Shattering the Barrier
The opaque veil covering the castle was enormous. Its sheer size rivaled that of a small hill. When destroying something so massive, one must never think of concentrating force on a single point. Piercing one spot only creates a hole; the entire structure will not collapse. To bring down something huge, the force must be spread outward rather than driven inward.
Thud! My fist touched the barrier, yet no hole formed. The impact spread along its surface, etching web-like lines across it. When those lines covered every inch, the barrier shattered like glass fragments.
The remnants of what had once been magic drifted down from the sky, resembling snow and making them difficult to distinguish.
The barrier crumbling is this beautiful.
Harkia. Why did that guy bring an army?
With the barrier gone, what had been lurking beneath it revealed itself. An army. Soldiers clad in armor, each wielding cold weapons, maintaining discipline under their commanders. You prepared thoroughly, just as I told you to. If you lacked the confidence to win alone, borrowing strength in numbers was the right choice.
I glanced over everyone maintaining the legion, but nowhere did I see anyone who looked like a true powerhouse. Not even on the same level as the lizard I faced at the start. Indeed. In this world, that lizard must have been a sufficiently strong existence.
“Enri. Do I need to defeat all of them just to meet this Harkia?”
I’ve never seen anything like this either, so I wouldn’t know.
“Didn’t you claim to know everything about this game?”
Perhaps there was a bit of exaggeration mixed in. Understandable. When someone knows something others don’t, they tend to speak of it with some embellishment.
“What is ‘play time’?”
“Then she simply wasted all that time.”
That’s too much!
Whether progress will be made is uncertain, but I suppose aiming to break through is the goal for now. The moment I took a single step forward, a clamor erupted from the army’s side. Commanders shouted at the soldiers, who moved hurriedly to form ranks. Spearmen in front, archers drawing bowstrings behind them. Mages riding small lizards in the sky. And commanders scattered throughout. Quite well organized. Almost excessive for the purpose of capturing a single person. Yet still insufficient for those gathered to catch me.
Crushing someone with sheer numbers only holds meaning when the opponent plays along with a war of attrition. If the opponent has no intention of playing along with your strategy, an army becomes nothing more than cumbersome baggage.
“An arrow rain is about to fall, so I’ll be going.”
The moment the distant archers released their bowstrings, I moved. As my figure surged forward, the spearmen raised their weapons, but it was meaningless. I was a single rider, yet one without a mount. There was no reason to charge into a hedgehog of spears. I leapt once and rose into the air, reaching a height even the longest spears could not touch. By soaring over the spears, the spearmen maintaining their formation became irrelevant. I stepped on a soldier’s head in the middle and leapt again. Soldiers rushed in to block my breakthrough, but they had all lost their composure. Those trying desperately to grab my ankle showed no trace of discipline.
When the situation unfolded this way, the advantage shifted from the many to the few. Numbers could no longer be brought to bear against a small group. While dodging the soldiers’ grasping hands, several vampires blocked my path. Clad in armor from head to toe, they shouted that I would go no further, that they were elites. Since I was not some cartoon villain obligated to listen to their lines, I ignored the self-important voices and took another step.
“This bastard!”
They were not foolish enough to lose me while speaking. The moment I moved my foot, the elites swung their weapons. The first was a swordsman. His sword path was obvious, so I lightly dodged and tripped him. Next came a massive figure. The word “giant” suited him better than “vampire.” His ironclad form was imposing, yet his movements were slow. I slipped between his legs as he reached for me and broke through. The third was a werewolf. He bared savage fangs and lunged, but a kick to the abdomen sent him fleeing with his tail between his legs like a beaten dog. The last was a mage. He screamed for me to receive his secret magic, but it was inferior to what the lizard had used. I shattered it head-on, and no one remained to stop me.
I moved again. The rear ranks were in chaos. Some had discarded their bows and drawn swords. Others drew their bowstrings, prepared to risk friendly fire. Some even cast spells while shouting apologies to their allies. Yet all their sacrifices only sowed confusion within the army. They had no effect on me.
Before I knew it, I had reached the castle gate, only to be blocked by an iron door. Even at a glance, it looked far less durable than the one I had destroyed in the cave. My fist struck, the gate flew open, and it crashed into the soldiers waiting inside. I dashed forward, stepped on the gate crushing the soldiers, and leapt once more. The building ahead seemed like the obvious destination.
The soldiers inside the castle appeared poorly trained compared to those stationed outside. I encountered no significant resistance and entered the building, where an antique banquet hall greeted me. Goodness. How many hallways does this place have? There were nearly ten staircases alone, and the passages were countless. For a moment, I even forgot the rabble following behind and simply took in the sight.
“Enri. Which way now?”
Weren’t you the one calling me a time-waster? Why ask me now?
“…You do know what a joke is, don’t you?”
I’ll consider it if you admit I’m a veteran!
Enri’s voice was filled with sulking, as if my denial of her efforts had wounded her. Truthfully, if I simply destroyed everything, I could eventually find Harkia, even if it took time. But there was no reason to stubbornly worsen her mood.
“My apologies. I’ll offer this apology, so won’t you forgive me just this once?”
Hmm. Well, if you insist. Alright, do you see the third staircase on the right over there? Go up that one and…
Enri explained the path with desperate enthusiasm, as if determined to prove she was indeed a veteran. Thanks to her, I reached the room where Harkia waited without getting lost even once and without encountering any real enemies.
When I opened the antique-looking door, a middle-aged man seated on a high throne looked down at me. So that is Harkia. Quite the one for theatrics.
“Did you crawl in through a mouse hole? The number of soldiers remains the same, yet here you are.”
“Are you deaf? Look at the chaos outside. I broke through head-on.”
“Insolent.”
While conversing, I surveyed the surroundings. Though I knew almost nothing about magic, even I could tell that numerous devices had been prepared throughout the room. He must be quite frightened. Preparing so thoroughly, to the point of being blatant. That meant this place was his battlefield. Under normal circumstances, I might have played along with his little game. I do enjoy opponents who struggle desperately to bring me down. However, this was not a stage for games but a place to judge his sins. I wished only to grant him despair.
Ignoring Harkia, who continued muttering to himself, I raised my foot. No matter how solid the castle floor might be, this was still just a building of wood and brick. Destroying it was exceedingly simple.
Crash! When I stomped the ground, cracks spread outward like ripples from where I stood. Harkia stared at me with bewildered eyes, as if he still did not understand the situation. Then, with a tearing sound, the floor trembled, and horror filled his gaze.
“What the hell are you—!”
“Let’s go down a floor.”
After emerging from the rubble, I coughed from the thick dust. This body truly was too frail. Had it been my real body, I would have floated above the collapsing debris and watched Harkia get buried beneath it.
“You ignorant fool.”
The voice came from above. Harkia hovered in the air with bat-like wings.
“Vampires have wings as well?”
Their true nature is bats, after all.
“Oh? I didn’t know that was possible.”
I had intended to make him crawl on the ground. I checked my condition. My current in-game body had grown far beyond its previous state after facing so many opponents. It was still weaker than an Apis character, yet this level was sufficient for most tasks.
“Come down.”
Still looking down on me from above. How utterly arrogant.
“If you dislike being up there, come down yourself.”
“I was planning to do exactly that.”
I leapt into the sky and stepped on empty air. Harkia’s position was in the heavens, yet it was only three steps away for me. His eyes widened, clearly not expecting me to run through the air. Still, as the lord of vampires, even while startled he attempted to bring me down. However, I reached him before he could unleash whatever he was preparing.
My fist embedded itself in Harkia’s head.
Boom! After his body slammed into the rubble, I landed leisurely nearby and waited for him to emerge. The impact had felt light. He must have erected some kind of defensive barrier. Naturally, the damage would not have been great. If I waited a little, he would break through the debris and appear.
My prediction was correct. A surge of power emanated from the center of the rubble, followed by an explosion. The fool. He could have simply broken out, yet he insisted on wasting energy in such a manner. No style, no efficiency. Truly idiotic.
“You damn bastard!”
“Are you an idiot? Can’t you tell from your own appearance? Your parents have nothing to do with nuts.”
“Those words—”
“Ah, right. You said you’ve lived over a thousand years. Have you gone senile?”
That age certainly warrants it. I understand. Time is a terrifying thing. Harkia only flushed red and offered no further reply to my questions. In many ways he resembled the Blood Cult Leader, yet he lacked that one’s sharp tongue. How fortunate.