Chapter: 158. 0-Rank Combat Record – Octomundus (1)
Click! The scenery is breathtaking.
The sound of an empty magazine resonated at my waist.
Ha ha. Damn it.
Is this some sort of joke?
As I sprinted across the rugged earth, I thought that.
Of course, I didn’t say it out loud.
If I did, that monster chasing me from behind would find me.
So, I mastered my mind.
Just act like usual. Just like usual.
Calm my mind, slow my heartbeat, and hold my breath.
Just like when I pull the trigger.
Isn’t that the body of an Awakener?
Yet still…
Huff. Hah.
Air escaped through the leather mask wrapped around my mouth.
A sense of dread overwhelmed my control over my body.
“There you are.”
And then I heard that terrible voice.
The monster that annihilated the patrol in an instant.
When I first spotted it in the plains, I felt no power at all, so I aimed to snipe it casually.
Before I could even fire a bullet, it had flown over and turned my squadmates into ashes with a wave of its hand.
It stomped right over the muddy ground, thud.
At the same time, it tore away the camouflage stuck to my shoulder with its left hand.
The camouflage ripped from my body, spinning through the night’s darkness, blocked the path between me and the monster.
I tossed the grenade pinned to my waist toward the camouflage.
That wouldn’t be enough.
There’s no way that thing would die from just that.
Swinging the sniper rifle that had become one with me.
I fired at the anticipated spot.
Boom!
The enhanced .50 caliber sniper rifle let out a tremendous sound, illuminating the surroundings.
The light created by the gun revealed the monster’s face for a moment.
An octopus draped in loose clothing.
With a vile smile.
However, I didn’t focus on that face.
I didn’t assess the impact of the shot.
I simply twisted my body and sprinted forward.
I am a sniper.
Creating distance is the most important thing.
Until now, I had hidden my body behind the power of the camouflage and bodily control. But I had just burned through the camouflage for one surprise attack.
That means I can’t hide from that monster with its extraordinary detection abilities.
So now, I’ll just fight until support arrives.
Although it seems I might die.
“Hm. How about we chat a bit?”
I heard that voice from behind but ignored it and kept running.
What kind of conversation can I have with a monster that has already killed my comrades?
“Oh, did you perhaps kill the surrounding community for that reason? Well, that was a justified right. You didn’t attack first, after all.”
What nonsense.
When it burned the Awakeners, it was definitely laughing.
This conversation must be aimed at making me stop.
“Then, I will have to forcefully stop you.”
The pressure I felt made me lift my body immediately.
Following my instincts, which had saved me countless times.
And once again, that instinct saved me.
The wind blew once, but there was nothing next to me.
An endlessly long and deep gash in the earth.
As if a giant had slashed down with a blade, the forest that had been here just a moment ago disappeared, and a cliff emerged.
The start of that cliff was right before the monster, who wore a strange smile and raised its hand.
I immediately positioned myself and fired another shot.
To buy time, I sharply adjusted my posture to dodge the attack.
“I just can’t comprehend. Aren’t you an upper-tier warrior? Yet you wield this lowly weapon.”
I heard those words from behind but just kept running.
“I was excited because there were no filthy creatures here, but it seems the residents here aren’t worth much either. An upper-tier individual like you has such a low level.”
I just kept running.
To get away from that thing.
“Don’t you think so? A native who can’t even use the power given to you?”
I heard a voice from the side.
In an instant, I shoved my left hand into my pocket and pulled the trigger in the direction of the sound.
A small handgun.
Despite being weak in close combat, I had carried it to defend myself.
I never thought I’d come to use it, but who knew it would actually be helpful?
As I thought that, the bullet rapidly flew whoosh but…
“Really. Really. How disappointing. Given the power you received, this is how you use it?”
The bullet stopped in front of the monster.
Caught in the core of it, suspended in the air…
Telekinesis.
In that case, I know how to respond.
The distance is just right.
I swung my right hand widely.
A long stick sliced through the air and reached in front of its skin.
Brrrm!
“We live with that lowly weapon.”
I pulled the trigger.
A bright flash, a massive sound, the force from the reckless shot.
Everything transmitted through my body.
The .50 caliber sniper rifle fired its specialized round.
If it wasn’t exceptionally sturdy, it should have been affected by the shock.
I had a hunch that I inflicted damage on it, but I didn’t get cocky and widened the distance immediately.
I sprinted and saw that the target showed no reaction, quickly hiding among the trees and placing my eye on the sight.
I saw its body.
The monster’s corpse with half its upper body, including the right arm, blown away.
I aimed my sights at it.
Bam!
Click!
Bam!
Click!
Bam!
I continued to pour bullets into it.
So that there wouldn’t be a trace left of the body.
After firing a dozen shots, the spot where its body lay resembled a bombing, having formed a crater, and not a shred of the corpse remained.
…What a relief.
It seems I somehow took it down.
If the enemy hadn’t let their guard down, I would probably be dead right now, but fortunately, it is obsessively chatty.
If it had been a monster-type creature, I would have been dead.
Those creatures aren’t weak enough to die from just a single bullet.
Feeling relieved, I was about to take out the radio.
“Indeed, calling it a lowly weapon was my mistake. Although it’s slow and easy to dodge or block, the amount of power contained is phenomenal. It’s an interesting weapon.”
With a strange vibration, a magic circle appeared where the corpse had been.
That thing appeared again.
As if it had been in a different location from the beginning, in its complete form.
“I’ll take back what I said earlier. You are an elite warrior. It has been a while since I’ve been killed once.”
I tried to run away immediately.
“So, about that.”
It blocked my path.
Its pitch-black mouth opened wide.
“May I eat you?”
And my consciousness began to fade.
“Vulnerable to mental magic? That’s an unexpected weakness. I should have done this from the start.”
My eyes closed.
The clammy tentacles approached.
“Ah. Don’t worry about your life. Just a little. You will lose some memories. Just a little.”
Splash.
That texture was my last memory.
“Hmph. It’s harder to swallow than I thought.”
‘I thought it would have no barriers due to the vulnerability to mental magic.’
He pushed further in and opened his mouth again.
Absorbing memories.
Absorbing abilities.
Absorbing talent.
To utilize the powers he possessed.
Al’sel aimed to express his respect to the warrior who had defeated him, wanting to take only the memories while leaving behind the abilities and talents, but he was failing against an incomprehensible mental barrier.
‘What on earth is this input key code?’
“Regardless of the complications, the power itself is remarkably clean. It’s nice not to feel the presence of those vile beings either.”
Thanks to that, I could unleash all my power.
Muttering, Al’sel waved his hand.
Just a quick wave of the hand and innumerable magic circles began to materialize, and a massive amount of mana flowed in.
Diving headfirst into Meteor’s mind, Al’sel gazed at it for a moment before snapping his fingers.
The brightly glowing magic circles extinguished, and the mana contained within returned to Al’sel.
‘The density of power is low. If I hurl magic around, I won’t be able to recover.’
As he calmly thought that, he seemed to recall something and rummaged through Meteor’s pockets.
“Apologies, but I’ll borrow this for a bit.”
Soon after, Al’sel seemed to have found what he was looking for, emerging from Meteor’s pocket with a chunk of black metal.
“Remarkably simple yet effective. Instead of using chemical reactions for launching, it packs all the power into the projectile. Essentially a bow, but more intuitively usable.”
‘A weapon that sacrifices flexibility to focus on damage. A peculiar creature.
He thought that if it were a bow, he could infuse intent into the arrow to bend it in the air or infuse magic into it, but this simply flies straight. It appeared to lack any element to carry intent.
“Until the mental barrier breaks. I should experiment with this.”
Al’sel said that and then cast the gun into the air.
Whoosh!
A magic circle formed around the discarded gun.
Dismantle!
Clank!
The sound of twisting echoed.
Crash!
Components of the gun were disassembled at Al’sel’s will.
It had probably been about two minutes since he looked at the parts.
“As expected. The user only draws that piece.”
If we disregard the destructive power, this is the worst way to utilize power.
There’s no flexibility, no mystery, and it’s even monotonous.
Although Al’sel thought that, he was also feeling some excitement.
‘This would be good for conserving mana. It can also fill the empty tentacles.’
A weapon that fits perfectly for filling empty tentacles.
Unlike other creatures, he needed no support from numerous magical staves or weapons, hence his tentacles had felt empty.
And now he was thrilled to have a weapon to fill that gap.
“So, what shall we call this?”
Unsurprisingly, there was no response.
“Oh. Apologies. You were asleep, weren’t you?”
Al’sel said that with a nonchalant tone, seemingly aware yet pretending not to.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t say anything. It seems I can break through soon.”
Slosh!
Swinging, he tossed the gun into the void.
“Let’s finish this.”
Then he began generating magic circles in both hands, aiming them toward Meteor’s head.
‘Even with this much time, I can’t understand this mental barrier. It’s intriguing, but…’
“It cannot be helped, can it? I’m starting to get annoyed, so I shall resolve this with strength.”
Whizz!
The magic circles began to spin.
To break through the mental barrier lodged in his head.
Just as the magic circle was about to touch his head.
Ping!
A small resonance spread.
Al’sel seemed startled and gave up on breaching Meteor’s mental barrier, throwing himself instead.
In that place, a silver flash rushed forward.
While Al’sel spoke calmly, within he was filled with chaos.
Since arriving in this world, he had been using an immensely vast detection magic and had never let his guard down, yet the confusion arose from the fact that he had felt nothing until just before the attack came.
Even a few tentacles had been severed by that flash.
If the wielder of that flash had precisely aimed for his head, Al’sel’s life could have been wasted yet again.
If it were just that, Al’sel’s mind wouldn’t have been as chaotic.
There are countless stronger beings than Al’sel, and he himself had lost a life to that warrior once.
Al’sel thought that during the turmoil.
Truly, what was even more confusing was,
“Aren’t you an invader? Why are you aiding the local creatures?”
The creature radiating a green glow from the darkness was undoubtedly tainted with intent.
“Yuck. What are you? You have consciousness too?”
Contrary to Al’sel’s inquiry, a voice carrying clarity and reason flowed from Queph’s lips.
…There is consciousness.
“It’s not much. That said, I do have a question.”
Perhaps due to Queph’s easygoing manner, the tension that had surrounded us began to dissipate.
“Go ahead and ask.”
Al’sel too loosened his guard a bit and opened his mouth.
However, that was merely Al’sel’s misconception.
“Why were you attacking humans?”
The overwhelming emotion and anger from Queph began to engulf the surroundings.
“If you mean those natives, then that was self-defense.”
“Tch. Self-defense, huh? Sure. That’s a bare minimum courtesy, so I’ll accept it. They aren’t even my comrades.”
Queph’s mouth twisted, and the world began to twist alongside it.
“Then, the next question. Do you wish to be together with humans in this world?”
Al’sel, finding intrigue in Queph’s question, tinted his skin a deep red and spoke.
“By being together with humans, do you mean a community or alliance?”
“No. We are not natives of this world. Thus, we only protect through sacrifice.”
“That’s intriguing. If what I hear is that many share such ideology in this group?”
Crackle. Crackle.
Both powers collided, and the world began to emit peculiar sounds.
Even though both had organized their thoughts on each other, they opened their mouths.
“If you don’t understand, we can only suppress you by force. That’s how desperate means work.”
“That’s a decent argument. I can agree with that. So, I will suppress humans with my power. I cannot live under anyone. (The world is void.)”
The sound echoed as the two powers clashed.
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