Ch.4Minotauros (3)

# Dark Forest Encounter

In the dark forest, a group makes their way through, scanning their surroundings as if searching for something specific.

At the front stands their leader, carrying a siege hammer on his back and a shield in one hand, firmly holding the vanguard position. Behind him walks someone with two swords strapped to his back, apparently a dual-wielder.

The two women following them advance with a bow and a staff, suggesting they’re an archer and a mage. Bringing up the rear is a bald man with a steel-like physique carrying a greatsword.

Suddenly, the woman with the bow calls everyone together, seemingly having found what they were looking for.

“Senior, there’s… something here… marks on this tree stump that look like they were made by a blade. Could it be…?”

The man addressed as senior, their leader, nods.

“Hmm. We’ll need to confirm if it’s our prey, but they said there’s only one Minotaur in this area, so it’s likely the one.”

“I was shocked when the Adventurer Guild issued the extermination order. This is the same place from five years ago, right? That guy with the greatsword?”

“That’s right. It’s been five years so I don’t remember his name, but that probably means he wasn’t anyone special. Anyway, this is where he led three Silver Class adventurers to hunt a Minotaur and they were all wiped out.”

The woman shivers, wrapping her arms around herself.

“What kind of idiot brings Silver Class adventurers to hunt a Minotaur? Even we Gold Class parties struggle with Minotaurs…”

“Well… we’d need a necromancer specializing in spirit magic to know what a dead man was thinking. Anyway, let’s move forward and confirm if this Minotaur is our target.”

The group continues through the dark forest, hoping the traces they found belong to their target Minotaur.

* * * * *

After walking for some time, following the traces, they remained tense as they continued to discover signs of the Minotaur.

The creature seemed larger than an ordinary Minotaur, possibly 6-7 meters tall rather than the usual 5 meters, as evidenced by horn marks found around the middle of the tall trees.

The footprints they discovered were also larger than those of a typical Minotaur, confirming this was indeed their target, but…

They steeled their minds, realizing the creature might be even larger than they had anticipated.

In Grancia, age and size might matter in street fights, but among skilled fighters, they aren’t major factors. What distinguishes the skilled is how well they handle their techniques and mana.

But monsters are different. Unable to handle mana well by nature, they overwhelm human species with their innate physical conditions.

Even an ordinary orc can’t be guaranteed defeat by three soldiers, which is why there are adventurers who specialize in subduing them.

If that’s true for orcs, then trolls, which prey on orcs, are difficult even for those who can manipulate mana. Their strength surpasses that of orcs, and while they lack agility, their remarkable regenerative abilities allow them to reattach severed limbs simply by pressing them against the wound.

And what about Minotaurs and ogres that prey on such trolls? They must be considered disasters. They can easily wipe out village-sized settlements and even cities can’t be careless.

Without magically reinforced walls, city walls crumble, and if the walls are low, they leap over them with their exceptional leg strength.

Moreover, their thick skin and dense muscles underneath mean that weapons without mana can only scratch their skin, causing no real damage.

For these reasons, even among Minotaurs, the larger they are, the higher their danger level, sometimes rising from A-rank to S-rank difficulty.

“But… haven’t we been in this creature’s territory for quite a while now? Does the Minotaur have a poor sense of smell?”

“A Minotaur’s sense of smell is average. It’s inferior to other beast-type monsters, but compared to other monsters, it’s decent.”

“Then right now, this creature… could it be that it knows we’re here but is leaving us alone…?”

The mage, looking anxious, quietly asks while scanning the surroundings after listening to the archer and leader’s conversation. The leader, also finding it strange, surveys the area.

They’ve been walking for about 30 minutes from where they found the hoof prints. They should have covered about half of the creature’s territory by now…

“It is strange indeed. Everyone be careful, the creature could be nearby…”

Just then, they heard a sound—”Moo…”—coming from the direction they were heading. Hearing the Minotaur’s call right after noticing something was off, they determined this was no ordinary situation and readied their weapons.

“A high-rank monster setting a trap… this isn’t normal.”

“It seems it knew we were in its territory from the start. It’s announcing its presence right after we noticed something was wrong…”

“We can’t retreat now that we’ve come this far… we’ve truly been lured in.”

“Recently, some monsters have been observed showing intelligence, but to think even a Minotaur would…”

“Let’s have a drink if we make it back alive.”

After checking their weapons and gathering their mana, they steeled their resolve and moved toward the source of the Minotaur’s call.

What they saw when they arrived was…

A specimen presumed to be a variant Minotaur.

* * * * *

As they approached, they saw a massive variant Minotaur, at least 5 meters tall even while sitting. The party tensed at the sight of its enormous body, clearly different from ordinary Minotaurs.

It appeared to be eating something, and judging by the bones falling, its prey was an ogre—the king of the forest. Perhaps it had challenged the Minotaur, the ruler of this territory, and lost, becoming the creature’s meal.

Seeing this, the party thought it was their chance, and the archer prepared an arrow. She had coated her arrowhead with viper venom, known to instantly put even drakes—dragon species with high poison resistance—to sleep.

The viper, only 2 meters long, has such deadly poison that other monsters avoid its territory unless they’re starving. A single vial of this poison costs as much as a house. The archer dipped her arrowhead in this poison, took aim, and…

*Swoosh—!*

She fired.

*Thunk—!*

Proving her worth as a Gold Class adventurer, the arrow struck precisely the middle of the Minotaur’s back. The arrow embedded in its vast back, but the Minotaur barely seemed to notice, merely scratching its back briefly before returning to its meal.

Then… less than a minute after the arrow struck, the creature collapsed.

*THUD——!!!*

The Minotaur fell with a tremendous sound. True to its size, when it toppled forward, the ground shook and birds perched in nearby trees scattered. The party that had brought down this massive creature slowly approached.

As they carefully examined it, they finally relaxed. Who would have thought a high-risk monster like a Minotaur would be so careless about a poisoned arrow that it would fall asleep!

Its 7-8 meter body must have made it overconfident.

“Ha! To think it would end so easily, today’s quite comfortable. Let’s cut its head off and go back.”

“Yes, I agree. Even though it’s asleep now, there’s no benefit in dragging this out.”

The dual-wielder and the bald man suggested finishing quickly, and the archer and mage agreed. The leader seemed to concur as he took out the greatsword that had been carried by the bald man.

This greatsword, with a blade reaching 2 meters, was unusable by ordinary people—more like a thick club than a sword.

The leader raised the greatsword high, drawing mana to cut off the creature’s neck. The party anticipated their leader’s magnificent strike, believing they would soon be able to return home after beheading the variant Minotaur. Finally, having gathered enough mana, the greatsword glowed with red energy.

And as the leader swung it! His strength was such that the air cracked. But the greatsword…

Never reached the Minotaur.

*SWOOSH———!!!!!!*

Blood gushed from the hand of the leader, still in his swinging posture. The greatsword flew behind the Minotaur along with his arm, leaving only the stump of his lost hand.

“AAAAARGH———!!!!!!!”

“Senior—!!”

The party members instantly scattered at this bizarre occurrence. The leader’s arm and greatsword suddenly gone. The Minotaur lying down. No one understood why the leader’s arm had flown off.

But they knew what they had to do now—kill the Minotaur lying before them.

“Burn, heavens above! Scorch, earth below! What unfolds in my hands is the hellfire that will incinerate everything! Devour all before me! Inferno!”

“Oh gods who pity and care for the unfortunate, grant your mercy to this poor soul before me. Mighty Heal!”

“Die! Piercing Shot!”

The mage summoned the 6th circle magic known as Inferno, said to call forth the fires of hell.

The large bald man, apparently a cleric, found the leader’s arm and cast a healing spell to reattach it, while the archer used Piercing Shot, a skill with high penetration, aiming for the Minotaur’s head.

If these attacks had landed properly, they would have severely damaged even an ogre or a Minotaur, but…

Only despair awaited them. The Minotaur, unharmed by all their attacks, opened its eyes.

*MOOOOO———!!!!!!*

The Minotaur’s roar. The Fear contained within was so powerful that even Gold Class adventurers couldn’t withstand it. To think Gold Class adventurers would fall to the Fear of a Minotaur, not even a wyvern or drake! It seemed impossible, but it was the reality before them.

As they stood paralyzed by the Minotaur’s Fear, it approached them. The first to die was the mage who had singed the Minotaur’s fur.

Despite its high magic resistance, the Inferno had only scorched its fur and skin without causing significant damage. It lifted the mage and swallowed her in one bite.

Next was the cleric. While treating the leader, the holy power seemed to have backfired due to the Fear, causing blood to pour from all his orifices—eyes, ears, nostrils. The Minotaur, apparently disliking those who followed gods, brought its palm down on the bald man, sending him to meet his deity.

*THUD—!!!*

The blood from the crushed cleric stained the ground and the Minotaur’s hand. Seemingly disgusted, it wiped the blood off on the ground.

Then it approached the leader, whose arm had been reattached. The leader, unconscious and foaming at the mouth from the shock of losing his arm, the blood loss, and the Minotaur’s Fear during the reattachment…

Was devoured by the Minotaur, plate armor and all. The man, over 1.9 meters tall, disappeared in two bites of the Minotaur.

Finally free from the Fear, the dual-wielder and archer…

“KYAAAAH———!!!!!! SENIOR———!!!!!!”

The archer began shooting frantically. She used all her one-time weapons—from her strongest viper poison to freezing flasks, electric flasks, and more.

But the Minotaur’s fur merely froze slightly, and the electricity only caused static. Without taking any real damage, it lifted the archer and swallowed her in one bite, just as it had done with the mage.

And the dual-wielder, who had witnessed all this…

Attempted to flee faster than he ever had in his entire life. Running at a speed he didn’t know he was capable of, the dual-wielder fled.

His companions were already dead, and the target remained unharmed. Telling himself he needed to report this situation to the guild, as staying alone would be of no help, he ran away, but…

The forest was the Minotaur’s territory. While ogres, the kings of the forest, move through the trees like monkeys using their agility, Minotaurs are different. Minotaurs simply…

*THUD—!!! THUD—!!! THUD—!!!*

*CRASH——!!!! RUMBLE…*

*BOOM———!!!!!! CRACK…*

Smashed through every obstacle in the forest. Their skulls are incredibly hard, and their horns in particular are as strong as titanium, said to be uncuttable except by Sword Master-level experts.

Leading with this skull and horns, the charging Minotaur quickly caught up to the dual-wielder.

Then… it reached out and grabbed him.

“AAAAARGH———!!!!!!”

His bones crushed instantly upon being caught, he too became the Minotaur’s food.

With all intruders gone, the forest fell silent once again.