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Chapter 38 : Bitter Fight
🕑 Added 2022-05-18 05:46:56 +0000 UTCTL:SummerPeanut
Beast race huh? Did someone say anything about that previous chapter?
Btw I’ll be using the word inside the brackets only from now onwards except for some. E.g. Wind Cloak (Sylphid) > Sylphid or magic bow (magic arrow) > magic arrow.
Thanks for the peaanuts Marcus and Kayla.
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We left the Adventurer's Guild and talked as we walked to the carriage.
“Mars, have you ever seen the elves?”
“No, I haven't. Clarice?”
“No, neither have I. In fact, I've only seen human beings. I did hear that there are beastmen and dwarves in the royal capital, big cities, and big labyrinth cities… Are we passing by the Devil’s Forest on our way to the next town?”
“Ah, I might have seen beastmen and dwarves in Almeria; the first labyrinth city I lived at. I don't think we'll be passing near the Devil's Forest. Count Beetle's route prioritizes the safest route, after all.”
“Then why don't we take the road that goes a little closer?”
“Mm...I’m not really keen to put you in danger...”
We got to the carriage and started the horses.
“I'm still a little bothered...isn’t it fine if it’s just for a bit...no? I'm curious about elves.”
To be frank, there’s a part of me that want to see elves too.
“Then we’ll take the route that pass by near the Devil’s Forest. But Clarice, you need to be on the lookout there, too.”
I made a slight change in our route to the next town after saying so.
We were now more than 10 km away from the city.
I could feel the presence of magic beasts in the distance.
I had recently been able to emit wind one way or another, I was able to spot people and magic beasts.
Wind magic is very convenient.
However, since the magic power of wind is being emitted, magic beasts sensitive to magic power will notice it.
Well, they would not know where the wind was coming from, so they would only become wary.
The forest one kilometer away, so that’s the Devil’s Forest... the forest seems to be covered with a veil of magical power.
I had a bad feeling about this.
I would never push myself in times like this. The worst that could happen is that I would turn back.
Clarice seemed to have noticed something was wrong.
“What's wrong?”
“There might be a magic beast in the woods far inside. Maybe it is the forest’s devil. The current us might not be able to win against it.”
“Is it really that strong? Seems like it might be worse than the rumors claim.”
“I don't know but we should be careful. It is not certain that the elf came here so let's give up on the elves.”
With that said, we took a rather large turn.
There was no sign of anyone’s presence. Maybe the elf-slave that was on the request earlier had not come this way.
Fortunately, the magic beast didn't seem to notice us.
We passed by someone that was heading toward the magic beast although we got through without any difficulty.
We were so preoccupied with the magic beast that we didn't pay any attention to what was behind us.
But still, did they not notice the magic beast? Is this guy the elf?
Should I take the risk to help him?
If I die, Clarice will be all alone down the road.
I would have to break my promise to Count Beetle, Gray, and Erna.
As I hesitated, Clarice asked me a question after perhaps reading my expression.
“Is there, possibly, someone heading toward the magic beast?”
Is my expression that obvious? Isn’t my feelings completely exposed to her already?
“Uhh...”
“Let's go help him!”
“It's too dangerous...”
“But! We have to go! I was really happy when Mars helped me at the convenience store, you did save me!”
“...alright. However, we’ll go with utmost precaution. I'll go first, and Clarice can follow after.”
“No. I'll go with you. I might be able to at least blind it with my magic arrow.”
I nodded silently and slowly approached the forest where I believed the magic beast would be.
The magic beast was a large snake.
Name: -
Title: -
Race: Hell’s Snake (Hellsnake)
Threat: B-
Condition: Good
Age: 3 years old
Level: 5
HP: 98/98
MP: 3/3
Strength: 38
Agility: 50
Magic: 1
Dexterity: 42
Endurance: 62
Luck: 1
What an out of the standard monster! So this is the danger of a B-.
It says it has no special ability but its fangs are definitely poisonous.
A small shadow ran toward the hellsnake, apparently distracted by the rear and unaware of the hellsnake in front.
The hellsnake seemed to have noticed the small shadow and was shrieking threateningly.
I thought it would be bad if I didn't do anything so I put my magic power into the Wind Cutter and shot it toward the hellsnake.
Just before it hits the hellsnake, perhaps sensing the threat, it avoided the Wind Cutter at an unbelievable speed.
Even though the distance was far, I didn't think it can avoid it.
The hellsnake’s agro is on me.
The little shadow is actually a girl a little smaller than us. The girl was startled by the hellsnake and froze, so I moved away from her.
Clarice was the one that helped that frozen girl out.
Okay, now I only have to worry about myself.
I put on the Sylphid and fire a volley of Wind Cutter shots.
Even if the Wind Cutter doesn't hit the snake directly, it will cut up the snake's body little by little.
The skin of the hellsnake's body fell off in fluttering pieces.
Hmm? Doesn't it bleed or something? I checked its HP and saw that it is not losing any HP!
This thing was consciously armoring itself with its molted skin!
I dodge the hellsnake's attack and unleash more Wind Cutters.
First, I'll peel off its armor.
It was the beginning of a deadly battle.
Gradually, the hellsnake's molted skin was peeled off.
The hellsnake quickly closed the distance between us. The speed of its attack was so fast that even I, clad in Sylphid, just barely managed to avoid it.
Tornado hit the snake directly and stripped it of all its skin, finally damaging the hellsnake a little.
The damaged hellsnake was furious and attacked me faster than ever in return.
It was right after dodging god knows how many bite attacks.
As I was about to counterattack after dodging a bite attack, the hellsnake's tail struck me with great momentum.
The tail of the snake, which was many times larger than my own, hit me directly and blew me away.
Fortunately, I was able to defend myself with my right hand and my body was not damaged too much but my right hand was broken.
Mars had never been so wounded in a fight with a magic beast before.
However, Mars was strangely not in a hurry. This was due not only to Mars's exceptional talent but also to his Innate Talent:.
*it’s author sudden explanation. Below is back to Mars’s POV.
I used heal while dodging the hellsnake's attacks.
The hellsnake's speed was getting faster and faster and I was on the defensive.
However, it is not bad to be on the defensive.
As I concentrated on evasion, I gradually became accustomed to the speed of the hellsnake.
I had been dodging for more than 10 minutes. Clarice had returned to the safe place where she evacuated the girl she’d secured and was hiding in the grass as she watched.
Perhaps she felt she would only be a burden if she came out to assist right now.
With my right hand fully recovered, I gradually began to fight back.
The moment I ducked an attack, I unleashed a Wind Cutter from near zero distance.
And as expected, the hellsnake's HP was decreasing rapidly since it seemed to be unable to avoid the attack from this distance.
I thought I could continue to push through like this but reality is not so easy.
When the hellsnake's HP was less than half, it began to drool from its mouth.
When the drool splashed on my cloak, the cloak melted with a sizzling sound. It was like a dissolving liquid.
The drool made it impossible for me to just avoid the bite attack by a very small margin like I had been doing previously.
Damn. If I can't dodge with minimal movement, Wind Cutter won’t hit.
I know that I was only wasting time and MP at this point of time.
This was a far cry from my earlier defensive tactics.
The hellsnake attacked again with its bite and drool.
I fired my Wind Cutter to push the hellsnake back and I got away from it.
With this distance, I can cast my strongest magic. With that in mind, I concentrate and cast my magic.
“Firestorm!!!”
☆☆☆
*Clarice’s POV
Clarice evacuated the girl to the carriage and returned to Mars, watching the battle between Mars and the hellsnake.
Mars had the upper hand until about halfway through the battle but when the hellsnake started drooling, the situation changed.
If I enter the battle, I will only drag Mars down... I have to determine the right time if I am to join the battle... I kept my magic Arrow at the ready all the while thinking that.
Mars had just dodged the hellsnake's bite attack again.
This time, however, perhaps he wanted to keep his distance from the hellsnake so he created a powerful wind between him and the hellsnake, gaining a considerable distance from it.
Mars is after something.
However, I had a bad feeling. I couldn’t understand myself despite observing the situation and fully concentrating on that.
As soon as Mars cast the spell, I saw the hellsnake attack Mars at a speed never seen before.
Mars was so focused on his magic that he didn't notice the hellsnake's abnormal speed! At this rate, Mars would surely be bitten to death!
For some reason, when that thought crossed my mind, I was showering my own magic around Mars...
☆☆☆
I, who was in the middle of casting Firestorm, was surprised to see a hellsnake right in front of me.
It was about 50 meters away just now and now it is as close as 5 meters away.
It will take about 3 more seconds for Firestorm to activate.
Right when I was thinking that I would be bitten to death if I don’t do anything.
A beautiful magic circle enveloped me.
The hellsnake tried to enter the magic circle but it was bounced back by the magic circle.
The magic circle disappeared after the hellsnake was bounced back but it is more than enough time for the Firestorm to activate.
An intense fire tornado attacked the hellsnake.
My Firestorm is made up of a ratio of nine Wind magic and one Fire magic.
I am not good at Fire magic but the wind’s role is to make a small fire bigger.
The hellsnake tries to come out of the firestorm but I try my best to hold it back with Wind.
Finally, the hellsnake ran out of strength in the middle of the intense firestorm.
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Author’s note:
I'm sorry if it's hard to read because the POVs of the first person and the third person are mixed.
TLN: >.>
