The First Real Battle

The raid of the Void Hounds had just begun. The tentacle statue began to glow crimson, and the patterns engraved on the white stretchers where the people lay began to luminesce.

I grabbed the glowing tentacle statue and squeezed hard.

Crunch. The statue crumbled into dust.

As the statue shattered, the patterns on the stretchers lost their light and faded away.

Crash!

Before long, the door burst open, and the old woman entered the room. She seemed to have abandoned her act; blue scales glistened across her neck, her eyes shone indigo, and crab-like pincers had sprouted where her hands should have been.

"Who dares..."

In her glowing indigo eyes, the cavern came into view. The villagers were huddled asleep on one side of the cavern. The stretchers they were supposed to be sleeping on were piled haphazardly in the opposite corner.

"What in the world..."

Clang!

The old woman raised a pincer, blocking a blade that swung at her from the side.

The air shimmered, and my stealth dissolved.

"I knew it! Only you could have pulled off a stunt like this!"

"You blocked that?"

With my decisive ambush foiled, I leaped backward to create some distance.

Whoosh!

The old woman's pincer sliced through the empty air.

Before she had even entered, I had already activated my skills to prepare for battle.

My right arm was covered in a gleaming layer of purple chitinous armor, and a fifty-centimeter blade sprouted from near my wrist.

I had converted almost all of my mana into physical stats, leaving only the bare minimum required to keep Skill Sharing active.

With my Strength exceeding 100, I could easily crush solid stone into powder.

Her strength is superior, but my perception is higher...

That brief clash confirmed that the old woman possessed greater raw power. Fortunately, my reaction speed was superior.

"You will become a sacrifice this very instant—"

I didn't wait for her to finish. I lunged forward.

Clang!

She blocked my blade with her right pincer while thrusting her left pincer toward me.

I twisted my upper body slightly, and her pincer sliced through empty air.

As expected, she had no formal training ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in combat arts. I recalled the lessons I had just received from the Forgotten Swordmaster.

I intentionally thrust my blade between the prongs of her right pincer. The pincer clamped down hard on my blade.

As her sturdy pincer locked my blade in place, my right hand was effectively sealed. The old woman lunged her remaining pincer toward my head.

I couldn't let her take my neck, so I thrust out my left hand to block the pincer. Immense pressure crushed my left palm. Flesh tore, blood splurted, and bones splintered.

Just as the old woman smiled, certain of her victory—

Thud!

I kicked the old woman with all my might now that she was within range.

"Cough!"

The old woman flew backward and crashed into the wall. Though a portion of my left hand had been torn away while still gripped in her pincer...

In less than ten seconds, fresh flesh began to sprout and knit together. I immediately rushed forward and swung my blade at her. The old woman managed to raise her right pincer as she recovered, but—

Slash.

She couldn't mount a proper defense from her broken posture. Her right arm was severed.

"Aaargh!!!"

Losing her mind, she began to swing her remaining pincer wildly. In a situation where she should have calmly defended, she resorted to blind rage. I wasn't foolish enough to get hit by such desperate, clumsy swings.

Slash.

Her left arm was severed next. Just as my blade was about to claim her neck—

The old woman's eyes turned pitch black, and her body froze. The voice of an old man echoed from her mouth.

"So you are the one who dared disrupt my ritual."

"..."

"Do not think you will leave here alive. Soon, my children will..."

"Whatever, you sore loser," I interrupted.

From a distance, I could hear the sound of people rushing down the stairs.

"If you lost, just get lost. Stop wasting my time."

"How dare you..."

The reason I could stand so boldly before a god was simple. If this god actually possessed the power to smite me, I would already be dead. Why else would he only show up now, doing absolutely nothing until his priest was on the verge of death?

"You can't do anything but stall for time anyway."

From the moment he appeared, the old woman's body had begun to decay. Her flesh dissolved, emitting a foul, fishy stench.

"Priestess!"

"The bastard is over there!"

The men who had rushed down the stairs finally spotted me standing in the cavern.

"My children will slaughter you! You, who cannot even lift a finger...!"

"Poppy, come here."

Even though my body was temporarily paralyzed, I could still access the system windows. My massive Void Hound, Poppy, materialized beside me, blocking the path of the approaching men.

"K-Kill her!"

"Aaargh!"

My ultimate card. As Poppy began to run wild, the men were swept away like autumn leaves in a gale.

"I will... absolutely..."

The old woman's distorted face collapsed completely, melting into a large puddle of water. A pungent, fishy odor wafted from the puddle.

"Tsk, stole my kill."

Well, all monsters killed here would still contribute to my contribution score, so it didn't really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠matter. Still, it was a bit disappointing that I couldn't land the finishing blow on my very first real opponent.

"Shall we head up to the surface?"

"Woof!"

Having turned all the men into bloody pulps in the blink of an eye, Poppy trotted back to my side. I patted Poppy's head as we climbed the stairs.

At the same time, in the darkness-shrouded village.

Awakened by the commotion, the villagers grabbed their weapons and poured into the streets. These were people with scales sprouting from their skin. The Abyss Cultists gathered in small groups to make a stand against the oncoming tide of Void Hounds.

"Hold them back!"

"Form a defensive line!"

"Fall back to the tavern!"

Void Hounds poured in from all directions. No matter where they looked, the streets were flooded with purple chitinous armor.

"Insolent bugs!"

A young boy's face distorted, morphing into that of a fish. Webbing grew between his fingers, and sharp fish bones erupted from his back. The moment the mutated boy lunged at a Void Hound, the beast pounced and tore his throat out.

"You idiot!"

"Don't transform completely! Human form is better for combat!"

The low-ranking cultists who couldn't fully control their abilities ended up transforming entirely into fish-like monsters. However, most of the cultists managed to maintain a partially human form as they fought.

Even so, they couldn't hold back the endless tide of Void Hounds.

"Watch out!"

"Huh?"

Just as a Void Hound was about to bite a man's neck—

Thwip!

An arrow shot from behind the man, piercing the Void Hound right between its eyes. Hans, the hunter, yelled to the crowd while holding his bow.

"Stay calm! They look terrifying, but they aren't that strong!"

The Void Hounds possessed chitinous armor, razor-sharp teeth, and hard claws, but the villagers had also been physically enhanced by the Abyss's blessing. If they kept their heads and fought calmly, they wouldn't fall so easily.

The real problem was the numbers.

"Damn it! Where are they all coming from... Aaargh!"

Kill one, and five more appeared. Kill five, and twenty swarmed in. It was an endless wave of Void Hounds.

Realizing that annihilation was only a matter of time at this rate, Hans climbed onto a roof.

"O Lord! Grant us your festival!"

The moment the Void Hounds leaped toward Hans on the roof—

Crash!

The warehouse on one side of the village shattered, and monsters poured out. Fish-men with limbs attached to piscine bodies. Octopuses flailing spiked tentacles. Crab-shelled humanoid monstrosities. Monsters straight out of a nightmare surged forward, wedging themselves between the villagers and the Void Hounds.

Hans narrowly dodged a lunging Void Hound and retreated into the crowd.

"Everyone, fall back to the tavern!"

While the deep-sea monsters bought them time, Hans led the survivors toward the tavern. Before long, everyone who was still alive had gathered inside.

Hans calmly counted the remaining heads.

A little over two hundred...

Considering the raid had begun less than ten minutes ago, the casualties were devastating. Most of those who had the bodies of children or the elderly had not survived.

"Calm down. Most of the dead were low-ranking cultists. Once the Priestess returns, we can win this."

Hans tried to reassure the crowd, but even his own expression was grim. Beyond the wooden barricades in the distance, more Void Hounds were continuously flooding into the village.

"Damn it! Why isn't my mana recovering?!"

A man with a deep gash on his right arm grimaced and shouted. The Life Force Absorption Circle, fueled by nearly four hundred sacrifices, should have been supplying them with power. If that magic had been functioning properly, they wouldn't have been overwhelmed so easily.

"Could the Priestess have been defeated?"

"Silence. No useless speculation."

Hans scolded the man, then turned his gaze toward the chief's house on the small hill. If possible, it would have been better to barricade themselves in the chief's house on the hill. However, at the start of the raid, the Void Hounds had focused their attacks heavily on the chief's house, making it impossible to defend. As a second-best option, they had gathered in the tavern, which was the next largest building.

As Hans stared at the chief's house with regret—

"Huh?"

He saw a face in the window of the chief's house. It vanished behind the curtain almost instantly, so he couldn't get a clear look, but it was definitely the figure of a young child. The only people who should be in the chief's house were the Priestess and the men who had accompanied her. Who was the child he had just seen?

Suddenly, Hans recalled what had happened yesterday morning. The mysterious child who could use stealth. He had heard that the Priestess and Rina had taken care of her...

No, that's impossible.

Hans shook his head and looked back at the resting villagers.

"The enemy's numbers can't be infinite! If we keep killing them, there will be an end!"

"Yeah, damn straight. If we keep slaughtering them, we'll hit the bottom eventually!" the man with the injured arm agreed.

"The Lord's army is supporting us! Everyone, stand up!"

Their fighting spirit rekindled, the villagers stood up.

Once the Priestess returns...

There was no way the Priestess could have been defeated by a mere child. Hans repeated that mantra to himself as he stepped out of the tavern to rejoin the fight.

"Woof! Woof!"

Poppy trotted over to me as I watched the village through the window.

"Hmm? You're asking if we don't need to help?"

Most of the village had already been consumed by my legion. Like a small sailboat drifting in a violent storm, the survivors were merely huddled together in the tiny tavern.

"Well... even I would die if an arrow pierced my brain, you know?"

The effects of Skill Sharing had worn off long ago, and the duration of Mana Conversion didn't have much time left either. Since they had a skilled hunter on their side, stepping out personally was too risky. And above all...

I still had plenty of Void Hounds left.

By the time the sun began to rise and the bright morning light tickled my eyes, all the monsters remaining in the tavern had crumbled back into dust.