“Wha, what’s going on?”
“Renny. There’s something to do.”
Suddenly a sinkhole appeared right in the middle of the village. Renny stared in shock between him and the gaping hole threatening to swallow the village whole.
“Did you make this?”
“That’s not important, just hand over the sword for a moment.”
“Hey, hey, I’m in the middle of a fight here!”
“Crafting.”
As soon as he shouted the short command, dozens of barriers sprang up, blocking the werewolves’ assault. Renny sighed as she easily cut off the werewolves’ approach and handed over her sword.
“What are you going to do?”
“From now on, I’ll break that full moon.”
“What? The moon?”
“That moon is not real.”
“The moon?”
“Yeah.”
Renny looked up at his words. The round moon hung in the dark sky, not a single cloud in sight.
She scrutinized the moon closely. Upon further inspection, it looked like it was shaped like eyelids, triggering an instinctual unease. Naturally, she turned her gaze towards Johann.
“That…”
“That full moon is probably the core of this space.”
“Great…”
“It seems to be similar to some kind of dungeon.”
Dungeon. Concluding that it had similar properties to that poorly understood space, Johann gripped Renny’s sword tightly and poured his strength into it.
As the silver blade tinged with blue light was enveloped in gray, Renny looked at the sword in awe.
“It has an amazing energy.”
“Just treat it like you would handle aura. It will blend with it naturally, so don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
Renny grasped the sword with both hands and took a stance. Meanwhile, Johann gazed down into the abyss. He sensed Lugaru rising from the hundreds of meters deep pit, shaking the ground with its presence.
[You’re doing something fun! Offspring of Quartz!]
“Crafting.”
The entrance to the abyss was sealed. But aware it wouldn’t hold for long, he glanced at Renny, who had just jumped.
“I’ll leave the top to you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Crafting.”
The walls blocking the monsters erupted with countless spikes in accordance with Johann’s command. As thousands of spikes pierced through the werewolves, anguished screams echoed everywhere.
“Making a racket.”
The interruptions had vanished.
He still calculated the position of Lugaru, which was crawling up the abyss, shaking the ground.
[Do you really think you can defeat me like this?]
“You seem scared.”
Now that the weakness was revealed, this fight was already in his favor. Lugaru, who had boldly initiated the fight, couldn’t hide its astonishment.
‘I thought it was just a rookie, but it seems this one’s a headache after all. Should I have gathered more information?’
If the conditions were met and the descent succeeded, he would have slowly swallowed the world, but being negligent about information gathering led to this result. But Lugaru wasn’t about to give up easily.
[To secure a new nest, one must take on some risks!]
He hunched his body, clinging to the wall.
Compression was essential.
Reduce the cumbersome size, increase the power. He quietly compressed his body.
As his massive frame decreased to about two meters, he kicked off the wall and leaped up. The lid of the sealed abyss shattered under a single swipe of his claw and fell into the abyss.
[Let’s start round two…!]
“Sorry, but I have no intention of fighting you anymore.”
[What did you say?]
Instead of responding to the werewolf god, he pointed upwards with his index finger.
“This is no longer your domain. Mutts.”
[You dare…!]
The moon split in half.
[There’s no way this moon could break so easily…!]
Even if its weakness was exposed, it was nearly impossible for a mundane human to cut that moon. Humans in this world couldn’t withstand the knowledge of another realm and would inevitably become tainted.
Even if they didn’t get tainted, it was still a problem.
Humans in this world couldn’t defeat outsiders either. It was impossible for them to beat even a half-breed outsider with mere human strength.
“You underestimated us too much, mutt.”
[Don’t call me that!]
As the full moon faded, smoke billowed from Lugaru’s body, exposed to the sunlight. As a god overseeing the full moon, his power was gradually diminishing due to the shattering of his domain.
“It’s about time to wrap this hunt up. Mutt.”
[Ha! Even the remnants of Quartz remain Quartz, huh? You’re planning to stop us again.]
“I can’t understand why you’re making such a fuss in someone else’s front yard.”
[How can I refrain from reaching out when the homeland is right in front of me?]
“Homeland, huh.”
‘Now that I think about it, I heard something similar last time.’
He recalled the events at the World Tree. They had said something similar too. He thought he lacked sufficient information about the outsiders.
“That’s in the past, now it’s different. Renny.”
“Uh, I’m so tired.”
Wielding her sword with all her might, Renny sighed and aimed it at Lugaru. Lugaru glared at the two of them with a furious gaze, but with its strength nearly depleted, it couldn’t offer any real resistance.
[To lose so easily…]
“Seems gods have forgotten how to gauge their opponents. Is it not basic to gather information about your prey?”
[True. I was too complacent. If I had known you were around, I would have proceeded in secret. I thought the distraction would make it easier. Fine. I won’t admit defeat.]
“Goodbye.”
The sword surrounded by gray energy drew a line in the air.
———————–
“Hey, I’m about to die from exhaustion.”
“Explaining this is going to make me sweat a bit.”
It’s hard to explain the existence of outsiders, and even if I do, it’s uncertain if anyone would believe it.
Given my reputation, it’s not that they wouldn’t acknowledge it, but it’s still a hassle.
“What if I take that head over there and say that this monster came in, and we had no choice but to wipe out the whole village?”
“That head won’t do. You’re fine because you have lenses on, but a regular person would freak out the moment they get tainted.”
“Ugh, this is complicated… Fine. You’ll handle it well, I’m sure.”
Renny scratched her head and plopped down on the ground. She looked as if she might have sprawled out completely if it weren’t for the dirt floor, and I sat down beside her with a thud.
“Forget about this matter. But… I’m sorry your homeland is gone.”
“Uh? I don’t really care. It’s been over ten years since I came here. I’m not that sad about it being gone now. It’s a bit regrettable though.”
The first outsider had turned out to be more manageable than expected.
Maybe because it’s a half-breed?
It would be nice if the ones attacking us in the future were at least this level. I wanted to start enjoying the fights rather than constantly taking them on.
Thinking about how these kinds keep appearing is bothersome.
If we’re honest, this time it was just a village-sized issue, but next time it could be a city or even an entire nation at stake.
Considering that, Lugaru was quite a small-time dude.
“Hey, when we return, there was a promise to buy drinks, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Ugh, I’m glad to have a good friend like you. I can drink to my heart’s content.”
“Aren’t we still friends?”
“Why, are you trying to hit on me?”
“I was planning to, actually.”
“That’s so not cool.”
Renny chuckled, appearing amused as she patted my shoulder.
“I’m not into playboys, you know?”
“Call me a responsible man instead of a playboy.”
“Give me a break.”
“So, is that a no?”
“You do know you’re currently hitting on your superior, right?”
“Is that how it works?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it even matter? You probably don’t harbor any feelings towards me. I still remember what you said back on the deserted island.”
“No, that was just because I felt sorry for you.”
Renny turned her head away, slightly blushing as she recalled that moment. I would’ve felt embarrassed too if I were in her shoes.
Even thinking about it now, it was a cringeworthy line; what was I even thinking?
“If you date me, you can drink as much as you want.”
“That’s tempting, but you’re Karina’s boyfriend, right? If I tell Karina about this, you’re going to be in big trouble.”
“Do you really think so?”
“…Huh? What does that mean?”
Is she genuinely clueless?
“Renny, everyone except you has caught on.”
“No… but that’s still a bit strange, isn’t it?”
“It’s already sufficiently weird, so adding you won’t change anything.”
I mean, what’s strange about having five partners already? Just adding one more? Finally, admitting that I was serious, Renny sighed and said,
“…Well, that’s true. Should I say I look forward to it?”
“Do as you please.”
“Then I will, why not?”
Suddenly, Renny reached out, grabbed my collar, and pulled me closer.
The distance between Renny and me shrank abruptly. Her eyes met mine, inches away. We both closed our eyes without a second thought.
Soon I felt the soft sensation of her lips.
I tasted the slight hint of blood mixed with her tongue before pulling away and said, “So we’re on day one now.”
“Yeah yeah, nice to meet you. Now let’s head out for drinks.”
We walked away, smiling as we did so.
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