Chapter 38 - Guild (3)

[Flesh Explosion]

One of the few insane skills that used the character's HP as its cost.

Perhaps because the adrenaline hadn't kicked in yet, pain pierced through my Pain Tolerance... but the payoff was undeniable.

SSSSSS!

The blood scattered by the explosion had half melted the bars. When I pushed sideways, they bent easily.

"Ghh..."

Despite the pain, both my hands healed rapidly. It wasn't just the Immortal's engravings at work; I had the Vampire's Essence I'd acquired this time to thank.

The moment I stepped into the corridor, I spotted a jailer.

"W-what! You!"

It was the same jailer who'd asked about my special meal earlier. Apparently, he'd come running at the sound of an explosion...

"Eek! An e-escapee! An escaped prisoner!"

Before he could make any more noise, I dashed forward and drove a fist into his stomach.

THUD!

The jailer crumpled helplessly. As I quickly searched his clothes and retrieved his keys, the other prisoners, who'd been watching with interest from behind their bars, went wild. They'd worked out roughly what I intended.

"Hey! Barbarian! Are you really doing this?"

"Heeheehee! You're even crazier than I thought!"

"Me too! Take me with you!"

Considering we were beneath the Explorer Guild, most of these people were probably plunderers. But...

'I'm not in a position to be picky about my methods.'

A poor, falsely accused barbarian didn't care about that shit.

'They'll all be dead soon anyway.'

The only good plunderer was a dead plunderer. That conviction, formed within days of waking up in this world, would probably remain unshaken for the rest of my life.

"Hahaha! Freedom! Freedom!"

"Let's get outside!"

I released every prisoner on my floor. These bastards weren't people I could control, but that didn't matter. I hadn't done it expecting that in the first place.

"Waaaaah!"

After that, there wasn't much I needed to do. As if the madness were contagious, the prisoners banded together on their own, headed upstairs, overpowered the jailers, and used the stolen keys to release even more prisoners.

Of course, quite a few refused to join the escape even when their doors were opened—about fifty percent.

'Their investigations must still be underway, or they're actually innocent like me.'

As I hurried through the chaos, I spotted prisoners gathering in front of one particular place: the interrogation room I'd been in and out of countless times over the past two days. The situation was simple.

"G-get back to your cells! If you go back n-now, we'll pretend this never..."

Jailers trembled behind the locked door while prisoners tried to tear it down.

"We need their keys to get upstairs!"

"Rip it off!"

But no matter how hard they shook it, that thick iron door didn't look likely to budge.

Ugh. Did I have to pull that shit again?

Just as I was thinking that...

"Do you think you'll get away with this? You'll all be executed! Executed!"

A very familiar voice came from beyond the door. Peering through the small barred window, I spotted that investigator bastard sandwiched between two jailers.

I hadn't expected to meet him this soon.

"Everyone, move!"

Delighted, I pushed my way through the prisoners and repeatedly blew up my newly healed left arm.

'Flesh Explosion, Flesh Explosion, Flesh Explosion...'

After about five repetitions, the area around the handle melted away, disabling the lock. A result achieved entirely through my own flesh, blood, and pain.

The prisoners erupted in wild cheers.

"Waaaaah!"

"Barbarian! Barbarian! Barbarian!"

"He is the barbarian of freedom!"

The investigator's eyes widened as I entered the interrogation room.

"Y-you! Wh-what... H-how...!"

Well, it couldn't be easy to understand. Most rank-9 explorers had only trivial abilities. That was why they didn't bother with restraints beyond the bars.

How could he have known I had a power like this?

I had only one thing to tell him.

"Blame your troubled upbringing for leaving you with so little imagination."

"I-I grew up in a perfectly decent home!"

"Lying, too? You really are rotten."

"Wh-what! Urgh!"

I slammed my fist into his solar plexus with all my pent-up fury, sending him to the floor, where he writhed like a bug. His thick layers of fat must have absorbed the impact, because he remained fully conscious.

"Y-you lunatic...!"

The ill-bred pig could barely breathe, but he still hurled every curse he could at me.

"You're a dead man! Using an ability in prison wasn't enough for you—you had to do this? Do you think you can handle the consequences?"

The consequences?

"I think that's your problem now. If my plan works, you're fucked."

"Wh-what could someone like you possibly do?"

For some reason, I burst out laughing.

"What could I do?"

Even his question was wrong.

"You should be asking what I couldn't do."

When my life was on the line, I was the kind of bastard who could do absolutely anything, no matter how crazy. So, unfortunate as that was for this unimaginative fool—

"For now, go to sleep."

By the time you wake up, one of us will be in hell.

THUD!

This time, I drove my fist into his face instead of his plump body. The investigator foamed at the mouth and passed out.

A jailer shouted something at me just then.

"Keys."

"D-do you even realize what you've done?"

I did. But what was I supposed to do about it? I'd have died if I'd stayed put.

I said just one word.

"Keys."

"I-it's still not too—"

"Keys."

"H-here..."

When I took the keys and turned around, the prisoners parted for me like a scene from a movie. I strode through them and stopped before the stairs leading aboveground, taking a deep breath.

Was it really all right to let this get so big?

The worry suddenly surfaced, but...

'Those bastards were the ones who left me no choice.'

Turning the key, I shouted,

"Let's gooooo!"

Everything that happened from here on was self-defense. To protect my life, the thing I valued above all else.

* * *

The Explorer Guild branch's prison had been built deep underground. What's more, the two successive doors connecting it to the surface were so thick that the people aboveground hadn't noticed a thing, even as the situation spiraled this far out of control.

'Lucky for me.'

CLICK.

After climbing the long staircase and opening the door, I was greeted by an interior that was peaceful, unlike the dungeon below. Staff handled administrative work, and explorers crowded the counters.

"Huh? How did you get in here?"

A staff member questioned me after seeing me emerge from an area off-limits to ordinary explorers. Of course, no answer was necessary. The open door behind me told him everything.

"An e-escaped prisoner!"

At his shout, everyone's eyes turned toward me. A heavy silence fell in an instant.

But even among explorers, who made their living thinking on their feet, one bastard was particularly quick on the uptake.

"Hey, beautiful! If I catch him for you, how about tea after work?"

The man beside the female clerk vaulted over the counter and charged at me.

And then—

"Waaaaah!"

"I smell freedom!"

Prisoners began pouring up the stairs.

"Uh, uh, what...?"

"S-stop them!"

"The guild will compensate you! Explorers, please lend us your strength!"

"Aaaaah!"

The prisoners charged fearlessly despite being unarmed, and the explorers drew their weapons to meet them.

"Kill them!"

The once-peaceful Explorer Guild branch abruptly became a bloodbath.

As the instigator of it all, I stepped back from the front line and hurried toward my destination.

'There's no time.'

The prisoners probably couldn't buy me even five minutes. They had practically no weapons beyond a few clubs stolen from the jailers.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor and checked outside the window.

'As expected, going outside isn't an option.'

The commotion must have already reached the street. Explorers along the main road were watching the building with interest. If I went outside now, they'd mob me and drag me straight back underground.

The answer lay upstairs.

"W-who are you?"

After knocking out every staff member I encountered in the corridor with my fists, I looked over the railing at the first floor. Dozens of people were brawling below.

I extended a hand above their heads. Then...

'Flesh Explosion.'

My hand exploded, showering acidic blood down like a sprinkler.

"Aaaaah!"

Explorer or prisoner, it didn't matter—the dozens splashed with my blood screamed in unison.

A strange pang of guilt washed over me... but I had no choice if I wanted to improve the odds of my next plan succeeding.

「The character has cast [Sacrificial Seal].」

As I activated the follow-up skill, tattoos appeared on the foreheads of those stained with my blood, scattering red light.

「The character's Physical capabilities temporarily increase in proportion to the number of sacrifices within a 100m radius.」

Even a rough count put the sacrifices in the dozens.

'So this is why athletes take so many drugs.'

Power surged through my entire body. The railing crumbled under my absentminded grip. Even the anxiety I'd harbored deep down vanished completely.

With this, I could definitely pull it off.

"Aaaaah!"

Leaving the uproar on the first floor behind, I climbed the stairs again, heading to the third floor.

'Fortunately, he seems to be in.'

I cracked the door open to check. The third floor was completely different from those below: the entire floor was an office. Solid wood furniture, together with the medals and plaques on the walls, gave it a rather stately atmosphere.

"What in the world is all this commotion? Go downstairs and check at once!"

"Yes, Branch Manager!"

'So he's the branch manager.'

Having identified my target, I hid behind the door. The instant the man sent by the branch manager opened it and stepped out, I punched him in the jaw with all my strength.

CRUNCH.

Uh, I hadn't meant to break the bone...

THUMP.

Since he served as the branch manager's aide, I'd expected him to put up a decent fight, but he crumpled helplessly to the floor. At the same moment, the branch manager leaped to his feet.

"Wh-who are you?"

Me?

"A wronged barbarian."

To elaborate, I'd come to prove my innocence. Through physical means, as befitted a barbarian.

"So you're responsible for the commotion downstairs!"

Quick to assess the situation, as one would expect of a branch manager, the man immediately grabbed a sword displayed on the wall. His stance was anything but ordinary. Perhaps he'd been an explorer.

The staff downstairs had all just been desk jockeys. Well, I'd anticipated this possibility and doped myself up beforehand, so it didn't matter.

"My lady, get behind me at once."

"Y-yes!"

The woman who'd been sitting opposite him scrambled behind him. With that, both sides were ready to fight.

'In game terms, is this a boss fight?'

I steadied my breathing one last time. For my plan to succeed, I had to subdue him—preferably before the commotion on the first floor ended.

"Behel—raaaaa!"

Perhaps it was thanks to [Sacrificial Seal] targeting dozens of people. The instant I kicked off the floor, my body shot forward with explosive acceleration. To be honest, even I couldn't quite adjust to that speed...

But the branch manager was no pushover either.

"Don't even try it!"

Reading my movement perfectly, he drove his sword toward my wrist along a precise trajectory. Still, it wasn't enough to slice clean through my bones in Super Barbarian mode.

CLACK!

A dull sound rang out, as though the blade had caught on something. Then blood sprayed from the cut, drenching the branch manager's shoulder.

SSSSS!

"Agh! Aaaagh!"

The unexpected pain left the branch manager reeling. After that, it was almost disappointingly simple. I seized the opening and punched him in the Adam's apple. That was it.

"G-gurgh!"

The branch manager dropped to his knees, retching.

Despite my nerves, the boss fight had ended in an instant. But then, he couldn't have expected blood to do something like that.

Apparently, a lack of imagination was a tradition among Explorer Guild bastards. I was different, though.

"Y-you...!"

I always imagined the worst. Since I had no idea what Essences this former explorer possessed, I struck the back of his head and knocked him out.

All right. That took care of the first thing I needed.

"P-please don't kill me!"

But what should I do with this young lady? Judging by how the branch manager had fawned over her, she seemed to be someone important.

"Th-the young lady is the district manager's child! If you touch her, you won't get away with—"

What the hell? How had this guy woken up already?

THUD!

I put more force into knocking the branch manager out this time, then calmly resumed my thoughts.

'The district manager's daughter, huh...'

It looked like things might get a little easier. Or spiral completely out of control.

* * *

"Branch Manager! Are you all right?"

Apparently, the commotion on the first floor had been dealt with. A staff member came upstairs to check on things here. Of course, that wasn't a problem. The branch manager had already completed his career change into my pet parrot.

"Tell him you're fine."

"... I'm fine. More importantly, how are things downstairs?"

"Everything's under control for now! A few escapees slipped into the city, but we should find them soon."

"That's... a relief."

"Oh! Where's Aide Robert? I thought he'd be with you..."

The aide? He was resting inside a wardrobe with his jaw shattered. Naturally, the branch manager couldn't very well answer honestly.

"Make something up."

"... I sent him out on an errand. I have urgent work to attend to, so don't let anyone upstairs until I call for them."

"Yes, sir!"

As soon as the employee left, I emerged from beneath the desk. The district manager's daughter was tucked tightly in my arms.

The branch manager glared at me, his mustache quivering.

"This is sincere advice: it would be in your best interest to stop, even now."

"I see."

I let his advice go in one ear and out the other. Best interest, my ass. If I stopped now, what awaited me but death?

"Think carefully. I don't know what you're after, but there may be a way I can help—"

"I see."

As I answered, digging in my ear with my pinky, the branch manager finally lost his temper and shouted.

"You crazy bastard! Do you even know what you're doing?"

I did. Honestly, I'd heard it so many times on the way here that I was sick to death of it. What the hell was I supposed to do about it? Do something crazy, or simply die. Those had been my only two options.

"I see."

When I gave another perfunctory nod, the branch manager tried to shout something in utter disbelief, but...

"What do you mean, 'I s—'"

"Shut up now, or I'll kill this woman."

I pretended to tighten the arm around the district manager's daughter's neck, and he instantly fell silent. Looking closely, I saw that all the color had drained from his face.

Well, it wasn't hard to understand. A jailbreak had occurred at his branch, and the district manager's daughter, who'd been with him, had been taken hostage. He must have felt fucking hopeless. However this ended, he wasn't getting away unscathed either.

'He brought it on himself, though.'

As I was thinking that, the woman I held hostage suddenly spoke.

"My name is Julie Urbans. Not 'this woman.'"

Unlike her earlier terrified voice, she sounded calm. Checking the heartbeat I could feel through our pressed-together bodies, I found it fairly steady too.

"Tell me what you want. Someone like you must have a reason for doing something this insane, right?"

"Someone like me?"

Had I met this woman before? When I tilted my head, she continued.

"Despite everything you've done, you don't look frightened at all. Your breathing is steady, and your eyes aren't wavering in the slightest."

"Get to the point."

"You planned all of this, didn't you? And a very long time ago, too."

Planned it? Sure, I had. About thirty minutes ago.

'I listened to see what she had to say, but that was a waste of time.'

"Perhaps you even knew I'd be here today—"

"Be quiet."

"Mmph, mmmph!"

I casually clamped my hand over the mouth of the woman, who appeared to have an inflated sense of her own importance, and told the branch manager what else I needed.

"Bring me the investigator who handled my case, a man named Hartz Young from the Crystal Union clan that operates on the first floor, a mage from the Magic Tower, and an ordained priest from the temple."

The stage was set well enough.

Now it was about time to turn the tables.