Chapter 172: For The Yet Unknown Tales (3)

For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Though it was brief, I felt as if I made eye contact with Iona in the distance.

But then, a skeleton wielding an axe charged at me, blocking my view, so I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Th-th-th-th-this…!”

Its teeth were missing, and due to rust, the axe blade was jagged like a saw. A weapon that looked more dangerous for tetanus than a cut if hit. Instead, I threw myself towards it.

Thunk!

It was the sound of the axe’s handle, not the blade, hitting my shoulder.

The bewildered skeleton clacked its jaws, attempting to bite at my neck, but… it was a bit too late.

I was already swinging a dagger at its cervical spine.

Crack!

Sadly, the extra hit from the dagger didn’t activate, but thanks to my accumulated strength stat, its neck snapped instantly.

Only its head dropped; its skull was still intact, so the skeleton flailed about, not breaking apart.

Just as planned. It was about time.

I wrapped my arm around its spine and charged forward, shoulder first.

I didn’t intend to use it as a shield. After all, it was hard to block attacks with just bones.

But I had a simple reason for holding onto it. To knock away the nets thrown by the fishermen.

Swoosh.

The moment I saw a net flying from a distance, I put strength into my right leg and spun around, using it as a pivot.

After a full rotation, I threw away the skeleton I had been holding in my arm.

“Haah!”

The bones soared up, hitting right at the center of the net.

The net, entangling the headless skeleton, retraced its trajectory.

“Kupata haki!”

Ignoring the incomprehensible curse from a fisherman in the distance, I quickly bent backward.

Clang!

Crossing swords and spears where my neck had been.

A fisherman soldier who had approached unnoticed swung its weapons from both sides.

Seizing the moment its weapons tangled, I unleashed the magic I had prepared.

“Thunder Bolt!”

A magic burst out from around me without directing it with a staff.

Though it consumed a lot of mana and lacked precision… it didn’t matter right now.

I still had plenty of mana, and the monsters were close enough that a rough shot would hit.

Crackle!!

The view flickered blue.

“Mwili…mwili!!!”

“It burns!”

The fishermen electrocuted by the lightning screamed, with black smoke pouring from their eyes, nose, and mouth.

I use telekinetic magic to snatch their limp weapons and shoot them forward.

The freely unleashed Thunder Bolt cleared the surroundings, and the thrown weapons pierced through the eyebrows and hearts of the flustered fishermen.

Judging by the tangled net they held, they must have been the ones who threw the net at me earlier.

With nothing else blocking the way, I swiftly ran forward.

The monsters, regaining their senses too late, charged at me all at once… but they weren’t as densely packed as before.

That was enough for me.

I stared directly at the sword of the leading skeleton knight, recalling my H&A days.

The sword falling vertically, feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned inward, was definitely the imperial swordsmanship of the Levantin Empire.

A straightforward and staunch swordsmanship… disguised as a technique-based style.

If you crossed swords even once or turned your body to dodge, you’d get caught up and grabbed by the ankle.

It was a sword technique truly befitting of the empire, designed to tie up the enemy and then overwhelm them with either stronger allies or sheer numbers.

So, one had to either strike with enough force to break their stance outright… or parry all the subsequent combo sword attacks.

I extended my hand, holding the staff, towards the sword, which fell straight towards my forehead.

At the same time, I took a large step diagonally forward with my right foot.

Crash!

With the sound of shattering glass, the shield I had preemptively set up shattered into pieces. Still, it served its purpose as the sword veered off to the side.

The skeleton knight, now in a lowered stance, had its eyes glowing blue.

A diagonal upward slash followed, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

It was a pattern I knew.

I twisted my wrist and struck its joint with my staff.

Thwack!

The skeleton knight, hit before it could fully exert its strength, was easily thwarted.

The staggering creature suddenly grasped its handle and thrust its sword.

Of course. After a vertical slash comes a horizontal or diagonal slash. And finally, a thrust.

However close the icy blade got, it was blocked by the dagger I had ready, and its trajectory twisted.

Clang!

Sparks flew as the sword grazed past my ear.

Simultaneously, I aimed my staff at the now undefended side of the creature.

“Rise! Water Cannon!”

This time, the magic gathered at the end of my staff turned into a high-pressure water stream.

Whoosh.

Unable to offer significant resistance, the skeleton knight was blown away by the stream of water. The entire encounter lasted merely two seconds.

So this was the strength of an enhanced undead, purported to be several times stronger than a normal skeleton.

My confidence in being able to break through grew stronger.

A more intelligent opponent, like a cultist, would realize their attacks were being read and would switch to an unpredictable approach… but monsters would not.

Their instincts were strong, and without specific orders, they tended to fight as they had been, following known patterns.

Meaning, they moved exactly as I anticipated.

Even though there were many of them, the only monsters present were ghouls, skeletons, and fishermen. None of them had particularly complex patterns.

Even some stronger sub-types shared the same foundational attacks and patterns.

The key was to keep moving without pause.

Continuously moving to avoid being surrounded creates situations of one-on-one or at most two-on-one, simplifying the tasks drastically.

After all, all the attacks unfolding before me were ones I’d experienced over and over again in H&A.

Thanks to my exceptional memory, it was as vivid as if I’d just seen it.

The trajectory of swords, the timing of nets or spears flying, the moment claws protrude, the area covered by poison.

All of this was clearly depicted in my mind. All that was left was to respond accordingly.

My body moved as I thought. There was no need to conserve magic.

Endless mana not only increases the quantity of mana but also significantly boosts the mana recovery rate.

And right now, I am even benefiting from continuous recovery through potions.

What was needed was the courage to dance on the blade’s edge.

…And I had made that determination long ago.

I hadn’t forgotten the lessons I learned from fighting with Edmerek.

Thus, even when facing a horde of monsters, my task was simple repetition.

I observed the prelude to an attack with my eyes, twisted my wrist, or struck at a joint. Then, I stuffed magic into the exposed vulnerabilities.

I precisely gauged the attack range and slipped into the blind spots. If possible, embedding a dagger into the enemy’s neck was also effective.

This brief moment allowed me to prepare magic to clear a path and then dash forward again.

It might sound impressive, but simply put, it was just repeating parries, guards, and magic chants.

It might be challenging for others, but with the system correction, it was entirely feasible for me.

After all, I was somewhat of a veteran in H&A.

Even if I failed to discover clever strategies and panicked at the slightest deviation from expectations, I was confident that I could do better than anyone else at things I knew.

Even if I couldn’t defeat all the monsters, breaking through was definitely worth a try.

However, the reason I hesitated until the end, and why Carla and Elisha tried to stop me, lay elsewhere.

It was only a moment of making my way chaotically through the monsters.

Suddenly, the monsters that seemed like they would crush me if given the chance stopped in their tracks and began to circle around me, as if enchanted, creating a distance.

It was as if they were forming an arena.

Thus, some encircled me at a distance, while the rest resumed their advance towards Iona, their original target.

It was later than I thought. Was Iona fighting that well?

I stopped my restless legs for a moment and looked in Iona’s direction.

Grand magic exploded without end on the battlefield, but among it, a doll-like figure effortlessly made its way out.

A beauty with purple hair and a pointed tail fluttering behind her.

With horns on her head and long bat wings at her waist, she epitomized the look of a succubus.

The woman, with a typical succubus appearance, started fussing with wide eyes.

“Oh? Oh my, oh my? Aren’t you just adorable? Exactly my type… It would be a shame to kill you.”

The woman twisted her body subtly, emphasizing her breasts.

“Come here, honey. It’s okay. I won’t hurt you~ You’ve had a tough time, haven’t you? It’s okay to rest a bit.”

Despite the distance, the woman exuded a sweet fragrance to the tip of my nose… I knew her.

Sweet Melonia.

The Archbishop of the Grotesque Proliferation—a symbol of sexual desire.

Even without considering her succubus nature, which was adept at seduction, imagine how powerful she would become with the authority of Grotesque Proliferation.

Despite being on guard, Melonia’s sweet scent was enough to make my head dizzy.

Seeing that all the monsters surrounding me were fishermen, and all males at that, they must have been instantly charmed by Melonia.

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Right. You’re doing well. Yes. Come embrace me in my arms.”

As I staggered towards her with a dazed look, Melonia slowly descended to the ground.

Her exposed breasts between her widely spread arms boasted an extraordinary bounce.

“Ah… breasts…”

“My goodness… I thought you were just my type from your face, but up close, your vitality is even more astonishing…”

Succubus traits and the power of Grotesque Proliferation aside, Melonia was an incredibly attractive woman on her own.

Long purple hair cascading down in waves. Innocent-looking facial features enhanced with a mole under one eye, adding a hint of sensuality.

And her figure was another story. Full breasts and hips that perfectly embodied femininity.

Just standing there made it hard not to stare. That was Melonia.

As I got closer, my eyes were drawn to her scantly covered vital areas.

Her tight outfit and the skin peeking through.

“Hehe. I told you, young men are the best. If only all could fall for me this easily.”

Confidently smiling, Melonia presented her breasts as I leaned in, as if enchanted.

It was as if she was inviting me to embrace her any time.

Naturally bouncing breasts. Towards that soft flesh…

I thrust the dagger straight in.

Scream!

“How could you…?!”

Melonia hastily retreated. Whether it was too late or her breasts were just too ample, one side was slightly pierced.

Even a shallow attack caused the dagger to heat up and emit light because it hit its target.

Boom!

As Melonia screamed, having become asymmetrical in a blink of an eye, I smirked.

“0.7 Faye.”

They weren’t that big, after all.