Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Mountain Range Escape (2)
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Swollen muscles bulged to their limit, veins writhing beneath the skin.
Boom!
Thick legs like massive logs slammed into the ground with explosive force, launching their enormous owner's body into the air.
A faint haze rose from his soaring frame, and the "Kalkos Combat Engravings" etched across his body glowed mysteriously.
And then.
Shiiiik—splat!
The axe blade, enveloped in the flickering red light of "Bio-Aura," traced a massive arc, severing the head from the body of a monster towering four meters tall.
"Kahahahat—! Big guy's got some real chopping satisfaction!"
Hari laughed maniacally, drenched in the troll's spurting blood.
But his assault didn't end there.
Right after decapitating it, he slammed his axe into the troll's chest, shattering its ribs, then thrust his hand into the gap and ripped out its magic stone.
As a finisher, he leaped off the troll's massive corpse, landing on the ground—
Krunch!
—and simultaneously split the enormous severed head in two with his axe.
Boom—!
Even with its head and heart destroyed, the troll's body thrashed for a good while before finally collapsing.
'Trolls already have insane regeneration, but infected with madness? Their vitality's on another level.'
Hari grimaced as he crunched into the troll's magic stone in his hand.
He was used to hunting giant monsters and had overwhelming physical prowess, so he could handle it this easily. Anyone else would've struggled far more.
Like those guys, panting heavily now that the troll pack fight was over.
"Huuuuh..."
"Huff, heh... damn. Trolls in a place like this? We're trying to escape the mountains, but it feels like we're deeper in than before."
With monsters starting their full southward migration, even those from the depths were being pushed outward.
War was already raging between the outer-edge monsters and humans.
"...We move out now. Things'll only get worse the longer we wait."
Even the occasional high-rank monsters popping up made the stealth artifacts less effective.
They weren't normally that perceptive, but madness had amplified their instincts and detection.
The party wasn't weak, but in this situation, a small group had no real options.
Days of nonstop fighting had worn them down, and top-tier monsters kept ambushing them...
"Look at Hari, the one who moved the most, still fresh as ever. That secret ritual of his? Jealous, so jealous..."
"But thanks to him, we've made it this far. One more day of forced march, and we're out of the mountains. Hang in there till then."
Guide Marcus offered hopeful words and took point again, leading the exhausted group.
But.
The situation was spiraling worse than they'd imagined.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While wandering the Northern Mountains, Hari had closely observed the behavior of madness-infected monsters.
Info from his other avatars outside said they cooperated without infighting, but that was only partly true.
They were living beings needing food to act, and the food chain among monsters was part of their ecosystem.
Seeing strong monsters devour weaker ones wasn't rare here.
'The weak going berserk and charging the strong without regard? Maybe even more than before.'
Sometimes, the strong got hunted in turn.
Even within packs, a slight provocation led to life-or-death brawls—they were hyper-aggressive toward each other.
'When one devours another, the survivor's madness concentration thickens.'
The loser becomes food in death; the winner grows stronger from accumulated madness.
Threatening enough on its own, but...
When they detected humans or other intelligent beings amid their infighting,
they united instantly, charging like mad to annihilate the intruder.
Just like now.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The first casualty was Bordo, a ranger isolated with dwarf Zaonik.
Unlike his injured comrade Hans, Bordo was relatively fine and tasked with drawing aggro while others handled monsters.
"Guh!"
But a hobgoblin amid the monsters sniped him with a blowdart poison needle.
"Bordo!"
"No!"
Support fire poured in too late; with his body paralyzed in front of the monsters, it was over.
A pain-immune orc, riddled with arrows in vital spots, crushed him.
They felled the orc and bolted the hobgoblin's forehead, but...
Bordo was already dead on the spot.
'Using weapons? Not just swinging, but blowdarts?'
Hari, axe-whirling on the front line, glanced over and frowned.
Normally cautious, they'd never seen madness-infected monsters use such tools, so they let their guard down.
'High-intelligence specimen? Or less madness-corrupted?'
Whatever the cause, it increased the party's burden.
Now they had to watch for ranged attacks too.
Rear firepower support dwindled as a result.
Mikael, pulling bolts nonstop from his subspace quiver and firing his crossbow while guarding the perimeter, now aimed more carefully.
'Not good. At this rate, we'll get wiped. ...Except me.'
Even he had limits against hordes.
Especially these freakishly vital monsters.
'I've grown attached over these days, and I don't wanna ruin my 100% mission success rate... but no choice.'
Time to use everything.
'Fine, let's gauge Hari's full power. See what he's really capable of.'
Still slaughtering foes nonstop, he gathered his mind and drew up power.
"Body Transformation" swelled his already huge frame further; accumulated energy ignited "Bio-Aura" fiercely.
"Ferocity" sharpened, instinctively grasping flows; "Regeneration" optimized his condition.
His "Kalkos Combat Engravings" glowed brighter: chest 'Flame', eye 'Thunderstorm', arms 'Beast' and 'Axe', legs' 'Galloping Horse' and 'Bird's Wings'.
"Huuuuh—."
White steam billowed from his exhale.
No, energy combustion poured heat and vapor from every pore.
Senses razor-sharp, axe arm feather-light.
But not done yet...
Hari gradually awakened the 'madness' he'd suppressed.
Madness passively boosted his physicals, but that wasn't true mastery.
Thump—
His heart pounded wildly, something surging through his veins to muscles, bones, organs, deep brain.
-Yeah, rip 'em all apart! Everything in the way! Kekekeke!
With madness's whispers raging again.
Shiiiik—
His enhanced body glowed red-hot like molten iron, radiating heat; his black right eye turned crimson, blazing with fiery glare.
The moment Hari fully awakened and controlled the madness.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and grows. Skill Ferocity evolves into special skill Beast of Frenzy. He gained a better tool to wield madness efficiently.
"Kuh... kuhhahaha—!"
Volcanic energy erupted within, drawing a refreshing laugh unbidden.
A laugh even madder than usual.
'Ah... thought it'd been quiet lately.'
But unavoidable this time.
Releasing full combat mode afterward should reset the mania to normal.
...Probably.
'Alright, let's get serious.'
Amid the crisis, still central in battle, he reached back with his right hand and drew his second axe.
One hand left free for quick magic stone extraction amid the rush, but full power meant dual-wielding now.
Deep breath—
"Uracha!"
Shiiiik—thunk!
One axe rocketed like a missile, embedding in an orc's skull.
But not over.
Unlike his blazing right eye, his calm left eye gleamed deep green.
Jewel Eye: Telekinesis
The axe in the orc's head floated up, wrapped in faint green light.
And.
Shwick—crack! Smack!
It danced freely in the air, splitting heads of enemies targeting the party one by one.
No need for visual control.
"Beast of Frenzy" let his heightened senses grasp the entire battlefield in real-time.
'Telekinesis on the axe replaces aura power, so damage is fine. But remote energy transfer tanks efficiency...'
Irrelevant to him, though.
At least in multi-monster fights like this.
Krunch—chomp!
Hari ripped out hearts barehanded, shoving magic stones into his mouth via "Monstrous Feast" nonstop.
His rapidly depleting energy slowed.
'Can't even fully recover like this.'
A testament to his combo's insane drain.
Kaboom—!
"Kahahahat! Die!"
The payoff was overwhelming.
Hyper-enhanced body boomed with sonic bursts per leap; red-aura axes broke sound barrier long ago.
Even body-slams pulverized monsters.
His power-to-weight ratio was off, forcing energy-intensive grounding: widened soles, hooked toes, aura-infused traction.
Ground still exploded per step, but far easier to wield power.
'Energy consumption's monstrous. Without "Monstrous Feast," couldn't sustain long.'
Explosive moves crushed monsters, graceful axes diced them, free hand harvested hearts for munching.
Meanwhile, the green-glowing axe soloed the sky, smashing heads...
Krrunch—!
Thanks to him, battle reached a lull.
Reinforcements halted; Zaonik's hasty barrier absorbed noise spread.
'Magic tool barrier couldn't stop nearby rushes, but good enough.'
Without it, endless fight till collapse.
"Huuuuh—."
As Hari exhaled steam, easing from full combat,
'Hm?'
His ultra-sharp senses detected something hurtling toward them.
Dudududu...
Earth-shaking vibrations from afar, "Beast of Frenzy" instincts screaming, massive 'madness' aura.
'Ah, we're screwed.'
It was charging straight here.