Chapter 270 - The Approaching Danger

The Approaching Danger

The head loomed quite high once it appeared from the shadows of the forest. It was much taller than us humans for sure. While I couldn’t make out many details yet, there seemed to be blood on the blade of the axe. Was the blood from a human or monster…?

“I don’t think it’s seen us yet.”

“It is only a matter of time.”

Daniela said as she held her bow and stared at the Minotaur. Yes, it hadn’t seen us yet. I wasn’t sure how much speed that giant thing had in it, but we probably had some time.

“Hmm. I’m going to change weapon.”

“Asagi?”

And I knew just the thing. I ran back to the tent and thrust my arm through the flap. I always kept the hollow bag right by the entrance. Then I put my hand in and pulled out a sword with a pitch-black hilt.

“Good.”

I attached it to my belt and then put the demon armor sword into the bag.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

“Why do you do that voice…”

“Asagi, you’ve been doing that here as well?”

My low voice echoed as I returned to the other three and unsheathed my sword. The Black Emperor’s sword. Velnoir… A gift from the current Emperor.

“That’s a very dark sword, Mister Asagi.”

“It’s supposed to be. It was my prize for being the first runner up in the tournament.”

“Oh! That is great. A gift from the Emperor!”

“Exactly. As for Daniela, she got that bracelet thing she’s wearing.”

“And this cape.”

Without even moving, the cape came out of Daniela’s bracelet and was draped over her shoulders. I had to actually put my hand in the hollow bag, but it wasn’t the case with the bracelet. Who knew how the thing worked. But I was still jealous. Maybe I would beg Rachel to make me one as well.

“I saw it earlier today. It really is a beautiful cape…”

“Yes, isn’t it?”

“Yours is not bad either, Mister Asagi.”

“Should you two really be talking about that now?”

Manager’s voice was so serious that we immediately straightened our backs. Yes. Yes. There was a Minotaur.

I squatted near Manager and observed our enemy. It was odd. The way it was slowly taking in its surroundings made it seem like it had never seen the outside world before. In fact, it had not taken a step forward since exiting the forest.

“In case you were wondering… No, Minotaurs do not live in the forest.”

“Eh?”

Daniela seemed to have read my mind. …So, did that mean…

“But they are very common in dungeons.”

“Are you serious…”

“Serious.”

The dungeon had likely completely inverted then. The Minotaur had probably escaped. It wasn’t likely that there would be many people guarding the place…

“We really need to hurry…”

Lemon said as she clenched her spear tightly. It had mostly been my negativity and paranoia at first, but now it seemed like a reality. We had to kill this thing and hurry on to the town.

“Then let us begin. Asagi, you ambush it from above and destroy its weapon. Rindo, you distract it with sword and magic.”

“Understood.”

“Fine.”

“I will support you from the back. Lemon, you finish it off with your spear. You can do that, I presume?”

“I can!”

Obeying Commander Daniela’s orders, I surrounded my legs in platinum and green wind. Manager covered her own body in black energy, while Lemon prepared to run.

“Then let’s go.”

I used Legs of the God Wolf and jumped into the air. I felt the sensation of the wind pushing me up until I was high enough to see the sun creeping up on the horizon. Below me, Manager and Lemon had started to dash forward. As soon as I saw this, I shot down towards my target like a bullet from the sky.

“Alright now.”

Jack of all Trades, Master of None was playing in my mind. The angle, the amount of force. Everything. I had already learned to do this before, so there was no hesitation.

“Hey, Mino!!”

I shouted from above. It looked up with its heavy movement. Once its eyes caught me in the dark blue sky, it positioned its axe to meet my attack. Yes, at the right angle. It was going to swing upward.

I raised my speed by three levels. I was already free-falling but was even faster now. Faster than a bullet. The Minotaur could not react in time. Fluctuating speed was the key.

“Hahh!!”

I shouted as my blade hit the axe. The amount of force was perfect. The thing to be careful about was the angle. If all went well, it would gouge out a great chunk of it.

Ultimately, one side of the blade was mostly destroyed. I doubted any monster could adapt quickly to something so terribly balanced. So in a way, his weapon was useless.

Now that I had accomplished my purpose, I hovered in the air and backed away.

That’s when Manager’s shadow stretched out and connected to the nearby trees. Then another, thicker shadow came out of the tree’s shadow and connected to the Minotaur. Manager stabbed her twin blades into that shadow.

“Dark Magic. Shadow Stitch.”

“Grrraaagg…!”

She bound it with shadows and then stitched it with her swords. Her dark magic was cool but scary. It was a good thing we weren’t enemies… As Manager crouched with her blades piercing the ground, an arrow flew over her head. Daniela’s arrow stuck the Minotaur in the hand. Well, it blew it off, axe and all. No, it would not be allowed to retaliate.

To finish it off, Lemon lept at the last possible moment during her dash.

“HAAAHHH!!”

She expertly positioned the spear so that it sank deep into the Minotaur’s chest. Fountains of blood erupted around her. It was as if all the blood was rushing to get out of its body. Lemon was entirely drenched, thanks to that. Even half of Manager was covered in blood. I was glad that I moved away…

“…”

“…”

Lemon silently pulled out her spear. Manager was also quiet as she retrieved her swords and stood up. Her shadows disappeared. While it was no longer restrained, the Minotaur did not move. It had already breathed its last.

“Uh, you two alright…?”

I asked them. But they didn’t answer. Though, Lemon did shake her spear instead. The blood flew off of it and splattered angrily on the Minotaur corpse. And with that, the dead monster fell lifelessly onto its back.

“I hate this…”

Lemon muttered. Her voice was so deep that I shuddered.

“You should change your clothes quickly. Pass the bloody ones to Asagi. You do have spares?”

Daniela suggested as she approached us. The two sighed and started to take off their clothes, and so I hurriedly retreated to our campsite. That was close… Those two were so angry they must have forgotten I was there. Yes, getting blood on you was part of the job, but you were rarely drenched quite so thoroughly… Maybe the fact that they hadn’t gotten much rest last night made it worse as well.

As I started packing our things, Lemon and Manager returned wearing much simpler clothes. Daniela returned looking very untouched by any battle.

“I put the Minotaur away in my bracelet. We will head for the town as soon as we clean up here.”

“Got it.”

The appearance of the monster had made me worry about the state of the town. What would it be like now? What of the residents? How were things outside of the town?

I was quite anxious at first, but managed to calm myself by the time we finished packing.

“…Alright, let’s go.”

I grabbed Daniela’s hand after she had launched herself and the others into the air with wind magic. After making sure that Manager and Lemon were all connected, I then dashed up into the sky.