Volume 1, Chapter 41 – Demon Beasts from the Darkborn

…Is that… the Darkborn?

Fia’s pupils were slightly narrowed. With the excellent vision of an elf, she was able to discern the identity of the colossal creature from the silhouette emerging through the dust.

The Secret History of the Witch described members of the Darkborn. In addition to large, numerous races like dragons and giants, the Darkborn also had many strange-looking individuals. For example, there were creatures with the appearance of a cow but several times its size, covered in numerous horns, or beings that looked like the demons from stories—with bat wings, goat horns, and a human form. In Fia’s mind, the Darkborn was basically synonymous with demons.

However, it was important to note that a Darkborn member’s strength couldn’t be judged by their rank alone.

Unlike humans, the Darkborn members were born with powerful bodies and magic superior to humans. For example, even a human magic caster of the seventh rank would surely die if their heart was pierced. But a Darkborn member, even if their head was cut off, could still use magic for a short time, and some of the more powerful ones could even pick up their heads, reattach them, and continue fighting.

Therefore, at the same rank, it usually took two to ten humans to defeat one Darkborn member. This disparity was especially evident between ordinary human soldiers and low-rank Darkborn members; regular soldiers had no magical abilities, so fighting a Darkborn member with only raw physical strength and innate monstrous power was incredibly difficult.

[Wind of Exploration]

Instead of thinking of escaping, Fia used the newly learned spell to survey her surroundings. In the thermal-map-like view, a cyan silhouette appeared. And there wasn’t just one; on the other side of the road and in the direction the soldiers came from, two more identical beings were lurking in the ruins.

Their strength should be around the third rank.

Gradually, the dust cleared, and a red monster, three or four stories high, appeared before everyone. Just as Fia had seen in the silhouette, the monster had the appearance of a bull, but its body was much more imposing. Its horns were enormous, and it had more than one pair of eyes. Its body was covered in armor-like red crystals that reflected a dazzling light in the sun.

If this creature were in the Human Alliance, some tribes would surely worship it as a symbol of power.

“Agh! It’s… it’s the Darkborn! Run! Hurry!!”

“Where are the temple soldiers from earlier? Come out and stop them!”

“They can’t even protect themselves! Hurry to the cathedral, the paladins are there!”

Unlike Fia’s curiosity, the people in the slum saw the minotaur-like monster and their legs started moving before their brains could even process the sight. If you were to look down from a high vantage point, you would see the narrow streets of the slum packed with people, all desperately fleeing towards the city center.

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Fia was touched that some kind-hearted people tried to persuade her to escape with them, but she didn’t like being in crowded places and had to politely decline.

“How did the Darkborn get here?” Claire, who, like Fia, chose not to run, looked grave. She handed her bamboo basket to Fia. “Could you please hold this for me, Fia?”

“I can, but…”

Fia took the basket from Claire, tilted her head, and looked at Claire’s left hand. At some point, Claire was holding a rapier that glowed with a blue light, seemingly made of ice crystals. It might not be a rapier—it was thin but had an edge, so “thin sword” was more fitting. Because the blade had its own light, Fia almost mistook it for a plasma sword from her world.

Fia knew without being told that Claire was going to fight the Darkborn.

But was Claire really a match for these monsters?

Although Claire had said she could defeat Anastasia with just one hand, Fia had never seen her fight and couldn’t help but doubt her strength.

“Claire, maybe I should do it instead?”

“Hmm—you’re right. Little Fia, you can support me from the back. I’ll go hold them off to prevent them from hurting innocent people.”

No, no, I didn’t mean to support you. Fia thought. I can handle this level of monster with a [Firestorm.]

Without giving Fia a chance to voice her thoughts, Claire leaped forward with a gust of wind. Her movements were incredibly swift; in the blink of an eye, she entered the battlefield, separating the minotaur from the temple soldiers who had been thrown into the ruins.

The temple soldiers were just starting to recover from their shock, most of them lying motionless in the rubble. Their deeply dented armor showed just how powerful the minotaur’s charge had been. Fortunately, the man with the Darkborn illness and his family only had scrapes and were huddled in a corner, waiting for the danger to pass.

“I don’t know how you got into the city, but this is as far as you go.”

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Holding her sword at an angle, Claire stood in front of the minotaur. The huge size difference made it hard to believe Claire would be a match for the monster. Surprisingly, the minotaur didn’t attack Claire. Instead, it cautiously backed away, a warning growl rumbling in its throat.

“…A dangerous presence. You are not human.”

It can speak human language?

Fia, who was slowly approaching the battlefield, was surprised. Although the Secret History of the Witch recorded that the Darkborn could learn human knowledge, she still found it novel to actually hear a member of the Darkborn speak. In the Human Alliance, due to different physiological structures, it was almost impossible for a sentient species to learn the language of another, just as dolphins couldn’t produce human sounds.

As expected of a world of magic, it’s full of wonders.

“Since you know I’m dangerous, why not stop now? I don’t intend to be your enemy, but I won’t allow you to run rampant on my territory. You’re no match for me.”

“Ridiculous!”

With a mocking roar, the minotaur didn’t give Claire time to react. It lowered its head, and its massive horns charged directly at Claire.

It was a given that even a city wall would be shaken by such a heavy blow.

However, Claire simply raised her ice crystal thin sword, which was less than a foot long. By the time people reacted, the minotaur’s sharp horns had already reached Claire.

A bloody, gruesome scene was expected to follow.

And then…

Time seemed to freeze. The minotaur was still in the motion of ramming its horns into Claire, but Claire’s thin sword had already struck at some point.

The next second, time resumed.

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Crack—

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

A strange sound, as if the earth was splitting.

First one, then a continuous series of explosions. Cracks appeared on the minotaur’s four horns, one after another, until they finally couldn’t withstand the pressure and shattered into fragments.

Besides Claire herself, only Fia saw what had just happened.

In a flash, Claire had swung her sword at the minotaur’s horns—or more accurately, she tapped them, and that’s where the cracks came from.

The difference in strength was obvious.

As if it had slammed into a steel plate, the base of the minotaur’s horns began to gush blood. The unbearable pain caused it to retreat, roaring.

“Graaaah! Damn it, what are you waiting for!!”

The moment the words fell, the two minotaurs that had been hiding in the ruins finally burst out. Compared to the one whose horns Claire had shattered, these two were noticeably bigger and stronger.

Fia thought that even if they all attacked together, they wouldn’t be a match for Claire. Still, it would be a shame for her to have no presence at all, so she decided to take care of these two monsters herself, as Claire had assigned her the support mission.

Thinking this, Fia stepped out from the building rubble. Because she had found the two hiding minotaurs early on with her [Wind of Exploration], Fia had been moving closer to them from the moment she first approached the battlefield.

Now, the distance between them was less than thirty yards.

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“Phew…”

Fia let out a light breath.

At this distance, the minotaurs’ massive bodies were truly intimidating. Their weight made the ground tremble with every step. An ordinary person would be so scared their legs would give out just by looking at them. Fia could even faintly smell a faint, animal stench in the air. The red crystals on the minotaurs’ skin seemed to have a magical effect; the temperature around them rose significantly as they got closer.

“Fia, are you going to take on both of them?” Claire’s voice came from a short distance away.

Without turning back, Fia stared at the two minotaurs slowly approaching her.

“You handle that one, Claire. I’ll take care of these.”

“Okay. If things get bad, call for me immediately. I have some questions to ask them.”

“Huh? You want to keep them alive?”

Fia, who was about to solve the problem with a large Firestorm, was momentarily stunned.

“If possible.”

“Ahem, got it.”

Fia coughed twice and pulled back her small hand that was already stretched out—if Claire hadn’t spoken up so soon, she would have almost turned them into a roast.

I guess I’ll use a gentler approach.