Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Kiriya felt as though the pain inside his body had eased quite a bit.
Puff, puff, puff, puff—
Blood sprayed outward, splattering across the faces of the lackeys behind the man.
Feeling that warmth on their skin, their hearts turned ice-cold.
They had kicked an iron plate.
This sickly-looking pretty boy was actually a powerful adventurer.
Their boss had not even lasted a single exchange before being turned into a hedgehog.
If they were the ones facing him...
"Run!"
The moment they imagined the terrifying consequences that might follow, the group immediately wanted to flee.
Kiriya wanted to chase them, but a burning tightness suddenly surged through his chest.
With a loud retch, he vomited a mouthful of blood and dropped to one knee.
That unexpected sight immediately changed the minds of the men who had been about to run.
As adventurers, they could all tell that something was very wrong with Kiriya’s body. He was probably suffering from some severe injury.
After exchanging glances, the remaining adventurers decided to strike first.
If they waited until he recovered, they would be the ones in trouble.
"Kill him!"
Once they made up their minds, their movements became swift and decisive.
One drew his bow and nocked an arrow, another gripped a dagger, while the others raised swords and surrounded Kiriya from multiple directions.
Their coordination was quite tight, nearly sealing off every path he could use to dodge.
Kiriya tried his best to evade, but with his body in its current state, avoiding the attack in front meant he could not avoid the one behind.
A long wound was cut across his back.
"He’s gotten weaker."
The group noticed Kiriya’s frailty, and their confidence immediately swelled. Even the archer in the rear released his bowstring, certain that this fight was already won.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Kiriya panted heavily, but his mind remained frighteningly calm.
The earlier encirclement had indeed made his battered body even worse, but the sharp pain had also stimulated his nerves, temporarily restoring his control over his limbs.
He understood very clearly that this opening would vanish in an instant.
He had to seize it and decide the outcome now.
So Kiriya chose to attack first.
"DIE, You little brat!"
The men grinned fiercely and swung their weapons again, intending to cut Kiriya down where he stood.
But this time, their plan was doomed to fail.
To Kiriya, now that he had truly focused, attacks of this level did not even require a proper dodge.
’Slow. Too slow.’
He lowered his body and easily avoided the sword thrust coming toward him.
His fingers transformed into wooden spikes, piercing straight through the attacker’s heart.
Then he took a step forward.
The burst of force lifted the man off the ground and slammed him into another adventurer, skewering the two of them together like candied fruit on a stick.
’Got him!’
At that same instant, the assassin behind Kiriya had already brought his dagger within two centimeters of Kiriya’s waist.
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique."
Kiriya whispered softly.
A wooden spike shot out from his back, striking the man like lightning.
In the next moment, it exploded inside his body, turning him into a wooden version of a cactus.
In the blink of an eye, the situation had completely reversed.
"M-monster!"
The last man, the archer with his bow drawn, was so frightened he nearly wet himself. With a cry, he turned and ran.
But how could Kiriya possibly let him go?
He casually extended a wooden spike, then threw it like a javelin. It crossed several dozen meters in a flash and pierced the man through the heart.
In just a few short seconds, several adventurers had been wiped out.
The heavy smell of blood spread through the area, making the people hiding in the shadows, still hoping to take advantage of the situation, feel their stomachs churn.
Quite a few of them had already started vomiting.
One look was enough to confirm it.
This was not someone they could afford to provoke.
The adventurers of Orario were among the most pragmatic people in the entire world, and those active around Daedalus Street were even more realistic than most.
Seeing that there was no profit to be gained, they scattered at once like startled birds.
However, one middle-aged adventurer with a small mustache did not run quickly enough. The moment he turned around, that red-eyed demon had already blocked his path.
"M-my lord, please spare me! I was just passing by. I had no ill intentions at all, absolutely none!"
The adventurer’s knees went weak, and he dropped to the ground, raising both hands high as he swore for his life.
His movements were so practiced that even Kiriya paused for a moment.
"Answer my question, and I may consider sparing you."
Kiriya’s voice was cold as he stepped closer.
"Yes, yes, yes. Please ask, my lord."
The mustached adventurer answered hurriedly, his dogeza posture extremely proper.
"Has a goddess named Hestia appeared in Orario recently?" Kiriya asked.
"Hestia?"
The mustached man looked blank.
Kiriya added, "About one meter forty, wears blue ribbons, huge breasts."
"Mm, mm, mm! Now that you say that, I know who you mean."
The mustached man pointed east.
"I saw her earlier today on that street, trying to recruit people into her Familia. It’s not far. Just leave this alley and you’ll be there."
After saying that, he looked at Kiriya carefully.
"My lord, may I leave now?"
"Leave your clothes, weapon, and wallet. Then you can go," Kiriya said.
"Ah, this..."
The mustached adventurer’s face immediately turned bitter.
But when he saw Kiriya’s cold gaze, he did not dare argue. He could only put everything down as ordered, then run off as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Cough, cough, cough—!"
Kiriya had only just finished changing clothes when another violent cough tore through him. Blood seeped through the gaps between the fingers covering his mouth.
The earlier easing of pain had been like the retreat of the tide before a tsunami. Now that it erupted again, its intensity had risen by more than tenfold.
"I have to... find her..."
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Kiriya moved forward with heavy steps.
His legs felt as though they had been filled with lead, and his body burned as if it had been thrown into magma.
He was advancing purely on willpower.
’Am I really going to collapse here?’
"Kyaaaaa—!"
A sharp scream rang out, almost piercing his eardrums.
Kiriya jolted, and even his clouded gaze became a little clearer.
Only then did he realize that he had already passed through the alley and arrived on a wide main road.
Not far ahead, a horse was dragging a carriage in a wild charge.
Standing directly in front of that carriage was the back of a young girl, petite and slender.
Her pure white outfit and blue ribbons looked very familiar to Kiriya.
Without thinking, Kiriya rushed forward on instinct, grabbed the girl, and carried her out of the road.
"Thank you..."
He only heard those words before the pain surged again.
Kiriya’s consciousness blurred.
His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground. In a daze, he seemed to hear several screams, along with the dense clatter of horse hooves.
"Who is this guy? Why did he collapse here?"
"No idea. He looks like an adventurer."
"What a handsome young man. Should we save him?"
"Are you kidding? Aren’t you afraid of getting dragged into trouble? He came out of that place. Who knows what kind of dangerous person he is?"
"That smell of blood is so strong. What did this guy do?"
Kiriya thought they were noisy, but right now, he no longer had the strength to even open his eyes.
’This is awful. I clearly have the ability to travel between worlds and i clearly made it to this miraculous world. I awakened the Sharingan and I clearly even obtained Wood Release. And yet I’m still going to collapse here.’
’Gods, you really know how to play a joke on people.’
Kiriya smiled bitterly.
At this point, it seemed he could only accept this cruel reality.
"Hm? Are you hurt?"
Suddenly, a clear voice rang beside his ear, pleasant and bright like a silver bell.
Then he felt his body being helped up, while a pair of small hands kept shaking him.
"Hey, hey, are you okay? Pull yourself together!"
Kiriya opened his eyes in a daze.
Through his muddled vision, he saw a pair of snowy peaks of truly impressive scale... and the blue ribbons tied around the girl’s slender arms.
"Hes... tia?"
"Huh? You know me?"
The girl’s voice filled with confusion.
Then, to her horror, she saw the man open his mouth toward her arm.
"Kyaa—!"
A scream rang out into the sky.
Comments