CH 281

Episode 281 – Demon’s Strength

Author’s Note: This chapter is from Ahmed’s POV.

After the demon had abruptly materialized out of thin air, it released a powerful pressure that made my body freeze up. Just like me, it had the aura of a powerhouse.

“I didn’t think you’d discover me. Up until now, no one’s ever noticed me before.” (Demon)

“Who the hell are you?!” (Ahmed)

“My name is… forget it. There’s no point in giving my name to someone who’s already dead.” (Demon)

It lifted both of its hands up as if it was about to surrender, but it didn’t seem to have that intention whatsoever. With both hands raised, it began to charge magic power, forming a black cluster of mana above its head.

“Dion, Smash! Get away from here!” (Ahmed)

The moment I sensed the danger oozing from that cluster of mana, I immediately warned them before slashing at the demon. I was trying to get a strike in before it could swing its arms down.

“How naive,” the demon muttered with a nasty smirk on its face. As I moved to slash at the demon, it sent the cluster of magic power flying at me, but… I canceled my slash before the cluster of magic power was sent flying.

I abruptly halted and carved a large spin to distance myself from the demon. While trying to look cool, the demon unleashed the cluster of magic power, but I dodged it perfectly. The demon had a look of astonishment on its face.

“Now who’s the naive one?” (Ahmed)

“I thought you would be the type who likes to charge in like an idiot.” (Demon)

It was certainly my initial intention to just slash without caring, but since my instincts were telling me that it would be dangerous to continue through with the slash, I switched to dodging. It wasn’t a feint either, since I had also truly intended to attack until just a moment before. It was understandable why the demon wasn’t able to read my movements just now.

“Heheheh. I’ve got a good nose for things. Well, next time you won’t be able to dodge.” (Ahmed)

This was an opponent who could force me to dodge urgently. I was excited to finally meet an enemy which I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes against.

The demon shook its head and raised one hand with its palm facing towards me.

“It’s unfortunate that the attack missed, but it’s more convenient for me that you’re farther away now. Die.” (Demon)

“I wanted to torture you with my own hands, but I don’t have the time for that right now. Kill the humans, my monsters.” (Demon)

The demon’s clear voice sounded unstrained. When he gave the command, a massive number of monsters that were left in the forest came in from behind him.

Damn it! He picked the most boring way to fight.

“Oi! Are you running away?! You’re trying too hard to look cool, lame ass!” (Ahmed)

For a moment, the demon turned its head around at my provocation and emitted bloodlust. Then, it turned back around and walked away, disappearing deeper into the forest.

Stupid demon. I won’t let you run away.

I immediately chased after it and tried to catch up, but the large number of monsters that had appeared earlier came up to block my path. At a glance, it seemed like the same type of monsters that the adventurers had been fighting outside of Landaust. They weren’t strong by any means, but there were just too many.

“Hey! Dion, Smash. That enemy from before is gone, so get back over here!” (Ahmed)

“No, no! It’ll be bad if we get surrounded by monsters!” (Smash)

“Shut up! We’re going to ditch the rear and just mow our way through the front, so get over here!” (Ahmed)

For the time being, I called the two over to regroup. I wanted to fight without having to worry about the rear.

―Now then, I guess I’ll fight for real for just a bit before the two get over here.

Completely ignoring the monsters approaching me, I thrust my greatsword into the ground and entered a meditative state. I cut off my five senses… and, for a moment, entered a deep place within.

When my powers of concentration swelled and reached a peak, I opened my eyes and immediately began my onslaught. Right off the bat, I unleashed a spinning slash that struck a clean sweep across the oncoming monsters.

From another person’s perspective, it might look like I was just waving my greatsword around, but right now, each and every one of my attacks was aimed precisely at the enemies’ weak points. With a single spinning slash, the three Ogres in the front, the two Skeleton Warriors at the sides, and the two Orc Knights behind me all met their end.

The monsters that saw their fellow monsters get slaughtered right before their eyes all had hesitant expressions, but those behind them had no way of knowing what was happening further in front of them. Even though they were reluctant to come forward, the Orcs and Ogres were pushed from behind until they stood before me.

They must have thought they would be fine as long as they had the numbers. When I saw how the looks on the faces of the monsters changed when they realized they had gone from the hunters to the hunted, a wide grin appeared on my face.

I was standing before them imposingly with a devilish smile on my face, but they still moved to commence their attack. Well―whether they attacked or not, it didn’t make much of a difference either way.

Diagonal slash, horizontal cut, overhead slam.

In a flash, the monsters before me, some of which were several times my height, were diced up and died instantly without the slightest resistance.

And once again, the wave of monsters behind them were splattered by the blood of their companions, causing expressions of terror to appear on their faces.

The monsters in the Dungeon were mechanical and uninteresting, but the expressiveness of the monsters outside was truly wonderful.

With my powers of concentration raised to the limit, I could see even the slightest changes in the monsters’ expressions, which made it even more fun.

Before regrouping with the other two, I continued to bathe in the carnage of the monsters with a fighting style even more monstrous than the monsters themselves. A huge pile of corpses piled up as an exhilarating, one-sided massacre commenced.