Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Rage
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The mutants' roars that had begun from the west finally started to die down only after a full day had passed.
"How's it looking?"
"The city's quiet. Not a single ant in sight."
It was Maya's report after her reconnaissance.
"Hmm. Circumstantially, it looks like the others picked them up."
"Others?"
"Yeah. The six remaining named monsters besides the one we killed. They probably took them away."
"Whoa. So the next place we go might have even more mutants?"
"Could be... Or maybe they just ate them outright. Mana is a precious resource to those things."
In any case, this cleared the path to the city's center.
Of course, there was still the possibility of running into other named monsters along the way.
'The other named monsters must have confirmed that we killed one of them.'
So what reaction would the remaining ones have?
Jun clearly remembered what the named monster had said.
'It spoke in ancient tongue. They definitely have egos. But I didn't sense any emotions from it.'
Like a machine, or an AI running a learning algorithm, it had muttered the reason it had been defeated.
'But would it really mutter something like that for no reason?'
Jun's answer was 'No'.
'It was brief, but I felt some kind of energy leaking out of its body.'
That's why Jun had hurriedly shouted to kill it.
Maya had quickly turned the severed head into mincemeat.
'Our information probably got transmitted to the others.'
So what reaction would the enemies have now?
'Whatever it is, pulling off the same trick as before won't work anymore.'
Repeating the same move was practically gambling.
And in fact...
"What?"
"There were a few of these scattered on the floor."
After a day of rest, Maya returned from reconnaissance holding shattered mana cylinders.
Their contents were completely empty.
But they were covered in bloodstains that looked like they came from mutants.
"Did they kill each other...?"
"No way, you were actually right? They really killed each other?"
Eleanor seemed even more shocked that Jun's prediction had come true.
But Jun's expression remained grave.
"Tch. They filtered them out completely."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. They blocked us. So now they've started recognizing the mana pattern we mimicked as 'enemy'."
In other words, sneaking inside by fooling their senses like before was now impossible.
"These are useless now too."
The three mana cylinders extracted from the named monster killed two days ago.
They were several times larger than those from regular mutants.
Jun had originally planned to use them to issue commands to the remaining mutants.
Of course, complex orders were out of the question; he intended to use them to indiscriminately attack mutants from other areas.
But now that was impossible.
"They beat us to the punch."
"They're not your average smartasses..."
Eleanor shook her head in exasperation, while Aiden and Maya just tilted their heads, not understanding the conversation.
"That said, we can't just sit around. We have to head to the city center first."
If there was an entrance, there had to be an exit.
Jun suspected the secret lay in the massive tower-like building at the city's heart.
A structure standing arrogantly as if touching the sky—it had to hold the key to escaping this field.
'It's a forced guess... but it's the only info we have.'
If they had plenty of time, they could wander the field collecting more varied information.
But now, they had less than a month left.
28 days until season end.
They needed to plot the optimal escape route.
"We'll have to take some risks and move."
"To the city center?"
"Yeah. But first, let's search the place where we killed the named monster."
There might be additional info.
Jun and the party absorbed the mana fluid and set off again.
In the end, they didn't find much in the six-story building where they killed the named monster.
Most papers had crumbled away after enduring the flow of time, and there were no notable items.
"This is about all we salvaged..."
Another journal preserved in an ornate box.
Presumably written by the named monster they killed during its lifetime.
It was fairly long, but unlike the mutant's journal in the cabin, much had decayed, limiting readable parts.
Jun carefully stored the journal in his dimensional bracelet and turned to the party.
"Anyway... good news and bad news."
Meeting their gazes, Jun continued.
"The good news is that giant tower in the center. That's where the key to escaping this field is."
"For real?"
Eleanor and the others showed great interest.
"The bad news is, to escape, we might have to kill the remaining named ones."
"...What?"
"The escape condition involves activating some machine in that tower. But to operate it, we need two keys."
The problem was that the other named monsters held those two keys, and it was unknown which of the six had them.
"That part was too decayed to read."
"This is fucking insane."
For now, the surefire way was to search buildings where other named monsters resided, find clues like before, locate the two keys, and escape.
It seemed doubtful in a city teeming with mutants, but...
'What can we do? We have to.'
Reality wouldn't wait for them.
Even now, time ticked away relentlessly.
"...Let's get ready."
Feeling scales sprouting on his neck, Jun stood up.
Preparation just meant adjusting their conditions, so the party set out at dawn.
Their goal: the city center.
Find the tower's entrance and scout the other named monsters' movements.
They walked through the dreary city.
Weaving between dilapidated, crumbling buildings, the tower's base finally came into view in the distance.
"How long have we walked?"
"About two days."
"This place is huge."
The city itself was vast, and without [Scan], they had to stay vigilant, slowing their pace considerably.
Soon, as they neared the tower...
Kirrurrurrurr――!!
"Damn it."
A sound tearing at their eardrums.
A single mutant watching them from afar let out a roar.
The problem: it was flying.
"Flying type...!"
As it appeared, dozens of mutants surged up around them in an instant.
Their forms evoked harpies—humanoid monsters flying through the sky.
And then.
Whoooosh――!
Kieeeek――!!
Apparently based on harpies, their roars unleashed an intangible force crashing over the party.
"Incoming!"
A ultrasonic attack formed like a kind of fear effect.
They kept their distance, dozens shrieking in unison.
Eleanor hurriedly cast holy magic.
[Block of Light]
Boomboomboomboom――!!!!
An unrelenting bombardment that could rupture eardrums.
With dozens firing at once, the barrier shattered quickly.
Jun immediately followed with [Iron Rampart].
"Run!"
No place to escape. Cunningly, the mutants attacked the sidewalks a step ahead of their escape direction.
Stone fragments flew everywhere, and the path they'd come from was now unrecognizably collapsed.
"The path...!"
Escape route blocked in seconds.
Jun hurriedly cast toward their position.
"You bastards."
Time to pay for rampaging from the sky.
[High-Speed Chant]
[Multi-Chant]
[Lightning Call: Modified Form - Thunder Cloud]
[Chain Magic: Lightning Whip]
Circuit overload warning / Fire affinity interference
His circles groaned.
Casting non-fire attributes disrupted his mana wildly.
'Damn thing!'
Lightning was notoriously hard to control.
Linking [Lightning Whip] through falling bolts triggered immediate rejection from his circles.
'Listen to me...!!'
But this time, it wouldn't bend easily.
Since using fire against the orc lord, fire's influence had grown stronger.
Red aura seeped into the descending lightning, intensifying the pain in Jun's heart.
"Gah!"
"S-Sunbae?!"
Mana circuits damaged from circle backlash.
Blood surged from his mouth.
But Jun ignored it.
If he didn't break their momentum now, the bombardment would continue.
"Hey, you crazy bastard! Stop using it! You'll die!"
Eleanor, seeing his state at a glance, shouted. Maya hurriedly piggybacked him.
"Aiden!"
"S-Sunbae...!"
"Aiden!!"
Aiden, who needed to clear the path, couldn't tear his eyes from Jun.
Jun was still vomiting blood as his internal circuits twisted.
Slap!
Maya struck Aiden's panicked cheek.
"Wanna die here?!"
"Ugh...!!"
"Clear the path now!"
Urgent situation.
Only Aiden could break through the horde.
Jun's magic ceased, and the harpy-like mutants vanished into the distance.
Whether they fled the lightning or fell as charred husks, unclear.
Grrrurrurr!
Anyway, Jun's sacrifice halted the rear bombardment.
Regaining composure, Aiden bit his lip hard.
"...Follow close. Don't drop sunbae."
His usual tone, yet somehow heavier.
"Huh?!"
Maya flinched, looking at Aiden with trembling eyes.
Not shocked by his sudden change, but by her ancestors' rage igniting within.
Red energy rippled from Aiden's body.
The blood-red mana of the imperial bloodline, as always.
But different this time.
Deeper. And above all... domineering.
[Charge]
Aiden's form vanished, reappearing before the mutants blocking the collapsed path ahead.
[Bash]
Crescent slash / Mutant defenses ignored
The orc-like muscular mutants reflexively raised arms.
But the curving blade like a crescent moon cleaved through without resistance.
Blood splashed on Aiden.
The taste of enemy blood awakened the destroyer hide's savagery in an instant.
"Huu――."
Aiden's radiant golden hair was slowly turning red.