Four beasts stepped out from the shadows.
Leading them was a bipedal, four-armed mutant-type monster—the Doomsday Boar, nearly three meters tall. Its massive head lowered, crimson eyes fixed sharply on Allen just meters away. Two thick tusks protruded from its mouth, drool constantly dripping, heavy snorts filling the air.
Behind it followed three canine monsters resembling Dobermans—Savage Warhounds. Their razor-sharp teeth gleamed as they pawed eagerly at the ground, itching to tear Allen apart.
The firelight had drawn the forest's rulers.
The Doomsday Boar halted, shielding the less intelligent warhounds behind it, narrowing its blood-red eyes as it examined its prey.
It had noticed the weapon on the human's waist. That long-shaped object… it had seen it before.
In a village to the south, a terrifying male human once used a similar weapon to slaughter a creature even stronger than itself in just a single breath.
Now, standing before it—barely reaching its waist, only a head taller than the four-legged warhounds—was this "prey," who raised an eyebrow.
He stepped forward with his right foot, lowered into a stance, right hand resting on the sword at his waist.
He smiled with ease.
Excited.
"Looks like the village really is close. I just ran into one of those plot-triggering pigs from the novel. Good thing I didn't try to run off here when I was four—getting eaten by a boar and shat out would've been hilarious."
"But this isn't back then. Now, the one with bad luck…"
Squelch. His toe drove deep into the soft forest soil.
"…isn't me anymore."
He sprang forward!
Allen's figure exploded into motion, leaving behind a trailing afterimage as he shot toward the monsters!
The Doomsday Boar may have had some intelligence, but not much. Seeing Allen's provocative approach, its primal fury flared! It roared, crashing through the warhounds in front of it!
"RAAAAHH!!"
Like a massive black freight train, it charged straight at Allen with crushing momentum!
In a single breath, man and monster were face to face.
Just then—
"Get out of the way!"
A crisp voice rang out, carried by a sudden gust of wind into Allen's ears.
Something sharp and fierce shot out from the woods behind the monster!
It tore through the wind and leaves like a ship slicing water—fast and clean!
In that instant, Allen's gray eyes narrowed to pinpoints. Heat surged from his core.
In his abdomen, a walnut-sized Ryūsei Tōki (Dragon Saint Aura) Core was tightly clenched by the hand of consciousness. Aura pumped out like a flood!
Rushing through him like a storm-swollen river, it flooded his limbs!
Adrenaline surged! His senses and thoughts were overloaded!
In a breath—
The world slowed down:
Leaves froze mid-air, the wind crawled over his skin, cold light shimmered on the Doomsday Boar's tusks, and the stench of blood and beast mixed with damp air, hovering in his nose.
In this bullet-time world, Allen turned his eyes slowly, spotting the object cutting through the air behind the monster.
—A translucent water sphere.
Data raced through his mind.
'Roughly 150 cm in diameter. Mid-tier attack spell—Water Cannon? No, the shape is wrong. It's a low-tier spell—Water Ball.'
'The output is near cannon level. They overloaded it to shorten chant time and trigger it faster.'
'If they kept attacking the beast, I'd get caught in the blast. So they shouted for me to dodge? No… the time doesn't match. They didn't expect me to charge the beast in the first place.'
'Who is it?'
The Doomsday Boar's tusks were barely fifty centimeters from Allen's eyes. The high-powered Water Ball spell was just two meters behind it.
Every cell in his body screamed at him to move!
But the cool sensation from the sword sheath in his hand snuffed out the mental alarm.
A smile tugged at his lips.
"'Get out of the way,' huh?"
"I could… but I don't need to."
Hokushin-ryū (North God Style) — Combat School.
Iaijutsu Base Form — Nijūzan! (Twenty-Slash Technique!)
Allen's pupils constricted again. His body tensed like a coiled spring. His reaction—inhumanly fast.
He dodged the tusks by a hair's breadth; ducked under the razor claws that followed; and sidestepped a warhound, locking eyes as he passed.
Like a butterfly dancing through a field of blades, he weaved through the monsters' attacks.
With him moved the firelight—flashing five times in rapid rhythm, reflected off something smooth, sharp, and moving at impossible speed.
Then the light vanished.
Allen landed behind the monsters, standing directly before the oncoming Water Ball.
Still in his original stance. Still sheathed.
As if the sword had never been drawn.
In that moment—
The water sphere, now rimmed in orange firelight, filled his view—only a hand's width from his face.
But Allen didn't blink.
He stared as a white line split the sphere vertically, ripple patterns expanding outward across the surface.
It split.
Clean in two, brushing past his hair and cheeks.
Allen's eyes shifted toward the right half of the sphere—now a stunning array of orange ripples, like liquid flame.
It was beautiful.
He blinked.
With that, the Dragon Saint Aura calmed, and—
Time rushed back into motion!
The world roared!
Leaves clapped in the trees! Wind whipped his clothes! His scabbard vibrated in his hand! The torn current of water split past his head like a screeching river!
BOOM!!!
Two trees as wide as a man's arms cracked and fell behind him!
Yet the monsters behind Allen didn't move—frozen in place, as if trapped in a time-stop.
Rustle! Rustle!
Someone ran toward the campfire in a panic, crushing dead leaves underfoot.
Allen looked up toward the caster of the attack spell.
He was surprised at first—but then recognition dawned in his eyes.
He lowered his hand from his sword.
That tiny movement twisted time again. Schlick! The Doomsday Boar and warhounds' heads slipped off their necks.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Four heads hit the ground.
Each one: a perfect result of his Twenty-Slash technique.
But hadn't the sword reflected the firelight five times?
—The tree trunk split by the bisected Water Ball provided the answer.
Shhhhhk...
Fountains of blood spurted from the monsters' smooth neck stumps, falling as a crimson rain.
Amid this "rain"—
A petite figure wearing a mage's robe and carrying a giant suitcase stepped into the firelight.
A hood covered her face, but a few blue bangs peeked out, edged in green under the fire's glow. She sniffled and stared wide-eyed at Allen.
He looked her up and down—from her face to the boots barely reaching her knees. In the firelight, her black stockings hugged tightly to her firm calves, revealing a subtle line of pale skin.
Admiration sparkled in his eyes, even the night couldn't hide it.
He smiled and spoke.
"Dodged it. Thanks for the warning."
The girl with the long dark blue braids—so long they nearly brushed her knees—was slightly out of breath. She looked at the boy before her, soaked in blood, a head taller than herself, and listened to his youthful voice. She glanced behind him at the headless beasts and the tree split in two by her own Water Ball spell.
Her lips parted slightly.
She looked again at the fallen tree.
Dodged it…?
She didn't know how to reply.
(End of Chapter)
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