Ch.64Chapter 64 – Bacon Hunt (3)

As I tore open the scroll, something like a blue vortex appeared before my eyes.

‘Warp, that’s what they called it.’

The wind was blowing as if to signal that our destination lay beyond it.

After briefly exchanging glances with Sera, we stepped inside.

-Splash

As I took one step forward, something splattered on my shoe.

“This is…”

“A swamp…”

Sera began looking around while carefully placing her feet to avoid getting mud on her skirt.

“I thought we’d be flying through the air when we crossed over, but it feels more like moving from one room to another.”

“Yeah, it’s different from what I expected.”

I thought our bodies would be flung all over the place.

It was a bit disappointing how quiet the transition was.

“I was worried about getting dizzy, so I brought various motion sickness pills, but I guess that was unnecessary.”

“Yeah, who suggested bringing such useless things?”

“You did, K.”

So it was me.

“Anyway, this place gives me the creeps.”

“Could it be because of the Bycon?”

Somehow, I felt a chill similar to what I’d felt in the columbarium.

It was almost unpleasant enough to be physically felt.

‘What is this, anyway?’

As if the limited daylight wasn’t bad enough, there was something like fog hanging in the air.

Visibility was quite poor.

“We might trip if we can’t see the ground properly.”

“I’ll turn on the lantern.”

With a clicking sound from behind, light illuminated our surroundings.

Then Sera let out a small “Eek!”

“…What’s wrong?”

“The tree startled me. Haha…”

Looking where Sera was pointing, indeed, a strangely twisted tree was greeting us.

If that had suddenly appeared in my field of vision, I’d have been startled too.

It looked somewhat like a wooden monster with its mouth open.

I deliberately ignored it and walked toward the interior.

There was no point in staying here; the Bycon wouldn’t come to us, so we needed to move forward to find it.

-Splash splash

Walking through the swamp created footsteps sounds.

Looking around, there were twisted trees like this one and something like a thin fog covering the ground.

‘This is quite eerie.’

It was the kind of atmosphere where undead suddenly jumping out wouldn’t seem strange at all.

I continued walking forward in a state of tension.

After some time, Sera finally broke the silence.

“Um, K.”

“Yeah?”

“I have a question.”

Sera carefully turned her head.

“Where is the magician who was supposed to be waiting for us here?”

“…Good question.”

Sera had pointed out the fact I’d been deliberately ignoring.

‘They said someone would be waiting on site.’

I definitely heard that before accepting this request, but there was no sign of anyone.

Besides these unpleasant trees and fog, there wasn’t a single living creature in sight.

‘If we trust those magicians, there should be a Bycon around here.’

Surely they wouldn’t send us to catch something that doesn’t exist.

As I was thinking this, while walking a bit further…

-Clatter clatter

“…K?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think that sound is?”

When I turned around, Sera’s face had turned slightly pale.

‘Does she dislike scary things?’

Sera had traveled alone before meeting me and even visited a columbarium last time, so I hadn’t thought she would dislike scary things.

Or maybe it was just because of this atmosphere.

“It sounds like bones hitting each other…”

“A skeleton?”

We saw many of them in the columbarium.

They make that distinctive bone-rattling sound when they move, so I’m probably not wrong.

“That’s a relief.”

“Why?”

“Because skeletons can be beaten.”

Being made of bones means they have physical bodies.

That means physical combat is possible.

“…Is that a relief?”

“Of course it is.”

I smiled slightly at Sera.

“I can’t do anything about ghosts.”

“…I miss Chris.”

Sera covered her face with both hands as if she’d heard something she shouldn’t have.

To be honest, I missed Christina too.

‘If she were here, she’d be chatting away while walking around.’

Considering how well she moved around in the columbarium, she probably wouldn’t be pale with fear like Sera is now.

And if there were invisible entities like ghosts, she would have noticed them immediately and gotten rid of them.

Christina’s absence feels more significant than I expected.

‘If I’d known it would be like this, I should have dragged her along.’

If I’d just hinted at filling out a church membership form, she would have come right away.

Even if not that, Christina loves meat, so I could have lured her with that.

I regret not doing so because I thought it would be wrong to manipulate her like that.

“Let’s move away from that sound for now.”

Following that sound would only lead to skeletons anyway.

What we need right now is a foal, not bones.

‘She’s really scared.’

I thought as I looked at Sera walking beside me.

Her face was pale, and she flinched every time she heard a sound.

“…Let’s just catch the Bycon, take its horn, and go back immediately.”

“What about the magician who’s supposed to be here?”

Sera asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“They didn’t show up, so we’ll leave them behind.”

Sera seemed to be contemplating this.

It seemed her conscience was bothering her about leaving someone behind in a place like this.

Because of this, Sera seemed to momentarily forget about her surroundings.

Her face gradually became calmer as she became lost in other thoughts.

Having diverted her attention from constantly being on guard, she started thinking about other matters and forgetting her surroundings.

It seemed that the conflict between wanting to escape quickly and not being able to leave someone behind was actually helping her forget her fear.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Sera’s body started to collapse, and I quickly caught her.

The weight of her bag was substantial, and I almost fell over with her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just… thinking about something else…”

When Sera shone the lantern, a tree root became visible.

‘It’s good that she’s distracted, but now she can’t see these.’

We already had to walk carefully because of all the trees, but after distracting her from her fear, now she wasn’t paying attention to what was under her feet.

Thinking she requires a lot of looking after, I extended my hand.

“Give me your hand.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but we need to avoid falling.”

Sera looked at me blankly before carefully extending her hand.

I grasped that small hand.

“Give me the lantern too.”

“Oh, yes…”

Lantern in my right hand, Sera’s hand in my left.

With both hands occupied, I walked forward.

After a moment, Sera spoke.

“…Your hands seem quite large.”

“Maybe yours are just small.”

“Is that so?”

Sera fell silent for a moment.

Soon she spoke again.

“Anyway, it’s nice and warm.”

“Yeah.”

Perhaps because she could feel human warmth, Sera seemed much calmer.

‘Human warmth is more powerful than I thought.’

I had been more tense than usual too, but feeling Sera’s warmth helped calm me down.

As my mind settled, becoming more accustomed to the surroundings, I felt like I could see things more clearly.

“So this is why they say humans aren’t meant to live alone.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Sera questioned my muttering.

“Nothing. Just that holding hands seems to reduce the tension.”

“Is that it?”

I nodded lightly.

Soon Sera started smiling.

The eeriness of the surroundings began to fade.

-Neeeigh

“That’s a horse sound.”

“It must be the Bycon. Shall we go check?”

It seemed we were finally near our target.

Sera and I exchanged glances and carefully moved in that direction.

Of course, still holding hands.

+

It likes impure and unclean things.

That was one of the Bycon’s characteristics Sera had told me about.

“For something that likes impurity, it looks rather clean.”

It was quite a large horse.

With red eyes and a silver mane, at first glance, it looked like a handsome horse.

Of course, its pale skin and two large horns made it clear this wasn’t a safe creature.

I took out what I had prepared for this moment.

It was an arrow imbued with holy power that Christina had made the day before.

At a glance, it didn’t look much different from a regular arrow.

“Shall we start with the arrows?”

“Just in case, what do you want to do with the halberd?”

“Put it down beside me.”

As I prepared the bow and arrows, Sera placed the halberd in the ground where I could easily grab it.

She’s quite strong to set it up so easily.

“I’ll prepare Magic Missile too.”

As I aimed the bow, Sera prepared Magic Missile.

In a small voice, just loud enough for Sera standing next to me to hear, I counted down.

Three

Two

One

The arrow and Magic Missile flew simultaneously.

The arrow flew straight and lodged in the Bycon’s neck, while the Bycon seemed to deflect the Magic Missile with its horn.

“Neeeigh!!”

But the arrow took effect.

As soon as it left the bowstring, the arrow began to glow gold.

And when the arrow pierced the Bycon’s body, it caused a small explosion.

‘So the holy power explodes inside.’

Indeed, as they said it hated holy power, the Bycon writhed in pain.

‘The effect is better than expected.’

I was told it wouldn’t be as effective as against undead, but for that, it seemed quite potent.

I quickly shot more arrows.

The Bycon, which had been writhing in pain, began shaking its head wildly after being hit by the arrows.

Then it turned its head toward us.

-NEEEEEIGH!!!!

‘So it noticed us.’

I started to prepare another arrow but gave up.

As soon as it spotted us, the Bycon was charging at full speed.

Being horse-like, it was incredibly fast.

I glanced briefly at my quiver.

‘This won’t work.’

Though I had plenty of arrows left, shooting at a charging Bycon would make it difficult to respond to its charge.

‘It probably won’t die from one or two more arrows anyway.’

So I put down the bow and arrows and pulled out the halberd Sera had stuck in the ground.

Sera moved a bit further away. It seemed she planned to support with Magic Missile from a distance.

Then my job was clear.

‘Bind its legs.’

Holding the halberd, I turned my body slightly away from Sera.

Being a beast, the Bycon was targeting me as the vanguard.

The sound of hooves grew louder.

It charged straight at me, pointing its horns.

Taking those horns head-on would be dangerous.

I twisted my body to avoid the Bycon’s charge.

Then I immediately swung the halberd wide.

Unfortunately, it seemed to graze slightly, only causing a scratch on the Bycon’s skin.

However, even just that seemed to startle the Bycon, which cried out loudly and moved away from me.

-Neeeigh!!

As it raised its front legs, black sphere-like objects appeared around the Bycon.

Four in total.

“Right, it can handle magical power.”

While I muttered to myself, the black spheres began flying toward me.

“K!”

I saw Magic Missiles fly in and intercept one of the spheres.

But that was just one.

The remaining three flew at me simultaneously.

‘Should I dodge?’

I briefly considered it but immediately decided against it.

I could see the creature pawing at the ground with its hooves.

If I took my eyes off it to dodge, I’d likely be trampled or impaled by the charging Bycon.

So there was only one option.

‘Deflect them.’

I swung the halberd.

I swung it to match the trajectory of the incoming spheres.

Though it was a heavy and long weapon, it could be wielded effectively with the right technique.

Soon, with small explosions, the spheres detonated.

As soon as I succeeded in intercepting them, I took a stance and looked at the Bycon.

It had already started charging, pointing its horns straight at me.

‘As expected.’

The combination of magical black spheres and a charge with sharp horns was certainly dangerous.

The fact that it could coordinate such attacks made it a dangerous monster.

But on the other hand, it was too predictable.

Being easy to anticipate, there was no way I would fall to such an attack.

Rather, I could use its momentum.

I leaped toward the Bycon as it approached almost right in front of me.

With split-second timing, I jumped diagonally to avoid its charge and swung the halberd low.

The halberd cut through something, and blood splattered.

-NEEEEEIGH!!!

After rolling once on the swamp floor, I quickly got up to see the Bycon losing its balance.

As if it had just realized what had happened to its body, it was looking down at its leg with a pain-filled cry.

Blood from the front leg I had cut with the halberd was soaking the swamp, and finally unable to support its own weight, the Bycon began to kneel.

“Hya!”

Then Sera threw something like a black ball with fire on it.

Wait.

‘That’s a bomb.’

Perhaps there wasn’t time to launch another Magic Missile.

The bomb Sera threw flew toward the Bycon’s hind leg and hit it.

-BOOM!

The explosion was louder than expected, causing me to instinctively raise my arm to protect my face.

Through the smoke, I could see the Bycon’s leg.

It had turned to charcoal, which I realized a bit late.

‘That’s quite effective.’

To reduce a leg to that state in one go.

“It’s over.”

One front leg and one hind leg of the Bycon were damaged.

It could no longer fight properly.

As if wanting to deny this reality, the Bycon struggled.

But no amount of struggling would bring back a cut leg and a destroyed leg.

Finally, unable to support its body any longer, it collapsed to the side.

-Neeeigh…

The Bycon was still trying to get up, struggling.

As a final act of desperation, it began launching black spheres at me, but I easily deflected them with the halberd as I approached.

The beast cried pitifully, unable to rise from the ground.

As if wanting to deny the fate approaching it, it looked at me.

I raised the halberd.

“Farewell, foal.”

The Bycon’s eyes widened, perhaps in terror.

In its eyes, the halberd might look like a guillotine.

I brought it down.

A moment later, Sera approached me again.

“I think the explosive was stronger than expected. Maybe I should reduce the amount?”

Sera muttered while looking at the Bycon’s leg.

“Anyway, that was easier than expected. Did we prepare well?”

“Indeed.”

The holy arrow had a greater effect than anticipated, and the bomb was much more powerful than expected.

And intercepting the Bycon’s magic wasn’t difficult either.

While it was a dangerous creature, our offensive capabilities were so superior that we could win easily.

“You seem stronger than before, K.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. We almost died with the centipede, remember?”

Back then, I had lost all my weapons and was truly desperate, but this time we were well-armed and prepared, so it was different.

“Well, I’ll extract the horn now.”

“I’ll help.”

“Leave medicines to pharmacists and materials to alchemists.”

Sera confidently approached the Bycon’s corpse.

She gripped her arm and twisted it slightly.

-Crack

‘Should a young woman make such sounds?’

It sounded like a fighter twisting their arm before a match.

It seemed like she was preparing to use her strength.

I could hear Sera grunting and the sound of something being struck with bare hands.

‘…Bare hands?’

I thought she would use tools, but was she really doing it all with pure strength?

Curious, I looked at Sera, who was gripping the horn and twisting it in various directions.

‘…She’s not going to break it, is she?’

I was a bit worried.

-Crack

With an ominous sound, Sera stood up.

Then she held up the horn.

“I’ve properly extracted both of them.”

“…Extracted, right?”

“Yes. I extracted them properly, didn’t I?”

I thought she might have broken them.

At least from what I could see, the horns maintained their original shape.

I could tell they weren’t broken.

“Let’s get out of here then.”

Now there’s nothing more to see in this eerie place.

Running away quickly is the best option.

The magician who was supposed to meet us on site? We didn’t meet them, did we? They can find their own way back.

Just as I put my hand in my pocket…

-Neeeigh

“…There was another one.”

I stuck the halberd back in the ground and picked up the bow and arrows I had set down earlier, while Sera grabbed her staff.

A Bycon larger than the one we just killed appeared before us.

-Neeeigh

-Neeeeeigh

At that moment, the sounds of Bycons crying out came from all around.

I quickly looked around.

“…K?”

“Come to my side.”

I quickly moved to a position to protect her and aimed my bow.

Then I surveyed the surroundings.

Bycons were starting to appear from everywhere.

“…Damn, so Bycons live in groups.”

The creatures gradually revealed themselves.

Front, back, sides.

Before we knew it, we were completely surrounded.

It was a perfect encirclement, as if someone had ordered it.

“…Did we draw the short straw here?”

“Who knows.”

Sera and I exchanged brief words as we stood back to back.

I felt slightly grateful to Sera for not panicking and immediately preparing.

If she had panicked and acted impulsively, it would have been difficult to protect her.

‘What should we do?’

Should I hit one or two with arrows, and while they’re confused, grab one and break through the encirclement?

As I was considering various strategies in my head and aiming my bow…

[That’s enough.]

A resolute voice.

Surprisingly, the Bycons began to back away and retreat.

“K?”

“What’s going on? More importantly…”

It was definitely a voice I had heard before.

Why was this voice here?

‘Where is it coming from?’

I quickly looked around.

Though not visible yet, it was definitely him.

-Clatter.

Fortunately, the person in question appeared before us of their own accord.

-Clatter.

“…I thought it was just a skeleton.”

The sound of bones hitting bones could be heard.

“So it was you, Lich.”

I muttered involuntarily.

And as if answering my question, a shadow began walking out of the fog.

[It’s been a while.]

What appeared was a skull in a robe.

The Lich I had met in the columbarium had appeared before me again.