Chapter 41

Chapter 41. Not a Tonic Pill, but a Smoke Bomb

Still, the fortunate thing was that Balun had succeeded in seizing the initiative with his preemptive attack.

He had blown apart one head in such a spectacular fashion. What greater way could there be to seize the initiative?

If he could not avoid it, then he might as well enjoy it.

Since things had turned out this way, Balun decided to ride the momentum and show an overwhelming performance.

“Move! If you touch my 250 gold, I will kill you all!”

Balun shouted thunderously and put all his strength into both arms. His muscles swelled as though they were about to explode. In that state, Balun raised his two-handed axe and brought it down diagonally with force.

CLANG!

Two men in black raised their swords to block it. The two shimmering blades trembled. By comparison, Balun did not show even the faintest tremor.

“An uninvited guest has appeared.”

“You are the uninvited guests. You 250-gold thieves.”

When Balun said that and glared at them, bewilderment appeared in the eyes of the men in black.

It was already absurd enough that he had suddenly burst in out of nowhere, but when he spoke so abruptly and nonsensically, they could only become even more bewildered.

“So there was still someone left who was fine without running away.”

“Do you know something?”

“What would that be?”

“You are worse than rental deposit scammers. You 250-gold thieves.”

Balun revealed his Killing Intent fiercely. He was growling in an exaggerated way on purpose, but at the same time, he was also sincere.

If not for those bastards, he would not have had to worry about not receiving his money!

“I will split you all apart. Then I will receive my 250 gold! Huaaap!”

CLANG!

Balun applied great strength and knocked away the swords locked against his axe. Under Balun’s power, the two men in black were flung backward and staggered two or three steps.

The two regained their balance in less than a second, but for an expert, even that brief instant was an opportunity.

WHOOSH!

THUNK!

Balun swiftly drew his axe sideways. A red line appeared across the torsos of the two men in black, and soon, they became four pieces of corpses. Fountains of blood poured out and stained the green foliage slightly.

“Insane.”

The eyes of the other men in black narrowed as they saw that scene. What in the world was this sight? In only two exchanges, two of their comrades had been turned into pieces of corpses.

What was impressive was that monstrous strength.

Human bones were harder than one might think. No matter how sharp a blade was, they were not easy to cut through. Even experienced swordsmen who had trained in the sword for a decent amount of time often failed to cut off a neck in a single stroke, so how much more difficult would this be?

And yet, that axe warrior had cut through human bodies as easily as slicing soft butter. Cleanly, in a single stroke, through the countless bones in the torso.

“Impossible. How did he do that? He should clearly have been poisoned by Mana Poison.”

“Mana Poison?”

“You. What are you? How can you be fine?”

Balun did not answer. He only smiled faintly.

‘What is with that damned Mana Poison...’

Balun the powerless felt miserable.

Why did they not consider that he simply could not use mana or Aura in the first place?

“Do you want to know the reason? I will tell you.”

“...”

“In the afterlife!”

THUD!

Balun stomped his foot. A shockwave spread in a circle around Balun and shook the earth. As the ground trembled like an earthquake, many of the men in black staggered. Balun charged into the gap.

“Wh-what!”

SLASH!

A severed head flew through the air and scattered drops of blood.

After that, Balun immediately kicked the man beside him with all his strength, shifted the axe handle into his left hand, clenched his right fist, and threw an uppercut at the man charging toward him.

CRACK!

Bones broke, and the face of one of the men in black caved in. The impact burst his eyeballs and made blood flow out, and he collapsed just like that.

The men in black who had been surrounding Balun from behind were shocked by that sight. Did it make sense for a person’s face to cave in like that just from being punched?

“I will split you all apart! Uaaah!”

Balun roared and rampaged. He looked like a single tiger hunting hunting dogs. Faced with that overwhelming sight, the expressions of the remaining men in black turned grave.

They realized the situation was moving strangely.

Less than two minutes had passed, and already six of their comrades had died.

-Squad leader. What should we do? At this rate, we will lose the target.

-It cannot be helped. We have no choice but to move to Operation Two.

-Then our identities may be exposed.

-That is better than failing.

-Yes. Understood.

After exchanging covert communication, the men in black took on solemn expressions. They exchanged glances, then each took something from their robes. It was a small, round bead.

‘Huh? Is that...’

It was dark brown and round, with a diameter about two finger joints wide. Seeing its extremely familiar shape, Balun muttered inwardly without realizing it.

‘A tonic pill?’

The men in black immediately threw the beads to the ground. As soon as the beads touched the ground, they made the sound of air escaping and began releasing smoke like exhaust fumes.

“Smoke bombs!”

Balun shouted without realizing it.

So they were not for nourishing the body, but for throwing!

The smoke spread thickly in an instant. Its speed was so fast that in less than ten seconds, most of his vision had already grown blurry.

‘These dirty bastards. You use consumable items just because you are being cornered?’

Balun held his breath. For some reason, he felt that he should not inhale it. How was he supposed to know whether this was poison gas or something else?

But how could things go as he wished? No matter how strong Balun was, he was human, and humans could not hold their breath for very long.

In the end, he inhaled.

Nothing happened.

It seemed it was not poison gas.

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Balun scratched the back of his neck. He had thought it might be something like tear gas or chemical gas, but apparently, that had been too much of a fuss.

‘More importantly, I cannot see anything.’

That was the problem.

He could not see. It was as though he were trapped inside a terribly thick fog bank.

The feeling was strange too. Even his senses seemed to be growing faint. It was like the sensation of one’s ears becoming muffled after climbing a high mountain.

‘It does not inflict direct damage. It seems to have some kind of sensory disruption effect.’

Balun laughed despite himself.

What a world. It truly had all kinds of things.

‘Hup!’

At that moment, the back of his neck tingled. Balun hurriedly lowered his head. A blade flashed past the place where his head had been.

‘No, what is this...’

However, the unpleasant feeling did not disappear. That meant his instincts were warning him.

Balun entrusted his body entirely to his instincts. He threw himself away from the place where the ominous feeling came from, as though performing a breakfall. Several blades sliced through the air behind him.

Balun unconsciously stroked his chest in relief. Without a single exaggeration, he had truly almost died.

‘Damn it. Damn it!’

His heart pounded violently. The excitement that had ruled his body faded, and fear began to fill him.

It was even worse because the senses that had been so sharp had now grown dull.

‘Oh no, I am dying. I am going to die!’

His legs trembled. However, Balun’s will remained firm. Even extreme fear could not block his desire to survive.

No matter what happened, he would survive!

“It is useless! I will split you all apart!”

Balun shouted as though struggling desperately. In that instant, he put strength into his entire body. His sleeping power awakened in a single moment, and the muscles across his body bulged as though they were protruding.

Usually, that would have been the end of it. Whenever Balun used Enhancement Art, he always paid attention to controlling his strength. He had to do that to sustain battle for a long time.

However, this time was different. This was not the time to worry about anything else. Balun poured in every ounce of strength he could possibly muster.

Then something astonishing happened. His muscles, which had bulged like balloons, began to compress.

Balun’s outward appearance returned to normal, but his inside did not. His muscles had been compressed to the limit, bringing him to a state where he possessed strength surpassing that of a human.

THUD!

Balun struck the ground. A violent rumble shook the earth. In an instant, hairline cracks appeared in the ground, and fissures began forming along those lines.

Finally,

CRAAACK!

The earth began to split.

-What is this...

A faint voice was heard. It was the voice of a flustered enemy. Balun reflexively charged in that direction and swung his axe.

CLANG!

His attack was blocked. However, Balun smiled.

“There you are!”

Balun immediately kicked him.

THUD!

“Guh!”

The kicked enemy groaned and collapsed. Perhaps because the distance was close, Balun could see the enemy clearly.

And he could do more than see.

He could hear.

The enemy’s breathing, the flutter of clothing when the enemy moved, and the covert conversations of the enemies spreading secretly through the air.

Balun tilted his head. Come to think of it, why had his senses suddenly become clear?

‘Did the smoke bomb’s effect wear off?’

It was because Balun’s body, having reached the extreme, had crossed a wall, but Balun did not know that. He merely thought the smoke bomb’s effect must have ended.

‘Heh heh. That is how it should be. The duration has to be reasonably short for the balance to be right.’

Balun grinned.

As long as he could see and hear, there was no reason he would lose.

***

Heinrich blinked. He was utterly dumbfounded. Was this a dream or reality?

At the very moment death was about to arrive, a giant man holding an axe had suddenly appeared like a miracle and brutally slaughtered the enemies.

Those demon-like Assassins.

From the middle onward, he could not see the battle properly because of the thick fog that had risen. However, he knew for certain that a tremendous slaughter had taken place.

Because from within the fog where nothing could be seen, only the enemies’ death cries were heard.

By the time the ground that had been shaking wildly stopped moving, the giant man holding an axe walked out of the fog with his entire body covered in blood.

He carried a large axe on his back, had two hand axes hanging from the rings of his belt, and held one Assassin by the collar in each hand.

THUD!

After setting down the two Assassins, he approached Heinrich, who was sitting on the ground, and opened his mouth.

“Are you all right?”

“...”

“Can you not hear me? I asked if you are all right.”

“H-huh?”

Heinrich stared blankly up at Balun, then finally came to his senses.

“Yes. I am conscious. Thank you. Truly, thank you. I survived thanks to you.”

However, he was still just as disoriented. So much so that he did not even notice Balun was speaking informally to him.

And it was the same for the three knights guarding him.

Those three were even more shocked than Heinrich.

That was because they knew more than Heinrich did.

Because of that, they realized it.

Who the Assassins were. What the smoke they had released was.

And just how absurd the martial prowess Balun had displayed in that terrible environment truly was.

“That is a relief. Now follow me.”

“F-follow you?”

“Yes. You are wounded. You must receive treatment.”

“W-wait. Wait a moment. Who are you? Where do you belong?”

“Belong?”

“Yes! I want to repay you for saving me!”

Heinrich asked urgently.

“A knight as strong as you must surely belong somewhere. Later, I will formally invite you to my family. I will properly repay you for saving my life!”

Balun smiled faintly. What knight?

“Um, Lord Heinrich.”

At that moment, one of the knights stepped in. It was Knight Roton.

“That man belongs to our expedition.”

“What? Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Balun was dumbfounded.

Did he not even know who was in his own expedition?

They had clearly seen each other’s faces.

“He is Balun the Barbarian. He is the mercenary recommended by Mage Gregory of the Blue Tower. Do you remember?”

“Ah! I remember! That Barbarian!”

It seemed he had at least known of his existence.

Seeing as he remembered now.

“By the way, is that true?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The repayment.”

“Ah, of course it is. If I did not repay someone to whom I owe my life, the world would curse me. The honor of Rotenfeld would fall to the ground.”

“That is good!”

Balun felt delighted.

Not only had he recovered his 250 gold, but Heinrich was saying he would give him something extra?

“Then let us write a contract!”

“What?”

“Do you not know? Verbal contracts are trash. Only records remain.”

“Do you not know who I am? I am Heinrich von Rotenfeld. I am the second son of the family head who leads the great Rotenfeld Family. Do you think someone like me would lie to you...?”

“I know. That is why I am saying we should write a contract.”

At Balun’s utterly serious words, Heinrich and the three knights wore bewildered expressions.