Free Web NovelChapter 16: Lands of Horror [5]
’This kid is really insane.’ Ezio thought as he watched from Yves’s shadow.
A newbie Awakener fighting a Mid Common beast was nothing short of madness. That class of beast was enough to kill four or five Awakened-rank Awakeners.
And yet here was Ezio’s young master, trying to fight one as if he hadn’t awakened just two weeks ago.
He had never seen this level of insanity before... well, with one exception. His older sister, who was a monster in her own right, had pulled something similar to this once.
And not just her. The Duke, too, was an absolute menace.
’Does madness run in their blood?’
There was another thing that surprised him.
From the very beginning, Yves had told him not to help at all, unless it was absolutely necessary. When he first heard that, Ezio was certain Yves was trying to get himself killed.
It wasn’t enough that Yves had asked to be brought to this cursed forest, but he had also asked his own guardian to simply stand by and do nothing.
Ezio thought of all the arrogant young nobles he’d seen, the ones with too much pride who attempted reckless things to show off their strength, only to die because of it.
That was his first assumption about Yves. But he quickly dismissed it as he watched Yves move through the forest like he already knew exactly where he was going. freewebnøvel.com
’It’s as if he knows this forest like the back of his hand.’
Yves moved like a seasoned hunter, cutting down every monster in his path.
He didn’t kill just for the sake of killing. He killed with intent and precision, finding each monster’s weak point and ending them cleanly.
And Ezio knew for a fact that his young master had never fought a beast or monster before in his life, and yet... Yves showed no surprise, no fear, the first time he encountered them.
Which made him wonder.
Was this really the young master he knew?
That question had been spinning in his head for weeks now.
How could someone who had never once stood up for himself against the insults of his own servants suddenly do a complete 180 and execute them as punishment?
’A demon, maybe?’ He thought.
It was an absurd idea, but not impossible. Demons could possess a host through a contract, and they were known to be ruthless and cold, which would explain Yves’s newly cold demeanor.
But then again, Ezio had been watching Yves closely for a long time and had detected no contact with any demonic entity.
It had all started after Yves was pushed into that lake. The person who climbed out of the water was not the same person who had fallen in.
Demons didn’t always need a formal contract to possess someone. Sometimes a person’s own desires could create an opening.
But that was impossible too. Ezio was strong enough to sense even the faintest trace of demonic energy, and there was none. Even if he had somehow missed it, the Duke would have detected it instantly and dealt with it. That was simply how powerful the Duke was.
So the only conclusion left was that this was Yves’s true self, awakened by whatever had happened to him.
’I’ll just watch and see how far he goes.’ Ezio thought, turning his focus back to the fight.
’If he’s about to die, I’ll step in.’ That was what he told himself, though something told him it wouldn’t come to that.
...
The fire monkeys kept screaming alongside their leader until the leader fell silent, and suddenly all of them went quiet too.
The fire monkey leader looked at me, its eyes turning serious.
It was coming.
The fire monkey leader closed the distance in a heartbeat, one massive fist swinging toward my ribs.
It was honestly fascinating how something that size could move that fast.
I knew that if I tried to take that punch with my bare body, I’d be sent flying like a ragdoll, and I had no time to dodge it cleanly.
The muscles in my legs and arms tensed as I poured mana into them. I planted one foot back and swung my katana, blade humming with mana.
Clang!
A loud metallic crack rang out as the fist met the blade.
I was thrown back a couple of meters, my feet skidding and digging trenches in the sand.
’Too strong.’ My arms ached just from blocking with the katana. If that was already this painful, I didn’t want to imagine what a direct hit would feel like.
It would not be pretty.
The beast was already on me again, this time bringing its fist down with a whoosh as it tore through the air.
I didn’t panic. [Clear Mind] was already active, keeping my thoughts sharp.
I stepped to the side, dodging the fist. I felt the wind from it brush past my face as it slammed into the ground beside me. My katana was already thrusting forward, hissing through the air toward the beast’s eyes.
The fire monkey leader snapped its head to the side, protecting its eyes. My katana struck its horn instead, throwing off white sparks.
Just as expected, an opening appeared, and at my will, a sharp spike of darkness erupted from the ground toward its exposed stomach.
I thought that would land, but to my surprise the beast moved with incredible speed and brought both arms together to block the attack, the force pushing it back a couple of meters.
The spike barely grazed its skin.
"Tsk, that hide is going to be a pain."
"Ooh-ah." The monkey said, flashing me a sharp grin.
That thing was definitely not just an animal.
Oh, remember my earlier plan to burn down the trees?
Turns out the fires had already gone out. Apparently, the fire monkeys could extinguish their own flames. That explained why none of the trees had ever burned down before.
Honestly, even as their creator, I had no idea they could do that.
Anyway, this time I charged at the beast and sheathed my katana, hand resting on the hilt as I closed the distance.
The beast tilted its head as if confused why I had put my weapon away, but it found out soon enough. I poured a large amount of mana into the blade and, with a burst and a sharp shhiiing, drew the katana at tremendous speed, aiming for its neck and carving a black arc through the air.
The fire monkey’s eyes widened at the speed of the draw, and instead of dodging it punched back.
Clang!
Sparks scattered through the air on contact, and this time the leader didn’t come away unscathed.
A small cut opened across its fist, drawing blood.
"Too shallow." I said, jumping back.
"Ooh?" The beast looked at the wound, then licked it.
"Oooh-ah!" it screamed, with what I assumed was delight.
Then we both lunged forward, kicking up black sand. Katana met fist.
Sparks flew again and again as we collided.
Dozens of black arcs cut through the air as I slashed and blocked the monkey’s attacks. Every strike I aimed was meant for a vital point, and every time, the beast blocked it.
I went for the heart, its fist was already there to parry. I went for the head, its horns caught my blade instead. Whatever I tried, the beast met it with the hardest part of its body.
Its skin was so tough that even with mana-infused strikes, I couldn’t land a proper cut. That alone told me how strong it really was.
We kept circling, attacks colliding again and again. My muscles strained with every block. Every time I attacked, it countered with an attack of its own.
If I went for its stomach, it would block with its huge arms and kick toward my chest, which I’d block with my sword.
Partway through, the beast suddenly picked up its pace, attacks coming faster and faster. My katana blurred with darkness energy trying to keep up.
Even with [Clear Mind] active, it was getting hard to track, my eyes darting up, down, left, right with every movement it made.
And then, finally, an attack slipped past my guard and caught my thigh, its claws digging into my flesh. Gritting my teeth, I yanked my leg back in time to keep the wound from getting worse.
I willed it to start healing immediately, but new wounds kept appearing.
Cuts on my cheeks, my arms, my chest. No matter how much I healed, that damned monkey just kept opening new ones.
And God, it hurt so much, with how badly they burned.
So instead of wasting mana on minor wounds, I stopped healing them entirely and focused only on the ones that would actually slow me down.
As much as the cuts hurt, it was still far better than having my ribs caved in by those fists, which was why I focused more on blocking those.
Despite the burning pain, I felt nothing but exhilaration.
Yeah. I was enjoying this.
I had never felt this alive before.
The constant reminder that one small mistake could kill me, combined with the pain, only made the fight more thrilling.
A fight to the death really was something else.
So I kept pushing, until my blade would finally draw blood from that damned monkey.
