Ch.123So It’s Not Three Anymore Eh?

I unleash my killing intent all at once, accelerating my consciousness.

The world, already stained red, grows even darker.

Steam rises from my exhaled breath.

This is how it should have been from the start.

Fighting cautiously, worried about getting injured—that’s not like me.

That’s how you struggle even against enemies you should defeat.

What a foolish judgment.

I grip my sword hilt and kick the ground with all my might.

The ground shatters beneath me. My body lunges forward.

Like an arrow shot from a bow, it was a charge with no thought of retreat.

“Keeeet?!”

Startled by my sudden change in momentum, the Locust thrusts its spear.

I avoid the incoming spear tip with just a twist of my shoulder.

My black iron armor tears open, scattering metal fragments.

I thrust my sword toward the approaching foreleg.

The sword tip pierces through the leg and drives straight in.

The creature’s fluids splash across my face.

The green liquid, full of dark mana, tastes bitter and foul.

Like biting into rotten, decaying fish.

Without stopping, the Locust’s leg tip extends and pierces my right shoulder.

The shoulder plate, already half-shattered, is completely penetrated.

Blood gushes from my shoulder.

Thanks to the armor absorbing some of the impact, it didn’t reach the bone, but flesh and muscle were gouged out.

In exchange, one of the creature’s legs is now immobilized.

The opposite leg strikes down, aiming for my head.

A leg already half-crushed from being caught in Frosting earlier.

No learning ability, I see?

Blood-stained Frosting catches that leg again.

My right hand, which had been holding Durandal, releases the sword and grabs the opposite leg that had pierced my shoulder.

I wasn’t planning to tear it apart like before.

I’d thought of a more effective method.

The Locust raises its reversed spear high.

If I hesitate even slightly, my skull will be vertically impaled.

From the side, another creature’s greatsword approaches.

“HUAAAAHH!”

With a roar, I kick the spear-wielding creature’s abdomen.

Arching my body backward, I pull with all my might using both arms.

With the satisfying sensation of tearing flesh, my unbalanced body rolls backward.

The greatsword cuts through empty air.

My shin, grazed by the spear tip, burns with heat.

“KEEEEK!”

The spear-wielding creature screams and retreats.

Dark fluid sprays from where its two legs were ripped out.

Just as I thought.

The carapace itself is hard, but the joints are still flesh.

I knew it could withstand downward strikes, but not pulling force!

I throw the leg in my left hand at the greatsword-wielding creature, then pull Durandal back out from the leg in my right hand.

My lungs flap desperately for air, but there’s no time to breathe.

The Locust with the greatsword howls ferociously and brings down its two forelegs in succession.

It was like green hail pouring down.

I swing my longsword wildly with both hands.

Sparks fly continuously.

My body activated by the power of Karma of Murder, sword strikes relying on Durandal’s strength.

With each parry of the legs, carapace fragments scatter.

After deflecting about nine strikes, this time the greatsword comes down.

A vertical downward strike.

The force behind the greatsword was fierce, as if the creature too was using all its strength.

From the side, another creature’s spear approaches.

Until just now, I would have retreated.

I grit my teeth and push my body’s strength to its limit.

My head feels like it’s burning up.

I extend my right hand holding the sword toward the spear.

A blue light gleams clearly on the blade as it swings in an arc.

Simultaneously, I thrust my left arm with nails extended toward the greatsword.

A swirl of deep crimson, almost black, wraps around my arm.

Our weapons collide with full force.

The resulting explosion shakes the entire cavern.

As always, my weapons don’t betray me.

Like splitting bamboo, Durandal’s blade vertically splits the Locust’s spear.

The halved spear tip lodges in my armor’s skirt.

Blood spurts from my scraped thigh.

At the same time, Frosting and the greatsword collide.

From fingertips to shoulder, the impact feels like every bone and joint is being twisted.

Eyes wide open, enduring the excruciating pain, I extend my arm without retreating.

My gauntlet, stained with Karma of Murder, digs into the greatsword.

– CRASH!

The greatsword’s blade shatters like glass, spewing fragments.

Metal pieces embed themselves in my body.

Most are blocked by my armor, but some graze my face.

My forehead and cheek are deeply cut, leaving a burning pain.

A fragment also lodges near my collarbone.

Thanks to the fur lining of my armor, it’s not a deep wound.

Not yet.

Just like that. One more step forward…!

Grinding my teeth, I advance. The enemy is right before me.

My left hand, extended like a battering ram, pierces straight through its abdomen.

Black blood spurts like a fountain.

“KEEEEEK!”

The sensation of intestines tangled around my fingertips is vivid.

I raise my fingers and stir its insides randomly.

Until only tattered pieces remain inside.

“Kek, kak! Kerrruk!”

The Locust trembles and emits a bizarre scream.

Blood mixed with meat chunks gurgles from between its lips.

Frosting’s curse, the coldness of the netherworld, penetrates its body and paralyzes it.

Even if left alone, it would soon stop breathing.

Now, only one remains…!

I pull out my left arm from its entrails and, with trembling hands gripping the sword hilt, charge at the creature beside me.

A monster that has lost both its spear and forelegs.

Now, it should have no way to resist.

Sure enough, it desperately swings its right hand.

Just a bare fist.

What a crude resistance.

I take a deep breath.

The oxygen finally supplied fills my lungs and inflates my chest.

The pain in my chest that felt like it would tear subsides.

Once again, a blue arc dances.

A sword swing with a stable stance, with no need to worry about counterattacks.

The slash, with sufficient power behind it, emits a threatening light.

I deflect its right arm sideways and sever its wrist.

Raising my sword again, I vertically split the incoming left fist.

Unlike with Frosting, the creature’s hand couldn’t withstand Durandal’s sharpness.

The armored arm splits in half.

“Kehik! Krhiiik!”

The Locust screams in agony from the pain in both arms.

Its body stiffens for a moment.

This is the end.

I swing Durandal toward its exposed body.

Four slashes.

I split its upper body diagonally.

I sever its waist.

I cut off its falling head.

Finally, I vertically split the lower body of the insect that has lost its upper half.

A whirlwind of blood and fluid, human intestines and insect innards, pours out together.

Injuries that even a monster couldn’t withstand.

It collapses lifelessly.

—-

“Hoo… hoo… haaaa…!”

I catch my breath, calming my body shocked by the excessive movement.

Though one creature was still breathing, there seemed no need to fight any further.

The Locust that had wielded the greatsword was already sitting helplessly on the ground, trembling.

Through the gaping hole in its abdomen and its slack jaw, it was leaking contents that had turned to soup.

It seemed to lack even the strength to hold a sword, as the broken greatsword was stuck in the ground.

Usually, monsters can still move even in such a state… but this one looks too weak to fight again.

Frosting’s curse seems quite effective even on monsters.

I remove my gauntlet, covered in bodily fluids.

As the excitement subsides, my body goes limp.

My vision, which had been completely red, gradually returns to its normal color.

“Kuuuuu…”

I grit my teeth as pain that I had no time to notice during combat suddenly washes over me.

Tears and cuts everywhere burned, and my right shoulder felt like it was on fire.

My left arm wasn’t in good shape.

It was bruised blue all over, and every joint from fingertips to shoulder ached.

Fortunately, no bones seemed broken or cracked, but my arm trembled as cold numbness and hot pain alternated.

Damn it. The matchup was terrible.

I spit out blood-tinged saliva while bandaging my wounds.

Locust Centauros.

Clearly monsters designed to counter warriors.

An archer or mage of my level would have easily defeated them.

No matter how many limbs they have—eight or fifty—it means nothing if they can’t reach you.

With enough firepower to break their carapace, you could just bombard them from a distance.

But for warriors with only two hands, enemies with this many attack methods are incredibly troublesome.

The proper way for warriors to face such creatures is to fight with numerical advantage.

So they can protect each other.

Far from having an advantage, we were outnumbered, so even I couldn’t win without accepting injuries.

It hurts like hell.

Still, it’s fortunate that I was the one facing these creatures.

The other three would have struggled even to break through the carapace.

Thanks to the tightly wrapped bandages, the bleeding gradually subsided.

Even so, with both arms in this state, it would be difficult to fight satisfactorily.

Next time, I should just bring Lena along…

I sit on the ground and catch my breath.

Though I was worried about my companions, I needed to rest for now.

I’d consumed quite a bit of stamina and energy.

Once my strength returns… I should head over there.

I raise my head to look at the structure beyond.

A wall surrounding the entire rock face. What lies beyond the barrier, I won’t know until I go there.

Honestly, I really don’t want to go… it looks exactly like a boss room.

If these Locusts aren’t the masters of this dungeon, it means something stronger is over there…?

But I can’t not go either.

Unless I plan to stay here until I starve to death.

Nothing is ever easy, is it?