There was somewhat a rotting smell here, but it wasn’t that bad. However, what was a bit of a hassle was the slushy ground, which felt like I was walking through rice paddies.
The whole green earth here looked a bit dull. There were rotten, twisted trees, worms and bugs eating through the corpses of beasts and humans, all matching the rumors that I had heard from a pub in my previous life.
Though there were a few disturbing elements here, the atmosphere itself was not bad. The reason for that was the smell of danger, that continued to emanate from here which constantly stimulated my nerves. Black Spear, Gark, and Hark must have had similar thoughts as they were quite enjoying the mood, especially that of Black Spear who looked as if he had returned to his hometown.
“So you’ve finally returned.”
“Yes, Blood Dagger. This is the entrance of the swamp. Though there are not a lot of dangerous beasts here, but be wary of the ground. I do not recommend walking around here alone.”
I had also heard of this story before; of how the ground can suddenly collapse and can suck you inside the swamp. Therefore, it was recommended to travel with Magicians and Archers together in case you didn’t know the terrain here well.
“I had also heard that there was a Minotaurus who bragged about his bravery and had proudly hunted lizards in the swamp before sinking to his death on the return back.”
I thought that it was extremely dangerous for a body of a Minotaurus to traverse this terrain. Especially if the monster had a weapon, then it would be more natural to sink. I nodded my head, but in Mev’s case, she was flying in the air.
The environment was surely a place that wasn’t easy to live.
However, just like how Humans built and lived in cities that were somewhat apart from the swamp, monsters lived together with nature. It seems that it would be quite uncomfortable if I were not able to find a suitable place to stay.
“Well then, let’s go.”
He nodded and soon we headed for Storm Shadow’s village. Though it wouldn’t be as grand of a welcoming that the Ogre had shown for us, but he will definitely warm us as well.
I didn’t know how long it would take from the entrance of the swamp to there, but we began to slowly follow behind Black Spear.
“Shh.”
Then, we began to feel a presence from somewhere. In a split instant, all of the clansmen became quiet. But there was another problem.
“Ggirik! Ahk…I’m..I’m sorry.”
From this sudden situation, Little Finger wasn’t able to grasp the mood and made a loud noise. Black Spear and I glared at Little Finger, causing her to lower her head understanding that she made a mistake. It was a great mistake for the chief of a clan to expose their position by screaming.
Thanks to her, we had completely revealed our location to the enemy. I had thought that they would run away.
“It’s a Goblin.”
“Shh.”
Contrary to my expectations, they began to approach us. It was probably due to the mentioning of a ‘Goblin’. In the west for instance, the moment a Goblin sound was heard, the Humans would immediately scatter because they were conscious of the Green Goblin Clan.
But this was the East, and the Goblins were good prey for these guys that had even enslaved monsters here. As a result, I couldn’t help but estimate that the reason they were approaching here was to aim for Green Skins that were eliminated from the Exam. I began to slowly smile.
In my perspective, I had found some useful guys. Nodding to Black Spear, he also nodded back implying that I can do what I want.
After giving me the authority, soon, the movement of the Humans began to increase faster, and with one signal, the rest of the Green Skins all hid their bodies within the grass.
The Humans had arrived.
“Huh?”
As soon as they saw me, they began to dumbfoundedly stare at me.
“De…mon?”
There was a Greatsword that was Too Large to be a Sword on my back, the Cursed Voice hanging on my waist, and Ancient Flame on my left waist. These were all the weapons that I was currently armed with.
“I have never seen a Demon in the vicinity…”
“How much is a Demon?”
“I don’t know such a thing. I don’t think a Demon has circulated around our city before?”
The enemy had a total of seven people. This reaction was also anew. In the case at the West, the Humans would either immediately flee or engage in battle the moment the encounter was made, but it looked like they were confident in their skills. Or that they were careless, I wasn’t sure, but their reactions were certainly strange.
“It’s the first time I see such a guy around here… he’s possibly not from Storm Shadow?”
“That Troll won’t come to this kind of place. Anyhow, let’s prepare for battle. The objective is to definitely capture him alive. I had thought it was a Goblin, but for us to have bitten an unexpected benefit.”
The Warriors raised their swords while the Magicians began to cast their spells.
I revealed my teeth at the guys preparing for battle and laughed.
“So you’re from Somorah.”
“………………..?”
“Wh..at…..how.”
There was no need to speak further. I threw a dagger immediately at the Magician, and soon withdrawing my greatsword, I injected mana into it.
As if they could ignore the power of the dagger thrown, their voices exclaimed immediately. For the consideration of safety of the party, he began to cast a defense spell.
“Shield!”
A translucent, vague shield of magic appeared, but the instant the Greatsword and dagger switched locations with the activation of my Unique Ability, a deafening crash was heard.
“Booom!”
The mana grinds against my weapon injected with mana.
The dagger that should have been deflected originally by the shield was ripped through by the greatsword, piercing the chest of the magician.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhk!”
“Fu…fuck, what is this.”
“Fuck….. It’s a Named Monster.”
A pretty flashy debut. But I did not give them the time to freely grasp the situation they were in as I threw my dagger at them once again, causing them to scatter.
It was a simple action, but it shattered their formation in an instant. It was very ideal to take care of these guys one at a time. Then, I unsheathed both Cursed Voice and Ancient Flame at once.
Then I charged at the Priest with the lowest physical ability, causing the Warriors to rush out, but I greeted them with the furious blaze from Ancient Flame as it spread out into the vicinity.
The intense heat overwhelmed them into the veil of flames. From this, the Priest looked pale as he couldn’t be helped but be stupefied at what was happening from a simple hunt for slaves.
I swung down my sword and cutting off the Priest’s arms and legs in an instant.
“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik”
The burning of flesh sizzled throughout the swamp, causing the priest to scream in pain, but I did not mind it. Since I had stopped the bleeding by incarcerating the flesh with heat, he wouldn’t die. Then, I saw a Warrior penetrate through the flames. Though his whole body was in flames, he still approached me despite his Priest already being incapable of battle.
“Shit!!! Damn Demon bastard….”
I slightly retreated my body and swung the Cursed Voice at him. Though the blade did not reach him, the distance was enough to be under my area.
The guy returned me a strange look at the sword swinging through the air.
“Stupid guy.”
I switched the location of Cursed Voice with my Greatsword Too Large to be a Sword and cut off his shoulder. Though I could have chopped his head off, but I had decided to take him in alive.
Blood bloomed like a fountain from him as he screamed pleasantly to my ear. Though the explanation was somewhat long, but in that short instant, three people were incapacitated in an instant. At this time, realizing the obvious patterns of my attacks, they began to scatter all around.
“Run away!!”
“I haven’t seen such a monster before…. Fuck…”
Looking back, the clansmen finally flooded out as Black Spear’s weapon ripped through the air.
“Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!”
The air was torn through as it began to bend towards a strange direction. In a split instant, two people were skewered from that black spear as it continued spiral into a rotten tree with immense force before stopping.
The rest of the guys also met the same fate. One of them had their legs and arms completely cut off as Gark was running over with him caught in the air.
On the other hand, Mev had penetrated the armor of the last guy with her arrows and Spirits. It was only a moment before they became incapable of fighting.
“Hmm… not bad.”
Their standards were not that low, but this overwhelmingly one-sided battle showed that the growth of our training was not bad. The only person that had died was the Magician at the start, but the rest were somewhat alive. Though there were many who had lost consciousness, but the one that had its shoulder cut off was looking at me heatedly.
“Fu…..ck…what is this…..”
They had approached here after hearing the sound of a Goblin, but had instead encountered a Demon, so it was understandable why they were so dumbfounded by what had just transpired, but it’s their problem. It’s not something that we had to care about.
“It won’t be bad as a gift…”
After Black Spear nodded in agreement that they had obtained a nice present, we arrived at the Storm Shadow village, which was much different in atmosphere from that of the Ogres. In the case of the Ogre’s village, it was full of vitality, but the village here was very sullen. Knowing that we were coming, the entrance of the village opened, but no one came out to meet us.
Just like the Black Spear Clan, there were Human skulls decorated here and there as possessions fitting to the Troll species began to come into sight. Though the majority of them were related to bones, but that alone was enough for us to feel that we had come to a completely different place.
Despite entering the village, there was still no one to greet us so it was quite a bit surprising.
Looking over at Black Spear with suspicion, he replied with a familiar expression.
“It’s normally like this here.”
“I see…”
Soon, arriving at the largest tent in the village, Storm Shadow revealed himself from it.
“It’s been a while. Black Spear….and…. Blood Dagger….”
It was quite a sullen voice like before. He looked exactly the same as before with quite an impressive molar – the gloomy Troll, Storm Shadow.
TL Afterword:
Calvis: Dang, I like how the MC fights now. Never thought that he would adapt a situation like that (wondering what MC can do to further advance his versatility on his Unique Ability).
PR Afterword:
T0ngan: Ahh such useful UA
Translator: Calvis
Editors: T0ngan Borderline Masochist