#104
Escaping the Mountain Range (2)
Swelling muscles and twitching veins.
Coo!
The thick log-like legs hit the floor with great force and pushed the owner’s large body into the air.
In an instant, the “Chalcos-style battle engraving” engraved here and there mysteriously glowed with a faint haze rising from its body.
and.
Sigh— poop!
The ax blade, engulfed in the red shimmering light of the “Biological Auror,” drew a large circle and separated the head of the 4-meter-tall monster from its body.
“Kahahahaha—! “Because it’s so big, it tastes good!”
Harley goes berserk, covered in blood from the troll.
But his attacks did not end there.
Immediately after cutting off the head, he brought the ax down on the troll’s chest, shattering its ribs, and stuck one hand into the gap to pull out the magic stone.
Finally, it breaks away from its large body and lands on the floor.
Kwasik!
…At the same time, the large head lying on the floor was cut in two with an axe.
Cooung—!
Even though its head and heart were destroyed, the troll’s body, which had been struggling for a while, fell to the ground after a short period of time.
‘The troll, who already has strong regenerative powers, is infected with madness, so his vitality is terrible.’
Harley frowned as she chewed on the troll’s magic stone in her hand.
He was used to hunting huge monsters and had overwhelming physical ability, so he was able to deal with him so easily. If it had been anyone else, he would have had a much harder time.
Just like those people who are out of breath as soon as the fight against the troll horde is over.
“Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu her herb her she her her her her her she her her she her her she she she her she her her her her or it it or it or it it it it or it or it or it it it or it or it or or or it it or or it it or or it it or or it it or or it it it it it it it it it
or or her she her her she she her or her or it it or it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it it its it it it it it it it it it it it it it……………. it. it it it it it’s it it’ ( it it it or it its its time its time it gets it to it to it to it to it to it to it to it to it to it to it. What a troll in a place like this. “I’m leaving the mountain range, but it seems like I’m in a deeper place than before.”
As the monsters began to move south in earnest, those living deep in the depths were gradually being pushed outward.
A war was already going on between the monsters and humans living in the outermost regions.
“…Let’s move right away. “As time goes by, the situation will get worse.”
For the high-level monsters that began to appear occasionally, the effect of magic tools that killed their presence was not that great.
They weren’t at that level originally, but their sense of perception was amplified by their instincts strengthened by madness.
The party was by no means weak, but in the current situation, there was no room to do anything with only a small number of parties.
The fight that lasted for several days aggravated their fatigue, and the high-ranking monsters that had to be dealt with carefully were on the verge of popping out when they got bored…
“Look at Harley, who moved the most, and was just brisk. Is it because of that arcane spell? “I’m jealous, I’m jealous…”
“But thanks to that, we were able to come this far. Plus, if we march for just one day, we will be able to get out of the mountain range. Until then, let’s cheer up.”
Guide Marcus spoke hopeful words and led the weary group from the front again.
but.
The situation was getting worse than they expected.
***
Meanwhile, as Harley wandered through the northern mountains, he was able to understand in more detail the behavior patterns of monsters steeped in madness.
Information obtained from other avatars outside said that they were attacking together rather than fighting each other, but that was only partially correct.
As they are living creatures, they absolutely need food for their activities, and the food chain among monsters is also part of that ecosystem.
It was not uncommon to see strong monsters preying on weak monsters in these mountains.
‘It may be more common than before for the weak to turn their heads and attack the strong without hesitation.’
As a result, there were cases where strong people were hunted down.
Even among the same group, they were showing extremely aggressive behavior toward each other, to the point that if there was a dispute over something, a life-threatening fight would immediately break out.
‘If one person devours another, the concentration of madness in the surviving one becomes that much deeper.’
The defeated one dies and becomes food, and the victorious one becomes stronger than before due to the influence of accumulated madness.
This point alone is extremely threatening….
The moment they recognize other intelligent beings, including humans, even while fighting among themselves.
As if they had never fought before, they joined forces and rushed like crazy to annihilate its existence.
Like right now.
***
The first victim was Bordeaux, one of the rangers who was isolated along with the dwarf Zaonic.
Unlike his injured colleague Hans, he was relatively healthy and was in charge of keeping the monsters in check by attracting their attention while others dealt with the monsters…
“Big!”
Suddenly, a hobgoblin caught among the monsters was shot by a poisonous needle fired from a cannon.
“Bordeaux!”
“no!”
Supporting fire was belatedly poured in that direction, but it was already too late to save Bordeaux, whose entire body was momentarily paralyzed in the face of the monster.
The orc, consumed by madness and unable to feel pain, attacked him with many arrows stuck in his vital areas.
Afterwards, the one whose life was over collapsed on the spot and put a bolt between the eyes of the hobgoblin who had fired the poisonous needle… but
Bordeaux had already died on the spot.
‘Use a weapon? Instead of just swinging it, it’s like a blow gun?’
Harley, who was swinging an ax at the front line and tearing apart the waves of monsters, glanced in that direction and frowned.
Normally, the group would have been more careful, but they had never seen a person using such a weapon even after falling into madness, so they must have let down their guard and were late in responding.
‘Was it a particularly intelligent entity? Or is it that he was less affected by madness?’
Whatever the cause, the fact that this increased the burden on the party would remain the same.
It was already a difficult situation, and now we had to keep a check on long-distance attacks as well.
In fact, because of that, fire support from the rear was reduced.
Mikel, who had been constantly taking out bolts from a small quiver, a subspace magic tool, and shooting them with a crossbow, now took charge of the surrounding security and fired each shot more carefully.
‘not good. If we continue like this, we will be annihilated. …except me.’
No matter how strong he was, there were limits to dealing with multiple enemies on his own.
What’s more, aren’t they monsters whose vitality has been strengthened to a disgusting degree?
‘I’ve heard a lot about this and I don’t want to break the 100% mission success rate record… but there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Now I was in a situation where I had to use everything I could.
‘Okay, now let’s properly understand Harley’s power. How far can you go?’
He still moved constantly and slaughtered his enemies, but he also gathered his spirit and increased his strength.
His size, which was already large due to “physical transformation,” gradually grew larger, and the “biological auror” that burned all the energy he had accumulated so far began to burn fiercely.
“Wild nature” was sharpened, allowing me to instinctively grasp the flow around me, and “Regeneration” brought my body into optimal condition.
Following that, the “Chalcos-style battle engravings” engraved on various parts of his body glowed even brighter.
From the ‘flame’ on the chest and the ‘lightning storm’ around the eyes, to the ‘wild beast’ and ‘axe’ on both arms, to the ‘running horse’ and ‘bird wings’ on the legs that were hidden by the pants.
“Whoa—.”
White steam came out from my lightly exhaled breath.
No, not only that, but because of the energy being burned in an instant, heat and steam were spreading out from the pores of the entire body.
His senses are extremely sharp, and the hand he wields the ax is incredibly light.
But it didn’t end there…
Little by little, Harley awakened the ‘madness’ that had been suppressed for so long.
Madness was enhancing his physical abilities just by existing in his body, but he could never be considered to use them properly by itself. My heart
pounded—
I felt like something was flowing through my veins as my heart beat wildly.
It penetrated deep into the muscles, bones, organs, and brain—.
-Okay, let’s tear it all apart! Anything that blocks your way is a sin! Kkakakat!
With the whispers of madness starting to rage again.
Hissing—
The strengthened body became bright red like hot iron, radiating heat to the surroundings, and the black right eye turned red and a flame-like glow lit up.
The moment when Harley fully awakened her madness and completely controlled it and brought it under her control.
《The object grows by meeting the conditions. The skill “Wildlife” evolves into the special skill “Frantic Beast.”
He was able to obtain a means to deal with madness more efficiently.
“Keuha…Keuhahahahahahaha—!”
Energy like an active volcano exploded inside my body, and a cool laugh burst out without me knowing.
A laugh that seems crazier than usual.
‘Ah… I thought it had been a bit quiet these days.’
But this time it was unavoidable.
However, once the combat state where madness is fully open is lifted, this madness will return to its previous level.
…maybe.
‘Then let’s get started.’
As the situation was urgent, Harley was still in the middle of the battlefield even as she increased her strength.
He stretched his right hand to his back and pulled out another ax that had been hanging there for a while.
As the situation became more urgent, one hand was reserved to immediately extract the magic stone, but since I had decided to do my best, this also came in handy.
Harley, holding the ax in both hands, took a deep breath and—.
“Uracha!”
Sigh—! Pow!
An ax flew like a missile and stuck in the head of an orc.
But it didn’t simply end there.
Unlike his right eye, which burned red, his left eye was quiet.
It began to scatter a dark green light.
「Jewel Eye: Telekinesis」
The ax stuck in the orc’s head rose into the air, engulfed in a soft green light.
and.
Hiss—thud! Puff!
Freely roaming the air, he cut off the heads of the enemies targeting his party one by one.
There was no need to see and control it with your own eyes.
His senses, which had become stronger with “Frenzy Beast,” were already able to grasp the entire battlefield in real time.
‘The telekinetic power contained in the ax replaces the power of the auror, so there is no problem with the attack power itself. However, since the energy is sent remotely, the fuel efficiency is rubbish…’
But that also didn’t really matter to him.
At least when fighting multiple monsters like now.
Kwaddeuk— Ahh!
Harley, still empty-handed, pulled out their hearts, put them in his mouth along with the magic stone, and ate them with “freakish eating” over and over again.
The speed of energy consumption in the body, which had been burning and disappearing in an instant, gradually slowed down.
‘Even after doing this, I can’t fully recover.’
This was a testament to how extremely exhausting the skill combination of abilities he was currently using was.
Kwaaaang—!
“Hahaha! Search!”
Of course, the effect was overwhelming.
The extremely strengthened body was accompanied by a loud roar every time it struck the ground, and the ax swung by the red aura had already surpassed the speed of sound a long time ago.
It is already possible to destroy a monster with a simple headbutt.
At this point, my weight was too light compared to my strength, so I had no choice but to take additional measures and increase my energy consumption in order to properly control my body.
The area of the soles was expanded, the toes were transformed into hooks, and a considerable amount of aura was poured into them to increase contact with the ground.
Even then, the floor, which could not fully absorb the force, exploded every time he took a step, but he was able to project the force much more comfortably than before.
‘But the energy consumption is appalling. If it weren’t for the ‘eccentric’, I wouldn’t have been able to maintain it for that long.’
With its explosive movements, it hits and runs at monsters, the fluidly moving ax cuts them into pieces, and its empty hands diligently pull out their hearts and bring them to its mouth.
Meanwhile, the ax, engulfed in green light, is flying alone in the sky, smashing the heads of monsters…
Kwazik—!
Thanks to his performance, the fight soon entered a lull.
The continuous reinforcement of monsters had already stopped, and it was thanks to the simple barrier that Dwarf Zaonic had hastily installed that it adequately absorbed the noise of the battle to prevent it from spreading too far.
‘It was a hastily installed magic tool, so there was nothing we could do about the nearby guys coming in, but this was enough to save us.’
If it weren’t for that, I would have had no choice but to fight until I collapsed from exhaustion.
“Whoa—.”
At that moment, Harley let out white steam with a sigh and tried to cancel her current full-strength combat stance.
‘hmm?’
His senses, which had become extremely sharp, sensed something fiercely approaching this place.
Doo doo doo doo…
A vibration that shakes the earth so much that it can be felt even though it is still far away, a presence that stimulates the instincts of a “frantic beast”, and even an enormous amount of ‘madness’ filled with its body.
‘Oh, it’s ruined.’
The guy was running straight towards this place.
