“You told me to go first, so what are you planning to do with your wife and kids? You idiot.”
“…Although I don’t agree with Akashi’s words, Myungho. How can you fall so deeply asleep when someone told you to stay alert? I trusted you and slept. If Akashi hadn’t woken me up, I might have slept until morning.”
As I climbed the mountain that had grown dark late, criticized lightly by my companions, it felt like my mental strength was being drained. People need rest sometimes, why must it be so harsh?
It’s true that it was wrong of me to break my promise after telling others to go first. Still, can’t you cut me some slack for old times’ sake?
“Alright, I’m sorry, sorry… I guess I was pretty tired from climbing mountains every day… No, before that, Akashi, why did you wake me up so late?”
“I did wake you. You just didn’t hear. And sir, how dare a mere slave wake their heavenly master while they sleep? Hm?”
That’s right. Thanks to him, it took an hour after we started our path up the mountain to finally get out of the guild. The now-darkened mountain, despite having become familiar over the past week, still stirred an instinctive fear.
Even though Akashi’s grimoire floated around like a lantern, it was hopelessly insufficient to illuminate the vast forest.
“So, where are we going this time to search? It doesn’t seem like she’ll reveal herself as she has done until now. We’ll have to find her ourselves.”
“Akashi is correct. Myungho, do you have any places in mind?”
Even if you ask me that… We don’t even know where we are. All we know is that we’ve followed the path she made; there’s no way to grasp where we are.
“Well… maybe we’ll find clues as we wander around…”
Kaa. I tried to speak but had to stop because an unfamiliar smell lingered at the tip of my nose. Judging from Akashi’s silence, who usually pesters me when I stop mid-sentence, he must have smelled it too.
“Hey, guys. Did you just catch that smell?”
“Yes. Looks like there’s a slaughterhouse not far away. I can smell it. And it’s… very strong. To this extent… it’s likely…”
“Don’t keep us in suspense. They’re probably all dead, right? Trying to hunt dragons with just dragon poison grass and anti-magic blades? For heaven’s sake, if that were possible, neighborhood children’s patrol teams would have become dragon hunters by now, man.”
Akashi agreed with Yuna. Neither did I feel differently. It’s clear that they’ve been wiped out.
Taking the smell of blood as a guide, we headed toward where she might be.
And sure enough, a gruesome scene unfolded before our eyes. Torches lay randomly on the ground, surrounded by bodies almost torn in half or dismembered pieces.
She must have struck them down with that greatsword. After closing the eyes of a corpse that was still staring into nothingness and extinguishing the torch, we continued along the trail of torches.
However, starting from somewhere, the condition of the corpses became increasingly horrifying. At least the ones we saw initially seemed to have been attempts to cleanly kill with one stroke.
Necks neatly severed, or deeply cut as if split in two. But the further we went, the more the wounds resembled something being torn apart or brutally crushed.
There were bodies whose insides were scattered everywhere like a broken videotape, and others reduced to halves dragging bloody trails across the ground.
We began to worry less about Alterra’s safety and more about ours.
“Hey, Hero. Let me give you some serious advice as a magician. Going any further isn’t a good idea. Archer, you think so too, right?”
“Yes. Myungho, let’s turn back. If we don’t, we might end up like this…”
Even Yuna, hardened from years of mercenary life, seemed pale at the sight. Even she, who rarely suggests retreating, was advising us to turn back.
“…Still, let’s check it out. I’m worried about her, and if she’s unable to talk, we’ll try using this. Akashi, I’ll allow you to use spells strong enough to subdue her. Yuna, prepare yourself as well.”
“Hah, will subduing work? She’d survive even if we drenched her with lethal magic, and you’re talking about subduing?”
When they only spoke of total annihilation before, it didn’t quite hit home, but now we truly understand the extent of her infamy.
Still, we didn’t come here to die. My holy sword may be useless in combat—it’s trash—but nothing beats it for temporarily incapacitating a target.
The ability of the holy sword is to write words on the target’s body, making them act according to the meaning of those words. It sounds good in theory, but it’s a flawed holy sword in many ways.
Firstly, unlike other holy swords, it’s utterly useless as a weapon, and the words must absolutely be written. In other words, compared to other swords that can deliver fatal blows with a single slash, this requires at least a dozen strokes.
In short, against slow and weak enemies that you could stab once and finish off, this method is much slower.
Against stronger foes, there’s obviously no chance to write anything. Unless it’s a strong but slow creature, powerful beings in this world tend to be quick.
Gripping the brush tightly and showing determination, the rest of the group prepared their weapons reluctantly. Yuna drew her bow with a chilling metallic sound, and Akashi flipped through the pages of his grimoire, apparently searching for a spell to use immediately.
After preparing, we followed the remaining torches. Now there were no clean cuts, only remains that looked as if mauled by wild animals.
Reaching the last torch, we saw a distant flicker of light and heard what sounded like a beast roaring.
“Master, run! This monster is beyond what you can handle!”
An elderly man fighting desperately back-to-back with a nobleman against Alterra came into view. Both were in bad shape.
The old man was missing his right arm below the elbow, and the nobleman’s leg was injured so severely that the thigh bone was visible.
“Old man… We can’t escape anymore… I was foolish… The receptionist was right… With just… this level…”
Then where is Alterra? As soon as I thought that, I felt a terrifying presence behind me.
“By the authority of the Great Mage, I command thee, halt!”
Just as it was about to tear me apart, Akashi cast a perfectly timed spell that hit her. Spatial Binding—a high-level spell that doesn’t merely bind with mana but freezes the target within space itself.
Ordinarily, most beings wouldn’t be able to move under such a spell, but Alterra violently struggled against the binding in mid-air.
Her condition was also dire. Her bandages had unraveled, and she bore numerous wounds.
But those details paled in comparison to the fact that nearly her entire body was covered in scales. Not only her arms and chest but even her legs had transformed into reverse-jointed limbs resembling a dragon’s.
Her whites of the eyes were stained black, and her yellow eyes emitted a faint glow. There was no way she was in a normal state. The sounds she’d been making since earlier couldn’t even be interpreted as language.
“…I will restrain her! Myungho, quickly, the holy sword!”
Only after Yuna pinned her down with force could I manage to scribble some words while she thrashed violently, still resisting even then.
Elbowing Yuna in the head and slashing at her thighs with a tail, there was no time to hesitate.
“Hold on… That’s enough!”
Calm down.
As soon as I inscribed those words, she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Yuna had accumulated countless bruises during that brief moment, and Akashi had collapsed, presumably from mental strain. Even though his physical form is his grimoire, he still needs to channel the output through his body, which is why he collapses after using high-level spells or too many spells in succession. Still, collapsing after just one use is rare.
Did he use a Level 9 spell?
“What kind of power is this? Stronger than an Ogre, perhaps…”
Alterra’s appearance was barely recognizable as hers, discernible only by her white hair and symbolic necklace and cloak.
Her once curled horns had straightened, and the blade-like protrusions on her tail had grown sharper, taking on a much more menacing look.
“…Are you… the Hero, sir? Although you’re late… you’ve arrived. Then, my heart has reached you. Please… achieve the great feat of slaying the dragon…”
The unknown nobleman begged us to kill her, but that wasn’t why I came. Looking at Yuna and then at them, she seemed to understand what I wanted to do.
“…First, we should treat the injuries. Um, elder, please stay still. Let me see if I can help.”
Saying that, I approached them with my brush in hand.
You have failed, and managed to escape barely alive. Forget everything that happened today.
The nobleman watched this strangely at first, but realizing something was amiss, he retreated on his wounded leg, trying to distance himself from me.
“Let go! Release me! You fools, are you perhaps allies of that half-dragon? I won’t forgive this… my lifelong ambition… my family’s ambition…!”
Forget.
Like the old man, he collapsed. Though it feels rather unsettling, this is the best option.
There’s no other way to recruit Alterra as an ally.
“…Myungho. I occasionally think this, but you really don’t care about means or methods, do you?”
Ignoring her criticism—or whatever it was—I sprinkled potion onto their wounds. At least the bleeding stopped, so they won’t die. It seems cheap considering the dreams I’ve trampled, but consider it paid in full with their lives. This is premium stuff, saved for real emergencies.
Akashi seems to be snoring lightly, so he should wake up soon. Thinking the situation was settled, I was about to sigh in relief when Alterra twitched.
“…Yuna. Get your bow ready.”
It probably won’t help much, but it’s better than nothing, so I had her prepare it. Soon, Alterra regained consciousness, swaying before standing upright.
“I clearly… Those brats…”
“Alterra. Are you aware? If you understand what I’m saying, respond.”
More cautiously than ever, I addressed her while gripping the brush tightly. At least it’s solid enough to withstand her attacks.
“What do you think I am? Ugh… my head. What… what happened…”
She clutched her head with her hands and soon noticed the changes in her body, looking at her hands from various angles.
“No, no… no…!”
Suddenly, she scratched her face with her nails. Though startled by the sudden outburst, her face remained unscathed.
Only the healed marks where scales had been pulled out remained.
Having confirmed her sanity… Now, what should I say in this situation? I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
She kept peeling off the scales from her body. Sometimes, it bled and tore her skin, but she continued regardless, seemingly oblivious to the pain. Or maybe… becoming this way is worse than self-harm.
Either way, it’s not a pleasant sight, so I turned away.
Since she won’t converse with us until she sheds all the scales, we stayed quiet.
Until I heard a strange crunching sound. Impossible to ignore, I instinctively looked and saw her legs returning to their original form.
Right, it was the sound of her skeleton changing. Watching Alterra twist grotesquely and scream in agony was painful. I closed my eyes, having glimpsed bones piercing through flesh.
I’ve seen a lot since falling into this world, thinking I’d seen it all, but there’s always a lower bottom.
I don’t know how long I kept my eyes tightly shut.
I just stayed like that until she spoke again.
Opening my eyes, I couldn’t find any wounds on her body. She looked exactly the same as she did during the day.
Except for the missing bandage on her chest. Now, there was nowhere to look without feeling awkward, so my gaze wandered aimlessly. Her hair mostly covered it, but guilt crept in anyway.
I’ve never seen a woman naked—not in my past life nor this one—so I wondered if it was okay to look.
“…Fine, partner.”
“Got it, got it! Wait… what did you just say…?”
Suppressing my gaze from wandering towards her chest, I looked at her face, which was utterly exhausted.
Dark circles under her eyes, devoid of any vitality. The confident demeanor from earlier was gone, replaced by evident fatigue.
“Partner, alright. See you tomorrow morning, there.”
With that, she said what she needed to say and left abruptly.
…Hooray?
