kscans

Chapter 71 - Reunion and a Mid-Boss

Our reunion was unexpectedly short.
The Church should be busy with reconstruction efforts right now. ...So why was she here? I wondered, and asked.
Altorine explained, "...An Undead appeared at the Church. ...Luckily, it was just one, so we were able to subjugate it quickly. ...However, thinking there might be more, we immediately formed an investigation team. I took command and came this far."
That was her explanation.
To that, I replied, "An Undead appeared there too? ...An Undead showed up in the Republic as well. Here, the damage was significant, with twenty casualties, and the royal family issued a request to the Guild for an Undead search."
At my explanation, Altorine's face grew grim. "...So that's what happened. The situation seems more serious than I thought. ...Shinsuke, I have a proposal. From here on, why don't we work together to resolve this?"
At her proposal, I exchanged a look with Tina. The offer itself was welcome; having a skilled fighter on our side would be reassuring. ...But was it something she could decide on her own? Without consulting the knights behind her? I asked her about that.
Altorine replied, "...It's true, we have our pride as knights, but now is not the time for such things. If we don't hurry, the damage will only grow. ...I don't want to be one step behind ever again."
She said it with a bitter expression. ...She was probably recalling the riot at the Church. She must be regretting that if she had acted sooner, such a tragedy wouldn't have occurred. ...No one could have predicted something like that would happen, I wanted to say, but I generally understood her personality.
She was serious. ...So serious that if something happened, she was the type to blame herself. She would almost certainly never consult with a close friend. ...Not because she was afraid of showing weakness, but simply because she didn't want to be a bother. Just as I was thinking that, a sound came from the forest.
Everyone turned their attention in that direction. ...Naturally, with weapons drawn.
I activated `Detection`. All I could tell was that there were two blue lights and nine red lights. But then, one of the blue lights was swallowed by the countless red lights and vanished. ...And the number of red lights increased to ten.
...There was only one conclusion to be drawn from this.
As I readied my sword, I shouted, "A horde of Undead is coming. Be very careful!"
The knights switched from swords to bows and took aim. It seemed they knew the terror of the Undead. ...I followed their lead and readied my crossbow. And then, a single man emerged from the undergrowth. From his appearance, he was an adventurer.
He saw us and cried, "H-help me! ...They're right behind me!"
He stopped and pointed behind him with his index finger.
Seeing that, I yelled, "You idiot! Don't stop! Get over here now!"
But it was already too late.
An Undead lunged at the man from the bushes. ...The man was helpless as he became prey for the Undead. No one went to help him. It couldn't be helped. The moment he was bitten, he was as good as dead.
The knights lit the arrows they were holding. ...I could tell immediately that they had used magic. ...I see, so fire is effective against Undead. Just like in a game. I did the same, setting my bolt alight. ...And then, the Undead appeared from the undergrowth.
There were nine of them. The man from before and the one he was with got up, now Undead themselves.
...A total of eleven.
...Just as Altorine said, the damage would only grow. The weather was clear, and we were in an open area. The Undead were in the shade of the trees. ...They shouldn't be able to advance from there; we could just pick them off from a distance. ...But the Undead emerged from the shade without any hesitation.
...Impossible, I thought. They should stop moving if they're hit by sunlight. But they didn't stop and continued to walk toward us.
At this sight, one of the knights said, "That's impossible... Undead are supposed to be weak to sunlight." ...He was shocked. The others felt the same.
As unease spread, Altorine said, "Calm down. No matter what unexpected things happen, what we have to do remains the same. ...Everyone, draw your bows!"
She gave the command.
The knights regained their composure and drew their bows in unison. ...I also readied my crossbow. Tina stood beside me with her sword drawn, ready to support me.
With everyone in position, Altorine commanded, "...Fire!"
The arrows were loosed all at once. They flew straight toward the horde of Undead and struck their bodies. ...Normally, an arrow sticking into an Undead wouldn't stop it, but these arrows were on fire. So, the moment they hit, the Undead burst into flames.
The Undead offered no resistance as the flames spread, and they eventually collapsed. We followed up with another volley of fire arrows. ...Some missed, but they stuck in the ground and burned.
The Undead unhesitatingly stepped on the flames, and their bodies immediately caught fire. ...We continued this attack, and after confirming the last one had fallen, we immediately started to extinguish the fire. If we left it, the forest would burn, leading to a major disaster. ...Tina was the first to act.
She activated water magic on her sword. "Water Shoot!"
As she shouted, the water shot straight toward the flames. It was like a firefighter's hose, spraying water evenly. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the job was done.
Seeing this, Altorine said, "...Good work. Now, let's resume the investigation immediately. The person from before seemed to be an adventurer, and among the attacking Undead, there were some dressed like adventurers. ...It's highly likely that adventurers who went out to investigate were turned. ...We will proceed under the assumption that the number of Undead has increased."
She gave her orders.
I agreed with her. ...Even an adventurer can slip up. And the opponent isn't a monster, but an Undead—a troublesome existence that multiplies when it bites. ...I felt that we wouldn't be safe until every last one was dealt with. Just then, a large number of birds flew up from a section of the forest.
Since ancient times, a large number of birds taking flight has been a sign that something has happened.
I said, "...Altorine. It looks like something happened over there. Is it alright if Tina and I go ahead and check it out?"
Altorine replied, "...Yes. I understand. If there are Undead, please lead them here. It's difficult to fight in the forest. ...Be careful."
She said.
I nodded and went with Tina.
...After running through the forest for a few minutes, we reached the location.
There, a large, bare-chested man was holding an adventurer by the head with his right arm, gripping him in a vice-like hold. ...Around them lay fallen adventurers. They weren't moving; they seemed to be dead. And the struggling adventurer was swinging his sword at the large man. But it didn't leave a single scratch on his body.
...The large man crushed the adventurer's head with his grip.
I immediately sensed that this large man was the root cause.
Just then, the large man turned toward us. ...His face was expressionless. He spotted us and began to walk in our direction.
I said, "Tina, let's get out of here now."
Tina nodded. She seemed to have sensed it too. ...The danger of the large man.
We ran with all our might. Our destination was where Altorine was.
We weaved through the trees, occasionally looking back. The large man was following us, walking. I felt we could make it, but... if this development was similar to that game, wasn't this pattern a death flag? As I thought that, I took a certain action. I picked up a small stone and threw it toward the large man.
...I wasn't trying to hit him. The stone either fell to the ground or hit a tree. The large man reacted to the sound and looked toward the tree.
Tina shouted, "What are you doing?! Hurry up and run!"
I couldn't blame her. I quickly explained, "I got a bad feeling from that big guy. ...If I throw a stone and draw his attention, he won't be able to pull anything."
Indeed, the large man was looking at the tree, standing still. ...But he soon turned back to us and started walking again.
Seeing that, I thought, (Alright! ...It seems that if he senses something just as he's about to make a move, he'll stop and check the situation. ...And if there's nothing, he'll resume the chase. ...He's just like a robot.)
I quickly summarized the large man's behavior in my head.
...He really does act like a mid-boss from a game. Well, thanks to that, I have a rough idea of his pattern, which is helpful, but I won't let my guard down.
...There's no 'continue' in this world, after all.
We broke through the forest. Ahead of us was the ruin where Altorine and the others were—the place we started. Relieved, I immediately headed toward them.
After somehow managing to regroup, I said, "There was a large man right there. An Undead. Several adventurers were killed."
I explained briefly.
The knights readied their bows. ...Then, the large man emerged from the forest. Expressionless and silent. He exuded an eerie, unsettling aura. Altorine and the others must have felt it too, as they lit their arrows.
And then, "...Fire!"
At Altorine's command, they loosed their arrows in unison.
The fire arrows flew straight toward the large man. He didn't dodge and continued to walk straight ahead. The fire arrows hit him, and he burst into flames.
The battle was decided. Everyone thought it would be over once the large man fell.
That's why they couldn't react immediately to the next sight.
Despite his body being engulfed in flames, the large man didn't fall. Just then, four snakes appeared from his back. ...Their appearance resembled the robotic arms developed by an enemy scientist from a certain movie. ...As we stood there stunned, the four snakes turned their eyes toward us all at once.
Seeing that, Tina shouted, "Everyone, intercept them! Bows are useless!"
Her loud cry snapped us back to our senses. We threw down our bows and crossbows and drew our swords. ...We slashed at the attacking snakes. ...Their movements were simple and easy to deal with.
Just as I let my guard down around the headless bodies, Altorine shouted, "It's not over! Their heads will regenerate immediately!"
Her loud cry was a warning. I looked again and saw new heads growing from the bodies.
Regeneration. ...A power that could be called common sense in this other world.
I was being too careless, I scolded myself. I was about to focus on the snakes again, but something was bothering me, so I distanced myself from the snakes and asked Altorine, "Can I ask you one thing? How did you know they would regenerate? ...Do you know something about that Undead?"
Altorine replied, "No, I don't. ...I knew they would regenerate because of my skill, 'Foresight.' It allows me to see events that will happen ten seconds from now."
She explained it simply.
What a convenient power, I thought. ...Even if it's only ten seconds, I can't think of any other ability that would give such an advantage in battle.
As I was thinking that, the snakes didn't attack but returned to the large man and suddenly wrapped themselves around him. I wondered what they were doing, but I soon understood. They were putting out the fire.
But if that was the case, they should have done it from the start, I thought, but that thought quickly vanished from my mind. The opponent was an expressionless being who only acted in a monotonous way. It probably had no capacity for thought and could only eliminate the enemy in front of it. ...More and more, he seemed like a game's mid-boss. In that case, it's natural to assume that this wasn't a naturally occurring phenomenon, but that someone had created it. I don't know who made it, but it was an extremely troublesome existence.
As I was thinking that, a sound came from another direction. Just as I thought it was a new enemy, three adventurers emerged. I didn't recognize two of them, but I knew one. ...It was the shield knight I met in the city, Glad.
Tina exclaimed, "Glad-san?! ...What are you doing here?!"
It was an unexpected reunion.