Chapter 558: Night of the Owl (1)

“Phew. I feel so much better now.” Christin Lewis smiled after eating Mio’s food. “I’ve heard of the Tenmei Family’s flawless education, but I did not expect your cooking skills to be excellent as well.”

“I’m flattered,” said Mio. She shook her head nonchalantly and continued. “It is true that I took my family’s cooking class, but all you ate today was nothing but roasted mushrooms. I did not cook it by my standards.”

“Wow. You sure do have a high standard when it comes to cooking.”

“Indeed. I am passionate and serious about cooking, and it is one of my talents.”

Christin Lewis clapped in awe without realizing it. “You must be a master of cooking. I believe you. You’ve only roasted mushrooms, but they’re already this good, so I’m curious about just how tasty your proper dish is...”

“My friends did say that my dishes are breathtaking.”

“Huh, are you talking about the 5 Heroes?” asked Christin Lewis.

“Indeed,” said Mio. However, she recalled one person who had always said that her dishes tasted bad, so she hurriedly added, “Except for Rahmadat. He has a weird taste in food. My food apparently doesn’t taste good for him.”

“Well, it is not hard to imagine that someone like him would have a unique taste in food.”

“I would say so.”

Mio nodded and lowered her guard.

‘He’s not a bad man.’

Christin Lewis could recognize the true value of her cooking, so Mio came to the conclusion that he had to have come from a harmonious family.

Mio examined Christin Lewis’s torn outfit and asked, “I can see that you went through a lot.”

“Yes. To be honest, I thought I was going to die. I managed to escape the crisis thanks to Miss Skaya’s Teleport, but I couldn’t find anyone else. It’s a miracle that I am still alive after being pursued by those Overminds.”

Christin Lewis drew the holy sign of the Sun God on his chest.

“The Sun God must have been looking after me.”

“Oh, I see,” Mio replied indifferently because she wasn’t particularly religious.

“It seems like you don’t believe me, but it’s true. I feel like my divine power has strengthened for some reason,” Christin Lewis said with twinkling eyes.

“Oh, I see.”

Mio and Christin Lewis looked back at the same time.

- Oh, a visitor.

Mr. Shoot was leaning against a tree with his arm and was looking at the two.

“I had no idea you had company.”

“Yes. He’s Mr. Shoot.”

“I know him. How could I not know him?” Christin Lewis smiled awkwardly upon thinking that they were a strange combination.

‘Two Guild Masters of the Big Five and the Guild Master of the Sky Soul Guild. I think this can’t get any weirder...’

Christin Lewis greeted Mr. Shoot. “I’m glad to see that you’re safe, Mr. Shoot.”

- Likewise.

“Haha. Do you have any other company? Leave the injured to me.”

- No, it’s just the two of us.

“I see.” Christin Lewis nodded. He hesitated for quite a while before saying, “I’m assuming that you two are headed for where the thunder sleeps. Can I stay with you? Our meeting must have been divinely preordained.”

Mio and Mr. Shoot exchanged looks.

- Why not?

“Indeed,” said Mio.

- Let’s stay together, then.

“Thank you—thank you so much!” Christin Lewis let out a sigh of relief after acquiring reliable colleagues. He had always been the type of person who preferred company during dangerous times.

“I will be the healer and the rearguard,” Christin Lewis said.

“That is reassuring,” said Mio with a smile. She was convinced that it was only a matter of time before they arrived at their destination.

“...!” Mio abruptly looked up.

Mr. Shoot saw that and asked.

- What’s wrong?

“Someone is approaching.”

Mio’s gaze turned to the magic threads she had scattered earlier.

The magic threads were quivering.

Mr. Shoot turned to Christine.

- Christin. Are you being pursued?

“N-No. I don’t think so.” Christin Lewis shook his head, but his face was beyond pallid. “I have shaken them off, and I have been running away for three days afterward just to make sure.”

“Let’s talk about it later.”

Shiver!

The magic threads quivered vigorously, prompting the group to stare nervously into the forest.

Soon, a woman and a man appeared in their sight.

“Ugh, damn it! We’re at a beach! I told you it’s a dead end—huh?”

“See? I told you I was right!”

“Sigh. It was you guys. I was nervous because I thought you were either a monster or overmind,” said Christin Lewis with a sigh. The duo were none other than Milphage and Kiora, the number two of the mercenary group.

“Not yet...” Mio took a stance with her swords and said, “They’re coming.”

Snap!

Mio’s magic threads snapped, and Milphage nodded.

“Oh, right! We’re being pursued right now!”

“Please help! Dozens of those damned Overminds are—”

A hand stretched out of the forest and interrupted Kiora.

“Tsk!” Kiora clicked her tongue and swung her sword.

Clang!

Kiora definitely slashed an arm away, but the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.

“So you’ve decided to die on a beach?”

“This is a dead-end. How foolish.”

‘One, two...’

Overminds in their human forms emerged from the forest one by one.

‘There are thirty-two of them.’

Mio asked, “Milphage. Are they all here?”

“One, two, three—if there are thirty-two of them here, then that’s all of them.”

“Then, I guess there’s no need for a conversation.”

Christin Lewis closed his eyes and drew the holy sign of the Sun God on his chest.

“Overminds who have abandoned your humanity... I beseech you to go back...” The divine power that flowed out of Christin Lewis illuminated the dark beach. “...to the ground!”

A massive sword made up of divine power plummeted toward the Overminds.

The leader of the Overminds shouted, “Dodge! And hunt them down!”

“These damn cockroaches! There are three of them now!”

The Overminds attacked Mr. Shoot because he was the closest.

- No, thanks.

Mr. Shoot opened his Inventory. Thousands of weapons manifested in the blink of an eye, and they gathered together to form a huge ring.

- Weapon Hell.

Wooong!

The ring started spinning like a merry-go-round, and its sharp edges instantly tore two Overminds into pieces.

“Damn it! He’s using a strange skill!”

“Get out of the way! I’ll take care of him.”

An Overmind pushed his colleague away and walked toward Mr. Shoot.

Crack, crack, crack!

The Overmind’s bones cracked, and his figure twisted until he grew to a height of seven meters. Then, he jumped toward Mr. Shoot’s Weapon Hell without any hesitation.

Brrrrrrr!

The Overmind’s flesh was torn apart by Mr. Shoot’s Weapon Hell, but the Overmind only grinned at Mr. Shoot.

“Kekeke! Do you even know how our body works?”

The Overmind’s flesh regenerated at a rate visible to the naked eye. This wasn’t really strange because Overminds were monsters that had received the dominant genes of monsters.

“I have received the dominant genes of a troll.”

Weapon Hell eventually stopped spinning and helplessly fell to the ground.

The Overmind was drenched in blood, and he glared fiercely at Mr. Shoot.

- ...!

Mr. Shoot’s Monarch of Steel (S) allowed him to handle metal freely, but his signature ability—Weapon Hell—required a powerful rotational force for it to be effective.

- This is bad.

Mr. Shoot’s response was a step behind.

He didn’t expect his Weapon Hell to collapse in the face of such a straightforward method.

The Overmind took advantage of the opening and reached out to Mr. Shoot.

- ...!

The Overmind’s massive palm loomed over Mr. Shoot.

However, Mio’s firm voice reached his ears before he could even do anything.

“Red Sun Style Third Move...”

Slash!

“Bowing Cloud.”

The Overmind was instantly sliced into thousands of pieces.

Mio chided Mr. Shoot. “Get it together. You’ll die if you don’t focus.”

- I-I’m sorry—

Mr. Shoot apologized without realizing it.

“Look out!” Mr. Shoot shouted upon seeing what was behind Mio. The scream that he barely managed to squeeze out of his melted vocal cords sounded hoarse and terrible, but it was enough to warn Mio.

“Die!”

The Overmind’s palm had recovered in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

“Tsk.” The Overmind clicked his tongue when his palm strike failed to hit anything but the sandy beach.

Mr. Shoot was frustrated.

- He has the regeneration rate of a troll. We can’t kill him.

“No, we can kill him...” Mio muttered. She dusted off the sand that stuck to her clothes before continuing. “And it’s not that hard because he’s not Rahmadat.”

- What do you mean?

“Rahmadat and trolls are similar at first glance, but they’re very different.”

The one thing that Rahmadat and trolls had in common was their ridiculous regeneration rate. However, Rahmadat’s Super Regeneration (EX) required magic to function.

“Trolls do not need magic to regenerate.” Their blood was the source of their regenerative power, and that was the reason why troll blood was often used in alchemy.

“Rahmadat will not die even if he is decapitated or even if his heart is gouged out. He will live as long as he has enough magic.”

Meanwhile, a troll’s heart would beat dozens of times faster than usual whenever they suffer a fatal wound. “And that is to supply a large amount of blood for the sake of quick recovery.”

In other words, a troll’s weakness was clear.

“It’s their heart.” A troll would die without their heart—that was the difference between them and Rahmadat.

“You’re more knowledgeable than I thought for a mere human,” said the Overmind. “I am sorry to tell you this, but I am an Overmind. I have overcome the weaknesses of trolls.”

Clank! Clank!

The overmind tapped his chest.

“The skin on my chest and back is harder than any metal. Can your sword pierce it?”

“Is that so?” Mio nodded. “That’s a relief, then.”

“...What’s a relief?”

“I’ve prepared something in advance.” Mio took a finger-sized bottle out of her pocket and shook it in front of the Overmind’s eyes. “This is what we call Noble Powder, and it is a poison of nobles.”

However, it wasn’t that effective. It was almost embarrassing to call it poison.

“Its effect is drowsiness.” One would get drowsy, fall into a daze, and one’s heart rate would slow down as well. It was a powder that was more similar to an anesthetic rather than a poison.

‘What if it’s used against a troll that requires a fast heart rate to regenerate?’

“You will be in danger.”

“...!’

The Overmind’s eyes widened, and he suddenly felt the urge to sit down and sleep when Mio scattered the powder toward him.

“You dirty little...”

“Is this supposed to be dirty? I’m not sure. The Tenmei Family’s children are taught to win by any means necessary at an early age.” In other words, Mio didn’t mind using poison as long as it would secure her victory.

Mio could still remember the battlefield that changed her mind.

“One should save not their face on the battlefield...” Mio vanished and instantly reappeared behind the Overmind. She leaped toward the Overmind’s head and slashed.“But their comrade’s life...”

Thud!

A dull thud echoed as the Overmind’s head fell to the ground and started rolling on the sand.

The Overmind failed to regenerate and died.