Chapter 244 - Branching Point (4)

Hans Aifreia.

Or, more precisely, the man who had borrowed his name and face to attend the conferment ceremony washed his face with cold water.

SPLASH!

With every splash, bits of meat stuck to his skin washed off and went down the drain. The sight alone was enough to make him gag.

'... It's been a long time since anything turned my stomach like this.'

He had endured far worse countless times in those early days, struggling to survive after falling into this familiar yet unfamiliar world. But those days were long behind him now.

'... I should just watch from a distance instead of bothering to approach him.'

After returning to the banquet hall, he checked the table where he had spoken with the barbarian earlier. For some reason, it was empty. A few words with a servant revealed that the man had already left in a carriage.

'... I really don't feel like going back to the Magic Tower empty-handed.'

After a moment's deliberation, he left the palace. Then he cast invisibility and levitation spells simultaneously and flew above the city.

Stealth flight mode, as he called it.

'There he is.'

Scanning the streets from several dozen meters up, he soon spotted Bjorn Jandel's carriage. With mounted knights escorting it, there was no mistaking it for another.

'Looks like he's heading home.'

Inferring its destination from its direction, he began following the carriage.

Granted, his hopes that the barbarian was the person he sought had faded considerably...

'But it could be an act.'

The possibility remained. Even he had never met a barbarian who acted quite that brainless. In some respects, that only made the man more suspicious.

'... With his understanding of the game, he'd have quickly worked out how to behave in this world and played his part more "perfectly" than anyone.'

Whether for or against, he could interpret the evidence either way if he tried hard enough to make it fit. Thus, he needed more information.

Just what sort of man was Bjorn Jandel?

'Didn't they say he lived with three women...?'

Ignoring an inexplicable pang of envy, he diligently followed the carriage. If they lived together, their relationship had to be close. A glimpse of his daily life at home might yield a more definite clue.

With that thought in mind, he was following at a distance when...

BOOOOOOM!

The carriage exploded.

* * *

The explosion brought back memories of that day's pillar of fire.

Fortunately, its power didn't even begin to compare.

「The character's HP is at or below 50%.」

「All resistance and tolerance stats increase due to the Passive Skill [Hero's Path].」

My vision was blurry, perhaps because the heat had damaged my retinas. My red-hot skin was peeling, leaving my entire body itching and throbbing. My muscles seemed badly damaged, too.

But...

"An assassin! There's an assassin!!"

I hadn't fucking died in one hit.

And I could still move.

'Goddammit.'

Swallowing the curses rising in my throat, I quickly braced a hand against the ground and stood. Then I activated the subspace ring I'd gotten back when leaving the palace.

'Whew. I should've put my gear on as soon as I left.'

Regret always came too late, no matter how soon it struck. I pulled out my shield first and strapped it to my forearm.

Just then, something burst, spewing black smoke.

'Some kind of smoke bomb?'

I'd had my sight cut off plenty of times before. Without panicking, I hastily focused on my hearing.

"Aaaaaah!"

As expected of an incident in the heart of the city, civilians were screaming all around us.

"How dare you!"

"Strike down these wicked traitors!"

Weapons clashed as the knights fought back.

But that wasn't what I needed to focus on. Amid all that noise, I had to pick out whatever threatened my life.

For example...

TAP-TAP.

Yeah, exactly that.

The instant I heard it, I turned toward the sound and lowered my stance.

At that moment...

BANG!

An impact traveled through my shield.

Whew. So you guys could see where I was through the smoke.

No reason to keep my mouth shut, then.

"Kepler! Are you alive?!"

I shouted at the top of my lungs, checking on the man who had been right beside me until the explosion.

No answer.

Was he dead? Or just unconscious?

I swiftly reached into subspace and pulled out my mace.

Just then, I heard something cutting through the air again.

WHOOSH!

In my experience, that sound usually came from a slash. Trusting my instinctive judgment, I angled my shield diagonally.

THUD!

An impact soon struck its left side.

Now it didn't matter that I couldn't see.

WHOOSH!

I swung my mace with all my strength toward where I figured the enemy would be.

CRUNCH!

A satisfying impact ran through my hand.

Huh. They actually took that hit.

I'd assumed an assassin would be an agility build.

"Gah!"

Something in the smoke let out a scream like a death cry and went flying, crashing down far away.

That was when it happened.

WHOOOOOSH!

An obviously unnatural gust swept through, driving the black smoke away.

'Magic? Who was that?'

We didn't have a mage on our side. And the assassins wouldn't clear the smoke for us.

Then who had cast it?

Putting that brief question aside, I checked my surroundings.

"Lord Jandel! Are you unharmed?"

Only four knights were still standing intact. Meanwhile, even at a glance, more than thirty masked figures surrounded the shattered carriage.

'Is Amelia... not here?'

I scanned the masked figures for anyone with a build like hers. There were about three candidates, but I couldn't be sure.

"Nobody said anything about a mage!"

"What are you waiting for? Kill him!"

The spell clearing the smoke startled them only briefly before they resumed their assault. They knew it themselves: having attacked in the middle of a main street, they'd be in trouble if they didn't finish this quickly.

"Protect Lord Jandel!!"

The knights, who had been fighting individually, hurried toward me once they located me and formed a protective formation.

I could see why nobles were so obsessed with training knights. How loyal and dependable these men were.

'Looks like I won't have time to put my armor on.'

Having assessed the situation, I abandoned that idea without hesitation and activated my Ability—the very one I'd thought I wouldn't try until tomorrow at the training ground.

'Transcendence.'

Bayon's Ability, [Transcendence].

It was a unique skill that was both passive and active. While inactive, it enhanced all Passive Skills by a factor of 1.5.

[Acidic Bodily Fluid] became more potent. The stat increases from [Hero's Path] and [Iron Leather] grew, and the Manticore's [Heredity] benefited similarly.

That alone made it a sufficiently good skill.

But...

「The character has cast [Transcendence].」

Its true worth lay in its active use.

「The next skill used will be enhanced.」

It wasn't a simple enhancement, but a temporary additional effect unique to each skill.

「The character has cast [Gigantification].」

「The transcendent being's authority unlocks the ability inherent in this skill.」

This skill was precisely why rank-five [Gigantification] was the cornerstone of the shield barb build.

「Body size increases in proportion to Strength.」

A size bonus proportional to Strength rather than a fixed value.

'About five meters, maybe.'

Otherwise known as Gigantification (Transcendence) Mode.

'At this size... I should be roughly as big as I was against Riakis.'

I estimated my new size from my unfamiliar eye level. It was about the same as when Misha's brother's [Corrupt One] had made me 1.5 times larger.

Even with the Ogre Essence, my build wasn't complete yet, so it wasn't quite satisfactory.

But...

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

There was no denying I was much stronger.

[Gigantification] increased my Physical stats and Threat stat in proportion to my height. Then [Wild Outburst] increased my Physical stats again based on my Threat stat.

With both effects applied at once, power surged through me.

And so...

'Leap.'

I kicked off the ground with all my strength and soared. My projected landing spot was toward a distant masked figure aiming a bow this way.

BOOOOM!

The instant I hit the ground, the masked figure was launched high into the air, bow still in hand.

「The character's total weight is at least 500 kg.」

「The special terrain effect [Rebound] additionally applies within the damage radius.」

Fortunately, growing taller seemed to have brought my weight up to the requirement. I'd been worried because I wasn't wearing armor.

"Huh?"

The masked figure uttered a dazed sound in midair, apparently unaware of the situation.

What, hadn't expected me to come to you first?

I swung my mace like a baseball bat, snapping his neck at a grotesque angle.

CRUNCH.

Okay, that's one...

'Huh?'

As I started turning to find my next target, another masked figure sprang out from low on my right. It was an exquisite angle that normally would've been in my blind spot.

But I saw it clearly and dodged, thanks to my new Essence's base stats.

[Bayon]

Magic Power +100, Soul Regeneration +30, Strength +25, Pain Tolerance +30, Bone Hardness +30, Mana resistance +20, Vision +25

Vision +25.

This stat widened your field of view rather than improving your eyesight. In the game, it therefore gave bonuses to detailed stats like evasion.

CRUNCH!

I casually kicked the leaping man in the gut, then prepared to Leap again.

Had they finally come to their senses? Horrified by the unexpected actions of the man they were supposed to protect, the knights shouted.

"C-come back here!"

Seriously, who was protecting whom here?

Pretending not to hear, I ignored them and Leaped toward my next destination. Then I picked off the enemies one at a time with the same combo.

So far, there hadn't been any particularly tough opponents.

CRUNCH!

I'd felt it when I smashed that guy in the smoke earlier, but their level was strangely low.

'Is there really no one on Amelia's level?'

I'd even planned to use [Leap] to flee far away at the slightest danger, but that anxiety soon faded.

Fighting them myself made it even clearer. Without that initial explosion, the knights alone would've been enough to handle them.

But what was this now?

"... Y-you said we'd only have to deal with the knights!"

As I rampaged and the knights pressured them in individual combat, infighting broke out among the masked figures.

"You said that first explosion would kill him!"

"I'm leaving. Nobody said he could fight this well!"

Once one or two of them backed off and left the battlefield, all the others followed suit and fled.

I was dumbfounded.

'What the hell are these guys?'

They didn't seem to have the slightest commitment to their mission.

* * *

'... Did Noark really send them?'

Even that doubt began to surface, but for now, I hustled after the fleeing masked bastards and captured them alive.

I caught four in total. Unfortunately, all the others escaped.

"... Thank you for your efforts."

A knight approached and saluted awkwardly, apparently unused to having the noble he was guarding carry the fight.

"Ah, you all did well, too. Did anyone die?"

The knight answered that three had died. Thankfully, Kepler wasn't among them. Though he'd been caught at the epicenter of the blast alongside me, he apparently had enough durability to survive.

He'd been given a potion in time, so he should regain consciousness soon.

'Then let's question them.'

With the fight over and the city guards starting to come running, I grabbed one of the prisoners and pulled off his mask. Beneath it was a man I'd never seen before.

"... Hh!"

Seemingly realizing he was fucked, he trembled and couldn't even meet my eyes.

First, I reached out and shoved my hand into his mouth.

"G-gah, ghack!"

I rummaged around thoroughly but found no poison capsule.

Hmm. Were comics and reality really that different? I mean, wasn't an assassin supposed to have at least one in his mouth?

'Oh. If these bastards had that much resolve, maybe they wouldn't have run in the first place.'

Seriously, just who the hell were these guys?

Wiping the saliva from my hand vigorously onto his clothes, I asked,

"Who sent you?"

"..."

He didn't answer. Not that it mattered much. A few punches would get him talking on his own.

I was raising my fist with that thought when...

A brilliant white flash burst across the pitch-black sky.

And then...

BOOOOOOM!!

Something flew down like a meteor and slammed into the ground.

At first, I wondered whether the fleeing assassins had fired a catapult or something, but...

"Gah...!"

It was a man. He was encased in a spherical barrier, and his face was all too familiar.

Of course it was. I'd just met the bastard.

"Hans Aifreia...?"

What the hell?

Why was he falling out of the sky now?

My bewilderment at the unexpected turn lasted only a moment.

TAP, TAP, TAP.

Another man descended in little hops from the sky where Hans I had fallen. Without sparing me a glance, he walked toward Hans I.

"..."

At that surreal sight, neither I nor any of the knights dared utter a word. The atmosphere had changed the instant the man arrived, allowing none of us to speak.

"Come on, old man. Let's make this easy, okay?"

"I told you, you've got the wrong—"

"Ha. I told you, lying won't work on me."

The man reached out, and the barrier around Hans I tore apart helplessly.

CRACKLE.

Hans I's face turned deathly pale under that overwhelming pressure. The man brusquely hauled him up by the collar.

Then he spoke.

"It is you after all. GM."

"..."

"Lift my ban. Now. Otherwise, you're really going to fucking die right here."