Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Victory
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Win.
The plains between the horizon, the forest, and the city.
Monsters swarmed every visible spot.
[You're really going in there? No way.]
"No, I'll win."
[What are you talking about?]
Enoch traced a parabola following gravity's pull as he plummeted to the ground.
Boom-!
Purple lightning flashed amid the cloud of dust.
Enoch emerged from it and planted his feet firmly.
Crack-! An orc met its end with the sound of breaking bones.
Enoch scanned the surroundings, sparks flying from the eyeholes of his mask.
"A lot."
Monsters everywhere.
Overwhelming gazes, thick killing intent.
A chill ran through his entire body.
"Good."
Kiiiiing────────!!
The halo spun.
True energy gathered in his hand, and a familiar technique activated: Thousand Slaying Thunder God Art.
The moment Enoch grasped the star in his hand,
Rumble──────!!
Purple lightning crashed down.
*
"Fuck...."
Max shuddered at the distant storm of raging lightning.
"Almost got fucked...."
It was a miracle he was still alive after scheming against a guy like that.
Lately, his luck had been shit—guess that paid the bill instead.
No better deal than this.
'Anyway....'
Max's eyes swept over the ramparts.
Everyone was staring at the distant battlefield.
Or was it a hunting ground?
A rampaging beast massacred the monsters.
Pushing aside the eerie feeling, he checked on the lord.
"Hmm...."
He looked deep in thought.
Fair enough.
No matter how strong that monster was, as long as he hadn't shed his human limits, he couldn't kill every single one of those monsters.
It wasn't about strength—it was endurance.
Mana would run out, and he couldn't maintain that output for long.
Maybe... that monster would just drop dead on its own?
He hoped the lord wouldn't open the gates under the pretense of support.
Max scratched his head vigorously.
*
Spear, fist, axe, foot, claw, fang, head, talon, torso, arrow.
Enoch's eyes darted busily.
Surrounded on all sides.
So much to keep track of.
"Kieaak-!"
A bipedal lizard thrust its spear.
Lizardman—the name flashed in his mind.
He stepped forward simultaneously, scattering the star clutched in his hand.
Shaaa───────────
Five streams of true energy swept the front.
Amid the severed corpses, arrows flew in.
He slammed one into the head of a charging orc and unleashed the prepared spell.
Crackle-!
Currents arced across a wide area.
The monsters' bodies stiffened for a moment.
In that gap.
He swung his hand, kicked out, cast simple spells.
Monster heads, hearts, throats went flying.
"Haa.... Haa...."
His breathing grew ragged.
The count of slaughtered monsters had long passed three digits.
His stamina was hitting its limit.
Yet monsters remained plentiful.
Another sword came flying. He smacked the flat with his palm.
A dog-like monster's maw. He tore the gaping jaws apart.
He yanked the dodged spear, smashed an orc's head, leaped spinning, and unleashed a barrage of kicks.
Thud thud thud-!
Crimson blood, blue blood, green blood, all colors mingling in the air.
Darkened blood coiled around his ankle.
Battle heat filled his head, piercing killing intent set his body ablaze.
Slash-!
He jerked his head back just in time; talons grazed by.
A split second slower, and his throat would be torn.
His heart pounded.
Ecstasy rose, lifting the corners of his mouth.
I'm alive.
The sensation, dulled by habit here, felt strangely fresh.
"Heh...."
Grinning madly, he swept through the battlefield.
Flickering true energy from depleting mana.
A claw sliced empty air; the orc counterattacked immediately.
Crack-!
Faster still, he burrowed in and pierced its chest.
Thump-! Thump-! The heart in his hand beat.
He crushed it, bursting it with a squelch.
Monsters still plentiful.
Attacks pouring in.
Dodging them all was getting tough.
Wounds accumulated on arms, legs, cheek, side.
"Kyak-!"
A black maw blocked his view.
Dog-like monster, gnoll.
He shoved his hand into the open jaws.
Crunch-!
Depleted mana pierced by fangs.
But whatever.
Buoyed by sharp pain and surging thrill, he rammed his hand down its throat.
"Kek...!"
He yanked whatever he grabbed, dragging entrails out its mouth.
Rip, tear roughly—the light faded from the gnoll's eyes.
"Huu...."
Blood loss blurred his mind.
Or maybe rising madness.
"Hahaha...!"
Gurgle-! Black killing intent surged.
The world turned pitch black, yet his vision sharpened.
Pulsing artery in a goblin's neck, orc's heaving breath, bloodshot veins in the gnoll's yellow sclera, throat wailing in agony, steaming hot blood.
Just like this, all of them...
Slap-!
[Hey, you bastard!]
A water slap hit his cheek.
Enoch blinked, and suddenly a fist flew at his face.
Smack-!
Undine swiftly burst a lizardman's head.
Snapping back to reality, Enoch moved again.
[Stop it already!?]
"I'll win."
[Win what, you psycho bastard!]
His body felt light.
Muscles exhausted to the tearing point, yet more vitality than ever.
He noticed his wounds had improved noticeably.
What was it?
Related to Thousand Slaying Star?
Humming, he smashed two grabbed heads together.
[This guy's a total murder fucker!]
"Hoo...! M-Me, no mom?"
He snatched a sword blade barehanded.
Swordsmanship? Yeah, he'd learned some.
Swoosh──────!
Limbs tumbled at the flashing blade.
Enoch grinned.
[Murder, not mother, you killer! What the hell's with that euphoric face while slaughtering monsters!?]
"...Vulgar."
[You're the one doing it! Not me!]
"No fun."
[It wasn't for fun!]
His body was finally refusing to move.
Monsters..., oh, quite thinned out?
He realized the surroundings were a field of corpses.
Still plenty left, of course.
"Hmm."
Flicker—the sustained Thunder God Transformation finally died.
Strength drained from his body in an instant.
Even at reduced output, the dangerous technique left his head throbbing like it would split.
"Pass?"
[Agh, you moron! Now what!]
"Help?"
[...Unbelievable.]
Undine sighed.
Enoch's body, eyed with exasperation, was covered in wounds.
Lione would really foam at the mouth and faint if she saw this—not joking.
[Better to die than whine....]
Undine raised her hand.
Her fist, pebble-sized for a fist-sized spirit, clenched tight.
[Take this!]
Boink-! A knuckle rap to Enoch's head.
"Ugh...!"
Enoch clutched his head and slumped.
At the same moment,
Boom──────────!!!!
The world shook.
Enoch staggered upright and looked up.
"Oh...."
A colossal fist, mountain-sized.
Made of water, it smashed the ground, erasing everything.
Crushed monster corpses smeared into the earth.
Blood scent wafted from the stained ground.
"Good."
Enoch gave a thumbs-up.
*
Wise man time—Enoch finally grasped the term's true meaning today.
"Nyaa...."
His whole body sagged limply.
No drive to do anything, just wanted to sleep now that it was over.
They said stray thoughts vanished and thinking cleared up, but who knew about that.
Just extremely tired.
[Hey, hey! Don't lie down here!]
Propped up by Undine, he trudged along as the massive gates swung wide.
He stepped inside without a thought.
[Kyah....]
Eri, tuning energy in the middle dantian, slumped exhausted on his shoulder.
He stroked her head in appreciation and came face-to-face with the welcoming lord.
"...I wondered who it was. Sword Lord's disciple, huh."
The lord's gaze lingered on Undine, arms crossed with a sullen expression.
'Tyrant' Undine.
He'd heard the name countless times, but... never imagined this level.
And the disciple was no ordinary either.
Mask and hood hid it well, but the intense battle revealed a face young enough to call a boy.
Already a master at that age.
Rare even on the continent.
Not a half-baked master like himself, but a true one with his own star.
"Oh...."
Enoch, oblivious to the lord's reaction, just widened his eyes blankly.
Should he, or not? Intense debate raged.
But instinct couldn't be curbed even by wise man time?
He voiced the quick decision.
"A round?"
"......?"
"Might not be bad."
Fighting in an exhausted state.
That had its own unique flavor.
Different things to consider than usual, different technique usage.
Already a whole new content.
Crackle-
Faint current flowed from Enoch's eyes.
Dim lightning on the verge of dying.
At the same time, Undine's hand moved.
Smack-!
[Hey, you fiery bastard! Stay still! You want no treatment!? Wanna get chewed out by Lione again before snapping out of it!?]
"Ugh...."
Enoch rubbed his occiput.
Tiny thing, but her hand stung.
[Haa.... Whatever, so we're heading back now? You stayed to watch the monster wave. Or was it watching?]
"...Participant experience. Anyway, home in a bit."
[What? Didn't your runaway end?]
"No, got a little something to do."