Chapter 60: Those Who Wander in Search of God and Paradise (1)
The Azerlisia Mountain Range, the natural barrier separating the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire, was both a gift of nature and a treasury of life. Its sheer vastness sheltered an incredible variety of creatures—ranging from insects and small animals to ferocious beasts, demi-humans, and dangerous monsters—all thriving under the cycle of nature.
But for comparatively weak humans, this was an exceedingly dangerous land. On rare occasions, slash-and-burn farmers or hidden human villages could be found on the lower plains, but they lived in constant fear. They had little means of defending themselves, and at any moment could fall prey to aerial beasts such as perytons, harpies, itsumades, or giant eagles that swept down from above.
Adventurers sometimes formed parties to hunt monsters or gather rare herbs in the mountains, but their chances of success were slim. The range was simply too vast, and unexpected threats lurked everywhere.
Take the Killer Ape, for instance—a monster with an estimated threat level of 70. It looked like a half-flayed monkey with exposed muscle, but its strength was far beyond any simian. Even an ordinary specimen had twenty times the strength of a human, and evolved individuals could surpass even that. With its grip alone, it could crush stone and dent steel. But its real danger lay not in its power—
—this monster traveled in troops. Normally, they gathered in small clans of dozens, but on rare occasions, a unique specimen would arise and unite them into massive hordes numbering in the hundreds. At that scale, they became a force strong enough to rival an army, even capable of destroying entire towns or cities once they marched beyond the mountains.
In short, monsters were almost always stronger than humans. Normally, humans had no choice but to cower in fear before them—that was common sense.
But not always.
Crackling—! A greatsword wreathed in lightning cleaved through the neck of a charging Killer Ape. Each droplet of blood that sprayed into the air carried a spark of electricity, scattering arcs in every direction.
"Haaaaaaa—!!"
And it wasn't just once. With every swing of the thick blade, moving at impossible speed, Killer Apes were hewn apart, their bodies severed and flung high into the air. The cross-sections revealed layers of muscle still twitching feebly, as if unaware they had already been severed.
"Martial Art—Azure Thunder Slash!"
Through the chaos, the swordsman sprinted. A dash, then another strike—blue lightning burst forth with each slash, and more Killer Apes collapsed. But where two or three fell, others rushed in to fill the gap. A horrified man nearby shouted desperately:
"Hey! A little help over here!"
"Shut up! You help me! Fire Arrow!"
Fwoooosh! Screeeeech!!
Burning arrows of flame streaked through the air, piercing Killer Apes and setting their bodies ablaze.
They shrieked hideously as they burned alive, but once again, their places were immediately taken by others.
The robed, slender man loosed the spell with a grimace—after so many slain, there was still no end in sight.
Their stamina and mana remained, but if things continued like this, they might not last.
And then—countless lances of blue light pierced the horde all at once.
"Hey! Colton! Rohaim! If you two still have enough breath to whine, then help this old man out instead! Martial Art—Piercing Spear!"
Whnnnnk! Whnnnnk! Whnnnnk!
The bearded middle-aged warrior hurled spear after spear, each one blazing with blue energy.
The spectral lances tore through the Killer Apes, punching coin-sized holes that pierced clean through their bodies. Within seconds, dozens of monsters lay bleeding and motionless on the ground.
"You're the one doing most of the work here, Master Dean!"
"Don't call me 'Master'! I'm still in my prime, you brats!"
"But you just called yourself an old man—"
Swoosh!
The rebuttal died instantly when a streak of blue energy zipped past the mage Rohaim Randolph's ear and blew a hole through the skull of a Killer Ape sneaking up behind him. He immediately shut his mouth tight. The middle-aged warrior grinned.
"What was that you said?"
Dean Krohedin, the Spear General, leader of the Adamantite-ranked adventurer party Dragon's Dream, stared at him with both warmth and menace. Under that gaze, Rohaim quickly looked away and feigned ignorance.
"Did I say something just now?"
"Heh. I don't mind sharp-tongued youngsters! Now, onward!"
With that, he skewered another Killer Ape clean through and hurled its body aside. Even at his age, the man's bulging arms rippled with muscle as he bellowed.
"But seriously, why the hell are we in this mess?! Who thought it was a good idea to meet in a place like this?"
"Don't ask me! Ask him! I told you we should've met somewhere else!"
"Hey, Colton! You agreed to meet here too because it might be safer!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You bastard!"
Even as they bickered and hurled insults, their formation never wavered. Together, they stood against the horde of Killer Apes.
This was no ordinary battle. Facing down hundreds of monsters with a threat level exceeding 70 would normally be suicide—but these were no ordinary men.
They were well beyond the realm of "normal" humanity. By any measure, they had stepped into the domain of heroes.
They were members of Dragon's Dream, an Adamantite-rank adventurer party under the great noble house of the Re-Estize Kingdom, also named Dragon's Dream.
Just five members, but each one considered either a hero in their own right—or a warrior who surpassed even that.
And the reason they were locked in bloody combat with a swarm of Killer Apes here, of all places? Of course, it was because of a mission.
—or rather, it had been a mission.
"Damn it! I'll buy us some time—prep the big one!"
"Yessir!"
"Hey, mind giving me a hand over here?!"
"Shut it, Colton! Big strike incoming! Martial Art—Linked Barrage Spear!!"
In an instant, Dean unleashed dozens of splitting thrusts, a storm of blue stabs that tore into the Killer Apes. Dozens of monsters were downed in a single strike. The sheer devastation stunned the blood-frenzied beasts into hesitation, their frenzied charge faltering for the first time.
This was the reason Dean Krohedin was called the Spear General. His martial art allowed him to unleash a volley of attacks equivalent to a squadron's worth of soldiers all by himself. He rarely used it in chaotic melees due to the muscle strain it left afterward—but here, with reliable comrades at his side, he could cut loose.
"Haaah! Lightning Fang Slash!!"
Into the gap Dean created, Colton struck. Shards of lightning burst from his blade, paralyzing the Killer Apes. It wasn't enough to kill them outright, but their muscles seized, locking their bodies for a few precious seconds.
That opening was all their mage needed.
"Fire Cyclone!!"
Screeeeeeeeeech!!
A roaring vortex of flame engulfed the paralyzed monsters, consuming them in an inferno. The Killer Apes writhed and shrieked, their bodies charring in the whirlwind of fire.
This was the signature spell of Rohaim Randolph, the high-tier caster known as Sky Tempest.
Though his specialty was flame magic, his true strength lay in combining it with wind. Fire feeds on air, and when the two elements intertwined, the destructive power exceeded its tier.
That was how he earned the name Sky Tempest—a man who dreamed of one day burning the very heavens themselves.
He wasn't there yet—but the earth around him was more than enough. Though only a fifth-tier spell, the boosted Fire Cyclone struck with the force of a sixth-tier incantation, mercilessly reducing the battlefield to cinders.
The surviving apes tried desperately to flee the vortex, but in their panic, their burning bodies crashed into others, spreading the flames. Their fur ignited easily, turning them into living torches.
Soon, the fire leapt from beasts to grass, then from grass to trees. The forest itself began to burn.
"…Rohaim, what the hell did you just do?"
"I didn't have a choice! How else are we supposed to deal with numbers like that without fire magic?!"
"Forget it! Move, all of you! If we get caught in this, not even bones will be left!"
"Got it!"
The three men sprinted out of the burning grove. Rohaim, exhausted from casting, nearly collapsed, but Dean grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder before he could fall behind.
"Damn, the whole forest's gonna burn…"
"It's fine! If the flames get too big, the frost dragons or ice giants up north will come check it out and put it out! Probably!"
"Tch. Too bad for the monsters though… I heard burning alive is the worst way to go…"
Trading such casual remarks, the party escaped into the rocky outskirts while behind them, the inferno spread wider and wider.
Fortunately, before it could rage out of control, a band of frost giants did indeed arrive to smother the blaze.
The three adventurers, barely escaping the chaos Rohaim had half-intentionally unleashed, gathered in a rocky hollow.
Breathing hard, they sat down, tearing open rations of jerky, bread, and cheese, washing it down with wine from enchanted waterskins.
It was Rohaim who finally broke the silence.
"So… what exactly happened back there?"
He had been in the middle of carrying out a mission. Deep inside the Azerlisia Mountains with Colton, fulfilling their orders, when suddenly, a communication from their party leader, Dean Krohedin, had reached him. Startled by the urgency, he had rushed out of the mountains to meet him.
In his haste, he'd cut across the nesting grounds of Killer Apes. Killing one had brought the wrath of hundreds down upon him, and while fleeing for his life, he'd finally linked up with Dean and managed to push back the horde. With the battle raging, there hadn't been time for explanations.
"I was inside the mountains when suddenly I got called out—nearly gave me a heart attack! Sure, long-distance links are possible, but they only carry a few words, and you even burned a one-use emergency relay just to summon me. What the hell happened, Dean?"
"…Before I explain, read this first."
Dean tossed a rolled parchment at Rohaim. He unfurled it, eyes lazily scanning at first—until his expression froze. In moments, his eyes flew wide open in horror.
"…Wha—!"
"What is it? What's written there?"
Colton, curious, asked beside him. But Rohaim dropped the parchment, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Uneasy at his strange reaction, Colton snatched it up and began reading. Not long after, he too dropped it as if it burned him. His whole body shook violently, and he collapsed to the ground, gagging as though to vomit.
That was how devastating the message was.
"You done reading?" Dean's voice was heavy.
"Gods above… is this real? …This can't… how could this be possible?"
"I can barely believe it myself. But it's the truth."
Though he spoke calmly, the sorrow in his tone betrayed him. That grief alone convinced Rohaim—but instead, he burst into laughter.
"Ha! No, no, no. That's impossible. There's no way. That guy? You could stab him in the face with your spear, Dean, or blast him with a fourth-tier spell, and all he'd do is laugh it off with some soot on his cheek! You're saying someone like him lost… to a demon? You expect me to buy that?"
"They say it wasn't just any demon. It was a Great Demon. A transcendent fiend, beyond even the Demon Gods of legend. Estimated threat level—200 or higher."
"…What?"
Two-hundred. For a century, no monster had ever been recorded beyond level 150. The number was so unfathomable it was meaningless.
They whispered that perhaps the giant defeated a hundred years ago by Dragon's Dream's second head, Lion El Dragondream, had been in that range. But that was legend—distant history, not the present.
And their current lord, Monkyspanner El Dragondream, was himself believed to be a monster on par with that legend. None of the party members even knew his full strength, for he had never faced a foe worthy of it. In the rare sparring sessions, they had only tasted fragments of his overwhelming might.
Yet now, the claim was that he had fallen. His body destroyed. His very remains erased—by some demon that appeared out of nowhere.
"…No body. No proof. Isn't it more likely he's hiding somewhere? Playing one of his vanishing tricks? You know how he sometimes disappears for days on end, creeping around like—"
"I thought the same. But…" Dean's eyes hardened.
"There was proof."
"Proof?"
"You know the weapon he always carried."
"…Clumsiness Slayer. That cursed gauntlet that never stains with blood… Why? What about it?"
"That was all that was found. When the demon retreated, it threw it down as if to say—'He was strong, but not enough.'"
Rohaim's body crumpled. Though he often spoke of the man casually as "that guy," deep inside, he revered him. As a member of Dragon's Dream, he carried pride in the house and devotion to its head. Denial surged up within him, but Dean's next words struck like a hammer.
"Accept it, Rohaim. Our lord—Lord Monkyspanner—is gone."
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