#56
Elf (4)
“Damn it, where the hell did that bastard come from?”
Nurabe, an elder of the Oath Against Heaven, ground his teeth as he watched monsters and subordinates being torn to shreds.
The cause was that thing that had suddenly appeared—whether it was human, lycanthrope, or some other monster, he could not tell.
It was fleeing with the sacrifice he had painstakingly prepared.
‘I thought my luck had been good lately, and now this happens at the very end!’
It had begun as usual, when he acquired elves through a slave trader.
The school he belonged to was one that could form contracts with stronger demons or summoned beasts through sacrificial rituals, and the more valuable the offering, the greater the effect.
And while managing those slaves, he had discovered it.
That within their grasp was a sacrifice qualified to become a High Elf.
‘I was lucky. The demon I happened to have summoned had the ability to recognize that.’
He had immediately taken the demon’s advice and fastened a sealing magic tool stronger than usual around the sacrifice’s neck.
So that, according to causality, the World Tree would not be able to easily expose the sacrifice’s information.
Even then, he had felt uneasy and set the ritual date as soon as possible.
Because he knew what a High Elf meant to the elves.
They would try to take the sacrifice back by any means necessary.
He had intended to finish the ritual cleanly before that happened and move elsewhere, but...
‘Was using a branch of the World Tree as well too greedy?’
There was no way the value of “one qualified to become a High Elf” and an actual “High Elf” could be the same.
It was only natural to grow greedy and want to make better use of the top-grade sacrifice he had finally obtained.
So he had planned to use the branch of the World Tree stored by the organization together with the sacrifice in the ritual.
He would not be able to make her into a true High Elf, but by using the branch as a medium, he could temporarily turn her into a “pseudo-High Elf.”
It had felt as though all the luck in the world was helping him.
He had planned to move immediately after finishing the work, and even when he called in most of his personnel and began the ritual, everything had gone smoothly.
Until a hole was suddenly torn in the barrier.
‘To think the World Tree would interfere at that very moment!’
It was an intervention aimed at the brief instant when the ritual wavered.
Until it arrived here, the branch of the World Tree had been sealed the entire time, and once the ritual began, interference should have been blocked by the laws governing it.
The problem was that the ritual had shaken.
However, due to various restrictions, the miracle manifested through the branch of the World Tree alone was not great.
At most, all it had done was move the sacrifice from the deepest part of the cave a little farther outward.
Considering the complex structure of the cave, it would not have been very far in a straight line.
The problem was that some bastard had simply scooped up that sacrifice and run off, but fortunately, they had been able to pursue him right away.
‘The sealing device is still on her, so this place’s location shouldn’t have been exposed. Even so, I have to retrieve the sacrifice as quickly as possible or we’ll miss the timing for the ritual.’
At first, he had intended to pour monsters onto the man, exhaust his stamina, and safely retrieve the sacrifice, but looking at the current situation, even that seemed impossible.
“Kahahaha—! Come at me!”
Muscles swollen to their limits across his entire body, and an appearance that seemed half-human and half-magic beast.
Yet despite that savage form, his movements were strangely refined, to the point that the dark knights under Nurabe’s command could not gain the upper hand.
“As expected, this won’t do. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”
Thinking he might be a monster hybrid, Nurabe had tried to control him, but it had not worked in the slightest.
And yet, watching him constantly recover his stamina by consuming the flesh of the surrounding monsters, he seemed even more than a monster.
Nurabe glanced at the black mages.
At his command, a summoning circle was prepared in an instant.
And then.
The battle entered a new phase.
***
“Kahahaha—! This is troublesome! Very troublesome! Hahahaha!”
The situation had rapidly worsened.
To be precise, since new enemies had joined the battlefield.
Once again, he felt killing intent piercing his body, and Harley’s 「Wildness」 immediately reacted.
Chaaang—!
A black greatsword wrapped in dark mana was deflected by his axe.
At the same time, a bolt made of ore flew toward his head, but he would not be hit twice.
Harley’s right hand snatched the bolt as it twisted strangely through the air and crushed it on the spot.
‘Tricky. As expected, they’re no pushovers.’
Perhaps the black mages had decided to get serious, because they had thrown fairly high-level summoned beasts onto the battlefield.
[Not bad, mongrel!]
Even a demon.
Because of the summoned beasts, including a demon over three meters tall that ceaselessly pressured him with a massive greatsword, he too had to suffer considerable damage.
Not only was his entire body drenched in blood...
‘Still, maybe because I have 「Wildness」, losing one eye hasn’t lowered my combat power as much as I thought.’
The greatest damage was, of course, the loss of his left eye.
With the sudden participation of the demon and summoned beasts, the battlefield had turned into a melee in an instant, and in a situation where he could not possibly dodge, the bolt from earlier had flown in and lodged itself in his eye.
‘If that had been all, I might have been able to restore it with 「Regeneration」.’
But the ore bolt had exploded on the spot, and before he could do anything, he had lost an eye.
On top of that, perhaps wary of him using 「Monstrous Feast」 to recover his stamina, the black mages had pulled the weaker monsters back, making it difficult for him to replenish energy.
As if they intended to deal with him solely with a small number of powerful summoned beasts.
‘Not that it mattered. In the end, they just became my precious nourishment too.’
By now, most of those powerful ones had also fallen.
However, from them he had barely managed to recover only their mana stones, and because the other side’s interference to prevent his recovery was so severe, he was still on the verge of running out of energy.
The only fortunate thing was that he could worry a little less about Cecily.
A faint energy flowed from the branch of the World Tree wrapped together with her in the leopard skin, protecting her from impacts.
‘It only absorbs indirect shocks, but if I didn’t even have this, my movements would’ve been even more restricted.’
After all, the situation left him no choice but to move violently.
Even if the enemies were not directly targeting her, if the aftermath of the battle accumulated, her body was bound to be harmed.
‘Though I don’t think this will last long either. Looks like the World Tree is pushing itself pretty hard too.’
The tip of the branch sticking out through a gap in the hide was shriveled dry, as if all moisture had been drained from it.
It definitely had not been this bad when he first saw it.
Whoooong—!
Just then, a greatsword wrapped in black-burning dark mana came flying in.
The moment Harley tried to respond.
‘Kgh! That again!’
A very brief stiffness.
But in a battle where a split second divided life and death, it was fatal.
He hastily drew up his aura and managed to knock the greatsword aside, but another long wound opened on his forearm.
‘Phew, looks like I have to smash that bastard first.’
The most troublesome opponent, along with the demon.
It was the jewel human in the back, aiming a crossbow made of metal.
‘That body looks expensive. Must be worth quite a bit.’
A human-shaped summoned beast whose entire body was made of jewels with a faint green sheen.
The sniper who had taken one of his eyes, a user of telekinesis.
‘That eye on its forehead seems to be the problem.’
It had three green eyes, but only the one on its forehead was exceptionally dark.
Every time it controlled a bolt or applied telekinetic force, that eye would flash, so he was probably right.
“Heh-heh-heh... This is tight.”
Monsters surrounded him on all sides, yet the enemies before him did not give him an opening to use 「Monstrous Feast」.
He could not ignore them, because these were the kind of enemies who could deal even greater damage the instant he tried to recover.
There was also a limit to enduring all kinds of curses poured out by the black mages with 「Bio Aura」, and strength had begun to leave his body while his senses dulled.
To conserve his insufficient energy, he had even suppressed 「Regeneration」, leaving his whole body covered in blood.
[Kekeke. Thinking of giving up, mongrel?]
The demon standing before him tapped its own shoulder with its greatsword and mocked Harley.
“Kahahaha! You can’t do a thing one-on-one, yet your mouth is still alive and well! What a waste of that size!”
[Nonsense! If not for the sacrifice in your arms, I would have cut you to pieces long ago, mongrel!]
The demon, who had bared its teeth in irritation, paused, then gripped its greatsword properly again and sneered.
[It seems you’re trying to buy time. Don’t even dream of it!]
And immediately swung its greatsword.
In time with it, attacks poured toward Harley from every direction at once.
“You’re not wrong, are you? But I’ve already achieved my goal! Hahahaha!”
While responding to attacks from all directions through the senses granted by 「Wildness」, Harley looked with his single remaining eye at the black mages clustered to one side.
As if engraving that location into his eye.
Immediately after.
Flash—
“...What?!”
“Divine power? All of a sudden?”
A flash burst right above the place where the black mages were gathered, and their horrified voices rang out at the same time.
And by then, Heinrich, who had appeared in midair, had already launched himself forward and was spinning his entire body like a top.
Holding in both hands a massive sword of light drawn out with divine power close to bishop-class.
Skakakakak—
The sharply honed, opposing energy unleashed at full power from the start struck several times in succession, grinding away the surrounding barriers in an instant.
「Blessing: Steel Body」 overlaid with the archbishop’s strengthening holy art, and all manner of skills specialized for close combat.
Heinrich’s sword of light, used at full power, ravaged the bodies of those whose response had been delayed by the sudden situation.
“Guh!”
“What is this...!”
Within that storm of divine power, only one person had reacted in that split second and remained unharmed.
The rest were those who had luckily been on the outskirts and avoided being swept up.
“You bastard! How...!”
The one who had reacted to Heinrich’s surprise attack.
An old man who seemed to be the enemy leader trembled in the cheeks, his face reddened like lava.
His “how” contained many meanings, but...
“Haaap—!”
Of course, Heinrich, who had no obligation to answer, paid it no mind and simply charged at the remaining black mages, swinging his sword.
More than half of the group of black mages had died instantly or been wounded in the first surprise attack.
The surrounding monsters, freed from control, fell into confusion.
From summoned beasts that vanished after losing their contractors to those that hurriedly moved to protect the survivors, the battlefield turned into chaos in an instant.
[Krrgh! You bastard—!]
The greatsword-wielding demon urgently hurled itself in Heinrich’s direction.
And in that moment, Harley, who had been facing the demon, was momentarily freed.
A sudden sense of liberation.
It was the perfect chance to recover his body through 「Monstrous Feast」, but there was something he had to do before that.
The muscles in Harley’s legs swelled, and he charged toward the jewel human in an instant.
He could let the others go, but not that one!
“Haha! Where do you think you’re looking?”
To think it was distracted elsewhere even while he stood there in plain sight!
Harley charged in and thrust his right hand into the jewel human.
[——!]
At the green-glowing pupil on its forehead, Harley’s hand paused for a moment.
But this was a creature that had spent the entire battle in the rearmost line, only receiving the protection of others.
Its telekinesis, specialized for long-range attacks and support, was not strong enough to overcome his physical strength once he had approached right in front of it.
Crunch!
Harley’s sharpened claws dug into the jewel human’s forehead in an instant, and a silver liquid like mercury flowed down over his hand.
“Kahahahaha—! I finally caught you, you bastard!”
He had lost one eye because of this thing.
A one-eyed barbarian warrior!
Of course, that did sound kind of cool, but...
‘No, it’s still too soon. I’ll think about that after I’ve gained a bit more age and dignity.’
But while other body parts might be one thing, with his current regenerative ability, he had no idea how long it would take to recreate a complex organ like an eye.
‘If it were 「Super Regeneration」, it would’ve been restored in an instant. Still, since I have 「Mutation」, I should be able to transplant a suitable eye... Wait.’
If he was going to transplant a new one anyway, would it not be better to use one with good performance?
For example...
[——!]
Something like the one currently in his grasp.
“Hey, you. You’ve been using a pretty nice eye, haven’t you?”
As it happened, this fellow had three eyes.
Considering that he had lost one eye because of it, this was an extremely unreasonable situation.
Therefore, it should be fine for him to take at least one.
This was, strictly speaking, self-defense.
“Hahahaha—! Good things are meant to be shared!”
Without the slightest hesitation, he plucked out the jewel glowing with a limpid green light.
[——!]
The jewel-man’s body, which had been emitting a strange vibration, trembled violently. Then the ores that made up its entire form lost their light, and it collapsed on the spot.
‘Ah, it looked like it would fetch a high price if I sold it whole. What a waste.’
Now it looked like nothing more than a dull heap of ore.
Apparently, the jewel on its forehead had been the source of its existence.
‘Is this one of those silicon-based lifeforms or whatever?’
Its characteristics were clearly different from any living being he had seen so far.
Some bit of knowledge he had picked up somewhere came to mind, but in a fantasy world where common sense did not apply, that was hardly an important issue.
Harley glanced down at the jewel in his hand.
A pupil delicately carved into an eyeball that shone with a smooth luster.
Rather than biological tissue, it looked simply like a resplendent gem.
He took the jewel in his hand and pushed it into his empty left eye socket.
He couldn’t know whether it would work as he imagined, but…
‘I’ll find out once I try!’
He was currently acting as a barbarian warrior, but at his essence, he was the pinnacle of a creature that coveted other genes and pursued repeated evolution.
Though the components of its body were different, if that thing was a living being, there was no reason Harley could not accept it.
Perhaps it truly was no ordinary jewel, because 「Mutation」 activated and connected the jewel to his optic nerve.
But that was as far as it went.
Maybe because the structure was too different, it was not properly compatible.
Through 「Mind Hub」, an intense pain in the eyeball region was detected.
The veins around his left eye bulged, and he could feel the surrounding muscles convulsing.
‘So this really won’t work? Because the species is too different?’
That thought lasted only a moment.
“Ha! What nonsense!”
How many magical beasts and monsters had he devoured until now?
Since when had they ever been of a similar species to become his nourishment?
This eye, though crystallized, was a part of biological tissue.
On top of that, it was already connected to him as one.
Then this was already his.
Crunch, crack—
Harley’s obsession, bordering on madness, and a powerful suggestion backed by his willpower continued.
The part of the jewel connected to the optic nerve changed under the influence of 「Body Mutation」.
Except for the gemstone-like green pupil, the rest turned white and softened like a human eye.
And then…
《A new body part has been transplanted. Under the influence of the special skill 「Mutation」, you have acquired the skill 「Jewel Eye: Telekinesis」.》
“Wahahaha—! I knew there was nothing impossible in this world!”
Harley, who had at some point returned to the appearance of an ordinary barbarian warrior.
He threw his shoulders back and burst into hearty laughter, chewing on monster meat to recover his energy.
Of course, there was a reason he could afford to be so relaxed right now.
Whooooosh—
A tremendous storm surged in an instant, sweeping through the entire area.
Flaaaash—
A brilliant radiance blanketed the surroundings, cutting off the space.
“I’ll smash your skulls in, you heretics! Hahaha!”
“Haaap!”
Even the two paladins had begun sweeping across the battlefield.
[Groooaaar!]
At that moment, a massive demon wreathed in flames from head to toe appeared from the black magicians’ side and clashed with them, but even that did not look like it would last long.
‘Is that the one they hadn’t brought out until now because they wanted to retrieve Cecilia intact…?’
Judging by the way it spewed flames in every direction, that fellow was certainly not suited to avoiding harm to a specific person.
If it was about destroying everything around it, that would be another story.
‘Though it’s the one being hunted now… It’s a shame demons are summoned beings, so I can’t eat them. I feel like it’d be nice if I could at least eat some of that one’s meat.’
He had already tried eating several demons earlier, but they had all simply vanished like smoke.
If he wanted to eat them, he would have no choice but to go all the way to the Demon Realm and target their true bodies.
As Harley plopped down on the spot and smacked his lips in regret…
“Oops! I forgot!”
He hurriedly loosened the leather tied to his chest.
The leather, which had somehow held on by a thread without tearing apart, unfolded, and from within it tumbled a limp elf girl.
She was still clutching a single branch that now looked like nothing more than kindling.
“Hey~ miss, you all right?”
She seemed to be breathing, but he was worried that she was not coming to, so he shook her carefully.
After he called out to her several times like that…
“It’s stuffy… I’m dizzy… I feel like I’m going to throw up…”
Cecilia muttered and squirmed.
Fortunately, there seemed to be nothing particularly wrong with her.
“Hahaha! Glad you’re safe!”
He laughed carefree and watched as the enormous demon that had made such a majestic entrance vanished into smoke.
‘Objective complete. This mission was pretty thrilling.’
Through the battle, he had managed to grow quite a bit as well, so it had been profitable in many ways.
‘Of course, what I have to gain doesn’t end here.’
The battlefield was being cleared…
And Lafori and the elves, wind wrapped around them, were flying through the sky toward the place where Harley was.