Several moments earlier…
“AAAAHHH!!” [Peter]
The half-dead Peter watched as his last limb, his left leg, was easily torn off and tossed aside like garbage. More red blood spurted from the newly made hole in his body.
“AAARGH!! AAAAAHH! AAAAH…!” [Peter]
Although he was screaming in agony at the top of his lungs, his voice sounded weak. In fact, every sound that reached his ears seemed to grow weaker. Moreover, the already dark and cloudy sky was gradually turning even darker in his eyes.
“(No…!)” [Peter]
The intense pain he felt all over was steadily diminishing, but that only frightened him more.
“(No, no, no NO NO NO!!)” [Peter]
The swordsman shouted in his mind for he knew it meant that death was taking ahold of him.
“(I haven’t cut enough! My skills are still too blunt!)” [Peter]
He understood that he had reached the end without accomplishing his goal.
“(The pinnacle of swordsmanship, the Emperor… I haven’t reached the Sword Emperor yet…!! Gods, don’t let it end here!)” [Peter]
Grasping at straws, Peter prayed for some sort of chance, a miracle. However, his ever slowing heartbeat mercilessly told him that it was impossible.
“(I haven’t yet…! I can still…! Please, please…!)” [Peter]
His failing vision swayed as Ryner dragged his limbless body along the ground like luggage.
“(I… I want to reach greater heights…! Please, don’t let me be buried here…! Please…!)” [Peter]
----------------------------------------
Present…
Peter’s glassy eyes enjoyed the spinning, aerial view of the sky, the land and the battlefield before his torn head crashed into the ground not too far from the amazons’ current position.
“… Amazing.” [Amazon]
They had seen Ryner fight since his sudden and unannounced arrival. As a warrior race, none of them shied away from battle and most actively sought it. However, currently, they would rather spectate than take part in the ongoing struggle.
“… He killed them so easily…” [Amazon]
The amazons had seen Ryner treat well-trained warriors like ragdolls. They had witnessed him easily overpower Gary, who was equal, or even stronger than their leader, and rip the fleet-footed Peter apart. Moreover, they saw the carnage and brutality he was capable of in combat that were not shown during their sparring sessions.
“He’s… He’s…” [Amazon]
And it fascinated them.
“““HE’S PERFECT!!!””” [Amazons]
The golden-eyed women unanimously declared, united by their racial desire of wanting strong males to birth strong children. Sporting fierce grins like predators and a blush on their cheeks, their sharp eyes locked onto Ryner’s figure. Wearing tattered clothes and covered in his enemies’ blood, he was mercilessly rampaging about.
“Did you see that!? The way he ripped his arm off is really tickling my instincts!” [Amazon]
“I never thought I’d get this aroused seeing a man beat someone with their friend’s torso…” [Amazon]
“I love how he crushed that man’s head under his heel!” [Amazon]
No further attacks came their way since the intruders focused their attention on Ryner after he kicked their leader away. So, while keeping their weapons raised, the amazons started talking among themselves, specifically, about their impressions of him.
“Ma-Matriarch…” [Silvania]
One of these restless women, Silvania, called out to her leader while blushing and looking excited despite her efforts to feign composure.
“I’m sorry, but I really, REALLY want to tear his clothes off and push him down. Can I go first?” [Silvania]
“No.” [Riteinia]
The Matriarch, Riteinia, strongly refused her rather blunt request as she kept her golden eyes locked onto Ryner.
“You are my second-in-command. I’M using him first. You can go AFTER.” [Riteinia]
“Sister, honestly, my panties are a mess. So please hurry up and do it before I jump on him.” [Silvania]
The black-haired, brown-skinned second-in-command earnestly requested as she bowed her head.
“Calm down. We’ll have his blood in our tribe as soon as we’re done with this. He is our Patriarch after all…” [Riteinia]
The light green-haired woman whispered the latter half and put a hand below her navel. Though her voice seemed unperturbed, her cheeks were flushed and a wild grin was plastered on her face. Just like her sisters, she was feeling worked up.
“His clothes are tearing off! Ahhh, I really want to have my way with that body right now!” [Amazon]
“Should it be top first? Or below? Maybe behind…? *Slurp*” [Amazon]
Her sisters also placed their hands below their stomachs or even lower. Others drooled while panting like beasts.
“This is an order. Focus on protecting the High Elder. We wipe out the enemies here then check on Hossylei Nac. A city full of elves with amazons probably already finished taking out such a small group of attackers though… And then, we’ll have as many children as Ryner can give us!” [Riteinia]
The amazons cheered at their leader’s declaration. And so, the golden-eyed warriors were already imagining what they would be doing in the near future, half-forgetting about the intruders and the giant fighting the Gatekeeper. To them, the battle was as good as won. One of the reasons for their believing so was the elf they were guarding, Itham.
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The High Elder was focused on chanting, trying to not be distracted by his surroundings, especially by his daughter. The reason was because Meirith, who was standing behind him, was watching Ryner and crying. With a hand covering her mouth, tears fell from her eyes.
“… I’m so sorry…” [Meirith]
She whispered, but obviously, the person to whom she told those words to couldn’t hear her.
“AAAARRHHHHH!!!” [Invader]
He was busy squeezing a woman’s head along with her helmet between his hands until the skull was crushed and the brain splattered everywhere. None of the victim’s friends got close to help her. Everyone kept their distance and either shot magic or bullets. Ryner didn’t bother to dodge their attacks, so his clothes were getting destroyed, but his body suffered no injury.
Bullets couldn’t pierce his skin. A lance of flame slammed into the back of his head, but didn’t burn a strand of hair. Blades of wind only tore through his shirt. Heavy projectiles of rocks and spears of ice broke to pieces with a swing of his arm. Ryner was repeatedly getting hit as he stood in place. Then, he dashed to the two nearest enemies, disappearing from everyone’s sight for a moment, and caught them by the throat.
“Did you kill my dog?” [Ryner]
Capture the closest targets.
Interrogate.
Kill.
He mechanically repeated the same sequence of actions over and over with an expressionless face and a slowly growing mad flame in his cold eyes.
“We need to get out NOW! WHERE IS THE GUIDE?!” [Lovel]
Lovel shouted while being lent a shoulder by one of her allies. Having been abruptly kicked in the chest, her armor was dented with the imprint of a foot. Pain coursed through her every time she took a breath and her wobbly feet barely kept her standing.
“(We can’t open the gate without Melda! Why is she taking so long?!)” [Lovel]
Lovel watched as Ryner tossed away her subordinate that he was grabbing in his left hand and sandwiched the other’s head between his palms.
“(He’s going to kill us before that elf shows up! Gerard, we need your help!)” [Lovel]
She looked to their leader, Gerard, and saw that he was buried in a large number of huge vines sprouting from the ground around him. Moreover, more vines grew from Rosaminta’s body and completely ensnared him. He had shown his back to the Gatekeeper for a moment when he had tried to attack Ryner. As a result of giving her that window of opportunity, he was restrained and struggling to break free. Vines continuously burned and snapped under the force he exerted, but new ones quickly took their place.
“(Damn it, the Gatekeeper is fully dedicated to holding him down! From her actions, she’s entrusting the fighting to that human, which would imply that he’s on their side and not some third party… No! that’s not important right now! It appears Gerard is heating up his body, so he’ll free himself soon enough. Have to prepare healing potions later… Don’t be too reckless.)” [Lovel]
Lovel shook off the pain and forced her head to think, taking stock of the situation. After examining Gerard, she judged that he would need more time to come to their aid as the red glow of the magma flowing under his molten steel body was slowly turning blue. She had to buy time, so she gave an order to her allies who were turning into a panicked mob.
“NORTH STAR!!” [Lovel]
The glasses-wearing woman shouted as she raised her right arm while still being supported. Ignoring her pain, she focused her mind and willed the mana in her body.
“(3, 2, 1, begin. Abandon chanting to maximize the chance of a successful surprise attack. High level spell Ice Flower. Concentrate. Feel the mana pool. Visualize the spell. Extract the mana needed. Control its form. Bend. Flow. Force. Gather. Release. Shape. Shape. Shape!)” [Lovel]
As Ryner was looking at the screaming man that he held up by driving his arm through his armor and stomach, he could feel a cold wind that was increasing in intensity. Snow and frost soon accompanied the violent gale, followed by a carpet of ice blocks and spikes that was traveling along the ground and swiftly heading towards him. As he calmly stared at the phenomenon, the same thing was happening in five different directions.
“(… I should probably protect it.)” [Ryner]
He thought as he shifted his gaze to the bracelet with a green gem on his wrist. Then, the six lines of ice converged at his position. They instantly blossomed into a 17-meter-tall sculpture, almost as if it grew from the ground. Made of big icicles and angular pillars, it was an icy prison resembling a lotus that encased Ryner within its center.
“… I hate to say it, but Marilyn would have been better than me at this.” [Lovel]
After confirming that the target had been frozen solid, Lovel lowered her raised hand. Amongst the other five people who had activated the same magic spell as her, some fell to their knees, nearly out of mana. It was a perfect hit with perfect coordination, just like they practiced. The battlefield had suddenly gone quiet. No one dropped their guard, but everyone felt relieved that one of their biggest threats that had been rampaging in their midst had been neutralized, if even for a moment.
“They got him.” [Invader]
One of the invaders who watched the fighting from the rear, near the large twisted tree that served as the gate, muttered.
“He got hit by six Ice Flowers. That HAS to slow down even S ranks for a few minutes. Besides Gerard.” [Invader]
His friend added. The two of them and several others were stationed near the gate. Some of their comrades who were too injured to continue fighting had retreated from the front lines. They were resting as they waited for the healing potions they had drunk to mend their wounds, which included Hames. Though unconscious and lying on the ground, the red-colored remedy had properly done its work to fix his insides.
“Why is there even a human here?!” [Invader]
“Dragoon armor’s like paper before him! We’re dealing with an S rank monster on the level of the leader!” [Invader]
“Amazons and elves showed up. We couldn’t overwhelm that plant monster! The plan has gone to hell!” [Invader]
“Gary and Peter are both dead! We lost too many, let’s retreat!” [Invader]
“Forget the elves and the amazons, will we even be able to capture the dwarves after this?!” [Invader]
As the people in black armor spoke among themselves, Hames began to stir in his sleep.
“We NEED the leader to kill that guy. And what the hell did he want?” [Invader]
His fingers twitched before forming a fist and his eyes slowly opened.
“He asked me if I killed his dog and then sent me flying.” [Invader]
“… Dog?” [Hames]
CRACK
Suddenly, as if ending the calm before the storm, a huge crack appeared on the large lotus of ice imprisoning Ryner.
CRACK
It increased in length.
CRACK
CRACK
Then increased in number.
CRACK
CRACK
CRACK
With the sounds ringing out, everyone turned their heads to look. Those who were drinking healing potions, those who were catching their breath, and Lovel who was cautiously observing the amazons standing by.
“No…” [Love]
They understood what it meant, but refused to believe it right away.
“No, it’s too soon!” [Lovel]
In contrast, the golden-eyed female warriors rejoiced upon seeing the rapidly expanding web of cracks. Behind them, Itham threw a quick glance at the weakening structure, but didn’t stop chanting as lightning kept jumping off him. He was building more and more power to deliver a blow that would end the battle. On the other hand, Meirith’s tears continued to flow. She wasn’t happy that Ryner was winning, or worried about his safety. As if frozen by grief, she simply sobbed without taking her eyes off him.
“I’m so sorry, Ryner…” [Meirith]
Then, under everyone’s gaze, the 17-meter-tall prison shattered and loudly collapsed to pieces. In the middle of large falling ice blocks, Ryner calmly stood there. He took out the bracelet that he had kept in his mouth with one hand, while his other arm was still inside an intruder’s stomach. The poor man had died from friendly fire as his outside and insides were completely frozen. Ryner flung away the corpse, which fractured into chunks like glassware upon hitting the ground.
“I messed up. The cold numbed the pain.” [Ryner]
He muttered, leaking a white breath from his mouth with a thin layer of frost covering his exposed skin. Unfortunately, his clothes shared the same fate as his latest victim. After getting frozen solid, the formerly flexible cloth clung to his form, hindering him, or fell apart with every movement. So, he tore off his clothes and fished for some new ones in his pocket dimension to cover himself after storing away his bracelet.
“Now then, where’s the next?” [Ryner]
Ryner said as he examined his surroundings while clenching and unclenching his fist.
“Next one. Always the next one.” [Ryner]
He quickly searched for his next prey in an almost desperate zeal.
“Wash blood away with blood…” [Ryner]
His mismatched colored eyes contained the reflected scared faces of the intruders.
“And pain away with pain.” [Ryner]
Along with a muddy, dark flame that continued to grow unimpeded.
----------------------------------------
“Well now, this is bad~.” [???]
Said a woman as she watched Ryner slaughter everyone.
“And Melda still isn’t here. She sure is taking her time.” [???]
Despite her words, she seemed to be enjoying herself as a giggle left her lips.
“Huhuhu, what a wonderful bloodbath. This man is quite the artist himself.” [???]
The woman delightfully commented while staying hidden and carefully observing everything that was unfolding before her eyes.