Emerging from the darkness were four magical beasts.
Leading the pack was a bipedal, four-armed mutant creature—a Finisher Boar. It stood nearly three meters tall, its massive head dominated by crimson eyes that stared intently at Allen, who was just a few meters away. Two tusks jutted from its mouth, drool dripping continuously as it snorted and panted. Trailing behind it were three Doberman-like dog monsters—Assault Hounds. They bared their sharp, white fangs, pawing restlessly at the ground, clearly eager to tear Allen apart.
The campfire had attracted the rulers of the forest.
The Finisher Boar suddenly halted, shielding the less intelligent Assault Hounds. It narrowed its crimson eyes, sizing up its prey. It sensed a threat from the weapon at the human's waist. It had seen a long, blade-like weapon like that before. A formidable male human from the village to the south had used something similar to slay one of its kind, a creature even stronger than itself, in the span of a single breath.
Before it, the "prey"—who only reached its waist and was just a head taller than the four-legged Assault Hounds—raised an eyebrow.
He stepped forward with his right foot, sinking into a lunge. His center of gravity lowered as his right hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
He smiled without a care in the world, his interest piqued.
"It seems the village really isn't far. To think I'd run into the 'plot device pig' from the novel. Good thing I didn't risk coming here on my own when I was four. If my luck was bad, I could have ended up as a pile of pig droppings. That would've been hilarious."
"But," he continued, "times have changed. Now, the one with bad luck..."
As he spoke, *shh-chkk!* The tip of his foot dug an inch into the soft, damp earth of the forest.
"...is not me."
He shot forward like an arrow! His body became a blur as he charged toward the beasts!
The monster had some intelligence, but not much. Seeing Allen's provocative stance, the Finisher Boar's wild instincts ignited. With a roar, it shoved the hounds aside!
**"ROOOAR!!"**
Like an oncoming black truck, it charged at Allen with crushing force!
In a single breath, man and beast were nearly upon each other.
Just then!
"Get out of the way!"
A sharp cry cut through the sudden gust of wind and reached Allen's ears. Something radiating a piercing aura shot out from the darkness of the trees behind the monster! It tore through the air and a path through the fallen leaves with incredible speed!
However, the moment this new development occurred, Allen's dark grey pupils constricted to pinpricks. A surge of heat from his core flowed into his limbs. Deep within him, the walnut-sized "Dragon Saint Touki nucleus" was squeezed by the hand of his consciousness! Dragon Saint Touki pumped out, flooding his body like a torrential river in a storm.
Adrenaline surged! His five senses and thoughts went into overdrive!
In that instant!
The world... 'slowed' down.
The rustling of the leaves in the forest fell silent; the mountain wind crawled slowly over his skin; a cold gleam flowed along the boar's massive tusks; the damp air, mixed with the stench of the monsters, drifted into his nostrils.
In this bullet-time, Allen's eyes slowly turned, his gaze passing through the gap between the monster's arm and body to see what was coming from behind it.
—A translucent sphere of water.
Information flashed through his mind.
*'Diameter is about 150 cm. An Intermediate-tier attack spell—Water Cannon? No, the shape is wrong. It's a Primary-tier spell—Water Ball.'*
*'The speed and volume are close to a Water Cannon. The caster deliberately increased mana output to shorten the incantation time for a faster cast.'*
*'If I continue my attack, I'll be hit by the water ball. Is that why they warned me to dodge? No, there's a time lag. The caster didn't expect me to attack the monster proactively. This was an accident.'*
*'Who is it?'*
The Finisher Boar's tusks were now less than fifty centimeters from his eyes, and the powerful magic attack was just two meters behind it. Every cell in his body screamed at him to dodge immediately! But the cool sensation from the scabbard in his hand calmed the alarms in his head.
A smile slowly spread across Allen's lips.
*'Get out of the way?'*
*'I could, but there's no need. North God Style—the practical school.'*
*'Batto Iai Sessei.' ('Constant Stance of the Drawn Sword.')*
*'Nijuuzan!' ('Twenty Slashes!')*
His pupils constricted again, his eyes nearly turning pure white. His muscles tensed, and his reaction was astonishingly 'fast'. He dodged the boar's tusks by a hair's breadth; ducked under the swipe of its sharp claws that followed; and sidestepped past an Assault Hound, meeting its gaze as he passed.
Like a butterfly, he weaved through the gaps between the monsters' bodies.
Dancing along with him...
...was the hazy light of the campfire.
The light flickered rapidly around Allen's body five times, as if reflected by a smooth, sharp, and rapidly moving mirror.
The light vanished.
Allen passed the monsters and stood facing the rapidly approaching water ball. He was still in his iai stance, hand on his sword.
It was as if he had never drawn his blade at all.
In that instant:
Reflected in his constricted pupils, the water ball, gilded with an orange hue from the campfire, expanded rapidly, filling his entire vision.
It was only a hand's breadth from his face.
But Allen just watched it quietly, without even blinking.
His gaze fell upon a white line appearing on the sphere's surface. Along this vertical axis, ripples spread outwards across the water.
It split.
Neatly divided in two, the halves flew past his cheeks, grazing his hair. Allen's eyes shifted, looking at the cross-section of the water ball to his right—the firelight dyed the churning water in a dance of vibrant orange waves.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Allen blinked.
With that action, the Dragon Saint Touki subsided, and time...
...rushed back!
The world became a cacophony of sound!
The leaves rustled in applause! The mountain wind whipped his clothes! The scabbard felt hard and warm! The torrents of water roared past his head on either side!
***BOOM!!!***
A deafening crash echoed from behind him! Two trees, each as thick as a man's grasp, fell to the ground!
However, the four monsters directly behind Allen remained frozen in place, as if time had stopped for them.
*Rustle, rustle!*
Someone, stepping on fallen leaves, ran out urgently from the shadows of the forest.
Allen looked up at the source of the magic attack. His face showed surprise, which quickly turned into a look of realization.
He lowered his hand from his sword.
This simple movement seemed to restart time. With a *shh-chkk*, the massive heads of the boar and the hounds slowly slid from their necks.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
They all fell to the ground.
Four sounds, corresponding to four slashes of 'Nijuuzan.'
But hadn't the blade flashed five times?
—The answer lay behind him, where a tree had been severed by the split water ball.
*Spsh spsh spsh...*
Blood spurted like fountains from the monsters' smooth necks, creating a shower of crimson 'rain.'
Amidst the sound of the 'rain,' a small figure in a mage's robe, carrying a huge suitcase and wearing a hood, ran into the firelight. Under the hood, blue bangs were tinged green by the fire's glow. She sniffed her small nose and stared at Allen with wide, astonished eyes.
Allen's gaze swept from her face down to her knee-high boots. In the firelight, her black socks were cinched tightly around her firm, shapely calves, creating a slight, alluring indentation on her fair skin. The admiration in his eyes was too bright for even the night to hide.
He smiled and spoke.
"I dodged. Thanks for the warning."
The 'girl' with two deep blue pigtails that nearly reached her knees panted slightly. She looked at the 'child' before her, who was only a head taller than herself and bathed in a rain of blood. Hearing his somewhat childish voice, she glanced at the headless monster corpses behind him and the tree trunk sliced in two by her water ball.
Her mouth fell slightly open. She looked at the other tree, felled by the full force of her spell, her expression one of utter bewilderment.
*Dodged...?*
She had no idea how to respond.
Join my patreon For Early access to Chapter : patreon.com/TheWorldGod
Tiamat 130 Chapter
Honkai 100 Chapter
Lobotomy 100 Chapter
MushokuTensei 30 Chapter