Chapter 275 - Whirlpool (1)

Confusion and surprise.

Separate from those emotions, my mind analyzed the information coming in through my eyes.

'A drake.'

For starters, drakes didn't spawn on this island. So how was this possible?

The answer lay in a conversation we'd had earlier.

["Camilla and Belverson. It must have been those two bastards."]

Two plunderers from Noark who had most likely betrayed Amelia out of greed for the treasure. The woman, Camilla, was said to command a summoned drake.

Well, that settled who we were dealing with.

FWOOSH!

Judging by the flames pouring from the drake's mouth, their hostile intentions were clear, too.

Which left me with just one thing to do.

"Prepare for battle!!"

I tightened my grip on my mace and shouted. Perhaps because we'd faced so many similar situations, that cry once again served as a trigger.

"E-everyone, gather here!"

Raven, who'd been staring blankly up at the sky, hurriedly cast a spell without even putting her test tube back into subspace.

"Arerbes Wiar!"

The Grade 7 support spell, Mana Barrier.

It was a non-elemental defensive spell said to be a favorite among mages. Yet the translucent barrier that appeared in the air was coated in blue frost.

'She even imbued it with cold in that split second?'

Whatever else you could say, her incantations really had gotten faster since she became an explorer.

WHOOOOSH!

While I was briefly admiring her work, the drake's flames struck the Mana Barrier and spread across it like rainwater running over an umbrella.

At any rate, we'd bought ourselves a moment to breathe.

'Erwin is out of action. Ersina's Divine Power is gone, and Raven probably doesn't have much mana left, either. Even my MP is barely hanging on.'

I updated my assessment of our forces in the brief moment we had.

Things weren't looking good on multiple fronts. After the battle with the Guano Sea Serpent, most of us were running low on every bodily resource, including stamina.

'This won't be easy.'

I'd just had that thought when it happened.

KABOOOOM!

The flames abruptly stopped, and the drake rammed into the Mana Barrier.

A move known as Body Slam. The very foundation of a tamer's skill set.

CRACKLE!

With that massive body hurtling into it, carrying all the momentum of its descent, there was no way a Grade 7 defensive spell could hold.

「Avman Urigfried has cast [Hazardous Material].」

The instant our enemies appeared beyond the shattered Mana Barrier, Mister Bear fired an explosive arrow at the drake's forehead.

But...

KABOOOOM!

The drake curled up, wrapping its enormous wings around its body, and blocked the attack without taking much damage.

Not that it mattered. I hadn't expected one shot to kill the damn thing anyway.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

I reactivated [Gigantification] and kicked off the ground, launching myself at the drake while it hovered in place to block Mister Bear's arrow.

My feet left the ground, and the distance between us rapidly closed in midair.

"Camilla, I'll handle the barbarian."

The man riding on the drake's back leaped off and thrust his sword at me. White energy shrouded the blade.

It wasn't the Aura knights used, but...

'Tch. Getting hit by that looks like it'd hurt.'

My instincts as a tank warned me that ignoring it and charging straight through would be dangerous.

So I raised my shield and blocked the sword.

KABOOM!

A heavy impact traveled through my shield.

'Good thing I blocked.'

A single sword had brought a barbarian hurtling like a cannonball to a stop. At a glance, it even seemed to have scratched my shield.

Had I chosen to take that with my body, I would have suffered considerable damage.

"I heard... you were... a rank-five explorer."

What the hell was this bastard talking about?

I had only one thing to say to him.

"Die."

I swung my mace without bothering with further conversation. He planted a foot on my shield and backflipped away, putting some distance between us before landing on the ground.

Hah. Did he think he was a flying squirrel?

After that brief exchange in midair, I landed and immediately dashed forward.

At the same time, the drake's throat bulged, and it spewed another blast of fire.

That wasn't my concern. I wasn't alone, either.

"We'll handle that one!"

Raven's defensive magic unfolded once more, blocking the drake's flames, while Mister Bear quickly fired arrows to keep it in check.

And so I dashed forward again.

WHOOOOSH!

[Swing].

"...!"

At first, the man tried to block rather than dodge. But he must have sensed something was off, because he pulled his sword back and retreated.

He had good instincts, I'd give him that.

'If he'd blocked, I'd have smashed right through him.'

As I smacked my lips in disappointment, Mister Bear shouted from behind me.

"Jandel, we'll leave that one to you!"

"Right. I'll leave that one to you, too."

The battle naturally took shape.

Raven, Mister Bear, Patzran, and Hans J joined forces to take on the summoner, Camilla.

"Raaah! Leave the monsters to me!"

Aynar dealt with the lesser monsters that kept attacking, oblivious to the situation.

As for me...

"Why do you keep running? You're the one who attacked first."

I was facing the swordsman named Belverson or whatever. Though I had one order to give before we really got into it.

"Raven, activate Voice Control!"

As I closed in on the swordsman, I told Raven to cast our team voice-chat spell.

Oh, with one additional condition.

"Only our group? Why, all of a sudden...?"

"Never mind that. Is it done?"

"Yes. Only we can hear our conversation now."

Okay, good.

Once I'd confirmed that the team voice chat was working, I quickly relayed what they needed to know. Everyone except Raven seemed puzzled by my instructions, but...

"I don't know why you're bringing this up, but all right. If the time comes, I'll do as you say."

It seemed I didn't need to worry about them following orders.

In short, all that remained was for each of us to do our job.

With that in mind, I dashed forward again, closing the gap between me and the swordsman.

His female companion, the drake's master, had tried to help him a few times, only to be interrupted by Raven and Hans J. Now she'd fully committed to fighting them.

"Shit, you're so annoying! If you lose, you'll answer to me!"

From here on out, this was strictly a one-on-one match.

Still, it wasn't as easy as when I'd beaten up that archer earlier.

There were several reasons for that.

For one thing, this guy wasn't a fragile ranged fighter, and his overall level was higher than the archer's.

And, most importantly...

「The character has insufficient Magic Power.」

「[Gigantification] has ended.」

The earlier battles with the monsters had drained my MP, so I couldn't overwhelm him with skills.

Hah. If I'd been in good condition, I'd have finished this bastard already.

"You put up a good fight, but this is the end!"

The moment [Gigantification] ended, the swordsman closed in and swung at me. As befitted someone from Noark, he seemed well versed in fighting people; his timing and angle made the attack difficult to block with a shield.

But...

'He doesn't know about [Iron Leather].'

The Ogre's Passive Skill, [Iron Leather], doubled Physical Resistance specifically against slashing attacks.

CLANG!

The sword bit into my forearm, but that was all.

Now it was my turn.

WHOOSH!

The instant I felt something foreign digging into my skin, I swung my mace at his temple.

CRUNCH!

A satisfying sound of mangled flesh rang out.

Except...

"Guh!"

What burst apart under my mace wasn't his head, but the left arm he'd raised just in time.

Well, better your arm than your head. So you could make that much of a judgment call, at least.

'On that note, let's have another.'

Undeterred, I swung my mace again, trying to press the opening I'd gained.

["SKREEEEE!"]

A monster charged from the side, forcing me to retreat.

Damn it. After all the trouble I'd gone to for that opening.

"... So it was an Ogre Essence."

Worse, he seemed to have figured out [Iron Leather] now. Sure enough, from then on, he used slashes only as feints and relied mainly on thrusts.

'Looks like a quick victory is off the table.'

As the fight grew more difficult, I began taking wounds more frequently. His sword must have been poisoned, too; even when Raven tossed me a potion midway through, the wounds wouldn't heal.

But the worse things got, the more I let go of my impatience.

'Let's replenish my MP first.'

A change of strategy.

First, I'd fight as defensively as possible and identify his Essences. Then I'd make my move.

I'd made up my mind and settled into endurance mode when...

"Hans Aullock!"

A woman's shout came from the distance. It was the woman riding the drake and firing off all sorts of Abilities.

"Stop getting in our way and help us!"

A sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.

Coincidentally, this had a great deal in common with what had happened in the Doppelgänger Forest.

"W-w-what are you talking about!"

"What? I'm the one who dug up your past and passed it on to that bitch. You think I wouldn't know?"

The enemy was from Noark, for one.

"D-don't listen to her, everyone! That wicked woman is trying to sow discord with her vile lies...!"

"Oh, so that's how you're going to play it? Listen up, everyone! Hans Aullock is the piece of trash who raped and murdered Count Montraina's daughter twelve years ago and covered it up!"

And that enemy was publicly exposing a Hans's secret to pressure him into betraying us.

"What devious lies! Do you really think we would believe you?"

Even the fact that Hans had been left with no choice, no matter how firmly his companions rejected the idea of his betrayal, matched what had happened back then.

But...

"Iherno Kar Verdei..."

The outcome was completely different this time.

SHUNK.

Before Hans J could finish his incantation, a dagger pierced through his chest and protruded from the other side.

"Gah...!"

It was a response so swift that it could only have come from someone who'd been ready for a long time.

THUD.

As Hans J collapsed, the woman who'd tried to turn him against us stared wide-eyed.

"H-how...?"

How, my ass.

I'd warned them earlier precisely in case this happened.

Stab him the moment he showed any sign of trying something.

* * *

It was Erwin who had driven the dagger into Hans J's back.

Sure, she was too injured to participate in the battle...

But killing a single mage was still easy. Especially if she'd been prepared and standing right behind him.

"Y-you! Why would you do that to him...!"

The priestess, on the other hand, gaped. Until a moment ago, she'd never even imagined such a thing could happen. She still seemed unable to believe Hans J had betrayed us...

"Why? You heard her. He's a traitor."

"She was trying to turn us against each other! We haven't even verified anything yet...!"

"He suddenly started chanting a spell, didn't he?"

The priestess's expression stiffened at Erwin's cold reply.

"He might not have been aiming it at us...!"

She wasn't wrong.

We couldn't know whether Hans J's spell had actually been aimed at us.

But humans were creatures that acted rationally.

"What? Do you really believe that?"

Hans J would have understood.

They might dismiss it as an attempt to sow discord right now, but if they returned to the city alive, they would start asking questions.

And since they might even start digging into his past...

The surest solution was to kill everyone and silence them.

'Anyway, this bastard really was the traitor.'

Since I hadn't had any evidence beyond his name, part of me had thought I might be wrong.

Was Hans truly a scientific certainty after all?

"Bjorn Jandel! Say something!"

Stung by Erwin's sarcasm, the priestess turned on me.

But my response was already decided.

"Well done, Erwin."

"Oh, no. I only did what you told me to."

True, but the important part was that she'd done it well. Mister Bear and Raven had received the same instructions, but neither had acted as quickly as Erwin.

Once you killed him, there was no going back.

No matter how much you prepared yourself, there was a mental barrier to cross.

'Maybe she's the one I can count on most in situations like this...'

Raising my opinion of Erwin another notch, I lifted my shield.

A stark white blade slammed into it immediately.

KABOOM!

Tch. He wouldn't even give me a moment to think.

Well, one of their trump cards had just failed. He was bound to be feeling a little pressed.

"Mr. Patzran! Please, say something! That elf has harmed Mr. Aullock...!"

"Ersina, let's discuss this later. He may truly have been about to betray us."

Fortunately, Patzran wasn't as naive as the priestess and put the subject aside. Judging by his tone, he'd been shocked at first, but seemed to think I'd made the right call.

Right. That was more like it.

Anyone could tell that he'd been about to betray us, couldn't they?

'Okay, we've safely cleared the betrayal phase, too...'

With that, we returned to our respective fights and threw ourselves into battle once more.

"Mr. Jandel, Mr. Urigfried is...!"

Then disaster struck.