Ch.11Participant, Rito

The beast’s sense that alerted me has only been triggered by this creature and that chuunibyou I ate a few days ago, excluding when I was young.

Even when surrounded by dozens of people, my Beast’s Sense remained silent, and even 7th circle magic could only singe my skin without causing significant damage.

But… this one is different. It feels like I’ve met my match. The sight of this powerful enemy ignites my fighting spirit and awakens my monster instincts.

Puhh——!!

I snort, continuously scraping the ground as I prepare to charge at any moment. And then… I charge at the figure holding a Japanese sword in a drawing stance.

I deliver the Minotaur’s deadly strike with the belief that no being has ever been able to cut my horns, nor will there ever be one.

That strike was met head-on with a sword-drawing technique.

Chaeng-!!

The shockwave from the collision between the sword and my horn swept through the surroundings. Like white shockwaves seen in game cinematics or movies, it blew away everything nearby, yet the figure withstood my strike without budging.

How could such a small body possess strength comparable to mine? No, considering the weight difference, their strength must exceed mine.

I don’t understand how they can match my strength, which rivals that of a Cyclops, but it must be due to their unique trait as a participant.

Smiling at the thought that this one wouldn’t die easily, I took another charging stance. This time, I wrapped lightning around myself so that even if they blocked, they would be paralyzed by the electric shock. As I charged, it felt like I had become a single line of lightning.

Using the lightning coursing through my body like mana. Thanks to this, my speed doubled, and I thought I would send them flying this time. But…

Once again, they blocked my attack. Even my horn wrapped in lightning!

Clearly their weapon must be forged from fantasy metal since it could withstand my horn, but how could a human remain unaffected by electricity? I was bewildered by this impossible reality, but when I saw them swinging their sword, I pulled my body back.

Then… a slash wave shot out from their sword.

Kukakakakang!

The slash wave raced along the ground like a shark’s fin. With its overwhelming power, it carved a line into the earth. Having already pulled back, I judged I couldn’t dodge, so I wrapped lightning around my body again and countered.

Kuuung-!!!

But… their slash was much stronger than I’d anticipated, and the price for altering its path was my sliced hand.

“Muuuuuu!!”

When I fought the chuunibyou, injuries didn’t hurt this much… but this was so painful that I involuntarily screamed.

With tears welling up in my clear eyes, they launched a second slash wave.

Kwagagagak-!!

I rolled to the side to avoid the slash that once again tore through the ground.

There must be something in their attack that prevents healing, as the wound on my left hand seemed to worsen, and the pain intensified. How could they unleash such powerful slashes repeatedly… At that moment, I felt something was off.

‘Why isn’t my Beast’s Sense activating against these flying slashes?’

If I took one of those slashes head-on, I’d be cut in half. Yet… the trait that even warned me about holes being punctured in my body wasn’t warning me about these dangerous attacks?

Questions kept piling up. In my five years of living, Beast’s Sense had never been wrong. Though it didn’t activate often, whenever it did, it always warned me about techniques that could inflict fatal wounds.

Especially in extremely dangerous situations, it would make a ringing sound in my ears and indicate the position to avoid with a tingling sensation like static electricity… So why did it warn me only about this person’s first attack and remain silent afterward?

Feeling something was wrong, I began to suspect this might not be reality. Was the strike that hit my horn a condition for them to cast an illusion on me? Is that why Beast’s Sense warned me not to get hit by it?

It was strange from the beginning that they could block my attack without taking a single step back. My height exceeds 8 meters, and my weight must be in tons, so how could a human withstand the force from such a massive body?

No matter how strong someone is, weight class differences matter even among humans, let alone the overwhelming difference between monsters and humans.

As wounds continued to accumulate on my body, I became convinced this was an illusion… The swordsman with the Japanese sword before me disappeared, and I found myself standing alone on a desolate land.

* * * * *

“Ahahahaha! Look at that stupid bull! Lying there and dancing like crazy.”

A boy with a Japanese sword at his waist points at the Minotaur and laughs. He had cautiously cast an illusion on the Titanium class participant, but being a monster, it fell for it immediately.

That illusion is a world where one’s thoughts become reality. The creature must be doing whatever it desires in the illusion. It must have dreamed of fighting, as it was swinging its arms and legs while lying down, raising dust.

Seeing this ridiculous sight, the fairy beside him also began to mock the Minotaur.

“Ahahahaha! I was shocked when that monster annihilated the humans, but it’s helpless before Rito’s ability! As expected, filthy monsters should be eliminated…”

The fairy’s words gradually trailed off. As if sensing something was wrong, she tilted her head and kept muttering what she had just said.

“Filthy monsters? Why are monsters filthy…? I’m a fairy… Monsters protected us…”

Hearing this, Rito lightly touched the fairy’s head. The fairy became dazed. After a brief blank expression, she cheerfully shouted again.

“Come on! Die, you filthy beast! Die quickly and become Rito’s nourishment!”

Watching this, Rito let out a sigh of relief.

‘It’s really hard to deceive a fairy with my unique trait. Except for certain humans, they never realized until death, but this one keeps trying to wake up occasionally.’

Rito’s unique magic is Reality Alteration. This skill with its impressive name and equally impressive effect has made Rito an undefeated being.

This skill makes events that occurred in illusions or dreams into reality. Rito’s natural affinity for illusion magic created significant synergy.

Five years since falling into this world. The first year was filled with humiliation, getting beaten and robbed without proper understanding, but one day he acquired illusion magic.

After mastering that magic, he could utilize his unique ability, transforming from someone who was robbed to someone who robbed, able to obtain anything he desired.

Money, women, weapons. He could obtain anything, and even this Japanese sword was made by a famous blacksmith from the capital whom he controlled through illusion, using titanium as material.

While training in illusion magic, two years ago, he met his first participant.

It was a participant who used a spear, but they were no match for him. With low magic resistance, they laughed until their neck was cut under the illusion.

And he obtained the spear-wielding participant’s unique trait, Master of Weaponry. With this ability acquired through an extremely low probability, Rito could skillfully handle a Japanese sword, and occasionally deal with enemies who weren’t affected by illusions, allowing him to capture five participants.

After obtaining the unique trait from the spearman, he couldn’t acquire any more, but the enchantment magic, nimble footwork, stealth, and ambush skills he obtained from other participants maximized his abilities.

Now he could cast illusion magic on opponents who crossed swords with him, reaching a level where those who first encountered him would die without even realizing they were under an illusion, making him feel like a god had sent him to a world of toys.

“Hmm- what should I do with that bull after killing it? It’s getting wounded on its own, so it wouldn’t be strange if it died soon… What can I make with those materials?”

“Minotaur tendons are useful! The skin is tough! And the horns, if they can be reforged, are the best materials! Since that one is a variant, even better materials should come out!”

‘Not bad…’

Killing people only brands you as a murderer, but killing monsters makes you a hero and earns you money, which is great. As he waited for the Minotaur to die, something unexpected happened.

“What-!? How is that bull breaking my illusion…!”

The Minotaur was waking up from the illusion. Just a moment ago it was covered in blood, but as soon as it stood up, all its wounds disappeared as if they had been a dream.

Seeing the Minotaur shaking its head as if slightly dizzy, trying to regain its senses, Rito decided to retreat quickly.

“Fairy! We’re getting out of here, so prepare quickly!”

“Uh… okay! But I’m not a fairy, I’m Mary…”

“Shut up and prepare to leave! If that thing fully regains its senses and chases us, we’ll…”

Muuuu…

Perhaps because they were making too much noise. The Minotaur was now standing before them.