Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 085. Dungeon (1)

[Karyan──!!]
Before the battle truly began, Pashantu, who had invoked the god of her tribe, charged with the axe gifted by the Duke in hand.
She moved with an explosive speed that seemed at odds with her size, larger than that of a Khan.
Her movements resembled a giant beast pouncing on its prey.
Sshhhhk!
Cutting through the rain, she boldly stepped into the space between the heavily armored soldiers revealed on the other side of the corridor.
Though only a single barbarian had entered the passage, designed wide enough for a carriage to pass through, it felt constrainingly narrow with her presence. In reality, it was indeed cramped.
The most she faced at one time was merely three, and the proximity she initially closed in on them rendered their spears less effective.
It was not calculation, but the realm of instinct.
Like all warriors of the Frostbone tribe, she too was a master of combat, instinctively pinpointing the enemies’ weaknesses.
“Kurgh!”
Dodging the spear’s tip by a hair’s breadth, she swung her axe, targeting precisely the seams of armor in a strike that seemed meticulously calculated to tear muscle and sever bone.
Of course, it was not immediately fatal. However, there was no need to aim for lethality. She was not alone in the corridor.
Schlik. Schlik. Schlik.
Three slicing sounds almost overlapped each other. Yet, no one saw the blade being swung. The sight, as if invisible assassins lurked among them, made the Duke’s soldiers hesitate and attempt to regroup.
“Spread out! Just block the passageway!”
Armed with tower shields capable of covering their entire bodies, they positioned themselves to block Pashantu’s path.
This showed a clear intention to block the passageway with their bodies, and it was indeed the best judgment.
If they formed several lines of shield defense along the straight corridor, it would be difficult for even Pashantu to forcefully break through.
Moreover, they were not just going to be passive victims, as evidenced by the ‘thud-thudding’ sound of steel bolts filling the space in front of Pashantu.
Even a master of combat like her could not fend off dozens of bolts fired in the confined space. It was a testament to how elite the Duke’s soldiers were.
If she had been alone, she would have been completely helpless.
“Must be rolling in money, huh.”
Following a short, mocking tone, steel bolts clattered to the ground, all split in half.
“To arm even ordinary soldiers to this extent. Where on earth did you get all this?”
Light-hearted words, yet the outcome created by the voice’s owner was anything but trivial. A white scratch appeared over the shields blocking the corridor.
Whoosh!
And blood spurted forth.
“I’ll cut down the shields. Go on a rampage as you please, oh Great Warrior.”
“Great Warrior. No!”
Having sliced through steel shields and their bearers in a single stroke and yet not a drop of blood on his blade—
It was Swordmaster Kal Elson.
“Whether it’s right or not… Let’s just clear the way first!”
Karyan─! As Pashantu resumed her charge, new soldiers hurried to fill the gaps.
Immediately, Kal Elson’s sword effortlessly sliced through the shields, and Pashantu once again surged forward, trampling over the soldiers as if pushing the front line itself.
It was an unstoppable onslaught. Even the Duke’s soldiers, who had confidence in their overwhelming casualty exchange ratio against any of the kingdom’s soldiers, could not hold back these two and were pushed back time and again.
Due to the narrow, straight passageway, it was hard to exploit any numerical advantage, yet the situation was still beyond belief.
Individually capable of tactical destruction, they encountered a monster who could grind dozens, if not hundreds, of soldiers to dust.
The destructive power of a knight or a swordmaster on the battlefield was, indeed, formidable.
Swiftly, the passageway was half-breached. It was around then that the soldiers’ movements became frantic, and Kal Elson’s gaze sharply inclined towards the sky.

*Rattle…*

That was the sound of a trap being sprung. Whether it was a precautionary measure, Kal Elson’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“I need to speed up.”
Whatever they’re planning to do on their end, retreating was not an option. So, Kal Elson was left with only one choice — to break through the passageway even faster.

Just as Kal Elson was about to exert more force, the chilling voice of Khan behind him made his skin crawl.

“Hey! Stick to the wall…”

Kal Elson’s face flushed with incredulity, but Pashantu had already silently hugged the wall.

“Dammit!”

Swallowing the curse that almost slipped, Kal Elson also pressed himself against the wall. Then—

──────

“Insane…!”

Something flashed through the center of the passageway at a speed not even Kal Elson, with his extraordinary reflexes, could clearly see, registering only as a “blurry object.”

What passed by them in the blink of an eye, shielding with its arm, then disappeared, having cut through the soldiers in its path.

Following the object, Kal Elson turned his head just in time to catch the aftermath. The heavily armored soldiers that had filled the passageway were now torn so terribly their forms were unrecognizable.
Indeed, traces remained — blood smeared on the walls and metal fragments scattered on the ground barely attested to their existence.

“Even a decent empire’s knight couldn’t mimic this. This is…”

Taking into account the vast difference in average strength between the kingdom and the empire, Khan’s strength was truly fitting of the term ‘superhuman’, especially without using mana…

“Stop dawdling and run!”

Kal Elson, snapping out of his daze, darted through the now empty passageway. Around that time, ominous noises began to envelop them, like a building on the verge of collapse!
That intuition was spot-on. As soon as Kal Elson and Pashantu had exited the passageway, a loud bang followed.
Turning around, they saw the long passageway they had just crossed now buried under a pile of rubble.
Even for a swordmaster like Kal Elson, there was nothing he could do if the entire passageway collapsed. Realizing that he had narrowly avoided being crushed under the rubble before even getting the chance to fight properly, goosebumps covered his back.

“What the…!”

“Front! It’s a spell!”

“I know that,” Kal Elson muttered under his breath, not bothering to turn as he slashed through several fireballs, erasing them without a trace.

Only then did he turn his head, now facing soldiers in heavy armor, knights, and a few mages ready for intruders, and further beyond, an even larger force of troops gathering in real-time.

“We break through, head straight for the castle. As for the projectiles…”

“I’ll cut them all down. Just take care of the ones that get close.”

“Kill them! Kill them all!”

“There’s no time to kill them all, aunt,” Khan coldly advised, but Pashantu, bursting into loud laughter, charged forward recklessly.

[Karyan──!!]

She rushed in as if utterly oblivious to the concept of fear.The axe gifted by the Black Wing Duke was a remarkable weapon that could penetrate even plate armors.
Indeed, a strike embedded into the joint of a heavily armored soldier resulted in wounds akin to severance. However, it was not so efficient as to eliminate all resistance.

As she retrieved her axe, slashes aiming for her openings began to wound Pashantu’s body as well.

She faced hundreds, no, several hundreds of heavily armored infantry in a space that was wide open. Even with her exceptional senses, she couldn’t possibly manage every attack coming from all directions.

[Ah, worthy! Warriors worth fighting indeed─!]

Yet, Pashantu’s ferocity only grew, as if she relished in the pain. She threw herself into the gaps between spears and swords, slashing wildly with her axe. Several heads took flight.

Hahaha─!!
‘This is why barbarian…’

Khan, watching from behind, swallowed a sigh but didn’t attempt to stop her reckless charge.

To expose one’s flesh to protect the bones in battle was an absurd strategy when overwhelmingly outnumbered. However, after glancing at the wounds Pashantu had sustained, he judged there was no need for intervention.
‘They are but superficial cuts. She dodged or brushed aside everything else.’

Unintentionally, Pashantu had captured the enemy’s full attention, allowing Kal Elson a momentary lapse in the enemy’s vigilance.

“Huff…!”

Kal Elson leaped off the rampaging Pashantu’s back.

Realizing too late the presence of the swordsman above them, the soldiers tried to respond with their spears but it was too late. Kal Elson spun in the air, landing amidst them.

Zwish swish swish!

A storm of blood erupted around the landing spot, limbs and heads flew in disarray, and with a single stroke, Kal Elson caused casualties multiples times greater than Pashantu’s efforts, flicking the blood off his untouched sword out of habit.

“Tch. Such inefficient swordplay. I suppose it’s time to discard it.”

It was the secret technique ‘Falling Hawk’ that the First Knight of the Duke had used in battle against Khan. Having observed it from a distance once, Kal Elson had perfected it, perhaps even more efficiently than its original master.

Recognized by the imperial sword masters for his innate talent and a devotion bordering on madness, even the swordsmanship refined over generations by a border knight’s family seemed trivial to a Sword Demon who defied the mysteries of mana.

Nevertheless, even Kal Elson could not help but continuously express his astonishment in front of such a monstrous barbarian.

[Such trivial insects scurrying about. Isn’t it so?]

Annoying.

Silencing Draupnir’s incessant chatter, he crushed a knight’s helm aglow with a blood-red aura with his fist. After piercing through the knight’s skull, Khan swung Draupnir diagonally at the next target.
Despite the armor and the aura’s resistance aiming to deflect the sword, pure strength obliterated all opposition.
Crack!
As the bodies of two knights split in the same manner, Khan had already charged towards another, splitting the head of one who countered with a similar blood-red aura with his axe.

Thus, four knights fell in mere moments.
‘Mass-produced, but compared to tin can #1, the fake aura is of pitiful quality.’

Still, they remained significantly more dangerous than regular infantry. The extent of this mass production was troubling -.

‘Don’t tell me… the city is swarming like ants.’

With such unease, the group cleared their path of enemies and advanced until they suddenly halted. It wasn’t that something had blocked their path or an unexpected enemy had appeared.
Rather, the phenomenon laid out before them at the entrance of the grand duke’s castle was enough to make the trio’s steps falter.

“This is…”

“An unsettling sight!”

A portal-like swirl, reminiscent of something from a video game, rotated at the castle’s entrance, mixing indescribable colors.
‘Damn. What in the world is happening?’