Chapter 168
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168
The moment he hit the ground, Swallow stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes. He had botched the landing, crashing headfirst into the dirt, but there wasn't a single scratch on him.
Only after the dust settled did Swallow calmly look around.
"At least I landed in the right place."
To his left was the Orc faction; to his right, the Homunculus faction.
Hexabel stood behind the Orcs. And while he couldn't see Kurak, who was hidden among the countless warriors, he could feel his presence nearby.
"Good."
He had a lot to do, but now he could handle everything in one place without having to travel. Satisfied, Swallow’s lips curled into a slight smirk.
His schedule had suddenly become packed. There was so much to do. First, he had to look into the homunculus research, and then he had to punish Kurak for daring to play tricks on him.
‘But if I had to prioritize...’
Hexabel came first.
Having been in situations like this countless times, he already knew the formula. Right now, everyone's attention was on him. But if he tried to start things off nicely with words, most of them would just forget their place and charge at him anyway.
In times like these, words alone weren't enough; actions had to accompany them to be effective.
Swallow lightly warmed up his body.
As if on cue, everyone on the battlefield was staring at the anomalous entity that was Swallow. Each and every one of them seemed to be desperately trying to process the situation.
In that split second before they could—
Six thin, black thorns burst through Swallow's skin.
Thwip!
The black thorns, capable of stretching dozens of meters, instantly impaled everything in their path. In less than a second, dozens of Orcs and homunculi were skewered, left dangling in the air.
Where the thorns slammed into nearby buildings, a loud, crumbling roar echoed through the battlefield.
The final two thorns stopped just inches from Kurak's and Hexabel's skin.
Having swept the entire area in an instant, Swallow spoke in a low voice.
"Nobody move."
Phase. 8
The battlefield was as chaotic and noisy as ever. High above it all, atop a wall dozens of meters tall, Imperial soldiers looked down on the pandemonium.
"...What is he doing?"
It was loud, and the distance was great. Naturally, Swallow's words shouldn't have reached them. Let alone his voice, they couldn't even read his lips.
By all accounts, they shouldn't have been able to hear him.
And yet.
「Nobody move.」
They heard it.
It wasn't a sound that reached their ears but a chilling command engraved directly onto their minds.
"Ah... Aaargh..."
Swallow's voice was not a sound, but pain. An indescribable terror seized their limbs as if long claws were repeatedly stabbing into their brains, forcibly carving the words into their consciousness. Intermittent static, like metal scraping against metal, warped what little remained of their five senses.
Hallucinations began to dance before their eyes.
Unable to comprehend the anomalous authority of this entity, the humans began to lose their minds.
"Ugh, bleeegh!"
Several groaning soldiers began to vomit. Crimson bile splattered the stone. They were throwing up pure blood.
Hallucinating as they retched, the soldiers chased after phantom afterimages, losing their footing on the edge of the wall. Several of them tumbled from the ramparts like falling blossoms. Each time one landed, a crimson flower bloomed on the ground below.
Chaos had arrived.
"...Ah."
Garot, who had best kept her wits about her amidst the pandemonium, let out a low groan. She had witnessed this twice before, but she could never get used to it. Her stomach churned.
‘This is...’
Months ago, Swallow had descended upon Riaze and revealed his true form.
The symptoms were identical to those suffered by the citizens who had witnessed him then. The mysterious madness was a physical rejection, a system shock triggered when the body failed to comprehend the anomalous existence of Swallow.
A-rank subjugation squad members and higher could somehow endure it, thanks to their trained bodies and strong mental fortitude.
But the ordinary soldiers—
"Adjutant."
Garot grabbed the shoulder of her adjutant, who was drenched in a cold sweat but barely holding on beside her.
"Send a message to the magic officers at each gate. Immediately."
Swallow, Kurak, Hexabel.
And in the distance, a dragon radiated an aura even stronger than Kurak and Hexabel combined. If her guess was correct, that was Azi Dahaka, the boss monster of Margar.
—Four bosses of the Great Evil Caves in a single location.
This was a situation where even hoping for victory was foolish.
"We are initiating a full retreat. Now."
Before this led to total annihilation, they had to escape by any means necessary.
"However, the soldiers on the frontmost wall must maintain their formation until the very end. Place all of them under a 〈Silence〉 spell. Evacuate from the rear. Citizens take priority over soldiers."
"C-Captain! If we retreat now, the inner palace will fall in an instant..."
"Do you think we can hold out if we stay?"
The adjutant hung his head at her cold question. Having just suffered from that madness himself, he knew all too well that they had no chance of winning.
"The enemy we must fear right now is neither the Orcs nor Hexabel."
The reason she ordered 〈Silence〉 on the frontline soldiers and a stealthy retreat from the rear was the same reason Kurak and the Orcs had frozen in place, and why Hexabel remained completely still.
"It's that monster."
The tide of battle had shifted.
Kurak and Hexabel didn't matter anymore. Frankly, even if they defeated all three bosses of the Great Evil Caves, it would mean nothing if they couldn't escape Swallow's grasp.
They had to leave as quietly as possible. Not displeasing that monster was their absolute top priority.
Following Garot's orders, the mages sealed the mouths of all the soldiers on the wall with 〈Silence〉. They also issued commands to the remaining homunculi, barely managing to suppress their wild instincts.
A precarious silence settled over the area. The atmosphere was so tense it felt as though it could explode at any second, but somehow, the silence held.
‘Swallow's gaze is...’
It was still fixed on the ground below. For now, the humans were out of his line of sight.
Heaven was helping them.
Garot's assumption was correct.
Although four bosses of the Great Evil Caves were present, the one who truly dominated the battlefield was Swallow alone.
This was no longer about defending the Empire's territory; it was about saving every last citizen they could.
Just as Garot was about to issue the evacuation order to the rear ranks—
"Kieeeek."
A sound that absolutely should not have been heard broke the silence.
In an instant, Garot's face contorted in unspeakable despair.
The source of the sound was a homunculus.
Though its actions had been suppressed by commands, the sheer terror it felt upon seeing Swallow was overriding those orders.
"No, please..."
The reins they had barely managed to hold—
The commands—
"Kieeeeeeeeeek!!"
"Kiaaaaaaaaak!!"
—snapped all at once.
Dozens of homunculi, too terrified to heed any orders, charged at Swallow. Some lunged forward blindly, their limbs bending in the wrong direction in their frenzy.
Because the Orcs, Hexabel, and the humans were all silent, the shrieks of the homunculi sounded deafeningly loud. They recklessly bared their claws and unleashed magic, all of it aimed at Swallow.
"..."
At the sudden noise, Swallow slowly turned his head toward the human faction.
His gaze traveled up the wall, stopping right where Garot stood.
He was frowning.
The two black thorns that had been aimed at Kurak and Hexabel were withdrawn. Not just those two, but all the extended thorns retracted back into Swallow's body.
Then, they erupted once more, all of them pointing toward the wall where the homunculi were.
"My God..."
Garot collapsed to the ground.
*
Humans had been an incredibly disobedient race since the dawn of time. Since these creatures were made by them, it was no surprise they wouldn't listen either.
"Ha."
Swallow looked toward the wall with annoyed eyes. The homunculi were flying toward him in unison, mouths agape. They were pushing themselves so far past their physical limits that the sound of tearing muscles could be heard between their monstrous shrieks.
"This works out well."
He had been in a bit of a bind, with so many eyes watching him interrogate Hexabel. He was just thinking about thinning the herd before they talked, and here they were, practically begging to be killed.
There was no reason to refuse.
He tensed his body as effortlessly as taking a breath.
Six thorns of various sizes burst from his body. They shot forward in straight lines, impaling the homunculi.
Even after piercing through them, the black thorns stretched on, slamming into the wall. With each impact, the wall shook violently. The humans under the 〈Silence〉 spell fell to the ground, unable to even scream.
A few homunculi lucky enough to dodge all six thorns reached Swallow and swung their claws.
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
Swallow slowly raised his right hand. He pointed his fist toward the approaching creatures, then extended his thumb and index finger.
Just before their long claws could touch his skin—
Flick!
He flicked his fingers.
A violent gale swept forward. Black mana flowed from his fingertips, riding the wind pressure and spreading out. Every homunculus caught in the wave of black mana exploded without a trace.
"...Hmm."
Swallow smacked his lips, as if thinking it was an inefficient method despite having done it himself.
If he unleashed Demeura here, he wouldn't have to bother cleaning up the humans and homunculi one by one. However, Hexabel and Kurak were too close; if he wasn't careful, things would go sideways before he could even interrogate them.
‘Would it be better to just swallow them?’
Come to think of it, it had been a while since he last ate a human. Swallow smacked his lips again at the thought.
Then again, he didn't have a taste for bricks.
As he turned things over in his mind, Swallow noticed Hexabel still wasn't looking at him and clenched his right hand into a fist.
A wave of black mana rippled from his clenched hand. The wave spread wide, forming a shape too crude to be called a circle.
Magic formulas gradually filled the uneven space.
Low-tier magic, 〈Ice Ball〉.
Where the formula completed, a massive chunk of ice—over ten meters in diameter—materialized.
It was one of the spells he had learned from a human magic book he’d read out of curiosity long ago. Didn't it say the spell was supposed to create a chunk of ice small enough to fit in one hand?
It was his first time using it in actual combat, but the formula was so simple he made no mistakes. Demeura didn't fluctuate much, either.
Rumble!
The massive chunk of ice let out a heavy, rumbling sound with even the slightest movement. Admiring his own magic for a brief moment, Swallow aimed it at the wall.
—And launched it.
Despite its immense weight, the ice flew at an incredible speed, as if he were throwing a light pebble.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The massive ice chunk slammed directly into the wall. The rampart, which had protected Riaze for 150 years and had never once fallen, crumbled as easily as a toy.
Following the impact, the sound of the wall collapsing section by section filled the air. A massive cloud of dust blanketed the surroundings. Unable to handle the aftermath of his own creation, Swallow coughed repeatedly.
"Cough, cough... Ah, damn it."
There was no need to wait for the dust storm to clear, nor was there any reason to spare the humans another glance.
Even if they tried to escape, they couldn't leave Riaze anyway. Interrogating Hexabel wouldn't take long, so dealing with the humans could wait.
"...Now then."
With the humans temporarily out of the way, only Kurak and Hexabel remained.
Just as Swallow lightly cleared the dust around him and was about to turn toward Hexabel—
"Swallow."
This time, he felt a sharp gaze from behind. Before even turning his head, Swallow sighed.
"There are too many things interrupting my touching reunion. How annoying."
He reluctantly turned his head toward Kurak. The surrounding Orcs seemed to have all retreated behind their leader when the dust storm hit.
The crystal of the Teleportation Hub was still glowing, but the transference was temporarily paused.
"What do you want now?" Swallow asked, his annoyance plain on his face. According to his plan, punishing Kurak was supposed to come right after Hexabel.
"Why have you come here?"