Published: January 22, 2026
“Now then. — Why did you hurt those guys?”
I unleashed the anger I had been desperately restraining and questioned them.
“Are you the ‘dragon slayer’? Yeah, you’ve got that vibe.”
A voice came from a person wearing a robe whose gender was unclear.
Judging by the tone, was it a woman?
“I’m the one asking questions here. Answer me.”
“Oh, my apologies. You want to know why we hurt them? It’s because they’re connected to the ‘dragon slayer.’ We thought if we had their bodies, the ‘dragon slayer’ might show up.”
“…So basically, they didn’t do anything to earn your wrath — you just hurt them because they’re connected to me?”
“To put it simply, yes. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to show up so soon.”
“You’re kidding me…”
“That’s my line! Suddenly showing up and knocking me away like that. I’ll kill you.”
The large man stood up, sending murderous intent in my direction.
“I see. — Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. I’ll make you feel a pain worse than death, so be prepared.”
“Hah! We’re specialists in fighting people, and it’s four against one! You don’t stand a chance!”
The scrawnier man was making a fuss, but I had no reason to respond to such things.
Still, I should be grateful that they gave me time to construct my technique.
“—Everyone, raise your magic barriers!”
The Robe Woman seemed to sense what I was about to do and shouted.
(She’s perceptive. — But too slow.)
I activated Weight Increase on everything they were wearing.
“Ugh…”
“Ah…”
“Ugh… What’s this? Suddenly everything feels so heavy—”
Though the Robe Woman blocked it, the other three were affected.
Their gear suddenly grew heavy, throwing their balance off.
“…Earth Shock.”
I sent an electric current through the ground toward the four of them.
It wasn’t strong enough to kill, but as long as they were touching the ground, evading it was difficult, and it could catch them off guard.
The Robe Woman, who had noticed it, dodged, but the other three were struck by the current and lost consciousness.
That left just one person.
I activated Hide on myself to blend into the scenery and closed the distance on the Robe Woman.
Once within sword range, I activated Sharpness Nullification on SchwarzHase, then swung.
“To think three of them would be taken out in an instant…”
Muttering something, the Robe Woman effortlessly blocked my attack with the staff she had taken out at some point.
(I shouldn’t be visible, so how is she blocking this?)
“—!”
Before I knew it, white smoke surrounded me.
Immediately recognizing it as an Extreme Cold Blizzard, I jumped back just as the ground where I stood froze solid.
The freezing was fast...!
Right after moving, more than twenty Ice Javelins appeared, covering me and striking all at once.
(Top-tier magic followed immediately by this many advanced mages' spells?!)
I deployed a magic barrier and increased its strength with mana convergence. Just as the ice spears were about to hit, I activated Instantaneous Ability Surge to protect myself.
I also reflected one ice spear with a reflective barrier, redirecting it toward the Robe Woman.
She tried to block the ice spear with her magic barrier, but I also activated Instantaneous Ability Surge, piercing through her barrier.
Just as the spear was about to hit, she astonishingly dodged.
She couldn’t fully avoid it, grazing her side, but it wasn’t a fatal wound.
(A mage, huh? What an incredible agility.)
I admired the Robe Woman’s movements, which rivaled those of advanced frontline explorers.
I quickly moved to her side and swung SchwarzHase again, but the staff blocked it once more.
Still, I didn’t stop, repeatedly swinging SchwarzHase—each time blocked.
After about ten strikes, a magic barrier suddenly appeared between us.
Then, I sensed a strange flow of mana right before my eyes.
“—!?”
I immediately jumped back, and in the spot where my face had been moments earlier, a huge explosion occurred.
(She blocked my invisible consecutive attacks while constructing a simplified super explosion technique? What was that flow of mana? —!)