61. No Shackles (2)
61. No Shackles (2)
- 1 -
- Kieeek!!
- Kyaaak!!
Sonia was remarkably calm for someone facing greenskins alone for the first time.
It was all thanks to the 'combat training just like real battles' against goblins that Libertas had already put her through.
[You have a talent for curses, but not yet enough to use them in actual combat. So use this. It'll be an excellent response against enemies who lack intelligence and charge blindly, using the bare minimum of resources.]
- Kyaaak!!
"「Mirror Surface Creation」!"
The moment she poked her head out onto the stairs and saw the goblins charging at her, Sonia immediately reached out toward the stair floor and spread her mana.
Jjeojeok!
- Kkieok!
Kung!
A thin layer of ice formed on the stairs in an instant, and the two goblins who stepped onto that ice went 'hwik' and tumbled headfirst down to the first floor.
It was a sight Libertas would have described as 'straight out of a cartoon' had she seen it.
[Your power is still insufficient, but that can be resolved with mass. Be sure to carry this with you during your travels. For the time being, you must treasure this even more than your staff.]
- Kirreu...
Peoeok! Peok!!
'Done.'
Sonia finished them off by striking the heads of the goblins who had fallen to the floor and couldn't regain their senses with her hand axe.
After confirming the goblins had been silenced in one go, exactly as her master had taught her, she raised her head and spotted several more green heads visible from the second floor.
- Kyaaak!
"「Ice Wall!」"
- Kkueng!!
Sonia reached out toward the goblins charging in as if falling and blocked off the stairs, crushing some of the faster ones between the ceiling and the wall.
She didn't stop there but moved immediately.
Their current lodging was a temporarily borrowed house whose owner had left on a journey. There were two staircases leading to the second floor, and even if she blocked one, there was still the other staircase.
Kung!!
- Kuuk...!
'An orc...!'
What leaped down the other staircase was a greenskin whose height was similar to hers, but whose body muscles were at least five times her own.
The orc, clad in armor on its body and wearing a wolf's skull as a helmet on its head, was incomparable in sheer momentum to the goblins from before.
Sonia lowered her stance the moment she identified the enemy and glared into the orc's eyes.
[The fundamentals of combat for a mage are no different from a warrior. Don't lose track of their eyes. Whether human or demon beast, it's the eyes that point to where they're going. ...At least, that's what Evangeline said.]
This time, it was a lesson learned not from Libertas, but from Evangeline.
- Kuwoeok!!
The standoff didn't last long.
The recklessness of the greenskins was far too infamous for them to be patient with prey smaller than themselves.
'Now.'
The eyes that checked the floor just before charging.
The moment she saw that, Sonia immediately used the magic she had been preparing.
"「Mirror Surface Creation」!"
A spell that used a greater amount of mana, proportional to the enemy's weight.
The mana answered her wish and created thicker, harder ice on the floor, and that ice froze onto the floor and hardened in an instant.
- Kuwoeok!
But this time, the result was different from the goblins before.
On the stairs, just a little ice had been enough to make the demon beasts slip, but that wasn't the case on flat ground.
The opponent was also a poor match.
Kwajik!
'It's too strong...!'
"「Frozen Arrow」!"
The orc broke right through the ice formed on the floor and kept charging.
Startled by its strength, Sonia canceled the larger spell she had been preparing and fired off a spell she could cast instantly, but—
Pasak!
- Kuwaak!!
Bung - !
The orc deflected the spell off its pauldron and, ignoring its freezing upper arm, continued charging and tried to swing the axe it held.
[Always keep your options flexible. That will surely save your life.]
And in that moment, Sonia's quick thinking was put to use.
"「Ice Wall」!!"
A barrier spell that occupied a set space and blocked an enemy's physical attacks.
She used this spell—normally cast by designating coordinates in both the Elemental World and the Material World to summon elements into this world and make them surge forth—by targeting it narrowly at the lower body of the orc charging at her from the front.
Peoeok - !
- Kuak!!
The orc had been gripping its axe with both hands, leaning its upper body far forward to increase its charging momentum, and because of that, its jaw was completely exposed to the attack from below.
Kung! Kwadang! Ujik!
- Kueek!!
Its jaw was struck by what should be called an ice pillar rather than an ice wall, its head slammed into the ceiling, and as it fell, its own axe cut into its arm, making the orc scream.
Its already frozen arm had been completely neutralized.
She didn't just stand there watching.
"「Frozen Arrow」!"
Tat!
She fired off one more spell, and immediately after, Sonia charged forward gripping the axe with both hands.
Peong!
- Kuwaak!!
The orc stretched out its good arm to block the incoming magic arrow, and because of that, that arm extended away from its body and was slowed for a moment.
That was exactly what she had been aiming for.
"Kit...!"
With a sound too feeble to even be called a battle cry, Sonia swung the hand axe she gripped with both hands from left to right.
But there was something she hadn't anticipated.
Namely, she still hadn't trained her stamina and couldn't even exert the strength of an average adult,
and the orc was an individual with exceptional stamina and durability.
Kwajik!
- Kuwaak!!
Peoeok!
"Kkyak!"
The axe she swung did strike the arm but failed to sever it, and instead it remained lodged in the orc's arm and was swung back at her.
Considering she was still unfamiliar with offensive elemental magic, she had chosen the path of swinging the axe, but she had misjudged the toughness of the opponent's body at her own level.
- Kuuruk...
Fortunately, the orc, now unable to use either arm, was more flustered than enraged and couldn't immediately think to move.
- Kuuk...!
Being a greenskin, it soon began to move with its eyes turning red with fury.
But Sonia was not alone in this place.
"Hup - !"
Though her swordsmanship trait had disappeared, the sensation of swinging a weapon hadn't completely vanished.
And she was a warrior who already knew exactly where to strike to deal certain damage with her now-weakened strength.
Pusyahak!
- Kkuryuk...! Kkururu...
Maria poured all her strength into a short, concise swing of her shortsword.
The blade, swung in a simple arc not even worthy of being called swordsmanship, stole through the flesh and blood of the orc's nape—the orc that had been too focused on Sonia to watch its back—and emerged out the other side.
Kung!!
Jjaenggeurang!
Along with the sound of a small, hard body collapsing to the floor, the shortsword clattered to the ground.
"Damn."
Her grip, its muscles shocked and trembling from the ferocity of thrusting the small blade with full force.
Maria looked down at her own hand with complicated eyes, then soon shook off the bitter feeling and ran over to Sonia.
"Are you okay? Sonia."
"Yes, yes... Ah, we need to block the stairs...!"
"Right. I'll help support you."
- Kyaaaak - !!
- Kuweeeek!!
- Stop those bastards!
From outside the window, screams, shouts, and the occasional noise of battle could still be heard.
Sonia briefly agonized over whether she should join those fighting out there to secure safety on both sides, but inwardly she shook her head right away.
She still hadn't abandoned that one-in-a-million possibility.
'If my master caused this incident, she would naturally try to kill the people who joined us as well.'
Even if this wasn't her style, she was still a Dungeon Lord.
There had never been a known case of a Dungeon Lord personally coming out to cause trouble the way she did, but attacks using monsters were one of the well-known tricks that demonkin used through their zealots.
And although they'd been getting along reasonably well lately, Sonia still didn't trust her.
Stopping the burning of oneself with hatred didn't at all mean trusting someone as a person.
- Kuoook!
Kung! Kwang!
But soon, she faced a situation that forced her to reconsider her resolve.
"This... is?"
"The house is shaking. No way..."
- Kuok! Kuok!
Kung!! Kwajik!!
- Over there! That house over there is being attacked! There might be survivors!
- Damn! Everyone gather up!! It's an ogre!!
- Are you crazy! Defend this side! Or just run! How are we supposed to handle an ogre!
Separate from the cries of people trying to help them tugging at Sonia's conscience and fear, the assault on the house grew more and more intense.
'An ogre...'
Maria's face darkened when she learned the identity of the enemy.
Not just a greenskin, but a creature that contended with other demon beasts for the title of the mightiest surface-dwelling creature—a being that, even as a juvenile, reached at least the elite grade or higher.
This was not a threat they could have anticipated, and it was an enemy they couldn't handle on their own.
- Kuoook!
Kwajak!!
"Eek!"
"Already...!"
A gigantic hand punched through the ceiling—the second-floor floor—and slammed down to the ground.
- Kuheu. Kuheu.
It pressed against the ground like that, swept around the area once, and then disappeared back upward again.
An action like a young beast searching the floor for prey.
What that meant was self-evident.
'It's already noticed us!'
The situation was now certain: the issue wasn't barricading themselves inside the house—they had to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Their hearts grew urgent of their own accord.
"Unnie! The senior...!"
"I'll get him! Huh...?"
"Both of you get out now! 「Giant Vine」!!"
"Senior?"
Sonia remembered Leonis, whom she'd confined to a room, and Maria, too, remembered him and was about to move urgently—
when a shout burst from the room where he'd been confined, and simultaneously, dozens of thick stalks sprouted from the empty floor of the room.
It was Leonis's main spell, one that Sonia knew all too well.
The magic of the guild's grandmaster disciple—a spell that could be used for both offense and defense in any combat situation, but one he himself disparaged as having ambiguous attack and defense power, claiming it was better to learn other things.
Leonis, awakened by the tremor shaking the house, had summoned his magic in rapid overlapping succession.
"Let's go now!! That way!"
Leonis, having temporarily supported the entire building with plant stalks, pointed in one direction and began running.
Choosing the direction of movement wasn't a problem.
The direction in which the entire house was shaking intuitively told them where the ogre was positioned.
"Let's go."
"Right! 「Ice Wall」!"
As soon as Leonis was confirmed to have exited the room, Maria didn't approach him but instead pushed Sonia and began their escape.
Sonia, too, ran while erecting additional walls, creating pillars to endure the shock until they escaped.
- Kuwaaak!!
Kwang!!!
The moment the three of them escaped the house, the house collapsed right behind them.
The ogre's rampage had begun in earnest.
Kwajik!
- Euaak!!
"Oh my god..."
Sonia swallowed dryly as she watched the debris of the destroyed house fly into the sky and strike the other adventurers over on that side.
She realized that if they had been in that spot, they might have been hit with a decisive blow and neutralized before they could even attempt anything properly.
A greenskin that competed for the title of the mightiest, boasting the pinnacle of stamina and durability.
The rampage of a demon beast with such a reputation, seething with frenzy, was on a literally different scale—even though its visible bulk was considerably smaller than what had been known.
"Hurry! Before it notices us!"
"Damn... an ogre. This is the biggest attack to hit recently..."
"Over there! An ogre over there!"
"When are the elite adventurers or knights coming...!"
"Why are these bastards suddenly—!!"
Asking 'why' about a demon beast's attack was meaningless.
This world had been at war with the demonkin for 200 years already, and attacks where zealots summoned demon beasts within cities using methods close to suicide bombings had happened dozens of times throughout history.
Then why hadn't magic developed to detect such attacks in advance?
Because 'zealots' were merely 'humans' who worshiped the demonkin, not demon beasts wielding demonic power or contractors.
The fact that they were treated as being akin to 'living landmines' was a remarkably accurate description of this situation.
- Kuwaaak!!
"「Giant Rafflesia」!!"
Kwajik!!
And because the world was so harsh, misfortunes like this could happen at any time.
"Urgh...!! S-senior...?"
When Maria and Sonia, having been pushed aside by Leonis running from behind, raised their heads—
- Geurururu...
"Cough! G-go...!"
"Mr. Leonis!!"
Vines far thicker and tougher than the ones summoned earlier were torn apart, and the giant flower grown by mana was ripped to shreds.
Before their eyes, a gaunt figure was being lifted by a gigantic hand.
Powerlessly, waving at them to get away from him quickly.
"Cough...! 「Icicle Spear」 - !!!"
A shout that literally spat blood.
The internal injury caused by the rapidly drawn-up mana, and the blood that burst from his mouth because of it, told her that this was his full power.
Peoseok!
But the 'rare-grade spell that summoned a spear freezing everything it touched' and the 'mana that was certainly quite substantial relative to his proper training period' fired off in this way didn't reach the ogre.
It wasn't even enough to disable one arm like with the orc—it merely made one of the ogre's forearms sluggish.
- Kuwooeolyeok!!!
Almost no damage, merely enough to anger the ogre.
"I said go - !"
"I'm not going!!!"
'I absolutely refuse to lose someone right in front of me again without being able to do anything...!'
But to Sonia, that was actually a glimmer of hope.
It was because the briefly enraged ogre, still holding Leonis in its hand, roared and glared in their direction.
"「Icicle Spear」! 「Icicle Spear」! 「Icicle Spear」!"
- Kuwaaak!!!
Peoeok!
"Keuheok...!"
Ignoring what was surging up from within, once more, twice, three times.
Sonia kept summoning magic.
And the ogre, enraged at her for it, carelessly hurled Leonis aside and charged at her.
"This way...!"
Sonia pushed even Maria away and began running with all her might, but the ogre's size, stamina, and endurance were overwhelmingly superior to hers.
Even though she'd started with a great distance between them, the gap was gradually, steadily closing.
"「Icicle Spear」!"
'Just a little... just a little more!'
If Libertas could have observed her condition at that moment, she would have pressed her fingers to her brow at the sight of 「Mana Overload」 resonating ominously with 「Mana Overadaptation」.
At the same time, she would have been delighted to see Sonia exerting herself beyond her full power to save Leonis.
Because 'not hesitating when you must give it your all' was one of the highest virtues of a thinking being.
"You held out well. Sonia."
"Master...?"
And indeed, she was delighted.
For there was a clear smile on the lips of the demonkin master who stroked Sonia's head and passed by her like a shadow.
"「Be steadfast」, and 「be strong」. My precious people."
- Geurururu...!!
- Ddak.
A necromancy buff that elevated their abilities to an even higher level and demonstrated outstanding power—and two figures appeared, carrying the 'frenzy' they had accumulated on the way here and with mana drawn up in advance.
Seuaak!
The swordsman who lunged out of the shadows in a posture like lying facedown twisted his body in midair, slashed horizontally once to hack away at the legs, then vanished.
- Keureureung - !!
The blood-red figure that fell from the sky cut through the ogre's throat and pulled it apart as it did.
"「Baskerville's Hell Hound」."
The shadow that rose up hugely in the shape of a dog with eyes of red flame bit out the ogre's heart and swallowed it.
- Ku...ok...
It was the futile end of an elite-grade demon beast that had devoured a total of ten adventurers before their arrival and could have torn apart at least thirty more.
- 2 -
"So you're saying... this incident was caused by a grudge?"
"According to the claims of the true culprit, that is correct."
I listened to Talhan's report and felt my expression threatening to crumple.
The demon beast attack that had occurred in Kopjerin had a cause that was truly unforeseeable, yet it was also something I might have been able to prevent—which was why I felt this way.
Though it would only have been possible if my luck had been extraordinarily good and my intuition had been vigorously active.
"Ha... So it truly was this person."
A photo printed by magic, brought by my undead intelligence agent.
Inside it was the image of a noblewoman who had been muttering ominous things at the dinner party, captured just as she was.
[The Count is a hypocrite. He supports people on the surface, but in truth...]
[He will be made to pay the price.]
Her name was Eleanor Clymel.
She was the last heir of a noble house that had once been prominent enough to be the political rival of Count Julheim—who had hosted the banquet I attended—but was now known to have been brought to ruin by him.
And she was also a zealot of the demonkin, whose backer was unknown.
"Where is she right now?"
"In the underground prison of the citadel."
She was also the true culprit who had summoned the demon beasts into the city of Kopjerin.