Chapter 8

"Let me handle this!"

He shouted even louder to draw the "enemy's" attention. The "enemy" was still taken aback by Tō's sudden appearance. Seizing the opportunity, Tō swiftly severed the upper and lower bodies of several nearby "enemies."

The wet sound of the cuts finally brought the remaining "enemies" back to their senses.

"Kekkekkek!"

The "enemies" now saw Tō as their top priority target. The murderous intent from the "enemies" made the back of Tō's neck tingle.

"Y-You are..."

A high-pitched voice came from behind. Turning around, Tō saw a swordsman with a long sword, frozen in place.

It was natural for the swordsman to be shocked by Tō's sudden appearance with a weapon. Tō thought about this and spoke in as gentle a tone as possible.

"Can you protect yourself?"

"Y-Yes."

"I'll try to take them all down, but if any overflow, please take care of them."

"W-Wait! You—"

Without listening to the knight's final words, Tō charged at the "enemies" with all his might.

From the sensation of cutting down the "enemies" earlier, Tō knew he was not inferior to them. As Lidd's memory had stated, they were "the weakest."

Then, what about a one-against-many situation?

How far would his strength go? With this thought, Tō swung the [Magic Sword] with all his might.

--Swoosh.

The [Magic Sword] silently sliced through the "enemy's" torso.

The blood spurted out from the "enemy's" heart, turning into a red mist as it mixed in the air.

One cut was not enough. Two, three, and more "enemies" were sliced in half.

Drip. Warm liquid fell onto Tō's body. Without checking what it was, Tō continued to swing the [Magic Sword].

Tō thought it was inappropriate. The "enemies" started targeting the swordsman, trying to flank Tō.

"Roar!!"

Again, he used <Intimidation> to hinder the "enemies' " actions.

He slashed, thrust, mowed, and kicked. He dodged, turned, and cleaved.

He quickly cut down the closest "enemies" and kicked small stones at the distant ones. The "enemies" hit by the stones fell to the ground with grotesque faces.

His body moved as he imagined, and even beyond his imagination. Driven by his combat desire, Tō's body continued to take down the "enemies."

When he swung the [Magic Sword] at the "enemies" on the right, one on the left attacked. Tō's body calmly dealt with the attack.

Seizing the moment when the "enemy" raised its weapon, Tō pressed down the "enemy's" hand with his free hand. Despite not using much force, the "enemy's" hand stopped in mid-air.

If the attack had not gained momentum, it could be stopped with minimal force. Tō judged this timing by instinct, thanks to his skills.

Without waiting for the "enemy's" reaction, Tō spun around and cut off its head. Tō's body began to feel a burning sensation.

"Haha!"

In the midst of the battle, Tō laughed. The joy of his body moving as he wished was overwhelming.

Tō was now taking the lives of others with his own hands. But there was no resistance, no mercy.

This was the different world of Ealgard. Surrounded by a horde of "enemies," life was precious, and any pretense would cost him his life.

It was now a matter of taking or losing a life. He slashed, thrust, mowed, and kicked, taking lives one after another.

"Hahaha!!"

Breaking the limits of concentration, adrenaline produced pleasure.

More, more, Tō laughed. Laughing, he continued to take down the "enemies."

○

Estelle, the adventurer surrounded by a horde of goblins, couldn't understand what was happening before her eyes. In front of her, an unfamiliar boy was fighting the goblins.

The boy's skills were overwhelming. Goblins were no match for him, and he repelled all of them.

The quest Estelle had received from the Adventurer's Guild was to slay five goblins that had appeared in the forest. It was a standard E-rank quest.

Among the slaying quests available at the Adventurer's Guild, goblins were among the easiest. They could be considered the weakest monsters, but for those experiencing their first slay, they were a formidable challenge.

Goblins had the habit of forming groups and possessed a degree of intelligence. Underestimating them because they were smaller than humans could lead to a disastrous defeat.

However, Estelle was skilled enough to handle goblins with ease.

But this time, an unexpected situation arose.

The quest was to slay five goblins on the road, but when she arrived, the road was occupied by countless goblins.

Encountering a group, she had no intention of being defeated. She cut down the goblins that approached her with her beloved sword and tried to escape.

However, some of the goblins could throw objects.

"Ugh..."

A thrown stone hit her body, and Estelle groaned in pain. Though the damage was small, it was enough to drain her stamina. Her escape became slower, and she was quickly surrounded before reaching the town.

When surrounded by goblins, Estelle resigned herself to the fact that she might not return alive. As an adventurer, she was prepared to lose her life and fight until her last breath.

But her body couldn't help but tremble.

The goblins raised their clubs. In the next moment, the boy suddenly appeared and swiftly cut off the upper bodies of several goblins.

"Wh-What!?"

Normally, slaying a group of goblins could be done by E-rank adventurers. But to slay such a large group solo, at least D-rank skills were required.

However, Estelle had never seen a D-rank adventurer with such skills.

"Who is this boy...?"

The movement of his sword was beautiful, like a dance. The goblins' attacks barely grazed him. Even for a low-intelligence goblin, landing a hit on him was extremely difficult.

Estelle was a skilled swordsman, but she couldn't imagine ever landing a hit on him.

Not only his skills, but the sword he wielded was also unusual. The blade, black with red patterns, had a gentle curve, which was rare in this area.

The sword boasted an extraordinary sharpness.

When the long sword was swung, it silently sliced through the goblins' torsos. In contrast, Estelle's sword always made a sound when it cut, due to its weight and the type of weapon it was.

Despite both being "slashes," the results were entirely different between Estelle and the boy.

"! --Shit!"

She couldn't afford to be mesmerized by his movements. Estelle cut down a goblin that had sneaked up on her with a fierce cry.

The goblin Estelle cut had a crushed cross-section, a typical wound. In contrast, the boy's sword left a clean cut, as if the cross-sections could be reattached.

"...Amazing."

That was all Estelle could say. She couldn't find any other words to describe him.

○

After cutting down the last "enemy" trying to escape into the forest, Tō's concentration snapped.

"Ha... ha... fuu..."

His breathing quickly returned to normal thanks to the <Natural Recovery> skill. Tō had been able to fight at full strength continuously because the <Natural Recovery> skill had been constantly restoring his stamina.

Without it, Tō would have quickly run out of breath and been crushed by the horde of "enemies."

Despite being surrounded by "enemies," he hadn't received any critical blows. This was thanks to the <Awareness> skill, which constantly kept track of the "enemies' " positions, and the <Thinking> skill, which processed the information quickly.

"Using the skills based on assumptions was the right choice."

The area was a sea of blood. Blood and organs were mixed, leaving no place to step. The smell of blood and organs rose with the wind, almost choking him.

Though the scene was gruesome, Tō felt no pity. If he had lost, he would have been in the same state.

Tō dispelled the [Magic Sword] and wiped the "enemy's" blood from his face. Then, he remembered.

"Oh, right, there was someone else."

He had forgotten about the person he had saved, being focused on the battle.

"Are you okay?"