As his heart pounded harshly, blood surged rapidly from his brain.
His once calm senses instantly sharpened. He could feel every streak of energy emitted by his Mana Circuits in minute detail.
Before entering the battle, he forcibly recalibrated his physical state, optimizing it for combat.
Similarly, his senses, now even more clear, swiftly scanned the broad expanse of the battlefield.
It granted Elric a bird’s-eye view of the terrain, including the layout of forces.
Thanks to this, Elric could instantly grasp the situation on the battlefield.
And he was slightly taken aback.
‘Why are there so many?’
At the top of the ridge, an angle that could never be reached by the naked eye,
There were more Yetis than he had expected.
‘I heard they usually appear in groups of about ten when hunting… Isn’t this more than thirty?’
Moreover, they were all excitedly howling. A savage aura emanated from them as they began to move along the ridge.
It was as if they were preparing for war.
『Hehe! Things are getting interesting. It seems your first fight is difficult right from the start.』
“Shush.”
『Why? Are you afraid now that you have to fight? Well, that’s how humans are…!』
“【Shut up】“
『Ugh!』
“Phew! Finally, some silence.”
While Mephisto kept silent and bounced around.
Whoosh!
Two knights and monster hunters lunged forward.
Swish! Swish!
The knights charged ahead, sweeping the Yetis away. Every time the aura from their swords flashed, a Yeti fell, spraying blood.
They were clashing, deflecting, and slashing.
The movements of the swords wielded by the knights were simple yet elegant and flashy.
In contrast, the hunters were rough. Although not as clean due to a lack of basics, they were more practical.
‘That… is how to use aura.’
Elric watched the knights’ combat for the first time, closely observing their every move.
Though it was just a brief moment.
In that time, he assimilated various pieces of information. From their stance, the direction in which their bodies leaned, how they rotated their wrists, their swords’ trajectory, their magic circulation, to the manifestation of their aura.
With his brain trained in spirit magic, he dissected, analyzed, inferred, and reinterpreted every piece of information, reassembling it in a new light.
From the fragmented information, Elric quickly learned and adapted what he had to do.
And then…
Sreeech!
Elric could sense a group of Yetis attempting a stealthy approach from his blind spot.
If left alone, their main base, where the robed Lady and Mingma were, would surely face significant damage.
However, looking at it the other way…
‘It means I can also sneak up and attack their flanks.’
Quickly discerning their movement pattern, Elric invoked spirit magic once again.
“【Armament】“
Subsequently, the spells he had pre-learned through ‘Memorize’ were activated one after the other.
Cognitive Expansion.
Muscle Enhancement.
Agility Boost.
Amplified attack power.
Acceleration.
…
The characteristic of speech magic was a binding phenomenon with words.
If it were possible to stock this in advance, then it would be possible for him to manifest it simultaneously, as long as he had enough mana.
This maximizes Elric’s physical ability, making even close combat, which could be said to be a weakness of all mages, possible.
Hence the name, ‘Magical Armor’.
A very long time ago, it was a restored form of the Body Strengthening Technique that was said to have been lost with the severance of the Emperor’s lineage.
Of course, it had not yet been fully restored and remained in its basic form.
But even this was a powerful weapon for Elric.
“【Open】“
As the magic power was recklessly discharged…
Kwaang!
Elric struck the ground hard and launched himself.
‘I’ll capture one alive.’
And his target was naturally their flanks.
“【Explode】“
The moment Elric showed himself, the sensitive Yetis turned their heads in his direction.
But before they could respond, the ground they were standing on exploded all at once.
Powered by the 4th circle magic ‘Flame Mine’, the destructive power, infused with Elric’s magic, was much greater.
The flames rising from the overturned ground wiped out the Yetis in the center of the group.
And the remaining ones scrambled, losing formation.
“【Ignite】“
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The sparks clinging to their fur fiercely caught fire, engulfing them in an instant.
Kieek!
Kiek! Kieeeek!
The Yetis tried to shake off the flames by thrashing about or rolling in the snow, but the flames showed no sign of dying down.
Meanwhile, Elric approached and activated another spell.
“【Pierce】“
This time, a wind-formed arrow appeared before him and shot forward.
It was the 1st Circle ‘Magic Missile’.
The difference was that it was much thicker and sturdier.
Given the surrounding snowy environment, there was a lot of moisture in the air, making it look like an icicle.
This was also what Elric aimed for.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kieeeek!
Shooting the already flame-engulfed creatures with an icicle would undoubtedly cause excruciating pain.
In the end, the Yetis fell one by one without much resistance.
But there were a few brave ones who screamed and charged at Elric.
“【Bind】“
This time, invisible ropes tightly bound their ankles.
By the time Elric approached them, the pack of six had completely fallen.
There was an overwhelming power difference.
“Incredible. But…”
Elric, who had brought about such results, was more surprised than anyone else.
Although he rushed in, believing he could fight them, he hadn’t thought he’d dominate them so easily.
Regardless of the element of surprise, it was an impressive outcome.
It felt like a waste when he had just unleashed the pre-memorized Magical Armor.
Kieeeek!
At that time, the only surviving beast let out a shrieking cry.
“Hey.”
『Eueuh!』
“Huh? You’re still doing that? Speak properly.”
『Euh! Euh!』
“Ah, you can’t?”
Elric smirked and lightly flicked his finger.
『Puaah! This brat is really…!』
Mephisto gasped for breath, his fists trembling. If only he could muster the strength, he’d definitely slap this bastard…!
“Want to hit me?”
『Eek! Why! Why did you call?』
“Translate.”
『…!』
Elric pointed to the tied-up beast, and Mephisto became more infuriated at Elric’s words.
Not to talk, but to translate! He wanted to curse him, but he couldn’t, and it was incredibly frustrating.
Of course, Elric just silently continued to point at the beast.
Mephisto glared at Elric with smoldering eyes.
Grinding his teeth audibly…
『Let… our God… go… or else… I’ll kill.』
“If you answer my questions, I’ll set you free. Translate.”
『…Kua, kukuakuakua! Kuaa!』
Mephisto realized that Elric said to ‘translate’ instead of ‘interpret’, but he decided to ignore it.
Paying attention to every little thing this bastard does would only raise his blood pressure.
Instead, he focused on the interpretation magic Elric set up, named ’【Listen】’.
Using resonance, the spell was designed to compress Mephisto’s emitted thoughts into magic and convey them to the beast.
‘Using just the small piece of information he had learned earlier, he’s so insightful…! Such wasted talent!’
Kiyeok! Kiyeok! Kikikiki!
『…I have nothing to say to the one who killed my companions! Just kill me!』
“Where’s your village?”
『Kua, kuaa!』
Kiyeok!
“What did you say?”
『You think I’d tell you? Just kill me.』
“You won’t talk?”
『Kuaaa!』
Kiyeok!
『I won’t! Kill me!』
“Fine. Die then.”
Elric chuckled and shot a magic arrow directly into the creature’s chest.
Thud!
As the beast that had been interpreting for him all this time fell weakly, Mephisto stared at Elric in disbelief.
But, Elric just grinned mischievously.
“There’s more than one interpreter here, isn’t there?”
Elric turned his head.
There was a group of beasts busily moving to hunt the travelers.
Elric secretly left where Mingma and the travelers were and moved elsewhere.
『…No matter how I see it, you’re definitely the kind of person that the devil would cry over. To even think of shooting an arrow at a child’s temple in front of their mother.』
“To hear such words from the Demon King, I’m amused. Is that a compliment?”
『Does it sound like one?』
“I guess not?”
『Indeed, it’s a compliment. Alas, it’s a virtue necessary for a being who has to live in this harsh world.』
“There seems to be a lot of sarcasm in your words, but I’m in a hurry, so let’s move on.”
『…』
Mephisto, while floating in the air, shook his head while watching Elric quickly climb the ridge.
After gauging what to do, Elric immediately plunged into the group of Yetis, which numbered over twenty.
The ensuing scene was, naturally, a massacre.
With that, he captured a few who lost the will to fight.
Then, he interrogated each of them separately.
Obviously, Elric didn’t waste much time on the interrogations.
He asked about their hideout, and if they hesitated or resisted, he’d immediately make a hole in their chests.
Eventually, one of them, who wanted to live, quickly revealed the location.
‘Is there a proportion between their abilities and their characters among these bloodlines…?’
While many in the Melvinger family seemed insane, even to the Demon King, Elric appeared to stand out the most.
Kieeek! Kieeeck!
As Elric was running, he carried a bound Yeti on his right shoulder. Due to the vague description it had given, he had to forcibly bring the Yeti as a guide.
Its face, filled with terror from the speed, was pitiable even for Mephisto.
『Kua, ku-kukukua!』
Kieeeck!
『Kuaaa!』
Ki-eee-ack, kieeeck!
『Ku-ruck, ku-rururuk!』
Ki-eee-ack? Ki-eee-ack!
“What on earth are you two talking about?”
『Heh. Just that if it behaves, it can live.』
Kiieeeack!
『Kuwa! Ku-kukuwa, kuruu…!』
“Hmm…? 【Interpret】”
『…So this heartless beast is going to… Huh?!』
While he was talking in the Yetis’ language, Mephisto abruptly switched to the continental common language, which made him widen his eyes.
All this time, he’d been blabbering on without realizing he’d been understood!
Seeing Elric grinning coldly at him, he shivered.
This guy was using interpretation magic while pretending he didn’t all along…!
“I expected as much from you. Now, 【Silence】 for 3 days.”
『Eup-eup-eup! E-eup!』
“And keep 【Acting Cute】”
『…Nyaa~ Nyaa~?』
For a while, Mephisto was forced to do an odd, cute dance.
Kiieeek.
Meanwhile, Elric had completely separated from the group and was now heading towards the Yetis’ main base.
