
"You betray people as naturally as eating a meal. That doesn't cause any problems for you? No one would even want to hire you."
"Nope. Once I decide on a betrayal, I kill everyone. It's a perfect silence, you see! Haha!!"
So that insane personality that felt no guilt about betrayal, a self-centered tendency to do whatever the hell he wanted...
Combined with his immortality, those two traits created a monster like this.
Honestly, this creepy man was the one guy I didn't want to fight. And I didn't get the feeling I could beat him overwhelmingly, either.
But if he decided to attack, I'd just fight back.
"So, are you planning to fight me this time too?"
"Nah, like I just said, I've already made up my mind to hit the hot spring. So I'm not in the mood for that at all today."
"Is that so..."
I'd checked the future several times, rewinding it, but I couldn't find any intention to fight. His words were true.
I wiped my sword once with a cloth, slid it back into its sheath, and let the strength leave my hands.
Because if I could avoid fighting him, that was what I intended to do.
To be honest, his existence was no different to me than a piece of shit.
I wasn't avoiding him out of fear, but because he was filthy. It could be more than that, but never less.
"Great! Then I'll be off now!"
"Off where, all of a sudden?"
"Where else, the hot spring of course! Let's scrub each other's backs!"
"Why would I have to do that?"
"Don't you have a lot of things you want to hear from me? Go ahead and ask anything. At this point, we'll be revealing our junk sizes to each other, so there's nothing left to hide anyway. Hahaha!"
"Ugh, fuck...!!"
A hot spring with a vulgar bastard like this... It was so disgusting I wanted to refuse.
But, like me, he was a being who had made a Provisional Contract with a Divine Beast. There was a clear need to extract a ton of information from him...
And so, my last bath in the hot spring village reluctantly turned into a mixed bath with this crazy old bastard.