Mutation #5

 

Garden Vigilantes.

In a word, these guys are like flies in a back room.

It’s a pain if you leave it alone, and it’s not easy to catch because it’s quicker than you think.

“Follow me-!”

The vigilante swung his axe, screaming wildly.

Boo-woong—

Pushed by the momentum, Mitchell takes two steps back.

“You little punk, you bar guy-”

“What about the bar? Not me?”

“Aha, now I see it’s those cheeky brats. That’s perfect timing. I’ll kill them all right here!”

The axe-wielding vigilante’s breathing became ragged.

His eyes are like that too, this guy is on the verge of losing his taste.

Judging by the condition, it appears to have been completely soaked in poison.

Even if you leave it alone, it might not have much life left.

However, you must not let your guard down when dealing with such a person.

The tantrums of a wounded beast are threatening.

Boom— boom—

The vigilante continued to swing his axe recklessly, burning his own lifeline that was fading away by the minute.

Mitchell, who had been calmly backing away, stopped in front of the wall.

There is no place to retreat anymore.

Mitchell mutters a curse word with just his lips.

bang-!

The next moment, Wagner appeared with exquisite timing and blocked the axe that was heading towards Mitchell’s head.

“I’ll join you, Mitchell.”

“You’re funny – you’re enough on your own?”

“Don’t be pretentious. This isn’t the time to be judging my feelings.”

“Miss, that bear is really annoying.”

Leaving behind Wagner and Mitchell, who seemed to be harmonious but not, bickering.

I took on a vigilante role with Flora.

“This little rat-sized bitch-!”

The guy roared as he placed the body of his fallen comrade next to him.

I blew a hole in my colleague’s stomach with a magic arrow, and he seems really angry…

Don’t be too sad.

I will send you to your friend soon.

I cast the next magic arrow.

“Where!”

The vigilante crossed his arms and swung his dagger.

As expected, the vigilantes have a certain level of class.

I guess you still know how to deal with wizards.

His judgment is correct.

Magic casting must always be interrupted midway.

However, he overlooked an important fact.

First, my current condition is not normal due to poison.

It would be difficult to properly throw a dagger with an arm that is shaking and not even able to properly control it.

And secondly, even if I’m lucky enough to get a dagger flying at me…

“Don’t worry, Estelle!”

A strong magical shield protects me.

Chaenggang—

Most of the daggers flew far away in vain, and even the one that did fly was blocked by Flora’s shield and returned useless.

“Is it my turn now?”

Meanwhile, the magic arrow is fully loaded.

I aimed my index finger at the vigilante.

“Huh⋯!”

He lifted the buckler.

It seems like they are thinking of blocking the most important vital point, the head.

This time, it’s not a bad decision.

However, you must know that such a lukewarm choice will not save your life.

“Who said they only shot the head?”

Crunch.

A single laser beam blew off the vigilante’s knee.

There’s no way that tiny buckle can cover your entire body.

The target size is too wide.

At least if you were going to carry a shield, you should have carried a big one like a Wagner shield.

It’s too late to regret it now.

“Ah …

The vigilante fell to the ground, writhing in pain and cursing loudly.

A dark shadow of despair was already cast over his face.

The eyes of one who has a premonition of death.

“⋯.”

Crunch.

When I slit his throat with the Frost Sword, the guy immediately became quiet.

The unpleasant sensation of taking life leaves a deep mark on the fingertips.

“ah-“

Flora, who had been watching, froze with a surprised expression on her face.

“If you hadn’t done that, we would have been hit, senior.”

“Oh, yes. That’s right, that’s right⋯.”

Flora took a deep breath and muttered incoherently.

It seems like he’s trying to calm his surprised heart.

Everyone has a hard time at first.

I did the same.

When I was using the power of Nightwolf to kill highwaymen in the forest, I felt sick and dizzy all day.

It’s much less shocking now than it was then.

I just feel like I did what I had to do.

If Flora continues her adventure life, she will eventually get used to it.

“Looks like they won too.”

Mitchell was seen shaking the blood off his fist.

Unlike Flora, who was a novice adventurer, Mitchell and Wagner seemed to be in this situation for the first time.

The two silently retrieved the vigilantes’ equipment and belongings and sank the bodies into the canal.

“Kid, are you okay?”

Mitchell tapped me on the shoulder and said,

“Oh. As you can see.”

“It doesn’t seem like there are any injuries… That’s a relief.”

Those who were meant to go are gone, but the equipment they used remains.

After roughly calculating, the value of the equipment obtained by killing three vigilantes was quite substantial.

‘Selling these guys’ gear would make more money than dungeon hunting.’

I thought I understood why adventurers abandoned their main occupation and devoted themselves to hunting humans.

Rather than going through the trouble of hunting a hundred or a thousand monsters, it might be more profitable to hunt a single adventurer party during that time.

Of course, easy money comes with a price.

If you keep killing people to make money, you will eventually lose your human heart forever.

Dawson and the Vigilantes clearly show how that ends.

In the end, he ends up becoming a monster wearing a human shell.

“Three vigilantes. That’s strange. I don’t know why they’d venture into the sewer.”

“Three? No.”

Mitchell shook his head at Wagner’s words.

Come to think of it, even though the battle was over, Mitchell wasn’t letting his guard down.

The elf’s ears, which had become extremely sensitive like sharp antennas, kept pricking up.

“Over there… there’s still one left.”

Mitchell muttered, staring intently into the darkness.

***

We continued back along the contaminated sediment.

I don’t remember the exact number of vigilante search parties in the game, whether six or seven.

But it is certain that there was a leader leading the search party.

Was it Max or Max? Anyway, it was a similar name to my grandmother’s pet dog…

I was worried that he wasn’t visible.

‘I may have fallen into a trap, but…’

A premonition flashed through my mind.

An unidentified lurker detected by Mitchell.

If that’s the guy waiting for our party in the dark.

Perhaps, he has turned into ‘that field boss’.

‘I don’t know yet.’

My heart is stirred with a mixture of half anxiety and half anticipation.

Without realizing it, my walking speed increased.

After walking diligently like that for about ten minutes—

“⋯That’s the smell. The dog-like smell that’s been wafting from earlier-“

Mitchell, who had been walking in the lead, stopped dead in his tracks.

The smell of blood and rotting meat.

Everyone frowned at the terrible stench that stung their noses.

“What the hell is that?”

The entire passageway to the polluted sediment site was blocked by a large mass of flesh.

A horrific appearance, with flesh, organs, and bones all mixed together and bloated in an unnatural manner.

It has a grotesque appearance, as if a tumor removed through surgery had grown alone and enlarged.

“Is it a monster?”

“I think so, yuck, ugh-”

Mitchell couldn’t stand it any longer and retched.

For elves, whose senses are even more sensitive than humans, the stench it emits would be even more difficult to bear.

‘It really came out.’

Only I know.

That strange lump of flesh is the hidden boss of the polluted sediment.

A field boss, “Blessed Subject,” who appears with a low probability of mutation from a human who fell into toxic wastewater.

As you can guess from the appearance conditions, you must sacrifice a living human to summon this guy.

And not just one or two, but continuously until they come out.

I was thinking of skipping this boss because I couldn’t sacrifice all my party members just to catch one guy, but he showed up again like this.

‘You’re lucky.’

Gulp—

Immediately afterwards, one side of the subject’s flesh bulged out, tearing through the flesh and revealing a human head.

—Oh my, it’s you guys!

Although there were almost no traces of his human past, I could tell who he was.

“⋯Is that Max from the Vigilantes?”

—Max! You have to remember people’s names correctly, you little bitch!

“Aren’t you Dawson? Why are you standing there like that?”

—Ha, who would dare to be so kind? You’re saying such nonsense after seeing this mighty body? I’m jealous of this beautiful, newly reborn body!

Every time Max shouted, the huge lump of flesh pulsed like a heart.

Is that tail beautiful?

I don’t know.

As expected, people’s tastes vary greatly.

Even though everyone thinks it’s a terrible monster, the person involved is actually satisfied.

—I don’t need someone like Dawson anymore. I am the strongest. This body is the king of Garden!

Max cried out, his eyes wide with madness.

Boo-woong—

A long string of intestines stretched out from the flesh and swung like a whip.

“I’ve seen all kinds of beggarly bastards!”

Mitchell dodged the gut with a nimble leap.

A sharp kick that continues smoothly like flowing water without stopping.

Mitchell’s axe-like kick tore the bastard’s guts out, but…

—Hahaha- It’s no use!

Max nonchalantly inflated the flesh and pulled out other internal organs like thread.

“Cell division”.

Boss “Blessed Test Subject” has a unique, persistent regenerative ability that is quite troublesome.

Even if you hit, cut, and attack it until it’s tired, it will regenerate endlessly.

It’s not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

“Watch out. This guy also attacks with acid!”

Wagner, who had barely avoided Max’s solution, caught his breath.

‘As expected, it’s tricky.’

If things continue like this, a long-term war will be unfavorable.

I already know the strategy for how to deal with the guy.

However, the problem is that when you actually try to do it, you feel a physiological resistance.

‘But this is not the time to hesitate.’

After spitting on the floor.

I came out from behind Wagner and ran towards Max.

“Hey kid, what are you doing!”

“Wait, Estelle!”

The panicked party members called out to me, but I didn’t stop.

Sometimes there are moments when you have to do something even if you don’t want to.

There are also urgent moments when you must take action without seeking the understanding of others.

Now is the time.

“Miss Estelle!”

Flora’s screams continued for a long time behind her.

Max’s hideous body came closer before my eyes.

—You foolish brat, did you come here on your own two feet to ask me to kill you?

The flesh-like monster, no longer human, burst into flames.

Immediately afterwards, the bastard’s stomach was torn lengthwise like the mouth of a giant monster.

—I’ll digest it like this.

A bright red lump of meat suddenly covers my body.

Another attack pattern of the bastard, “Swallow”.

It is a type of instant death pattern that slowly melts nearby enemies with a solution after stabbing them in the stomach.

Literally, a sure-kill move.

In general, it is a threatening attack that should be avoided at all costs, but⋯

Did someone do that?

Phone recovery.

It is said that moments of crisis are true opportunities.

‘You came here to ask me to kill you?’

Max guy, you’re making a big mistake.

You are most welcome.

I came here to kill you, you brat.

I know your strategy that you don’t even know yourself.