Chapter 227
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: The Bear's Weakness
Sienna was certain the moment she thrust her sword.
The blade lodged precisely between his ribs. The sensation transmitted to her fingertips was always honest.
And yet.
Ramoro showed none of the expected reactions.
No trembling, no gasping for breath from the sudden difficulty in breathing.
It was far too quiet.
Sienna slightly raised her head.
A sinister light appeared on Ramoro's face.
Sienna reflexively leaned back and spun away.
*Riiip?!*
A handful of Sienna's torn pants was clutched in Ramoro's outstretched hand.
There was no embarrassment.
Only surprise that he had torn her Union uniform—stronger than most heavy armor—with his bare hands.
No.
It was simply astounding that he could move so shamelessly, so nonchalantly, despite having been stabbed in the heart and his ankle tendon severed.
“A dark elf, are you? I'll have to give you some special attention.”
Just as Sienna tightened her grip on her sword, wondering if there could be any words more disgusting...
A dazzling radiance suddenly burst from Ramoro.
Loan, with his heightened senses, squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away.
Even so, he didn't forget to observe the mana.
As if it were running rampant, magical energy was spreading throughout the man's entire body.
He wasn't emitting such a glow with his own mana alone. Magical energy of a completely different nature was descending upon him, flowing in reverse.
Ramoro's body felt like a gate.
‘He's drawing mana from somewhere else.’
While Loan focused on the unknown phenomenon.
The women who hadn't managed to escape screamed and scrambled to get away.
Werner, too, quickly got to his feet and retreated to Sienna's side. Aiming his sword at Ramoro, he asked Sienna.
“Are you alright?”
Sienna narrowed her eyes, focusing on Ramoro's transformation.
She didn't answer Werner's question, instead issuing a warning to everyone.
“He's a druid, too. Be careful.”
Soon, the radiance vanished in an instant.
Ramoro had changed into a completely different being.
His larger frame was completely covered in coarse, black fur. He had two crimson eyes, a raised nasal bridge, and a snout. Sharp teeth peeked out from between his lips.
A bear.
Now that she thought about it, his guttural snorts and brutish roars had indeed been very bear-like.
“Transformation… is it?”
Loan found Ramoro's change interesting in many ways.
Although the dramatic increase in the man's mana was concerning.
It was also true that the utterly repulsive Ramoro had transformed into an excessively large and magnificent bear with a rather splendid appearance, which was much easier on the eyes.
On the other hand, it was strange that the daggers embedded in his chest and neck were still there.
‘Should I consider this similar to wearing a demon's skin? It seems certain that Ramoro's original state was transferred as is.’
As Loan was thinking.
Ramoro, his eye level now somewhat higher, swept his gaze over his surroundings.
A formation with Sienna and Werner standing side-by-side in the vanguard, Loan in the center, and Yorgos and Milos spread out to the sides, wary of the creature.
Ramoro's eyes fixed on Loan again.
“You. You use strange tricks. Is it magic?”
Loan answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
Sienna said in a low voice.
“Loan. The commotion here will spread quickly. You need to get to the Grand Hall before more of them show up.”
Ramoro's words had confirmed that the duke and his son were still alive.
They had also found out that the prisoners were gathered in the Grand Hall, and that their leader was there.
They couldn't afford to waste any more time.
For a brief moment, Sienna remembered her mission.
The druid before her seemed to respect someone named Kaid.
Judging by his demeanor, he wouldn't show such an attitude unless that person was powerful.
Therefore, she believed Loan was the only one who could face this Kaid.
She had to kill Ramoro here. And if she couldn't, she had to hold him off for as long as possible.
Yorgos expressed the same sentiment.
“Take Lord Werner and go. Quickly.”
As he spoke, he suddenly crossed his arms, tucking his hands inside his sleeves.
For some reason, even before he launched any distinct attack, the fur around Ramoro's neck began to be sliced away. *Fwip- Fwip?*
Yorgos, with a puzzled look, scattered bean-sized pellets toward the bear's face.
*Shhhk?*
Daggers imbued with Aura followed. The daggers grazed the pellets, making popping sounds—*pop- pop*—and dispersing smoke.
Yorgos charged through the smoke, thrusting his sword at the creature's neck with all his might.
But the creature's swipe was slightly faster.
*Claaang—* Behind the sound of sword meeting claw, Yorgos was sent flying back the way he came.
If that was what happened at Ramoro's upper body.
Simultaneously, Sienna ducked low, surged forward, and spun toward the creature's ankle.
The same foot that Werner had cut, yet it remained unharmed.
Her thinking was the same as Loan's: the damage inflicted on the human body should still be there.
She knew this from having faced druids before.
Two heavy swords drew a circle, emitting a sharp flash of light.
*Screeeeech?*
An incongruous noise followed as blades met fur.
Blood spurted out, but Sienna knew the cut wasn't deep.
Even with an Aura Blade, she couldn't inflict a fatal wound on the beast.
“Tch.”
In the instant Sienna clicked her tongue.
Ramoro, as if his eyes were injured by the smoke, squeezed them shut and swung his forepaws wildly.
However, his swings were not random.
*Clang? Craaaash?!*
Without losing balance, even as blood gushed from his feet.
Even as blue flames erupted from the two feet supporting his massive body.
He smashed and shook it all off, bringing his sharp claws down on Sienna with pinpoint accuracy and without a moment's hesitation.
*KABOOM?!*
The floor exploded with a deafening roar.
Sienna, who had dodged by a hair's breadth, was pushed back by the scattering stone fragments.
At the same time.
Sharp stone spikes shot out from the broken floor, stabbing at the creature's calves, thighs, and waist, but this too was useless.
It was the stone that shattered.
A fierce exchange of blows that took place in an instant.
Unaffected by any of it, Ramoro then charged at Werner, shattering the ice that froze his body and the thick wall of ice that blocked his path.
‘Is he a monster…?’
Marveling inwardly, Loan put a period on the numerous hypotheses he had formulated and tested in that short time.
The conclusion that the slashes of Convection couldn't pierce the creature's coarse fur, hide, and muscle, which he confirmed by sending a sharp current toward it.
The conclusion that most ice attacks couldn't stop it, and that fire and earth attacks had no significant effect.
The conclusion that, unfortunately, his seniors' Aura Blades could not completely sever the creature's neck.
Along with confirming the futility of external physical attacks, he also verified something else.
‘How can he be so accurate when his sight and hearing are blocked?’
The fact that the creature's remaining senses had reached an extreme level of synesthesia.
Therefore, despite his seniors' protests, Loan decided to stay and kill the creature.
He believed it wouldn't make much of a time difference, and that a coordinated attack would be even more necessary in the Grand Hall than here.
Furthermore, the creature was no longer attempting sonic attacks, as if afraid Loan would use the same magic as before.
If Loan weren't here, his seniors might find themselves in an even more difficult situation.
‘First, I need to block his remaining senses.’
Judging by the flow of mana around Ramoro, his synesthesia was currently relying mostly on his sense of smell.
Loan nodded slightly, as if convinced, and then relayed his plan.
-Seniors, please draw his attention a little longer.
Loan's will reached everyone's minds simultaneously.
They could have felt that their wishes were being ignored, but they were the ones who had told him to leave, yet had failed to land a significant blow.
The infiltration team gripped their weapons again to help Loan achieve his goal.
And, each drawing upon all their mana, they attacked at once.
A cacophony of roars once again erupted around Ramoro.
The sounds of air being torn, fur being sheared, the floor exploding, and furniture breaking all mixed together.
The battle continued without pause.
Just when it seemed the inner chamber itself might be destroyed.
Loan's thought message pierced Sienna's mind.
-Senior. When I get behind him, please cut off his nose.
At that moment, Sienna didn't understand what Loan meant.
But then—
she saw Ramoro's movements, which had been unshakable even with his eyes closed in a five-on-one fight, suddenly become sluggish, and she sensed an opening was about to appear.
And as she saw the scattering dust spreading rapidly away from Loan, she understood.
Loan had used Convection to completely erase his scent.
Meanwhile.
Ramoro felt a sense of unease as Loan's presence suddenly vanished.
‘What?’
If he had left the chamber, his scent would have faded and grown distant, but instead, it had disappeared in an instant.
Unable to see or hear, his anxiety grew.
‘This rat-like bastard...’
It was only for a moment that the inwardly flustered Ramoro caught Loan's scent again.
After the exchange with the four of them, during a brief opening.
Loan's scent appeared and disappeared within a movement that seemed to be flying toward him from a distance.
Ramoro predicted Loan's direction, spread his arms wide, and spun rapidly in place.
His sharp claws drew red flashes in the air.
A random attack aimed at something unseen.
But his claws caught nothing.
This was because Loan had momentarily increased the cohesive force of Convection, causing him to drop to the floor.
Simultaneously, Loan extended a Narrow Path and instantly moved behind the beast.
And Sienna had followed Loan, getting right under Ramoro's chin.
In Sienna's vision, she could see the creature's nose, appearing and disappearing as it spun at high speed.
She struck at the only part not protected by fur, hide, and muscle.
The power of the Aura Blade, unleashed right in front of him, was amplified by his own rotational force, making it incredibly potent.
*SPLAT?!*
A severed nose and gushing blood.
Ramoro, unable to bear the pain, stopped and let out a scream.
Because it wasn't an intentional sonic attack, it didn't harm Sienna, who was right in front of him.
And just as the creature roared, leaving its front wide open.
Loan placed both his palms on the creature's back.
With the thought that if he couldn't attack from the outside, he would destroy it from within—applying Lazaros's method of harmonizing with an opponent's mana—he resonated tens of thousands of mana strands extending from his palms with the creature's body.
*BZZZZZZZT?!*
He sent a powerful electric shock flowing into the creature's interior.
The blue electricity tore through the creature's insides.
It traveled down the pillar of mana that had held the beast steady, reaching its lower abdomen.
And finally, it completely exploded and ravaged his insides.
“Guaaaargh...”
The one who had stood firm against countless attacks.
Ramoro, who had seemed impervious to any physical attack, finally fell forward with a heavy thud.
Loan, who stood behind him with his palms still outstretched—
—scowled and turned his head away when the bear reverted to a naked, human Ramoro.
“Ugh? Let's get to the Grand Hall. Quickly.”
At Loan's words, Werner quickly came to his senses and replied.
“Let's split into two groups. One will go through the front to draw their attention, while the other takes the secret passage to strike from behind.”
It was a hastily made suggestion, but it was quite persuasive.
“Let's do that.”
Sienna said with a nod.
Just then, they began to see enemies running down the corridor toward the inner chamber.
Yorgos reflexively ran toward the door and shouted.
“Lord Werner and Loan. The secret passage!”
The hidden weapons he threw poured out the door.