Chapter 65: Behemoth (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: Behemoth (7)
Before the Behemoth's corpse stood Kchala and Knella, demons with humanoid bodies and octopus heads.
"What kind of monster's handiwork is this?"
Kchala, who had green skin, clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at the massive wound carved into the Behemoth's neck.
In response to Kchala's awe, the pink-skinned Knella replied.
"There's only one Hero who could inflict a fatal wound on a Behemoth, right?"
"That's true."
Frillite.
The strongest of the Heroes, she was famous even among the demons.
Mostly as an object of fear.
Kchala shivered slightly.
"I heard she took down an ogre by herself last time... Ugh, you don't think she'll come back, do you? Knella, when is that thing going to be done?"
Kchala asked, looking at the crystal orb absorbing the Behemoth's soul. Knella shot him a pathetic look.
"Stop being such a coward... Think about it logically. Their base was getting raided, so she had to rush back. You think she'd have time to return?"
"I guess you're right, but... Agh, can't you just hurry it up? To demons, the human realm is like a poison fog. I can barely breathe."
"Oh, please. You're not some high-ranking demon. What's this about not being able to breathe... Huh? Hey, someone's coming."
"Wh-what?! It's not Frillite, is it?!"
"No. It's a human male."
Kchala turned in the direction Knella pointed. As she'd said, the human walking toward the two demons was a man. That meant it wasn't Frillite.
"Ah, what the hell. I got scared for nothing."
Kchala narrowed his smooth brow.
He transformed his hand into a large octopus tentacle and walked toward the human.
"He's dead."
"Don't overdo it. You know I hate human screams. Do you have any idea how annoying it was when you were toying with them for fun earlier?"
Three knights from the Oller Ducal Family had been guarding the Behemoth's corpse. It was only natural for knights to remain and protect the body of a named monster, given its immense value.
Kchala had killed those three knights.
He'd melted them from skin to entrails with his poison, making their deaths agonizingly painful. Thanks to him, Knella had been forced to listen to the human screams she hated so much.
"Alright, alright. I'll kill him instantly this time."
Kchala waved his tentacle-like hand.
"Whatever... You'd better keep your word."
Knella grumbled and turned her gaze back to the crystal orb absorbing the Behemoth's soul.
A tool that absorbed souls.
It was an incredible tool, no matter how many times she saw it. The fact that they had been entrusted with such an item meant...
'I've finally earned His trust.'
All the difficult missions she'd taken on had paid off. If she could just complete this mission safely and return, a promotion was in the bag...
"Gyaaaaargh!"
"Ah, shit! Hey! I told you to make sure there were no screams... huh...?"
Knella's head snapped around at the loud scream, and she froze at the unexpected sight. She had naturally assumed the scream belonged to the human.
But it wasn't.
"Aaaargh! My arm...!"
The one screaming was Kchala, his right arm severed. Blue blood streamed from the cross-section of the severed limb. As Kchala staggered back, Cloud closed in on him.
"Stay back, you bastard!"
Kchala thrust out his left arm.
The thick tentacle split into eight smaller ones. Then, each of those eight tentacles split into eight more, creating a mass of sixty-four tentacles.
Having been split again and again, each tentacle was small and sharp, its surface coated with a flesh-melting poison.
It was a menacing attack where even a single touch could be fatal.
"Ugh, disgusting."
Cloud frowned and drew out his sword aura.
Unlike the transparent aura he'd used to cut the ogre's tendons, this one was tinged with red.
He had moderately adjusted it to the level of Lorian's sword aura he had seen before.
He held the sword in a reverse grip and threw it like a baseball.
Shwwwiik-
The crimson-tinged sword pierced through the mass of small tentacles and penetrated Kchala's head. Kchala staggered before collapsing lifelessly.
Cloud pulled his sword from the octopus head. After a sharp flick to shake off the blue blood, he started walking toward Knella.
Seeing Kchala defeated in an instant, Knella fell into a panic.
She felt she should run, but the crystal orb hadn't finished absorbing the Behemoth's soul yet.
If she brought back the orb without the complete soul, that person would surely snap her neck in a rage. But if she waited for the absorption to finish, she felt a hole would be punched through her own head first.
While Knella was frozen with indecision, Cloud arrived before her.
Cloud held out his hand to Knella.
Knella stared at the hand for a moment before cautiously placing the crystal orb on it.
Cloud smiled with satisfaction.
Thankfully, it seemed to be the right answer. Just as Knella felt a wave of relief at having survived for now, he asked her a question.
"Can you speak the human tongue?"
"Yes."
"Good. A smart octopus, I see. Now, tell me everything. Who you are, why you're here, and what you were doing with this crystal orb. Don't hide a single thing."
"If I tell you, will I live?"
"No. You'll die."
"...Then is there any reason for me to bother telling you?"
"If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. Instead, you'll have the mystical experience of gazing upon your own intestines."
Cloud's smile widened.
Knella's octopus-like eyes trembled violently.
*
I looked at the two demon corpses with a new perspective.
'I didn't expect them to be minions of one of the Four Heavenly Kings.'
Not wanting to see her own organs while still alive, Knella spilled everything she knew.
Surprisingly, they were demons who served one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Creas.
Creas of the Four Heavenly Kings.
He was the first of the Four Heavenly Kings to appear in the game 'Hero's Party,' a demon that looked like a massive octopus.
Just because he looked like an octopus didn't mean he was one. He had far more legs than a kraken and no suckers. You could say his appearance was somewhere between a kraken and a tentacled monster from the Cthulhu Mythos.
'But why are Creas's minions trying to snatch a Behemoth's soul?'
It was surprising enough that these guys were minions of a Heavenly King, but their actions were even more baffling.
To be precise, the actions of their superior.
That person had intentionally awakened the slumbering Behemoth.
Then, in Creas's name, he had given Kchala and Knella an order.
An order to collect the Behemoth's soul in the crystal orb once it was slain by the Heroes.
When I asked why they went through all that trouble for the Behemoth's soul, Knella said she didn't know anything more.
Suspecting she might be lying, I poked her a few times with my dagger, but she just wailed in a wronged voice. It seemed she really didn't know.
I thought about why a Heavenly King's subordinate would need to collect a Behemoth's soul.
I didn't have to think for long.
'What reason would a Heavenly King's minion have for making a move?'
It would either be for the Demon King or for the Heavenly King they served.
Considering that the next major event after the Behemoth's subjugation was the battle with Creas, it was probably being used for the advent of the Heavenly King.
After reaching that rough conclusion, I turned my attention to the crystal. Right now, the Behemoth's soul inside was more important than any Heavenly King.
I shattered the crystal orb.
As it broke, a white, smoke-like substance seeped out from the cracks.
The soul of the Behemoth.
I placed my right hand on the Behemoth's soul and used the pattern.
Whoosh-
The white smoke escaping the orb began to coil around my right hand. The pattern was absorbing the Behemoth's soul.
'It hurts more than last time.'
When I absorbed the ogre's soul, I had felt a considerable burning sensation in the left side of my upper body. I thought it would be about the same this time, but I was mistaken. The burning sensation in the right side of my upper body was far more intense.
On top of that, the Behemoth's soul that entered my body thrashed about much more violently than the ogre's soul had.
It seemed it really was a higher-grade soul than an ogre's.
I marveled for a moment before crushing the Behemoth's soul like a tin can and shoving it into a corner.
After that, the Behemoth's soul stopped thrashing.
The pattern was successfully engraved.
*
============
<Pattern of the Behemoth>
[Active] <Choice 1>
(Fear)
-Incapacitates a single or multiple targets for a set time.
-If your level is higher than the target's, there is a chance to inflict 'Fear'.
(King's Senses)
-Greatly expands your senses.
(Berserk)
-Accuracy reduced by 50%
-All stats increased by 100%.
============
*
I'd extracted information from the demons and even sucked up the Behemoth's soul.
Cloud returned to the city feeling utterly satisfied.
But the atmosphere in the city was a little strange.
As he walked down the street, weren't all the surrounding citizens, soldiers, and guards staring at him?
'Ah, control my expression.'
Cloud belatedly realized that the corners of his mouth had been turned up in a slight smile. They had lost so much overnight; they couldn't possibly be happy to see a Hero grinning like an idiot.
What a rookie mistake.
Just as Cloud was reflecting on this, someone spoke.
"Excuse me, Sir Hero..."
From the crowd where everyone had been staring at Cloud, a guard with his arm in a cast stepped forward.
"My name is Hans. Uh, it's rude for someone like me to speak to you, Sir Hero, but..."
While he was stammering, unable to get his words out, Cloud clapped his hands together.
"I thought I recognized you! A fellow warrior I fought alongside. I was truly impressed by how you fought so bravely with your one remaining arm despite your injury. Hans, was it? I was disappointed I didn't get a chance to ask your name, so I'm glad to know it now. I'm Cloud."
"You remember me?"
Hans asked, his eyes wide.
Cloud nodded as if it were obvious.
"I could never forget a warrior who fought with such courage."
These weren't empty pleasantries; he meant it sincerely.
Cloud rarely forgot the faces of the warriors who fought alongside him.
No, he made an effort not to forget.
It was the only thing he could do for the warriors who had risked their lives to fight so bravely.
That fact sometimes made Cloud feel a sense of futility.
"Ha... haha...!!"
But what Hans felt was different.
The Hero remembered him, a mere guard. He had even acknowledged him, saying he fought bravely. For a warrior, what could be more honorable or glorious!
A shiver of thrill ran down Hans's spine.
Thanks to that, he completely forgot his original purpose of thanking the Hero for saving the city.
"E-excuse me, Sir Hero. Do you perhaps remember me?"
A new person popped out from the crowd.
This time, it was a soldier, not a guard.
And Cloud remembered this soldier as well.
"Of course, I do. You were the one following behind me when we fought the wolf pack, weren't you? The sight of you plunging your sword into the back of that horned wolf's head is still vivid in my mind. What's your name?"
"It's James!"
"I see. James, it was an honor to fight alongside a brave warrior like you."
"N-no, the honor was all mine! I'll never forget this moment for the rest of my life!"
James grabbed Cloud's outstretched hand with both of his and shook it vigorously up and down. It was a bit much for a handshake, but it was proof of how excited he was.
"Sir Hero, do you remember me? We were together in Zone 2."
"I was with you in Zone 3!"
"Hey, no cutting! I asked first!"
Starting with James, other soldiers and guards began to raise their hands one by one and approach Cloud.
"Thanks to you, Sir Hero, my son and I were able to survive. I don't know how I can ever repay this kindness. This is a small token of my gratitude."
"You saved us, Sir Hero! I don't have anything great to give you, but would you like an apple?"
Not long after the soldiers began to surround Cloud, ordinary citizens started to gather around him as well.
From poor farmers to wealthy merchants.
Every citizen of Alberton, without exception, felt grateful to Cloud. They wanted to express that gratitude.
But Cloud's status was that of a Hero.
A station that commoners found difficult to approach.
The nobles would frown when commoners came near, complaining about their lowly stench. They thought Cloud might also hate the smell of the common folk.
That was why they could only watch from a distance.
But not anymore.
Because Cloud had first shown them that he was approachable. The citizens began to pour out their gratitude to the Hero who had saved them.
"Zone 2? That was where the boars and harpies were especially rampant, right? There was some crazy bastard who grabbed a harpy's leg and started hacking at it. That was you!"
"You were with me in Zone 3? Hmm, I don't recognize your face. Are you sure you were fighting bravely at the front? You weren't just poking around in the back, were you?"
"Why are you trying to give me money again? Don't try to slip it into my pockets. I won't take it. Ah, thank you for the apple, ma'am. Oh, this is delicious. Hey, mister, how is this discrimination? I'm just distinguishing between a bribe and a kind gesture. I said I'm not taking it. Huh? Hey! You there, mister! I told you not to slip money into my pockets! Hey! Someone grab that guy! Get that bastard!"
And Cloud responded to the gathered citizens to the best of his ability. Thanks to him, the square was filled with a warm and friendly atmosphere.
It was hard to believe these were the people of a city that had just been invaded by monsters.
Watching the scene from a distance, Frillite smiled.
Lorian approached and stood beside her.
He clicked his tongue as he watched Cloud mingle so freely with the commoners.
"Frillite, I'd like to offer you a piece of advice."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Do not associate too closely with Cloud. It will lower your dignity."
"...What?"
The smile vanished from Frillite's face.