CH 217

We arrived at the exit of the ruins.

This time I brought ten elite men with me, and of course I was not alone, Lynn was with me.

On the other hand, the “Thousand Golden Lions” had a large number of 100 men.

—They’re the worst.

—Calm down, nya. If the vice commander is irritated, the concentration of the members will drop, nya.

Lynn’s persuasion made me control my mood more. 

However, when I saw the Thousand Golden Lions, who were enjoying a drinks feast, I couldn’t help but feel a strong murderous intent.

The cause of me being irritated by attitudes like that. They are very irresponsible. Every time there is a problem, they start picking on our party members.

And Garfao’s instructions on how his men should behave leave much to be desired, as such an attitude is encouraged by his person. 

Frankly, I’m running out of patience.

I want to kill all of them right now. But my mission is to defeat Sain. I am in no position to do anything stupid.

What was His Majesty thinking when he decided that it was a good idea for both parties to team up?

—It seems that we are not the only ones who have come to defeat this Sain. And I can tell from all this that that monster hasn’t appeared yet. 

Lynn contemplates the surroundings from the top of the ruins.

Sain is now an enemy that countries are targeting. This is also a fight. The country or organization that defeats him will be recognized by the rest, and will show its might before all the countries of the continent. Adventurers have a chance to win a very high reward.

But all that didn’t matter to me.

I am here because I want to check if it is true that this monster is Sain. If it turns out to be true, I will finish him off with my own hands.

—Why are you making that impatient face? Don’t tell me you still think you’re ready to fight that monster?

—Huh?

Gafao approaches me with a bottle of wine in his hand.

—I have a secret plan that will help me kill that monster in the blink of an eye. Just watch me earn glory and recognition.

—Hey, did you forget that this is a joint mission? His Majesty ordered both of them to submit.

—You’re wrong. His Majesty ordered you to serve as our support, he would never want the glorious order of the Thousand Golden Lions to rub shoulders with second-rate adventurers like you.

What is he saying? Don’t tell me he’s perverting His Majesty’s words?

—There he is! I’ve found him!

Some of the members of the Thousand Golden Lions who were scouting return with much trepidation.

At once, the rest of their members took a combat stance. Garfao does not seem to have panicked, as he was very confident in his secret plan.

—The opponent is a mere monster. He poses no threat to our glorious organization. 

—Yes, sir!

Garfao’s encouraging words to his men. They answered him with impetus and confidence.

Soon after, a huge black boar-like beast appeared, knocking down trees in its path. The members of the Thousand Golden Lions were thrown helplessly into the air.

—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

When I saw the boar, I realized that the upper part of a person was protruding from its forehead. 

Seeing that face made my heart contract with fear and helplessness. No doubt about it… That’s Sain.

His appearance was different from before. His eyes were unfocused, and his half-open mouth kept drooling. He’s probably in a demented state… Really… A demon took hold of him…

—Ha… Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!!!

—Ney…

—Lynn, look at him. He’s the man who cheated on us and betrayed Toru! He’s not even a man anymore! He’s been punished! You finally got what you deserved, you idiot!

My repressed emotions burst out.

Dark emotions try to invade my mind. I regretted it for a long time, a part of me regretted not following Toru that day. I thought I would get over it, but the truth is that I wanted revenge. I had always wanted revenge on that traitor.

—Ney!

Lynn rushed over to me and hugged me.

—You are the vice commander. Your personal feelings are secondary, think of your men.

—Yes, you’re right, I’m sorry.

Lynn helped me regain my composure. I was almost overcome by my darkest emotions.

Even now Sain and the Thousand Golden Lions are fighting a battle.

—What the hell is that thing! My attacks don’t work against it!

The black boar extends its tentacles and skewers them one after another with a tube-like tip, then sucks out all their vitality and throws them away like garbage.

The Thousand Golden Lions attacked him countless times, but each of their attacks were nullified due to his extraordinary regenerative power.

—Initiate the attack!

Following my instructions, a long-range attack by my strategically placed men begins.

No matter how high its regenerative power is, if we launch continuous attacks, at some point that regeneration speed will have to be broken.

The barrage of attacks from magical archers and wizards caused Sain to scream and stop.

Now, this is where I come in—… Wait. What the hell are those guys doing now?!

—Well done, Mangyu! Now I will put my secret plan into action.

—Garfao, you bastard!

The Thousand Golden Lions clan cast iron nets one after another. 

The nets covered Sain completely, preventing him from moving.

—That was their secret plan, nya?

—They took advantage of our attack!

—Calm down, nya. I don’t think it will work.

However, despite the iron net and the continuous jabbing attacks towards the monster’s skin, they were completely useless, as the weapons bounced off the skin, failing to pierce it at all. 

Garfao with an impatient attitude turned to his comrades.

—What’s taking you lazy bastards so long to kill it?!

—Its skin is too tough, our blades can’t cut through it. And even if we do, the monster manages to regenerate instantly and…

—Get out of the way! I’ll do it!

Garfao takes his weapon and attacks Sain directly… And as expected, his sword was easily repelled by the monster’s tough skin.

—Guoooooooooooooooo!!

Sain’s tentacles proceeded to extend through the holes in the net, and immediately skewered each and every member of the Thousand Golden Lions.

Their number of tentacles exceeded 100, and Sain realized that no one would escape. He absorbed each one of them, and that made his body grow bigger. 

—Uggh… My secret plan…

—Garfao, order your people to escape from there!

—Aaggh!

One of the tentacles pierces Garfao….’s chest. And so, the party of the Thousand Golden Lions was easily defeated.

Sain changed shape to become a snake, and thus managed to easily escape from the net. 

—Stay back in support with the rest. I’ll try to hit him.

—Understood, nya.

I headed towards Sain and took a big leap towards him.

While spinning my body in the air, I hit the snake directly on the head with a forehand using all my strength.  

A roar echoed and the earth shook. The scales of the snake crumbled and the flesh cracked inside as Sain writhed in pain.

Well, the response to my attack worked.

The scales of the snake wobble. Immediately after that, countless tentacles appeared. I quickly retreated to the back, and then, from somewhere, they launched a magic attack and Sain exploded. 

—We are already here.

—We’ll take possession now, get out of our way. 

—Don’t give me that, this is our prey.

—Watch out for the tentacles! Tell the troops to start their attacks!

Armies and adventurers from other countries rushed toward Sain. They were like a swarm of ants going after a mountain of sugar.

Since it was impossible to talk sense into them, I decided to keep my distance for now. 

—Ney-san!

—Eh? Pione?!

As I was going through the crowd, I passed a place where Pione happened to be. 

She and I looked at each other and then hugged.

—I finally found you! I’m glad you’re here!

—What are you doing here, Pione?

—I came here under Soarer’s orders. Ah, Toru, Kaede and Frau are here too. They should be back very soon… Although I don’t think they’ll make it in time for the battle.  

Toru?! Toru is here?!

Suddenly, my heart became radiant.

—Anyway, we have to deal with that now. If we don’t get rid of it while we still have the strength, it will become a big problem.

—You mean because of its high regenerative capacity?

—No, that thing absorbs experience with its tentacles. It must be getting much stronger even now. 

So, did that thing absorb the experience points of Garfao and his team?

The ruins began to shudder, and at the agitated moment, Sain turned into a tiger. Then, with an indescribable expression on his face, he stretched out his hands, and numerous tentacles sprouted from his back. 

The result… Hundreds of knights and adventurers ended up pinned with tentacles on their bodies and lay lifeless on the ground.