Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Vortex
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Roooar!
"Hup!!"
I clenched my fist tight and thrust it straight out toward the oncoming blaze of intense heat, drawing in a sharp breath.
Boom!
The flames spread out in concentric circles from the point of impact with my fist, scattering harmlessly into the air.
How many blasts of fire had that been? They came at me so relentlessly that I couldn't keep an exact count.
But at least double digits, for sure.
The dwarf, who had confidently tried to incinerate me, spoke up in a panicked voice not even ten minutes later.
"W-what the hell! Why aren't you burning?!"
Of course not. These flames were nowhere near enough.
"If you want to melt my steel, bring at least white flames."
This wasn't Viscount Wendinel. A clumsy dwarf's fire like this couldn't affect my body at all.
The dwarf's panic was plain as day once all his attacks proved futile.
No surprise there. From his attitude earlier, he clearly had a lot of faith in his flames.
He probably never imagined running into a situation like this.
Even Duke Camille—no, even Ibarella—wouldn't have expected me to have mastered a Heterogenous Power.
Of course, it wasn't their fault.
My reputation(?) was known across the entire continent, far beyond the kingdom.
Even after I crushed the 27th Knight Order.
To them, I was probably just a bug they thought would pop underfoot that had started squirming a bit more than expected.
Or maybe they weren't even thinking about me at all—just that the elves' resistance was fiercer than anticipated.
'Whatever. Doesn't matter either way.'
Soon enough, the whole continent would change its mind about me.
I tore off my shirt, which had been burned away by the dwarf's flames sometime during the fight, and slowly rolled my shoulders.
My once scrawny frame had grown decently toned from training in Pankration and Earth.
Still nowhere near my past life's physique, but more than enough to smash a single dwarf.
I approached him slowly and said,
"First off, let's trade some blows."
Ibarella. Camille.
You got me all wrong.
When I had no power, everyone ignored me. If they hit me, I took it. If they told me to crawl, I crawled.
I resented the world.
I wanted to burn this shitty world to the ground.
During those hellish days, I met Him.
"You've got good eyes."
His first words to me. And I, rudely, spat back a curse.
Good eyes? What was good about the eyes of a dog that had been beaten and left with only malice?
If it was meant to rile me up, it was pretty low-quality taunting.
"I like that spirit. Follow me. I'll make sure no one ignores you again."
He extended a hand to me. And he told me,
"But the process will be so painful you'll wish for death."
Wish for death? Could anything be worse than rolling in the dirt like a beggar every single day?
I grabbed his hand without hesitation.
And then.
I gained power.
"Gaaahhh!"
Roooar!
Fire.
The first thing I did was turn the market thugs who always beat and scorned me into ash piles.
I burned them. And burned more.
Before long, contempt in people's eyes was replaced by something else.
Fear.
Yes. Fear.
Those who used to sneer at my appearance now trembled in terror at the sight of me.
Beneath Him were countless others like me.
And among them, I was 'special.' Whenever He was in a tough spot, I was always the one deployed.
Yes. He 'trusted' me.
This time was no different. Because the sky above His sky—whom He served—had made a request.
To resolve His 'dilemma,' He sent me without fail, as always.
So, just like always.
I had to burn it all to ash and wipe away His troubles completely.
But why.
Why.
"Why won't you burn?!"
Crack!
"Gwek!"
"What the hell have you been yapping about from the start?!"
Even as I pummeled him, the dwarf kept shrieking nonstop, shocked that I wasn't burning.
He looked almost pitiful, getting thrashed over and over while yelling 'No way, no way!'
But what did I care about the sob stories of the bastards who came to kill us?
Thud!
A massive tree-crashing sound echoed from a short distance away.
"Hah... hah! Fuck... we won...!"
I turned my head. There was Mimi and Nene, repaired just earlier but smashed again, and Saladin sprawled out foaming at the mouth.
While I'd been leisurely beating on the dwarf(?), they'd apparently fought a brutal battle—Saladin lay there panting like a starfish.
And across from him, an ogre bristling with arrows and hidden weapons like a porcupine lay bleeding out, collapsed.
While Saladin blocked the ogre head-on with Mimi and Nene, the elf ranger unit had finally pierced its armor gaps.
They'd come prepared, sure.
'Way too easy.'
Something felt off. The fight wrapped up too cleanly.
'Duke Camille's pursuit squad is just this level? No way.'
Duke Camille was one of the Empire's three swords that handled Dragon Mountains monsters.
And for Ibarella's orders, he'd jump into fire without question.
A guy like that wouldn't assemble a pursuit team this weak.
At first, I thought maybe I'd overestimated my own power. But no.
'Even without me, they could've broken through.'
With heavy casualties, of course.
No helping it. With things like this, I'd have to get answers from this knocked-out dwarf.
I turned back to him—and noticed something strange about his condition.
"Ugh... ugh..."
The dwarf trembled like he had some kind of seizure.
"What? Did I hit you that hard? Twitching like you've got the shakes? You call yourself nobility like this?"
Saladin, who'd wandered over despite looking exhausted, snarked from the side.
"Idiot, you blind? Don't you see that?"
"Huh?"
I kept my eyes on the dwarf and replied,
"Dwarf's chest. No mana flow?"
An ominous purple glow rippled from the dwarf's chest.
"Wha...?!"
Saladin looked again at my words, and his face hardened as he sensed something wrong.
"Grab Mimi and Nene and fall back. Tell the elves to cover from the rear."
"What about you?"
I glanced at the battered Saladin.
"You and your puppets are busted anyway. Useless. Fall back and look after Milliana."
Normally he'd flip out, but realizing the gravity, he just nodded silently and retreated.
He knew he'd just be baggage right now.
"Heh... heh heh... You lowly scum interfering with His plan... I'll burn you all... all of you...!"
The ominous purple mana from his chest began seeping out through the dwarf's eyes, nose, and mouth.
"For that, even my life gladly...! Ur... uwaaaaaah!"
The dwarf let out an insane roar with some nonsense chant.
The purple mana slowly flowed toward the ogre that Saladin and the elves had taken down.
Looked like bad news if I let it happen.
Crunch!
I swiftly crushed the dwarf's head with Iron Fist.
His headless body slumped powerlessly.
But apparently, a bit too late.
Twitch.
"H-hey. Look at that."
Twitch.
Saladin called out to me, his face paling slightly.
"I see it. Shit. This is a headache."
Slither.
The fallen ogre slowly raised its body.
Roar!
As the ogre clenched its fist, flames erupted from its hand—far hotter yellow flames than the dwarf's had been.
"Hah... hahaha! Good, very good!"
The ogre laughed merrily and spoke fluently.
"You damn bastards. Forcing this noble self into such an ugly monster's body. You've got resolve, right?"
The ogre—no, the 'dwarf' inside—grinned at us with white teeth.
Kaboom!
Its rock-like fist slammed the ground, cracking the earth and scattering debris.
As expected. Yeah, that made sense. Duke Camille wasn't that simple.
"No wonder it felt too easy."
"What are you muttering?!"
Boom!
Mimi, caught by the swung attack I couldn't dodge in time, shattered completely.
"Mimi! You fucking monster!!"
Saladin, eyes rolled back in rage at the broken Mimi, sent poison mist at the ogre via Nene.
"Useless!"
Roooar!
The mist evaporated before reaching the ogre, shrouded in protective flames.
Individually, they hadn't been too tough. But combined, they were a nightmare.
Sniping with elf arrows like against mages? Blocked by tough hide and armor.
Slow attrition with Nene's poison or Mimi's projectiles? Flames got in the way.
And worst of all.
"Hmph!"
The ogre casually dodged incoming arrows behind a tree, then smashed Nene's head while it tried to spray poison.
"Nene! You... fuckiiiing monster bastard!"
Saladin tried binding the ogre's movements with the 'threads' he'd used to control Mimi and Nene.
"Knew you'd try that, puppeteer!"
The ogre yanked the threads binding it, dragging Saladin hard.
Splat!
"Gahk!"
Saladin flew like paper and took a direct fist, bouncing back even faster.
Wham!
"Gahk! P-Princess! Get away, quick!"
The ranger elves who'd come with Ash fell one by one.
And above all, this dumb ogre was now using actual intelligence in combat.
That was the biggest problem.
'At this rate, we're all dead.'
Then I had to end it before it started thinking properly.
Grip!
'I've got to do it.'
I clenched my fist and scanned my body.
Sixteen years old. Plenty of training.
But still too young for my body to be complete.
'Damn, using it now means bedridden for weeks.'
Ideally, before stage 3. But no choice.
Short deliberation over, I sent telepathy to Saladin.
-Saladin! Still alive?
-F...fuck. Barely...
Good enough.
-Hold for just 3 minutes! I'll handle it!
-You psycho! Mimi and Nene are wrecked—how the hell do I hold 3 minutes?! I'm dying here!
-Use your 'threads'! You still have tricks left!
Saladin grimaced through the pain but replied.
-Bastard... sucking me dry. Fine, 3 minutes exactly!
I shut my eyes and began circulating Earth the moment I heard his grumbling.
If Saladin said 3 minutes, he'd hold. No doubt.
That's the guy he is.
Roooar!
Mana inside me whirled violently.
Through veins, surging like overflowing waves everywhere.
Drip!
Unfinished body.
Blood trickled from my mouth from the mana torrent.
Of course it would.
I knew this technique couldn't be fully executed before stage 3—before my body was complete.
Mana circulating every vein from my lower abdomen.
Passing beyond the spinning veins, it slowly manifested above my hand.
Shraaa!
Clothes—not under Iron Body—couldn't withstand this mana flow and tore.
Compressed, spinning mana swirled into form over my hand.
Crackle! Crackle!
"It's ready! Saladin, get clear!"
Saladin pulled away from the ogre at my shout.
Fwoosh!
I closed the distance to the ogre at light-speed with Aura.
"?!"
Thud.
I closed in right under its gut and thrust my hand toward its chest with a mighty shout.
"Vortex!"