123. Brutality (2)
123. Brutality (2)
- 1 -
The preliminary champion duels served as pre-battle engagements in dungeon warfare, in which five combatants were chosen from each side's camp.
And for our first vanguard, Shue was selected.
It was her own wish, and also because the others had recommended her.
However, if I were to be honest about my own feelings on the matter.
I did feel a little worried.
[Shue can't enter peak condition in an instant, so wouldn't she need preparation time?]
I had no doubt that Shue would fight well, but my question was whether she was a bit ill-suited for the vanguard role.
[Worry not, my lord.]
[With this one thing...]
But all three of them had presented a solution to that.
They said there was one simple method that could only be executed when enemies appeared whom they didn't need to hold back from killing.
That method was.
"Right before your eyes, your enemy stands. Cut off their breath, my puppy."
... It was for 'me' to whisper those words directly to Shue.
They said that alone would bring Shue to her peak condition, and...
Kung...!!
- Grrrrr...
... It actually happened in reality.
「Bloodlight」 was different from 「Frenzy」. Unlike 「Frenzy」, which only strengthened abilities during combat, 「Bloodlight」 also responded to emotions.
'But... at the same time, it's not an easy thing to do.'
To stir such emotions in her with just a single word from me—how sincere must she be toward me?
It was hard to imagine.
- 2 -
Her white hair was dyed red from the very tips of the roots, flooding its entire length.
Both eyes blazed so bright a red that the whites were barely visible.
Bloodlight erupted from both her arms as well, so that her two gauntlets were now not black but a dark crimson.
"... Come out..."
With 「Bloodlight」 fully charged, yet not driven into unstoppable Frenzy—that was Lin Xue.
She was already at peak condition.
『At maximum, she loses reason, but she regains reason as combat continues.』
This contradicted the explanation that Libertas knew, yet also did not.
[Your heart burns too hot... Please keep your head cooler, so that even without me, you can achieve what you desire.]
In an ordinary battle or duel, perhaps not.
But to maintain calmness against the enemy ahead—that was her master's wish, and at the same time, her lifelong task.
Furthermore, 「Frenzy」 had no trigger for coming to one's senses at all, but 「Bloodlight」 was different.
If that was the case, then she could enter this state at any time.
Through her master's last words, the experience that transcended her trait, and the power of her will honed through mental image training.
- Grrrrr...
Kwareudeuk.
'Tear... to pieces... the blood... ah... I must restrain myself...'
Of course, this was a state where she had loosened far more of her psychological restraints than usual.
"Kreuk... You are not lacking as my enemy..."
Responding to that Shue, the one who stepped forward as the opposing vanguard was an ogre warrior from the Greenskin camp.
A giant with green—or dark green—skin.
Judging by its demeanor alone, it was clearly a powerful warrior.
In terms of size, this ogre was at least one and a half times the size of the skeleton ogres on Libertas's side, and as it looked down upon Shue, it was abundantly clear that it was a full adult and an Elite.
"... Are you my enemy...?"
"Kheu. Yes...! Grant me a heart-pounding battle...!"
"What battle..."
The sight of them confronting each other was like David and Goliath.
But what the blood-red David held in her hand was not a sling, but a far more dangerous murderous mana.
"B-Begin!"
"Die."
The battle ended quickly.
In mere seconds after the signal was given.
- Kurrrreung!
The crimson slash that had been flickering in both of Shue's hands shot forth with furious momentum toward the ogre's head.
"Extreme from the start...!"
Kwang—!!!
He reacted and twisted his head, but could not completely avoid it.
Kung!
Soon, with his forehead torn open, he collapsed into the fluids of his own brain.
"I could only knock him unconscious..."
Tweut!
Kwajik!! Chureureup—
Before anyone could stop her, Shue gouged out its throat with a blood-drenched hand blade, then opened her mouth and drank the pouring blood.
"Rekta—!! You bitch!!"
She paid no heed to her white suit being stained with blood, nor to Zarkra's scream-like shout.
Kwajik.
Right after Shue thus crushed the ogre warrior's head, having wrung out all its blood.
"Haaa..."
The blood-red aura swirling around her body burned even fiercer with a deeper crimson, and the tendrils of bloodlight spilling from her pupils shone even brighter.
It was a more powerfully brutal temperament, visible to anyone.
"Next...! Come out...!!"
Shue, who had not noticed herself that she had displayed excessively violent behavior before the master she adored, stretched out her finger toward the enemy lines and shouted.
A feral cry, her growling voice still fully intact.
"... That idiot."
"Haa."
Whether Evangeline, holding her forehead, or Ran let out a sigh or not.
- 3 -
- What is the meaning of this...? Lady Zarkra.
"I don't know either! Rekta was one of my camp's greatest frontline warriors!"
On the surface, they had cut off sound and did not reveal their presence, but the dungeon lords who had watched the first battle were thrown into confusion.
Even among adventurers, those who reached this grade dream of higher honor by departing for the borders of the Demon Realm.
Even if they remained inland, simply by selling their strength—fulfilling requests while young, or selling their strength to a rural territory in old age—they could live comfortably their entire lives.
'Elite' was a very high boundary, and their fights should not have ended so simply.
"And you! You never told us this woman's subordinate was that powerful!"
"Had we not already accepted that level of risk when we came here?"
When Kyricia retorted sharply at Zarkra's words, Zarkra's face darkened further with shame and rage.
"That's true, but... No matter how I look at it... that is no mercenary a newbie should possess!"
Adventurers were like that, so how much more so for monsters?
A monster that reached the Elite grade began to establish its own individuality.
In cases like Shue, who was originally human before becoming a monster and working as a mercenary in the Demon Realm, her original nature was strengthened. In cases like Evangeline, where the ego was originally strong, the form of that ego was manifested.
"At least on the front lines of the Demon Realm...!"
- That's enough.
However, an Elite like Shue or Evangeline, whose ego or nature overflowed and was manifested beyond the 'Legendary' rank, was certainly different from an ordinary Elite.
They began to grow into ability users capable of changing one facet of the battlefield, like Serica when she rampaged.
Exactly like the difference Shue and the ogre warrior had just demonstrated.
And that meant.
- Think positively. Lady Zarkra.
"Melzeros...! This is none of your concern!"
- We are taking that dungeon lord's head and core to our Archduke. Alongside our own growth. Would that not please you more? Besides, that fellow was surely not your strongest force, either.
It was no different from saying that their decision to ally and come to this place had truly been the right one.
They had faced greater danger, but in the end, they were the allied force of Dungeon Lord Seth.
And they could only conclude that the gains they would reap would be even greater for it.
"... I suppose that's true."
At Melzeros's words, Zarkra, whose thoughts had reached that far, also calmed down.
The ogre warrior had certainly been a powerful frontline fighter, but it was neither the greatest force in the dungeon she possessed, nor was it an object of attachment for her.
- So it is. Let us first think about what we stand to gain.
"Well, fine... Then who's next?"
At Zarkra's question, Melzeros's gaze shifted.
To the temporary comrade who served a different Archduke.
- This time... How about Lady Kyricia stepping forward?
"Alright."
At that proposal, Kyricia stepped forward without a word of complaint.
The order among them had already been sufficiently discussed, and opposing it would have been meaningless.
"Step forward. Tarshela."
"Yes!!"
The one who stepped forward was a monster with the appearance of a serpent beastman.
However, unlike the Lamia standing on Libertas's side, she had two pairs of arms, and fins stood out in several places on her head and body in addition to scales.
Naga.
A species with the form of a sea-serpent beastman, and unlike Lamia, who mainly trained in magical arts, a race whose majority were physical combatants.
As if to prove that racial tendency.
The red serpent-beastman monster called Tarshela held a trident as long as a short spear in the upper pair of her two arms, and a curved blade with an unusually long handle in each of the lower pair.
She could skillfully handle two weapons that differed in form, length, and purpose.
"It is not for me to say this to you, but..."
"Master?"
To her, Kyricia approached, clasped her shoulder as if encouraging her, and whispered quietly enough for others not to hear.
"If you think you will lose, surrender."
The new standard they would have to uphold.
"Why...?"
"Allies are not allies, and enemies are not enemies. On this chaotic battlefield, what we must do is not victory, but preservation. Keep that in mind."
"... I understand. My master."
Thus nodding her head toward her master, Tarshela stepped forward.
At this point, she was full of the will to follow her master's orders, so she intended to fight moderately and then signal her defeat.
But that thought was shattered in no time at all.
"That was an impressive performance. Wolf beastman warrior."
"Shut up. You lot are not only cowardly, but also seem to prefer fighting with words... Cowards and loudmouths. An excellent combination."
"You bitch...?!"
It was because Shue was cold enough to conduct a duel, but ferocious enough not to quickly recall the secret pact Libertas had made with Kyricia.
Struck by a provocation that wasn't quite a provocation, Tarshela became so furious she forgot her master's request entirely.
"Begin!"
Kwang!!
That sentiment appeared the moment the battle started.
"I will make you pay the price for your arrogance...!!"
"Arrogance?"
- Grrrrr...
"Just because you mongrels gather together..."
Shue, who had questioned Tarshela's resolve just once, let out a sneer with a growling sound.
"... To believe you can do something to our master—that is arrogance."
Kwareureung!!
Along with that ghastly smile as her mouth ripped upward, blood-red energy filled both her hands and shot forth toward the enemy.
Kwang! Kwang!! Kwakwang!
Several blasts launched in rapid succession from her clenched fists struck the protective barrier Tarshela created by swinging her trident.
'This power...!'
Feeling with her whole body the force that had grazed the ogre's head and knocked it unconscious, Tarshela was thrown into panic.
Had she not held the trident with both hands and braced herself sufficiently, the shock was so intense she very nearly would have dropped it.
It was power that instantly evaporated the misunderstanding that the ogre had simply been off guard.
'If I'm not careful, I'll die before I can even surrender...!'
Sssik.
Thereupon, having discarded all complacency and excessive excitement, Tarshela instead felt the thrill of a warrior and began to evade Shue's attacks.
To seize the moment to activate her trait.
Kang! Kang!! Kaang!!!
Each time the two weapons clashed against each other, a gradually growing wave of mana formed.
The trait 「Impact Overlap」.
Similar to Evangeline's 「Overlapping Strong Strike」, but a power with easier conditions in exchange for slightly weaker results.
This was a trait Tarshela had manifested after devouring a whale monster, and it was one of the means to counter the intense blood-red mana enveloping Shue's entire body.
"Ha."
Seeing that growing wave, Shue gave a single smirk as if amused, then ceased her attacks and accelerated the 'second heart' she possessed.
Kiiiiing—!!
Her entire body began to tremble.
「Bloodlight」 nearly at maximum.
The 「Blood Wolf Child」 who had gained an authority that temporarily amplified her power.
And on top of that, 「Mana Overload」 as well.
She was drawing upon the full power that could only be used when what stood before her eyes was an enemy.
Kwareudeuk!!
With a light step that stomped the ground, the earth's surface split into dozens of fragments, revealing that restrained power.
Kreurrrreuk...!!
The stretching blood-red mana widened the fissures.
Kiiing!!
Then, the power that had been covering her whole body gathered in two directions.
One to both feet, the other to her right hand.
Kurrrrreung...!
Into her right hand, raised perpendicular to the sky, a force of intense momentum surged upward.
A force with the momentum to pierce through anything that blocked its way.
And when that power reached its climax...
「Red Wall」
Kkwarrreung—!!!
A single bolt of lightning crossed the space.
Not vertically, but horizontally.
In red.