Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Reunion
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“Karon!”
Xeros screamed in a panicked voice. Nearby, Sinba's expression stiffened.
“As expected of Lord Hector…!”
“Amazing! He's completely overpowering Karon Woodjack!”
Meanwhile, exclamations of admiration and cheers erupted from Hector's group.
They'd finally landed a solid blow on that arrogant bastard…!
Shing-.
Karon remained unfazed by the atmosphere.
He calmly drew a spare dagger and immediately re-engaged.
Clang, clang, clang!
But after exchanging a few more blows, Karon had to admit it.
'I'm being pushed back in a direct confrontation.'
His pride wasn't particularly wounded.
Daggers weren't Karon's primary weapon, nor was close-quarters combat his specialty.
Of course, despite that, he could handle most weapons with proficiency, but...
The weapon that suited him best was the bow, and his style of combat was hunting, not head-on duels.
'Considering that...'
The inside of a cave was hardly Karon's ideal stage.
Even a novice could see that this was a difficult place to shoot a bow.
In other words, luring Hector here had been a self-defeating move...
If he'd had a crossbow, it might have been a different story, but he wasn't that well-equipped.
'In that case...'
Should he call off the duel right now?
Reset the situation back to square one.
If they went back to a faction-versus-faction standoff and stalled until the [Cave's Master] returned, Hector would have no choice but to accept Karon's proposal.
He knew that guy unexpectedly cared about his comrades.
It would be a cowardly act, but Karon had no particular aversion to such things.
What power did a mere verbal promise hold?
However.
'...'
For some reason, a stubborn desire to crush Hector right here and now surged within him.
It was a foreign emotion for Karon.
“Interesting. In that case, from now on, I'll—”
It was at that moment that the unimaginable happened.
Kra-koom!
Suddenly, with a tremendous roar like the sky shattering, the cave ceiling actually began to collapse.
“…!”
Shattered rock fragments rained down like hail.
Among them were pieces large enough to be called boulders, forcing Karon to focus solely on evasion.
Rumble...
After dodging all the falling debris, Karon coughed, his throat choked with dust.
'What the—'
At that moment, through the dust that had yet to settle, he saw a colossal figure straightening its back.
“…!”
A frame so large he had to tilt his head back to see it all, with pale skin peeking out from beneath ragged cloth.
And in its hand, a wooden club the size of a giant tree.
—The Cave's Master!
Did it really smash through the ceiling to get in?
It seemed impossible, but with that creature's monstrous strength, it might not be.
Karon immediately scanned his surroundings.
The dust had changed the cave's interior landscape.
The adepts who had been watching from a distance were nowhere to be seen.
Could they have been crushed to death?
Unlikely. It was an unexpected situation, but they weren't so incompetent as to die a dog's death without reacting.
It was more likely that the pile of fallen rocks was simply blocking his view.
The problem was that the fallen debris had blocked the exit.
“Get back!”
The sudden shout snapped Karon to his senses, and he rolled away.
KRA-BOOM!
The wooden club slammed into the spot where he had just been standing. The hard cave floor shattered as if it were a pane of glass.
The destructive power was still hair-raising, but...
'...'
He felt a faint sense of unease.
He had fought the Cave's Master before, but something felt different this time.
It seemed far more aggressive than before.
Staring at the creature for a moment, Karon soon realized why.
'Is it injured?'
Its rags were soaked in blood, and upon closer inspection, its breathing was ragged.
It looked like it had sustained a serious wound... If so, this sudden appearance might not have been intentional.
It had returned to its lair in a hurry, as if being chased by something.
But who on earth could have injured this thing?
“Karon.”
Hector approached through the cover of the dust.
“What is it.”
“The ceiling collapse just now blocked the cave entrance. I can't tell if my team members are safe, let alone yours. They're not the type to die easily, but it means we can't expect any help from them right now.”
“So.”
“The only visible exit is the hole in the ceiling that thing made when it came in, but I doubt that monster will just watch us climb the rock wall.”
“Get to the point.”
“How about we cooperate just until we take that thing down?”
Karon's eyebrow twitched.
Hector sighed and added.
“It's the only plan I can think of right now. Or do you have a better idea?”
Karon briefly analyzed the situation, then sighed, mirroring Hector.
“...No.”
“Good. We don't have time to spare, so I'll be brief. I'll buy time at the front. You aim for its vitals with your arrows.”
Kuaaaaaaaah-!
The monster's roar echoed deafeningly through the collapsed cave.
It was so loud that pebbles crumbled and fell from the cave walls.
The moment Karon briefly covered his ears, Hector actually charged toward the Cave's Master alone.
'What's he trusting in?'
He watched Hector's back for a moment with a look of disbelief.
With Karon's mobility, he could easily escape while Hector bought time. In fact, that would be the much more rational choice.
He had already learned from the previous subjugation attempt that the Cave's Master was a formidable foe.
'Perfect.'
You fight that monster. Until I get away.
Karon sneered at Hector and turned his back.
'...'
He should.
Karon glanced back at Hector fighting the Cave's Master.
He was fighting the nearly 10-meter-tall monster head-on, without a single look back.
As if he hadn't even considered the possibility that Karon might run.
What a ridiculous guy.
Since when was there any trust between us?
“...Damn it.”
Karon immediately took the longbow strapped to his back and aimed at the Cave's Master.
What he had learned from fighting this monster before was that its hide was impervious to most attacks.
On top of that, it possessed the monstrous strength to uproot a giant tree with its bare hands.
Its movements were generally sluggish, but the explosive speed of its attacks was not to be underestimated.
Because of that, Karon had judged that he couldn't hunt it with his current strength and equipment.
'But now...'
It's time for a death match, not a hunt.
Where are its vitals?
Creeeak. The moment he drew the bowstring, Karon's eyes flashed with a golden light.
[Blessing of Insight.]
The last time he used this Blessing, he couldn't find its weak spot, but now that it was injured, things might be different.
Woooong-!
And he saw a red current of energy swirling from the Cave's Master's body.
'The face? No. The neck area.'
It seemed to have a wound near its throat. If that was true, this thing was unbelievably tough.
One of the basics of hunting is calculating blood loss.
It was a massive creature, but considering the amount of blood it had shed, it wouldn't be strange if it were already dead.
Yet the wooden club it wielded was still fast and destructive.
But unlike before, a weakness had been exposed.
Proof that this was doable.
The moment Karon released the taut bowstring, the arrow flew with a "ping-."
A faint halo of light wrapped around the flying arrow, and its speed increased explosively mid-flight.
It was a physically impossible phenomenon, but this was the grace of the gods, a Blessing.
Karon had applied two Blessings to the arrow.
The first, [Blessing of Projection], literally increased the power and speed of all thrown or fired attacks.
The second was—
KABOOM!
“…!”
Hector was startled by the sudden sound of an explosion. The moment the arrow hit, a small blast had occurred.
Did he put explosives on it?
Hector's guess was wrong.
Karon's [Blessing of Detonation] could make an object he touched explode after a certain amount of time.
'To be honest, its synergy with the Blessing of Projection isn't great...'
The explosive power increased the longer time passed, so it didn't pair well with a weapon like an arrow.
But he'd used it now for even a little more attack power.
As a result, the arrow struck the Cave's Master's vital point perfectly.
In any case, that attack had landed true.
The creature's movements, which had been swinging its club like a madman, stopped for the first time, and Hector instinctively knew this was his first and last chance.
Thud...!
The moment the Cave's Master dropped to one knee, Hector leaped.
The creature was a monster nearly ten meters tall, so a single jump wasn't enough.
Landing on the enemy's knee, Hector sprinted up the frenzied giant's body, reaching its neck in an instant.
'Its neck is too thick.'
With the sword Hector carried, cutting through it in a single breath seemed difficult.
Normally, that would be the case.
Krrrrk.
Sword energy rushed from the hilt, coating the entire blade in a bluish aura.
In that state, he twisted his wrist with a unique variation, creating a strange vibration and an afterimage of the blade.
This was the unfolding of Hector's swordsmanship, the Afterimage Sword.
Sh-sh-sh-shk!
He had only swung once, but it sounded as if he had made multiple cuts.
Immediately after, blood spurted from the monster's throat.
'Did I get it?'
The feeling was certain.
It wasn't just a damaged blood vessel; he felt like he had cleanly severed the cervical vertebrae.
“Idiot! Move!”
The moment he heard Karon's voice, Hector leaped from the giant's body without hesitation.
Whoosh! He felt something like a mace graze past his hair.
Did it swing its club right before dying?
A direct hit would have turned his entire body to pulp. Hector felt his hair stand on end.
THOOOOM...!
And the Cave's Master finally collapsed.
As befitting its large size, its fall kicked up an enormous cloud of dust.
“...Is it dead?”
As if hearing Hector's murmur, Karon drew his bowstring.
Three arrows were nocked on the string.
Twang-twang-twang-.
As if by magic, all three arrows struck different vital points on the fallen giant.
Kaboom...
And three small explosions followed.
The Cave's Master didn't even twitch, and soon its body began to be enveloped in a halo of light.
“Hooo...”
Seeing this, Karon and Hector simultaneously let go of their tension completely.
Hector looked down at his sword, feeling dazed.
'That Afterimage Sword I just used...'
It was far more powerful than usual, and he himself wasn't sure how he'd done it.
He was sure he couldn't replicate it if asked to do it again right now.
'If I can make that feeling my own...'
That might just be the clue to reaching the next level.
Meanwhile, Karon was watching the slowly disappearing body of the Cave's Master.
Indeed, just as befitting its massive size, it was slow to disappear.
'We managed to take it down together, somehow.'
But something felt off.
If this monster hadn't been injured in the first place, they would have had no chance of winning.
The thoughts that had paused for the battle began to flow again.
Why was it injured?
Thinking back on it now, its movements and demeanor when it first crashed through the ceiling were as if...
'—It was frightened and panicked, as if being chased by something...'
Karon looked at the spot where the Cave's Master had fallen.
Beyond the shattered cave ceiling, the cold winter sky stretched out, and the sun asserted its brilliant presence.
“…?”
For a moment, a shadow fell across the sun.
The moment he wondered what it was.
KRA-BOOM—!
Something fell with a deafening noise.
It was too fast to be called a fall; it was more like it had leaped toward the ground and slammed into it.
So fast that even Karon, who had been looking up at the sky, couldn't track it properly.
“...What? Why is this thing dead?”
And at the voice that suddenly rang out, Hector doubted his own ears.
From within the cloud of dust, a familiar blond adept was seen lifting his head.
“...Ruan Bednicker?”
“Hm?”
Ruan looked around, then spoke with a somewhat dazed expression.
“Karon?”
Karon flinched.
“And Hector.”
Hector couldn't bring himself to quip that he should add 'brother' as he usually would.
“What.”
Ruan said with a smile.
“So you were all here.”
It should have been a happy reunion between brothers, but not only Hector, but even Karon took a hesitant step back.
