Ch.122Three Against One (1)

And nothing happened.

No burning murderous intent, no sensation of power awakening, just my left arm feeling cold.

No, why?

It was perplexing.

Without realizing it, I stopped and stared at my left hand. How careless.

Unlike me, the Locust didn’t miss its opportunity.

“KIEEEET!”

The axe blade swung diagonally, aiming for my left shoulder.

Caught off guard, my reaction was half a beat too slow.

Too late to deflect or dodge.

I barely managed to wedge my sword into the axe’s trajectory.

– CLANG!

Metal rang out.

A desperate defense, my posture wasn’t good enough to block it perfectly.

The Locust’s axe pressed down on Durandal.

The blade, crushed by the creature’s momentum, slid and dug into my shoulder.

Specifically, between my neck and shoulder—unfortunately, a part not covered by armor.

Blood sprayed up, staining the blade.

“Ugh…”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken a sword wound.

A groan escaped involuntarily from the burning pain.

Gritting my teeth, I regained my posture and raised my sword.

The power of Karma had already spread throughout my body.

In a simple contest of strength, I actually had the advantage.

“HAAAAA!”

Taking a step forward, I twisted my waist and pushed the sword upward.

Unlike before, my stance was stable. The full power of my body was channeled into the blade.

The axe was forced back, sending the Locust’s arm flying upward.

Simultaneously, its front leg stabbed toward me again.

I’d seen that move before—I wouldn’t fall for it twice.

As I rolled, my swinging blade deflected the Locust’s leg.

My target wasn’t this leg, but the one on the opposite side.

The part I had nearly severed earlier.

The left leg that couldn’t extend forward or touch the ground, just trembling.

As I thought, it can’t move in that state.

Rising to my feet, I swung my sword into the creature’s leg, finally severing it completely.

The severed limb tumbled to the ground.

“KIIIII…!”

The Locust groaned and stepped back.

In that moment, I quickly checked my shoulder wound.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep injury.

Just a flesh wound on the surface.

Blood was flowing, but no major vessels or muscles were damaged.

Considering Durandal’s sharpness and the force pressing down, it was strangely shallow.

It wouldn’t have been surprising if my shoulder had been half-severed.

…Does it refuse to seriously wound its master?

It happened before too. When fighting Natalya.

I remembered how the sword’s point had rotated on its own to avoid me.

Truly a fine sword. In many ways.

Gripping the longsword with both hands, I charged at the Locust.

The blood soaking my shoulder flowed down my collarbone and finally reached my left arm.

Frosting awakened.

—-

This is…!

It felt like fire ignited in my veins.

My vision turned red.

A sudden, violent heat surged through my entire body like a celebration.

An intoxicating euphoria, like being drunk.

A wild impulse stretching toward the enemy before me.

I heard whispers.

Kill them.

Kill them all.

Until those worthless lives are finally extinguished.

Accept your true nature.

Whether it was my voice or someone else’s,

A whisper with a strange resonance urged me on.

…Clearly, it’s not without some influence.

However, as Lacy had assured, my reason didn’t completely fly away like before.

My head just felt a little heated.

Excellent.

At this level… I can control it perfectly.

I fully released the power I had kept half-bound because it was difficult to handle.

The Karma of Murder.

A power that was practically the foundation of this body.

Finally, it moved according to my will.

Faithfully, like a dog obeying its master.

Red energy rose like flames, enveloping my body.

The power of murder Karma added to my strike. Durandal trembled.

The blade, leaving a trail of red afterglow, tore into the Locust’s axe.

– KWAAANG!

The magic imbued in the axe shattered into pieces.

The sword blade cut through the axe, penetrating smoothly like slicing through flesh.

“KIEK!”

Seemingly startled, the Locust leaped high.

Vertically, about ten meters.

I was even more surprised.

Enough to forget the bubbling impulses.

Wait, it can jump too? With that bulk?

Well, I guess that makes sense for a grasshopper!

Five legs and a half-cut axe came crashing down, carrying its massive weight.

With enough force to turn a person into a bloody pulp in an instant.

But jumping against me was a poor decision.

Thanks to launching into the air, its vulnerable underbelly was completely exposed.

I couldn’t help but smile.

I’d told Demian repeatedly.

Jumping attacks are useless against human opponents!

My left hand reached into my coat and pulled out four daggers.

Arching my back greatly, I rose up and threw them with all my might.

Four streaks of light shot into the air.

A rain of bodily fluids poured down.

The daggers pierced the creature’s belly and drove deep inside.

So deep the handles were no longer visible.

“KIEEEEEK?!”

Whether from pain, the Locust’s body momentarily stiffened.

Perfect. In that state, it couldn’t counter.

Stepping back slightly, I pulled my clenched left fist up beside my face.

My target wasn’t the creature.

Slashing or smashing it wouldn’t help—unless I could blow it away in one strike, the remaining parts would still come crashing down on me.

Intense killing intent gathered in my left arm.

Frosting turned red.

Unlike Durandal which had rejected this power, it greedily absorbed the Karma.

“KYAAAAAT!”

With a battle cry, I shot my arm forward.

Not toward the sky, but at the ground.

My fist strike hit the earth like a shell.

– KWAAAANG!

With a thunderous roar, the ground shattered into pieces.

The ground where the creature was supposed to land.

I hadn’t destroyed the rock face itself.

Such madness would only be possible for a dragon.

What I’d done was merely carve the floor at an angle.

But that was enough.

“KIIIIIK!!”

The Locust crashed into the sloped ground and lost its balance, sliding.

For a moment, its upper body was completely exposed.

This was the moment I’d been waiting for.

My sword extended like lightning, splitting the Locust’s upper body in half.

Unlike its lower body, the split torso sprayed dark red blood.

“Farewell.”

– THWACK!

My following kick sent its body flying backward.

The hard carapace actually helped.

If it had been flesh, my leg would have sunk in.

Thanks to the carapace, it was properly pushed away.

The Locust slid and fell beyond the edge of the ground.

It desperately flailed its legs, but there was nothing for its feet to catch.

“KIEEEEEE…”

Its scream-like cry gradually faded away.

With its torso split and falling from this height, it wouldn’t easily climb back up.

It might even die.

The impact on the water surface would be tremendous for something that size.

I had no time to watch its fall.

A fierce whooshing sound was approaching from behind.

I spun around, swinging my sword to parry from the side.

If I blocked it head-on and got pushed back, I might fall just like that creature.

The second Locust had approached without my noticing.

The trajectory of its greatsword, swinging down vertically, collided with my longsword and twisted greatly to the side.

The greatsword dug into the ground.

There was no time to counterattack.

Another one was thrusting a weapon toward me.

This one was wielding a spear.

Charging with six legs, it extended its spear toward my head with fierce momentum.

Axe, greatsword, and now a spear.

One of each type…!

The spearhead carried ferocious energy.

Front legs closing in from both sides, blocking my escape routes.

There was only one way out.

I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.

The ground I used as a foothold crumbled as my body shot upward.

The spearhead pierced empty space.

Didn’t I say not to jump carelessly during combat?

I’m allowed to.

While airborne, I drew the bow from my back.

I sheathed Durandal, pulled out an arrow, and drew the string.

One shot, then immediately another.

The arrows I fired from midair flew with a sharp whistling sound.

Aimed at the heads of the Locusts trying to jump after me.

Other body parts would deflect off the carapace, but the face was exposed flesh.

Arrows could easily pierce through.

The Locusts’ responses were simple.

One raised its arm to cover its face, while the other turned its head to block with its shoulder.

Two metallic sounds. The arrows deflected uselessly.

Though I failed to inflict even a slight wound, I was satisfied with the result.

I hadn’t really expected them to penetrate anyway.

Buying time was enough.

While they were blocking the arrows, I landed on the ground.

Quickly putting away the bow, I drew Durandal again.

The two Locusts glared at me, their protruding eyes twitching.

Their cries were filled with hostility and caution.

…This won’t end as quickly as with the previous one.

I steadied my breathing and prepared to fight again.

Though I’d used some strength in that earlier punch, it wasn’t enough to hinder combat.

From far below, I could faintly hear the sound of massive bodies crashing into the water surface.

Perhaps enraged by their comrade’s demise, the Locusts immediately charged at me.

—-

What followed was nothing short of chaos.

Greatsword, spear, countless legs—all shooting toward me.

It felt like fighting eight knights at once.

Parrying and dodging left me completely overwhelmed.

I rolled on the ground again to avoid the shower of legs coming down.

The ground, now gouged and cracked, had transformed into something like ruins.

…It won’t collapse, will it?

Glancing at the floor, I swung Durandal to deflect the greatsword.

The collision of blades sent sparks flying.

I grabbed a front leg aiming for my head.

A crushing sound.

Frosting’s claws squeezed the hard carapace like fruit.

Green fluid sprayed out, wetting my fingertips.

The creature screamed.

Just as I was about to completely crush it, the other one’s spear thrust toward my side.

Oh, come on…!

I had no choice but to let go and step back.

Merely twisting my waist to avoid the spear would only get me impaled by another leg.

It had been like this the whole time.

One-on-one would be manageable, but with two coordinating their attacks, I couldn’t find an opening to strike back.

I never realized fighting opponents with multiple limbs could be this troublesome.

Come to think of it, this was probably my first time fighting enemies of this type.

All my previous opponents had only one pair of arms and legs.

It had been about five minutes since the battle began.

Neither side had sustained major injuries.

I had nothing but the shoulder wound, while they each had one partially damaged leg.

It seemed to be heading toward a drawn-out battle.

…This is problematic.

Sighing, I tried moving the fingers of my left hand.

The faintly trembling fingertips moved sluggishly.

As I thought, the movement is duller than before.

Frosting’s cold was gradually consuming my left arm.

For now, it was just numbed sensation and slight trembling, but if the battle dragged on, my arm would start breaking down like last time.

No choice, then.

I changed my mindset.

In the dungeon, with no priest to heal my wounds, I’d been fighting cautiously… but that ends now.

What the hell, I’m not going to die.

Gritting my teeth, I charged toward them.

Promising myself that next time, I’d definitely bring a priest along.