Chapter 204
The Masked Monster
Translator : PolterGlast
Approaching from behind, I struck the back of its head with
all my might. As it lost its balance, I laid it flat on its back and thrust my
katana at the fallen masked figure.
"Who are you? What were you doing here?"
"—Oooow. 'Who are you?' is my line! What's the
big idea, attacking me out of nowhere!"
Its tone was entirely that of someone genuinely surprised.
However, the eyes visible behind the mask were cast in dark shadows, and my
intuition told me this was a villain.
"Answer me. What were you doing here?"
"...Fine. I just have to answer, right? I received
information that the Crimsonroid had started moving, so I came to
investigate these ruins! If you understand, let me go!"
"Not yet. Did you come to investigate alone?"
"Yes, that's right! I was investigating alone, just
like you!"
I could have just concluded they were guilty based on
intuition, but I'm glad I listened to them first. With that last statement, I
was able to confirm their guilt.
"That's a lie. The Guild Master told me he was making
an exception to grant solo entry permission only to me. That means
there's no way someone else entered alone before I did."
"...Tch. What a pain in the ass—"
Even while lying flat on its back, it reached for its waist
to grab a weapon, so I sliced the masked figure's neck. Crimson blood
scattered, but the masked person began to laugh loudly.
"Hyah hyah hyah! This body is just a clone! Too bad for
you! Just getting the information that a strong human is here is a harvest in
itself! See ya!"
After shouting those taunting words, the masked figure
vanished like dust, leaving behind only the strange mask. The masked figure
seems to think it managed to escape... but I don't consider it having gotten
away just yet.
Assuming that body earlier was a clone, if it could control
it that precisely, the main body shouldn't be too far away. Partly because I
was provoked, I began searching for the enemy in earnest for the first time in
a while.
Relying on the presences moving away from the ruins, I
searched for what could be the main body of the masked figure. Most of them
belonged to humans, but I discovered one presence that caught my attention.
The presence itself was fainter than the clone's, but
feeling a sense of incongruity in the direction it was moving away, I hurriedly
decided to give chase. I descended the tower as if jumping off it, and
immediately dashed after the retreating presence.
Because there was a difference in raw physical ability, I
could tell I was rapidly catching up. What came into view was... a small back
running away.
It was small, about 120 centimeters tall, and at a glance,
it looked like nothing more than a common Goblin. For a moment, I
doubted if that was really the masked figure, but its presence was too strong
for a common Goblin; there was no doubt it was the one.
I caught up to the fleeing Goblin—who looked like it
was practically skipping away—in an instant, grabbed its arm, pinned its
shoulder blades with my knee, and forced it to the ground. The Goblin
was confused at first, but it seemed to quickly understand what had happened
and began trembling violently.
"Long time no see. You seemed to think you could get
away, but you underestimated me way too much."
"H-How... did you find me! —No, were you letting me run
loose right from the start!?"
"Your way of escaping was sloppy. That's all. More
importantly, where is the Crimsonroid?"
"I-I don't know! I don't know anything!"
"I don't mind if you play dumb, but it just means your
arm will break."
After threatening it like that and lightly twisting its arm
up, it readily tapped out and gave up. As expected of someone who uses a clone,
it seems quite weak to pain.
"I'll talk! I'll talk, so don't twist my arm any
further! The Crimsonroid is just ahead—"
Right after the Goblin started to say that. From the
depths of the forest it had been trying to escape to, a massive hail of bullets
came flying.
A surprise attack. Moreover, because of the countless
bullets flying in, only I was able to escape; the Goblin I had pinned to
the ground was pierced by a massive number of bullets.
While hiding myself behind a tree, I directed my gaze toward
the direction the bullets came from, and saw a Magic-Driven Soldier with
a bright red, metallic body. There was no doubt it was the Crimsonroid.
"...Bzz. No reaction. Corpses... one."
Looking at the Goblin it had shot to death, such a
mechanical voice could be heard. It didn't seem to have detected my reaction,
but it appeared to understand that it had failed to take me down.
"...No reaction. No reaction. Incinerating the
surrounding area."
After lightly scanning the surroundings, the Crimsonroid
blurted out something utterly absurd. I considered the possibility that it was
a bluff, but its mouth section opened wide, and something like a cannon muzzle
emerged.
I thought it was the latest model of a Magic-Driven
Soldier, but judging from this level of insanity, it might be a prototype
version. While forming such a prediction about the Crimsonroid, I
decided to show myself, as it would be bad to let it incinerate the area just
like this.
Ideally, I would have wanted to catch it off guard and start the battle in an advantageous state, but it couldn't be helped. Sometimes taking crazy actions is also effective. Having learned such a thing from the Crimsonroid, I slowly revealed my figure from the shade of the tree.
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