Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: The Ruined World (2)
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“It should be around here.”
I followed the path from memory.
Making my way through the withered forest, I encountered monsters every few minutes.
The most common sight here were orcs.
True to their reputation for prolific breeding, their numbers were vast.
The very definition of a fantasy world.
“Kuaaak!!”
A few orcs charged mindlessly, and with a few swings of my sword, they became cold corpses.
A world where it was easier to meet monsters than people.
Even then, it was a world where monsters themselves fled as if pursued by beasts from another dimension.
This was already a ruined world.
To be precise, one on the brink of ruin.
“There it is.”
A crude wooden stockade came into view.
The place where the last survivors of this world had gathered.
Even so, the situation was dire.
About a hundred Death Bites were attacking it.
“~~~!!!”
Atop the stockade, a man who looked like a general was shouting at the top of his lungs, directing his men, but I couldn't understand him.
It was the language of another world.
Naturally, I couldn't understand it.
I used an item I had bought before coming here.
[The 'Translation (B)' trait will be active for 24 hours.]
[Translation (B)]
Breaks down language barriers.
The higher the rank, the more accurate the translation for languages with completely different systems.
“Hold them back! Hold the line! We can't let them break through this stockade!”
Now I could hear.
There were soldiers who looked formally trained, but also men dressed as if they'd just come from the fields, armed only with spears.
A ragtag army, in every sense of the word.
“Aaargh!”
“They're climbing up here! Stop them!!”
Monsters are difficult to fight without the power of the system.
No matter how well-trained the soldiers were, how could they kill them when their weapons were barely effective?
In reality, they were only managing to push the monsters off the stockade with their blows, not kill them.
The commander's attacks, at least, seemed to work, slowly felling one monster at a time, but it was clear they wouldn't last long.
‘This reminds me of when I first hunted Death Bites.’
It hadn't even been three weeks, yet it already felt like a distant memory.
I let out a short laugh and kicked off the ground.
The Death Bites at the very rear caught my scent, sniffing the air and turning around, but in that instant, their heads were separated from their bodies.
[Krrrk!?]
Was it because their kin were dispatched so easily?
The momentarily bewildered Death Bites began to cautiously surround me.
A canine instinct.
When facing a stronger opponent, they cooperate with their pack to attack.
“What are you sizing me up for.”
I stomped my foot, and spikes erupted from the ground in a circle, launching the Death Bites high into the air.
Back then, I had to hunt them by swinging my sword with no decent abilities to speak of. Now, the situation was completely different.
I had acquired top-tier powers.
Just by using them as they came to hand, the Death Bites were cut down like weeds.
Shhhk!
A single swing decapitated several.
Fwoosh!
The ensuing black flames devoured a few more, which struggled for a moment before vanishing without a trace.
There was no chance of winning in close combat.
The moment they realized this and tried to create distance, spikes shot up from the ground, impaling their bellies.
The rank difference is so significant that it won't affect my rewards much, but it's better than not killing them.
“R-reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!”
The commander, who had been watching blankly, snapped to his senses and bellowed.
“R-reinforcements? There were more survivors?”
“Does that matter!? What's important is that he's strong enough to kill those monsters so easily!”
“Hold on! Hold on! We can survive!”
The commander's words boosted their morale, and they summoned every last ounce of strength to push back the Death Bites that had climbed onto the walls.
Since I had already eliminated more than half of them, the remaining Death Bites could no longer ignore me.
[Grrrr…]
Tsk!
As if communicating, they exchanged glances before scattering and starting to flee.
I swung my sword and cut down a few more as they ran, but I didn't give chase.
I didn't come here to save them.
Nor could I save them in the first place.
“Th-they're running away!”
“We won! We won!!”
“Waaaah!!”
They had prepared for death, yet they survived.
This was a world already fading into ruin.
There was no hope left, only the joy of having survived for now.
To me, who knew their future, it all seemed utterly fleeting.
“…Who are you?”
Amidst the celebration, the general leaped down from the stockade and approached me cautiously.
A completely different demeanor from when he was shouting about reinforcements.
He was someone who knew how to use a situation to his advantage.
I chuckled and replied.
“You seemed so welcoming, but your attitude changed quickly once the monsters retreated.”
“I thank you for defeating those beasts. However, I cannot easily trust you until your identity is properly ascertained.”
His calm, cautious eyes darted about ceaselessly.
He was trying to gather information by assessing my clothes, expression, and aura.
“I risked my life jumping into that horde of monsters for you, so I must say I'm disappointed to hear that.”
“That is precisely why I am suspicious.”
His stern face turned toward me.
“Humanity suffered a great defeat in the last war. Even the most renowned warriors died without being able to put up much of a fight against the monsters. Even the Sword Master, hailed as a prodigy who appears only once in decades, fell in battle after fighting hundreds of monsters alone.”
“…”
“Only a few hundred survived. There is no king, no nobility, no powerful warriors left who can slaughter monsters. In such a situation, how can I blindly trust someone who suddenly appears and massacres monsters so brutally? For me, this is a rational suspicion.”
No matter how you look at it, the situation was hopeless.
With forces that struggled against Death Bites, they had to face even stronger monsters.
For now, monsters like orcs, trolls, and ogres were thankfully serving as a buffer, giving them a moment to breathe, but that wouldn't last long.
“I understand. It's a reasonable suspicion. A far better judgment than being stabbed in the back for being too trusting.”
“I thank you for your understanding. Then, would you tell me? Who are you?”
“I came from another world.”
“What…”
His expression shifted from bewilderment to anger, and then the wrinkles on his forehead deepened.
He had become resigned to a situation that defied comprehension.
“…It's not that strange, I suppose. If never-before-seen monsters can emerge from a dimensional gate, then a human from another world appearing here…”
As he muttered, his eyes suddenly widened.
“P-perhaps you are reinforcements from another world?”
“That is not the case. My world is in the same predicament.”
“The same predicament, you say…”
“I'm talking about those monsters that came through the gates.”
For a moment, his eyes clouded over with fear.
A ‘disaster-class’ monster must have appeared in this world as well.
Anyone would react the same way when faced with such overwhelming power.
“Your world suffers as well, I see. In that case, are you perhaps the strongest in your world?”
“I can't say I'm the strongest, but I'm certainly among the strong.”
“Hoh…”
The stat limit has been lifted, and I've gained a lot.
Even so, overall, I still haven't surpassed the S-rank category.
‘I can't even say I'm in the top ten yet.’
My skill ranks are good enough for now.
From now on, what's important are my stats.
100.
My next goal is to get one of my stats over 100 and obtain the power of a ‘superhuman’.
“…To be honest, I still can't fully trust you. It's hard to believe you're from another dimension, and even if it's true, your reason for coming here is a mystery.”
“It's not like I came here by choice. After I defeated a powerful enemy, it said something about making me a traveling companion and sent me here.”
“Hoh. Of all places to end up, it had to be a dying world like this…”
“Still, I hope this has convinced you that I am not your enemy.”
He slowly nodded his head.
That was enough.
My business wasn't with them anyway.
Perhaps deciding to just trust me, he didn't even ask how we were able to communicate.
“More importantly, there's something I'd like to ask.”
“Perhaps, a way to return to your world?”
“You figured it out?”
“Isn't it obvious? If one is forced to leave home, it's only natural to want to return.”
He clicked his tongue with a chuckle.
His gaze was filled with sorrow, yet his eyes had nowhere to rest.
“But, unfortunately, I know nothing. Another world, you say. Before all this, such talk was considered mere nonsense.”
“Ah, that's not what I'm asking. I'd like to be introduced to someone who might know.”
“Someone who might know…?”
“For example, a powerful mage.”
After a moment of thought, he suddenly raised his head.
“Could it be…!”
“Do you know of someone?”
“H-He's alive! Indeed, that is where his laboratory was, and if he is doing something there… that would explain why those dreadful monsters haven't reached us yet!”
‘It's hard to pretend I don't know.’
I already know the exact location.
But if I ignore the crisis here and go straight there, nothing will progress.
The reason he remains there is connected to these last survivors.
If they die, the despairing archmage will offer no help and take his own life.
And then, with no way to return, it's over for me too.
A bad ending.
“He might know something. After all, he is the greatest archmage on the continent!”
“If he's so powerful, why is he over there instead of here helping you all?”
“Perhaps… he has activated a great barrier to slow the monsters' advance. I've seen him block a massive monster invasion with a great barrier before, so I'm certain of it.”
So the story has finally reached this point.
A structure where you have to advance the story through dialogue with the right keywords to get the desired quest and rewards.
If this were a real game, choices would have appeared before my eyes.
‘As long as I meet that mage, everything will proceed as I want.’
The last survivor among the powerful beings of this world. The final bastion.
And at the same time, the only person who can help me return to Earth.
To get what I want and go back, his help was absolutely necessary.
“Then, is your purpose to meet him?”
he asked cautiously.
The archmage was a crucial figure, protecting this area with a powerful barrier.
Because the barrier's range was so vast, low-rank monsters like Death Bites could slip through, but nothing stronger could get past.
Since I, who still seemed suspicious, wanted to meet him, it was only natural for them to be wary, as their very lives were on the line.
“Yes. If you just tell me his location, I plan to take care of some monsters on my way there.”
“Hmm.”
“You can't!”
Just as the general was hesitating, wondering what to do, someone burst out from the crowd.
“We can't trust everything he says! What if he's an intelligent monster disguised as a human, trying to harm the archmage! Surely you haven't forgotten what happened last time!”
A face stained with anger.
He was on high alert, his agitation palpable.
“…”
At that, the general also fell silent.
Tsk. Just when things were going so well, what a nuisance.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and walked toward the one who had shouted.
He flinched noticeably and readjusted his grip on the hoe he was holding.
“D-don't come any closer…!”
Crack!
Right behind the man who was putting on a brave front despite his terror.
A woman who had been watching the situation silently was impaled through the stomach by a forearm-sized spike.
A moment of silence passed before screams erupted from all around, but they weren't simply screams over a person's death.
“Kh… ugh… how…?”
It was because ‘that thing’ was beginning to shed its human form and transform into something inhuman.
I watched it dispassionately, then tossed a short remark to the man who was too terrified to even breathe.
“If I had left just now, you would have been the first to die.”