Ch.3737. Overwhelming

Conrad was dead.

Even as a holy knight, he was ultimately a human made of flesh and blood. And humans die when they suffer severe injuries like having their spine broken so badly it pierces through their skin.

If he had accumulated divine power over many years and ascended to a higher level, the outcome might have been different.

Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to the current Conrad.

“…Sir Conrad?”

His subordinates blinked stupidly with disbelieving faces. The light had long since faded from Conrad’s eyes. Only traces of shock and fear could be glimpsed in his rigid expression.

Conrad had been a promising talent in the Order. A genius who had awakened holy flame at the mere age of thirty-two now met a meaningless death in this remote southern city.

It was impossible to believe.

“Yvok’thara! Krunk’zar rha’kru!”

The men who had been staring blankly at the corpse jumped back in surprise. A minotaur was approaching at a slow pace, wielding what appeared to be a massive iron greatsword.

“Holy shit!”

After backing away for a moment, the men found themselves cornered against a wall. The place with the exit. The problem was that the door was locked. The men grimaced as they drew their weapons.

But the locked door must have had thick steel plates embedded inside, as their weapons merely bounced back with rough recoil no matter how many times they struck it. Meanwhile, the distance between them and the minotaur gradually decreased.

“Huaaaaaaah!”

“No, Otto! Come back!”

Finally, someone who couldn’t overcome his fear screamed and charged forward. In a situation where they should have worked together and attacked as a group, such impulsive action was never good. Another comrade desperately reached out, but couldn’t catch him.

The minotaur watched the man charging toward him and stopped walking. The gurgling sound from its snout sounded like mockery.

“Die—!”

The man who finally swung his falchion unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut. Once committed to an attack, one should follow through to the end, but he failed to do so.

Thunk.

A dull sensation traveled through the falchion’s handle. The man carefully opened his eyes.

“…Huh?”

The minotaur was holding the blade with just two fingers. Crunch. The iron falchion crumpled like straw before snapping with a crack.

“Vrozz’thak! Kal gron’zah!”

The man collapsed as his legs gave out. The minotaur raised its foot and kicked the man’s face.

Splat!

The merciless strength easily shattered his head.

That wasn’t the end. The minotaur positioned its greatsword horizontally and stomped the ground. The massive body leaped high and landed instantly in front of the men. Boom! Tiny cracks spread across the floor as fragments flew up.

Though they knew they should flee, the men froze in place when they met the beast’s ferocious gaze, their thoughts grinding to a halt. Their vision stretched as their past lives flashed before their eyes.

It was the phenomenon commonly known as a near-death experience. When that memory replay finished, so did the men’s consciousness. Three bodies were simultaneously split in half.

“GRRRRR…”

The minotaur turned its back, letting the greatsword drip with bright red blood. Yakoff, who had been quietly crawling on the ground nearby, flinched when he heard footsteps behind him.

He hurriedly tried to get up and run, but the minotaur grabbed him by the waist first. Yakoff couldn’t even resist the tight grip as he was lifted into the air.

“Kuhak!”

As the minotaur roughly swung its arm, Yakoff was thrown far away and rolled across the floor. Just as he opened his eyes, groaning from the impact that struck his entire body:

“Are you alright?”

Rex addressed him. The monstrous strength had thrown Yakoff right in front of Harald’s party.

Yakoff painfully looked around. People were looking down at him with expressionless faces.

Only Harald sent him a complicated gaze mixed with indignation and concern. Somehow feeling a surge of shame, Yakoff hung his head low.

Apart from his embarrassment, he tried to open his mouth to answer, when suddenly a terrible pain wrapped around his internal organs.

“Kuhak!”

Yakoff lost consciousness after vomiting blood. Rex immediately knelt down to check his condition. Fortunately, he was still breathing. However, without treatment, he would soon die.

Of course, the party had no obligation to save Yakoff. Why save a traitor? But Yakoff’s treatment was a trivial matter now.

The minotaur was slowly approaching.

“What should we do?”

Chloe muttered with a pale face.

No one could answer.

There was no way to escape this place. Those men sprawled out over there had proven that with their deaths. Before trying to unlock the door, dealing with the minotaur was the priority.

But how?

This minotaur was no ordinary monster. Even Harald’s party, who operated in the deep layers, had never seen one in person before.

The minotaur was a monster that appeared in Trials.

On the surface, the dungeon was known to end at the 10th layer, but a select few holy knights could challenge beyond that.

The so-called Holy Temple, where divine trials took place.

That space varied tremendously depending on the characteristics of the god governing the dungeon.

Caves, swamps, canyons… While each environment was different, they had one common feature: the level of monsters appearing there was extremely high.

Since few adventurers challenged the Trials, information about monsters appearing there was inevitably scarce.

However, the minotaur was an exception.

Everyone living in Lindvale knew about the tragedy from a few years ago. Five young men who had just shed their squire status and become apprentice knights boldly entered the dungeon, but only one returned.

When knights later headed to the Holy Temple, the remaining four had already been dismembered and butchered.

The surviving youth said:

He had seen a giant minotaur.

It was clearly an opponent the party couldn’t possibly defeat and survive.

Naturally, Rex didn’t know this fact.

[Warrior’s Gaze.]

Instead, Rex had a special blessing that others didn’t possess. His heightened senses intuitively conveyed the minotaur’s strength.

‘Dangerous.’

The tingling killing intent made his skin crawl. Rex tensed his muscles as he examined the minotaur. The creature had suddenly stopped moving about twenty paces away from the group and was quietly staring at them.

But Rex didn’t let his guard down. It was a distance either side could close instantly if they wanted.

“I… I will face it.”

Harald said with a grave expression. An undisguised tremor was evident in his voice.

“I brought you all here. As party leader, I should take responsibility.”

People’s expressions darkened at those words. No matter how excellent a vanguard Harald was, how long could he last against a minotaur? It would be fortunate if he didn’t die instantly like the others.

“No.”

Everyone turned with surprised eyes at the sudden voice.

Rex’s mouth opened slowly.

People predicted what he would say next. You can’t do it alone, let’s fight together. They expected something along those lines.

But no.

Rex glared at the minotaur with blazing eyes.

“I will stop it.”

“…What?”

Harald asked in a dazed voice, but Rex ignored him.

“Elin.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have magic that can defeat a minotaur?”

Elin thought for a moment before answering.

“It will take time. About ten minutes.”

Ten minutes was an incredibly long time in battle. Nevertheless, Rex nodded readily. Then, as if truly intending to fight the minotaur alone, he turned his back.

Watching him, Chloe felt a tingling emotion rising in her chest. When she came to her senses, she was already grabbing Rex’s arm.

“Rex, are you… in your right mind?”

Chloe whimpered. Not out of fear of death, but for reasons she herself didn’t understand. Perhaps she had developed camaraderie despite knowing him for just a week.

Rex removed her hand with a bitter smile.

The others weren’t silent either. They protested roughly, asking what he was talking about and suggesting they should fight together.

But people immediately fell silent when they heard Rex’s next words.

“You would be of no help.”

That was an undeniable reality. People bit their lips at the rising sense of helplessness. They couldn’t think of any proper rebuttal.

Elin’s indifferent voice broke the silence.

“I’ll begin.”

Unlike before, Elin started reciting a very long and complex incantation.

The magic would be completed in 10 minutes and could kill the minotaur, but there clearly wouldn’t be the luxury of counting time leisurely.

Can I do this? Such a question arose but was quickly dismissed.

Rex stopped walking.

Surprisingly, the minotaur didn’t immediately charge. It just stared at Rex with its bright red eyes for a while before spitting out:

“Grah’zuk?”

It was an incomprehensible language, but somehow Rex felt he understood the meaning. The minotaur opened its mouth again.

“Grah’zuk. Thrak?”

It felt like it was asking if he was ready, so Rex briefly replied.

“Yes.”

Only then did the minotaur exhale a satisfied breath and raise its crude greatsword.

The situation wasn’t relaxed enough to yield the first move. Rex took a deep breath and put strength into his toes.

Tap!

Sliding forward across the floor, he gripped his greatsword with both hands. Divine power spreading from his heart raced through his blood vessels. The blessing, manifesting more powerfully than ever before, even gave the illusion that time had slowed down.

The minotaur’s eyes followed Rex. The minotaur was a monster with not only overwhelming strength but also excellent reaction speed. It could clearly see the blade extending toward it. But seeing didn’t mean it could dodge.

Swish!

A brilliant light grazed the minotaur’s thigh. The incredibly tough hide split open, revealing the flesh beneath. Rex quickly withdrew his sword and lowered his upper body. The thick fist struck empty air. A chill ran down his spine as the rough wind tousled his hair.

A hit means death. Even a graze means death. Dodging is best, and if swords clash, the impact must be deflected as much as possible.

The battle with the boar monster suddenly came to mind. Come to think of it, that fight and this one had many similarities.

In every aspect, Rex was inferior to his opponent. Even having people to protect behind him was the same.

This was an unfair fight from the beginning.

However, there was one more thing that remained unchanged despite all these disadvantages.

Even in this hopelessly desperate situation, Rex never gave up.

‘I can do this.’

Responding to his firm will, the holy flame enveloping his blade grew fiercer. The mark embedded in his heart felt like it would burst from heat.

His wide-open eyes observed the minotaur. The wound was shallow. The blade had been stopped by the thick muscles without cutting through. Though purple blood was dripping from the outside, such an injury was merely a scratch to the minotaur.

Rex wasn’t disappointed. The purpose of this attack was to find out how tough the creature was.

And that intention succeeded. As Rex shot out his blade like lightning, another crack formed across the minotaur’s thigh. Rex infused power into his sword. A blindingly bright flame erupted, digging deeper into the wound.

This time, even the beast couldn’t ignore it.

“Ghuuuuaaaaghh!”

The minotaur howled like a beast and brought down its greatsword. Being large was both an advantage and a disadvantage. While strength increases, movements become larger.

Rex lightly pushed off the ground and slipped to the side.

Crash!

Immediately after, the greatsword collided with the ground, creating a harsh explosive sound. Rex spun his body while simultaneously moving his arm. He couldn’t miss the opening created by the minotaur’s wild swing. This wasn’t a friendly sparring match where attacks were exchanged one by one, but a life-or-death battle.

Rex’s blade tore through the minotaur’s forearm.

“What the…”

Someone among the onlookers muttered in astonishment. Disbelief was clearly evident in their voice. Though they didn’t express it out loud, the others felt the same way.

When Rex first said he would face the minotaur, the group thought it was too reckless. They guessed that at best, he might last one minute.

That wasn’t the case.

Five minutes had already passed since Elin began her incantation.

People no longer worried about Rex.

To their eyes, Rex now seemed to be overwhelming the minotaur.