Ch.21Thump-Thump☆ Minotaur’s Crisis! (3)

# Wide Plains

A vast plain. In this place filled with nothing but lush green, figures armored in silver gradually appeared. The clanking sounds of metal echoed around, and the whinnying of horses filled the area.

As more and more figures revealed themselves, about 50 heavily armed knights filled the wide grassland. They began unloading various equipment from the carts pulled by their horses onto the plain.

From ballistas to steel nets and chains designed to hinder the movement of large monsters. Restraining devices meant for large monsters—equipment ordinary people would never see in their lifetime—were revealed.

After unloading all the equipment, the knights took their positions at their designated stations and waited for the Minotaur to arrive. Each began their own mental preparation at their posts.

“Senior… I heard that Minotaur is Disaster-class… Can we win? If it were goblins or orcs, we could win despite taking some damage, but a Minotaur… Hasn’t it been a long time since we’ve seen a Disaster-class Minotaur?”

The person addressed as senior nodded. It made sense—Minotaurs went into heat only once every three years, and when a child was born, they devoted about five years to raising it, so their population wasn’t very large.

While goblins and orcs easily produced variants due to their enormous populations, Minotaurs had difficulty doing so because of their small numbers.

“Indeed. From what I know, it’s been over 40 years… I think I heard that our seniors from much earlier generations caught one. Since our commander has been with the knights for a long time, I wonder if he’s ever caught a Disaster-class Minotaur?”

“Certainly… Our commander is quite old, so that seems likely! But they say poison doesn’t work on this specimen… It seems like it’ll be harder than before.”

“Yeah… We would normally coat the ballista arrows with Viper or Basilisk poison… But this time we only have restraining arrows… Be careful. This time it’s particularly dangerous.”

With a nod, the conversation with the junior ended.

He probably just wanted to talk because he was anxious, and anyone would have done. Even normal Minotaurs are difficult to catch without poison, but this one is Disaster-class and immune to poison, so it’s even more concerning.

As he patted the junior’s back to encourage him, the ground began to rumble.

*Boom… Boom…*

Could this be the sound made when a Drake or Cyclops moves? As the personnel tensed up and rose from their positions to prepare for a sound that only massive monsters could make, their target gradually came into view.

Horns rising high into the sky, the gentle face of a bull with a fierce body that didn’t match. When they were overwhelmed by its height, which appeared twice as large as an ordinary Minotaur, the Minotaur turned around and began heading in another direction.

“Huh?”

“The… the Minotaur changed direction!”

“Kuk- Did it change direction after seeing us? Adjutant! Contact Cale and tell him to change position! The ten most senior knights, including myself, will advance first, and the rest will follow with the other equipment!”

“Yes, sir!”

If it had been a simple Minotaur, it would have charged at them immediately, but what they were facing was a Disaster-class Minotaur. Those who were trapped in the prejudice that Minotaurs were stupid had lost their advantage of having secured a position first.

* * * * *

“Khan, those guys keep following us…”

Mary had suggested avoiding unnecessary fights, so I was going around the guys blocking my path, but these guys were chasing me relentlessly. It seemed like a subjugation team had been formed to target me, as knights clad in shiny silver were chasing after me.

“Moo-ooo- Moo-uuu- (Mary, it seems they won’t back down until they fight me. Could you use invisibility and hide somewhere?)”

“Okay. Got it. Don’t get hurt! And be careful, they seem well-prepared this time.”

I nodded with a reassuring smile to her worried face, and Mary disappeared before my eyes with invisibility, departing somewhere. Praying for her safety, I charged toward those who were chasing me.

*Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!*

With each step I took, the ground sank and cracked with a thunderous sound.

It was fine when walking, but running with force made me feel the ground wasn’t sturdy enough to last long, so I decided to finish this quickly. I charged with my horns aimed at the figure running at the front.

“Hnngh—!”

Then, mana? Aura? Compared to the knights and adventurers I saw before, it wasn’t flowing but was tightly attached to the sword, so it seemed to be Aura.

Trusting my horns, I continued charging against his Aura. And then, collision.

*KWAAANG———!!!!!!*

An unbelievable sound erupted from the clash of sword and horn.

When my horns and his Aura collided, the knights following behind were all blown away by the resulting shockwave, and the knight who collided with me was also thrown backward, unable to withstand my charge.

“Grrrgh—!!!”

Whether he was a master or whatever, it was absurd for a human to overcome my monster strength. Even if his status window showed S-rank strength, there was one huge wall between us: species.

With the same strength, the one with the larger build is naturally stronger.

I chased after the knight who kept rolling on the ground after colliding with my horns. Wrapping lightning around my legs, I quickly caught up to the master and, with lightning around my fist, struck down with all my might.

*KWAAANG—!!!!*

The ground sank and cracked, and the lightning wrapped around my hand spread to nearby knights along the ground.

I thought it would be a simple matter of eating these electrocuted guys one by one, but they must have researched my abilities thoroughly, as they seemed to be wearing artifacts that increased resistance to electrocution.

Despite their metal armor, which should conduct electricity better, they showed no adverse effects from my lightning. They shook their heads momentarily, feeling dizzy from the lightning flowing through the ground, but soon regained their senses and pointed their swords at me.

The Aura of the one who had been running at the front earlier seemed capable of cutting my skin, so I decided to be careful of him while eyeing the other knights one by one.

All of them seemed to have weak courage, trembling when I looked at them. Grinning at them, I took a deep breath.

*Hoo-ooop—!*

“It’s a roar! Everyone, protect your ears with mana!”

The master noticed my action immediately and warned the surrounding knights, but it was already too late.

*MOO-OOOOOOOO———!!!!!!!!!*

Like sound attacks in old Hong Kong movies, I successfully blew away all those in front of me.

The master somewhat managed to respond and didn’t fly away like the others, but because of that, even though he protected his ears with mana, he couldn’t properly deflect it, and his eardrums seemed to have burst as blood trickled out.

“You… monster…”

Whether confused by the Fear contained in my roar or suffering brain damage from the loud noise, the master was staggering. Sighing at the thought that this was all a master could do, I grabbed him.

“Grrrgh-!”

As I was about to put him in my mouth to eat him in one bite, my [Beast’s Sense] began to ring with a sound I had never experienced before.

*Swoosh—!!*

And at that moment, something flew at me rapidly. It was so fast that I could barely react, just barely jerking my head back, but it seems the target wasn’t my head.

The arrow that pierced my wrist went straight through to the other side. Because of this, the strength in my hand holding the master was released, and I lost my grip on him…

As soon as he was free, he once again surrounded his sword with Aura and swung it at me.

“Haap—!”

In an instant, a large wound began to form on my left arm. As if struck by a guillotine, cuts appeared on my forearm, and blood gushed out. The sword strikes were so fast that even though my Beast’s Sense warned me, I couldn’t react.

“MOO-UUUU—!!!!”

In the moment I lost focus due to the pain I hadn’t felt in a long time, the sniper didn’t miss the opportunity and fired a second arrow. This time he was aiming for my head. Thanks to my Beast’s Sense continuously warning me, I was able to dodge…

These guys who could pierce my arm and leave large wounds on my body were the first I’d encountered, except for that chuunibyou, so I decided to take them seriously. I applied pressure to my arm to stop the bleeding and turned my gaze to where the arrow had come from.

There… I couldn’t see anything. As if the arrow had been shot from elsewhere. However, my senses were triggered by that location, and I decided to trust them.

*Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!*

I charged in the direction the arrow had been shot from, and a chase ensued with the master following me. As the distance between us gradually widened due to the difference in build and my increased agility, a third arrow came flying.

*Swoosh——!*

Perhaps I was getting closer to him, as I could hear the sound of the arrow being fired clearly. This time, I gathered lightning between my horns and fired it at the arrow aimed at my head.

*Rumble—!!*

My lightning split pathetically against the arrow, but it achieved its purpose of weakening its power, and the arrow that flew toward me was deflected. Grinning at that attack, I was about to deal with him when…

*Clang——!*

A steel net flew at me from somewhere.