Chapter 51
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Layering Imagination Upon Imagination
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I unleashed my divine power.
Right at the edge of the Bronze Realm.
A small starlight of divinity enveloped my body.
'Still not flashy enough to dazzle the eyes.'
【Kinda glowy!】
The snake showed no reaction. Its long, lush eyelashes—just ill-suited to a snake—simply fluttered.
No, come to think of it, it'd be weirder if a snake had facial expressions.
Ooh—.
On the contrary, the thugs hiding behind it gasped in awe at the light emanating from me. One of them even clapped with a smack-smack.
"There. I've proven it. Now will you open the path?"
【I'll believe you're a Holy Knight! Now show some sincerity!】
"Sincerity? What kind of sincerity?"
A bad premonition furrowed my brow.
Sure enough, bad omens always have a reason. Bullshit came flying along the snake's forked tongue.
【Just offer up ten, and I'll open the way!】
"Ha—?"
Is this reptile insane...?
【That's a huge concession!】
This lowly creature dares cross the line.
It gave me chills in a whole different way.
'How can it be so brazenly shameless!'
I'd had high hopes since it was a spiritual beast, but this mindset was utterly vulgar.
A snake pulling rank like a human.
Or maybe all the humans who pull rank have snake-like heads.
"Hey, you snake bastards. You think we went through hell and back just to get eaten by snake brats?"
【I've made a generous offer! How can you be so rude!】
What the hell is this moron saying?
I was so flabbergasted that a hollow laugh escaped me.
"You earthworm shits. Just go die. Whether it's rude or sashimi, fuck it— no matter how I think about it, killing three snakes is better than killing ten humans. That's my justice and my conclusion."
I hadn't even finished speaking.
The thing sprayed venom from its long fangs.
Its head was huge, fangs enormous.
What spewed out didn't look like venom so much as a water cannon or pesticide sprayer.
I immediately thrust out my left hand to counter.
Toolsep responded to my will, aiding with a burst of cold air.
Crack— Hearing the venom freeze mid-air, I rolled to the right.
Boom—!
In that instant, the snake's tail smashed where I'd been standing.
A sharp, rigid tail like a spear tip.
Sizzle—.
The unfrozen venom that splashed the ground melted the rock. The resulting gas reeked fishily.
'Even with Blue Eye, it's tough to fight. Sensing mana alone isn't enough for behavior prediction.'
For humans, attack paths would glow red, weak points purple—but this Edna Muro looked entirely red through Blue Eye.
'Does that mean with my current skill, I can't predict it?'
【Probably 'cause it's not human!】
It sounded like its flexible body allowed for unpredictable attacks.
【It's their territory! They're not inherently that strong!】
'Yeah. Their size is manageable, so I dove in.'
I gauged the leader snake's mana level, compared it to my divine power and the total safe output of my elixir energy.
Judging victory possible, I'd charged straight in.
Impressive as its speed and weight-derived power was, it wasn't beyond handling.
'But territory...?'
【The air reeks of fish!】
'Yeah. Snakes, right? So what?'
【Poison gas!】
Ah?
'So that's why my head's buzzing?'
The thing reared its head back like a spring, then lunged.
Boom—!
I rolled sideways again, dodging the headbutt.
'Fast, but slow.'
【Still, be careful! Getting pinned hurts!】
Against a brute relying on its massive, speedy body with no real technique, I had one strategy.
Lightning war.
Fighting on instinct was my best bet too.
Kaboom—!
I blocked the incoming tail with my sword.
Kaboom—!
The force was so immense it sounded less like impact and more like an explosion.
The shock, enough to shake the rock cliff, made my body waver.
In that moment, another snake hiding behind lunged sideways, mouth agape to bite me. This one had oddly curved horns on both sides of its head.
Twang—.
Then an arrow flew from behind me.
The hunter-thief must've mustered some courage.
Clink—.
Somehow it hit the snake's head, but a futile effort.
'Its scales are like iron armor.'
Gutsy just for trying.
And it helped.
A pathetic arrow, but it drew the snake's focused gaze away from me.
Scales or no scales.
I charged the horned snake, infusing my sword with cold.
Grind—.
The sword cracked, unable to withstand the chill. Must've gotten damaged blocking the snake earlier.
"Where you looking?!"
The horned snake had its eyes on the arrow shooter behind me.
I plunged my blade into its belly.
Stab—!
Kieeeee—!
The dumb thing shrieked after taking the hit.
I felt its belly muscles writhing, clutching the blade. Defensive instinct, no doubt.
'As expected! The belly isn't covered in scales.'
【Leather!】
I slashed horizontally without slowing.
Rip—! Snap—.
Cut halfway through the tough hide before the blade snapped.
Still, I jammed the broken sword fully inside without stopping the slash.
'Even overflowing mana, but it doesn't know how to use it for defense properly.'
【High odds of victory!】
Crackle—.
Freezing began in the sliced-open wound from the sword.
Kiyaaaaa—!
The snake, with horns bigger than me, twisted wildly.
I wanted to freeze it solid, but throttled the cold to conserve energy—seems that doubled the pain.
Even spilling guts, it showed no sign of dying easily.
Kiyaaaaa!
【Ow! It hurts! I'm hurting!】
'You don't need to translate that.'
【Thought you might be curious!】
'Thanks...'
Requiya shouted from behind.
"Captain!"
A long object came flying fast.
A sword looted from Fiore Kingdom's guard lieutenant.
It flew a few steps away from me.
A calculated throw accounting for the monster snake's attacks.
Kaboom—!
I rolled, dodging the leader snake's tail, then snatched the lieutenant's sword.
I kept the cold wrapped around the broken commander's sword. Nothing beat cold for effectively halting their movements.
【Horned snake says! It hurts! Hurts so much I'm dying!】
【Kill it! Kill that human! Cried the furry-chested snake!】
【Lashy-lashes yelled! Won't acknowledge you as Holy Knight!】
I told you not to translate, seriously...
I scattered cold across the ground, creating distance. Their movements noticeably slowed. One slippery one just wriggled in place.
The snake with circular black fur patch on its chest gaped wide and charged.
"Eat this!"
I hurled the broken sword at its maw.
Brutes bragging about size need to learn bigger targets mean more hittable spots.
Stab—.
Kiaaaaaa—!
Ice blade lodged in its palate, the thing roared skyward.
【Me too, hurts! It hurts! Do something!】
I drew the lieutenant's sword from Requiya and infused it with heat.
Now only the leader snake remained.
Dodging their attacks by rolling dozens of laps across the rock cliff left my whole body throbbing.
'Even just dodging hurts like hell. Mana's palpable—it's emitting an aura.'
【Yeah, the air's all tingly!】
'Can't ignore the poison spread through the territory either.'
【Yeah, the fishy stink's vibrating!】
Couldn't dodge carefree either.
Dodge too hard and I'd plummet off the cliff—I made my body heavy each roll to avoid slipping.
'Worth all that mountain running.'
While running mountain paths, I'd pondered ways to run faster.
The answer: minimize air time.
That led to this trick—using Toolsep to weigh myself down for quick ground contact.
Kwang—!
Dodging, of course, I lightened up for agile moves.
"Starlight, wanderer, take only starlight as your compass. Star of delusion. The star is delusion."
"Starlight, wanderer, take only starlight as your compass."
"Star of delusion. The star is delusion."
⟨ Delusion Star ⟩
I finally understood the inscription from the sanctuary because satisfaction with this ridiculously strong body had grown too great.
'Delusion Star.'
Unleash imagination, layer imagination upon it, and the power within aids me.
Spreading wings of fancy, as it were—.
Thud—!
"Ugh—!"
Its body slam sent me tumbling backward several rolls.
"Captain!"
"Luke!"
Paying the price for relying on body over brain.
But it's fine.
I'm so used to physical work it's nauseating.
"Die, you stinking fish bastard!"
【Die!】
Clang—!
Blocked the fangs with my sword, froze the venom spewing from them with cold.
'No risk of a pincer attack, right?'
I glanced at the other snakes.
Horned one collapsed with slit belly, furry one rolled with sword in palate. Writhing in agony—I knew it well.
'Good. One-on-one with Lashy-lashes.'
Kaang—!
Blocked another fang strike.
Expecting venom, but tail came instead.
Thwack—!
Side smashed hard.
"Ow—!"
Suddenly craving soybean paste stew.
【Luke, does it hurt? Silver Star hurts too!】
Silver Star found the pain unfamiliar.
Aw, sorry.
'You okay, Silver Star?'
【Maybe cut sensory sharing during fights?】
'Do that.'
I rolled sideways wildly, barely balancing at the cliff edge.
Hand on throbbing ribs, I breathed.
'Ribs not broken!'
Ridiculously tough body.
Luke's body wouldn't take damage from this.
Edna Muro's no slouch either.
"That what being leader means? Attacks pack a punch."
Glanced back.
Whirlwind spun in the bottomless gorge.
"Tch. Too bad to just knock it off to die."
Curious about its powers anyway—planned to finish atop the cliff.
Of course, no assumption I'd lose.
Shiii—!
Its body blurred, charging in a blink.
Ching—!
Lieutenant's sword finally snapped too.
Discarding it, I grabbed both its fangs.
Realizing speed alone wouldn't kill me, the snake pushed with brute force.
Aiming to shove me off the cliff.
"I can use strength too, y'know."
I braced my legs, matching its force.
Elixir power surged like a geyser, supporting me.
Groan—.
Muscles swelled like bursting.
How long was this contest of strength?
Grind—.
My feet, scraping back over crushed rock, stopped.
Strength with strength.
Now for counterattack.
Ankle, knee, thigh, waist, abs, chest, shoulder, elbow, wrist. Slowly, deliberately channeling power.
【Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!】
Yuderg said it.
Brutes relying on muscle forget joints' importance... something like that.
Splat— Splat—.
Its venom sprayed, but soaked nearby rock or flew into air.
Shiii—!
This time, tail aimed at legs.
I braced my legs, sent energy there for impact.
Thwack—!
"Ugh—!"
Agony that stopped my breath.
Its tail twisted path, hitting my side again.
【Hit the same spot again!】
I know!
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