Death hung in the air.
Several tightly packed, powerful auras clashed in a bloody battle.
The air was thick, as if the world itself had held its breath, waiting for the next corpses — and there were plenty in this wilderness.
Should I sneak past? Go around them? Or were these just bandits attacking travelers?
The woman's scream from moments ago wouldn't leave my mind. It pounded in my head like a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil. Could these be the first humans I'd encounter in this world? Maybe even summoned from Earth!?
After devouring the boar, I felt stronger. If things took a turn for the worse, I could always run. Besides, absorbed in battle, they wouldn't sense my carefully hidden aura — the one I had spent months perfecting.
It was made for moments like this.
I acted swiftly. I didn't bother sneaking. I climbed the hill so that only my heads protruded — to my left, my companion growled, excited and consumed by the prospect of potential combat.
I could feel the tension flowing through every muscle. I could feel the blood. [ Bloodlust] was making itself known…
I saw seven people standing in a semicircle — lightly armored, their faces hidden. Behind them lay two dead bodies in the grass. Their blood hadn't yet soaked into the earth. They were surrounding a strangely pale girl with white hair, holding a blood-stained sword. She looked like a desperate aristocrat cornered by bloodthirsty bandits — unwavering, determined to fight.
Should I make myself the hero?
It was clear: every world is cruel, and this one was no exception.
The seven charged. A tall man thrust his spear; the girl parried with her polearm, lunged forward, and struck down from above. The blade missed his head by mere millimeters. Two fired crossbows; one shot whizzed just past her neck, another struck her thigh. She kneeled from the impact.
I hesitated. Their levels were unlike anything I had encountered before. If I step in, there's no turning back. I can't run from them…
[Species: Human
Evolution Stage: Sword Path Warrior
Level: 34
Threat: HIGH]
Then I saw an explosion of dark aura. The girl cloaked herself in a shadowy mist, and half-bent, teleported behind the skilled crossbowman, slashing him twice across the chest. A bloody cross formed on his body as he collapsed to the ground.
A black humanoid monster emerged from his body, striking two shield bearers nearby, opening space for combat. Screams and yells. Blood and death.
I witnessed rage and fury. I had never seen swordplay like this. I couldn't blink for fear of missing a single exquisite strike. The girl didn't dance — she marched confidently forward, parrying, evading, countering every attack.
Even a masterful swordswoman eventually lost her momentum. Three of the attackers shredded the monster into Swiss cheese until it melted away like a candle. One hurled a spear at the girl, taking advantage of her loss of balance on a protruding root, striking her side with full force with his axe. Only the impact of the axe handle against her sword saved her from a fatal blow. He struck again and again, but in the end, she drove her blade into his throat.
Blood erupted. I saw the last surge of her strength. Even the monster did not re-emerge atop the axe-wielder's corpse. The girl was at her limit. The others exploited it ruthlessly, never letting her catch a breath. Behind her, a roaring river; ahead of her, five skilled warriors.
I made my decision.
Not out of mercy. Not out of kindness. Out of fury. Fury at myself…
It wasn't for nothing that Zod had recognized my courage and granted me an ancient skill. I would not cower now. I was no longer the weakling from my previous life…
I used [ Charge ]. I surged forward. The ground trembled beneath my weight. The second head bared its fangs and roared. I responded in kind, and a sudden wave of sound threw the bandits into chaos.
They broke formation. I charged the first of them — a burly swordsman with an oval shield.
I hadn't expected such resistance; he blocked my impact with his shield, dodged the venom, and sliced the second head along its neck. He howled in rage.
"Adam, ignite him! Hydras are vulnerable to fire!" one of them shouted. Amid the chaos, the smallest muttered an incantation under his breath, sending sparks flying from his fingertips. At the same moment, the second hit me with a bag of some foul-smelling paste, and half of my body was engulfed in flames!
"Damn beast! Where did this lizard come from?!" the lancer roared, trying to strike me in the side.
I felt as if someone were driving red-hot iron straight through my bones!
A few steps away, the white-haired girl struggled against a giant with a black braid, who with one swing of his hammer could crush a boulder.
"Adam, watch—" the second crossbowman warned his comrade, but it was too late.
The skilled swordswoman struck him straight through the heart, decapitating him with a second blow. He tumbled across the grass, dyeing it red. She used her mist ability again, closing the distance to the fire-user, kicked him with her heel, dodged his thrust, and sliced him in half — her face and hair now streaked with scarlet.
Excruciating pain and two enemies relentlessly attacking me with steel, madness in their eyes, no trace of fear.
Three foes remained: the lancer, likely their leader; a skilled swordsman with a shield; and a giant in mail and a padded hood wielding a hammer.
The swordsman attacked from the right as the lancer flanked me, giving me no respite. Even [ Iron skin ] barely dulled the pain. I couldn't bite, couldn't strike with venom; they always kept out of reach of my tail.
They looked like seasoned hunters of hydras. I felt certain I was about to die.
Summoning bloodlust, I delved deep within myself and surrendered my body to fury. Let these bandits taste [ Berserker's Fury ]!
My eyes turned dark red, I felt steam escaping from my body as if it could no longer withstand the strain. I lost complete control — everything happened too fast!
Bite, dodge, spin, strike with my spiked tail!
The swordsman's shield was crushed, his strikes no longer slowed me. Two of them went on the defensive.
And I felt as though every bone in my body was breaking at once, my hearts threatening to leap from my chest. I had never fought anyone so strong and skilled. I regretted being here.
Berserker Fury consumed them for two minutes. I, barely level 18, resisted two bandits of level 34 and 36 at once!
My body lunged forward; each step felt like bones being shattered by a hammer. I slashed with my claws straight at the lance-wielder's face; he howled in pain.
"Accursed monster! Taste humanity's might!"
He hurled powerful grenades toward me and leapt back, drinking the contents of two vials in one gulp, rejuvenated to full strength.
In Berserker Fury, I couldn't discern what he drank, couldn't control my body — only felt pain and rage.
The battle dragged on, but I didn't yield. From the side, I could hear the clashing duel of blades unable to pierce the mail.
The fire nearly burned out, leaving me scorched and vulnerable; the second head had lost momentum. I saw the swordsman close in, a clean strike almost decapitating the second head. I panicked and turned recklessly. The last thing I saw was the lancer's grin beneath the ripped mask of my claw. I spat. I missed. I felt the lance pierce my chest. My heart stopped…
Never had I been so terrified. True panic, speed of strikes, disorientation.
So this is what real combat looks like? This is what it means to be a warrior?
I was losing consciousness, seeing the second head dangling by the last muscle fibers, watching the swordswoman pierce the giant's chest, felling him to the ground.
Then cold steel pressed against my neck, and I felt myself flying.
Lying on the grass, motionless, I sensed dozens of souls rushing from the south. Soon, goblin arrows struck the swordsman and the lancer, while the woman, staggering on her feet and supported by goblins, decapitated the swordsman.
Hundreds of small warriors swarmed the lancer from every side. A familiar voice — a small girl named Gege — echoed in my ears. "Daddy, watch out!"
I had no idea what was happening. I lost all sensation, couldn't move my tongue — I was just a severed head in a pool of blood, hearing only screams of rage and helplessness from a man stabbed from all sides.
The last words I heard were the groans and threats of the defeated lancer toward the bloodied girl, her blade at his throat.
"Impudent traitor! My guild will avenge me! Do you know who my brother is!?"
Then, the sound of merciless cutting and goblin growls above me.
The world turned dark… silent…