Chapter 16 "Nightmare"

　Ah.... That's a hell of a thing you did.

If it wasn't me, I'd be dead.

　I check my body.

　One hand and both legs are completely obliterated and carbonized in section.

　I look like a needle rat, with a former chair, table, and other objects impaled all over my body.

　There is also a huge hole in my stomach.

　I'm physically hungry.

The organs had been removed except for the heart and some other parts because they were not used and were in the way, so the inside of the belly was almost entirely a stomach. And this body doesn't excrete because it completely digests what it eats.

　In case you're wondering, the heart is beating, but it's only moving. It would be suspicious if it didn't have a pulse or a heartbeat.

I thought it was kind of hard to see, but one of my eyes is crushed, too.

Fortunately, the skull was densified to the limit and I was able to cover myself as quickly as possible, so I guess I'm still alive.

　But it's still a drastic thing to do.

　The guys at the bar were decoys, and this must have been the real deal.

No, if they could have finished the job with the guys here, would that have been enough?

　Was it a combined wind and fire magic they used?

　Was it Explosion?

And there's multiple people working together to play with the point of onset and directivity.

　Look at the surroundings. The store itself is ravaged by the explosion, but the walls alone are unnaturally clean compared to the rest.

　By cooperating with each other, the magic that normally can only be activated at hand is directed to the inside of the store.

　The magic was directed at me on all sides and blew me up.

　Seeing that there was no commotion outside, they must have worked out a way to prevent the sound from leaking out through magic.

　By all accounts, there are close to 20 people who can use magic and about the same number of guards.

　They're all working together...huh?

　A black thing wells up in my chest.

　It's a tremendous urge to violence. My memory is screaming at me to destroy the irrational.

　It was the same with the dinosaur...I have a weakness for this kind of situation.

As before, take a series of deep breaths and let the anger escape.

Once I've calmed down a bit, I begin to prepare for action.

　What shall I do...?

　I build the body I lost with a lot of murderous intent towards the people outside.

　Come on, let me show you. Let me show you the form of my killing intent.

After confirming that an explosion had occurred in the bar, Ugnien, who was in command of things, sent out instructions to his subordinates.

　"When the smoke clears, we will go inside. First of all, he is probably dead, but just in case, you know. Be on your guard."

　Was it really necessary to go this far?

　The instructions I received were to kill the target who had entered the bar.

　The target was a joke who seemed to be going around killing soul hunter members one after another.

　When I heard that, I laughed inside.

　He was an idiot.

　I don't know anyone who has ever lived to fight with us.

　We've had people come to us for revenge, family members of our "business" targets, and we've gotten them back without exception.

　Then making an example of their family and friends in front of them is a great pastime.

　Six months ago, I think, a guy came in for revenge for the murder of his son, and the results were nothing short of horrific.

It was nice when I enjoyed that guy's daughter right in front of him. She was a nice girl.

　I still remember the look on that guy's face.

It makes the circulation in some parts of my body better when I remember it.

It was a real shame to kill her....

　I'm really looking forward to seeing what form the retaliation will take this time.

　If possible, it would be great if he had a woman in his family or friends.

It's a real shame that we can't let him see that.

　With so many of my friends gone, I couldn't let my guard down.

　The first thing we thought of was to lure him out.

　I think he's obsessed with killing us. If he goes that route, he will definitely come here.

　We don't know if he's dead or not, since we haven't exactly found his body.

　But it's probably too late, seeing as the equipment of the missing guys is on sale at the arms store in town.

　Identification was tremendously easy.

　Are you an idiot?　Why would you do something that could be traced back to them again?

It's like he was asking us to find him.

　As a result, it was easy. To be honest, I suspected a trap, but there was no sign of one.

The target was a man named Ro, who had apparently recently started his adventuring career.

　I haven't been able to find out the details of his background because I haven't had time to do so, but I'm sure there will be a follow-up investigation to retaliate after the incident is over.

　I won't be involved until the results are in. The fun will come after that.

　I chuckle.

　I'll think about it after I get the job done.

It would have been better if we could have finished him off at the bar, but it's a good thing we had insurance.

　If all the people inside were wiped out, we planned to use the magic of the mages who were waiting outside to finish them off.

They were arranged in groups of three in all directions, and the explosions were directly triggered inside the store with a directional Explosion III.

First of all, he would not be alive.

It is doubtful if he is even in a condition to be identified in the first place.

　The smoke was beginning to subside, and I thought to myself, "It's going to be a hassle to identify the bodies," etc., as I let my men in.

　"All right. Let's get in! Bring the bodies to me after you identify them!"

　A few of my men enter the store.

　As I'm inwardly thinking, "Get the hell out of here..."

　A terrible scream rises.

　"!?"

　What the hell?　What happened?

　Is he alive?　That's impossible.

　There's no basements or trenches in that store. How did he survive?

　Some kind of amulet?　If it can protect you from that thing, it's pretty good...

　While I was thinking about it, the screams died down.

　What happened...?

　With a light wind noise, I felt something on my face.

　I lightly wiped it off with my hand. I looked at my hand and saw that it was bright red.

　I looked behind me and saw that something fruit-like had popped and splattered its contents.

　And then... the scattered object... met my eyes.

　A lot of sweat comes out of my forehead.

　Fearfully...I turned my gaze back to the store.

　Nightmares and despair took shape.

　In appearance, the ground dragon was probably the closest.

　However, it was completely different, only close.

Its arms and legs were unusually thick, with a large number of vein-like veins protruding from them.

　For some reason, it held a club-like object in one hand.

　His torso was full of strength, with a tremendous amount of muscle pushing up against his skin.

　And the most interesting part is the tail.

　For some reason, it has five tails.

　Because of the amount of muscle and the limbs, the balance of the body is not right.

　Above all...the pressure and killing intent were tremendous.

　The killing intent in its gaze alone made me want to run away.　

　The monster turns its head slowly and makes a tremendous roar as it turns its head and looks around.

　The sound does not leak out due to the magic of the mages placed around this place, but... some of my men are shaking their legs from the intimidation.

　"Kill it!　Kill!"

　I draw my sword from my waist as I say this.

　One of my men cuts at the monster.

　The next moment, my subordinate is gone from the waist up.

　It seems to be the result of the monster swinging a club in its hand.

　What was that...I didn't see it.

A little later, I heard a sticky sound and the sound of something wet hitting a nearby wall.

　"Hey... did you see that?"

　"No?　What?　Did it just swing its cudgel?"

　The monster lowered itself and ran at a tremendous speed.

　It sucks the upper body of a subordinate close at hand into its mouth and bites it to pieces.

　Blood spurts from the lower half of his body as it falls to the ground.

"That's the one got eaten!　Not from the front. Behind you!　Behind you!"

　"Spears!　Spear it!"

　Those who tried to attack from behind fell prey to the tail.

The tail moved as if it had a mind of its own, and it thrust itself into the stomachs of my men.

　"Gaha!"

　"What's with that tail... it's alive..."

　The misery of those who were impaled never ends.

　"Agha... what... suck... it..."

　"Guile!　Oh... my... god... Guille's dried up..."

　The people who had been stabbed were quickly deflated by whatever had been done to them, and within a few dozen seconds they were dried up.

　The monster was running at a frightening speed, stabbing and devouring those in front of it with its teeth and those who passed it with their tails.

　"What the... what the hell is this?"

　"Damn it!　Why the hell is this guy in town!"

"You can't fight it up close!　Magic!　Magic!　Mages!　Chant!"

　I give the order over the screams of my men.

　It's impossible to get close. We have no choice but to finish it off at long range.

"Anyone with a bow, fire at it!　Don't hit our allies! Stall for time!　Spearmen, move forward!　Just hold them off!　Stop them moving!"

It's moving too fast! We can't do anything if we don't keep it down at the very least.

　My men with spears try to attack from outside of the distance....

The monster, not caring about the spear, closes the distance between them and finishes them off one by one with its tail.

The dried-up ex-human rolls to the ground at its feet.

The archers suppress their shock and rain arrows down on it.

If only it would somehow slow it down....

The arrow doesn't pierce the monster...but it gets bounced off.

It's repelled!?

　How thick is its skin!?

But we bought ourselves some time.

　The magic chanting seems to have been completed.

　As the mages were about to activate the magic...their heads flew off.

　"What?"

　I sounded like an idiot myself. I have no idea what happened.

The heads of the mages who tried to feed it magic were flying in the air like a joke.

　I turned my gaze to the monster.

There's a magic circle floating in front of its face.

　That's ridiculous!?　Magic!?

And it's not basic wind, it's an applied wind blade wind cutter... and it's a III with a tweaked range and accuracy.

　And...the most terrifying part...the heads of all 12 people who were stuck in three or four places were flying off.

What crazy thing is that this monster constructed magic while moving around, and activated multiple magic simultaneously.

　No...even before that, how could it use magic?

　Is it perhaps a mutant of the earth dragon?　Even if that were the case, a terrestrial dragon should have the intelligence to construct magic, even if it has magical power....

　So I finally look at my surroundings...

　"What?"

　I was the only one standing, everyone else was dead.

　The monster is staring at me.

　I hold up my sword with trembling hands and turn my thoughts frantically to what I should do.

　I wonder if I have ever felt so unreliable with my beloved sword, which has sliced through numerous prey and enemies....

　Should I run away?　Impossible.

The only way to survive is to fight.

Even a terrestrial dragon cannot survive with its head cut off.

　Aim for the neck.

　Its skin is tough enough to repel arrows, but this sword should be able to do it.

　Do it. I can do it. I know I can do it.

　I told myself to concentrate.

　The monster doesn't move.

　How does it move?　Magic?　Or does it rush in?

　If it lunges, how does it come?　A bite?　A club?

　If it used magic, there was nothing I could do.

　I was determined and lunged at the monster.

　I readied my sword and slashed at it.

　A big monster is vulnerable to attacks from below. The earth dragon has a high viewpoint, so it is even more vulnerable.

Run as low as possible.

　The monster doesn't move.

　Okay, it's getting harder to catch me moving.

　I see it swinging its club.

　I increase my speed.

　The club hits the ground behind me. Okay, I guess the bottom is the devil's backyard for him!

　I'm in time. I thrust out my sword...

　"...?"

　The sword was gone... or rather, from the elbow to the tip of the sword was gone.

　What happened...?

　I looked around in a daze, unable to comprehend what had happened.

　"Ah..."

　A tail. One of the tails was holding my arm.

　The middle of the tail opened and bit my arm off....

　Blood gushes out. My consciousness fades rapidly.

　Why...how did this happen....

This is just to get that Ro guy.......get him....

.........Where is that Ro guy.......

　That's when I fully understood the situation.

　That's right!　That was it!　I knew something was wrong!　

　It all made sense.

　I put that fact into words.

　"It's a dream!　This is a dream!"

　Come on, wake up!

　My wish was swallowed by the darkness peeking out of the monster's wide-open mouth.