Chapter 64

#064

Oleg was nowhere to be seen. Rotating smoke enveloped the area like a barrier.

A polluted magical power could be distinctly felt from the barrier.

"Hah..."

Ian, who had instinctively realized it was too late to chase, caught sight of Charlotte rushing forward, enveloped in wind blades.

A chill ran down his spine from the murderous intent.

The only fortunate thing was that the lump of flesh's attention had turned to her.

Tentacles stretched out toward Charlotte, not him.

While her gaze remained fixed on Ian, Charlotte changed her trajectory in mid-air.

A method Ian himself often used.

'...So this is how the guys I fought must have felt.'

Squish—

Her twin swords cut through the tentacles without hesitation.

The severed tentacles wriggled like worms even as they fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Ian was not just standing idly by.

Whoosh—

Balls of fire erupted in quick succession, followed by a whirlwind barrier and a frost shield.

Charlotte did not take the hits as she had before.

Twisting her body like a contortionist, she dodged all the fireballs and then struck the frost shield with her twin swords.

Crash—!

The shield shattered before it could even explode.

Ian, who had been lurking behind, revealed himself, his hands filled with cold energy.

Puff—!

A cold wave. A whirlwind swept around Charlotte immediately after.

Ian and Charlotte were simultaneously thrown back.

'A whirlwind barrier too...?'

Does she have all the lower-level gray magic?

As Ian landed and looked up, Charlotte was already rushing toward him.

Ian hastily raised his sword.

A few consecutive clashes.

As Ian retreated, flames surged in his footsteps, but Charlotte paid no heed and took the hits fully.

Her amber eyes were filled with uncontrollable savagery and ecstasy.

She clearly didn't care about what was happening in the area or how Ian could use various colored magic.

She was simply enjoying the battle and thinking only of killing him.

Her twin swords flew relentlessly.

A series of reckless attacks, ignoring all defense.

Her armor's magic stones continuously flashed, assisting her movements.

For Ian, it was a continuous series of crises.

It was the result of multiple factors, but also a matter of elemental advantage.

'Even in the game, I was weak against assassins. A human assassin who can use gray magic...’

The more he clashed with her weapons, the more everything became clear.

Strength, speed, stamina, combat skills—

There was not a single aspect where Ian could outmatch the savage woman.

Even at the peak of his concentration, Charlotte was always faster.

The weight behind each strike did not allow for any proper counterattack.

Most importantly, this offensive seemed to have no end.

Even a single mistake or lapse in concentration would result in a fatal wound.

The only advantage he had was magic.

Charlotte did not give him a moment to cast any spells.

He couldn't even think about using the final strike.

Small wounds began to appear all over Ian's body.

Boom—!

The fireball Ian barely managed to summon exploded before it could reach Charlotte's face.

Charlotte, instead, thrust her head into the explosion's radius and dove into Ian's embrace.

Her crossed arms, ending in the tips of her twin swords, were poised to strike.

Squish—!

Ian barely managed to push his sword between the simultaneous trajectories from both sides.

The crossed blades stopped just short of his neck.

The curved edges, connected to the tips, seemed ready to slice his throat at any moment.

Ian pressed his left arm against his own blade to hold it in place.

But Charlotte did not budge.

Instead, Ian was the one who was pushed back.

Soon, his back hit a hard pillar. It was a tree trunk.

His escape route was blocked.

Just as he thought, a chilling premonition followed.

Crack—!

A tail armor flew in, grazing Ian's ear as he tilted his head to the side, and embedded itself in the trunk.

This is going to be a long fight.

Ian clenched his teeth.

The crossed blades inched closer.

Ecstasy and thrill spread in Charlotte's amber eyes.

She was confident that she would soon behead Ian.

Even in such a moment, Ian's mental strength served its purpose.

He did not lose his composure.

He simply accepted the information flooding his mind.

The undulating ash-gray barrier. The forest where no more screams could be heard. The burning trees and acrid smoke. The lump of flesh writhing and crawling. Oleg, who had escaped just before the scene unfolded. The four subordinates who followed him. Miguel and Lucy, who were waiting for him. The daggers aiming for his neck and the returning tail. The amber eyes with vertically elongated pupils. And the impending death.

Death in this damn world.

"......"

In the fleeting moment when all these thoughts flashed through his mind, Ian made a decision.

He stared into Charlotte's eyes and opened his status window.

Then he began to increase his strength stat, one by one.

Until the pressure transmitted through his arms became bearable.

It was a choice he thought he would never make again, but he did it without hesitation.

"......?!"

Charlotte's eyes widened.

Though she did not utter a word, it was clear she could not understand what was happening.

Ian, who had been gradually pushing back her blades, finally clenched his teeth.

Squish—!

Charlotte was pushed back as if by a spring.

Ian, who had struck with his sword, invested half of the increased strength stat into agility.

It was necessary. Just as intelligence and mental strength, strength and agility always needed to maintain a minimum balance.

The effect was immediate.

All his senses became even sharper.

"......"

Charlotte did not exclaim, "How...?" or any such common reaction.

She simply looked at Ian in amazement and adjusted her grip on her twin swords.

Ian also met her gaze with a sunken, intense look.

A shadow fell beside them shortly after.

Swoosh—!

A sonic boom. A tentacle from the lump of flesh aimed at Ian and Charlotte.

Ian and Charlotte launched themselves without hesitation.

The tentacle aiming at them shattered and fell.

Ian did not stop there and charged at the lump of flesh.

Charlotte did the same.

Their sword strikes followed in quick succession.

Dozens of pieces of flesh scattered in all directions.

In the center of the writhing mass, Ian and Charlotte faced each other again.

Hiss—!

Charlotte was the first to move.

Still a reckless offensive.

But it was not as threatening as before.

In a highly focused state where time seemed to slow down, Ian felt his movements become faster, more precise, and stronger.

After blocking Charlotte's attacks several times, he seized the opportunity when she was retrieving her sword and attempted a counterattack.

Puff—!

Ian's arm was deflected by the whirlwind barrier. However, he could still clearly perceive Charlotte's movements as she pressed forward.

He used the force of being pushed back to create distance between them.

A movement he mirrored from her.

While doing so, he also cast a whirlwind barrier.

Even if it was just a lower-level magic, it was as useful as a high-level spell in the current situation.

Puff—!

Charlotte, who was charging, was blocked by the whirlwind. In the meantime, a fireball was launched, and Ian's sword, which had sprung up like a spring, flew in almost simultaneously with the explosion.

Clang—

Charlotte blocked Ian's sword.

This action was proof of the changed battle dynamics.

While pushing her back, Ian thought about how he could complete his spells faster.

He had thought that casting speed was only affected by mental strength and intelligence stats.

The process from recognition to casting felt much smoother.

So, do all stats indirectly affect each other?

It was a plausible assumption now that it had become reality.

Puff—!

At that moment, a whirlwind burst from Charlotte's entire body.

Ian, who was pushed back, roared silently and launched herself, baring her fangs.

Her face had lost its ease.

But her eyes were still filled with ecstasy.

She seemed delighted to be able to show her full capabilities.

But Ian did not intend to follow her rhythm for long.

He was now confident he could end this battle.

Crack—!

Charlotte, who had charged, pounced on Ian.

The crossed twin swords were blocked by the Sword of Judgment.

This time, it was with one hand.

Ian's left hand was aimed at Charlotte's side.

The crude gray dagger in his hand, with its jagged tip, precisely stabbed the gap between the plate and chain mail on Charlotte's side.

The Spider Queen's venomous fangs.

"......!"

Charlotte's eyes slowly widened.

She must have felt the paralysis as the poison spread.

Finally, Ian kicked her body away.

Charlotte, whose body had stiffened, fell to the ground.

"Ha... ha..."

Finally exhaling a rough breath, Ian approached her.

Charlotte was still staring at his eyes, not her sword.

Her eyes were filled with a strange sense of satisfaction rather than fear.

'So, it's okay to die now that I've shown everything, is it?'

A thought process Ian couldn't understand.

But her gaze was unsettling.

She had been the worst obstacle all day and had even forced him to use his stat points.

Granting her a satisfying death was not a fitting price.

Death is the ultimate punishment for those who fear it the most.

Ian's gaze slowly shifted to her lower body.

'The method to subdue a human mercenary in the game... was this.'

His eyes were drawn to Charlotte's limp tail armor.

A tail is a symbol of a human's innate savagery and pride.

'Cutting it means their savagery has been tamed...’

The words of a human NPC who gave a trivial side quest came to mind.

A former slave of an imperial noble.

Even so, he had absolutely obeyed the noble who cut his tail.

The decision was made.

"......!"

The moment Ian kicked her tail, a wave of shock spread through Charlotte's eyes.

Horror and disbelief. And finally, fear spread in her eyes.

Ian's lips curled up.

"To me, life is the most precious thing. If you tried to take it... you should also put up what's most precious to you."

"......!"

Charlotte's eyes wavered.

Ian raised his sword.

Crack—!

"......!"

With all his might, he struck, and half of her tail was severed.

Charlotte's eyes widened to their maximum.

Blood flowed from the remaining tail stump.

Ian, without a care, picked up the severed tail.

Surprisingly, he could check the information.

It was a unique-grade accessory.

Charlotte's Savagery.

It had one ability.

Subjugation of the human, Charlotte.

...Subjugation?

"......"

Ian turned to look at Charlotte.

The vitality, savagery, and ecstasy in her eyes had vanished.

She just stared blankly at her severed tail in Ian's hand.

...So that's it.

Ian, snickering, turned away.

He had no time to savor her expression.

'I can't stay here all night. I need to get out.'

Oleg might have caught up with the carriage by now.

There was a good chance that monsters were crawling out in other areas.

In the territory of the thing that created such a lump of flesh, any nightmare scenario could become reality.

Even if there were preparations, they were far from sufficient.

He needed to find a way out immediately.

Ian ran along the smoke barrier. It was a boundary of immense amounts of polluted magic, naturally without any gaps.

'If I kill all of them, will a path open?'

Stopping, Ian looked back at the writhing lumps of flesh.

They were standing still, as if waiting for him.

Then, the familiar, phlegmy voice spread through the wind.

All the lumps of flesh were speaking simultaneously.

"Do not... reject... your fate..."

"Fine. I'll accept it."

Ian spat out.

The voices suddenly cut off.

A moment of silence, as if in confusion.

Ian added,

"I'll come to you. So open the path now."

"Will you... swear... to come to me...?"

"I swear. I'm heading north anyway. After I finish the mission, I'll come to you."

And I'll crush your skull.

While Ian swallowed the last part,

Whoosh—

A gray magical power burst from the lumps of flesh.

The magic soon formed a giant symbol.

"The pact... is... sealed...!"

In the next moment, the same symbol appeared in Ian's left hand.

A quest window popped up.

The Frozen Abyss.

Without looking further, Ian closed the window.

That wasn't important right now.

Whoosh—

The flow of the barrier intensified.

The lumps of flesh crumbled, and the flames on the trees were extinguished simultaneously.

The smoke barrier dispersed.

The forest's landscape was finally revealed.

Finding where the group was now was unexpectedly not difficult.

Beyond, the orange glow illuminated the night sky, surging.

The forest was burning.

A foreboding feeling.

"...Lucy."

Without further thought, Ian launched himself toward the light.