Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Massacre (1)

Balun realized something.

The moment he pushed his way through the Vipers members who had split apart like a wave, the moment of choice had passed as well.

Which meant there was no turning back now.

After going to all the trouble of coming in, was he supposed to push his way back out through them again?

Putting his pride aside, they probably would not let him leave anyway.

‘I do not even care anymore. It is all or nothing now.’

Gritting his teeth, Balun strode deeper inside. He had never been here before, so he did not know the way, but one of the gang members took the lead, which kept him from getting lost.

After entering the decrepit building and walking down a long, dim corridor, he came upon a fairly spacious room that looked like a living hall. Inside, a cluster of people was gathered together.

The atmosphere was different, but it looked very much like the lobby of a Mercenary Guild. The difference was that this place was far darker, and the people looked far more rough and unruly.

“What is this?”

“Uh, well……”

“I'm looking for a boss. Boss, come out.”

All eyes turned toward him at once.

One of the gang members sitting at a round table, toying with what looked like cards, exchanged a glance with the man standing behind Balun, then got up and approached him.

“You are saying you are looking for the master?”

“That is right. Lead me.”

“You came alone?”

“Alone.”

“Ha. You have got guts.”

The gang member let out a hollow laugh.

“I know you are pretty capable, but are you really all right coming here alone? This is our territory.”

“You are curious? Want to taste my axe? Want me to split all your skulls?”

Balun fingered one of the hand axes hanging from his belt. The gang member flinched for a moment. It was not even a large movement, but it was more than enough to intimidate him.

“No, forget it. I do not have the confidence to fight a monster like you.”

“If you do not attack, I let it go. But if you attack, I will split you.”

“Follow me. But you will have to leave your weapons here.”

“What?”

Balun doubted his ears. What did that bastard just say?

“Leave your weapons here and follow me. Otherwise, you cannot meet the master.”

“Then I split you.”

Balun immediately pulled out both hand axes and gripped one in each hand.

Then he took a fighting stance.

Leave his weapons behind?

Absolutely not.

Walking into the middle of enemy territory unarmed was the sort of thing only a fearless man’s man could do. Balun did not have that kind of nerve.

To be honest, he was already doing his utmost just by being here.

“No need to guide me. I split all of you. Leave one alive. Cut fingers, find boss location.”

Balun swung both hand axes through the air with a whooshing menace.

At that, the gang members all drew their own weapons. Most of them were daggers.

In an instant, Balun was surrounded. There were nine men in the front rank alone. Looking at the ones openly showing hostility toward him, Balun growled.

“Come at me. I split your nine first. Then I split the ones behind. I split every person here. In the end, it is a fair death for all.”

He gave the warning boldly, but his heart was pounding violently. It was practically on the verge of bursting.

No, if he fought one against many in a cramped room like this, he was definitely ending up with at least three knife wounds.

‘Please do not rush me. Please.’

Balun prayed inwardly.

Fortunately, his plea worked.

“Everyone, put your weapons away.”

“Boss!”

“I told you before. For barbarians, a weapon is the same as a lover. Persuading someone like him is impossible.”

“But……”

“Do you want to get split apart like he said?”

“……”

At the signal from the man called Boss, all the gang members put their weapons away. Only then did Balun lower his weapons as well.

“Follow me. I never thought I would live to see the day we showed an enemy our inner quarters.”

The man called Boss took the lead. Following the corridor behind him, they emerged outside.

Outside, yet still enclosed.

It seemed to be a back courtyard hemmed in by walls on all sides. From the outside, the hideout had looked cramped, so Balun had not expected such a spacious and even somewhat tasteful area inside.

When Balun appeared, the man sitting in a chair at the far end of the courtyard waved a hand. He had close-cropped hair that left a strong impression.

That man was Jackson.

Jackson waved as though he had been waiting for him.

“So, you came?”

“Boss, what happened is……”

“There is no need to explain. I thought he would come. Of course, I did not expect it to be like this.”

At those words, Balun narrowed his eyes. He thought I would come? Then did that mean he had prepared for this?

‘Ah, I do not like this feeling.’

Balun wiped his palms against his trousers. His hands were slick with sweat.

‘Did he set some kind of trap or something?’

Balun narrowed his eyes and carefully searched the surroundings.

But he found nothing.

For now, there did not seem to be any trap, but how could he trust a bunch of thug bastards?

‘Whatever. If things go wrong, I just kill them all. It is not like I cannot. It is not like I have never done it before.’

Of course, the best outcome would be to leave without getting blood on himself, but there was no way that would happen.

So the more realistic second-best option was to kill just one as an example and frighten the rest.

If they were frightened, they would back off on their own and never touch him again.

It seemed impossible, but it was possible.

Through experience, Balun had learned in his bones just how much fear could be created by a difference in strength.

“My barbarian friend, sit down first. I cannot leave a guest standing.”

Jackson sat with one leg crossed over the other and gestured toward the empty chair placed across from him. Some of the nearby gang members also signaled with their eyes for Balun to sit, but Balun shook his head.

Offering him a chair that suspiciously?

And expecting him to trust that?

“I stand.”

“Your legs will hurt.”

“This is comfortable.”

“You are a strange fellow. Well then, do as you like. What would you like to drink? Coffee? Black tea? Or water?”

That made Balun perk up.

What?

They had coffee?

That was impossible to resist. He had wanted to drink it for sixteen whole years.

“You have iced Americano?”

“Ah, what?”

“Iced Americano.”

“Iced Ameri…… I have no idea what that is. We do not have anything like that.”

“You are a country bumpkin.”

“W-What?”

“Then forget it. Medieval man, uncivilized!”

“Ha!”

“Cannot even associate with you!”

Jackson let out an incredulous laugh.

To think he was being called a country bumpkin by a barbarian.

And what else? Uncivilized? Impossible to associate with?

“Well, enough of that. Let us get to the point. I already know why you came all this way……”

“You touched me. I almost died. Now you die. Death penalty!”

Before Jackson could even finish speaking, Balun declared it in a booming voice. Jackson frowned.

“Listen, friend. When another person is speaking first, the polite thing is to listen.”

“Shut up. I do not listen to beginner thugs. Only I talk.”

“How are all barbarians exactly the same?”

Jackson shook his head and gave a signal with his hand.

His subordinates slowly approached, closing the distance.

Balun watched them.

The way they approached little by little, like they were surrounding prey.

Seeing that, Balun made up his mind.

“You and I both already know everything that matters, so let us skip the nonsense. I want you. And you came here to warn us. Since our intentions do not align, we have to settle this somehow, do we not? By the way of strength. Is that not so?”

“Finished talking?”

“Finished? Not yet……”

“Then die already.”

The moment he said it, Balun charged straight forward.

Jackson narrowed his eyes, rose to his feet, and drew the sword at his waist.

Whether Jackson did that or not, Balun raised his two-handed axe and brought it down with all his strength.

CLANG!

With a sharp metallic ring, Balun’s axe bounced away.

‘What?’

Balun flinched in surprise.

He was that strong?

He did not look that strong.

‘Huh?’

He blinked.

Jackson’s sword seemed to be giving off a strange shimmer.

“Impressive. To deflect a sword infused with mana by sheer physical strength alone.”

Jackson smiled and swung his sword through the air. It made a terrifying sound, like someone wielding a greatsword. Balun only blinked.

What was that?

A lightsaber?

And on top of that, it gave off a strange, dangerous aura. It did not look normal at all.

“Barbarians are so predictable. I knew you would come at me like this.”

Jackson’s smile was relaxed. Balun scratched his chin.

So he was pretty skilled, was he?

“No matter how much you struggle, you cannot overcome the power of aura. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Shut up!”

Balun raised his two-handed axe high.

As though he had expected that, Jackson lifted his sword into a blocking stance.

But then Jackson was the one who was startled.

Because Balun deliberately threw the two-handed axe to the ground.

“W-What?”

While Jackson was flustered, Balun swiftly drew a hand axe from his waist.

The two-handed axe had only been a feint.

He whipped the drawn hand axe forward.

Jackson could not react in time, and the hand axe buried itself in his chest.

“Ghk!”

Balun did not stop there.

With the remaining hand axe, he chopped straight through Jackson’s neck.

SHNK!

Blood burst from the severed neck, and the head flew up into the air before falling back down.

“……!”

Everyone froze.

The master was dead.

No one had imagined it.

In the silence that followed, Balun strode over, picked up the severed head, raised it high, and shouted,

“Balun almost died twice. So I killed my boss! Is anyone unhappy?”

Balun dropped his head onto the ground.

The head hit with a dull thud and rolled away pathetically.

“If you're unhappy, come at me! Balun, Warrior of the Red Fang Tribe, does not avoid challenges! I fight anyone who comes! I split all heads!”

Balun swung the two-handed axe threateningly through the air. The huge lump of metal, heavy at a glance, moved as easily as though it were a strip of taffy.

“No one coming? Beginner thugs, all cowards?”

Balun bared his teeth and glared.

Even though he was alone, none of the Vipers members dared approach. His overwhelming presence had cowed them.

If they got close, it felt as though that axe would split their bodies apart.

He was a madman who had killed an aura-user in an instant. The very idea that they might be able to beat that monster never even occurred to them.

More than anything, he did not seem human.

He seemed like a wild beast.

A wild beast did not fear humans. It looked at them as prey.

That was the kind of gaze Balun had.

Balun raged savagely and hurled threats at them.

In the meantime, the gang members exchanged glances with one another. Should they attack or not? And if they did, who would go first? Those thoughts passed rapidly between them.

While that happened, Balun moved first.

He pulled out the rope hanging at his waist and hurled it. The noose he had prepared in advance caught one of the gang members. It was the same man who had been urging his comrades to attack.

Balun yanked hard on the rope, and the man lost his balance and toppled over, then was dragged helplessly toward him.

As everyone stared in shock at the unexpected tactic, Balun grabbed the man by the collar with one hand. Lifted into the air, the man thrashed.

“Ghk!”

“A warrior who takes revenge, honorable! A warrior who does not take revenge, not honorable! Balun is a warrior!”

Balun pounded his chest wildly like a gorilla.

At the same time, he thought to himself,

‘This feels like a bit too much…….’

Ah, whatever.

Let it all go however it would.

There was no getting off now.

Once you had already climbed onto the tiger’s back, climbing down was impossible. Whether this ended in ruin or not, the only answer was to see it through.

That was the best way to survive.

His state of extreme excitement numbed his reason.

And yet the sharp fear still remaining inside him only made him more reckless.

Maybe that was why.

No one here noticed that Balun’s legs were trembling slightly.

Balun raised his axe high overhead.

The key was to make himself look as overwhelming as possible. That way, they would lose their nerve and stop entertaining any foolish ideas.

Balun was just about to bring the axe down when he suddenly froze.

His animal-like instincts had stopped him.

At once, he rolled sideways as though performing a breakfall.

At that same instant, something came flying fast.

SHWEEEEEK!

THUD!

A sharp arrow-like projectile made of ice crystals flew in, passed through the space where Balun’s abdomen had been, and struck another gang member instead.

CRACK!

The gang member hit by the ice arrow collapsed at once.

By sheer misfortune, it had struck his heart.

He died instantly.

‘Just as I thought. I knew this would happen. There was definitely a trap.’

Balun let out a breath and rubbed his chest.

He had not yet noticed that the gang member who had died because Balun dodged now had his chest frozen solid.

“You have good instincts. I did not expect you to dodge that.”

A voice suddenly rang out.

Balun whipped his head around.

Someone was standing atop the roof on the outer wall surrounding the courtyard.

It was a man in a gray robe that fell all the way to his legs, with a hood pulled low over his head. In his right hand, he held a long staff.

And the way he looked was exactly like……

‘Gandalf?’

Balun blinked.

At the sight of such an unexpected outfit, the reason that had been paralyzed by fear returned for a moment.

‘What is this? Some kind of cosplay?’

“How exactly did you dodge it? Did you somehow know I was going to attack? That should not have been possible. I prepared a double casting just for that one strike. I put a great deal of effort into it.”

“Cosplay man. Where is the bow?”

“Cos, what?”

“Bow. You do not have one. Only staff.”

“A bow? Ah, I see. You mistook my magic for an arrow. Well, I suppose that makes sense. How would a barbarian ever have seen a great product of mana?”

The more Balun listened, the less sense it made. What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this man babbling about? Magic? There was no such thing in the world.

Balun still had no idea what kind of world this was.

Naturally, he never would have dreamed that this was a world where marvels like magic truly existed.

But then again, that was only natural.

He had spent his entire life among barbarians.

Balun examined the man’s robe closely.

He was convinced that there had to be something like a short bow hidden inside that baggy robe.

Meanwhile, the robed man looked down at the carnage below and clicked his tongue.

“How unfortunate. I was a little late. Jackson is dead. I told him again and again to stall for just a little longer.”

Then the man continued.

“These fools are just standing there watching, even after their boss has died. Useless.”

“……”

“Well, it does not matter. In fact, this may be for the best. I will show this naked savage, who knows nothing of how frightening the world is, the greatness of mana.”

Then the man began doing something.

He held the staff in his right hand while tracing strange characters through the air with his left, his eyes half-closed.

And under his breath, he muttered quietly.

Balun simply stared up at him, dumbfounded by how sudden it was.

What was he trying to do?

No matter how he looked at it, the man seemed more likely to be some sort of cult preacher.

After performing his bizarre actions for a while, the robed man thrust his staff outward.

Then something astonishing happened.

A spark formed at the tip of the staff, then rapidly grew into a blazing sphere of fire.

Balun’s eyes widened into circles at the impossible sight.

He was creating fire?

Was he dreaming right now?

“Hyaaah!”

At last, the formed sphere of flame shot forward.

Balun nearly jumped out of his skin and hurled himself away.

BOOM!

The fire struck and exploded, and the blast wave and dust engulfed the entire area.

Balun crouched down to protect himself from the flying debris.

Still in that posture, he looked around. The Vipers members were all covered in flames, writhing in agony.

That left Balun dumbfounded.

What kind of lunatic was this?

He was killing his own side.

What was even more absurd was what the man said next.

“Hm, unfortunately I missed.”

That man did not care in the slightest whether people lived or died. He merely stroked his chin.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Balun ended up clapping his hands.

He had thought he had seen plenty of lunatics before, but this was the first time he had seen one quite like this.