novelraw Chapter 233 : The North (12)
Chapter 233 : The North (12)
Tap-
U-jin's feet landed lightly on the ground.
This was the central region of the
The very heart of the battlefield, reached after bypassing countless Magical Beasts.
The front line where the Church Allied Forces and the Demon King's Army's 'Tauren species' were clashing was so far behind him that 'distant' was the only fitting word, but U-jin paid no mind to his allies' positions and infiltrated straight to this point.
It wasn't as if there had been a special shortcut.
He had simply shot and killed every enemy that blocked his path on the battlefield to get here.
It had taken quite some time, but defeating Named Monsters wasn't particularly difficult, and since the other Heroes besides himself had already been assigned to the Knight-rank threats that could have checked him, it was easier than he'd thought.
‘…….’
U-jin's eyes scanned the surroundings.
Normally, the center of most Demon Kings' territories would have a fortress where its lord resided, but no such thing existed in the central region of the Downhill Wilderness.
No, to be precise, there was an area that looked like the 'site of a castle', but in its place, a deep cavern had been dug instead of a castle.
‘…A labyrinth.’
It was a shabby form unfitting for the title of 'Count', but that was the space where the lord of this Demon King's Territory resided.
Sure enough.
A red glint soon flashed from within the massive cave.
Kwoong-
Would it sound similar if you raised the decibels of a footstep by about 100 times?
A deafening roar accompanied a vibration from inside the cave.
【…So it's you.】
“…….”
Soon, a giant silhouette emerged from the darkness.
No, it wasn't a size that could be fully expressed by the simple word 'giant'.
The cave boasted an entrance large enough to rival a fair-sized castle gate, but the silhouette that emerged from the darkness filled it completely, as if even that massive cave was too small.
The distinctive horns on its head seemed to almost touch the cave ceiling.
Thud-
Kwoong-
The body of the Count, the 'Minotaur', revealed after a few more footsteps, was incredibly menacing.
Of course, the Tauren tribe he had seen earlier also boasted large physiques, but this one was in a completely different weight class.
In every aspect—height, appearance, skeletal structure, muscle quality—it was incomparable not only to a typical Tauren but even to a Named-rank Monster.
Above all.
‘…The feeling is different.’
He could tell the moment he saw it, without needing any particular explanation.
It could be said to be somewhat similar in that it had horns sprouting from both sides of its head, a muscular body, and reddish-brown skin.
But those were mere similarities in appearance; the monster before him was a being of a different caliber from the ones outside.
Feet as long as a person's body.
Bulging muscles covering its entire body, right down to its ankles.
A massive reddish-brown torso that filled his vision and two broken horns that sparked the imagination.
It went beyond the fear brought by the unknown; its very appearance exuded a distinctly dangerous scent.
The monster, with a physique so large it couldn't be taken in at a single glance, seemed to know U-jin.
【The 'interesting fellow' that person mentioned.】
It seemed he had received some sort of word about U-jin from Isaac Einstein.
Shrug-
Instead of answering, U-jin shrugged his shoulders, broke the gun's barrel, and loaded a bullet.
Clack-
The loaded bullet was fired at the Minotaur.
KWANG-!
A deafening roar closer to an explosion than a gunshot.
As befitted the target, he must have used a different kind of mana bullet than before, as a lump of energy shot toward the Minotaur with a much stronger explosion.
【…You use a strange weapon, brat.】
However, despite the attack aimed at its face, the Minotaur didn't even flinch.
The Minotaur, scoffing as if it were pathetic, took the attack head-on.
Without even closing its open eyes, as if to say it was no threat at all.
KWAAANG-!
Indeed, U-jin's bullet reached its face and exploded with another deafening roar, but it only raised a thick cloud of black smoke and failed to inflict any noticeable damage.
Whoosh-
The Minotaur soon waved a hand, clearing the smoke in front of it.
And there, before its eyes.
【……!】
Stood U-jin.
The Minotaur's eyes widened.
The fact that he had leaped wasn't particularly surprising.
While the Minotaur's body was massive, it wasn't an impossible height to reach for someone with sufficient physical ability.
Besides, it had already sensed his presence before clearing the black smoke, and it would have been strange for someone who had reached the very heart of this Demon King's Territory alone to lack that level of physical prowess.
To arrive here, one would have had to be able to kill at least a dozen or so Named Monsters.
But that wasn't why the Minotaur was so surprised.
【That is……!】
Because U-jin, who had appeared before its eyes, hadn't simply jumped with his physical ability, but had extended a pair of black wings from his back.
The fluttering wings were definitely something it knew.
…Black Wings.
A symbol of authority permitted only to the Demon King's direct bloodline, the Demonic Species, among the Magical Beasts belonging to the Demon King's Army.
A special organ that served as another criterion for distinguishing between other Magical Beast species and the Demonic Species.
For the Minotaur, this was incomprehensible.
It had guessed from Isaac Einstein's words that he was an extraordinary individual.
But it had never imagined he would be a 'Demonic Species'.
‘…A turncoat?’
From its perspective, that was the first guess that came to mind, but it had to shake its head inwardly.
Because if he were a turncoat Demonic Species, and one strong enough to break through its forces and arrive here alone, it should have known of his existence, even if not in detail.
But U-jin's face was clearly one the Minotaur had never seen before.
Which meant he wasn't a turncoat.
That made it even harder to understand.
‘An acquired Demonic Species?’
It was hard to believe that such a bizarre thing, unheard of even within the Demon King's Army, could happen to a human.
But it was happening right before its eyes, too clear to be dismissed as something impossible.
Furthermore.
‘…This aura.’
The bigger problem wasn't just that he had unfurled black wings, but that the aura he possessed was that of a 'Demonic Species'.
Despite clearly having a human appearance, U-jin's body was emanating the distinctive aura of the Demon King and the Demonic Species born from him.
And it wasn't even a faint level of it.
‘…At least Baron-rank.’
It felt the aura possessed by a Baron-titled Demonic Species.
It was difficult to gauge it accurately in that brief moment, but it was certain of that much.
The Minotaur tilted its head at the series of questions that instantly dominated its thoughts, but.
Its chain of thought, one question leading to another, could not continue much longer.
Clack-
Because his appearance before the Minotaur's eyes, while its vision was obscured by black smoke, was not simply to show off his Black Wings.
KWAAAAANG-!
As if the previous shot had been a mere test, fire erupted from U-jin's muzzle once again.
Accompanied by a far more powerful roar than before, it shot toward one of the Minotaur's eyes.
【Keuk!】
Unlike the previous one, this shot clearly had some damage, as the Minotaur's body flinched with a pained grunt.
Clack-
U-jin reloaded his gun and fired again.
No.
He tried to fire.
“…Damn.”
Was it because he had fired with an energy output beyond what it could handle?
The end of the gun barrel had warped, and the reloaded gun wouldn't close completely.
Clack- Clack-
He tried to force it shut, but his gun wouldn't obey, only making the sound of clashing metal.
Shaking his head once, U-jin saw the Minotaur's hand swatting toward him and flapped his wings.
Fwoosh-
His Black Wings had far inferior functionality compared to those of flying-type Magical Beasts.
But they were more than enough to dodge the blindly swatting hand of a creature that had just been shot in the eye.
【…You insignificant microbe!】
With that swat, it pushed through the black smoke again.
And the figure of the Minotaur, clutching one eye, was revealed.
“…Heh.”
The ironic thing was that its eye wasn't completely ruined.
He had clearly unleashed damage exceeding the maximum output, and at point-blank range no less, yet it hadn't been enough to even scrape off its cornea.
He had only managed to deal this much damage thanks to the gun's characteristic of requiring almost no preparation, allowing him to precisely attack a weak point like the eye.
If he had attacked anywhere else but the eye, he probably wouldn't have dealt any damage at all.
“…A Count-rank is too much, I guess.”
This was the reason U-jin had come here.
He had confirmed for certain that it worked on Knight-ranks back in the
He had hoped it would be at least somewhat effective.
But seeing that this was the extent of the damage even after using more than the maximum output, it seemed that facing a Count was still impossible.
He might have landed a hit now, but it wasn't a fatal wound.
And his gun had already been broken by the last attack.
Continuing the battle was impossible.
So, what was the next plan?
Shrug-
What plan?
Just run.
Flap-
U-jin's wings flapped once, and his body began to retreat.
Of course, the Minotaur wasn't about to let him get away.
It's human nature to chase even a mosquito that bites your arm and flies away.
There was no way it would just stand by and watch the human bastard who had shot something strange into its eye and was now trying to flee.
C-c-creak-
Veins bulged on its thighs as they bent.
Simultaneously, a huge crater formed on the ground as its body coiled.
The Minotaur leaned forward as if to launch itself at any moment, but its body was ultimately unable to spring forward.
The reason was simple.
Fwaaat-
【Kraaah! You bastard, I'll kill you!】
Because a halo of pure white light appeared from somewhere, a Magic Circle manifested above its head, and chains shot out from it, binding its limbs.
The Order's Divine Magic.
That wasn't the end of it.
Several humans appeared along with white Magic Circles that embroidered the surroundings, each of them brandishing weapons of various colors as they rushed toward the Minotaur.
Diamond, Platinum.
There were too many to clearly distinguish them all.
But their common trait was that the colors symbolizing 4-star and 5-star Heroes were embroidered on their epaulets.
U-jin, who had already hidden his Black Wings without a trace, shrugged his shoulders and disappeared into the shadows.