Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 011
Chapter Title: EPISODE.003 (3)
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That was when it happened.
One of the guys who had been chattering among themselves shouted in surprise.
"─Huh? No way, this bastard has meat?"
The eyes of the guy yelling that were fixed on the snake skewer in Kuhn's hand.
As if he never imagined finding skewered meat in a place like this, his eyes were visibly wide with shock.
At his shout, the other punks nearby started making a fuss and opening their mouths.
"What? Meat?"
"No way..., so that's why he's been sneaking into the forest alone every night─!?"
Before those words could fully spill out,
Kuhn cut them off.
"What's going on?"
His gaze as he said that was directed behind them... toward the forest still shrouded in darkness.
Eyes that seemed to have noticed something.
'The presence I felt at first was definitely five.'
In contrast, only four of the gang had shown themselves now... which meant the most important one was still lurking in the forest.
Just then, one of the guys whose words had been cut off was about to glare and spew curses.
"This bastard doesn't get the situation─...?!"
"Out of the way─."
Before that, Barison, with his massive build, stepped out from the forest and shoved the guy's body with a thud.
"Wha? Wh-what......"
The shoved guy clutched his chest and stumbled back.
And then, thud, thud...
Barison, who had already strode to the front of the gang, looked down at Kuhn with a face full of rage and tilted his head arrogantly.
"What's going on?"
He readjusted his wooden sword with a rough, brutish grip and continued.
Crunch.
"You wouldn't really ask that because you don't know, right?"
Unlike the other kids, whose stares held only mockery or hostility, his gaze was laced with clear killing intent.
'Killing intent like this at such a young age......'
He could feel sharp killing intent pricking at various unfinished parts of his body.
At that killing intent, Kuhn shook his head with a sigh.
'Hoo─...'
He had already known that the way this guy usually looked at him wasn't friendly.
So he had anticipated that something like this might happen someday.
'But I didn't think it would be today.'
Well, it was something that had to happen eventually anyway. In that case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to nip this root of trouble in the bud right now.
Moreover─.
'I happened to want to test something out.'
A faint smile crept across Kuhn's lips.
Before Barison, mistaking that smile for mockery directed at him, could roar out!
"You arrogant little shit dare......!!"
"──!!"
A viscous energy poured down over their heads.
Squelch, grrrrind.
A mana closer to that of a monster than a human.
This was the moment Kuhn first unleashed the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits on another person.
The sticky mana that gushed out enveloped the area in an instant.
A mana closer to that of a monster than a human.
It was a power that amplified human fear just by contact.
"Th-this......!"
Barison's movements, about to explode in rage at that mana, suddenly froze!
"You arrogant little shit dare─...!!"
Cold sweat seemed to pour endlessly down his spine... and before he knew it, goosebumps were rising on his forearms with a shiver.
'Wh-what is this?'
It was a bizarre sensation, like hundreds of fire ants crawling over his arms and legs, or like shoving his head into the maw of a giant centipede.
Only then realizing something was off, Barison subtly readjusted his sword and rolled his eyes around frantically.
But that lasted only a moment.
Soon, Barison swallowed hard and, instead of charging in himself, turned his mouth toward the other kids in the gang behind him.
"Beat him! Beat him and drag him in front of me right now!"
It wasn't some calculated decision—it was pure instinct. Sneering at Barison's display, Kuhn thought.
His frantic barking sounded just like...
─The face of a terrified dog.
Meanwhile, Barison's tirade continued without pause.
"Beat him, beat the crap out of him right now!"
Those affected by the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits weren't just Barison.
'......'
For a moment, they eyed each other warily as fear gripped their ankles.
"Drag him here!"
At Barison's shout once more, the kids gritted their teeth.
"Ch-charge!"
"H-he's alone anyway!"
The hesitation pressed down by the mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits seemed to have vanished.
At that sight, a faint smile played on Kuhn's lips.
'In the end, it comes to this?'
After all, they were still just kids in their mid-to-late teens.
An inexplicable fear was no match for the terror of physical threats.
Moreover, the fact that his Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits wasn't at a very high level yet was another reason.
In the meantime, a few of the guys who had completed their encirclement rushed toward Kuhn in an instant.
"Dieee!"
Whoosh!
The first to catch his eye were the two trainees charging at the front.
Not just brawling wildly, but moving with proper steps.
Thanks to systematic training for a while, their movements had improved astonishingly compared to a few months ago.
But unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who had changed.
'Then─!'
Before the thought even finished, mana surged from Kuhn's body once more.
Not spread wide like before, but concentrated narrowly!
Now, Kuhn planned to heighten the density of the mana instead of its range to induce even greater fear.
As if proving that, a fear on a whole other level swept heavily over the two charging trainees!
Fwoosh─!
Unlike when it was spread wide, as they rushed toward Kuhn, they had essentially entered the net of mana he emitted.
"Ugh!"
The kids at the front halted abruptly under the intense fear!
Not missing the gap, Kuhn swung the wooden sword in his hand roughly. A slash using the tip to carve up the ground long!
─Splurt!
With the sharp strike, chunks of earth caught on the blade flipped the bonfire, scattering embers everywhere.
Not just the heat-blackened sand, but burning logs and leaves flew up in an instant, obscuring vision.
"You bastard, using the bonfire like a coward!"
The kids flinched, covering their faces in surprise at the sudden sparks and obstacles, voicing complaints.
And... that was precisely the moment Kuhn had been aiming for.
As if waiting, Kuhn swung his wooden sword down roughly once more.
This time, a diagonal downward slash from upper right to lower left.
Shrieeek!
Kuhn's wooden sword reversed the rising bonfire debris and struck precisely at the trainee's shoulder beyond it.
─Crack, crunch!
A strike aimed exactly at the joint connecting shoulder to shoulder!
Even if it wasn't a real sword, the blow combined with their charging speed and the iron core's weight was no joke.
No matter how trained, no one could withstand such a hit barehanded!
"Gack......!"
As if to prove it, the trainee hit directly by the sword rolled his eyes back white and collapsed on the spot.
"Kk, kughhh─."
Thud, patter.
A beat later, the bonfire debris that had soared up rained down to the ground.
At that sight, some kids paled and spoke up.
"Cr-crazy bastard......"
"Th-that guy just charged through the fire pile?"
No matter how you looked at it.
No one among the trainees present had imagined he wouldn't retreat from the flying bonfire debris but instead steady himself and charge in.
On top of that... swinging his sword without batting an eye.
It was a level of bold judgment and action unbelievable for a boy that age.
But they didn't know.
'Definitely, against multiple opponents, concentrating the mana on one side is more effective for now?'
That Kuhn's real moves were just beginning. And... that it wasn't only his mana that could incite fear─.
'One.'
Counting the fallen enemy, Kuhn resumed his movements.
Swish.
Shrieeek!
The sword strike tore through the air at blinding speed.
The bonfire debris that had fallen to the ground had long since scattered everywhere.
─Clang!
"Kwah!"
One of the trainees struck by Kuhn's sword strike dropped his sword and screamed.
Back of the hand, wrist, shoulder, shin, temple, etc.─.
All vital spots that would cause fatal injury or broken bones on direct hit.
Even more astonishing was that, despite Kuhn targeting only those weak points, the gang kids hadn't landed a single effective hit on him yet.
"Th-this!"
"Why can't we hit him!"
The wooden swords they swung missed Kuhn by a hair's breadth, passing harmlessly.
Even those that nearly connected were deflected by his elusive movements.
Movements impossible without reading the opponent's thoughts and actions clearly.
'No wonder.'
After all, he had far more real combat experience of this sort.
Moreover, group attacks weren't just about numbers.
On top of that, they were continuously having their ankles grabbed by the leaking mana of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits─.
'It's still just enough to make them hesitate briefly...'
But right now, that was plenty.
As he disrupted their formation, he suddenly reversed his step!
─Pop, whoosh!
This time, not advancing but retreating to create distance.
It felt unreal compared to how he'd been rampaging in the midst of the trainees until now.
Thus retreating, Kuhn vanished into the shadows between trees in an instant.
The shadows of trees, the forest darkness, thick overhanging leaves—Kuhn was fully utilizing the terrain as if it were his own.
At Kuhn's figure, the other trainees clutched their struck spots and gritted their teeth.
"Damn it, this bastard again?!"
"Coward hiding in the forest......!"
Regardless, the tip of the sword in Kuhn's hand tore through the darkness once more.
─Thwack!
"Gah─!"
One trainee struck in the back of the head by the attack frothed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.
'Two.'
"He's out!"
"Left side, charge!"
At Kuhn revealing himself again, clamor rose among the trainees, and Kuhn kicked off the ground once more.
This time, not hiding but diving straight into their midst!
For the trainees who thought he'd hide in the trees again, it was completely unexpected.
And... that small change in movement was enough to create a tiny opening among the kids.
The trainees gasped in flustered surprise.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Retreating to induce chaos or charging to create melee.
Kuhn was exploiting both at key moments, sowing confusion in their sense of distance.
The flow of battle had completely shifted to him!
If the wooden sword in his hand had been real steel, the fight would have ended in his victory long ago!
'Lacks power. Didn't realize the drop in impact at decisive moments would show this much.'
The gap between Kuhn and the trainees was that overwhelming.
'Of course...'
That didn't mean he was unscathed himself.
As he said, he'd deflected several, but the grazed spots from the wooden swords stung.
'With a weak body, even small wounds hurt more?'
And─.
Watching the scene from a short distance away, Barison's fingertips trembled unwittingly.
'Wh-what...?'
He already knew the guy was strong.
But he hadn't anticipated the gap would be this wide.
'We're five, he's alone...'
Why the gap?
As Barison muttered to himself, the inside of his grip was already slick with sweat.
He desperately wanted to toss the wooden sword and run.
'B-but─!'
The guy already knew who the ringleader was. Meaning, running now wouldn't end it.
In that case, better to strike now!
While his gang was still there, eliminate him!
Charge now!
'Damn bastard!'
With that thought, rising killing intent dulled the fear bit by bit... just as Barison was about to leap at Kuhn.
"You dog bastard, die─!?"
Kyaring!
Something dropped from high in the tree!
With small front paws, it stomped on Barison's face.
─Squelch!