kscans

Chapter 218 - An Unthinkable Presence on the Border

The Empire.

The Royal Capital.

To put it in a word, the battle here was a cold war.

The only monsters attacking were groups of Goblins. Nothing else came. But for the knights, this was a blessing.

Their forces had been drastically reduced, and they were suffering from a severe labor shortage.

Captain Magnes sighed.

"...Hmph. To think I'd be grateful for a situation like this... Utterly ridiculous."

He was frustrated by the monsters' passive behavior.

Just then…

"Well, well? Are you holding up?"

The Guild Master approached with an impudent look on his face.

No one present greeted him. Everyone knew he was a traitor.

The Guild Master sneered.

"My, my. The head of the Guild himself comes to visit, and not a single greeting. Since when did the knights of the Empire become so ill-mannered?"

He had an expression that said, good grief.

As rage filled the air, Magnes spoke.

"My apologies. I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

He suppressed the urge to cut the man down where he stood.

The Guild Master continued, his face a mask of condescension.

"Is that so? Well, I suppose it can't be helped, given the circumstances. Still, you should at least offer a basic greeting. There are, after all, important people you wouldn't want to displease."

Magnes and the knights remained silent. If they spoke another word, they would surely lose control.

The Guild Master let out a laugh.

"Hahaha! Well then, I suppose I'll be on my way to see His Majesty the Emperor. I expect a favorable reply from him."

He walked away, still laughing.

Once he was gone, a knight spoke up.

"Captain... I..."

Before he could finish, Magnes cut him off.

"Say no more. But you must endure. Endure until my father and the others defeat the root cause of all this."

He clenched his teeth so hard he could have drawn blood.

Amidst the somber mood, another knight asked, "Um... will His Majesty the Emperor be alright?"

To this worried question, Magnes replied, "Do not worry. I have assigned my most skilled men as his personal guard."

The knights breathed a sigh of relief. If anything were to happen to the Emperor, the country would be finished.

Magnes thought to himself.

(Father... please, be safe.)

He whispered the prayer in his heart.

*

The border.

Having defeated three Goblin Guardians, the invigorated human army began to cut down the monsters with the force of a tidal wave. With their commanders gone, the monsters' morale had plummeted.

As the battle progressed smoothly, Tina, the General, and I were taking a break.

"Is it really okay for us to be resting like this?" I asked, the atmosphere on the battlefield feeling awkward.

Tina replied, "We defeated the high-ranking monsters. We won't be punished for taking a rest. Besides, look at them. See? No one's giving us any dirty looks."

She pointed toward the front lines.

They seemed to be completely focused on killing monsters, but it was true that no one was paying us any mind.

The General added, "Furthermore, there's a chance we'll face high-ranking monsters even stronger than the Goblin Guardians. It would be wise not to waste our stamina. After all, the three of us are the strongest forces here."

He was taking a breather himself.

The General's explanation made sense. If we kept fighting, our magic would deplete and our fatigue would mount. Fighting a high-ranking monster in that state would be a foolish move.

I took a sip of tea from my canteen. I decided to accept their kind offer. Tina did the same.

The General pointed at my canteen.

"...? What is that iron cylinder?"

Crap. I'd let my guard down too much. Well, with the Dwarves around, I could probably come up with a plausible excuse. Just as I was about to speak…

…a chill ran down my spine.

I stood up and scanned my surroundings.

Seeing my reaction, Tina asked, "What is it? Why the grim face?"

Her expression was one of confusion.

The General was looking at me with the same questioning look.

"I just felt a chilling presence," I said. "Did either of you feel it?"

At my words, they both stood up, on alert.

Tina drew her sword and surveyed the area, while the General stood behind us with his great hammer at the ready, as if to protect our rear.

All that could be seen or heard were humans and monsters—nothing else.

"I don't see anything," Tina said. "Could it have been your imagination?"

Though relieved, she didn't lower her guard.

I wished it was my imagination, but in a battle like this, anything could happen. If you feel something, you stay vigilant. That's how you survive on the battlefield.

If I couldn't see it, then it must be behind the rocks or far away. I activated `Detection`.

Amidst the cluster of red and blue dots glowing nearby, there was a single red dot a short distance away.

"It's there," I said. "Northeast of here. Just one."

I looked northeast.

There was a rock wall, and nothing was visible above it. According to my `Detection`, it seemed to be on the other side of the cliff.

The General spoke. "This direction, eh? Only one, but we can assume it's a high-ranking monster. You two, do not move from this spot. We need to conserve as much strength as possible right now."

He calmly analyzed the situation.

It was true. Since it was behind the wall, we'd have to take the long way around. Climbing was impossible; it was a sheer cliff. We had no choice but to wait.

Just as I thought that, there was movement. The red dot began to approach us—in a straight line.

"It's coming closer! In a straight line!"

My two companions became even more vigilant.

The red dot stopped near the rock wall. I looked up. They did the same.

There, we saw a black shadow. A large one.

"So that's it," the General said. "I certainly feel a chill running down my spine. Honestly, your sensitivity is nothing short of incredible."

He offered me his praise.

I was surprised myself. There was no way I should have been able to sense an enemy so far away. It was almost as if it had directed its hostility solely at me. As I was pondering this, the shadow fell.

It was aiming for us. We scrambled out of the way with all our might.

A violent landing sound, a cloud of dust. The movements of both armies came to a halt. As everyone watched, it appeared.

My first impression was that I couldn't make any sense of it. Its form was a fusion—no, a patchwork—of various monsters. And it was poorly balanced. Its lower half had two furry legs, its torso was that of a horse, and its upper body was muscular like a gorilla's. Its face had fangs and a third eye.

It was like a composite beast—a Chimera. Who created such a monster?

The General stared. "What in the world is this? I've never seen anything like it. Is it even alive?"

His comment showed he couldn't even tell if it was living or dead.

Tina whispered to me, "Shinsuke? Could this be the one that goblin was talking about?"

"Now that you mention it," I whispered back, "it's definitely a monster I've never seen before. It's safe to assume this is what took the boss's position from that other one."

I couldn't let the General overhear this conversation. I wanted to keep the goblin's existence a secret.

The Chimera roared and raised its forelegs. Then, its forelegs stretched out and attacked us. We immediately dodged. Its limbs could extend? Just how modified was this thing? As I wondered, the three of us launched a simultaneous counterattack.

Seeing this, the other monsters let out a war cry and charged the human army.

Unlike moments before, their morale was soaring. The human army, though shocked by the bizarre creature, quickly engaged when they heard the screams of adventurers being attacked by monsters. The one-sided slaughter from before vanished, and a fierce battle began anew.

Meanwhile, the three of us confronted the Chimera.

The General cloaked his great hammer in lightning and struck the creature's left foreleg. The electric shock resounded with a deafening roar. However, as if it felt nothing, the Chimera swung its left fist down.

"This thing is completely Undead," the General muttered. "To think I'd encounter such a being. Could this be the root cause?"

Meanwhile, we were fighting on the opposite side. Tina slashed at its right hind leg with her sword. But the fur was tough, and the flesh was hard.

"What a tough body," Tina grumbled. "What kind of monsters did they use to make this thing?"

I watched Tina's movements and judged that a normal approach wouldn't work. I infused my Orichalcum sword with magic and slashed at its right foreleg. The blade cut through the fur and sliced into the flesh.

However, it gave no impression of being effective. The Chimera didn't even scream.

But then, the Chimera turned its attention to me and swung the sword it was holding. I dodged it and fell back. I used `Analysis` on the sword to figure out what it was.

Orichalcum: 50%. Adamantite: 30%. Dark Blood: 10%.

An ore I'd never heard of.

"That sword contains an ore called Dark Blood. Do you know anything about it?" I asked.

Tina replied, "I do not. It's the first time I've heard the name, but... based on the name alone, I can only say it sounds ominous."

I had to agree with her.

With a name like that, it had to be related to blood.

As I was thinking, the General shouted, "That's it! That's the Centaur that killed the Former Emperor!"

Seeing his enraged face, I asked, "Are you sure?"

The General turned to me. "There's no mistake. That sword is the same weapon the Centaur was using inside the castle. It fires slashes of blackish-red blood!"

Tina thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, back then... he was using attacks that looked like blackish-red blood, wasn't he?"

Their testimonies lined up.

This was Rodel. Once an A-rank adventurer, now a madman who had cast aside his humanity for the sake of revenge.