Chapter 68 - Barbarian Hero (1)

[Crevice of Evil]

An area-of-effect instant-kill move that Riakis uses after absorbing ten or more orbs. Fail to escape within the time limit, and your character dies, no matter how much work you put into building them up.

The limit was about forty-five minutes in game time.

And one particular feature was...

Everyone gets pulled into the center, regardless of their location.

WHOOSH!

Before I could even adjust to the darkness before my eyes, a sensation of being violently yanked spread through my entire body.

"B... jor... n...!! Wh... at... is... hap... pening—!"

For some reason, Misha's voice sounded like it was playing at half speed. So I spoke at double speed.

"Don't worry. We're not going to die right away."

"Wh... at... does... that... mean—!"

Misha shouted in slow motion, but her cry never reached its end.

Perfect silence fell, as though my hearing itself had vanished. Of course, that silence didn't actually last long.

「All characters within range are transported to the center of evil.」

When I opened my eyes, there was light.

"Bjorn!"

Sound had returned to normal, too, and I could see plenty of people besides Misha scattered around.

"Where the hell are we...?"

"Wh-what? I was running away..."

There looked to be roughly two hundred explorers.

Leaving Misha clinging anxiously to my side, I turned my attention to one spot.

People bearing the Djarwi Clan's emblem were quickly gathering together and forming ranks.

'Out of fifty, this is all that's left already...?'

Just over twenty people.

Eleven had died during three hours of fighting Riakis, yet in less than five minutes, they had lost even more fighters than that.

What on earth had happened in that brief interval?

Well, it wasn't hard to guess.

"Listen! If you know what's going on—"

"Shut up, you scum."

An angry voice erupted in response to an explorer's question.

"Do you have any idea... how many people died because of scum like you?!"

"Come any closer, and we'll attack immediately."

Indeed, the Djarwi Clan had closed ranks and taken up defensive positions, refusing to let anyone approach.

The explorers were taken aback.

"H-how is that our fault?!"

"None of this would've happened if you hadn't taken our equipment in the first place!"

"I've heard the major clans swear to the Guild and the royal family that they'll fulfill their duties in emergencies. We can settle who's right and wrong later. For now, shouldn't we all work together...?"

"P-please let me in! I wasn't even involved. If you want more protection money, I'll pay..."

The explorers clamored, each shouting their own demands without even understanding the situation they were in.

Well, they probably understood this much: if the clan abandoned them, they had no chance of survival.

Unfortunately for them...

"Be grateful we're not killing you right now, you scum."

The Djarwi Clan would not budge.

"H-how can you be so selfish?! You're telling us all to go off and die!"

"You understood perfectly."

"... Wh-what? Now you've gone too far! Do you think we'll just take this lying down?"

It was Jack Fletcher, the man who had led the agitation at the front.

Countless explorers voiced their agreement with his outburst, but the clan members merely laughed in contempt.

"And what will you do if you don't?"

"We'll join forces and—"

"Let me warn you now. Don't expect us to let you push us around helplessly like before. If we choose to, we can burn every last piece of scum here to ashes."

It wasn't an empty threat.

After all, the situation was different now. Unlike before, when they'd been spread out to fight Riakis, they were in a proper, tightly packed formation.

From the looks of it, they were ready to unleash their spells at any moment, too.

"Damn it!"

"You think we'll die without you?!"

Just as the explorers were coming to terms with their reality...

"I-I know about this phenomenon."

A human man who looked to be around 160 centimeters tall spoke up before the crowd.

"You know what this is?"

"N-not in detail. But if we don't leave this place in time, we'll all die. That's what an ancient book said."

"... Is that true?"

When Jack Fletcher gave him a suspicious look, a woman stepped forward on behalf of the awkward-looking man.

"I'll vouch for that!"

"An elf?"

"I've been on a team with him for over a year. We've experienced all sorts of unbelievable things together. He's a man of mysteries. There truly isn't anything he doesn't know. I have no doubt that his words will save us."

Jack Fletcher's expression changed.

"If an elf says so... it's worth hearing him out. Tell me, how do we escape this place?"

"Th-there's no real trick to it! I h-heard we can escape by going straight for about five kilometers in any direction..."

Surprisingly, what the human man said was true.

The problem was that the moment you left this patch of light, Riakis's copies would swarm you from the darkness.

"I-I did hear there were monsters, but if we all work together, we can s-surely do it!"

"Hmm. That certainly makes sense."

Bullshit.

If it were that easy, the clan members over there would've bolted first, instead of having a grave discussion among themselves with faces like they'd eaten shit.

"Bjorn, what are you going to do, nyah?"

"What?"

"But if an elf is vouching for a human like that, doesn't that mean there really is something special about him, nyah?"

Hmm. Did it?

He just looked like a fucking idiot to me...

"Don't let that nonsense sway you. Just wait calmly."

"Got it, nyah!"

Anyway, things moved quickly after that.

"An elf has vouched for him, but there's certainly still a chance he's wrong. However! Rather than sit here waiting to die, I want to take that chance!"

Having made his decision, Jack Fletcher began stirring up the crowd again, and public opinion slowly shifted.

"Yeah! We die either way!"

"Those bastards clearly aren't going to help us. What other choice do we have?"

"With this many people, we'll manage somehow!"

"But I really don't think it'll be that easy..."

Plenty remained dubious, but once people started gathering, the movement gained momentum, perhaps because they feared being left behind.

And now...

"I'll ask one last time! Anyone who wants to join us, step forward now!"

More than a hundred explorers had agreed to go together.

Only around forty remained, including Misha and me. Jack Fletcher scanned our faces, spotted me, and spoke.

"You there. Viagron, son of Yandere, was it?"

"... Bjorn, son of Jandel."

"Hmm, was it? Anyway, you don't intend to join us?"

Why bother asking again? Wasn't the fact that I was standing here answer enough?

I answered with a shrug.

But then...

"Stupid as any barbarian. You'll regret it."

The fuck? What was this now?

He could just go his own way. Why pull this shit at the last second?

I couldn't begin to understand his thought process, but I believed in giving as good as I got, so I offered him some kind words in return.

"What are you babbling about, you soon-to-be-dead fuck? Quit yapping and fuck off to your death. You'll do the world more good that way."

"Wh-what?!"

"Want to fight me? Then come here. I'll smash that empty skull of yours."

Not caring about the hundred explorers behind him, I gripped my mace and stepped forward. He abruptly turned away.

Then he left, muttering to himself.

"Honestly, I was only saying it for his own good..."

"Looks like no one else wants to join us, so we're leaving! We don't have time to waste on this!"

Whatever that little episode amounted to, more than half the people disappeared into the darkness.

Or should I say they willingly crawled into a death trap?

Anyway, as soon as they left, Misha pressed close to my side as though she'd been waiting for the chance and murmured,

"Bjorn, what are we going to do, nyah?"

"Why do you always ask me that?"

"Because... you've always had the right answer so far, nyah. I trust you, nyah."

"I see."

I appreciated the sentiment, but Misha was wrong.

My choices weren't the right answers. How could a mere human know something like that?

Whenever a problem arose, I simply picked whatever seemed to offer the best odds.

And in that sense...

STEP.

I walked toward the Djarwi Clan, who were in the midst of a heated discussion.

'By now, they should've realized exactly how fucked they are...'

It was time to gamble.

A gamble that, based on several pieces of evidence, I judged to have the best chance of success.

"Stop, barbarian. Come any closer, and—"

The clan stopped me as I approached.

As it happened, the man shouting was someone we knew.

"B-big brother, nyah..."

"Half-wit...? Why are you here...?"

An unexpected reunion.

Since it clearly wasn't going to be a touching reunion between brother and sister, I cut in with a sly question.

"Hey, long time no see."

"... What? Long time no see?"

Misha's bastard of a brother frowned.

Fair enough. We weren't on those kinds of terms.

So while he was still flustered, I got straight to the point.

"So, did the Orc Hero Essence drop?"

"Well, fortunately, we were lucky enough to—"

Right. So they'd gotten lucky.

"Wait. How do you know about that?"

I grinned as Misha's brother fixed me with a fearsome stare.

The gamble had paid off.

At least halfway, for now.

* * *

Iraz McGlane, deputy commander of the Djarwi Clan, thought,

'We're fucked.'

Twenty-seven dead in total.

A number equivalent to twenty percent of the entire Djarwi Clan's fighting strength. He couldn't even begin to estimate how long it would take to recover those losses.

'Well, there's no guarantee the rest of us will make it back alive, either.'

He opened his eyes and studied his fellow clan members.

Twenty-three remained alive. Judging by numbers alone, roughly half their fighting force had survived, but the reality was quite different.

He asked his adjutant,

"What exactly do we have left?"

"Three priests, six mages, twelve ranged support specialists... and two melee warriors."

The report was delivered in a desolate voice. Understandably so.

"Only two melee warriors..."

Calling the composition lopsided didn't even begin to cover it.

The biggest blow had been the near-annihilation of the warriors, who had lost their support when the riot broke out.

"Still, we're fortunate. Without your decision, Deputy Commander, we wouldn't even have bought this time to regroup—"

"We can only say that once we're back alive."

McGlane quietly steadied his breathing.

The instant he judged suppressing the riot impossible, he had issued one order: let Riakis absorb the Dark Spheres.

Thanks to that, he had minimized further losses and bought them time.

'Yes, time... All we've done is buy time.'

"Sir McGlane! What do you intend to do now? Surely you haven't simply given up?"

"I'm thinking."

"Then you'd best think quickly. If you've studied Riakis, Lord of Chaos, at all, you'll know we have very little time left."

McGlane sighed as he watched the mage spit out those sharp words.

"The star that rises at dusk shall guide my way..."

The priests making holy signs and praying were somewhat better, but if he earned these people's displeasure, the consequences would surely be unpleasant even if he managed to bring them home alive.

'Think. How can I get as many people home alive as possible?'

McGlane thought and thought, searching for the best course available in their current circumstances.

"Deputy Commander, the explorers are forming a group. It seems they're planning to escape on their own."

"Some good news at last. Leave them be."

"Pardon?"

"They'll serve as bait, won't they?"

Determined to exploit every favorable development to the fullest, he kept considering their escape route, the placement of their people on the move, and the optimal formation.

There was no answer.

"As ordered, I've made sure everyone knows the marching formation. We can move at any time."

He had done the best he could for now, but...

'Assuming luck is on our side, we'll still lose at least half.'

The shortage of warriors was far too devastating.

Two were hardly enough to clear a path, and even those two were a swordsman and a spearman.

They had no explorer specializing in defense. In other words, no one in the Guardian role.

'We have to force a path with just these people, when we need Guardians more than ever. This is maddening.'

Just one.

If they'd had even one proper Guardian, their prospects would have been so much brighter...

"Deputy Commander, the explorers have left."

"You must decide now!"

McGlane squeezed his eyes shut under the gazes of his clan members.

"There are over a hundred of them. If we don't move while they're drawing at least some attention—"

"I know."

There was no time. He had to decide quickly.

Just as McGlane was finally about to open his tightly closed mouth, a barbarian shouted,

"I told you already!! I'll clear the way—!!"

As though he knew the concern that no one else here had understood.

Like a man under a spell, McGlane asked his adjutant,

"Tell me, who is that fellow, and why is he doing that?"

"I overheard a little. Apparently, he's a companion of Mr. Karlstein's younger sister. There's no need for you to concern yourself—"

"I'll be the judge of that. Just answer me."

At last, his adjutant replied.

"I don't know how he found out about it... but he's demanding the Orc Hero Essence."

"The Orc Hero Essence?"

"Yes. He says he can clear the way if he has it."

McGlane activated [Survival Instinct], one of his Abilities, and looked at the barbarian again.

Then he murmured,

"I've never seen anyone shine so brightly before."

The Ability that had saved him from countless crises was telling him something.

This man was more than worth hearing out.