kscans

Chapter 15 - Training After Evolution and a New Start

Our party of monsters stepped onto new land. Having evolved, our appearances had changed slightly. Defray of the Orc Tribe looked like a professional chef.

Mamoru: Hobgoblin -> Goblin Captain.

"Me... a captain...? Hmph, not bad."

Mamoru, who was once just a brawler, gained a calm mind along with his evolution. Now, his mind holds the art of controlling the battlefield.

"Trap placement, check. Timing for the charge, now... deploy encirclement!"

A rope snagged on a tree branch hoisted enemy soldiers into the air, and pitfalls opened one after another. The former wild child was now like the captain of an expedition team.

"Well, I guess I'm the commander."

Somehow, that's annoying.

Defray: Orc -> Orc Soldier.

"Time to cook!!"

As a result of his evolution, not only his muscles but also his cooking skills were boosted. Chef Defray. The special Stamina Iron Pot Offal he fries is explosive in both taste and nutrition.

"Th-this is... with just one bite, my stamina is fully restored...!"

And it comes with a bonus buff effect. Defray's cooking boosts the entire army's combat ability by 1.5 times.

"After all, a battle is all about the food! My frying pan is the strongest!"

His frying pan is glowing suspiciously.

Amy: Lizardman -> Lizard Shaman.

"Fufu, this is the power of shamanism..."

Shaman Amy, wrapped in a veil of mystery, can now draw magic circles in the air to cast healing magic on her allies or carve curses onto her enemies.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt... you'll just die after the writhing is over."
That smile is the scariest part.

Koni: Troll -> Boss Troll.

"KONI-CHAAAAN!!! ATTACK!! (DOGAAAAAAAAAN!!!)"

A shadow charges in, screaming that. Its name is Koni. Once an underground idol, she is now the king of destruction.

Her furious charge mows down trees, shatters rocks, and even sends her allies flying. Her skin has hardened and turned craggy like stone, impervious even to a sword's blow.

"Wahoooo!! I'm gonna do my best for everyone!!"

No, that "best" of yours is the real threat.

Mamoru: "Koni! Stop! ...Koni!? Are you listening!?"

Defray: "Whoa! The pot's getting blown away!"

Amy: "Hey! My curse incantation platform is...!"

A rampaging former idol. A Troll girl who has become a threat to humanity. No one can stop her now.

Eventually, human scouts appear at the edge of the forest.

"They're... evolving...!"

The humans whose villages were destroyed were in the process of forming a monster extermination unit to defeat the evolved monsters.

That information reached Mamoru's ears.

"So they're coming... Then we'll just have to meet them. We're not the mobs we used to be."

When Mamoru turned around, Koni, the king of destruction, was excitedly swinging an iron ball.

"Humans... despair. My name is Boss Troll Koni-chan."

The counterattack of the evolved monsters begins now.

At the night camp, as my monster companions slept around the bonfire, I looked up at the starry sky.

"...Is this game... really the one I know?"

A cold wind seemed to brush against Mamoru's back.

His body was trembling uncontrollably. Not from anger, nor from the cold.

This was fear.

"...Why... it's not even cold..."

With that mutter, the bonfire crackled quietly. The world was slowly beginning to go mad.

And sooner than planned, the hero appeared in this world. The reincarnated hero, Ares. The most terrifying hero who would drive this world mad. Mamoru did not yet know what that name would bring.