Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Killing Star Has No Middle Ground
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The next day, the returning party ran into a horde of monsters.
“Form up! Fall back while fighting!”
Max pulled out his massive axe and swung it around wildly.
A few goblins got caught in the axe blows and were sliced to pieces.
Tippy clicked her tongue and shouted,
“Hey! Block that side!”
Enoch smashed the head of a nearby orc, venting his irritation.
Boom—!
Tippy flinched at the exploding head but quickly shouted again.
“Don’t play around! That side too!”
While Enoch moved, Rafen loosed arrows nonstop.
Ping—! Ping—! The flying arrows embedded themselves in the monsters’ bodies.
The situation wasn’t easy.
They’d spotted the monster horde too late, and the party was half-surrounded.
The silver lining was that no particularly dangerous monsters were mixed in.
Kwaang—!
A monster’s head flew off from Enoch’s casual swing.
By the time Max’s axe cleaved an orc’s arm, Tippy kept it pinned down, and Rafen finished it with an arrow to the head,
Kwaang—!
Two more orcs’ limbs came apart and scattered from Enoch’s kick.
Thanks to Enoch’s exploits, the party managed to retreat without much trouble.
Tippy glared at Enoch, panting for breath.
“Hey, you’ve got way too much leeway?”
Deep down, she was tense.
She now knew Enoch was far stronger than her.
But she took it a step further.
The kid had been obedient without complaints lately.
If she broke his spirit now and kept him in line, he might turn into a pretty useful card down the line?
“…….”
So she pushed harder against the silent Enoch.
“No answer? You little shit.”
Prod, prod. Tippy jabbed Enoch’s forehead with her finger.
It didn’t budge an inch, making her finger hurt instead, but she pretended it was nothing.
She’d already gone this far—going soft now would just put her in danger.
Better to cement the hierarchy while he still seemed clueless.
Rafen didn’t like Enoch either, so he chimed in.
“D-rank, next time you take the front line. Better than skittering around like a bug.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Shut up.”
“Tch, what’d I do?”
Enoch looked up at the sky.
Don’t try to solve everything with fighting.
As he reminded himself once more, a blob of water came flying.
Splat—!
The spot where Enoch dodged got thoroughly soaked.
The party scrambled into formation, startled by the sudden attack.
“W-what is it!”
“It came from that direction!”
Unlike the panicking group, Enoch furrowed his brow.
He knew exactly who it was.
“What is it?”
Tippy yelled at Enoch’s nonchalant reaction.
“Hey! Get to the front qui—kyaa!”
Puk—!
A water blob smacked Tippy in the face.
The startled Tippy looked around wildly, and the rest of the party tensed up, caught off guard.
[Hey, you idiot! What the hell are you doing?]
“What.”
[How are you letting those morons push you around? I didn’t raise you like that!]
“I didn’t grow up under you either.”
[Agh! You cheeky brat!]
Unable to hold back, Undine revealed herself.
“Spirit…?”
“They seem to know each other.”
Ignoring the murmuring humans, Undine planted her hands on her hips.
[You think Rionne would like seeing you like this?]
“…Rionne said that.”
[What? To go around getting beat up?]
“Don’t try to solve everything with fighting.”
Undine clawed at her chest.
[Kyyyaaah! You frustrating blockhead!]
Boom—! Boom—! The ground shook each time Undine pounded her chest.
The humans huddled together, holding their breath in fear.
[Is that what you think that means!?]
“Then what.”
[You treat her like some angel descended from heaven or a bodhisattva or something! She’s just a blockhead too, you know!?]
Undine writhed in frustration.
[It just means don’t strut around guys stronger than you! If you beat these idiots up, do you think Rionne would scold you? She’d be like, ‘Good job, Enoch!’ or whatever!]
“Fighting…….”
[No! Please! Seriously!]
Rumble—!
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a storm began to rage.
It reflected Undine’s frustration that felt like it could kill her.
[She said that just ’cause she’s worried about you! You know she didn’t drink a sip of water while you were laid up!?]
“…….”
[She’d love seeing you like this! She’d probably snap all their necks right now!]
At Undine’s pointing finger, the humans rolled their eyes back and collapsed.
Enoch stayed calm, but the heavy pressure settling over the space wasn’t something ordinary humans could withstand.
[Do I have to spell it out!? Huh? ‘Don’t try to solve everything with fighting.’ What does that mean? ‘Don’t pick pointless fights and come back hurt,’ that’s it! She’d praise you to the skies if you were the one doing the hitting!]
“Hm.”
It made sense.
“So what then?”
[What do you mean ‘what then’! Just do what you normally do! If you think you can’t win, back off a bit!]
“That’s it?”
[Yeah, you frustrating idiot!]
“Aha.”
Enoch clapped his fist into his palm.
Then he promptly tilted his head.
“But why are you here?”
[Why do you think!]
“Rionne?”
[Yeah!]
Enoch tapped the ground with his foot, looking at the huffing spirit.
“…Thought you’d washed your hands of me by now.”
[Hah, as if. She’s still whining, ‘Is Enoch okay? Is he eating well?’ and all that!]
“…….”
Enoch clamped his mouth shut and went quiet for a moment.
Then he waved his hand.
“Got it. I’ll handle it.”
[Tch, you? Handle it?]
Hmph! The spirit snorted and vanished from the spot.
Enoch glanced at the party— all three were foaming at the mouth, passed out.
A few seconds later, starting with Max, they slowly came to.
“Ugh…. What was that?”
“Why all of a sudden….”
Undine must’ve messed with them—they didn’t seem to remember a thing.
Tippy groaned, clutching her head, then spotted Enoch standing there blankly and yelled.
“Hey! What’d you see? Why’re you the only one fine?”
Enoch pondered briefly, then approached her.
“W-what is it!”
Kwaang—!
“Kyaaak…!”
Tippy plopped down right there, a huge lump on her head.
“Hm.”
Ambiguous.
His irritation eased halfway.
What good would beating up these small fries do?
Enoch tapped the ground with his foot, digging a big pit.
“W-wait…! What’re you…?”
Exactly big enough for one person.
Enoch shoved Tippy into the pit.
“Kya aaaak…! W-wait…! Hear me out…!”
He buried her, leaving just her head sticking out like a sprout.
Next was Rafen.
He sensed it and nocked an arrow, but,
Kwaang—!
“Guh…!”
He took a knuckle rap to the forehead and got planted next to Tippy.
Now two heads sprouted from the ground.
“Uh…. Me too?”
Max smiled awkwardly.
Enoch nodded.
“Oh no.”
Kwaang—!
*
The spot where Enoch had left.
Three heads sprouted side by side like seedlings.
“…You guys can’t do any better than this?”
Tippy and Rafen trembled at Max’s face, twisted like a demon of malice.
Rustle—! Max dug his buried body out and looked down at them with cold eyes.
“Tch, useless shits.”
“W-wait…! I can do better! Right? Spare me!”
“…Stronger than he looked.”
Max grabbed their hair.
“Kuh…!”
“Kyaaak…!”
Yank—! They came out of the ground like weeds and flopped onto the dirt.
“Let’s head back for now. That cocky little shit. Thought I’d break him in a bit, but he just buries us instead.”
“…Kill him?”
“Shut it.”
Thud, thud. The three mercenaries set off back to the city.
The spirit watching them clicked her tongue.
[Too soft. He’ll have to get burned once before he learns.]
That cheeky brat.
Time he got a lesson.
*
Whether fortunate or not, the party didn’t awkwardly regroup the next day.
The monster wave was nearly upon them.
“Those who earn merit will be rewarded, and those who flee will be punished.”
This time, the lord himself stepped up to lead the soldiers.
He was a stern-looking man.
A beard covered his lower face, and his muscle-bound bulk made the horse carrying him sway.
Even having reached the exalted Master realm, his middle-aged appearance hinted at the years he’d lived.
“No doubt none of you idiots are unaware, but on the battlefield, a superior’s orders are absolute. Defiance means summary execution, so if you’ve got complaints, step forward now.”
No one would have complaints.
Even if they did, they had to pretend not to.
Stepping up now was perfect timing to get their head lopped off as an example.
“Who the hell are you?”
So that one line rang out clearer than ever, shaking the space.
All eyes turned to the source of the voice.
“I thought about it, and yeah, humans really are inferior. They don’t know their place.”
The speaker, sounding irritated, was a suspicious figure in a bizarre mask topped with a pitch-black hood.
Naturally, it was Enoch, his limiter off as of yesterday.
[Ooh.]
The watching spirit’s jaw dropped.
“Hah….”
Max, quietly observing, gaped too.
He’d thought the kid was just weird, but he was batshit crazy.
“Got complaints, huh?”
The lord seemed annoyed too, crooking a finger.
“Come out here.”
Enoch stepped forward readily.
In his mind, his conversation with Undine replayed.
‘Don’t strut around guys stronger than you. So if you can win, it’s fine to do whatever?’
Swaeek—!
A swift sword sliced through the air.
Enoch tilted his head back slightly to dodge.
As the lord raised an eyebrow,
Keeing—!
A faint halo appeared above Enoch’s head.
He’d just wanted to refine the insight he’d gained last time a bit more clearly.
A Master opponent wouldn’t be a total bore.
Ah, but Rionne would worry, so he’d go easy on the divine thunder mythology.
[Hah…, does that kid have no middle ground? What about the monster wave?]
Undine’s sigh faintly scattered into the air.