Ch.10Minotaur Extermination Squad (3)

# Crack—!!!

“Arghhhh—!!!!!!”

“Sir Balak—!!!”

The sleeping Minotaur had awakened.

In an instant, it grabbed Old Knight Balak and squeezed, turning the man into pulp.

# Squish—!!!

“Ugh! Kyle, Clark, come with me to distract it again! Lagus, prepare the Basilisk poison once more! White Out party, ready your magic, and mercenaries, protect Lagus again!”

Gale, the next senior knight after Sir Balak, issued commands. While the knights moved in perfect coordination, the mercenaries seemed oddly sluggish.

“Can we… really defeat that thing? A Minotaur immune to Basilisk poison? What even is…”

“And didn’t the Destroyer King proudly mention using 7th Circle magic earlier? How are we supposed to beat something that withstood that kind of spell…”

The mercenaries’ morale crumbled as they watched the Minotaur stand up unscathed after taking their attack.

7th Circle magic was something used only by elder-level mages in magic towers. How could they defeat a monster that withstood such power?

“I… I’ll return first to report this emergency!”

“What nonsense! If anyone should go, it should be me, known for my speed even among Gold Class! Don’t worry everyone! This lightning foot will be back in no time—”

# Squish—!

The skulls of the two would-be deserters went flying. Even with its lower body frozen, the Minotaur picked up stones from the ground and accurately smashed their heads.

“Don’t think about running! That bull has intelligence! If we don’t work together, we’ll be the ones annihilated!”

The knights tried to rally everyone, but the mercenaries’ eyes were already filled with despair.

“…Burn, heavens above, scorch, earth below. What unfolds in my hands is hellfire descended upon the earth to incinerate all! Devour everything before me! Inferno!”

At that moment, the spell Inferno manifested—far weaker than the 9th Circle Hell Fire spell, but still powerful enough in the middle realm.

# Whoosh—!!

“Muooooo———!!!”

The Minotaur roared in agony as the Inferno engulfed its body. It tried to extinguish the flames by slapping at the burning areas with both arms, but the fire quickly spread across its entire body.

“Waaaaaaa———!!!”

The mercenaries’ morale rose as they watched the creature writhing in flames.

They had thought it was hopeless against a monster that withstood 7th Circle magic, but now they wondered if they might defeat it if they could just hold out a little longer.

But…

Though it continued to burn, the Minotaur remained intact. It screamed and writhed in pain, but its silhouette within the flames remained unchanged.

When the fire died down, the sight was shocking. Despite being hit by the 6th Circle Inferno spell, the creature had only singed fur with no actual damage.

# Grin—

Then, the Minotaur smiled as if mocking them. As though all its suffering had been an act, it planted its feet firmly on the ground and let out a roar.

# Muooooo———!!!

That roar sent the nearby knights flying, burst the eardrums of the White Out party members standing at a distance, and paralyzed Lagus and the mercenaries with Fear.

“Muhehehehe”

With what sounded like a Minotaur’s laughter—a sound never heard before—it moved to deal with those overwhelmed by its Fear aura first.

# Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

Despite the noise of its massive body moving, the mercenaries showed no reaction, paralyzed by Fear. The Minotaur approached them and stuffed them one by one into its stomach.

The mercenaries became the Minotaur’s food without even being able to scream properly. Soon, all the mercenaries guarding Lagus, including the sniper himself, were gone.

“Urgh… What in the world—”

Gale, who had become the senior-most knight after Sir Balak’s death, regained consciousness. He seemed to have lost his memory of being knocked out by the Minotaur’s roar and didn’t understand why he had fainted.

As he looked around to assess the situation, hell had unfolded. Lagus and the mercenaries had already disappeared, presumably dead, and the White Out members were now being toyed with.

Like a child cruelly plucking the wings off dragonflies, the Minotaur was tearing off the limbs of the White Out members and stuffing them into its mouth.

Even the Destroyer King, a Titanium Class mage capable of 7th Circle magic, suffered the same fate.

Upon regaining consciousness, he lived up to his title by casting powerful spells in succession, but they did no damage to the Minotaur.

Calling Lightning, Thunder Force, Judgment.

Whether they were memorized spells or stored in his staff, the Destroyer King fired three lightning spells in succession.

Gale watched with hope, but that hope was quickly shattered.

After taking all those spells without harm, the Minotaur grinned and patted its shoulder as if refreshed.

Then… it raised its tree-trunk-like arm…

# Crackle—!!

Lightning wrapped around the Minotaur’s hand. Seeing this, the Destroyer King despaired as the arm, thick as a log, came crashing down on him.

# Boom—!

With a thunderous sound that cracked the ground, the 7th Circle user vanished. Though his skill might have qualified him for Adamantium Class beyond Titanium, even he left behind only a splash of blood as he was erased by the variant Minotaur.

Overwhelming power. Human-like intelligence. And what appeared to be lightning elemental abilities. To defeat such a monster would require a Master who was a hero and protector of humanity, an 8th Circle Master, or an Orichalcon Class adventurer.

With that final thought, even Gale, the senior-most knight and promising talent of Cayenne Territory, was eliminated by the Minotaur.

The forest, having witnessed everything, maintained its silence as always.

* * * * *

I was curious about human capabilities so I let them hit me, but I’m starting to think I might be pretty strong.

These tiny humans in swords and armor were trying to injure my feet with something blue and wavy—mana?—but they barely left marks, like the faint red welts from a switch in childhood.

I barely took any damage, but I roared to encourage them, and they seemed happy and kept fighting harder.

While the knights were distracting me, magic was cast.

I was worried about what kind of magic it might be, but thanks to my Elements ability, lightning magic did no damage. I could have broken free from the ice magic too, but I wanted to see how they’d react, so I let them hit me…

Suddenly something pierced my neck and made me extremely drowsy—that was the first time I felt in danger.

I was concerned about what these creatures had done to put me to sleep, but since they couldn’t even cut my skin, I stopped worrying and took a nice nap.

I must have dozed off briefly because when I opened my eyes, an old knight was standing before me with a greatsword. I instinctively grabbed and crushed him.

The surroundings fell silent. I worried they might run away, but the old knight must have been respected because the other knights rushed in, which was a relief.

But when some adventurers tried to flee, I threw stones at them to show they shouldn’t think about escaping.

The stones I threw were larger than humans, and the fleeing cowards disappeared beneath them, leaving only traces of blood.

Satisfied with their fate, I roared, sending nearby pests flying while those further away froze in terror.

Seeing this, I figured I should just kill them all and go back to sleep, so I started by swallowing those furthest away in one gulp.

While I was tearing apart the mage-looking ones and eating them like chicken legs, a strange one cast several spells in succession.

Lightning struck me, swirled around me, and engulfed me… but my Elements trait nullified all damage.

I created lightning in my hand before the spell-caster, who despaired at the sight. I gave him a knock on the head to quiet him, then finished off the last dazed onlooker, eliminating all the intruders.

“Muuuu! (I seem pretty strong!)”

What a satisfying meal and workout! What a healthy lifestyle. It’s hard to eat vegetables, but as a monster, I can probably survive on meat alone.

As I was about to leave, my [Beast Sense] howled fiercely. Trusting that instinct, I swung my head…

# Clang—!

It collided with someone’s weapon.

My senses hadn’t howled this fiercely since fighting that chuunibyou-looking mage recently… It seems I’ve finally found a worthy opponent, so I checked my adversary with renewed fighting spirit.

There stood… a man in an iaido stance with what appeared to be a Japanese sword, and a fairy flying beside him.