The swarm of monsters seemed to be searching for something.
They gave off the impression that it should be around here somewhere.
Clearly searching for "me."
Perhaps they followed my scent...
And in this rotting stench zone, the trail had been cut off.
However... they are unusually coordinated.
Something feels different from the Minotaurs or bird heads.
Those gave the impression of being nothing more than "animal packs."
But from these ones, I sense intelligence.
One of the monsters forcefully steps on the scattered bones I placed.
Crack!
"Ka, e, e, go, geri, geriii!? Ge, gege, gege ee—!"
Crack! Snap! Crack!
"Where!? Where!? Where!?"
It almost feels like I can hear those voices.
"Escaping from here without being noticed would be impossible anyway... well—"
I push my body out from the bone gap.
"I never intended to escape in the first place."
I did not choose a siege strategy.
From here, I cannot designate multiple targets at once.
The den is positioned slightly higher than the surroundings.
Behind me is the rock wall.
The conditions for intercepting are quite favorable.
Most of the monsters are humanoid lizards.
They look like the so-called "lizardmen."
However, their appearance is far more sinister than the lizardmen I know.
Several black tentacle-like things extend from around their shoulders.
The twisted rag-shaped tentacles wriggle.
Liquid drips steadily from the tips of the tentacles.
Drip,
Sssss...
Acid again, huh.
It seems I should give up on the idea of these monsters' bodies being usable as food...
Their eyes are cloudy gold.
The area around their eyes is especially pitch black.
On their foreheads—is that also a mouth?
Two mouths, one above the other...?
Compared to the arms, the legs are abnormally developed.
Above all, they are huge.
Larger than the already giant Minotaurs.
At a low estimate, there are at least twenty of them.
"Gi gye?"
The lizardman that first notices me lets out a murky voice.
"Gi gye e aaa—!"
All the monsters look up toward me at once.
Their killing intent toward me oozes out.
But it is not pure killing intent alone.
"Gy o, gyo, gyo iii!"
"Hm?"
One from the back steps forward holding something up.
Something is caught on a long pole.
A skeleton.
Probably human.
And the skeleton is wearing clothes.
No—were they dressed by these things?
"We, we, we e~♪"
The lizardman swings the raised skeleton side to side.
The one next to it makes a gesture like crying.
The narrowed, curved shape of its eyes makes it look like it is weeping.
The one mimicking crying looks up at the sky.
"I, ya aaa aaa aaa—!"
It seems to be trying to change its voice tone.
Probably mimicking a scream this time?
"Ah..."
I see, so that is it.
Imitating the appearance of the female skeleton in clothes before her death.
Next, one holding up a soot-colored skeleton steps forward.
The skeleton wears what seems to be male clothing.
The bone structure is sturdier than the previous one.
The soot-colored skeleton.
I can imagine.
One lizardman lies on its back.
"Gi e, gi e, gyo e e e e—!?"
It flails its limbs wildly.
The surrounding lizardmen raise their voices in amusement.
"Ge, gya, gya, gya ♪"
"Ge, ge ♪ Ge hiii—♪"
They are making a mockery of it.
Mocking the discarded hero's death throes.
Probably that discarded hero was burned at the stake and writhed in agony.
These things enjoyed watching the discarded hero scream in their death agony.
Thud!
Next, a slightly larger one steps forward.
It places a skull at its feet.
Also human.
Crunch—Crack!
It crushes the skull underfoot.
Its eyes narrow into crescent shapes.
Sharp fangs peek out, and the corners of its mouth lift.
It is sneering.
Come on, be afraid.
This is how we kill you all.
We will crush you.
We will trample you.
It is conveying that.
Even without words, it comes through.
I had already realized.
The lizardmen still have not attacked.
They are looking down on me.
Even though my level has risen enormously, my growth outside MP is poor.
As an individual, I am overwhelmingly inferior to other discarded heroes.
They sense that "weakness."
From past experience, I am probably about the same strength as the lowest of the discarded.
Therefore, there is no need to kill me immediately.
No need to take the initiative.
Why?
Because they can kill me anytime.
Because there is no way the lowest rank can escape this desperate situation.
Killing intent mixed with cruel preferences.
I see... they really are a little different from the previous monsters.
They probably never dreamed I killed the dragon zombie.
To them, I am just a human sneaking around and hiding in the corpse of a rotting dragon that died in some "accident."
"..."
Overlapping.
The current situation overlaps with the scene right before being sent here.
The guys from Class 2-C.
Kirihara, Oyamada, Yasu, the shitty goddess...
The atmosphere of throwing stones to mock and insult the weak.
The atmosphere of many looking down and sneering at the weak individual.
The atmosphere expecting a pathetic howl.
Sss.
I thrust my arm forward.
The lizardmen get excited.
They seem to be egging me on.
They appear to interpret my extended arm as "please, wait!"
"Let me thank you all too."
"Gyo?"
I coldly survey the lizardmen.
"Because it makes it simple—you are clearly scum, so I can kill you without any hesitation."
Koooo ooooo—
In that instant, the eyes of one lizardman in the line glow.
A strange high-pitched sound rings out.
The inside of the forehead mouth and its pupils glow red.
The upper mouth interior increases in redness.
"[Paralyze]"
"Go, ge...? Ge, ge, ge!? Gege e—"
Boom!
The head of the reddened lizardman explodes.
Its head from the neck up blows off.
The energy about to be fired lost its target and ran wild.
Perhaps it was trying to intimidate me since I did not flinch.
Or maybe it was just trying to kill me because I was boring.
I do not know which.
I coldly fix my gaze on the headless humanoid lizard.
"You just now—tried to use some kind of projectile, didn't you?"
At this moment, I realize something.
Perhaps thanks to surviving the deathmatch with the bird heads and Minotaurs.
Perhaps because my nerves stayed taut too long and became overly sensitive.
Perhaps because being constantly next to death adapted my instincts to the environment.
My reflexes toward the opponent's movements have risen astonishingly.
I reacted to the moment it started moving.
I sensed the precursor.
It could be called seizing the initiative.
Senses sharpened by the death ground.
Not reaction speed from correction values.
Probably—
Something I myself acquired after listening to the footsteps of death continuously.
A stat I gained outside of status correction values.
The core of this status abnormality skill is, above all, first strike wins.
If I can fire before the opponent's attack, victory is almost certain.
Therefore, reflexes and reading the first move are the most important.
In that sense, this is an ideal place.
Not a single moment can be let down.
The ultimate training ground.
Precisely because it is such a place, I was able to sharpen myself in one leap.
"Gu, gi... ee"
"Gi, gigu...?"
The swarm of grotesque lizardmen spread out in a fan shape ahead.
They all seem to feel something off.
Their thoughts are transparent.
"No way one of our comrades misfired?"
The front line cannot see what happened behind.
They remain frozen facing me.
Yes—the lizardmen are now unable to move.
The earlier composure has completely vanished from the monsters' faces.
Probably expressions of confusion in an unreasonable desperate situation.
"Since I can designate multiple targets, obviously I designated all of you at once."
I can feel the lizardmen's bewilderment and sense of crisis.
"Gi, ge, ge...!"
"...What a great expression. I see—"
So this is the face of the one being trampled.
"Hm?"
Something is approaching...
Dododododododo—
A herd of quadrupedal lizards with string-like tools around their necks.
They rush toward me with a muddy torrent-like footstep sound.
Perhaps drawn by the earlier explosion sound.
Are they the lizardmen's riding pets?
Eyes are golden.
Black skin with orange lines.
About twenty in number.
They emit acid from antenna-like horns.
And of course—their eyes hold killing intent.
Their gazes fix on me.
A sensation similar to the Minotaurs or bird heads.
They intend to devour me.
"Gyo e! Gi gyo e ee—!"
"I gye ee e! E, e ee—!"
They charge forward competitively.
As if declaring I am their prey.
"Gyo, ge!?"
The lead one blows away a paralyzed lizardman from the back row.
...Aren't those your masters?
Furthermore,
Doo—gaaan!
Dogaaaaan!
It happens behind the approaching quadrupedal lizards.
"Gi i e aaa aaa aaa—!"
Two more dragon zombies break through the wall and appear.
Probably also drawn by the explosion sound earlier.
With the momentum of breaking through the wall, they charge toward me with mouths wide open.
"Damn it..."
Every single one of them.
"So to you all, every human who comes here is just perfect prey to toy with and kill..."
They have probably kept killing.
Kept playing.
Believing themselves to be the strongest monsters.
Never dreaming they could lose to such a weak human.
"However... having low correction values is not always a bad thing, it seems."
They underestimate my strength upon encounter.
I look down at the lizardmen who were sneering at me just moments ago.
Super-strong enemies with enormous EXP let their guard down so beautifully like this.
"Now then—thanks for your hard work, you shitty monsters."
I thrust both hands forward.
"[Paralyze]"
Baring teeth—a distorted grin.
"[Poison]"
I will gratefully slaughter every last one of you.