The New Gate Book 21: Chapter 3 (4)

Book 21: Chapter 3 (4)

“…Sorry.”

Shin hesitated for a few seconds. He tried to limit the damage as much as possible so he could repair the weapon later.

With a kick to the ground, he closed the distance.

The blade of 『Blue Cloud』 cut the 『Rankui』 that was its core in half, along with the gel that covered it. It probably didn’t sense Shin’s attack because there was no counterattack.

When the 『Rankui』 was destroyed, the gel that made up the Weapon Monster’s body melted away and disappeared.

Shin caught the severed blade and handle of the falling 『Rankui』. There was a slight curse remaining, but other than that, there was nothing abnormal.

The blade was missing near the handle, so its durability as a weapon was 0. It was almost impossible to use. However, while it would not be strange for it to disappear in a game, in this world the actual item remained. Thinking that there was a chance to repair it, Shin changed his mind.

“I’ll put it in the item box at…”

It seemed that once it got to this point, it would be considered just a weapon. Deciding to keep damage to the weapon to a minimum and retrieve it, Shin approached a nearby wolf-like Weapon Monster with a gauntlet as its core.

The gel other than the core disappeared, and the gauntlet fell. He quickly picked it up and moved on.

After fighting a few, he began to see trends among the Weapon Monsters. The quality and number of weapons that form their core. These seemed to be proportional to the strength of the gel. Specifically, the higher the quality of the weapon, the greater the increase in the strength of the gel.

He prioritized reducing their numbers first, starting with the ones that were easy to defeat.

Perhaps because of the curse, or simply because of the difference in power, Shin was able to destroy most of the weapons in a single blow.

Even if there were a certain number of them, as long as they were only Unique-grade, they weren’t much of a threat. It got a little tricky when it came to Legendary-grade weapons, but even then, if Shin slashed them twice, it’d usually be over. Their reaction speed was different to begin with. Their movements were slow and their defenses were weak, so there was no reason for Shin to struggle.

However, it was not the same for those who didn’t have high stats like Shin or Shibaid. For an ordinary person, one hit from this monster could cause serious injury, and in the worst case, it could kill them instantly.

“That’s–that’s no good!”

Shin stepped in between the attacks aimed at the wall of the building.

He protected the child who was cowering and trembling on the other side of the wall.

There were many buildings, so using 【Through Sight】 as a countermeasure against surprise attacks worked well.

Shin slashed away the gels that had transformed into vines, but there were too many of them. He activated the earth magic skill 【Earth Lance】with minimal firepower to prevent them from escaping. While avoiding a direct hit to the core, he surrounded the Weapon Monster with earth spears.

When the Weapon Monster was unable to move, his 『Blue Cloud』 ran through it. He sliced it in half along with the earth spear, and immediately retrieved the weapon.

Since the evacuation had not yet been completed, there was a possibility that there were still people in the buildings and alleys. It was important to defeat the Weapon Monsters, but it was also important to limit human casualties.

This time, whether by accident or on purpose, the monster’s attack was about to hit a place where someone was hiding, and he was able to react immediately. Shin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmm? I better not let that get away.”

Sensing a presence, he looked up and saw a Weapon Monster resembling a four-winged bird taking off from a place corresponding to the back of the exhibition hall.

Shin jumped at the Weapon Monster as it headed toward the crowded shops. He stomped on it with enough force to break the ground, and then rocketed into the air.

He activated 【Flying Shadow】 and kicked 10 steps in the air. Still too far away to fight with a sword, Shin unleashed a magic skill.

A translucent ball of wind flew with force, stopping just above the Weapon Monster’s head.

The Weapon Monster was unaware of the wind ball. As Shin approached, it tried to increase its alt.i.tude from horizontal flight to put some distance between them, but came into contact with the ball of wind that was waiting above.

With a loud popping sound, a strong gust of wind was released toward the ground. Wind magic skills were designed to catch flying monsters off guard. Rather than simply hitting them head-on with a ma.s.s of wind, they forced the opponent to fall to the ground.

For players without air attacks or aerial movement skills, it was one of the skills that was considered worth learning when fighting flying monsters.

This time, it was used because a direct magic attack would likely pulverize the entire weapon.

Unable to resist the sudden gust of wind, the Weapon Monster lost its balance and fell, leaving it no time to react to the approaching Shin.

Shin swung his blade past the Weapon Monster. The Weapon Monster also attacked with its beak. It was incomplete, but Shin didn’t stop his blade. The blade of 『Blue Cloud』 slipped through the closed beak and sliced the feathered gauntlet that was its core in half.

The Weapon Monster’s body melted and disappeared. Just as Shin was about to retrieve the gauntlet that had been thrown into the air, he instantly jumped away from the spot.

A gel that had transformed into a short sword pa.s.sed by where Shin had been just a moment ago.

When he turned his eyes to where he thought the person who had fired it was, he saw a Weapon Monster that looked clearly different from the others.

“It’s not like the others.”

It was humanoid. And just like a human wearing equipment, it was wearing armament that was likely on display. It had a helmet decorated with lion-like decorations, armor, and gauntlets and greaves of the same standard. Its whole body was dyed a bluish silver, perhaps resembling a blue knight.

Shin could tell that it wasn’t human thanks to its status display. But the main reason was that it had a mask on its face that seemed to sink into the gel.

The mask featured large fang-like decorations. The specifications of this part of the armament seemed different from the rest of the armament, maybe because it was a core. This thought crossed his mind.

Gel was visible from around its neck and joints, so the inside of its armor was probably filled with it. Shin paid close attention to the joints and the mask. He thought that just because it was a humanoid, he might get hurt if he fought by thinking it would imitate human movements.

Armaments weren’t the only thing the humanoid wore. It held a spear that was dyed indigo blue. From the tip of the spear, a white line spiraled down to the blade. This was the 『Blue Sile』, a spear that was cla.s.sified as one of the high cla.s.s Mythology-grade. A special octagon-shaped blue magic stone was set into the joint where the handle and the tip joined, and it was clear that it was imbued with strong magic power.

Shin had also seen it in all its vivid glory when he had entered the exhibition hall once.

Of all the weapons displayed in the exhibition hall, he had predicted that it would be the most powerful weapon. The Weapon Monster seemed to intend to use it as a weapon, not as a core.

It seemed different from the Weapon Monsters he had seen so far, and Shin became more cautious.

The humanoid readied its 『Blue Sile』. It drew the tip of the spear backward while twisting its body.

Shin was still in the air, and there was some distance between him and the humanoid. However, Shin didn’t think that it was in a ‘waiting’ position to intercept the enemy.

Shin kicked the air toward the humanoid. The distance closed in an instant, but still, the humanoid was faster in swinging its spear. No, it was too fast. Even with Shin approaching, it was clearly not the right time.

However, that perception was wrong.

Shin kicked the air again and changed direction. A blue blade had suddenly appeared, slicing through the empty s.p.a.ce where Shin had been. The blade that slashed through the air disappeared within a few seconds, as if it had been an illusion.

Just as expected. Thinking this, Shin closed the distance even more.

Having looked at the weapons before, he recalled from memory the performance of weapons of Mythology-grade and above, including the 『Blue Sile』. From what he had seen, the 『Blue Sile』 had the highest power, and he was able to remember it instantly due to its high grade.

The ability of this spear was to extend its attack range. It was able to generate water-element blades several mels away from the spear’s range. He didn’t know if the humanoid would use this ability, but since his 【Insight】 skill had also reacted to its previous movements, he was sure that it was the right thing to dodge.

Since he knew it was coming, Shin’s movements after dodging were smooth. 『Blue Cloud』 reached the humanoid before it could point the tip.

It was difficult to see when it was swung at high speed, so the humanoid blocked it with the handle of the 『Blue Sile』.

“Huh?!”

A high-pitched clang reverberated like a scream.

Shin cut the handle of the 『Blue Sile』 in half and aimed his sword at the humanoid’s face. This was because he believed that its mask was different from the others and that it was likely to be the core.

As Shin’s blade approached, the humanoid pulled the 『Blue Sile』, which had been cut in half in length, bringing the tip together. Not wanting to waste time letting go, the humanoid also moved its arm to withstand the impact.

Instead of meeting the blade head-on, the humanoid moved to deflect it. Perhaps due to its monster’s survival instinct, or perhaps due to its skill with a weapon as its core. The tip of the 『Blue Sile』 caught the blade of 『Blue Cloud』, scattering flashy sparks.

The next blow, too, was parried by the shortened handle. The handle was now roughly half its length, but the humanoid deftly controlled the 『Blue Sile』, which had become like a short spear. It withstood two or three more blows.

Next, in the fourth round, the humanoid made a move. A total of eight gels stretched out toward Shin from between the greaves and gauntlets. They were thin and sharp like needles. But it was clear that their power was no ordinary one, considering the level of the humanoid, which probably had Mythology-grade armament at its core.

Shin dodged three of the eight approaching him by stepping forward and shifting his position. He blocked the rest with his gauntlets, leg guards, and coat. These armaments were Ancient-grade, surpa.s.sing Mythology-grade. Their defenses refused to let the needle-like gel penetrate.

However, the gels that collided with his gauntlets and leg guards made a hard sound. They changed shape and wrapped around Shin’s arms and left leg. It would not be surprising if the pressure of the gels was enough to break his limbs along with his equipment if Shin had average stats.

“Ah!”

Shin exhaled softly and stepped forward with his unrestrained right foot. At the same time, his left hand released the 『Blue Cloud』 that he had been holding with both hands. While shaking off the gel restraints that were trying to hold him back, he gently touched the mask.

However, the mask, which must have been of high grade, was split in half.

Barehanded martial arts skill 【Transparent Wave】.

When he had used it on a golem before, it had shattered the opponent to pieces. Now, Shin was able to minimize its effect.

It seemed that his prediction that the mask was the core was correct, as a change immediately occurred.

The restraints that had been wrapped around Shin’s arms and legs disappeared.

However, although the humanoid’s gauntlets and armor shook unnaturally, there was no sign of the gel inside disappearing.

As Shin stood at a distance to watch, the gel still covered his right gauntlet. It was in the same state as the mask that had been split in half earlier.

Shin deduced that if the armament that was the core was destroyed, the humanoid might be able to turn other armaments into cores and continue fighting.

The tip of the 『Blue Sile』 was pointed at Shin again. There was no gap in the humanoid’s stance. Both the tip and the handle of the 『Blue Sile』 were covered in gel, reinforcing the severed handle. It seemed that the humanoid intended to use it at its original length, rather than as a short spear.

Shin stepped forward, antic.i.p.ating that the gel covering the weapon might have strengthened it.

As if the humanoid had read his movement, the tip came flying.

To Shin’s eyes, the tip was barely a dot. It was an illusion of the distance between the tip of the spear and the user. The spear’s movement read the opponent’s line of sight, not one’s own. It was without a doubt the skill of a master.

The tip of the spear was thrust silently, yet swiftly, aimed at Shin’s head. Shin changed the direction of the spear that was about to pierce his forehead. He tilted his head and dodged with minimal movement.

Having antic.i.p.ated the dodge, the humanoid instantly pulled back the 『Blue Sile』.

At that moment, Shin sensed something approaching from behind.

Utilizing the 『Blue Sile』’s ability to extend its attack range, a blade appeared next to the tip as it was pulled back Like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, it came to chop off Shin’s head.

Shin silently grabbed the handle of the 『Blue Sile』 with his left hand. The fact that he was able to touch something covered in an unidentifiable substance without hesitation was precisely because Shin was almost never affected by abnormal conditions. The gel, which felt like a slightly hard jelly, offered a slight resistance. It was crushed in his grip.

Shin applied just enough force to avoid crushing the handle.

The humanoid who had been pulling the 『Blue Sile』 back stopped moving. They started pulling on each other. Shin thought about taking the spear away, but suddenly the resistance disappeared and he lost his balance.

The handle that had been connected by the gel separated. The end with the tip fell into Shin’s hand.

Shin stored the short spear in his item box, and the humanoid let go of the handle. It was probably a useless item at this point.

Shin regained his balance and tried to attack again. But before he could, the gel exploded.

The gel overflowed from the gaps in the armor and gauntlets. It wrapped around the nearby Weapon Monsters, absorbing them as if they were prey. Tentacles made of gel sprouted from the humanoid’s back.

At their tips, the cores of the Weapon Monsters it had absorbed a.s.serted their presence. All of them were aimed at Shin. There were two long swords, three daggers, and an axe. In addition, the humanoid held a curved sword in each hand.

“That saves me the trouble of having to retrieve them all!”

Shin stepped forward without any hesitation.

The Weapon Monsters absorbed by the tentacles could not defend themselves in time due to the short distance. The only thing that reacted accurately to the blade of 『Blue Cloud』, which was swung with a slight miracle of trajectory, was the curved sword in the humanoid’s hand. The tentacles with the daggers growing out of them also reacted, but not enough to stop Shin. Even though the absorbed Weapon Monsters were connected to the main body, it seemed that their reaction speed was not the same.

『Blue Cloud』’s cross slash sliced the two curved swords and the armor’s torso in half. The blade whipped around and drew an arc. The flashing slash cut through the left and right gauntlets that held the curved swords almost simultaneously.

Like the mask, they ceased to function as cores when destroyed, and the humanoid’s movements slowed.

Shin wanted to destroy the helmet and greaves as well. But he spun around and swung 『Blue Cloud』 with his back to the humanoid. A tentacle with a weapon sprouted from the humanoid and suddenly attacked Shin from behind.

Though its reflexes were slow, the tentacles themselves had great athletic ability.

The dagger came first. Shin cut off the dagger’s blade that reached him first, and slipped through the tentacles.

The momentum of the tentacles did not stop even after the dagger was destroyed. The gel did not disappear even after the weapon it was holding was destroyed, perhaps because it was connected to the main body. Contrary to appearances, the gel that made up the tentacles has incredible power. If he were to intercept it on the spot, he would be crushed by the gel itself, not to mention the weapons.

(I have no intention of being hit by that!)

With Shin’s equipment and status, that might not be a problem, but there was no reason to take that risk here.

Shin sliced through the approaching tentacles as he slipped through. He grabbed the long sword that was floating in the air.

He tried it and thought it would work. But it seemed possible to retrieve the weapon without destroying it by cutting the tentacles. Maybe it was possible because the weapon wasn’t a core.

Shin grabbed the other long sword that came late with a barehanded blade grip technique and stopped it from moving. With the sharpness of 『Blue Cloud』 combined with the power of its special effect, it would be easy to cut off the tentacles even with one hand.

A moment later, an axe flew toward his right foot. He blocked it with his leg guard and stepped on the handle with his left foot, pinning it down in place. The cobblestones shattered from the impact of the axe, but his leg guard demonstrated its toughness to the fullest, not allowing the blade to reach Shin’s body.

Shin grabbed the long sword from the tentacle that he had stopped from moving and stored it in his item box. He was wary that more tentacles would grow out of it, but maybe there was a limit to its shape since there was no such change.

He collected all the weapons the humanoid had absorbed and turned around. The main body of the humanoid was still standing. Its movements were sluggish, perhaps because it had lost the weapons that had served as its core one by one. The only remaining weapons that had kept their shape were the helmet and the greaves.

Just as Shin was about to take a step forward before retrieving another weapon, a change different from before occurred in front of his eyes.

Large cracks appeared on the helmet and greaves which should have been undamaged. They were covered in gel, so it looked as if they had cracked due to the pressure. But if the weapon was damaged it would no longer function as a core, and from the monster’s perspective it would be tantamount to suicide.

After a few seconds, the helmet and greaves broke into pieces before Shin even had to lift a hand.

With the core weaponry gone, the humanoid form could no longer be maintained.

A few more seconds later, the neatly broken and severed gauntlets and armament rolled to the ground. With smooth cross sections, they looked like they could be used again if glued back together.

This made the misshapen cross sections of the shattered helmet and greaves all the more conspicuous.

With a solemn feeling, Shin stored them all away in his item box. It was as if the self-destructing weaponry were struggling to deny that they were being used for evil, something other than their intended purpose.

The true nature of weaponry was as a tool for battle. Who it hurt and who it protected was up to the user.

But this time was different.

No, Shin thought.

It was wrong for weapons that master craftsmans must have poured their soul into making to be used in this way.

It was impossible to read the thoughts of the makers when they made these weapons. Still, the people who made these weapons did not approve of harming people with malicious intent.

It was likely that this will was present in the weapons. Shin thought so.

“…Next.”

Changing his mood, Shin looked around for signs of movement.

There were many weapons on display in the exhibition hall. There were still many Weapon Monsters out there.

Shin jumped up on the spot. He charged into the area where there were many of them. He found that Filma and Milt had also arrived at the scene and were fighting. They were using their skills to attract the attention of the surrounding monsters, so that the Weapon Monsters would not flow into the city.

Still, Shin and the others alone would not be able to attract all the Weapon Monsters, so they would have to rely on the guards to do their best to catch any that were missed. In some places, it seemed that the partic.i.p.ants of the Battle Festival were also fighting.

“I won’t let you do that!!”

Shin cut in half an ogre-like weapon monster that was about to attack the parent and child who were too late to escape, and told them a safe route to travel. There were Shin and his friends, the skilled fighters who partic.i.p.ated in the festival, and high-level guards.

Even so, there were some people lying in pools of blood. Their bodies were so destroyed that it was obvious at a glance that they were dead. This was because the cores of the Weapon Monsters were powerful weapons.

“d.a.m.n it.”

Seeing the gruesome scene, Shin couldn’t help but curse. What was the point of doing something like this, what was fun about it? He had no idea.

FunkyFunky said that it was a festival. But what was so festive about it? What was the purpose? No matter how much he thought about it, Shin couldn’t find the answer.

If this was the work of a miasma demon, then it could be said that its purpose was to torment people, and if it was a reenactment of some event, then he had no choice but to accept it as such. 

But this was neither of those things. It was not the work of a monster, nor a phenomenon that occurred when certain conditions were met.

It was a disaster caused by humans, a man-made disaster.

Shin felt as if a different threat to the ones he had faced before was lurking in the unseen.

◆◆◆◆

←Previous  |  Next→ (7-Days Free Trial)