Ch.168Reunion (2)

How long had it passed since I set out on Goose, relying entirely on a single intuition?

After riding for quite some time without rest on Goose, whose pure running speed exceeded my own, I suddenly began to directly sense a malevolent current from a certain point.

Sticky killing intent, empty hatred, causeless malice, and even innate traits of evil.

Through this feeling, hardly different from the embodiment of a demon’s identity, I immediately discerned the mastermind behind this incident. Even without my intuition, I was certain this case would lead to something troublesome, and as I was about to exhale deeply…

‘…Poison?’

A stinging sensation entered my body through my respiratory system, piercing my lungs. If I didn’t have resistance factors against poison, I would have been intoxicated immediately. With a frown, I asked Goose:

“Goose, are you alright?”

“Pururr!”

Goose was, after all, a special horse bred to have high resistance to poisons and diseases as a war mount of this world. His resistance was more than sufficient to withstand even deadly poisons that could affect mid-level beings.

Thanks to this, I could set my mind at ease and focus elsewhere. As I sharpened my senses like a blade, what I perceived was an evil presence gradually approaching from beyond—the cause of this incident.

‘…There it is.’

What entered my vision, enhanced by “Eagle Sight,” was a warrior in black armor approaching. A warrior clad in magical armor of bizarre form, surrounded by an ominous current.

The black armor, which felt strangely like biological material, had organically connected parts, and its surface was densely engraved with ornate decorations and patterns that gave it an eerie feel.

Additionally, the armor had purple glowing horn-like decorations at various points, increasing its menacing appearance, culminating in the “eyeballs” installed throughout the armor.

White sclera in purple, irises in green. These eyeballs, far from normal, protruded from various parts of the armor, centered on the breastplate, and judging by the moving pupils, they weren’t mere decorations.

But what truly transformed this creature into a demonic entity were perhaps the inhuman body parts protruding from various places on its body.

A pair of massive bull horns sprouting from the temples of the helmet, which seemed integrated with the face; black dragon wings with purple membranes spread wide behind its back; and a snake’s tail protruding from between its legs, almost as thick as a limb.

‘A demon possession… is it?’

Having immediately guessed its identity from its distinctive appearance, I decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity where I had identified something first and prepared to launch a surprise attack.

I synchronized part of the liquid metal and mythril-steel alloy armor covering my body with Goose’s armor while simultaneously forming thrusters directed behind my back.

Meanwhile, I gathered the blade shield stored on my back into a kite shield size and equipped it on my left arm, while with my right hand, I lifted the solid metal lance that had been hanging from the saddle and tucked it under my arm.

This lance, sent to me by the mad metal cultists who wanted a sturdy tester (test subject) like me to use it, could be summarized as a self-propelled explosive lance.

For those unfamiliar with self-propelled explosive lances, it’s a close-combat (anti-tank) weapon with explosives attached to the end of a pole. To put it more simply, it’s an insane weapon with a missile-tipped spearhead attached to a long shaft.

Of course, this close-combat explosive lance, designed with practical combat in mind, is far from being a weapon that disregards human life.

Made of solid metal, it’s a weapon that can be reused as many times as needed.

After inserting it into the exact position for lance charging and completing my charge preparations, I released my aura like mad through the temporary thrusters and charged toward that warrior at tremendous speed.

The principle behind this metal lance, over 4 meters in length, is complex, but it performs its role faithfully because of that complexity.

The moment I press the switch, the internal propellant powder ignites, shooting the lance forward. Then, when the spearhead penetrates the target’s body to a certain depth, pressing the switch again detonates the detachable cartridge at the tip from within.

Of course, the propulsive force generated by the exploding powder would send one flying in an unexpected direction if not controlled, but with my strength, I could easily overcome the recoil and drive it in—

“—Let’s go!”

—Clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter—!!!!

The sound of hooves striking the frozen ground at a tremendous tempo rings clearly. The aura transferred from me stimulates Goose’s excited muscles, amplifying them, resulting in explosive firepower that deserves the name.

The distance of at least several hundred meters shrinks in an instant. The pupils of the eyes covering its body dilate widely, perhaps because it hadn’t predicted this situation, but I hardly need to pay attention to that.

[….!!]

I fix the spear tip straight ahead. Before it can move or react, whether from surprise or some other reason, I aim precisely at this momentary opening and thrust forward.

My goal is singular: to “hunt” the enemy.

The lance charge, unleashed with the ferocity of the beast hidden within me, contained enough power to end the life of even an adolescent dragon in a single strike if it hit directly.

However—the opponent was too formidable.

[■■■■, ■■ ■■■ ■!!!]

—Kugugugugung!!!

Just as I accelerated to the extreme, reaching the point where I could no longer change the direction of my spearhead by will, suddenly, with an evil incantation, something with the presence of living beings rose from the ground.

It was clearly evident that some magical power was involved, and if dozens of such things appeared and threw themselves at this place, the target would also be clearly determined.

‘A black mage…!!’

A summoning magic (presumably) suddenly cast by someone who appeared to be just a warrior on the surface. Since there was no way to do anything with my current acceleration, I separated about eight blades from my shield to pierce through the summons and continue charging.

I intended to cut down the enemies in one stroke to clear away the summons, then charge through and pierce through the enemy, but…

—Kwaaaaaaang!!!

What appeared before my eyes with a thunderous sound, bursting through the ground, was nothing but a massive lump of organic matter. If I had to give it a name, perhaps “flesh wall” would be appropriate.

A thick wall made of pinkish flesh and muscle, with eyes and mouths of various shapes and sizes growing on it. Its hardness itself was very soft and pliable, so there would be no hindrance in cutting through it.

However, the problem was simply that it was physically large and deeply rooted, making the separated shield blades too small to cut through it.

“—Damn it!!”

Since there wasn’t even that brief moment to expand the slash and cut through it in one stroke, I ended up wasting my fatal charging attack on such soft flesh.

Therefore, my decision was quick.

—Click—Kwaaaaaaaaaang

The lance had lost its meaning since its effectiveness diminished if the charging power couldn’t be utilized.

So I decided it would be better to completely pierce through the flesh wall that had been partially destroyed by the charge, and I chose to detonate it, blowing the entire flesh wall apart.

With a thunderous explosion that shook heaven and earth, the completely shattered flesh wall disintegrated, and without hesitation, I discarded the lance whose end part had been blown off. My next choice was—the Unicorn Longsword.

I separated the sword from its scabbard, which was filled with something like jelly to prevent it from being severed each time it was drawn, and used a technique of aura injection to lightly vibrate the blade, removing any foreign substances.

Then I recalled the shield blades that had been embedded in the flesh wall and scattered in all directions due to the explosion, and aimed them—all this took exactly 5 seconds.

Exerting the superhuman strength from a body that transcended human limits, I moved at an inhuman speed and approached the enemy who was about to swing a short sword that had emerged from its splitting arm…

—I cut. I cut. I bisect the demon’s short sword made of flesh, bone, and blood vessels. I leave a huge scar on the surface of the armor beyond the short sword, cutting out the eye on the breastplate.

I cut the clawed arm flying at me wrapped in purple energy. Ignoring the purple blood seeping from the cut surface, I also sever and cut off the remaining arm.

I aim precisely at the tail whipping toward me and cut it off. I expand the slash to cut into the breastplate again, but the enemy’s breastplate, while marked with wounds, doesn’t sever.

Following this, when the enemy retreats backward by flapping its wings and then brings them forward like a shield, I separate from Goose, use the enemy as a foothold to leap into the air, control my posture in mid-air by releasing aura, and raise my sword.

And then, I swing with the expanded purple aura slash and the thin blade made of unicorn horn “overlapping” at the exact timing.

The paradoxical situation where two slashes exist in the same space. The extreme of the slash bursting from my hand naturally induces the collapse of concepts, leading the “two slashes cutting simultaneously” to the extreme of mystical phenomena.

In reality terms, it’s like a glitch. A strike that precisely targets the contradiction created by running two physics engines—physical laws and mysticism—simultaneously.

A slash that can cut through all matter as if it doesn’t exist severs the enemy’s body, and the corpse, split vertically in half, seems to crumble to the ground when—

—’Twitch.’

Amidst a terrible warning incomparable to anything before, the halved body slowly began to melt.