Chapter 107. Lawless City (8)
Vrrrrrrm─!
The body of the fallen one, which had been of ordinary human stature, mutated into a massive mass of flesh. The fallen one, now a grotesque mass, buried the men moving the podium and the auctioneer conducting the auction in its own flesh, emitting a strange wailing sound.
Soon, mouths that had formed all over the black mass of flesh seemed to chew and swallow something, making squelching noises.
“Run──!!”
The reaction from the audience was immediate.
Those present were all either nobles, wealthy magnates with immense financial power, or mages. Among those who had come as escorts were a significant number of knights, and there were even warriors armed with expensive magical tools numbering in the dozens. Not to mention, mages who had revealed their power were rapidly completing spells and unleashing them.
Vrrrrum…!
Auras and spells of various colors surged towards the mass of flesh. The fallen one, exposed defenselessly to the onslaught, screamed and contorted its body in agony.
Merely by thrashing about, the podium crumbled. Eventually escaping the podium, the fallen one spread its massive flesh and instantly devoured those who had failed to flee.
“It’s, it’s growing!”
The size of the fallen one, which immediately digested the humans it had swallowed, grew even larger than before the attack, causing those unleashing their attacks to hesitate and step back. The instinct to flee dominated their minds.
Vrrrrrrm…!
At that moment, the mouths on the fallen one’s mass of flesh roared in unison, and screams filled various parts of the auction house.
“This, this thing?! Cough!”
“For the great one!”
“Become a sacrifice for His descent─!”
The emergence of demon worshippers. Somehow breaching security and infiltrating, worshippers who had been posing as guests in various parts of the auction house launched a surprise attack, further adding to the chaos.
“To swallow this false world……! Gah.”
“Behind me!”
Riiiip!
Wham. Tearing through her uncomfortable dress with a rough grasp, Maya, who had suddenly drawn her spear, took down a devil worshipper and shouted. Caught off guard by the unforeseen development, Eto and Pavel backed away as she had commanded, and Maya’s spear, serpentine in its motion, pierced through another devil worshipper’s neck.
‘To think there was really an attack…!’
Thanks to being prepared for the possibility of an attack by demon worshippers from the start, Maya was not caught unawares. Khan, who had entrusted Maya with the happenings of the auction house, had foretold the possibility of an assault and even provided a plan for such an occasion.
‘Sure enough, it’s not just combat skills. The insight as if foreseeing the future. This too is a weapon that must be learned and observed.’
“Submit quietly to become His nourishment!”
At that moment, a devil worshipper suddenly appeared from behind and swung his sword at Pavel.
Startled, Pavel hastily raised his sword to block, but the herculean strength of the devil worshipper was beyond imagination. Unable to withstand it and letting go of his sword, the devil worshipper’s sword bore down on Pavel.
Clang!
Predicting his own death, Pavel had tightly shut his eyes, but when he felt no pain no matter how much time passed, he cautiously opened his eyes.
“You idiot! Who the hell closes their eyes in the middle of a fight!”
Having shed her previously formal tone entirely, Maya deflected the cultist’s sword with her spear shaft. With her slender frame, she had managed to deflect the monstrous blows of the devil worshipper.
‘Is this the power of a Gold Badge mercenary…?!’
As Pavel admired the level of her skill and picked up the dropped sword,
Clang! Clash!
Maya’s spear and the devil worshipper’s sword collided several times in quick succession. Against the cultist’s superhuman strength, Maya didn’t retreat an inch and counterattacked with a sparkle in her eyes.
‘I can hold my own!’
It wasn’t that her strength had increased. Training a pure human body, especially that of a woman, was exceedingly difficult. However, it was possible to compensate for weaknesses with the help of external powers. A magic item selected by Khan himself from Marquis Deillon’s warehouse not long ago.
Though it didn’t reach the level of an artifact, it was at least considered a sub-artifact, according to Khan’s confident assertions. That weapon was her spear.
“Die! Insolent wench─!”
Perhaps he realized she was distracted mid-battle. The devil worshipper, fueled by anger, launched a large, forceful strike, intending to crush her with his substantial size and the strength bestowed by a demon.
Normally, Maya would have created distance in such a situation or aimed for an opening after dodging. But now, she had another option.
The choice to face it head-on!
‘Now.’
The diminutive Maya swung her spear shaft upward from below like a staff. Considering the natural differences in size and strength, this counterattack seemed almost suicidal. But it was the devil worshipper who, unable to withstand the impact, dropped his weapon. The moment their weapons collided, an irresistible force overwhelmed the devil worshipper.
『Yorun’s Spear』
─Impact Absorption: Reduces the force of incoming blows.
─Counter Wave: Stores the reduced impact and releases it all at once.
And Maya was not one to miss such an opportunity.
Crack!
With a thrust swift as a ray of light, she pierced the cultist’s heart and throat almost simultaneously. The cultist opened his mouth, attempting to utter some words.
But the situation was far too urgent to indulge the final words of a mad cultist devoted to a demon. Maya pushed the corpse away with her foot and quickly surveyed the battlefield.
‘We’re not at a major disadvantage.’
Though their numbers had significantly decreased due to the sudden rampage of the fallen one and the surprise attack by the demon cultists, the rate of casualties had notably slowed thereafter. And at the center of it, two figures stood out for their exceptional valiance.
“Filthy creatures─!!”
Like a volcano erupting after long suppression, a knight slaughtered the demon cultists, releasing a furious aura in all directions.
Despite the chaos, a mage concentrated an intermediate-level spell on the fallen one, halting the advance of their ghastly flesh.
Their combined efforts had nearly balanced out the grim tide of battle, bringing it to an equilibrium.
“This, this is more manageable than I thought…?!”
Pavel’s voice was bright as he stayed close to Eto, watching Maya’s battle unfold. With support from mages’ firepower above the countless knights and magic-equipped escorts, the tide of battle was such that it couldn’t possibly turn for the worse.
The initial damage from the surprise attack was merely temporary, due to the suddenness of the assault. The auction house, filled with all sorts of VIPs, was clearly not a place demon worshippers would dare attack.
“If we join them and hold out until that flesh pile is done for, it should work!”
As if agreeing with Pavel’s remark, the auction participants gradually gathered in one place. With the number of demon worshippers dwindling, the risk of being stabbed from behind decreased, so they decided to consolidate their strength. Maya also thought their judgment was correct.
“I’ll clear a path.”
“Please, I beg of you!”
“Don’t fall behind me! Mr. Merchant Leader!”
***
“Hmm, easier than I thought. Don’t you think so, Sir Ehram?”
“…You’re aware that speaking of each other’s status here is taboo.”
“Ha-ha. Everyone probably already noticed, right? Even about my identity. It’s only fair this way.”
“This damned mage…”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Sir Ehram, the knight who had single-handedly slashed through more than half of the demon worshippers, clicked his tongue.
Meeting outside, this worthless person wouldn’t dare speak to him, and he was displeased with the arrogance shown. Despite understanding the difference between keeping his identity a guessing game and openly speaking about it, he purposely exposed his identity.
‘To think, using his brain even in such a situation. This is why mages are…’
He longed to slash the throat of that hideous old creature right then and there. Had it not been for a situation threatening his lord’s life, he would have unsheathed his sword immediately.
‘Now is not the time.’
The situation was dire enough to accept help from even a scoundrel.
Ku-gu-gu-gung!
A slash from above left a deep scar on the marble floor and vanished. Amidst more than ten demon worshippers caught in the aura akin to dragon claws and killed, Ehram looked displeasedly at his sword.
He desperately missed the weapons he had left behind, needing to hide his lord’s status. Not just the armor, but especially the sword was unsatisfactory. Without a sword that could withstand his maximum output, it was difficult to exert full power.
“Old monster, how far can you use your spells?”
“Well, given enough time, I can cover all those flesh piles. But, will that monster wait until then?”
“I’ll buy us some time.”
“Ah, what an honor. Understood. I’ll start preparing now. If the other mages focus their firepower too, that would be perfect.”
In an instant, Ehram, coordinating the strategy, drew out the aura from his sword to the brink of breaking, and shouted.
“Cover the flesh piles until the spell is complete─!”
Commanding his subordinates as if they were his own, the knights and warriors gathered from all regions followed Ehram’s lead. It was an instinctive decision, born of their trust in Ehram, who had saved their lives with his overwhelming martial prowess, to overcome the situation. With Ehram at the forefront, the knights, enveloped in their aura, stomped the ground without hesitation.
Crack! Crunch! Bang──!
No cavalry charge could be as threatening as this. The demon worshippers, strengthened by demonic powers, could not withstand the knights’ charge and were flung in all directions, crashing to the ground. With just one charge, the knights reached the corrupt ones at their very front and did not stop there.
“Haap!”
The aura released from Ehram’s sword as he shouted a battle cry tore through the flesh of the fallen one. It was truly a strike of a superhuman. With just one hit, the fallen one, having lost a third of its massive body, roared in agony and lunged its flesh towards Ehram like a fist.
“Hmph!”
Ehram, deeming it unworthy of response, casually flicked the flesh away with his hand, although the impact seemed heavier than expected, causing him to slightly grimace.
‘If it gets any bigger, it might truly become unmanageable.’
From then on, Ehram’s movements shifted to be more defensive. He intended to leave the finishing blow to the mages chanting spells at the rear, focusing instead on minimizing casualties.
And before long.
“Everyone, step back!”
The mages’ spell was complete. Without having been specifically asked to do so, the mages, led by the one Ehram called ‘the elder mage’, chose spells specialized in widespread destruction.
A spell of catastrophic destruction, called the disaster of the battlefield, exploded towards the swollen mass of flesh, its aftermath powerful enough to make the participants and mages at the rear stagger.
Ssshhh…
Among them, the elder mage’s red spell was particularly striking.
“This staff, the grip isn’t bad at all. Keke.”
Holding a staff he had just won at an auction, the red spell he unleashed not only turned the entire mass of flesh into black charcoal but also showed no sign of extinguishing.
“Is it, is it over?”
“These damned vermins! Once we get out, we must discuss the future of our city!”
“First off, what was the black market’s organizer thinking, bringing the fallen one into the city?!”
With that, the auction participants, concluding that the situation had ended, burst out in anger towards the rulers of Bates, who had caused this incident. Of course, there were also those purely happy to have survived.
“Let’s, let’s get out of the black market quickly.”
That was Eto.
After the storm of spells ended, and suddenly finding himself surrounded by Maya and Pavel, Eto urged them to leave with a pleading tone, his face pale with fear. Pavel, a mere fellow mercenary, wasn’t looking much better, though a smile born of the joy of survival was clearly on his lips.
However, Ehram, who had successfully commanded the battle, had a face so stern it was hard to think of him as victorious.
‘With just this much force, they dared to raid the auction house?’
Why did they. What made them undertake an attack doomed to fail…?
‘It’s an opportunity.’
And the only one who knew about the attack beforehand, Maya’s eyes sparkled with realization.