Chapter 35

Atop the mountain range where attacks exchanged with the magical beast horde.

Lloyd faced Ethan's gaze and hesitated for a moment.

But only briefly.

A crooked smile soon curved Lloyd's lips.

"Yeah, why not."

Lloyd pulled his eyes from Ethan and straightened his stance toward the front.

Ethan fixed his gaze forward as well.

That was all that passed between them.

Tap!

Ethan moved first.

He charged at the bear's face, deliberately making his movements large to draw the creature's attention.

A beast like this would charge forward rather than retreat suspiciously when it spotted an opening.

Grooooar!

Just as expected.

The giant bear—Karhoo—rushed forward immediately and swung its forepaw, striking viciously at Ethan's exposed flank.

Clang!

Since he'd anticipated the attack, blocking wasn't difficult.

Ethan used the flat of his blade to absorb the impact. His body flew sideways from the force.

Grrrrrrr!

Karhoo roared fiercely and was about to charge at the flying Ethan when—

"Oh dear, shouldn't take your eyes off me."

Lloyd rushed in from the blind spot and swung his blade swiftly at Karhoo's nape.

Grooar!

The wound was shallow, but enough to redirect its attention.

The moment Karhoo's gaze turned toward Lloyd, Ethan kicked hard off the tree trunk at his feet.

Whoosh!

He swung his sword with all his body's strength.

A sharp trajectory carved across Karhoo's neck.

Slash!

Thick streams of blood trickled down along the wound carved into its neck.

Karhoo bared its sharp fangs and snarled, then staggered back a few steps.

'Lucky, I guess. My body feels lighter than I thought.'

Ethan, who'd landed on the ground like he was flying, caught his breath and looked at Karhoo.

Karhoo seemed slightly surprised by the unexpected struggle. It lowered its vital points and prepared to defend as well.

He had no intention of letting it move as it pleased.

Ethan kicked off the ground without delay and leaped toward Karhoo.

Whoosh!

Karhoo's eyes flashed as it swung its forepaw.

Just before their attacks collided, Ethan's blade twisted slightly as he lunged to strike.

He smoothly channeled the force along the surface of the crystal protruding from the forepaw and pulled his body downward.

The moment Karhoo lost track of Ethan's movement, Ethan's sword flashed.

Grooar!

With a pained cry, blood spurted from Karhoo's right arm.

Its massive left hand swept backward to strike at Ethan.

As if anticipating the move, Lloyd appeared from behind and thrust his sharp blade into Karhoo's left arm.

Crack!

He twisted the sword hilt, creating a deep laceration.

Blood fountained out, and the hand that had been aiming for Ethan swept through empty air as the massive body began to stagger.

Ethan and Lloyd struck again.

Slash!

This time, a deep laceration opened across its chest.

Karhoo let out a boiling sound and dropped to one knee.

Thud!

"Woooah...!"

Quiet cheers erupted from the carriage behind. Ethan and Lloyd calmed their breathing and glanced around.

Buoyed by their earlier success, the other combatants were taking down magical beasts with ease as well.

Then... all that remained was the final blow.

Once they brought down Karhoo, everyone would be safe...

—!

A chill unlike anything before raced to the top of his head.

The thick pressure made Ethan feel his throat constrict.

'What the hell is this all of a sudden?'

The surrounding air froze in an instant. Ethan barely managed to turn his head to look back.

At the very end of the convoy, on the distant horizon, a pale outline was slowly revealing itself.

Grrrr— Grrrrrrr—!

A bizarre writhing he'd never seen before.

A cry that set his nerves on edge like scraping metal.

Yet strangely, the entire scene shared considerable overlap with a scene from his memories.

[The so-called White Demon! Its snow-white body is so massive it could cover an entire towering iceberg, and the legs extending below its creepy golden eyes number twenty. Each leg has power matching the kingdom's finest weapons.]

Caught in an old memory.

Ethan stared at the tentacles extending long like blades beneath the vivid golden eyes and muttered.

"...The White Demon?"

Ethan's lips hardened as he took a step toward the glowing pale elliptical body.

But an obstacle rising before him stopped him from continuing.

Grrrrrrr.

The killing intent of the surrounding magical beasts grew thicker, and additional bronze-colored crystals sprouted from their bodies.

New magical beasts began joining from behind the bushes.

"Damn it, why now!"

Voices filled with dismay burst out one after another from around them.

As if sensing the tide turning, the magical beasts' eerie growls grew even clearer.

But then—

Bang!

Ethan's eyes, which had been surveying the tightening situation, locked onto the white magical beast behind them again.

"...!"

A dark blue mana sphere shattered like snow over the white tentacle that had risen high as if to pierce through the carriage.

Then immediately, a boy with dark blue hair dove into the bushes on the right.

Ethan's eyes widened as he recognized the boy who'd drawn the magical beast's attention—Mikhail.

—! —!

The golden eyes rolled to follow Mikhail.

The magical beast wriggled its five tentacles and entered the bushes after Mikhail.

"Is he out of his mind...!"

Ethan immediately tried to follow Mikhail, but the situation wasn't favorable.

Karhoo rising to its feet with bronze-colored crystals blooming over its wounds, and magical beasts gradually closing the distance.

A barrier appeared in an instant to block his path.

'Damn it.'

Ethan bit his lips hard in irritation.

...But only briefly. Ethan took a deep breath as if to calm himself and stared straight ahead with unwavering eyes.

"......"

His hand, veins bulging blue, gripped the sword hilt as if he'd cut down everything blocking his path.

---

In the game Tales Chronicle.

The information mentioned about the death of Mikhail Senit, a third-rate extra, was as follows:

[Noble Student A, Sensitive to Rumors]

[That northern young master who got expelled at the start of the semester. Mikhail Senit. ...I heard he died on his way back north. They say a magical beast attacked him—the carriage he was riding in and all the cargo were smashed to pieces. Obviously all the passengers inside were also... well, it ended badly.]

[Accident Investigator's Journal (1)]

[...The exact identity of the magical beast that attacked the carriage is unknown. Not only are there no survivors to provide witness accounts, but the degree of damage to the cargo was so severe that it was difficult to find impact marks that could serve as clues. The discovery of the incident site also occurred after considerable time had passed.... However, when we examined the magical beast's crystal fragments found at the scene, we speculate the beast was an individual possessing disaster-level power.]

[Accident Investigator's Journal (2)]

[...Instructions have been given to conclude the investigation of this incident as quickly and promptly as possible. It seems a decision was made that spreading word of this incident would only amplify confusion.]

...That was all the description. No heroic direction or scenes were inserted like with other characters.

For an extra whose very existence was riddled with errors, that was all the space that could be spared.

However, the final moments that Mikhail—no, Hansol—had drawn alone in his mind were a bit more specific.

Scratch, scratch.

The pen tip Hansol held moved smoothly across the notebook.

[...What attacked the carriage was a magical beast found extremely rarely even in the far extremes of the North. Its bright yellow eyes chased the passengers inside the carriage like Venus rising at midday.]

[It didn't take long for the blade-like tentacles to destroy the carriage and claim the lives of all the passengers.]

[The snow-white monster finally lifted the last boy whose life it would take high into the air. With the sunset at its back, as if to confirm the face hidden beneath the dark blue hair.]

[Or perhaps to mock the helpless victim.]

...And now.

At the very end of the convoy.

'Damn, I hoped it wouldn't be this.'

Mikhail stood alone before the carriage, facing an opponent unusually similar to his own nemesis from the game.

"Hng, ugh... ngh, ngh."

Mikhail stared directly at the approaching magical beast, leaving behind the passengers who looked ready to faint any moment.

Messages explaining the current situation appeared incessantly before him in the air above, accompanied by flickering lights.

【Notice: The death setting assigned to [Character: Mikhail Senit] is forcibly intervening in the main storyline.】

Pop!

【Notice: The flow of the main storyline has detected excessive intervention by the setting.】

【Notice: The flow of the main storyline is suppressing and coordinating the distortion of the predetermined story.】

Pop!

【...Difficulty adjustment process complete.】

【Notice: The overall abilities of [Fragment of the White: Oz] are greatly reduced.】

【Notice: The elemental attributes and supernatural manifestation of [Fragment of the White: Oz] are extremely limited.】

【Notice: Main storyline... fierce resist... adjust....】

'Difficulty adjustment process...'

Mikhail looked at the magical beast that had appeared before him.

A body much smaller than the one in his memories, and writhing legs reduced from twenty to just five.

The only thing unchanged was the bright yellow glittering eyes.

Whooosh—.

A wind reeking of blood swept stickily across his nape.

Mikhail stared at the five tentacles while mulling over the battle situation, then glanced back.

Faces that looked ready to expire any moment were staring at the magical beast.

Mikhail looked forward again and tossed a word to the passengers.

"If anyone's thinking of following, tell them they don't need to."

Mikhail condensed mana in his hand.

'Even if Oz's power has been considerably reduced, a head-on fight is impossible. I need to weaken it as much as possible.'

Mikhail stared at the writhing tentacles with sharp eyes.

As if about to pierce through the carriage any moment, the snow-white tentacle shot high into the air.

Whoosh.

Just before the tentacle drove down toward its target—

Bang!

The sphere Mikhail fired and Oz's tentacle collided in midair.

Mikhail glanced at the shattering mana sphere and ran toward the bushes on the right.

As he trampled through the thick weeds, the small footsteps of the sky foxes reached his ears.

Grrrrrrr—!

A metallic sound that made his hair stand on end spread in all directions, filled with naked rage.

The vibration carried at the end of the cry shook the ground with heavy thuds as it began chasing closely behind Mikhail.

'I need to lead Oz to the nearby lake.'

Freshwater—the weakness that would be fatal to Oz, a creature that originally lived in the cold northern waters.

What Mikhail was aiming for now was an environmental debuff.

Feeling the killing intent drawing closer moment by moment, Mikhail turned his head toward the sky foxes.

"After I move, knock down the trees along the path I took. Can you do it?"

"Kang!"

The sky foxes swished their tails in response. They turned around and exhaled the breath they'd drawn in.

Crack!

A shockwave made of wind snapped the trunk.

The tree collapsed helplessly and lay across the ground.

Thud, thoom.

The sounds of falling trees repeated three or four times.

Grrrrrrr— Rrrrr—!

The ear-scraping metallic cry grew louder.

However, the vibrations didn't draw any closer.

'But it's still too early to relax.'

Mikhail manifested overlaid magic in his hand and focused all his senses toward the back.

Whoosh.

The moment a faint wind sound reached his ear—

Mikhail spun around and fired a dark blue mana sphere.