Ossan Saikyō Chapter 14 Part 13
The next day, I headed to the Adventurers' Guild again.
Although I had declared my intention to participate in the war, there wasn’t anything I could actually do until the day itself. So I figured it would be easiest to stick to my usual routine.
The city reflected an increasingly strong sense that war was imminent. There were more soldiers transporting supplies, while the townspeople were apparently preparing for an emergency by stocking up on necessities and reinforcing their homes.
Strangely, watching all this made something like excitement well up inside me. The feeling was similar to the anticipation I used to have as a child before a school outing.
I didn’t want to think that I was becoming someone who craved battle, but...
The lobby of the Adventurers' Guild also had the tense atmosphere of a major monster subjugation about to begin. Apparently, many of the local adventurers intended to participate in the war.
According to the Marquis, they would mainly be fighting undead, but there was no way the battlefield would be limited to that. That was why their faces wore an unusual degree of seriousness.
Despite the tense atmosphere, I approached the male staff member at the counter as usual.
“Excuse me, I’d like to have an item appraised.”
“Certainly. Which item would you like appraised?”
I placed the “Coral Necklace” on the counter. It was the item I had【Plundered】from the Flying Shark yesterday, but I hadn’t had it appraised yet. The staff member said, “Please wait a moment”, then took the necklace into the back.
He returned about 3 minutes later, and I noticed that he looked somewhat excited.
“I’ve appraised it, and it appears to have the effect【Water Damage】『+3』.”
“Is that a rare effect?”
“Yes. There aren’t many accessories that can add an attribute(magic) to attacks in the first place, and this one is『+3』. Being able to deal damage with a weapon against monsters that are difficult to harm with physical attacks is quite significant.”
“I see...”
Come to think of it, I had been told that I would mainly be fighting undead on the battlefield. And when I thought about it, there were undead that were incorporeal as well.
Without this, things might have become troublesome, even if I wouldn’t necessarily have been completely helpless.
Getting this at exactly this time was beyond mere good luck, but I decided not to investigate the matter any further.
I took the necklace from the staff member, put it around my neck, and then headed back to the C-Rank dungeon to see if I could obtain another one.
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As it turned out, I couldn’t steal another necklace from the Flying Shark. Instead, this time I managed to steal a “Pearl Ring” from the Boss of the lowest floor, the Tiny Kraken.
It seemed I couldn’t reliably obtain the same item every time, but the fact that【Plunder】gave me another opportunity to obtain items besides treasure chests was still a pretty big deal.
It was past noon when I left the dungeon. I stopped by the Guild and had the “Pearl Ring” appraised. It had【Speed】『+2』, so I replaced the【Speed】『+1』ring I had been wearing with it.
Incidentally, apparently equipping multiple accessories with the same effect did not stack their bonuses.
As I was about to leave the Guild, a young adventurer hurried into the lobby. I recognized him. He was one of Marquis Raghantz’s trusted aide, Arslin's subordinates.
He went to the counter and told the staff that a Devil had appeared on the highway and that all B-Rank or higher adventurers currently in the city needed to be summoned.
The Capital was supposed to be closer, so I couldn’t believe the Devils had come here instead. Still, it was better than having them appear in the middle of the war.
When I asked him about it, he told me that Arslin and the others had already headed toward the city gate.
I ran straight toward the gate. Thanks to my newly acquired【Speed】『+2』, I could feel that I was moving significantly faster. I had gotten a nice power-up just before the war.
5 former adventurers directly under the Marquis, including Arslin, were gathered in front of the city gate. They were the same people who had fought the slave hunters the other day.
According to what I heard, Arslin was B-Rank, while the others were all C-Rank veterans.
As I approached, Arslin noticed me and spoke.
“Oh, Soushi-dono. Sorry to trouble you. Apparently even the Devils avoided the Capital. What a nuisance.”
“Judging from what Guildmaster Dunken in the Capital told me, it would have been difficult to deal with them if they had appeared there. By the way, what are the number and size of the Devils?”
“I hear there are 3 huge 8-legged ones, along with 7-8 large insect-like ones.”
“I see... That many shouldn’t be a problem. I can defeat them by myself.”
“My men said the 8-legged ones are supposedly as large as dragons.”
“They happen to be monsters I’m well suited to fight. Their main characteristic is that they continuously fire magic from their mouths, so be careful. Their outer shells and bones also seem to be extremely hard.”
“Hmm. Being able to fire magic continuously is a threat in itself, but how powerful are their attacks?”
“I think you’ll understand once you see them.”
Though, come to think of it, their appearance might be the biggest problem.
After waiting a while, 8 parties of adventurers who appeared to be high-rankers joined us.
Arslin spoke with the adventurer parties, and it seemed that this was almost the entire contingent of B-Rank and higher parties in the area.
Arslin came over to me with a slightly uneasy expression.
“Soushi-dono, can we manage with this number?”
“I think it will be fine. I’ll move to the front first and draw their attacks. Once we understand their attack patterns, could you tell everyone to attack whenever they see an opening?”
“Understood. It would probably be best for you to give the order to begin the attack. Can I leave that to you?”
“Certainly. Tell them to move when I give the signal.”
And so, our force of around 40 people began walking along the highway toward the forest where I had encountered the Devils before.
◇◆◇
After about 30 minutes, several enormous shadows came into view ahead of us.
They were pink, grotesque arachnid creatures with huge human bodies, 3 heads, and 4 pairs of arms, 8 in total, extending from the sides of their bodies.
There were 3 of them, and as they advanced toward us, they looked almost like enormous robots.
Running alongside their feet were around 10, 6-legged Devils about 5 meters long. Since all of them had expressionless human faces, they were utterly creepy.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is that? I’ve never seen anything that disgusting!”
When one of the adventurers shouted, the others also became agitated. Arslin, who was walking beside me, stared at them with his eyes wide open.
“Soushi-dono, those are the Devils?”
“Yes. Apparently, the Aashram religion describes them as ‘beings with forms that profane humanity’.”
“That is exactly what they look like. I have never even heard of such eerie monsters.”
(E/N: Eerie would still be an understatement 💀)
“They seem to be the sort that feel fear when you hit them, so there’s no need to be excessively afraid.”
Perhaps my words sounded too casual, because Arslin frowned and looked at me.
“Just how many life-and-death battles have you experienced, Soushi-dono? To remain that calm with those things right in front of you... I should take a leaf out of your book.”
“It’s just something you get used to. Anyway, I’ll go ahead. Some magic attacks may come flying, so be careful.”
With that, I took the《Indomitable Bastion》and my mace out of【Item Box】and ran toward the group of Devils.
When the distance between us narrowed to around 200 meters, the Devils apparently noticed me and began spewing magic all at once. The giant arachnid types fired rock spears, while the insect types fired icy spears.
The barrage was tremendous due to the sheer number of Devils, but the orichalcum shield enhanced by its skill effects didn’t transmit even the slightest vibration to my arm.
I almost felt as though I had become one of those indestructible objects you find in games.
However, with attacks coming this rapidly, there was no opening for me to counterattack. Ah, right. I could give the adventurers orders. They should have figured out the enemy’s attack patterns by now.
I turned around, raised my mace, and swung it down.
“Attack!”
I shouted so that my voice wouldn’t be drowned out by the sounds of magic impacts, and a voice rose from behind me.
“O-Oh!”
They sounded a little hesitant, which concerned me. Perhaps they were still shocked by the appearance of the Devils.
(E/N: No, it's you bruh!)
Even so, nearly 200 flaming spears rained down on the Devils a moment later. The combined firepower of B-Rank parties was incredible. 4 of the insect-types were burnt black and flipped over.
For an instant, the Devils turned their attention toward the adventurers behind me, but I activated【Provoke】and forcibly redirected their attacks toward me.
“Let’s go!”
Someone shouted, and the adventurer vanguard rushed forward from behind me, each attacking their assigned target.
In case of the insect-types, they cut off their legs, then hacked off their heads once they could no longer move. I see. Their heads were hard, but their necks apparently weren’t.
The giant arachnids, however, seemed somewhat difficult to even cut off their arms. More flaming spears struck their bodies, but they didn’t seem to be doing much damage.
As expected, these Devils seemed to have extremely high magic resistance.
Even so, one of the giant arachnids had several arms severed and was brought down to the ground. The adventurers then targeted its neck, cutting off its heads one by one.
The way they immediately identified its weakness and attacked it accurately showed the difference between people who had gained experience and risen through the ranks and someone like me, who always relied on overwhelming force.
There is a lot to learn from them.
Now, there were 2 giant arachnids left. With the barrage thinning out, I would take care of them myself.
Made more nimble by【Speed】『+2』, I ran toward the feet of one of them while blocking the magical spears. 3 heads loomed 10 meters above me.
I fired【Shockwave】straight upward, and the giant spider, its jaws shattered, dropped its enormous body in front of me with a heavy thud. I swung my mace once, blasting all 3 heads apart at once.
Seeing this, the final giant spider turned its enormous body around and tried to flee. Apparently, unlike some monsters, they had the option of running away.
(E/N: “Get back here, boy.”, in Kratos' voice.)
Of course, I couldn’t let it escape, so I chased it down and gave it the same fate. Compared to the last time I had fought them, I had become overwhelmingly stronger.
Individually, they were completely insignificant to me now.
Once all the Devils turned into black particles and disappeared, only their ominous mana stones remained.
“That was easier than I expected. I suppose things really are different when you gather B-Rank and higher adventurers.”
When I said that as I returned, Arslin shook his head.
“No, Soushi-dono. You are the only one who can call that battle easy. If we had fought that storm of magic head-on, who knows how many casualties we would have suffered?
…
And to see you pulverize one of those enormous Devils with a single blow... I still can’t believe my own eyes.”
“Ah... I suppose that’s true when you put it that way.”
“Indeed. Your mace and tower shield are extraordinary as well. There can hardly be an A-Rank adventurer capable of wielding either of them. And that shield... Is it made entirely of orichalcum?”
“That seems to be the case. I obtained it in the『Royal Keystone』.”
“It seems Soushi-dono is a man who exists outside all ordinary standards. Having met you can only be described as a blessing from Heaven for us.”
I wondered if I really deserved that much praise, but perhaps my own sense of things had become numb. Looking around, I noticed that the other adventurers also seemed to be staring at me with expressions of amazement.
I thought I had finally begun to understand just how strong I was, but apparently, I still had a long way to go.
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E/N:
Testosterone coursing through my veins!!!!
Stay tuned!
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