Chapter 2131 – Death Mage Side Chapter 31 (1/2)
Death Mage Side Chapter 31 – Ties of obligation that come to an end
Randolf was a very Elf-like adventurer His weapons were his sharp senses, his exceptional 'Archery' Skill, his speed of movement, his 'Swordsmanshi+p' that used delicate techniques, and his 'Spiritual Magic'
He was the kind of Elf adventurer that ine
A group of Minotaurs stood before him and roared
Many ht think that such an Elf adventurer would be ill- axes and clubs withbull
Arroould be stopped by their thick muscles, so they would have no effect unless they struck the eyes, th, would be impossible to stop with a thin-bladed sword
They were ferocious and tough, unfaltering even ounded, and the Elf adventurer would eventually be cornered even if he repeatedly used 'Spiritual Magic'
“… 'Thousand-Piercing Screw Arrow,'” Randolf murmured
The arrow released fro of his short bohich was easy to use in forests, pierced the center of the chest of the Minotaur charging at him
The rapidly-spinning arrow did not lose h the arh the breastplate and into the heart of the Minotaur Coroup and finally ca round holes in the trees in the background
“Sorry, I put toofor the first time, after all,” Randolf said
Having seen two thirds of their group and their co Minotaurs froze in shock Randolf drew his sword and quickly disposed of them
Despite having a thin blade, it cut through their hastily-raised weapons and thick- rice
He stored the Minotaur corpses in an Iteic Item that could store objects in a subspace in which time was frozen
“I'htonce ed, then continued on
The rough location of the Minotaur King's horde was known, but there wasn't any precise information
That hy Randolf had wind spirits carry sound to hih locations of Minotaurs as he proceeded towards the center of the horde
Most s stayed in the center of their horde This was because the then Followers' Skill, stayed near the King to protect it, and also to 's superiority over them
Monsters that were under the effects of a 's loyal servants, but in the end, they were still monsters Even if they were able to coordinate themselves like an army, they were not an actual army
Monsters merely formed hordes Armies could split up and position their forces, but hordes could not
And the Kings theanized structure
“Though the exception to that is the noble Orc Ee,” Randolf 's horde is no different fro's horde, but…”
Storing the corpses of the Minotaurs standing in his path to stop hih a cave that looks just like a Dungeon
“There are ht I've defeated over a hundred of the have the divine protection of an evil God? The nue you abducted them from was about thirty or forty And perhaps a few adventurers on top of that… Certainly less than a hundred in total, isn't it?” Randolf asked the Minotaur Mage in front of him
But the Minotaur Mage did not answer; it roared an incantation and atteeith flames But the moment it attempted to finish its spell, there was a sudden fierce wind that caused the flae rather than Randolf
The Minotaur Mage shrieked in pain as it burned
“I see, I understand In that case, they are not i in an ordinary way I can't iine that Goblin and Kobold females would be able to withstand them Perhaps there was a settlement of one of Vida's races? Or s have beco the burnt ashes of the Minotaur Mage behind
He ress in the direction that the Minotaurs were appearing from
After defeating the Minotaur General that had been guarding the final door, Randolf eed into a wide, dome-shaped space
The floor and ceiling had ic circles drawn on them in a closely-packed pattern, and there were four Minotaur Mages spread across the edges They see prayers with intense concentration
And in the center of the doer than the others and e as it stood in front of an altar
A rusted, black-red metal bottle and a woman lay on top of the altar It seemed that she was alive, but all four of her li If this was the fes would end quickly, but… soe
The color of her hair didn't iven On top of that, it seemed that she had the ears and tail of a beast
“… It's become a bit of a troubleso your seed into the wo her with the incarnation of an evil God?” Randolf asked the Minotaur
The tip of the groaning Minotaur's cow-like tail suddenly becaer of an insect At the same time, a sinister presence filled the dome
“So, you have been producing an excessive nu's oviduct, perhaps? You have planted your eggs in her to produce offspring rapidly But it's quite the strange frag that Minotaurs are a race of monsters that have only males,” Randolf murmured
Perhaps becons of fear or even unrest, the Minotaur King let out a roar, picked up a nearby halberd and charged towards him
“'Severing Air Flash'”
Randolf swung his sword to perform a martial skill that unleashed a shockwave that traveled towards the Minotaur King But it was nullified with a swing of the Minotaur King's tail, which had transfor's oviduct
With another roar, the Minotaur King laid a series of bus
These eggs hatched therapidly and letting out roars as they were born into the world
A horde of Minotaurs, each of the other than the fact that they did not have the De's oviduct, was produced
“So, you do not need a fe that you did not produce these until I entered this place, the offspring you produce through asexual reproduction are so like short-lived clones of yourself They probably only have lifespans of several minutes to a few hours”
Ignoring Randolf's analysis, the Minotaur King's copies flooded in towards him They weren't equipped with halberds or ars would certainly serve as weapons against the slender body of an Elf
“'Hundred Severing Air Flashes,'” Randolf ain, even faster than before
The countless nuhtered the Minotaur copies in an instant, not even giving the screams
Witnessing the copies that it had gone through the effort to create wiped out by a single attack, the Minotaur King recognized Randolf as a superior foe It raised its halberd and let out a roar
But nothing happened Du turned to look at the altar, but –
“'Summoned Wind God Spear,'” Randolf murmured
His wind-attribute 'Spiritual Magic' spell pierced the Minotaur King's exposed torso
But it did not fall; it let out a shriek filled with agony and rage, and its wound began to heal
Perhaps the Deeneration' Skill that Minotaurs did not ordinarily have, or perhaps its shriek had been the incantation for a healing spell
But naturally, Randolf swung his sword to deal the fatal blow before the wound could completely heal However, his 's oviduct on the end of the Minotaur King's flexible, whip-like tail
The Minotaur King sneered, as if it could easily defeat Randolf as long as it did not lose its coain
Randolf sighed “Unfortunately, this sword is made of Mythril, so it does not have the ability to directly fight against the frag like an Orichalcum weapon But… 'Wind Remnants'”
He cast a spell that warped the air and created heavy afteries of himself made of wind, then deftly closed the distance between hi
He was si's oviduct and its halberd, but they pierced only his afteries
“'Triple Lightning Thrust'”
Standing directly in front of the Minotaur King, Randolf unleashed three quick thrusts that were as quick as lightning, ai's solar plexus, heart and neck
“It just ans without directly facing the fragment,” Randolf murmured to his defeated foe
Still wearing a look of shock, as if unable to believe what had just happened, the Minotaur King fell Its wounds did not regenerate this time
“Taking the De the size of the horde, it ht not have been possible to stop the ritual without at least ten class adventurers,” Randolf said to himself
The De's oviduct atte's corpse Randolf took out a Magic Ite and sealed it away He also retrieved another frag, which had an old seal on it
He then used his short bow to slay the four Minotaur Mages that had taken no notice of the Minotaur King's death and were still continuing to pray in order to maintain the ritual
“Of course, it seems that the evil God abandoned these monsters for some reason, so there's no way to tell whether the ritual succeeded or not It could have sent a familiar spirit or spirit clone Then I would have been able to at least enjoyabout the na
At thathad activated the 'Familiar Spirit Descent' Skill or one of its superior versions But the God it prayed to had not answered
“Still, why did it abandon these Minotaurs?” Randolf wondered “It is likely to be an evil God, so there shouldn't be any reason to not answer their prayers Even if it did see that there was no hope for victory, sending a fareat effort”
Meanwhile, the evil God worshi+ped by the Minotaurs… Langleboza, the evil horned cow God, let out a large sigh of relief “The ritual has safely failed… that danore rumbled
Langleboza was an evil God with an appearance resehts on Minotaurs of all monsters
He had also granted a divine protection to the King of this horde, but… the King had killed the host of the De's oviduct, which had been on its way to the Boundary Mountain Range, and retrieved it On top of that, it had even used a second frag, which it had acquired in a sealed state, and began atteleboza to descend upon… all while ignoring Langleboza's Divine Messages telling him to stop and lay low
This was no joking matter No evil God would wish to descend upon the world unless they had a death wish
The forces of Alda, the God of law and fate, were very active, and Vandalieu, the 'new De' feared by Alda, was also present on Lambda's surface
A monstrosity who could devour the souls of not only mortals, but Gods as well
Even Randolf, who had just done Langleboza the favor of defeating his servants, was a superhu an ability in combat that orthy of an S-class adventurer He was another being as capable of fighting Gods
But Vandalieu was too dangerous in a way that was different from Randolf
He had already devoured several evil Gods, such as the evil God of release and the evil God of the ic tome Even the God of records, Alda's close servant, ended up in his stomach
Langleboza had no intention of joining these Gods in their fates
That hy he had not responded to the Minotaur King's use of 'Familiar Spirit Descent' To ensure that it would not have even the tiniest chance of defeating Randolf
“Even if it is defeated by this adventurer, I am completely unharmed I can simply stay holed up in my Divine Real as it takes for the situation on the world's surface to change It is possible that I will never awaken, and my slumber will be no different froony as I aleboza told himself
Paying no attention to Randolf, he withdrew his consciousness from the world's surface
Unaware of these circuave up before long, realizing that Gods had their own situations
“I suppose there is no difference in the fate that awaits those who believe in and rely on Gods, whether they are human or monster,” Randolf , but this girl is…”
He looked at the girl on the altar She continued to stare into space with empty eyes Her ars above the knees The stu to stop
Even if the severed limbs were found, it would be iinal state… but more importantly, Randolf was surprised when he saw her face
“So, this really isn't Juliana Alcrem,” he murmured
Juliana's older half-brother, Duke Alcrem, had asked Randolf to put her to rest if she were still alive, and make the public story that she died in battle rather than having been captured by the Minotaurs Randolf had also been given a description of her appearance
The colors of this girl's hair and eyes were different More importantly, she was of a different race
Juliana Alcreirl soolden hair and blue eyes
But the woolden Her eyebroere thick, and she had a strong-willed, deterly wild about her, but she didn't lack dignity entirely, and she could have certainly been called a beauty
But there were triangular, feline ears on her head, and a leopard-like tail at her waist
She was clearly a Beast-kin, though Randolf couldn't tell whether she was a wildcat-type or leopard-type Beast-kin
“What to do… Thesome suspicious ritual, so I was certain that they would have her close to the King so that they could use a noble lady as a sacrifice or sohed
In stories, woive birth to the incarnation of a God were nobles, but… that was likely to not always be the case for Minotaurs
It was possible that Juliana really had died in battle, or even if she had been captured, perhaps she had been unable to withstand the Minotaurswith her
To Randolf, who had no interest in gaining trust or reputation as an adventurer, he didn't , but –
“That would be too pitiful I'll at least hear what this girl has to say,” he decided, taking out a cloth froirl's body with it
He then activated a Magic Iteuise, then cast the 'Antidote' spell on the unawakening girl
Light gradually returned to the girl's empty eyes, and her expression became clearer
“Ah… Huh? I'm… Ah…Aaaaaaahhh?!”
TLN: The girl is using “ore” as a pronoun for herself, so that is almost exclusively done by boys/men