Chapter 492 (1/2)

Chapter 492

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

I glance at the giant heap of waste considered to be a monster .

There are three important things to keep in mind when fighting with an enemy .

It doesn’t matter if the enemy is a person or a monster .

The first is distance . One cannot begin to fight properly without understanding this .

Whether it’s the one-step distance for a sword, the distance at which a spear can only be dodged by leaping, or the distance a bow is capable of shooting within its range, a thorough understanding is necessary .

Alright, then what about this grotesque thing in front of me?

Based on what I can see, its body that spans from ceiling to wall will cover a considerable distance just by falling over .

If the amorphous body stretches, the distance will be quite wide .

Next is power, physical strength .

Can I block and repel the strike, do I have to kill the strike’s momentum and parry it, or is it dangerous merely to make contact?

If the large substance in front of me has ma.s.s that matches its size, I shouldn’t be thinking I can easily receive or parry an attack . Weight is an important factor in a fight . It’s possible for a fatter body to flatten a leaner toned body .

Last is speed .

If I have the upper hand here, subtle maneuvers or circling around will be effective, and even if an attack is somewhat reckless, I can respond accordingly since I can see the enemy’s movements .

If I am disadvantaged, I’ll have to dedicate more attention to grasping the enemy’s movements and even blinking once can be fatal .

This is clearly a weakness of the enemy in front of me .

Seeing how it moved as it was getting up and coming at me, I don’t think this mound of filth is faster than me or the soldiers .

If I want to exploit an aspect, this would be it .

I stand in front of the monster crawling at a snail’s pace and raise my ordinary steel sword up above my shoulder with the tip pointed forward in a thrusting pose .

I slide my feet on the ground, inching closer to the monster while remaining in my stance .

The monster doesn’t react to me and doesn’t change its speed as it keeps coming, its body filling the pa.s.sage .

It can’t see me? No, I don’t know if it even has a head in the first place .

Eventually, the distance shrinks until about one step more than the length of a typical spear .

This should be fine .

「Hup!」

I exhale and take a step with my right foot .

I don’t know if it reacted to the sound or my movement, but part of the monster’s soft body peels off, bends into the shape of a thick whip and drops down toward my head from the ceiling with a whoosh .

「It moved, and it’s surprisingly fast!!」

「Be careful, golden general!!」

That thing timed its attack perfectly with my lunge .

Which means, it has a brain somewhere .

I pull my body back, leaning as far as I can in the opposite direction to s.h.i.+ft my center of gravity, and then kick the ground with the heel of my left foot to leap out of the way .

「Well, I expected as much . 」

The first step was a feint, and sure enough its speed is slow .

In spite of wearing gold armor that I’m not accustomed to, I could still dodge with room to spare .

Whoever said that was fast will have to train harder later .

As for its strength, it is pretty strong as I thought .

The whip that missed and hit the ground broke the brick on the floor and scattered the fragments .

This thing isn’t just a bag of water filled with garbage after all .

I take a step for real once I land from the earlier hop .

The heavy armor is holding me back, but I’m sure I’m at least twice as fast as before .

Sensing the crushed brick at my feet, I skim past the thick whip and stab my sword deep into the enemy’s main body .

The enemy’s body extends in all directions enough to block the pa.s.sage, meanwhile I am equipped solely with a standard sword ma.s.s-produced for the Goldonian army .

Successfully defeating the monster with a single superb thrust……is not what I’m antic.i.p.ating, rather I’m seeing whether it feels any pain or does anything to hide its weak points or if it will react .

After inserting my sword up to the hilt, I twist it 90 degrees and pull it out, then jump backwards to put a comfortable three-step distance between us .

I raise my sword to resume my stance again, but……

「That’s not what I expected . 」

I was left with only the handle of the sword .

And that handle is still progressively melting like a piece of b.u.t.ter placed on a hot iron plate .

When I tossed away the handle in a hurry, it continued melting on the floor until nothing remained of the sword .

Of course, the enemy doesn’t seem the least bit fazed and slowly reduces the distance at the same speed .

「The sword……melted?」

「Hey, are you serious……?」

The tension level of the soldiers rises immediately, and the hands which were covering their noses and mouths from the foul stench grip back onto their swords and s.h.i.+elds .

「A monster that can instantly dissolve steel, have you heard of any from rumors?」

My question goes unanswered as I pull out a spare sword .

I guess not . n.o.body would know much about such a weird monster .

It makes me seem like an idiot for thinking about strength and distance and all that in the beginning .

「Fine, then I’ll just play by ear . Fire!」

Against an opponent that can melt a sword, there’s no way spears or crossbows would work .

In that case, the only option left is fire .

「Yeah!」

Like they were prepared ahead of time, the soldiers toss torches dripping in oil that grew into a pillar of fire at the feet of the monster .

At first, the monster hesitated for a split second, but then it continued travelling, pa.s.sing over the torches .

The flames hissed briefly before fizzling out .

In other words, splas.h.i.+ng oil on its body and burning it won’t have any effect .

「W-what should we do……?」

The soldier gradually backs away and looks at me with a grim expression .

Weapons we have will be melted right away . Fire is ineffective .

This thing is also filling the entire pa.s.sage so we can’t slip through .

「Monica, is there another path we can take?」

「There isn’t . This is the only one . 」

Unfortunately, I currently don’t have a way to defeat this guy .

With that said, running away will only make the situation on top worse .

「It can’t be helped if there is a single road . Shall we maintain our distance and find somewhere else in the sewers to lure it to? Since we outmaneuvered it once, there is no need to worry about it catching up to us considering its speed . 」

The beautified Guigue suggests .

His mind is pretty screwed but his argument is sound .

「Alright, let’s――」

What I saw when I turned around was dancing pebbles and dust, and cracks rapidly spreading on the ceiling……

「Christoph!!」

As soon as I shout, Guigue pulls Christoph and runs back to where Celestina and Monica are .

Then, Guigue picks up Monica while Christoph picks up Celestina .

In the meantime, the dust falling from the ceiling became like a mist and the cracks burst open, causing the ceiling to cave in .

「Hnm!」

I jumped out and carried Christoph and the others to the ground with me .

「Uwaaaaaah!!」

Guigue groans as the flying rocks. .h.i.t his head, Monica curls up when her back crashes into the wall, Christoph faints when he drops head-first onto the floor, and Celestina, cus.h.i.+oned by him, lands safely .

「Is everyone alright?」

I brush the sand and pebbles off my head .

「O-one person……」

The soldiers were staring at an extended hand that wasn’t moving .

The body attached to the hand was buried under the rubble and the pooling blood informed us he was beyond saving .

However, the mourning and lamenting will have to wait .

「Everyone, raise your weapons . Sadly, our one path is still ahead of us . 」

Having to go on the path that requires us to challenge this monster is the worst .

But we don’t have any other choices .

The enemy did not take advantage of our confusion .

Meaning, this speed, which is equivalent to a baby’s crawl, is the fastest it can go .

Nevertheless, our path of retreat has been cut off .

Not to mention we only have a few dozen steps of room left .

「Everyone――let’s work this out somehow . 」

Crossbows shoot at the monster, but the bolts get absorbed into its body .

It has no effect . Faint white smoke is the only trace left at the spot of impact .

The monster unleashes another whip-like attack .

Guigue and I dodge with ease, whereas two soldiers barely escape being hit .

Spears are thrust consecutively accompanied by motivated grunts .

The first one loses the tip, the second one is reduced to half, and the third one is abandoned before getting swallowed inside the monster’s body .

The monster’s form changes into the shape of a folding fan and strikes down from above .

We have no issue dodging this attack as well, but we are forced to withdraw considerably, losing several steps of precious s.p.a.ce .

Crumbled bricks are thrown next .

I thought it was because the monster’s feet don’t melt things when rocks bounce off a part with a surprisingly elastic surface, however the rocks that make it through still melt away .

It appears as though there is a membrane on the surface, which only when pa.s.sed will melt objects like steel and stone .

「General……we have five steps left . 」

One of the soldiers turns his head toward me .

I didn’t even have time to warn him .

「Huh?」

The soldier twists his ankle and drops to the ground .

No, it wasn’t twisted . It disappeared altogether .

「Jump out of the way! Your shoe!」

We hop backwards .

Simultaneously, Guigue and another soldier fling off their boots as smoke starts to rise .

A section of the monster’s body sneakily reached around us .

Before I knew it, the feet of the soldier who was slightly further in front of the other two melted .

「H-help me――」

The soldier looks at me like he was about to cry, but when he s.h.i.+fts his gaze to Celestina, he snorts once and shouts .

「Feudal lord! I entrust my two lovers to you, ensure that they live without inconveniences!」

「Sure, don’t worry . 」

Guigue seems shocked and I’m not so much of a devil to pretend I don’t know .

Although, I don’t know how it was discovered in the first place .

Not wanting to let Celestina hear his dying groans, the soldier bites down on his glove .

The monster mercilessly gobbles him up .

Once inside the impure monster, the soldier’s armor melts away, releasing smoke and bubbles, then his skin and muscles melt, and then his organs and bones dissolve .

He did not let out a scream throughout the entire process .

「Now what……?」

Weapons are useless, touching it will result in the same fate as that soldier and only 3 steps are left of our path of retreat .

Despair washes over the faces of the soldiers and Monica hugs Celestina to her chest to prevent the young girl from seeing the final scene .

If I was G.o.d watching from heaven, this is where I would say, “this is it, just give up”, but since this involves me, I can’t let things end, even more so because Celestina and Monica are behind me .

I wouldn’t be able to rest in peace if the girls get swallowed by filth due to my idea and I’d have to turn into a ghost .

If I don’t want that to happen, I have to survive .

If I can’t overcome a situation with strength, I have to use my brain .

Fortunately, I’m a resourceful general . It didn’t take long for something to come to mind .

「If I recall, the defeated soldier was further in front than the others . Then it’s strange . 」

It’s strange that he was killed just because he was in front .

Why? Because I’m always the furthest in front .

I stomp on the ground lightly with my boots and raise the sword in my right hand .

「Watch this . 」

No sooner did the words leave my mouth than I rushed at the monster .

The monster intercepts me with the same thick whip used in the beginning, which I slash at with my sword .

「If you cut it with such force, it will spray on you!!」

As the last remaining soldier yelled, the sliced whip splashes onto my armor .

Smoke rises from my sword as the blade corrodes and breaks in the middle .

「……fumu . 」

I throw away the sword, but I don’t retreat .

I fend off its follow-up attack with my bare hands .

My fist sinks into its whip-like body and I feel the disgusting stickiness through my gauntlet .

「With his bare hand!?」

「Dear brother’s arm!」

The one who screamed in pain wasn’t me, it was the monster .

More accurately speaking, it was trembling and moving backwards almost like it was screaming silently .

「You finally moved back, huh?」

Although I feel sorry for the dead soldier, I can’t help smiling .

「I see, it’s gold dammit!」

Guigue exclaims happily .

That is correct . My boots are soaked in that thing’s bodily fluids deeper than the fallen soldier was .

To begin with, it was unnatural for the boots of Guigue and the others to melt yet my armor stayed intact .

This monster can melt steel, stone and human flesh, but not gold .

「And judging by your reaction just now, there’s more to this than simply not being able to melt gold . You hate it, don’t you?」

I move forward in the s.p.a.ce freed up by the monster moving back .

Again, the monster stretches its body along the floor .

Instead of pulling my feet away, I confidently step forward until I am ankle-deep .

The monster trembles and withdraws again .

「Okay, take out your gold coins . 」

I turn around with a grin .

However, n.o.body responds .

What are you dawdling around for?

You guys are giving the enemy time . You still call yourselves soldiers?

「……I don’t have any . My bonus pay all went to dancers . 」

「I don’t have any either . There’s none in Dirty Angel’s pockets either . Actually, there are three copper coins……seriously?」

Guigue and the soldier answered .

「Argh, you poor a.s.sholes! Nevermind――」

I fumble for my wallet and can’t find it .

c.r.a.p, did I drop it in the sewer?

「This is Her Majesty’s money so you better return it!」

I reluctantly get Monica to take out gold coins from her purse .

Those coins are tied to crossbow bolts and are aimed at the monster by Guigue and the soldier .

「Fire!!」

With a tw.a.n.g, the bolts fly at the monster .

Like before, the bolts melt instantly, but the gold coins are left as is inside the monster’s body, gently floating toward the bottom .

Even though no sound is coming out, I can tell the monster is crying in agony .

The moment it was shot, the monster moved back and the places where the bolts entered were unnaturally dented .

It tries to expel the coins inside its body by twisting in different shapes, and eventually resorts to separating the parts of its body around the coins, rolling around vigorously to dump them out and then returning to the main body .

「Hah hahー! The s.h.i.+tty slime is writhing around! This gold coin has more s.h.i.+t on it than that thing!!」

Guigue lets out a spirited roar .

But it isn’t enough .

While it’s true that the monster is gradually retreating further, it isn’t dissolving away or burning .

It merely doesn’t like the gold, it hasn’t been weakened in the slightest .