kscans

Chapter 47 - A Gentle Smile

The area around the dungeon was under ‘evacuation,’ so there were no other people within its range.

As we ran through the deserted town, we gradually began to hear human voices.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Help, someone, help me…!"

They were screams. They were the cries of the dying.

Just hearing them stirred a primal fear, making my legs feel heavy.

Then, the scent of iron and smoke began to mix with the wind, which had previously only carried the lingering smell of rain.

But the girl running beside me didn’t stop. Therefore, I couldn’t stop either.

The blood and corpses on the road grew more numerous. The bodies, discarded like trash, told the story of what was happening here.

This time, unlike before, I didn’t stop. I clenched my jaw and forced my legs to move.

Then, a single car came speeding towards us from down the road. It was going so fast that it couldn’t make the turn at the T-junction and crashed into a utility pole.

The roar of the impact was so great it reached even us, still some distance away, and shook me to my core. It was clear that car wouldn’t be moving again.

A man, a woman, and a small child crawled out of the wreckage. Though they were staggering, they spotted us and started running in our direction.

A couple, it seemed, and a child held in the man’s arms.

They were shouting something. But before I could register their words, I accelerated.

Out of the corner of my eye, from the direction the car had come, a ‘monster’ had appeared.

Hooves gouged the asphalt. The legs of a horse propelled its massive body forward, poised to catch up to that family at any moment.

Where a horse’s head should have been, a muscular human torso sprouted, and its head was a bizarre mix of human and horse. To call it ‘long-faced’ would be an understatement. If I had to describe it, it was a horse’s head, bald except for a mane and a beard.

A Centaur.

It bared its teeth in a grotesque smile. It brandished the spear in its right hand ostentatiously as it pursued its prey—that family.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t catch them. It was deliberately slowing down, herding them. To watch its prey flee.

But it seemed to have grown bored of the game, or perhaps it was wary of us, because the monster stopped ‘playing.’

The sickening smile remained on its face, but the tip of its spear locked onto the fleeing family.

Its hooves shattered the asphalt as it accelerated. The sound caused the family to look back and scream. I felt it, rather than saw it, from ‘behind my back.’

In just a few strides, it closed the hundred-meter distance. I was closer to this Centaur than the family was.

The smile vanished from the monster’s face, and the tip of its spear instantly changed targets. From that movement alone, I could tell it was more skilled than I was.

But that didn’t matter.

BRUAAAA!!

I dodged the thrust, launched with a neigh-like roar, by stepping forward.

With our momentum combined, I spread my arms and met its massive body head-on.

"Oof!"

The impact sent vibrations through the air, and a deafening roar erupted.

My own throat trembled. To distract from the pain of the collision. And to draw out my full strength.

"Ooooooooooooh!!"

The difference in mass almost sent me flying, but I held my ground with the help of the wind. Then, as my feet shattered the ground beneath me, I grabbed a handful of its long, winter-horse-like coat.

Using my back muscles as well, I lifted the Centaur’s body.

It seemed to have been slow to react due to the shock of the collision, and it floated into the air with little resistance.

B-Bruhi…

"Raaaaaaaah!!"

A split second later, just as the Centaur began to struggle, I hurled it diagonally forward with all my might.

A heavy, massive sound, the likes of which you don’t hear in everyday life, echoed out. A portion of the asphalt shattered, and a small crater formed beneath the monster.

I quickly closed the distance and stomped on the head of the screaming Centaur.

I took a few steps back from the twitching body, drew my sword, and took a ready stance. I watched it warily, and after a few seconds, it turned to salt.

Seeing that, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

I had thought it would be on par with an Orc Champion, but it was surprisingly fragile. If I slammed it into the ground, its bones would break, and if I crushed its head, it would die.

"Um…"

Sword still in hand, I turned back to the family.

At a glance, they didn’t seem to have any major injuries. They seemed to have fallen over from the shockwave and were now sitting on the ground, looking up at me.

"Are you… alright?"

"Y-Yes. …U-Um, are you…"

"Oh, I’m fine."

"I-I see…"

An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

The couple held their child close, their expressions clearly wary. And the little girl, about kindergarten age, was staring at me in a daze.

…Wait, are they scared of me?

But I just saved them… No, on second thought, a stranger who just killed a monster with his bare hands is pretty scary, isn’t it?

I hurriedly hid the sword in my right hand behind my back. Not that it would do much good at this point.

"Can you hear me? You there, the family…"

"!?"

The couple looked around in surprise. Erina-san was standing right next to them, but she must have been using ‘Invisibility.’

"We are the Invisible Ninjas… those who walk in the shadows of society…"

"I-Invisible Ninjas…?!"

Not that name again…

To pretend I wasn’t with them, I moved a short distance away and kept a lookout on our surroundings. I had been forced to accept it as our party name, but I didn’t want to be known as a member of such a weirdly named group.

"We came here to rescue a certain person. You must leave this place at once…"

"Y-Yes, ma’am!"

"Oh, but before you go, have you seen an elven woman with golems?! She’s super pretty!"

"Yes…?"

The couple looked confused as Erina-san’s tone suddenly shifted.

"Um, I don’t know if she was an elf, but I think I heard someone on the way here say there was an Awakened Person who uses magic at the shelter…"

"That’s probably her! Thanks a bunch! Well then, see ya!"

Erina-san took off running again, and I followed suit.

I glanced back instinctively and saw the family give us a bow before hastily fleeing.

…I hope they make it to safety too.

"The closest shelter from there would be… the municipal middle school. You two, take a right at the third signal!"

"Got it!"

"Right."

I nodded and continued to run, averting my eyes from the corpses scattered on the road.

Still, there were overturned cars everywhere. And every single one had an ‘arrow’ sticking out of it.

Which means…

—Buoooooooooh…!

Suddenly, the loud blast of a horn echoed out.

Is that a conch shell? No, a war horn…?

"Diagonally left, up ahead! Lots of footsteps coming from that way! The horn came from there too!"

"Roger."

I accelerated and moved in front of Erina-san. At almost the same time, a troop of Centaurs appeared from the left of a crossroads several dozen meters ahead, their hard footsteps echoing.

It wasn’t just one or two. There were dozens of them. Like a well-trained cavalry unit, they all readied their weapons in unison.

BOOW! BOOW!

FWOOOOOOOOOOO!

Uttering strange cries, the dozen or so Centaurs drew their bows as they charged.

They were small, but the mana they contained was not to be underestimated. The moment their thick fingers released the bowstrings, the arrows were loosed with incredible speed.

The cars scattered around had likely fallen prey to this.

If you fled on foot, you’d be caught. If you used a vehicle, you’d be shot through. That must be the reason for this carnage.

Even if they were aiming for the tires or the driver, these arrows had enough force to overturn a moving car. The sight of them hurtling towards me was enough to make my blood run cold.

But.

"Hah!"

I swept them away with the wind.

I wrapped my left arm in wind and swung. The trajectory of the approaching arrows was deflected, sending them flying in all directions. Not a single one reached me or Erina-san running behind me.

BOOO!

Letting out a cry of either surprise or anger, the Centaurs immediately threw down their bows and took up their spears.

I charged head-on at the monsters as they came at me in a lance-charge-like formation.

With Erina-san behind me, I couldn’t afford to dodge carelessly. Besides, I already had a rough idea of their physical abilities from our earlier clash.

I stepped into the center of their arrowhead formation, twisting my body slightly to evade the thrusting spears. At the same time, I swung the sword held in both my hands.

Due to the size difference, I couldn’t aim for their necks, but I sent my blade running towards the unprotected connection point between their human torsos and horse bodies.

One strike, two pieces. I cut through flesh and bone, then followed up with another strike in a ‘windmill slash’ motion. I tore through the torsos of the second rank as well.

I passed through the enemy group and turned back. Erina-san overtook me as I skidded to a halt on the asphalt, turning around.

Our eyes met for a brief moment.

"Go on ahead!"

"You got it!"

Erina-san, being invisible, was fine, but I was in plain sight. If I ran now, I’d just lead the Centaurs to the shelter.

After passing me, the monsters also turned around at a distance. Their eyes, with no visible whites, narrowed as they charged at me again.

Even though two of their comrades had been killed, they reformed their ranks with perfect coordination. They executed another cavalry charge, no less impressive than the first.

They were strong. They had skill. They even worked together. I see, this was definitely ‘C-Rank.’ A completely different beast from ‘D-Rank.’

But none of them were stronger than an Orc Champion.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

A roar imbued with mana, likely some kind of ‘skill.’ But it was all deflected by the surface of my body. My ‘Nucleus’ repelled the invading mana before I even needed to use ‘Concept Interference.’

I charged at the approaching forest of spears. With a slash cloaked in wind, I swept aside the row of spearheads all at once.

With a backhand slash, another strike. This time, I crushed the ‘front legs’ of the three in front of me. Their weapons were destroyed, and then their legs were crushed. The front rank, and the rear rank coming at full speed. Even a child could guess what would happen next.

I ran through the massive pile-up, then turned around before they could gain any distance. I slashed at the nearest one trying to break free.

BWO! BWOO!

The Centaurs tried to fight back by shortening their grip on their spears, but they were too slow.

I dodged an overhead thrust with my Spirit Eye, then closed the distance and swung my sword. I leaped into the middle of the group and started slashing at random.

Being attacked so closely, and from within their ranks, must have made it difficult for them to run. Their feet came to a halt.

So, was the saying you often hear in stories, ‘cavalry whose feet have stopped are sitting ducks,’ really true?

At least—it seemed to apply to these guys.

Fresh blood danced every time I swung my blade at their bellies, horse bodies, and legs. If I hadn’t been cloaked in wind, I would have been stained red from head to toe by now.

But several of them broke free from the tangled mess and regained their mobility. They immediately launched another charge, bearing down on me.

I couldn’t understand the emotions of monsters, but their gazes were undoubtedly filled with ‘killing intent’ and ‘rage,’ piercing right through me.

In that case, I cloaked the tip of my sword in wind and kicked up the salt of the scattered Centaurs, and the blood and flesh that had yet to turn.

I was trying the same move the cocadrille used on me before: a surprise attack from behind a smokescreen.

Our forms were obscured by a cloud of white and red. But I could sense from the flow of mana that they weren’t slowing down, and I clicked my tongue internally.

But it didn’t matter. I pinpointed their locations with my Spirit Eye. I leaped to meet the thrusting spear and slammed my left fist into its face.

With our combined relative velocity, its skull shattered. I didn’t even spare it a glance as I kicked off its shoulder and leaped again. Using the momentum of the now headless body, which was still moving forward due to inertia, I closed the distance to the next Centaur in an instant.

I rotated my body in mid-air and released a blast of wind. I landed after slicing through the horse bodies of two of them at once.

All that remained—was one.

BUAAAAAAAH!!

It thrust its spear at me, roaring as if it had gone mad. It seemed to have enough sense to aim for the moment I landed.

But I could ‘see’ it.

I ducked slightly to avoid the spear aimed at my head and cut its torso in two with a single strike. With a wet thud, the bisected body tumbled to the ground behind me.

"Fuuu…"

I maintained my focus. I scanned my surroundings, confirming that every Centaur in sight had turned to salt, then touched my earring.

"Aira-san. I’ve cleaned up over here. I want to meet up with Erina-san, so please give me navigation."

"…Yeah. Got it."

"…Is something wrong?"

I tilted my head, puzzled by the undisguised irritation in Aira-san’s voice.

"…I’ll explain later. For now, you stay alert for enemy approach and rendezvous with Erina-kun. Mia is there too."

"Understood."

I had no idea why she was irritated, but it seemed they had found the person we were supposed to rescue.

Sword in hand, I cautiously made my way according to the navigation. Gradually, the scattered salt began to outnumber the human corpses, until eventually, the road was covered in a sea of white.

…Could it be that all this salt is from monsters that Mia-san defeated? If so, just how many enemies did she fight off?

I started to wonder if she had even needed rescuing as I ran, and eventually, I came up against a ‘wall of ice’ towering in the middle of a residential area.

It was huge and thick. Like a castle wall from a TV show.

"This is…"

"Ah, Kyouta-chan!"

As I was looking up at the three-meter-high wall, Erina-san jumped down from the roof of a nearby house.

She landed like a cat and jogged over to me.

"Erina-san, I heard you met up with Miyoshi-san…"

"About that…"

For once, she had a troubled smile on her face.

"Senpai says she’s going to protect this shelter until the Self-Defense Force comes to help."

"…What?"

"That’s what she said. That stubborn blockhead…!"

Aira-san muttered, as if spitting the words out, while I stood there, utterly dumbfounded.

Just then, a section of the ice wall opened like a gate, and a single woman and two golems emerged.

It was Miyoshi-san. She held a staff with a jewel on it and stared at us.

"So you really came too, Yagawa-kun. I appreciate you coming to help, but you two should escape using your ‘spatial magic’."

Miyoshi-san declared with a resolute attitude.

"I will remain here and save as many residents as I can."

…Excuse me?

As I stood there with my mouth agape, she smiled at me.

"There’s no need for you to stay. Please, retreat."

Miyoshi-san’s smile as she said this was surprisingly gentle.

It was gentle, and yet. Why…

Why did I get the feeling that it was so… fragile?