Chapter 82
"......You said you're being controlled?"
Rainer, who had slammed his back against a tree, stiffened his face and drew his sword as he rose to his feet. He nodded furiously, unleashing a torrent of killing intent to bind Harabana's movements, even if just for a moment.
Coating a sword with aura from mana was like spritzing on perfume once, leaving a faint scent behind. But converting mana into killing intent and blasting it out was like ripping off the lid and dumping the entire bottle on the floor. It was wildly impractical.
Not even I, a Sword Master, could sustain that level of killing intent long enough to hold down a colossal magic beast's feet.
"No time to explain in detail. Hurry to where the horses are tied and ride out of here!"
I shouted urgently. Among all magic beasts, Harabana was called the strongest. It had the largest body, a brutally savage temperament, and numbers so rare they bordered on mythical—but once it descended on a human village, it could raze the place to the ground single-handedly. A terrifying monster.
I had no confidence I could fend it off and protect Rainer.
Krrrng...Kraaaang!
As the killing intent I spewed while talking thinned just a bit, Harabana—suppressed until then—let out a massive roar, as if it had finally caught its breath.
In my haste, I didn't even confirm Rainer fleeing before withdrawing the mana-draining killing intent and cloaking my sword in aura instead.
The moment I did, a gigantic foot hurtled toward me.
Pitch-black aura clashed against hook-like talons. With a sickening slash, the claws and part of the foot sheared off. Harabana bellowed in agony.
I swiftly deflected the next onslaught of feet and fangs barreling toward me.
'Damn it. Why the hell is Harabana showing up here?'
My head spun with a whirlwind of thoughts. The pain of poison seeping into my pierced shoulder made it worse.
Why would a magic beast controlled by northerners appear smack in the middle of a hunting tournament forest? I could almost recall if this was in the original story, but not quite.
'First things first—deal with Harabana.'
As my scattered focus thinned my aura, I snapped back to attention. I could think later.
'Harabana isn't easy to take down with ordinary methods.'
Despite its massive bulk, Harabana was shockingly fast and smart to boot. Its hide was so thick that even a Sword Master's aura needed three stabs to the same spot for a fatal blow. That moniker as the mightiest magic beast wasn't for show.
'But it has a weakness.'
My experience hunting magic beasts spanned just over eight years. In those years, after brutal clashes with Harabana a few times, I'd uncovered its fatal flaw.
'Right in the roof of its mouth.'
Harabana's palate was incredibly fragile. Jam a blade in there, and it died 99 percent of the time.
'But... I'll have to brace for getting bitten by its fangs.'
My shoulder throbbed as I gritted my teeth. Harabana's venom was lethal. I was only alive thanks to my poison resistance; any normal person would've dropped dead on contact.
'Gonna have to expect passing out.'
I'd already taken one bite protecting Rainer, and hitting the palate meant another was likely. Even a Sword Master like me couldn't shrug off two doses of that deadly venom back-to-back—recovery would take time.
Slash.
I dodged the incoming massive foot and unleashed my maximum-output aura at its enormous body. To stab the palate, I needed to slow Harabana down first.
Harabana shrieked grotesquely under my black aura's savage slashes, but its thick hide was barely scratched—still going strong.
'It hurts.'
The poison was spreading slowly, swelling my shoulder. And of course, it was my right shoulder—the one gripping the sword. Every swing made my head swim.
As I dodged another foot and reared back for another strike—
Slash.
The talons flying at me halted, blocked by a golden aura streaking from behind.
I stared blankly for a moment at the sacred, shimmering gold aura scattering in the air, then slowly turned.
"I'm not that sick kid from back then."
Silver-gray hair whipping in the wind. Hands clenched white-knuckled on his sword hilt. Golden eyes blazing with steely resolve.
"I won't just be protected by you anymore."
Rainer met my gaze, his eyes carrying regret for the time passed and determination for what lay ahead.
"Don't try to handle everything alone."
"......Ah."
Our eyes locked, and I let out a short breath. Fighting disasters solo had become so routine I'd forgotten: Rainer wasn't that child anymore, and I didn't have to fight alone.
Slash.
Even amid this fresh realization, Harabana's assaults didn't let up. I slipped past its massive hook-like talons and sliced them clean off.
Harabana screeched again, but no fatal wounds marred its body yet.
Ten talons per foot. Four feet total. I'd severed just two out of Harabana's forty.
As the strongest magic beast species—rivaling even a dragon—Harabana was no joke. Facing it alone was proving too much.
"......Yeah."
I nodded with a sigh-like smile and leaped into the air, landing beside Rainer.
Jet-black aura cloaked my honed silver blade. Not standing in front of him to shield him, but beside him, sword pointed forward.
"You're not some kid I have to protect anymore."
It wasn't me unilaterally guarding him—it was us fighting side by side.
A massive ripple crossed Rainer's face at my response. Emotions surged over his golden eyes.
"......You're right."
And soon, a confident smile settled in.
Golden aura blazed along his sword—fainter than mine, but unmistakably at the pinnacle of Sword Expert.
The two auras—gold and jet-black—soared fiercely, fusing at the tips into an eerie hue.
"From now on, I'll fight alongside you."
On his matured face, I glimpsed the boy he'd once been. The kid who could barely hold a sword had grown into a man strong enough to stand with me, blade to blade.
'What a weird feeling.'
It felt oddly bittersweet that he'd grown so much—regrettable, yet proud, like something I'd raised. Complicated, but if I had to pick, the positives won out.
'I want to become someone like you.'
The boy who'd whispered those words to me, blue eyes sparkling with admiration. He'd returned as a man who could fight at my side.
Instead of a wistful pout, I flashed that boy a hearty grin, just like back then.
"Yeah. Now fight with me."
Boom!
Its colossal bulk charged between us. The ground quaked, the roar echoing everywhere.
Rainer and I both wrapped our feet in mana and effortlessly leaped aside, evading the attack.
Boom! Boom! Explosions cratered the earth around us. With its foes doubled, Harabana's panicked barrage was easier to dodge.
I roughly slashed the talons of a foot lunging at me and glanced at Rainer. My ears rang from the blasts—shouting was our only way to communicate.
"Have you ever fought magic beasts before?!"
"A few times, but this one's new to me!"
Rainer blasted aura near Harabana's tail as it lunged at me, drawing its gaze, and yelled back.
'Looks like Rainer doesn't know about Harabana.'
I bit my lip. Calling it "this magic beast" instead of by name meant he was clueless.
'Makes sense. The meat's delicious and nutritious, so it circulates as rare noble fare... but the details on its appearance aren't widely known.'
I scowled at the bizarre sap oozing down Harabana's hide. As an ultra-rare magic beast, its meat fetched top prices—nobles only. But if those dignity-obsessed aristocrats saw Harabana's vomit-inducing looks up close, they'd never touch it.
Merchants treated detailed info on its appearance as an unspoken secret. They had to eat, too.
'Only crazy mercenaries like me, who specialize in magic beast hunts, know it inside out—from looks to traits.'
I slammed my sword tip into the thick instep of a foot rearing toward Rainer and shouted,
"Harabana's a rare giant magic beast known as the 'Silent Tyrant of the Deep Forest'! Its fangs carry deadly poison—don't even let them graze you!"
"Got it! But...... Boom!"
A tree shattered instantly from Harabana's glancing blow. Rainer winced at the blast, his expression turning peculiar.
"The Deep Forest's...... 'Silent' Tyrant?"
His tone dripped with skepticism—like, where's the silent in that? I smirked bitterly at his baffled look, the kind you'd get from seeing a square circle or eternal fire and ice.
"Harabana's anything but silent normally, but it changes when facing threats!"
I ducked an incoming attack, slashed sideways at its leg. For someone like me, jaded from countless magic beast hunts, one giant beast wasn't that tough.
If Harabana only had sharp fangs and hook-claws, I'd have finished it clean in ten minutes.
But what made it a handful wasn't raw power—it was a certain trait.
'It's about to start.'
Feeling the surging magic ripple stronger across Harabana's body as it struggled against us, I gripped my sword tighter.
Harabana lunged at Rainer, mouth agape—only to recoil from my aura. Then, abruptly, it froze completely.
"......What."
Rainer faltered, stunned by the sudden halt after its frenzy. Sensing the ominous magic swell, I swallowed hard in tension.
"Harabana......"
As I began, Harabana's form shimmered and faded—like existence itself being sucked into a void. In an instant, it vanished.
The intense magic and presence evaporated, leaving empty air seamlessly blending with the surroundings.
In the heavy silence, I spoke gravely.
"For a set time, it can completely erase its own existence."
That was why it was called the Silent Tyrant of the Deep Forest.