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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Ma-in
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"Over here."
Palato murmured softly as he peered into the pitch-black cave.
Around the cave entrance lay several lookout raiders who had been killed without putting up any resistance to the expedition force's assault.
They were called lookouts, but it looked like they'd just been standing at the entrance, exchanging jokes and banter, so they hadn't even noticed the attack before a signal could be sent into the cave.
The cave mouth was enormous—big enough for humans and even fairly large magic beasts to enter.
"The entrance is bigger than I expected."
"According to the intel, there are Ma-in among the enemy, so that's no surprise. Ma-in tend to be pretty huge."
The clearing in front of the cave was wide enough for the expedition force to form proper battle lines.
First, the squires and soldiers dismounted their lizards, which weren't much use in such confined spaces, tying them to trees and switching to infantry formation.
Arsen did the same.
Then they cut and broke nearby trees and thorny bushes to fashion stakes and traps.
This was to keep the raiders charging out of the cave from gathering easily, blocked by the wooden stakes and bushes.
It was a benefit of having slipped in without alerting them to the intrusion.
"All set? Let's begin. Light the fire."
"Understood."
Going into the cave to fight would be the stupidest thing in the world.
From the knights' perspective, they wouldn't be able to properly utilize one of their greatest strengths— their mechanical beasts Jin—and they'd be fighting on terrain familiar to the enemy, where the foe was prepared.
Through much experience, the expedition veterans had learned several ways to wipe out raider dens.
Using smoke to drive the enemy out of the cave was just one of them.
One soldier took a magic beast bone used for starting fires and scraped it with his knife.
Sparks flew out with ferocious intensity, just like striking a firesteel, igniting the leaves and dry twigs laid beneath.
Thick smoke billowed up from the campfire, flowing deep into the cave.
A acrid smell filled the air. After a while, Zenovia shouted.
"They're coming!"
With that, people—more precisely, raiders—began pouring out of the cave all at once, coughing and hacking.
Already filthy, now covered head to toe in soot and smoke, they looked pitch black.
Having burst out of the dark cave into the sudden stench and suffocating hot air, they greedily sucked in the cool outside air, reveling in relief.
Until their lungs, meant only for air, took in sharp chunks of metal, that is.
"Gahk!"
"Enemies! Enemies!"
"The estate bastards have invaded!"
Even as some were skewered on spears and stabbed by swords, they kept shouting, but that didn't stop the raiders from coming out.
The smoke-filled cave was already an unbearable hell; for them, relieving immediate suffering came first, enemies outside or not.
Pushed by the pressure of those behind them, dozens of raiders died without proper resistance.
With comrades shoving from the rear and sharp stakes and thorny bushes blocking the front while squires thrust spears in unison, resistance was impossible.
"So far, things are going smoothly."
"It won't end like this. Get ready. It'll be out soon."
A heavy *thud* echoed from inside the cave.
As the deep vibrations grew closer, the expedition force realized the real enemy had appeared.
One soldier, tense with nerves, wiped the sweat from his hands onto his clothes.
"You dog bastards—!"
What burst from the cave was a giant nearly 3 meters tall.
No, it wasn't something that could be called human.
Four arms, each tipped with five finger-length claws; slimy, rotting skin; a face that was large, twisted, and distorted—but otherwise resembling a fox.
Its legs were short and thick compared to its massive body and arms.
Raiders were human, barring a few traits, so they could grow strong by infusing their bodies with mana through training.
By the same principle, it was possible for a raider to awaken as a knight.
Unlike ordinary raiders who showed no magic beast traits externally even after awakening, an awakened raider's body mutated like a magic beast's.
Thus, they were called Ma-in—humans fully transformed into magic beasts.
"Everyone, fall back!"
At Palato's command, the squires and soldiers retreated in unison.
With that, the fox Ma-in swung its four arms, easily smashing the stakes and bush traps.
Several soldiers screamed as they were struck by flying stakes, tumbling away.
"We'll handle it! Squires, keep blocking the small fry coming out!"
The remaining raider stragglers finally broke free of the traps and began clashing weapons with the squires.
With time, allied casualties would mount, so the knights acted swiftly.
Seeing the knights swiftly encircling it, the Ma-in bellowed in a high, shrill voice unbecoming its appearance.
"You worm-like estate scum dare!"
The Ma-in's four arms swung—two at Palato, the other two at Entir and Zenovia respectively.
Its seemingly short arms stretched like rubber, flying toward them, forcing the knights to leap back in alarm, out of the magic beast's attack range.
Its legs were short and thick, not looking agile, but the four arms with razor claws were threat enough.
"Sir Palato!"
At Entir's shout, Palato unleashed his signature spear throw at the Ma-in.
This ferocious attack, capable of disabling most magic beasts in one hit, surprisingly barely pierced the Ma-in's slimy hide.
The spear lodged in, but seeing it hadn't inflicted major damage, Palato immediately drew his sword.
"The spear throw didn't work!"
The moment the Ma-in whirled furiously toward Palato, who'd thrown the spear, Zenovia precisely slashed its side from the opposite flank with her spear blade.
The wound tore open, blood flowing out.
"Slashing attacks are needed to deal damage!"
At Zenovia's words, Entir roared thunderously and moved his Jin.
His massive axe was one of the most effective weapons against the Ma-in here, making him the star.
Entir loved situations like this.
The moment when everyone else was mere decoration highlighting him.
"Take this—!"
With a yell of exhilaration, Entir charged, his axe slicing through the air.
As claw attacks flew toward the gap-exposing Entir, Palato's sword and Zenovia's spear blocked them.
Unlike Palato's spear that barely stuck, this axe strike dug deep.
Black, sticky blood sprayed from the chest where the axe was yanked free.
■■■■■----!
Letting out a beastly wail no human could make, the Ma-in swung its claws to decapitate Entir.
Entir adroitly maneuvered his Jin to dodge, then swung his axe again, severing the Ma-in's left arm halfway.
Screaming, the Ma-in flailed its four arms like a tantruming child, staggering back.
Pushed and pushed, the Ma-in passed a large tree and used the cliff as a shield to stand again, but it was clearly exhausted at a glance.
Black blood ceaselessly dripping from its arms and belly fueled its arrogance.
Entir smirked, one corner of his mouth lifted.
"Ha! Now that you're about to die, you get scared? Coward!"
"...Who's the coward? The one charging in just because of numbers?"
The Ma-in retorted in disbelief, but Entir didn't waver, just laughed.
After all, his fellow knights had only provided minor aid; the fatal blows were his.
In Entir's innocent mind, this fight was a fair one-on-one duel, and he'd done nothing wrong.
To taunt his cornered foe, Entir slowly advanced, passing the tree the Ma-in had gone by.
"Why don't you kneel once? Then maybe I'll specially let you..."
As Entir spoke triumphantly, a sword suddenly sprouted from the center of his chest.
That's how it looked to Zenovia.
But Palato with his sharp eyes, and Entir right in front, saw the sword piercing his chest more clearly.
A greatsword of the deep blue metal Belluan knights favored for weapons, with a thick, broad blade.
Entir knew its owner. It was the blade that had once dealt him a crushing defeat.
*Lenoc.*
Muttering that name inwardly, Entir's head lolled forward.
"That's..."
As Entir and his Jin lost strength and collapsed, bark peeled away from the tree like, and someone stepped out.
Large eyes taking up half its face and a long tail aside, it looked fairly human—but its entire body mimicked the color and texture of wood.
"...There were two Ma-in."
There was a magic beast called the Tree Snake.
One whose skin color and texture resembled wood, clinging like a branch among trees to ambush prey.
The Ma-in inheriting those traits had stealth skills that were eerily covert; Entir hadn't sensed it right behind him as he passed.
"You bastard, I thought you were gonna stay hidden till I got done in?"
"Come on, big bro, you gotta understand. Couldn't risk it if I couldn't one-shot you."
When the fox Ma-in burst from the cave, it had subtly mixed in with the raiders behind, hidden in the tree, luring the enemy for a ambush.
The fox Ma-in had taken hits alone to draw them out, sustaining some wounds but nothing fatal, while the knights lost a third of their force.
No need to say who profited.
The fox Ma-in bared its teeth in a chilling grin.
"Now it's fair—two against two."
* * *
"Block them!"
Arsen gripped his sword hilt tight as dozens of raiders charged.
A black flood of enemies rushing in.
Now fairly grown to about 150cm, but still markedly smaller than the other squires, Arsen was targeted by two raiders swinging swords.
Both wielded crude things made from ground magic beast bones.
"You little shit!"
"You're dead!"
After a deep breath inflating his lungs with air, Arsen swung his round shield from right to left in a massive arc, smashing both swords.
Brutish but effective; the raiders couldn't withstand the impact and dropped their weapons.
Then, Arsen smashed his shield into one exposed foe's face like a breaking strike.
Its face literally shattered and flew off; nearby raiders recoiled in horror.
"Uwaaaah—!"
Buoyed by one clash confirming his strength and skill, Arsen let the surging elation in his chest erupt as a roar.
That roar mixed fury at those who'd corrupted Raf Ram, sadism toward bullying the weak, pride in executing justice—emotions too varied for one word, molten like metal in a furnace.
Heartened by Arsen's dominance, nearby squires shouted with renewed vigor.
"We've got knights on our side! Push them back!"
"Sir Arsen!"
"For Belluan!"
Arsen's body wasn't fully grown yet, and his technique lacked polish, but his raw strength and reflexes were the strongest there.
In a one-on-one, maybe different, but in this melee, strength mattered more than skill.
As Arsen swung the sword in his right hand, an enemy's leather armor and torso split together.
Side attacks were blocked by squires on either flank, letting Arsen shred the raider pack like a lion amid hyenas.
As in such fights, once momentum tipped, it snowballed uncontrollably.
The raiders outnumbered squires and soldiers three-to-one, but split in half by Arsen, they crumbled under the realization they were losing.
After kicking the last charging foe's leg to snap its shin, then crushing its skull with his sword hilt, no raiders stood.
Though short, the fight had taken all his strength; Arsen felt intense fatigue.
"Haa, ha..."
*'The Ma-in... the knights took care of it?'*
As Arsen indulged in pleasant imaginings, tragedy reached his ears.
"Sir Arsen, Sir Entir has passed! The other knights are in danger too!"