Chapter 17: The Long Road to the Imperial Capital – 31
“Alright, let’s see how wild you can get!”
As he spoke, the armored man placed his hand on the sword at his waist. It seemed he was about to draw it, but instead, he suddenly began to remove his gear.
Upon closer inspection, his hands were covered in what looked like an insect’s exoskeleton. From a distance, it appeared to be gauntlets, but up close, it was clear that it was his actual hands. I had never seen a race with such hands before, not on this continent.
“Alright, here I go!”
Having finished removing his equipment, the man raised both hands to face level. Sharp, jet-black claws glinted at his fingertips. The tips appeared to be wet… could it be poison?
“First, I’ll slaughter all the humans… Gah!?”
Just in time.
My right fist connected with the side of his helmet, striking the man’s head before he could unleash his claws. The blow was shallow, but it sent him flying, and his warped helmet tumbled through the air.
The sudden act of violence caused the surrounding dwarves to cheer with delight, their faces lighting up with excitement. It seemed they had a culture that celebrated brawls. However, the festive atmosphere was shattered when one of the dwarves, having seen the man’s true face, shouted in alarm.
“That guy…! He’s one of the Kin of Twilight!!”
At the dwarf’s cry, the atmosphere froze instantly, and everyone present began to distance themselves from the man. Many of them fled in panic.
“To be blown away like that, there are some pretty strong humans out there…”
The man, who had been knocked back, slowly rose to his feet.
He had the head of an insect. In my memories from my previous life, it resembled that of a mantis. The exposed parts of his clothing shone with a sheen similar to that of a beetle’s exoskeleton. I had heard that the Kin of Twilight came in various shapes and forms, but this was the first time I had encountered one so different from humans.
However, it was somewhat surprising to see a Kin of Twilight pretending to be human. No, perhaps that was a prejudice on my part. After all, Geshura exuded a higher intelligence than an average human.
Adventurers who had just emerged from the mining dungeon began to gather, encircling the man from a distance. It seemed they were eager to fight the Kin of Twilight. Of course, the members of Soul’s Guidance were also rushing toward me.
“Soushi-sama!”
“That guy seems to use poison or something. Freinir, prepare your Purification.”
“Yes, understood.”
As I gave instructions to Freinir, who wore a worried expression, the other members finished getting into battle formation.
Geshura approached and whispered to me.
“Soushi, that one is relatively high-ranking among Rendurm’s subordinates. His name is… Milan, if I recall correctly.”
“Is he strong?”
“In a direct fight, he shouldn’t be a match for you, Soushi. The problem is, he doesn’t act alone. There must be allies nearby.”
“Come to think of it, he mentioned a name, Rove. Is that him?”
“Most likely. In fact, he might be the higher-ranking one.”
“Got it. I’ll take care of this Milan. Everyone else, stay alert for any threats around us.”
As I stepped forward, the insect-headed Milan clicked his mandibles ominously.
“Was it you who punched me earlier?”
“Yeah. Did you drop those rocks?”
“Well, yeah. It was an order from Rove.”
“What was the aim?”
“Who knows? Something about not being able to make weapons for humans, I guess.”
His straightforward answer could either be a sign of confidence or simply a lack of intelligence on Milan’s part.
In any case, it was surprising that the Kin of Twilight had a plan in motion. This was quite important information.
The surrounding adventurers began to tighten their encirclement.
Milan glanced around before clicking his mandibles again in a show of intimidation.
“These guys are weaklings. Just treat them like dogs.”
Around Milan, pillars of black mist began to rise, about twenty in total. When the mist cleared, there stood dog-like monsters with black exoskeletons—the Twilight Hounds.
Geshura had summoned them before, but it seemed any high-ranking Kin of Twilight could do so.
As the Twilight Hounds charged toward the adventurers, combat erupted among them. A few of the beasts headed toward the members of Soul’s Guidance, but they would pose no threat to our team.
“Alright then, you fight me for a bit.”
With that, Milan’s back bulged, and his upper body clothing tore apart. I was taken aback as four arms sprouted from his back. It seemed he had been hiding them, but now he was a fully monstrous creature.
“Here I come!”
As he shouted, Milan lunged at me with a speed that made it seem as if his body blurred.
Each of his four arms ended in wet, hooked claws, which came at me like black flashes, slashing from every angle.
I deflected all of his attacks with my arms, akin to a karate block or a boxing parry.
Milan’s claw strikes possessed incredible destructive power, capable of slicing through and crushing ordinary adventurers. However, to me now, they were not a threat.
In fact, having escaped the constraints of my Item Box, I welcomed the chance for a brawl. My body felt incredibly sharp, and I was more than capable of handling his four-armed assault.
“You’ve got some nerve! A human thinks he can fight me barehanded?!”
Yet, as Geshura had said, Milan was indeed formidable. He executed clever feints, and one of his thrusts pierced my abdomen. Thanks to my Tough Body skill, it didn’t penetrate deeply, but I could feel a warm heat spreading from my stomach. So it was poison after all.
“My Dragon Slayer Spring is only a little resistant to poison, you know!”
Milan, the insect-headed man, clicked his mandibles, seemingly amused.
However, the heat from the poison did not spread beyond my abdomen. My Poison Resistance and Regeneration skills were likely working effectively.
As Milan pressed his attack, I deflected his arms and retaliated with a solid punch to his gut.
“Gah…! You…!”
“Where’s this Rove?”
“I don’t know! Rove’s the smart one!”
“Weren’t you traveling together?”
“Geh… Unlike humans, we don’t form packs…”
Whether I could trust him was questionable, but he didn’t seem clever enough to be lying.
If that was the case, it was reasonable to assume that Rove was acting separately to devise another plan.
I pondered for a moment about what to do with Milan, but…
“I’ll kill you, human!”
There was no reason to spare someone who threatened to kill me. I slammed my fist into his insect head and then thrust my hand into his chest to extract the Magic Stone. Even in this moment, I could confirm the effectiveness of my Penetration skill.
Looking around, it seemed all the Twilight Hounds had been defeated. There were some injured adventurers, but it appeared there were no fatalities.
As I stood up, my team members rushed over to me.
“Impressive work, Soushi-sama. You took him down beautifully.”
“Yeah. Frei, I’m sorry, but please cast Purification on both me and this guy’s corpse. He definitely had poison.”
“Yes, Soushi-sama. I’ll cover a wide area.”
Frei raised her staff and cast Purification magic over the surrounding area.
“With Soushi around, even the Kin of Twilight seem pitiful.”
“To take down a Kin of Twilight barehanded… Even witnessing it firsthand, I can hardly believe it…”
“Soushi-san, who extracts information before mercilessly finishing off his foes. Hehe…”
Aside from Sakurahime, everyone else seemed unfazed, wearing expressions of disbelief. The only one who appeared intrigued was Sfenia, her eyes glimmering with a strange light.
No, there was one more person whose eyes sparkled with excitement—of course, it was the Grand Master, Lady Dorozitte.
She rushed over and began to examine me, just as she had after the dragon battle.
“Hmm, your strength is truly remarkable, no matter how many times I see it. The battle against the dragon was thrilling, but this fight against the Kin of Twilight, where you maintained your composure and extracted information, has left me in awe. This is what it means to be a true hero.”
This ritual of praise continued until Mariane intervened.
That was fine, but I suddenly noticed an unusual silence had fallen over the crowd. The adventurers and dwarves were staring at us, frozen in place.
“Oh, this is just like that time again.”
“Yeah, Soushi-san tends to cause a scene wherever he goes.”
Shizuna and Karma nodded knowingly.
As if triggered by their words, the people surrounding us erupted in cheers.
“You’re amazing! To think you could take down a Kin of Twilight barehanded!!”
“What an incredible man! Could you be the hero count from the kingdom?!”
“Whoa! Bring out the drinks, we need to celebrate!!”
“It’s a feast, a feast!!”
Ah, it seemed I was once again destined to be swept up in the chaos.