92
My Villains Chapter 92
24. Boss Phase (2)
Although I complained about Haclio's appearance, I was actually somewhat mentally prepared for it.
In a way, it was obvious, as Haclio was quite a noticeable creature. The Gate Defense Force and the Prince's Army, who had fought against the enemy multiple times, couldn't possibly be unaware of his existence.
So I quietly gave Utequais instructions on how to deal with him.
Not only that, just in case, I mentioned all six random named enemies that could appear in the boss phase.
Of course, I couldn't give specific strategies like 'Blue-footed Moses is a magic swordsman who handles a few lightning-type spells. Either crush him before he casts spells, or avoid until his magic runs out and then finish him off.'
Instead, I could only give vague, generalized advice like 'Even though they're thieves, there might be someone who uses magic,' or 'There's supposedly a half-orc who wields a magic axe working for the Baron of Thieves.'
Well, most of it turned out to be useless now anyway.
By the time I climbed the tower on the right side of the gate with Ellen.
Haclio, an ogre covered in stone scales all over his body, swung his fist at Utequais.
"Guek!" Bang!
Following the monstrous cry, a fist as big as a human torso pounded the ground. Dust spread thickly.
Utequais was different from usual. He was maintaining a low stance while taking side steps.
While doing so, he occasionally made feinting movements. He was gauging the enemy's reactions.
His movements, which had seemed so sluggish when sparring with me, looked remarkably quick when displayed against Haclio.
Haclio, who had been mindlessly swinging his arms, twitched his mouth.
"Grrrr, *guruck, gururuk*"
As if vomiting with his mouth closed. Haclio's large mouth filled with something foul.
And then came the spray.
"Keeeeek!"
As the mass of sprayed mucus flew toward him, Utequais quickly grabbed two corpses.
Whether it was luck or if he had been eyeing them beforehand, both were large-bodied corpses.
The dirty vomit splattered onto the dead bandits.
"Hup."
Perhaps from holding his breath, Utequais's back greatly expanded.
The mass Haclio spat out emitted such a stench that it could induce vomiting.
This wasn't just a metaphor - the toxins mixed in the mass were actually causing vomiting.
The toxicity was so strong that even covering your mouth and nose wouldn't prevent poisoning.
"Ngh."
But now Utequais was only slightly frowning.
Earlier, when the ogre appeared among the bandits, he had immediately swallowed the antidote he had prepared in advance.
The moment Haclio's vomiting, or rather spraying, ended.
Utequais quickly threw away the corpses and charged at the ogre who was regaining his composure.
"Hugaw, qun!"
To charge barehanded at an opponent much bigger than yourself, even throwing away your weapon. That guy is definitely crazy, I tell you.
The barbarian, nearly matching the huge ogre in size, began pounding away at it. Sounds like beating a log with a bat filled the reed field.
"Kruk!"
After being hit in succession on the abdomen, face, and sides, Haclio swept widely with both arms.
Whoosh.
Instead, Utequais launched himself to hang onto the arm, then locked his legs around the shoulder and broke the elbow!
Crack!
"Kieeek!" The ogre screamed miserably while struggling.
Bang!
The roughly thrown barbarian wiped his mouth and grabbed the hammer he had set on the ground.
And then, charged again.
"Athar Marta!"
A fierce shout followed by a heavy strike.
Bang, Crack!
The heavily swung hammer struck the knee, bounced up to hit the shoulder, and flew horizontally to clash with the fist.
The stone scales that would have easily blocked swords or spears were shattering like dead skin under the merciless hammering.
"Kii, Kiiik-"
Utequais strode toward Haclio, who was half-fallen and writhing.
When the filthy ogre made a last desperate attempt to vomit,
The strong-stomached berserker made do with holding his breath and covering his face to avoid it.
While brushing off the mucus on his arms and shoulders, he adjusted his grip on the hammer with both hands.
Bang!
"Kieeek!"
Haclio's phlegmy screams quickly died down after the hammer struck his head two, three, four times.
Though his skull was too hard to crack, the relatively softer bones in his neck and chest broke easily.
Finally, the ogre died after being beaten until his head was buried halfway into his chest.
"Shiko rec'ne!"
The roar of victory echoed. And the ceremony that followed was a bit different from the previous ones.
Utequais approached Haclio. Standing behind the ogre who had died on his knees, he drew a dagger from his waist.
A dagger with a blade as thick as an arm, resembling an axe.
He stuck that dagger below the ogre's nape and began hammering with the stone hammer. Like carving rock with a chisel and hammer, he was carving flesh and bone with the dagger and stone hammer.
Tang, tang, taang!
While Utequais worked, a strange silence fell over the reed field.
It was an indescribable lull, perhaps from the bewilderment at the quickly ended fight, or the tension from the standoff.
Finally, after cutting all the ribs from the spine, Utequais threw away the dagger and hammer.
Then he kicked the dissected ogre's back, and,
"Athar Marta!"
While shouting to the sky, he ripped off Haclio's head.
"Uweek!"
"Th-that crazy barbarian."
The soldiers' faces turned pale at the horrific offering Utequais had created.
While the soldiers trembled in horror, I, standing on the tower, got goosebumps for a slightly different reason.
As horrific as the result was, the berserker's expression while dissecting the ogre's back was even more strange.
That emotionless gaze and expression, as if performing some sublime art.
And then, the religious ecstasy revealed when offering the most precious sacrifice to his mother.
Between the friendly foreigner who taught Nabuk while laughing, and the berserker who finished the cruel ritual and chewed the ogre's heart...
There existed an unbridgeable, massive gap.
"Wh-what is that barbarian bastard!"
The bandit captains exchanged glances at the neurotic shout of Albienne, the man who became a baron on horseback.
"Answer me, you idiots! Your mouths aren't just for show! Tell me anything you know!"
As Albienne's face grew increasingly red, finally a woman stepped forward. A young swordswoman with dark gray hair.
"Dumo- I mean, Baron."
"What?"
"Remember last time, when we got our rear ends handed to us? When those rat bastards returned to their rat hole?"
"...You mean the day Pageno, that idiot, turned into a bloody mess?"
'Damn, dammit, dog-like. This bastard's about to blow. Surely he won't pluck out my eyes?'
The magic swordsman Moses quickly spat out her remaining words while cursing internally.
"Didn't you... Hear reports then about such a barbarian being among those rats?"
"Who? Me?"
"Yes, Baron."
The baron fell into deep thought before nodding with a serious expression.
"...I believe I did."
"And you said not to worry about it since it wouldn't affect the bigger picture?"
After twitching his nose for a moment, Albienne turned to look at the surrounding bandit captains and bellowed.
"Why are you all standing there with stupid expressions! Are we going to let that bastard go like that? Go, catch him!"
At that threatening shout, the bandit group's executives scattered hurriedly. 'Blue-footed Moses' was among them.
"Hey! Get ready to move out!"
At her sharp cry, about thirty bandits immediately prepared themselves.
Moses led the flag bearers while constantly looking around.
Half-orc Ulek, Beast Greer, Deaf Slong... Watching other bandit captains lead their subordinates out, Moses slowly pulled on her reins. All the while, she kept examining the castle walls.
At that moment, the gate opened and a group of cavalry poured out. Seeing the knight at their lead, Moses's face crumpled terribly.
"...Damn, it's that bastard again."
It was the giant Ankir and the Silver Prince's elite cavalry. Moses felt what little fighting spirit she had evaporating.
"It's Ankir!"
"Ankir came out to save the barbarian!"
"It's our chance for revenge! Kill him!"
Her foolish colleagues were driving their subordinates forward with fire in their eyes. They seemed to have gained confidence since only about twenty had come out through the gate.
"You idiots, taking risks just because of some barbarian bastard..."
Moses glanced back to check the boss's reaction while turning her horse around.
Her subordinates followed as she appeared to be moving in a slightly different direction.
Just then, something strange caught Moses's eye as she was watching South Harbor.
A large figure had appeared above the castle wall.
"Huh?"
Moses narrowed her brows and focused her eyes.
The figures floating in the air were two people, and below them, a rope extended down.
"What is that-"
At that moment, something burst out from the figure hanging on the rope. Due to the summer sunlight, it was hard to see what it was...
Whoosh!
The unidentified mass drew a long parabola toward the reed field while growing in size.
Moses soon realized it was a large fireball.
The fireball, which had accelerated even more than its increased size suggested, struck right in the center of the bandits who were rushing toward the barbarian.
Kwang!
A pillar of fire rose, and sparks flew in all directions.
The fifteen or so who died instantly when the fireball exploded were the lucky ones.
"Kyaaak!"
"Uu, uaaa! Save me!"
Dozens of unfortunate bandits screamed in agony as their faces, limbs, or entire bodies were engulfed in flames.
And what followed was the rough battle cry of Ankir, the greatest knight of the plateau.
"Trample them all!"
The Silver Prince's cavalry, their morale soaring to the clouds, crushed the scattered bandits along with the burning reed field.
"This is crazy, crazy."
Arrows rained down from the wall, and a second fireball rushed toward the ground. While Moses was hesitating in confusion, a thunderous shout rang out.
"Moses, you stupid woman! Bring the men and follow!"
The owner of that shout was Robber Baron Albienne.
He was spurring his horse while holding a huge mace, and behind him, hundreds of bandits were raising dust and momentum.
Albienne's target was the collapsed section of the wall. He had decided to climb the wall directly, avoiding the enemy's elite cavalry and the sea of fire in the reed field.
When hundreds of bandits charged in wedge formation, the wall immediately became chaotic.
Old knights, commanders, and sergeants shouted frantically.
"Archers, cease free firing! Aim at the charging ones!"
"Spearmen, standby! Don't retreat!"
"The territory soldiers are running away!"
"Behead anyone who shows their back! Stay focused!"
Though arrows and stones poured down from the wall, Albienne and his heavily armed bandits weren't fazed by such attacks.
"Clear the way!"
At the baron's shout, dozens of bandits threw lassos and iron hooks.
The lassos caught on spear barriers, the hooks on the weathered stone wall. Over fifty horses pulled the lassos and hooks in unison.
Rumble!
"It's, falling!"
"Spearmen, prepare for battle!"
Under the defenders' cursing, the spear barriers were cleared and the temporary barricades collapsed.
The Gate Defense Force's spearmen stood with their long spears to block the gap, but the heavily armed bandits led by Albienne forced their way through.
"Are they breaking through? Are they actually breaking through?"
Moses, who had been dawdling in the back, made an expression of disbelief.
'Where are the old cannons, the battle mages? Are there really none?'
As she was thinking this, the figure floating in the air on the tower's rope split in two.
More precisely, the larger figure that had been holding the smaller one separated. And then the fall began.
"...What's that now?"
The large figure fell vertically for a moment.
Whoosh.
Then suddenly, a strong wind swept through, gently pushing the figure.
The figure - no, the warrior armed with heavy armor, a conical iron helmet, a burning longsword, and a black triangular shield - Bang!
Landed precisely between the spearmen and bandits.
"Keuuk,"
The tall man who rose while crushing some unfortunate horse and rider stuck his burning sword into the bandit's neck at his feet.
The spurting blood dyed the burning sword an ominous color.
The bloody swordsman holding the sword flickering with blood-flames gave an eerie smile.
"Huu."
The swordsman, making a sound that could have been either a sigh or a laugh, swung his sword like lightning.
Seeing severed limbs flying into the sky, Moses decided to completely turn her horse around.