Chapter 534: Rainbow (1)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 534: Rainbow (1)

We barreled down Main Street from the chief's house to the entrance of the village.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With Giantization, each of my steps shook the earth and made it sound like we were in a construction zone, but I didn't care about what the village's residents thought. My noisiness was the least of their concerns right now.

"(F-Fire...!)"

"(Bring water over here!)"

They were too busy trying to put out the fires anyway. There wasn't a single person here who cared about a barbarian stomping a little too loudly down their street.

Were they people?

Just as I was once again mulling over a thought I'd had multiple times now, a question interrupted me.

"...Is this really okay?" Versyl asked as she sat atop the traditional wizard-exclusive vehicle, Ainar.

"What do you mean?"

I had no idea what she was talking about, but Versyl glanced behind her in response. Flames had erupted from the center of the village and the smoke was consuming everything.

"Many of this village's residents aren't warriors..."

Ah, she was more soft-hearted than I thought. She was still treating those fish-headed monsters with empathy.

"So?"

My tone made it clear that comments were no longer welcome, and Versyl shut her mouth accordingly.

"Um..."

Yet for some reason, Missha took up the baton. "Why did you do that, Bjorn...? This isn't like you..."

Not like me? That was the second time hearing that today.

"Yeah! I wanna know too! What did you see down there to make you do this?"

Ainar joined in on Missha's questioning. Even with her lowered Aggression, it seemed she still had a barbarian's curiosity.

Human bodies.

That alone technically summed up everything I saw down there. The chief showed me a pile of corpses and explained how he ended up with them in an effort to clear up some of my misunderstandings. To be honest, none of that was actually the issue.

However...

"(Since we hid this from you as well, I won't ask you to take responsibility for your ally breaking the rules of the village or the mistake you made as a result. How about it?)"

He then proceeded to tell me that he would overlook Amelia's trespassing and my cracking open Nuiachichi's skull as well.

Wasn't that a little suspicious? Hans A, my first night companion, had done something similar after I "fell asleep" during my shift on watch.

"... Fortunately, we didn't have any problems while you were sleeping, so I'll wipe the slate."

The lesson I learned that day was one I still carried in my bones. If someone I didn't know was nice to me, that was because I had something they wanted in return. And there was another lesson I'd picked up over the course of my adventures.

"Why?! Why did you harm Lady Elisa?! What did we do to you?!"

When I smacked Elisa the priestess of Karui in the middle of her innocent cleric act, I came to another realization: the best way to deal with sketchy people was to bust open their skulls first and ask questions later.

However, I didn't feel the need to explain all this to my allies, though it wouldn't be too hard to lay out my logic and win them over.

"Please, tell us. What did you see down there that you're doing this?"

"Nothing much," I replied. Just like with the chief, all I had to say was this: "I just felt like it."

No evidence, no argument—just that.

Missha mumbled, as if to herself, "A feeling, then...was it?"

A gut feeling—that subconscious calculation that took into account all the experiences you had ever had.

"A feeling!" Ainar seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded. "Oh, then it can't be helped!"

Erwen smirked and agreed. "You're pretty spot on when it comes to things like this, Mister. We've survived more than a handful of times specifically thanks to your instincts."

"Well...there's probably a reason you got that gut feeling. To be honest, I was a little wary of the chief as well," Versyl said, weighing in as well.

Wyatt Hektz and Myul Armin, who were running beside us and listening in, also offered their two cents. Well, it wasn't like these guys had been with me for all that long, but still.

"It's a relief to hear you say that, actually."

"You are quite well-known for your animal-like instincts, Baron Yandel."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

They seemed to trust my judgment. After all, most adventurers were willing to excuse most things as long as they turned out okay in the end, and we were also a particularly superstitious bunch.

"Something was off here from the start."

"Honestly, this makes me feel a lot better. I haven't been able to sleep a wink because I've been so on edge."

"Also, when you have a feeling like that, it's much worse to ignore it when it could be a bad omen. I mean, what if you're right?"

"Ah... I get what you mean. Every time something like this happens and you ignore your gut instinct, things always seem to go even worse."

It seemed everyone else had sensed something off about the monsters as well.

Still, it wasn't like I'd answered Versyl's question expecting them to all agree with me like this.

"Let's go!"

"Damn those monsters! Let them all burn!"

For some reason, morale improved in response. They seemed to genuinely believe that this was the right choice, almost as if a single word from me had erased everyone else's doubts—even though I still wasn't completely sure myself.

"...You guys are weird," I said without thinking, and it seemed someone heard me.

"You're the weird one, Yandel. You convinced everyone with an argument so ridiculous it's not even funny."

Uh, what?

That voice...

"Now that I think about it, though, you've always been like this. You have a talent for it. For making everyone believe that the direction you're headed is the right one..."

"Emily?" When I whipped around, Amelia was peering back at me from her spot on Auyen's back. "You should've said something if you were awake. When did you wake up?"

"Just now."

"How are you feeling? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Amelia immediately slid down from Auyen's back and started running on her own two feet. "I think I've got the gist of what's going on. We're trying to escape from the village, right?"

However, I didn't feel the need to explain all this to my allies, though it wouldn't be too hard to lay out my logic and win them over.

"Please, tell us. What did you see down there that you're doing this?"

"Nothing much," I replied. Just like with the chief, all I had to say was this: "I just felt like it."

No evidence, no argument—just that.

Missha mumbled, as if to herself, "A feeling, then...was it?"

A gut feeling—that subconscious calculation that took into account all the experiences you had ever had.

"A feeling!" Ainar seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded. "Oh, then it can't be helped!"

Erwen smirked and agreed. "You're pretty spot on when it comes to things like this, Mister. We've survived more than a handful of times specifically thanks to your instincts."

"Well...there's probably a reason you got that gut feeling. To be honest, I was a little wary of the chief as well," Versyl said, weighing in as well.

Wyatt Hektz and Myul Armin, who were running beside us and listening in, also offered their two cents. Well, it wasn't like these guys had been with me for all that long, but still.

"It's a relief to hear you say that, actually."

"You are quite well-known for your animal-like instincts, Baron Yandel."

They seemed to trust my judgment. After all, most adventurers were willing to excuse most things as long as they turned out okay in the end, and we were also a particularly superstitious bunch.

"Something was off here from the start."

"Honestly, this makes me feel a lot better. I haven't been able to sleep a wink because I've been so on edge."

"Also, when you have a feeling like that, it's much worse to ignore it when it could be a bad omen. I mean, what if you're right?"

"Ah... I get what you mean. Every time something like this happens and you ignore your gut instinct, things always seem to go even worse."

It seemed everyone else had sensed something off about the monsters as well.

Still, it wasn't like I'd answered Versyl's question expecting them to all agree with me like this.

"Let's go!"

"Damn those monsters! Let them all burn!"

For some reason, morale improved in response. They seemed to genuinely believe that this was the right choice, almost as if a single word from me had erased everyone else's doubts—even though I still wasn't completely sure myself.

"...You guys are weird," I said without thinking, and it seemed someone heard me.

"You're the weird one, Yandel. You convinced everyone with an argument so ridiculous it's not even funny."

Uh, what?

That voice...

"Now that I think about it, though, you've always been like this. You have a talent for it. For making everyone believe that the direction you're headed is the right one..."

"Emily?" When I whipped around, Amelia was peering back at me from her spot on Auyen's back. "You should've said something if you were awake. When did you wake up?"

"Just now."

"How are you feeling? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Amelia immediately slid down from Auyen's back and started running on her own two feet. "I think I've got the gist of what's going on. We're trying to escape from the village, right?"

"Yeah."

She sighed. "You made quite the mess while I was asleep. Fill me in. What happened?"

Since this wasn't a conversation we could take our time having over tea, I filled her in on the most important bits.

"The chief showed me what was under the house, but I still felt like he was scheming something, so I hit him over the head. And while running away, we set fire to the village. The chief is probably chasing us through the fire."

That was about the long and short of it.

Amelia stared at me for a moment, at a loss for words. "...That's just like you."

I couldn't help but laugh. This was probably the first time today someone had told me I was acting exactly like myself.

"Anyway," I said, a laugh still in my voice, "now it's your turn. What happened to you?"

"I tried to go down into the basement but ended up getting caught and captured. I was interrogated, and that was that."

Was that it? I pressed her for more details just in case, but she didn't offer any additional information. Not that additional information would have changed anything about our current situation.

"Mister, we're almost there!"

The real challenge would begin. Like Noark, this village was built underground. The only way to get into it was through the entrance, which was likely sealed by magic or some other ability.

"What do we do now?"

The gate was currently closed, so all we could see in front of us was a solid stone wall. Only the chief could open or close it.

Well, officially, anyway.

"Step back."

As I approached the wall with my hammer, our white-collar wizard Versyl asked, "Will that... even work?"

Man, this was why academics weren't cut out for hard labor.

"I'll know once I give it a shot."

With that, I slammed my hammer into the wall with everything I had.

[You have cast Swing.]

Boom!

The shockwave was enough to kick up all the dust in the surrounding area. However, the wall looked completely unscathed.

"...I don't think that worked."

Yeah, so that wasn't enough. Pretty embarrassing for a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠barbarian.

"Don't worry. I have a way," I assured them.

"You do?"

"Yeah."

Whether we were talking about magic, skills, or some other fantasy game nonsense, there was nothing in the world that couldn't be torn down with physical force. And if whatever you were hitting refused to break, that was only because you were too weak to break it.

So, I initiated Plan B.

"Erwen!"

Time to hit it even harder.

[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]

Bang, bang, bang!

Hundreds of balls of darkness slammed into the wall. However, the wall remained intact.

Ok, so that wasn't enough either?

Looks like there's no point in using more Swings.

Every time a ball of darkness struck the stone wall, it chipped and cracked a little, but it seemed there was a pretty impressive restoration ability at play here, as it immediately mended itself. It looked like the kind of thing that needed to be hit with one big attack rather than a bunch of small ones.

"Yeah."

She sighed. "You made quite the mess while I was asleep. Fill me in. What happened?"

Since this wasn't a conversation we could take our time having over tea, I filled her in on the most important bits.

"The chief showed me what was under the house, but I still felt like he was scheming something, so I hit him over the head. And while running away, we set fire to the village. The chief is probably chasing us through the fire."

That was about the long and short of it.

Amelia stared at me for a moment, at a loss for words. "...That's just like you."

I couldn't help but laugh. This was probably the first time today someone had told me I was acting exactly like myself.

"Anyway," I said, a laugh still in my voice, "now it's your turn. What happened to you?"

"I tried to go down into the basement but ended up getting caught and captured. I was interrogated, and that was that."

Was that it? I pressed her for more details just in case, but she didn't offer any additional information. Not that additional information would have changed anything about our current situation.

"Mister, we're almost there!"

The real challenge would begin. Like Noark, this village was built underground. The only way to get into it was through the entrance, which was likely sealed by magic or some other ability.

"What do we do now?"

The gate was currently closed, so all we could see in front of us was a solid stone wall. Only the chief could open or close it.

Well, officially, anyway.

"Step back."

As I approached the wall with my hammer, our white-collar wizard Versyl asked, "Will that... even work?"

Man, this was why academics weren't cut out for hard labor.

"I'll know once I give it a shot."

With that, I slammed my hammer into the wall with everything I had.

[You have cast Swing.]

Boom!

The shockwave was enough to kick up all the dust in the surrounding area. However, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the wall looked completely unscathed.

"...I don't think that worked."

Yeah, so that wasn't enough. Pretty embarrassing for a barbarian.

"Don't worry. I have a way," I assured them.

"You do?"

"Yeah."

Whether we were talking about magic, skills, or some other fantasy game nonsense, there was nothing in the world that couldn't be torn down with physical force. And if whatever you were hitting refused to break, that was only because you were too weak to break it.

So, I initiated Plan B.

"Erwen!"

Time to hit it even harder.

[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has summoned the Elemental Ruler of Darkness, Dicloe.]

Bang, bang, bang!

Hundreds of balls of darkness slammed into the wall. However, the wall remained intact.

Ok, so that wasn't enough either?

Looks like there's no point in using more Swings.

Every time a ball of darkness struck the stone wall, it chipped and cracked a little, but it seemed there was a pretty impressive restoration ability at play here, as it immediately mended itself. It looked like the kind of thing that needed to be hit with one big attack rather than a bunch of small ones.

"Erwen."

There was no need for me to say anything more than that. Once I called her name, light began to gather at the tip of Erwen's arrow.

Yeah, there's no better one-shot than Concentrated Fire.

The downside was that it would take a while for her to fully charge it.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

As time ticked by, the color of the light grew ever more intense.

"Yandel."

"You don't need to say it. I can see it too."

From the direction of the burning, smoke-filled village, something was quickly closing in on us. At first, it looked like a small dot on the horizon, but as it grew larger, it became obvious exactly what—or who—it was.

...So you aren't going to be nice and let us go, huh?

Well, he got here later than I expected, so I wasn't going to complain.

"Prepare for battle!" I roared as I ran up to meet him.

Clang!

The moment I lunged forward, my shield raised, that "something" that had been charging toward us crashed into me.

Fwoosh!

A cloud of dust burst outward at impact, like a bomb going off.

At that moment, our long-rangers opened fire—debuffs, wind spears, fireballs, arrows, energy blasts, and so on. Since they were fired by experienced adventurers, all of the projectiles flew right to their target. Unfortunately, however, none of the attacks landed.

Flash.

Every shot disappeared in bursts of light before they even hit his body. It looked pretty similar to Nullification, the skill favored by Orcules's leader, but there was one big difference.

I was still able to use my skills in my fight with him earlier.

So if it isn't Nullification...

There was only one essence out there that granted its user a similar ability.

Tol-Lapupa's.

This had to be a skill from the rank-one monster Tol-Lapupa—namely, Cosmic Protection, an incredibly overpowered skill that completely neutralized all long-range attacks before they could hit you. On top of that, since Cosmic Protection was a passive, I had no way of knowing which of Tol-Lapupa's active skills he might have.

I didn't expect him to have a rank-one essence.

Even as the weight on my shoulders grew heavier, the first thing I did was order everyone to stop making ranged attacks. They were just a waste of MP at this point.

...Though if I'm right about what skill this is, his own MP should decrease relative to the damage nullified.

Still, since this wasn't a fight I intended to drag out, there was no point in trying to wear him down and drain his MP. Especially considering we were the ones who were going to need to fight through a horde of monsters after getting out of this village.

"You're later than I expected, village chief."

So I started talking. Buying even one additional second was a win at this point.

"Someone needs to clean up after all of you." Oh, I didn't actually expect him to reply. Still, it seemed the chief wasn't planning to humor me for long. "It's raining outside, so where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Ah, well, I think I've got a case of cabin fever from being stuck in the village twenty-four-seven."

"Stop now. I'm saying this for your own good."

That earned him a derisive smile. "For my own good, huh?"

The chief delivered his final warning. "It's not too late. If you stop now, I will overlook everything that happened today."

That offer would've been oh-so-sweet if I were a rat who had been driven into a corner. As it stood, however, his words were nothing more than a confidence boost.

I was honestly starting to get worried that I'd made the wrong call.

But this was proof that I hadn't.

Here he was, telling me, the guy who had just cracked his skull open and burned down his village, that he was willing to forgive me. There was no way that was normal.

It was so suspicious, in fact, that I had a feeling that if I hadn't decided to run away today, some sort of "mysterious accident" would have befallen me sometime soon and I wouldn't even have been surprised.

"Could I take a moment to think it over?" I tried to buy more time by pretending to actually consider his offer.

The chief, however, seemed to have caught onto my act. "Do you... take me for a fool?"

Uh... "A little?"

"...I am going to count down from three. Decide in that time."

"Three's too short. Let's do four."

The chief didn't dignify that with a response and instead began to count. "...Three."

Well, I guess I still managed to buy a little time. I wasn't going to let him count down all the way anyway, so it wasn't like an extra second mattered.

"Two."

Dash.

Just as the chief was about to shout "one," I rushed to him. There was still quite a bit of time left before Erwen's attack was fully charged, and if a fight was unavoidable anyway...

Let's go all in.

I wanted to give it my all and look at myself through the lens of a veteran who had played this game for nine years straight and had experimented with all sorts of character combinations. I wanted to see how strong this character I had invested so much time into was.

"Behel—aaaaaah!"

And I wanted to see what its weaknesses were.

"Erwen."

There was no need for me to say anything more than that. Once I called her name, light began to gather at the tip of Erwen's arrow.

Yeah, there's no better one-shot than Concentrated Fire.

The downside was that it would take a while for her to fully charge it.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

As time ticked by, the color of the light ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grew ever more intense.

"Yandel."

"You don't need to say it. I can see it too."

From the direction of the burning, smoke-filled village, something was quickly closing in on us. At first, it looked like a small dot on the horizon, but as it grew larger, it became obvious exactly what—or who—it was.

...So you aren't going to be nice and let us go, huh?

Well, he got here later than I expected, so I wasn't going to complain.

"Prepare for battle!" I roared as I ran up to meet him.

Clang!

The moment I lunged forward, my shield raised, that "something" that had been charging toward us crashed into me.

Fwoosh!

A cloud of dust burst outward at impact, like a bomb going off.

At that moment, our long-rangers opened fire—debuffs, wind spears, fireballs, arrows, energy blasts, and so on. Since they were fired by experienced adventurers, all of the projectiles flew right to their target. Unfortunately, however, none of the attacks landed.

Flash.

Every shot disappeared in bursts of light before they even hit his body. It looked pretty similar to Nullification, the skill favored by Orcules's leader, but there was one big difference.

I was still able to use my skills in my fight with him earlier.

So if it isn't Nullification...

There was only one essence out there that granted its user a similar ability.

Tol-Lapupa's.

This had to be a skill from the rank-one monster Tol-Lapupa—namely, Cosmic Protection, an incredibly overpowered skill that completely neutralized all long-range attacks before they could hit you. On top of that, since Cosmic Protection was a passive, I had no way of knowing which of Tol-Lapupa's active skills he might have.

I didn't expect him to have a rank-one essence.

Even as the weight on my shoulders grew heavier, the first thing I did was order everyone to stop making ranged attacks. They were just a waste of MP at this point.

...Though if I'm right about what skill this is, his own MP should decrease relative to the damage nullified.

Still, since this wasn't a fight I intended to drag out, there was no point in trying to wear him down and drain his MP. Especially considering we were the ones who were going to need to fight through a horde of monsters after getting out of this village.

"You're later than I expected, village chief."

So I started talking. Buying even one additional second was a win at this point.

"Someone needs to clean up after all of you." Oh, I didn't actually expect him to reply. Still, it seemed the chief wasn't planning to humor me for long. "It's raining outside, so where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Ah, well, I think I've got a case of cabin fever from being stuck in the village twenty-four-seven."

"Stop now. I'm saying this for your own good."

That earned him a derisive smile. "For my own good, huh?"

The chief delivered his final warning. "It's not too late. If you stop now, I will overlook everything that happened today."

That offer would've been oh-so-sweet if I were a rat who had been driven into a corner. As it stood, however, his words were nothing more than a confidence boost.

I was honestly starting to get worried that I'd made the wrong call.

But this was proof that I hadn't.

Here he was, telling me, the guy who had just cracked his skull open and burned down his village, that he was willing to forgive me. There was no way that was normal.

It was so suspicious, in fact, that I had a feeling that if I hadn't decided to run away today, some sort of "mysterious accident" would have befallen me sometime soon and I wouldn't even have been surprised.

"Could I take a moment to think it over?" I tried to buy more time by pretending to actually consider his offer.

The chief, however, seemed to have caught onto my act. "Do you... take me for a fool?"

Uh... "A little?"

"...I am going to count down from three. Decide in that time."

"Three's too short. Let's do four."

The chief didn't dignify that with a response and instead began to count. "...Three."

Well, I guess I still managed to buy a little time. I wasn't going to let him count down all the way anyway, so it wasn't like an extra second mattered.

"Two."

Dash.

Just as the chief was about to shout "one," I rushed to him. There was still quite a bit of time left before Erwen's attack was fully charged, and if a fight was unavoidable anyway...

Let's go all in.

I wanted to give it my all and look at myself through the lens of a veteran who had played this game for nine years straight and had experimented with all sorts of character combinations. I wanted to see how strong this character I had invested so much time into was.

"Behel—aaaaaah!"

And I wanted to see what its weaknesses were.