After running for a few minutes, I could naturally sense several monsters ahead of me. Wow, there are really a lot of them.
Dumbfounded by the number of monsters, I took out the converter that Angelica had given me, examining it closely as I thought a bit before the massacre.
When Angelica showed us this magical item, it was the first time I'd heard about it. I guess there are still many things in this world I don't know about. I reflected, before attaching it to Belarus in one of the two compartments it had for magic crystals. It's not a crystal, but it'll do to keep it from falling off during the hunt.
As I finished mentally preparing myself, I saw in the distance the dozens of monsters I had sensed earlier. Thanks to my family's spell, I could only feel their presence, so I wasn't sure what kind of monsters they were. I told myself as I saw the appearance of my next targets.
The monsters in front of me looked like snakes, but unlike the ones I knew in my previous world, these had a pair of claws near their heads, sending a slight chill down my spine.
Well, I'd better hurry. I don't want to waste too much time with these weak monsters. I told myself before letting the mana from my dragon core flow more intensely throughout my body, making it feel lighter.
Now fully ready, I watched with excitement as the monsters began to notice my presence, turning around and subtly positioning themselves to attack me as a group.
It's time! I shouted internally, gathering courage for what was about to come.
Wasting no time, I ran quickly toward them while forming three small fireballs in my right hand. When I was finally close enough, I threw them, aiming directly at their feet to scatter the monsters.
Perfect. I thought quickly after seeing my plan take effect.
Gripping Belarus tightly, I began cutting down their numbers with precise and powerful strikes. Thanks to the mana I was channeling into Belarus, it felt like their bodies were made of paper. I thought to myself.
As I slaughtered them, I observed how Angelica's converter worked, greatly amazed with each monster I killed. Wow… this looks like a light show.
Normally, when you kill a monster, you can see for a few seconds how its mana separates from its body before mixing with the environment, so on this dark night, it was clearly visible how the converter attracted the mana to its position before absorbing part of that mana into it. This artifact is incredible!
The other monsters, seeing how their comrades were slowly falling, quickly surrounded me, forcing me to use magic again. "Advanced-level magic, Deflagration!" I shouted loudly after slamming both hands into the ground.
Just like when you throw a large stone into a still lake, creating a wave that spreads everywhere, my spell created a wave of fire that ravaged everything in its path for about 15 meters in radius.
Although it's not as powerful as fully reciting the incantation, shortened spells are really convenient when fighting monsters. I thought as I moved again.
The few snakes that remained after my last spell fell to the ground shortly after fighting me, leaving me alone in the forest once again.
I've finally finished them all. Now I can go after the ones in the south. I thought as I breathed faster than usual due to exhaustion.
After finding the other group of monsters, I started another slaughter, slowly losing track of time, and a strange feeling began to bloom inside me.
Great, this isn't as bad as I thought, in fact, it feels good. I thought in my delirium after driving Belarus through a wolf monster's skull.
With no one else but me and the monsters, I continued like this until a large explosion snapped me back to reality.
Huh? What the hell was that? I thought, wiping the splattered blood from my eyes. Could that be the signal marking the end of the time? I wondered, confused.
With no more monsters around me, I headed toward the column of smoke rising from where Angelica was.
Time passed so quickly. I thought as I ran at full speed, propelled by the adrenaline still coursing through my body. I wish I could have stayed a little longer since I still have half of my mana reserves left. I thought, a little frustrated.
I kept running until I finally reached the place where I had parted ways with Angelica, but by the time I arrived, a deep chill ran down my spine, causing me to start sweating cold from that moment on.
"What… what happened here?" I muttered into the air, after seeing something that looked like a leg beside the crater producing the pillar of dust rising into the sky.
Enhancing my senses with mana, I perceived a mana disturbance about 30 meters from where I was.
Damn it, what's going on? I thought before running quickly. When I arrived, my fears and questions only grew with what I saw in front of me.
"And… and these people?" I said nervously, after seeing two bodies lying on the ground, with several punctures in their torsos and heads.
"T-T-They're… they're dead–" I said before starting to vomit at the unexpected scene. They're dead… but… how? How is that possible?
Finishing vomiting, a voice behind me completely stole my attention, making me turn around quickly.
"Drake!!" Paul shouted with a tone of concern as he quickly approached where I was.
"What? What the hell happened here?" He asked after seeing the bodies lying in the grass. "I-I'm not sure, after the explosion, I came running and-and I found these two bodies lying on the ground." I said in a trembling voice.
Without saying more, Paul approached them and examined them for a few seconds. "It can't be, these are bandits!" He said before looking at me with a concerned face.
Hearing another distant rumble from where we were, Paul's body instantly moved toward the explosion. As for me, I was confused, but I still started following him without understanding what was happening until I could finally piece the situation together in my mind. Angelica...
What the hell is wrong with me!? How could I forget about Angelica!? I berated myself as I gradually slowed down and lost sight of Paul among the trees.
Damn it! This is all my fault. If I had refused Angelica's proposal, none of this would be happening… I said to myself, before some vague memories flashed through my mind, making me stop for a second before continuing to run.
This... this is just like that dream I had when I was a baby. I thought as those hazy memories resurfaced. Yeah, it's just like that dream...
Cursing inside, I noticed the forest coming to an end ahead of me.
I remember that in that dream, I was in trouble, so I have to be careful with what I do. I told myself in an attempt to calm the nerves growing inside me.
I kept running until I finally emerged from the forest, and the first thing I saw was a large battle unfolding in front of me.
"Angelica!" I shouted loudly after seeing her unconscious in Paul's arms.
In response to my shout, Paul and the four bandits surrounding them turned to look at me for a second. They're in trouble, I have to do something.
Without a plan in mind, I quickly prepared some air blades and then launched them, but since the bandits already knew my position from the shout I'd given earlier, they managed to dodge my attacks easily.
Paul, seeing that their attention was on me, took that opportunity to quickly distance himself from them, not before turning the ground into mud, immobilizing two of the bandits who were near him.
Perfect, that will hold them for a while. I thought as I moved to dodge some water attacks one of the bandits was throwing at me. From their attacks, it seems they're intermediate rank. If they're all like that, there won't be any problems. I said to myself.
Once Paul was far enough away from them, he began to conjure some stone disks, which he then launched at high speed toward the bandits struggling to escape the deep mud.
Huh? What is he doing? I thought, before seeing those disks he had thrown cut through part of the chest and the head of the two bandits. What?
After the impact, both bodies stopped moving, standing over the mud with their dismembered parts hanging from them.
Bu-but… why the hell did he do that!? I thought as the remaining bandits backed away.
"Thanks, Drake. You got here just in time." Paul said, breathing heavily as he approached my position. "Here, take my sister." He continued as he tried to heal a wound on his left arm.
P-Paul is injured. But how? I thought with fear as I carried Angelica in my arms.
Still confused, and with a growing fear coursing through my body, a slight movement from Angelica made me remember a question my father asked me many years ago.
"What would you do if someone appeared who threatened your family's life?"
That's right, back then I answered with determination that I would be willing to kill to protect my family, but… even though I said that, this is...
As I questioned myself, one of the bandits pulled out something resembling a horn from one of the bags on his belt. Taking the horn, he brought it to his mouth and then blew hard, causing an annoying sound, similar to a high-pitched whistle.
"This is bad, he's probably calling for reinforcements." Paul commented angrily, before finishing healing himself.
"Drake! Listen! From their appearance and weapons, it looks like these bandits are the weakest in their gang, so if they're calling for reinforcements, it means stronger ones will be coming soon." He said before looking at me and Angelica.
"That's why I need you to get out of here as quickly as possible with Angelica." Paul said while looking me in the eyes. "I'll try to distract them until you can escape, then I'll run away on my own."
Huh? Leave? But if I do that, Paul could… I thought, imagining the worst. "But Paul… it looks like they're intermediate rank, even with reinforcements, we could defeat them if we fight together." I said in an attempt to make him reconsider his idea.
"No… that would be impossible." He said, looking at me. "What? But why!?" I demanded, staring into his eyes.
"As I told you before, these are probably just pawns in their gang, so the ones coming will likely be higher-ranked." He said, pausing. "And also… even if only one advanced-ranked person comes, I wouldn't be able to fight all of them on my own."
Huh? What do you mean? "But I'm telling you to fight together! Aren't you listening to me!?" I said, raising my voice. "I am listening to you, idiot, but I can't count on you, because after all, ever since you got here, you haven't stopped trembling." He said angrily, before watching as the bandits positioned themselves to the side of where they were.
Confused by his words, I turned my head to look at my own body, and when I did, I discovered that my legs were shaking violently. What? But why…?
"Damn it! They'll arrive sooner than I expected, now we won't be able to escape easily." Paul said before clenching his fists tightly. "Drake, lay her down gently on the ground and take your sword." Paul said as he saw my expression of complete confusion.
In silence, I did as he said, while a question ran through my mind. Why am I scared? I thought I had already completely gotten used to this world.
"Listen, Drake." Paul said, stealing my attention once again. "I know you're still too young for something like this, so it's normal to be afraid. But, if you let that fear stop you from protecting my sister, it means you don't deserve her." He said as he prepared for battle. "So, I'll propose something to you… If you manage to overcome that fear and fight with all your might right now, I promise I'll do everything I can to support you in your relationship with her."
It's true… Fear is something natural, both in my world and in this one, so I must not let that fear control me, just like it hasn't in various moments of my past life. I thought, while remembering the death of my sister, as Christopher Bristol.
"You know what, Paul…" I said quietly while unsheathing Belarus. "For the first time all this time, I'm glad to have you as a brother-in-law."
"Hahaha, me too." He said, showing a smile, before creating a stone wall to block the arrows that the two bandits had launched at us.
They're already here. I thought, feeling the mana of six more people approaching the other bandits. Taking advantage of the lack of vision they had of us because of the stone wall Paul had created, I carefully lowered Angelica, then covered her, burying her with earth magic.
I hope they don't notice. I thought, after making sure Angelica had a hole to breathe through.
"Let's go, Paul." I said, looking him in the eyes. "Alright, first, let's get out of here."
Tearing down his stone wall, Paul helped to make sure no trace of Angelica could be seen, giving me a sense of relief. After the wall was no longer covering us, we found ourselves staring at the eight bandits who were now our enemies.
"Paul, do you have any plan?" I asked, as I watched the bandits prepare. "No, none. For now, let's just lead them out of this area." He said, before launching three stone cannons into the ground where they were, causing a great wall of dust.
"Now! Run!" Paul shouted loudly enough for the bandits to hear us.
The bandits, seeing that we were running at great speed, thought we were trying to escape, so they followed us without much thought.
"Good, seems like the distraction worked." Paul commented to himself as he kept running.
We kept running until a bright light grew rapidly behind us. Turning around to see what it was, I saw that it was a large fireball conjured by one of the bandits who had arrived. Yeah… these are different from the others.
With a quick jump to the sides, we both managed to dodge it, but because of the strange explosion that followed, we were separated by a tall and long column of fire.
"Be careful, Drake!" Paul shouted from the other side of the fire.
Shit, I can't move forward or reunite with Paul… this is bad. I thought quickly, before, in just a few seconds, three bandits managed to surround me.
Without saying a word, I used Deflagration, forcing them to climb up the trees, to escape from my waves of fire that charred everything on the ground around me.
Since escaping isn't an option, I have to find a way to finish them off to support Paul.
The bandits, surprised by my recent attack, kept their distance from that point on, making things even more difficult. Ahh!! That's right! I had to take advantage of that moment, now they won't see me as a little kid anymore.
Drawing mana from my Dragontine core, I began conjuring several air blades above me, making the bandits be on guard.
Without attacking them with the blades for the moment, I rushed toward one of them who was atop a short tree. As I approached his position, I focused my mana on Belarus and in my legs, making my movements faster and more lethal.
Seeing me approach quickly, the bandit attacked with earth magic, clouding my vision for a moment. When I regained my sight, I saw that he had taken advantage of it to position himself and attack with his axe, intending to split me in two.
With a movement in the air, I managed to block him thanks to Belarus, then took advantage of his bad position to attack him with three wind blades that managed to injure him in one of his legs and his torso, destabilizing him.
The other bandits quickly approached our position, throwing water balls. Dodging them thanks to the distance between us, I quickly got closer to the bandit I had wounded a few seconds ago to slit his throat, making Belarus glow for a second.
Huh? That light is just like when I was killing monsters a few minutes ago. I thought as I jumped into the trees with a great leap. I didn't think it would also absorb people's mana.
The two remaining bandits launched various spells at the trees I was on, causing great havoc in the place. I kept running while thinking about my next move until a stone cannon hit my left shoulder, making me fall violently through the trees.
Shit, that hurt. I thought on the ground, as I tried to gather mana for my next attack.
One of the bandits quickly approached me, while the other launched more cannons that forced me to roll sideways on the ground.
The bandit nearby repeatedly attacked me with his short sword, pressing me against one side of the place we were in.
In a counterattack that sent me flying several meters, the other bandit took advantage to cast a spell that put me in a tight spot.
"Quicksand." The ground beneath me turned to sand, swallowing me while exerting great pressure on part of my body that had already been buried. This is bad, really bad. If it swallows me completely, it'll break all my bones.
Gathering a great amount of mana in my hands, I launched large gusts of wind beneath me, similar to the ones I used to land when Irisha transported me to the sky. Thanks to that, I managed to shoot up into the air, soaring several meters off the ground.
Using my spell created a large cloud of dust, completely obscuring the area where we were.
In mid-air, I gathered mana inside me before spewing fire from my mouth, which then turned into a large and powerful fireball.
Combined with the poor visibility and the suddenness of my attack, it took my enemies by surprise, killing both of them as the flames incinerated them in just a few seconds.
Shit… with that last attack… I… I barely have any mana left. I thought tiredly, as I walked back to where I had been separated from Paul. I hope Paul made it.
J口ちHひ丹: Remember to share the novel, that encourages me to continue writing. By the way, Happy Hollowing!