Ch.216EP.49 – The Most Dangerous Creature in the World…(3)

“HYAAAH!”

The blade’s movement is invisible.

The trajectory of the blade draws a ray of light that is truly like the wind, and its power is imbued with earth-shaking force.

In the world, those called knights are said to move swiftly like the wind and deliver strikes as powerful as lightning.

True to this saying, their movements were like the wind itself, and among winds, they were like a gale. It would not be strange if they could turn a human body, made of nothing but weak cloth, into mere chunks of meat.

However.

BOOM!

“!!”

No matter how fierce the gale that blows, no matter how earth-shaking the lightning that strikes, it cannot break an unwavering mountain.

SCREECH!!

The blade sparked as it tried to cut through the opponent’s skin, but the skin, like thick iron, did not allow even the slightest scratch.

“Grrrgh!”

“This! This monster…!!”

Five half-demons, who could match knights—it would be no exaggeration to call them high knights—shouted with bulging veins.

They had lost their composure, a fatal mistake, but maintaining calm in such a situation would be nearly impossible.

And for good reason.

“You should have cultivated more strength.”

Ihan took their strikes head-on without even using a shield, and the five blades couldn’t penetrate his skin at all.

Diamond Body.

It was now Ihan’s signature technique, one he deployed as naturally as breathing.

If in the past it had the firmness of rock, now his Diamond Body possessed the solidity of metal, making it impervious to ordinary blades.

If one wanted to leave even a scratch on him.

“Shouldn’t you at least use Sword Aura, if not Sword Light?”

Well, even if they could use Sword Aura or Sword Light.

CRUNCH!!

He wouldn’t just stand there and take it anyway…

Ihan moved his arms, swinging them simultaneously from above and below.

Though he was merely swinging his arms, there was something about Ihan’s movements that evoked the image of a hammer, his arms containing tremendous force. All the blades aimed at his body crumpled like tin cans.

This alone would be terrifying enough for his opponents.

WHOOSH!

The next moment, his arm holding the buckler pierced through the front like a spear thrust.

Not simply extending his fist, but a powerful thrust that seemed to release the strength of his entire body!

A formidable blast of force spread in all directions, sending everything that had been clinging to Ihan’s body like cicadas or moths flying away.

CRASH!

All the half-demons were sent flying through the air as if they had been charged head-on by a buffalo.

They couldn’t withstand the powerful force of the strike imbued with the momentum of the Hundred Step Divine Fist.

Especially the half-demon who took the buckler strike directly to the face…

SPLAT!

His head simply disappeared, spraying a fountain of blood.

As for the others, each was missing either an arm or a leg.

Thud.

“Phew!”

Ihan took a light breath to regulate his breathing.

As if cooling down the heat generated by battle…

And watching him.

[Knight, you’re really strong, aren’t you?]

The Hollow-Eye expressed admiration.

“Thank you.”

[But you fight so brutally. You fight not like a knight, but like an ogre or troll.]

“…Whether it’s praise or an insult, could you stick to just one?”

[Huh? That was meant as praise too?]

“How is that…?”

While listening to the Hollow-Eye gatekeeper’s praise that didn’t sound like praise at all, Ihan surveyed his surroundings.

Most of the 50 half-demons who had rushed at him were either dead or unconscious with severe injuries, hovering between life and death.

If left alone, some would die from excessive bleeding.

In reality.

[Total annihilation.]

An overwhelming victory.

He had single-handedly annihilated fifty high knight-level half-demons—a tremendous achievement.

If this became known outside, it would become an epic tale that would inspire awe in many.

Well, since Ihan already had a record of defeating 100 knights, he didn’t feel any particular sense of accomplishment.

Above all, compared to the Blood Hawk, these creatures were infinitely weaker and inferior.

Defeating such opponents gave him no sense of achievement; it felt more like exterminating moths.

…Moreover.

“How long are you going to keep watching, you lot?”

Ihan directed his intimidating presence toward the four men and women who were still irritatingly observing his battle.

WHOOSH-!

“Hmm….”

A lion’s roar that surpassed a mountain beast’s howl gently struck the four, causing them to take a step back.

“…Truly frightening.”

They were sweating profusely, suggesting their comment wasn’t just for show, and Ihan prepared to shoot forward like an arrow.

Ready to kill at least one of them immediately,

But suddenly.

Flinch…

Ihan’s eyes caught it.

The woman’s fingers wriggling silently like a worm’s movement.

And the next moment.

BOOM!

—There was a spark and explosion exactly where Ihan had been standing.

Like dynamite going off.

RUMBLE!

The blast was so powerful that the half-demons sprawled nearby were blown away.

A strike that truly hit two birds with one stone.

Fortunately.

“That’s hot…”

Ihan had already moved far away before the explosion occurred, and was able to escape safely.

…Though his clothes were slightly singed.

“Number 8, you must have gotten a lot of information from that kid? You even know about my ability? Hmm, but knowing about it doesn’t mean you can avoid it… You’re impressively extraordinary.”

Dyna of the Seven Apostles, who witnessed him avoiding the explosion, expressed admiration.

As if she rarely saw someone dodge this.

“Damn it, I dodge because I’d die if I didn’t.”

Ihan wasn’t pleased by her praise at all.

Even if he had immunity to blades, he couldn’t withstand the heat of explosions.

‘I could probably endure about thirty of those, but there’s no benefit in taking hits.’

If damage continued to accumulate, it would eventually become a significant blow.

“…Special Grade 2 Dangerous Magical Beast <Lava Lizard>’s spark.”

Lava Lizard, a lizard that swims in lava and eats flames.

Another name for it was…

-Salamander.

* * *

It’s a well-known fact, but the Black Moon that Ihan once belonged to was clearly a group of mad scientists.

They gathered children under ten years old and repeatedly performed insane experiments, injecting them with magical beast genes thousands upon thousands of times.

Logically speaking, would inserting spider DNA into a human really give them spider abilities?

No. That’s impossible.

Rather, there would either be no reaction or side effects…

But these people continuously injected magical beast genes into children regardless of side effects, and eventually achieved results through this method.

Literally, they kept trying until it worked, and somehow some experimental subjects succeeded.

Barely one in a thousand succeeded, and even among the successful children, many died shortly after, so they truly survived against odds of thousands to one. Among them, those who could be called “successful works” were called “Numbers.”

Number 7, …now known as the 7th Apostle, that woman was one of them.

‘She seems to be using the Salamander’s power skillfully now?’

The Salamander, or <Lava Lizard> as it’s called, is one of the rare magical beasts found only in lava zones.

Some scholars say that the lava lizard is closer to a spiritual beast than a magical beast, but due to the danger posed by lava lizards, they are classified as magical beasts on the continent.

BOOM!

These creatures, befitting lizards that feed on lava, have a peculiar constitution.

Their bodies constantly burning at temperatures of hundreds to thousands of degrees is honestly a relatively cute trait.

Because you can just avoid touching them.

However…

BOOM!!

…The ash they emit having explosive power comparable to dynamite was not cute at all.

That’s the dangerous aspect of lava lizards.

They mix invisible nitroglycerin into the wind and detonate it.

Truly a living hazardous material and bomb.

…Some kingdom tried to capture lava lizards to use them as weapons, but instead, a lava lizard went berserk, blowing up the palace and burning the king and high nobles to death, so well…

‘That says it all.’

The danger level is truly top-tier.

And now a human, a trained assassin at that, is wielding the power of such a lava lizard.

Truly.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM-!!

…A living explosive weapon, no less.

Ihan moved at high speed, quickly evading.

Unable to gauge when and where the sparks would fly, simply moving his body nimbly was the best option, and Ihan’s expression gradually hardened.

“What is this…? Why is this more difficult and dangerous than Number 4?”

As far as he knew, the explosive power used to be at firecracker level, and she couldn’t handle the ability this freely before?

Why has someone who used to lose even to a person with ogre tendons become such a dangerous individual?

To this question, helpfully.

“4th Apostle, hmm, while that guy was buried in a tunnel for years, I wasn’t just sitting around. And, isn’t there little meaning in the number game? In the past, we had names based on rank, but—your information is too outdated.”

She kindly answered and demonstrated her ability again.

WHOOSH!

Every time the woman slightly moved her fingers, explosions occurred in the empty air, and eventually.

FWOOSH!

Flames rose and surrounded Ihan.

…Yet another appearance of an unfamiliar ability.

“This is ‘Net of Flames.’ Even for someone like you, it would be quite hot if you touch it?”

“……”

“Ah, perhaps it’s too much to block with something like this…?”

The woman shrank back.

She had covered him with a net of flames, but when Ihan took out a dagger and prepared to kick it, she suddenly felt a chill.

She sensed that even if she sent an explosion, her head would be pierced simultaneously, and feeling the chill of death, the woman had to stop moving her fingers.

So instead.

“Now you guys stop playing around and help me.”

She called her other comrades.

Because she didn’t want to die.

To this request.

“…We also don’t want to die.”

“I told you not to provoke an angry beast.”

“Dyna, you’re going to die like that.”

“…Would you rather hold a funeral for me?”

She sent a request for help because she didn’t want to die facing the knight’s anger, but the response was cold.

However, despite their words, they too gradually took out their sickles, whips, and shields, and just when the survival probability seemed to increase.

“-You slow bastards, took you long enough to wake up.”

“!!?”

…The moment his words ended, she saw a spear aiming for her head.

BOOM!!

* * *

WHOOSH!

Though it should have been a world like a watercolor painting without even dust in the wind, a dusty wind spread through such a world.

The spear of the knight with red eyes,

CRACK!

“Grrrgh!”

“…You block my spear?”

It was the shockwave created by the meeting of the knight’s spear and the extraordinary defensive ability of the man with the shield, 5th Apostle Dent.

Of course.

CRACK!

Dent’s arm that blocked the spear didn’t escape unharmed.

It was barely manageable just to block it.

And Lac de Duron wasn’t one to miss this opportunity, so he extended his spear again.

With even more intense momentum than before-!

“…Huh? That won’t work?”

It was Ihan’s belated muttering, and Lac had already swung his spear without understanding what that meant.

And so.

WHOOSH!

—The next moment, it was Lac’s body that went flying.

THUD!

“Are you alright, Fierce Wolf? How strange. For you to be blown away so easily, haha!”

“…Don’t laugh.”

Though he was genuinely concerned, Maximus, who had a talent for irritating others with his manner of speaking, only angered Lac.

And adding fuel to the fire.

“Idiot, can’t you tell by looking at that woman? They all have something mystical-like. That woman has the lava lizard, and in that guy’s case, it’s like an Impact Dial.”

“…What’s that?”

“Well… it absorbs shock and returns it with double the power?”

“……”

“That’s quite unfair, you know…”

“…You should have mentioned that earlier.”

“Who told you to be sleeping anyway?”

“……”

…For the first time, unable to counter, Lac had to remain silent.

It was a realistic example showing that the cliché of arriving late and becoming a hero was only possible in plays.