The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 159

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 159

After relaying the story about Gunther and the current situation, I asked him, “So you were heading deep into the mountains, right?”

“Yes, because it’s dangerous. After spending a day here, I realized that dangerous monsters of unknown identity live in this place.”

So he was going deep into the mountains? Not looking for the village? It was hard to understand at first, but after hearing his next words, I immediately comprehended.

“Ars, other people might have come here like you, right? I’m not worried about you or Ilya Anfei, but for Princess Sophia and the other young ladies, this place is extremely dangerous. So I was going into the mountains to check for their safety, just in case. If they went to the village, I could be at ease no matter what, so I didn’t think the village was the first place to check.”

“I see.”

He was unexpectedly thoughtful.

He, being powerful, was going to check the lair of the most dangerous monsters.

While I prioritized inquiring in the village, Gunther decided to immediately check on the safety of others.

Hearing it like that, Gunther’s words seemed right.

Honestly, I wasn’t very interested in the monsters or dungeons of this mountain area, but now that Gunther has been found, things are different.

There’s a good chance someone else could be here too.

“I’m planning to go to the monsters’ lair. Ars, you can go back to the village if you want.”

“No, I’ll go with you. The mercenaries have gone out to clear the dungeon now, so I think it would be good to move together with them.”

“Mercenaries? That’s perfect.”

So we slowly moved our steps towards where the ominous atmosphere was thickening, keeping our guard up.

***

The group from the Salvation Alliance that found the village was in a hurry.

“Kelly! The installation of the salvation movement magic circle is complete!”

“Good, prepare it right away!”

They were burning up inside. The situation was that urgent.

Seeing them like this, the village chief asks anxiously,  “Has, has some problem occurred?”

“Indeed it has. If the worst comes to worst, all the villagers will have to evacuate to another island. Do you have enough boats for the move?”

“If we make about three round trips, it should be enough. But is such a thing really…”

“It really could happen.”

If that happens, this island will be occupied by monsters. In other words, it will become a lost land.

At this news, the villagers fell into a state of panic.

Unable to hold back any longer, Rudolph asks, “But, but didn’t you say it was danger level 6 just a moment ago! Isn’t level 6 still considered low? Can’t you handle it sufficiently?”

The danger levels of dungeons are divided from level 1 to 9, excluding the special level. The lower the level, the higher the danger.

Level 6 was indeed a lower rank, as Rudolph said.

However, the Mother of the Wild has unique characteristics, so its danger can’t be judged by level alone.

“Outsiders really don’t know anything…” Kelly exhaled a frustrated breath. Thinking it was a waste of time to reply, he immediately set out.

Two vanguards, a mage in the middle, and an archer in the rear – they were a promising team that had been rising in popularity recently.

They usually subjugated dungeons from level 5 to 8, so the level 6 Mother of the Wild dungeon was an appropriate opponent, but the Mother of the Wild had variables.

“Kelly! Look at this!”

In the place the archer, Jelson pointed to, there was a man covered in blood lying down. It was the mercenary Torres. He had died with his entire body torn to shreds.

The other three were either devoured whole by a larger creature or dragged away, as no trace of their forms remained.

“Tsk, this is why mercenaries… They don’t use the salvation movement to save money, and this is what happens…!” Kelly clicked his tongue and stared in the direction where the blood trail continued.  “That must be where the mother is! Let’s hurry!”

“But, but Kelly! It could be dangerous with just us! If we listen to what the villagers say, it’s been about a month since the dungeon appeared. That means the mother might have already given birth! If that’s the case, we can’t handle it alone!”

The Mother of the Wild is a lower-level dungeon, but under certain conditions, it can change into a higher-level dungeon.

That’s when the monster leader, the mother, gives birth.

The mother releases all sorts of beast-type monsters into the area to obtain nutrients for that birth.

That’s why it’s common for people to mistake it for the lowest level 9 dungeon when seeing those miscellaneous monsters.

You can tell just by looking at how the mercenaries recklessly went out to subjugate, thinking it was a Hellhound dungeon.

If the mother successfully gives birth to her offspring like that, the dungeon changes from the level 6 Mother of the Wild to the level 4 danger designation Prince of the Wild.

When that Prince of the Wild goes through its growth period and reaches maturity, it’s called the King of the Wild and receives the upper danger level designation of level 2.

That’s why the Mother of the Wild, despite being level 6, was a subject of concern.

“Wouldn’t it be better to report to the alliance now and wait for orders?”

“No, the mother hasn’t given birth yet. A mother that has given birth is destined to die. That roar earlier was definitely the mother’s, so it means she hasn’t given birth yet. If it’s just about to give birth, the prince won’t have fully gained its power yet, so we can handle it. So stop talking and let’s hurry!”

They moved while suppressing their ominous feelings.

At that time, Ars and Gunther were already encountering the mother.

* * *

I headed towards the center of the mountain area with Gunther.

It wasn’t difficult to approach as we kept hearing roars that sounded like screams coming from there.

‘The smell of blood is getting stronger and stronger.’

It was nauseating. Even I, who had become accustomed to the smell of blood while moving through battlefields, felt my stomach churning.

“This might be more dangerous than we thought.”

Gunther muttered, seemingly sensing an ominous premonition.

As we reached the center, we discovered it.

“Kuooo!”

A monster letting out a roar filled with rage and pain.

Its appearance seemed like a mix between an alligator and a leopard. It had the thick, bumpy skin characteristic of an alligator with leopard-like spots.

Its size didn’t seem that big, but its belly was greatly swollen, perhaps due to pregnancy.

“Ars, this is our chance. Let’s end its life now.”

“Agreed.”

However, soon other monsters appeared with thundering sounds.

There was that massive beast I had encountered on the first day, as well as other miscellaneous creatures. They seemed to be trying to protect the pregnant monster and recklessly attacked us.

“Oh no! Gunther! Let’s quickly clear these out first!”

“No choice!”

The total number of opponents was twenty.

If I were alone, it would have been difficult to face them head-on, but it was different with Gunther here.

“Uooooh!”

Gunther swung a large log he had picked up along the way, striking down the creatures. The monsters hit by this died without even being able to scream.

Then he smashed down the log on a monster as big as a house, crushing its head.

‘To have such monstrous strength even without being able to use aura.’

I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if Gunther had been able to use aura.

After Gunther took down 5 and I quickly killed 6, the monsters seemed to become scared and hesitated.

“Ars! Look at that!”

What Gunther pointed at was a human woman in the mouth of one monster. She had already been chewed on and was dead, covered in blood, making it difficult to identify her form.

Gunther shouted, wondering if it was one of our companions, but I recognized her by her clothes.

“No! That’s one of the mercenaries!”

Lena, was it? The woman who had suggested I go with them.

“I’m not sure if we should be relieved about that, but… At least it doesn’t seem to be one of our companions.”

There was a hypothesis that they had already been eaten, but we decided not to think about that.

“What should we do? Now that we’ve confirmed this, it seems we could withdraw without any issues.”

“Since we’ve come this far, we should clean everything up. It’ll also give us a reason to borrow boats from the villagers.”

At this point, I didn’t feel particularly threatened.

The other individuals weren’t much of a threat either. The one that seemed to be the leader was incapacitated, perhaps due to labor pains.

We quickly disposed of the other monsters and approached the leader.

“Kuoo…! Kuoo…!”

The leader glared at me while breathing heavily.

Its eyes were mixed with hatred and mockery.

‘What’s this?’

I didn’t quite understand the meaning of that gaze, but it didn’t matter. I lightly jumped and plunged my spear into the leader’s head with a thud!

The creature died pathetically with a sound like air escaping.

I thought it would disappear into light like the other monsters had, but there was no sign of that happening.

That’s when Gunther shouted.

“Ars! Look at its belly!”

“…!?”

The leader’s belly was writhing madly.

Without hesitation, I stabbed my spear into that belly.

It got stuck.

‘The spear stopped!?’

The spear was immobile as if caught by something.

“Tch!”

I swung my left-hand sword, imbued with lots of aura, at whatever was holding the spear inside the belly.

Slash! The belly was split open by the sword. And with that, the thing inside revealed itself.

“Huk! Huk…!”

Glaring at me, wet and covered in amniotic fluid….

“A beast-person!?”

There was no doubt. It was too human in form to be a beast.

What was peculiar was that it looked much closer to a beast than pure-blooded beast-people like Gaspar. It was to the point where it was hard to put it in the same category as Gaspar.

The creature glanced at its mother and let out an anger-filled roar.

“Kuooooh!”

“Ugh!”

A feral cry that seemed to grip the heart. While I hesitated at that cry, it lunged at me.

Clang! Gigigik! I blocked its claws by crossing my spear and sword, but I had to take several steps back from the force.

‘It’s strong!’

It was incomparably stronger than the monsters I had faced until now.

“Shaaah!”

It raised the claws on its right hand to tear at my neck.

I ducked my head to avoid that attack and slipped past to its right side.

At the same time, I pulled my left-hand sword, aiming for its arm. It was the same technique I had used to cut off Fischer Partin’s left arm.

However, pik! It pulled its body away, and my attack only managed to make a scratch.

“Just how fast is it…!”

This attack confirmed it.

The opponent before me might be equal to or even surpass Fischer Partin, whom I had to fight with my life on the line.

“Ars! Duck your head!”

“…!”

Woong! A log swung over my ducked head.

Even this creature found it difficult to withstand this attack and jumped back to retreat.

“Thank you, Gunther.”

“Don’t mention it. …But Ars, is this going to be okay? This one looks extremely dangerous. Haven’t we stepped in something nasty here?”

“We definitely have stepped in something nasty. But I don’t think we can avoid it just because it’s dirty.”

The way it looked at me was unsettling, as if it knew I had killed its mother.

“Maybe if we run away, reinforcements might arrive?”

“Looking at that state, it seems all the mercenaries are dead.”

The Salvation Alliance said they would come today or tomorrow, but we couldn’t form a strategy based on such vague information.

“We’ll handle this one here. Gunther, back me up.”

“Damn, no choice then.”

Gunther and I took our stances.

The creature lunged at us without hesitation.

Bang! Clang! Whoosh!

Attacks exchanged in breathtaking tension.

Gunther was moving in support, while I was facing off against the creature head-on, pushing my aura to the limit.

“Shaaah!”

Claws aimed at my left neck. I deflected it with the sword in my left hand, intentionally releasing my strength.

Ting! The sword, unable to withstand the opponent’s force, flew high into the sky.

The creature thought it had gained the upper hand and tried to press forward, but it was a trap.

As I let go of the sword, I gripped the spear with both hands and thrust a rapid series of 5 strikes aimed at its vital points.

Swish swish swish! Head, neck, heart, then neck and head again.

The creature stumbled backward, unsteady from these precise attacks on its vital points.

‘Got you!’

I spun my body 360 degrees, using the rotational force to swing the shaft of the spear widely. The target was the sword falling from the air.

Bang! The shaft of the spear, rotating, struck the bottom of the falling sword accurately. The sword was launched towards the retreating creature.

‘Chester-style secret technique, Flying Thunder!’

Because it was struck by the rotating spear shaft, the speed of the flying sword was truly like lightning.

Even the creature couldn’t dodge it and had to hurriedly block with its hands.

Thud! The creature crossed its forearms to protect its heart. The sword pierced through both forearms but narrowly missed stabbing the chest.

“Now’s the time! Gunther!”

“Right! Uraaah!”

Gunther tried to punch the base of the sword stuck in the creature’s arms, as if driving in a stake.

“…!”

The creature judged this attack difficult to block. It performed an unusual move.

Riiip! In a situation where the sword was stuck in both forearms, it applied force and tore its own arms apart.

Thanks to this, the creature somehow gained freedom of its arms and rolled on the ground while taking Gunther’s attack.

“What a tough bastard…”

Gunther muttered in disbelief.

What was more surprising was what happened next.

The creature’s torn wounds started to heal at an incredible speed.

“Is this for real…”

Still, the impact wasn’t insignificant as the creature’s hands were trembling.

“It seems the only way to kill this thing is to strike its vital points. No, seeing that recovery ability, I’m not even sure if stabbing its heart would kill it.”

“Then does that mean crushing its head is the only option? Ars, how many techniques do you have left that can catch it off guard?”

“Well, I have many techniques, but if we’re talking about ones that can surprise this creature…”

“Then why don’t you trust me?”

“Looks like you have an idea.”

“It’s nothing special. Ars, that spear of yours. Is it sturdy?”

“…!”

So that’s the plan.

I nodded and picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.

The creature, having finished its recovery, looked at its trembling hands and smiled faintly. It was a strange smile, as if rejoicing at finding an interesting opponent, feeling elated that prey that could help it grow was right before its eyes.

I pointed my weapon at the creature.

“Who do you think is going to be whose prey?”

“…”

“Come at me. I’ll blow that head of yours off.”

No more words were necessary. The creature charged again with its claws fully extended.

I met it head-on. Gunther picked up another log and swung it in a feinting manner.

It was then.

The creature judged my defense to be quite solid. It changed its strategy to take out Gunther first.

Gunther was good at offense but not so great at defense. He wasn’t wearing armor either, so he didn’t have a good way to block the creature’s claws.

Gunther tried to block the creature’s attack by holding the log horizontally, but crack! The log was cut in half, and Gunther’s chest was left with claw marks as if mauled by a bear.

“Gunther!”

“I’m fine! Let’s go with the plan!”

Gunther went on the offensive instead. As if saying that attacking was all he was good at, he came in front of me, gripping the halved logs in both hands and swinging them.

However, because the logs were cut, their attack range was much shorter.

The creature, as if mocking Gunther’s short attack range, easily avoided the attack by taking half a step back.

And it was at this moment.

‘You’ve fallen for it!’

I thrust my spear, imbued with aura, towards Gunther. Just then, Gunther had tucked one of the logs under his right armpit.

I stabbed the spear right into the center of that log.

Thunk! The log didn’t split because it wasn’t dried out. The spear stuck deep into it, becoming a kind of handle.

Gunther quickly grabbed that handle and swung it fiercely towards the creature.

Gunther’s main weapon is actually a hammer. He used to swing a long hammer to crush enemy soldiers’ heads.

For him, this distance was optimal.

Moreover, the creature was caught off guard, having underestimated Gunther.

“Eat this──!”

Whoosh! The log hammer, swung with all his might using the spear as a handle.

The creature hurriedly ducked its head to dodge, but Gunther’s monstrous strength exceeded its expectations.

Gunther, anticipating that it would duck, suddenly stopped the weapon he was swinging right above the creature’s head with incredible grip strength.

And then he brought it down.

Even for this creature, this was impossible to dodge.

“Uraaah!”

The creature raised both arms to protect its head, but couldn’t fully absorb the impact.

Thud! As the creature’s knees buckled and it crouched down, I made my move.

“Sorry you were just born, but now it’s time to die.”

“…!?”

Swish! I had approached unnoticed and swung my sword, beheading the crouching creature.

The creature’s head fell, wearing an expression of disbelief.

 

TL Note: Reminds of HunterXHunter

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Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”

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