Chapter 144: Abnormal Phenomenon (2)
TL: Potato-tan
Proofreader: Asianpotato
In the presence of demon beasts that even the brave young men of the village feared and avoided, a stranger emerged from nowhere, wielding a massive axe and a sword, and proceeded to behead the demon beasts with ruthless efficiency.
Todd could barely make out the stranger’s movements. To him, it appeared as though a flash of white light from the stranger’s sword was all that separated the demon beasts into multiple pieces that spun through the air.
As the severed limbs and torsos crashed to the ground, spraying blood and gore in all directions, the demon beasts let out pained grunts and gasps before collapsing.
‘Could the demon beasts be. . .feeling fear.?’
The unbelievable sight left Todd speechless for a moment. The demon beasts, unable to escape, were all slain; their heads or hearts were pierced through. Regardless of how much magic power enhanced their physical prowess, their fundamental structure remained unchanged.
Of course, there were exceptions, like the legendary Manticore, a monster that was an amalgamation of various beasts, but there was no such chimera present at the moment. These were merely beasts that had succumbed to magic power, losing all sense of reason and hungering for human brains, blood, and flesh. A dire situation, to be sure.
Grunting, the stranger flicked the blood from his greatsword and axe, then strode towards Todd.
Todd found himself unable to lift his heavy body, so he simply looked up at the stranger. The stranger, who introduced himself as Russell, regarded him with cold, almost indifferent eyes.
For some reason, Todd couldn’t hold Russell’s gaze and looked away. His earlier confidence had vanished without a trace.
As he lowered his head, Todd’s gaze fell on Russell’s neck. In that instant, Russell’s hand shot out and grabbed Todd by the scruff of his neck, hoisting him up as if he were a child.
“Explain yourself. Why are the forest’s beasts running rampant? What is this barrier you’re referring to?”
Todd nodded dumbly. He could not lie in front of these piercing eyes.
Slowly, Todd began his explanation.
“The forest near the village has been strange for about two weeks.”
White Reindeer Village was not a peaceful place, but it was rarely attacked by wild beasts, and demon beasts were even rarer.
However, at some point, wild beasts began to appear in such numbers that they were consuming the vegetation, and these beasts eventually transformed into demon beasts due to magic power, which led to frequent attacks on the villagers.
Three people had already gone missing, and the villagers had accepted their deaths, as blood and flesh had been found scattered in one part of the forest. The villagers had relied on Todd, the village’s only priest.
And so, Todd, the priest of Enlir, stepped forward. Enlir was not as well-known as the gods of the sun, justice, death, or the moon.
Nevertheless, his sect had decent blessings and barrier techniques for beasts, so Todd had been able to effectively keep the demon beasts and wild beasts from approaching the village for the past few days.
However, the amount of evil energy flowing through the trees and forests continued to increase, and even herbivores began to transform into demon beasts.
Naturally, the barriers had become weaker and required constant reinforcement. However, the number of demon beasts continued to grow, and the loggers and hunters who made their living by hunting and logging in the forest found the barriers to be a hindrance. The priest alone was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain them.
In the end, one of the barrier’s pillars completely collapsed today, allowing the demonized beasts of the forest to invade the village, only to be slaughtered by the mysterious stranger who had just arrived.
Todd still wondered if this was reality or a dream. But the sight of the bloody, scattered corpses and the frozen, shattered ice chunks left no room for doubt.
“Kyaaah!”
“Eeeek!”
“M, Monster!”
Just as Todd finished answering Russell’s question, screams and roars erupted from the village. Russell looked up and saw three demon beasts rampaging in the opposite direction of the village.
There was a giant eagle in the sky, a wild boar, and a horse on the ground.
They were all much larger than any of the demon beasts Russell had just slain, and they possessed a considerable amount of magic power.
It was unclear whether this was due to the barrier’s collapse or some other reason. It was clear that the demon beasts were now filled with murderous intent towards humans.
“Russell!”
Irrucil and Aellasis rushed out of the hut. Calia came out last. She had made a shadow doll that she used to carry Dave and Daisy.
“Demon beasts. They’re rampaging through the village now. Let’s take care of these first, and then we’ll deal with the others.”
Everyone nodded at Russell’s words.
As always, Irrucil’s face was calm and expressionless. Aellasis, on the other hand, had an annoyed frown on her face, as if she were irritated by the interruption of her much-needed rest.
Todd spoke with a trembling voice and expression.
“Y, You’re going to help our village?”
“I need to eat and sleep, and I don’t want to do it in a field of corpses and rubble. So yeah, I’ll help.”
As Todd’s eyes widened in surprise, Russell looked at Calia and said,
“Calia, please take care of the siblings. Help with anything else around here.”
“Got it.”
Calia nodded with a smile. Russell nodded back and ran towards the village.
Todd watched in a daze as they crossed the entrance to the village, then hurriedly got up and followed after them.
“L, Let’s, let’s go!”
The small village appeared to be using the same wooden palisade as before. The old wood was rotting in places and looked like it would collapse at the slightest touch. There were no watchtowers or fortifications to speak of.
It was a testament to how peaceful this village had been for so long, or perhaps how little danger the surrounding area posed. Russell passed through the unguarded entrance without any fuss.
The small village had many houses built close together. As Russell quickly navigated the maze-like streets, he stopped at a fork in the road.
“Sister, there’s a large horse that way. You take care of it.”
“Sure.”
After sending Irrucil on her way, Russell looked at Aellasis.
“Aella, you take the high ground.”
Russell climbed onto the roof of what appeared to be a woodworking shop and immediately spotted the wild boar that was rampaging through the houses, smashing and destroying everything in its path.
“Don’t, don’t back down!”
“Eeeeaaaah!”
A group of young men appeared. Each of them wore patched-up cloth clothing and crude armor made of iron plates covering their chests, shoulders, and abdomens. They were also armed with spears and axes.
However, their legs trembled pitifully as they stood before the demon beast.
Grooowl, snort!
The massive wild boar stood more than two meters tall. Its thick, spiky fur, a mix of black and brown, stood on end like a hedgehog’s, and its eyes were blood-red.
Clear saliva dripped from its large mouth, and its massive white tusks, which protruded from the sides of its mouth, glistened. One human was already impaled on those tusks, his body twitching.
“Ugh, Ugh. . .”
A man who had been trying to escape but was impaled by the tusks from behind collapsed, clutching his gut with blood-soaked hands.
“Nathan!”
Someone recognized the man and shouted through gritted teeth.
As the man died, a long, pudding-like tongue slithered out of the boar’s mouth like a tentacle. It wrapped around the man’s corpse, pulled it off the tusks, and stuffed it into the boar’s mouth, where it was chewed and swallowed with a sickening squelch.
“Aaagh. . .”
The villagers took a step back in horror, disgust, and fear at the gruesome and terrifying sight. Their faces were pale, and tears streamed down their cheeks.
Some of them lost their grip on their spears, axes, and swords, which clattered to the ground. The boar demon beast seemed to enjoy the fear emanating from these humans. It almost looked like it was laughing.
In an instant, the demon beast swallowed another human whole. Then, it opened its snout wide.
Russell’s eyes could see the magic power building up inside the boar’s body, about to be released through its vocal cords.
Russell, who had been leaping from roof to roof, arrived just as the boar was about to unleash its sonic roar.
Wheeeeeeee!
The deafening roar, which sounded like the squeal of a pig amplified a hundredfold, caused the surrounding buildings to crumble, and windows, walls, and planks shattered into pieces. The sound itself was an attack.
Nearby villagers fell to the ground, blood gushing from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths.
Then, at a certain point, the wave of sound, which had been spreading out indefinitely, suddenly stopped. That point shimmered white from the collision and vibration of the air, and its range was gradually narrowing.
“W, What?”
“What is this?”
“Hey, are you okay?”
“P, Priest?”
Priest Todd, who had somehow managed to drag his heavy body along, rushed to the side of those who had collapsed, bleeding. The villagers who had not been knocked down by the sonic wave attack looked at him in confusion, but helped him drag them to a corner out of harm’s way.
Russell looked up at the sky and saw Aellasis floating in the air, her arms outstretched, radiating magical energy.
Aellasis’s white hair danced in the air, and her face was as cold and indifferent as the gray sky.
Soon, the powerful sonic wave, which had been causing the air to ripple, lost its strength at a certain distance and dissipated.
Kyaaaaah!
Aellasis’s head turned. A black eagle with a body and wings was swooping down from the sky. Its two front legs were extended, and its black claws were spread wide, as if it were about to seize and tear apart Aellasis’s body.
A bluish aura began to emanate from Aellasis’s light blue eyes, and thunder rumbled amidst the dark clouds.
In an instant, lightning and the eagle collided.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The boar demon beast closed its snout, realizing that its roar was no longer spreading. Then, it turned its head towards the one who had blocked its attack. Its red eyes, wide with fury, drew long, red lines in the air.
However, it could not find Aellasis, who was floating high in the sky, and it could only see Russell, who had landed right in front of it. The red demon beast’s eyes met Russell’s purple eyes.
Snarl, squeeeeeal!
The boar-demon beast snorted out a cloud of hot air and charged forward, its legs propelling it with incredible force. The ground cracked beneath the impact of the abnormally large leg muscles, and the boar’s body shot forward.
The people in the area screamed as the boar charged towards them with its two tusks bared like horns.
“W, What!”
“H, Hey!”
“Run away!”
The villagers scattered in all directions as the demon beast charged. In the chaos, a child fell and cried.
“Renon! No!”
The child’s mother, a woman, rushed over and pulled him into her arms. The boar demon beast continued its charge, seemingly intent on trampling both Russell and the mother and child behind him.
As Russell and the demon beast were about to collide, the people watching involuntarily closed their eyes.
However, all they heard was a loud bang, and no one screamed. When the villagers opened their eyes, they witnessed an astonishing sight.
The man in the coat had stopped the boar’s charge with just one outstretched hand. He stood on the ground without taking a single step back.
In contrast, the ground behind him had split open in a wide fan shape. The boar demon beast stood rooted to the spot, unable to push any further against Russell’s palm.
The moment the boar’s nose touched his palm, Russell had channeled the force from its massive body through his palm, shoulder, waist, knees, and heels, then transferred it to the ground behind him.
It was a technique that reversed the principle of the warrior’s cry, neutralizing the opponent’s force.
Instead of using the force of the recoil to amplify it through his joints and magical circuits and release it through his fist, foot, or other body part, he had used it to neutralize the force exerted by his opponent.
In theory, it sounded simple, but in practice, it required incredible senses that could perceive even the most fleeting moments, control over every single muscle in the body, and a ridiculous level of skill to channel the force through the trained magical circuits.
The boar, unable to comprehend what was happening, fixed its bewildered, furious eyes on Russell. At that moment, Russell’s other hand clenched into a fist and drew back behind his shoulder. Then, he threw it.
Bang!
With a sound that belied the fact that it was a human fist, the boar demon beast was sent flying backwards, its head shaking violently. Its eyes shook violently, and it seemed to lose sight of its surroundings as its legs buckled beneath it, collapsing with a thud.
Weeeak!
The impact, which had shaken the demon beast’s head and body, caused blood to gush from its mouth.
However, the blood did not flow for long, as tendrils of magic power rose from the demon beast’s entire body. Russell watched with interest as the magical energy that had turned the demon beast’s insides into mush was devoured and regenerated.
“Interesting creatures.”
The boar demon beast briefly closed its mouth and then opened it again, its eyes glowing red.
At that moment, the thick fur that covered its entire body rose up like waves and flattened against its body, facing Russell.
Papapapap!
The sharp, needle-like hairs were fired all at once. Their force was so strong that the sound of them cutting through the air resembled hundreds of arrows being fired.
Russell, who was standing right in front of the demon beast, felt as if his entire body would be pierced by those thorns at any moment.
However, that did not happen. The thorns that had been fired all stopped in mid-air, unable to move. The people watched in awe and disbelief at the magical sight.
Russell walked towards the boar, which had fired all of its thorns and now revealed its bare red skin. The demon beast gradually backed away as Russell approached, and then collapsed as if its strength had been exhausted.
The demon beast’s magical energy had been completely depleted, and its red eyes held no ambition or killing intent, only fear. Russell recognized another gaze within those eyes, one that was looking at him.
“Yes, watch carefully. I’ll make you the same.”
And with a lightning-fast swing, Russell’s fist pierced through the demon beast’s head and destroyed its brain. Then, blue lightning erupted from his fist.
Tsususususu!
The boar demon beast’s head shook violently as Russell’s fist remained embedded in it, and black blood gushed from its eyes, nose, and mouth, soon followed by white smoke.
Cooong.
As the boar demon beast’s eyes rolled up and only the whites remained, Russell’s magical detection sensed another magical energy signature fading away in the distance.
Irrucil had also successfully defeated the other demon beast.
“It’s falling!”
A large object cast a shadow and crashed down right next to Russell, along with Aellasis’s scream.
It was an eagle-shaped demon beast, with one wing and one leg torn off, most of its feathers plucking out, and the smell of roasted meat emanating from its entire body.
“Ugh. . .”
Aellasis, who was gagging, descended from the air, covered in feathers.
Todd and the villager looked at them all in a daze, their expressions a mixture of confusion and awe.
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