Ch.209209. Marquis of Bordeaux (3)

After Chomfantlus, Kechak threw his massive body into the knights’ incomplete formation.

—Slash!!

Starting with a surprisingly smooth sound of flesh being cut, Kechak’s glowing red claws instantly shredded through their formation.

Since Kechak’s body shape was closer to a quadruped, the knights might have been mistaken, but Kechak’s front limbs were actually more like elongated arms.

Thanks to this, breaking the knights’ expectation that he would charge with his body, Kechak stopped at an appropriate distance and swung his claws. Those claws—heated to such a high temperature they appeared white-hot and even wrapped in aura—instantly slaughtered them.

The two knights standing at the front were cut into pieces along with their shields, spilling their entrails onto the ground, while the knight right behind them holding a bastard sword died instantly with claws piercing his head.

At this point, the remaining knights managed to survive by releasing their aura to the maximum in response, but Kechak wasn’t foolish enough to leave them be in this situation.

—Whoosh—Crash!

His tail, whipping around with flames and aura, struck several knights and sent them flying. In the gap created by this attack, a knight caught in Kechak’s jaws was crushed, his breath cut short.

—Hissss….

Molten metal from armor melted by high-temperature fangs and charred meat residue dripped between his teeth. After spitting out what was once a knight, now in a miserable state, Kechak glared at his enemies again while rewrapping his aura over his skin.

During that fierce clash, the knights’ counterattacks had rained down on Kechak’s skin, and although the wounds would heal quickly, Kechak hadn’t escaped unscathed.

[…Is it okay to leave him like that?]

“Yes. Kechak needs to gain real combat experience.”

If I stepped in, I could immediately cut those knights to pieces, but thinking about the future, that wouldn’t be the right choice.

Until now, Kechak hadn’t experienced proper combat and hadn’t accumulated much experience. For him, an opportunity to face dozens of knights like this wouldn’t come easily.

Since he would revive after some time even if he died, it would be reasonable to consider this a rare opportunity to gain valuable combat experience.

Anyway, while I was thinking this, the two groups, fiercely checking each other, were now on high alert, staring at their opponents.

A knight captain-level fighter—commonly referred to as mid-high tier—led three veteran knights and fifteen regular knights. Excluding the ten who had been slaughtered or incapacitated in that brief skirmish earlier, the remaining nineteen knights formed a proper formation with the knight captain at the front.

This was a unique technique specially designed for humans—who are inherently inferior to monstrous beasts—to face overwhelming monsters. The formation was constructed so that even if one person died, they could still deliver a definite attack to vital points. Unlike before, it was now clear that rushing in carelessly would result in considerable losses.

And knowing this, Kechak was hesitating to approach recklessly, but…

‘…I think we need to speed up the tempo.’

Since the situation would obviously become troublesome if more reinforcements arrived, I raised my magical power and activated “Primal Regression”—the ultimate form of wild-primitive magic—on Kechak…

—Crack!

The change in Kechak’s body under the effect of the magic happened in an instant.

Colorful feathers with an Aztec feel grew all over, transforming him into something resembling a feathered dinosaur. His front limbs partially transformed into something reminiscent of bat wings—though still incapable of flight.

If I were to make a comparison, if before he was like an Indora■■s Rex, now he was more like a feathered Tiga■s.

Even though his appearance seemed bizarre—like a mixture of bird, dinosaur, and bat—in reality, he now possessed power incomparably greater than before.

—Thump thump thump thump thump—!!!

How powerful was it? Powerful enough that Kechak, sensing his own transformation, leaped into the formation without a moment’s hesitation.

—KWAAANG!!!

Thick hide, hard scales, incredibly thick and tough muscle layers, rigid and stiff feathers, and aura wrapped around the surface—his durability had become something that mere metal fragments couldn’t possibly penetrate.

A headbutt with his hard skull cleanly shattered a veteran knight’s head. The gruesome sight of brain matter and bone fragments leaking through the crushed helmet made even battle-hardened knights hesitate for a moment.

And Kechak, though lacking in combat experience, didn’t lack judgment—he seized this opening without hesitation.

—Crunch!

A strike driven down with his full weight completely crushed one unfortunate knight. Then, spreading his wings—useless for flight but sufficient as weapons—he struck another knight like a blade, sending him flying.

Given that the connection between knights was crucial to the formation’s effectiveness, having three members suddenly removed was certainly not a good situation for the formation’s integrity…

—Crack!

Yet even in this crisis, the knights didn’t completely lose their fighting spirit and struck Kechak’s body with their weapons.

Of course, to penetrate the five-layered defense of aura-feathers-scales-hide-muscle, the strength of ordinary mid-tier knights—though each capable of crushing a human—was insufficient.

—Slash!

With one exception: the knight captain-level fighter leading these knights, who wore distinctively darker armor.

In terms of raw strength… even the strongest knight captain was far from sufficient.

In reality, when knights fight magical beasts, the beasts usually overwhelm knights in terms of specs. No matter how much one enhances oneself with aura, objectively speaking, magical beasts also strengthen their bodies with magical power.

Moreover, wasn’t Kechak currently using both magical power and aura?

As a result, in terms of visible abilities, Kechak completely overwhelmed them, but nevertheless, that knight captain was narrowing the gap with his skill…

‘…Ah, so that’s how humans survived.’

Today I deeply realized one of the secrets of how the fragile human species survived in this truly insane world: the power of martial prowess.

I had gained some understanding of martial arts through observing Rabbit Lancelot’s swordsmanship several times and facing various high-tier warriors, but…

Looking at it now, I don’t think I can truly comprehend this concept of martial prowess.

‘…How does that even work?’

What I had simply lumped together as skill or technique was clearly something far removed from the crude bludgeoning I performed.

Up to a certain level, it resembled martial arts from modern society adapted for superhuman bodies, but when it reached a certain threshold, the technique itself seemed to embody a mystery called martial prowess.

Magical power, strength, mass, speed—considering any of these factors, logically a mid-tier knight shouldn’t be able to block Kechak’s attacks, yet that knight captain was using pure swordsmanship to deflect attacks, make them miss, and even counterattack.

It was like watching a master player in a Soulslike game, barely hanging on by parrying and deflecting a boss’s attacks with their weapon.

Just as the situation was rapidly reversing due to the knight captain’s valiant fight, the remaining uninjured knights joined in to help the captain launch a coordinated attack against Kechak.

If they concentrated their aura into a single point at the cost of sustainability, they might be able to penetrate his defenses, potentially ending Kechak’s life…

‘…Wonsul, help Kechak.’

[Yes!]

So I sent Wonsul charging into the middle of the battlefield, hoping this would serve as a lesson for Kechak.

[Come forth, my other selves!]

—Poof!

With a simple incantation, Wonsul tore out a handful of his fur and scattered it in the air. As golden smoke burst forth, dozens of Wonsuls emerged from within.

In their hands were temporary Ruyi Jingu Bang made from primitive rubber trees of the New World, with exceptional elasticity.

These were essentially just very tough wooden staffs that could adjust their length up to 10 meters according to the user’s will, but Wonsul had modified them by wrapping dozens of talismans he had drawn around them.

The effect was simple—generating shockwaves at the point of impact—which greatly helped compensate for Wonsul’s lack of physical ability, as he was fundamentally a magic user despite his body enhancement spells.

And with dozens of these clones attacking, even though they would disappear at the slightest touch due to their low durability…

Just as I thought the situation would be adequately resolved, I suddenly sensed a high-level life force approaching this place.

Finally, the supreme power of this domain had arrived.