SWNOVELXO Chapter 81
Chapter 81. The Red Monster (1)
Meliano, who had gathered a crew of 100 to form a bandit gang, pondered.
No matter how many he recruited, trash was still trash.
“You idiot! Can’t you understand how important information is with that pig-headed brain of yours?”
“Argh! Boss, please!”
“Shut up, you bastard!”
Meliano, who had been gouging out the eyes of his foolish subordinate, went ahead and plucked them out entirely. He then kicked the wretch writhing in pain and looked at the rest of his men.
“Do you think we’re thriving by extorting protection fees from nearby villages because you are strong? Spit!”
He spat on the subordinate struggling to put his eye back in place.
“No, you dung-headed fools! It’s all thanks to information. Information that spiders appeared in Wave Reach, drawing Stigmata and Luminaries away.”
Meliano pulled up the leather armor covering his arm, revealing gruesome scars.
“Information that due to an unexpected surge of monsters in the wilderness bordering the nation, even Luminaries and the army are too focused there to notice small players like us!”
This information was top-secret among top secrets. Not even most information brokers had heard about what was happening in the wilderness.
However, Meliano, being a deserter from the battlefield, possessed this information, allowing him to make the bold move to form a bandit gang.
Of course, being a third-rank powerhouse also made it possible.
“There is even an old man in Wave Reach who, just through excellent intelligence, has amassed wealth comparable to a baron just by owning an outdated tavern! Yet you guys, instead of acquiring information, got drunk, harassed waitresses, and started a fight?”
He could understand that much. After all, it was his choice to employ such trash, so he had to endure it. However…
“You didn’t even throw off their trail, allowing the mercenary group to take the critical information of our hideout location? You bastards!”
Meliano felt a headache coming on and gulped down from a bottle of liquor.
“But boss, we have far more numbers. Numbers should win, right? Let’s hit them back and take everything they’ve got!”
“Yeah, right! I hate those mercenaries playing heroes for citizens! Let’s take this chance and kill them all!”
Meliano chuckled dryly. He had just lectured on the importance of intelligence, yet it seemed his men had ears on their behinds instead of their heads.
“Most of them wield enchanted weapons, and their leader, Ender, is a 4th rank warrior. A berserker notorious for his ferocity, you bugs! Ender alone could slaughter all of us!”
Though his idiotic subordinates seemed doubtful, Meliano knew well the terror of the berserker.
No matter how adverse the battlefield or how lethal his injuries, Ender would rampage with monstrous strength and inevitably secure victory.
He couldn’t take on such an opponent with this motley crew.
“Then, what should we do?”
“We must abandon the hideout. There’s still time before Ender arrives. Damn, it’s a shame to leave already….”
Despite their substantial activity, recent losses due to high numbers were troubling.
They needed to increase protection fees and target merchants more aggressively, yet had to establish a new hideout. The losses weren’t trivial.
Such losses would inevitably lead to discontent among the subordinates. Running out of cash was not merely an issue of having less money.
“Boss, how about one last haul? I got that piece of information you adore.”
While Meliano frowned, he smiled upon hearing the information brought by the subordinate.
“Where did you get this valuable information?”
“A friend of mine is self-taught in magic, and his familiar saw it.”
The information was about a man with a substantial bounty on his head. A red-haired Outer God priest who happened to be passing through the area.
‘Although I’m hesitant about someone related to an Outer God, he’ll likely self-destruct before exerting real power. Most of the rumors about him are exaggerated, mainly from ambushes and guerrilla tactics.’
With the bounty on his head, he could cover the losses from abandoning the hideout. Meliano immediately coordinated his men.
It didn’t matter if most of them died. Meliano already glimpsed victory.
* * *
“I had been sleeping more.”
Leaning against a tree, I found my body stiff. I stretched, but the fatigue clung to me. With the constant threat of my identity being discovered, I could only rest in the sparsely populated forest.
Chewing on jerky that might as well have been tree bark, I recalled the early days of my arrival in this world.
“Back then, I couldn’t transform either, so I camped with Talia a lot. I wonder if Talia is doing well.”
I reminisced about a face I missed. Although still young, Talia was someone who seemed capable of accomplishing anything.
And Lyla, who always seemed like she might have borrowed money from someone. My curiosity about how they fared grew intense.
“Still, it’s better for them not to get too involved with me.”
With a bitter smile, I started moving when suddenly a tremendous crash echoed as rocks began rolling down from a nearby hill.
As if to restrict my movements, flaming arrows flew in, and I relied on Gluttony to fend off the attacks.
The priority was to get out of the path of the incoming rocks. Yet, as the ground gave way, I sank into the earth.
Thump!
Something pierced deeply into my body.
“… Iron stakes? The slick surface must be poisoned.”
I struggled to rise, but before I could act, more flaming arrows and rocks pelted down on me.
* * *
“Don’t let your guard down. This guy will crawl out for sure. No Outer God priest dies easily.”
“Should we pour more oil?”
“Yeah, pour more. Keep the weapons aimed.”
The priests of Outer Gods often used wide-ranging, destructive miracles, so spreading out was advantageous.
It was crucial to avoid close combat and use fire and poison to suppress their lifeforce.
“Isn’t he dead? It’s quiet. Four heavy rocks fell down. And look at those thick, black smoke plumes from all the oil we’ve poured.”
Meliano shook his head.
“He’s the guy even the third-ranked powerhouse of Stigmata, Albeka, failed to hunt down. This is nowhere near enough.”
Having once been part of the military, Meliano knew all too well. The life forces of those connected to an Outer God were notoriously tenacious.
It took a well-forged weapon enhanced with Hayat’s miracles and a coordinated group effort to finally bring down such monsters. Momentarily recalling the past, Meliano shuddered.
“But didn’t we pour copious amounts of poison on the stakes in the pit?”
“What a pathetic fool…”
A normal monster might have died this way, but there was no chance against a creature related to an Outer God. However, Meliano also had his own trump card.
“Step back. It’s time to start.”
Meliano pulled out a hammer from his waist, a simple steel hammer that looked like it was used by a stonemason.
“First, a strong hit!”
Meliano threw an iron stake into the air and swung the hammer with full force.
Bang!
The stake flew with terrifying speed like an arrow. As it flew, it expanded like a log, smashing through rocks and penetrating deeper inside.
“No matter how many times I use this, it’s thrilling.”
This hammer was an artifact, a treasure different from other enchanted items that Meliano had obtained by exhausting all his luck.
These types of treasures, difficult to replicate with current technology and occasionally found in ruins, were classified as “artifacts” among enchanted items.
“The Siege Mace.”
This artifact was a fearsome item designed for the purpose of dismantling castle walls.
“It’s astonishing how this thing can enlarge like a log just by being swung with a mace. No matter how monstrous its vitality, no creature could withstand the power of a siege weapon like this.”
Bang! Bang! Crash!
The relentless deafening roar shook the ground. Massive iron stakes flew through the air, shattering every rock in their path, only for the debris to immediately cover the holes completely.
“It must be dead for sure.”
Meliano smiled as he gazed at the still unresponsive ground. Even the grotesque creatures related to the Outer Gods he faced in the past would have perished under an assault this relentless. Yet, he shouted at his subordinates to keep their guard up.
“Bring more stakes! We need to turn it into a complete pulp. Even if we can just take back a single strand of hair, the bounty can still be collected.”
Determined to finish the job thoroughly, Meliano raised his mace once more. But suddenly he began sweating, unsure if it was due to tension or the weather.
“… Why is it so hot all of a sudden?”
Meliano felt a sense of perplexity. It couldn’t be the weather—after all, it was autumn.
“Boss, look at that!”
Meliano’s eyes widened in shock. Nearby trees began crashing down with a cracking noise, as if the trunks and roots had crumbled. Flames erupted from the holes where the trees had been uprooted. Then a man’s voice rang out.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect much…but you all seem to be more capable than anticipated.”
A band of 100 thieves. Ender had informed me they were troublesome, and so I decided to use them for my real-world training.
Training to handle unfavorable situations such as unexpected ambushes. I deduced their surveillance and communication network patterns, letting them catch glimpses of me to gather information.
I knew they would set up an ambush and traps, and I deliberately walked right into it without further investigation.
Of course, I had a plan in place in case a significant problem arose.
“I honestly didn’t have high expectations. At best, I thought they were just a bunch of thugs, so even if there were many of them, they’d still be a ragtag group.”
But surprisingly, they responded to me more effectively than I anticipated. Their preparedness and refusal to lower their guard were impressive.
“Thanks to you, it’s perfect for testing.”
I smiled as I used Gluttony to clear the earth and boulders blocking the ceiling.
“No injuries at all…?”
“That can’t be! We even drove the gigantic stakes with the mace!”
I heard the voices of astonished thieves. To respond to them, I held out my hand. In it were black ashes, a few charred pieces of charcoal, and parts of an iron stake that had melted into a stony lump from the heat. Mockingly, I blew on the remains.
“It’s unfortunate that you used fire, deducting some points…but then again, how could you have known?”
The moment I finished speaking, the thieves’ leader whistled, and immediately, spears and arrows flew towards me.
“I still haven’t had the chance to fully test the changes and the new powers within me…”
Gluttony split into numerous branches, capturing all the spears and arrows.
“You all will need to be quite helpful today.”
The tendrils of Gluttony gradually transformed. Gluttony had grown and evolved with my Awakening Ritual.
Hwooooosh—!
Fiery tendrils that incinerated all the spears and arrows undulated around me.