Chapter 239 : A Chaotic Battlefield

The boastful petty thief ran, and the multiple-personality psychopath chased after him.

What a heartwarming sight this was.

Ice magic with high killing power aimed at the thief's back.

Dofang, who was skillfully dodging and running away, shouted.

"Hey, little brother! Are you trying to kill me?"

Sorrow's cold voice followed.

"If possible."

Kwagagak!

"Aaaah! Someone stop that psychopath!"

I watched the scene with a satisfied smile.

"If you've committed a crime, you should naturally be punished."

[How lively.]

"If you're talking about lively, it's Sherwood. When you gather them all in one place, it's chaos."

Not only Hartz, but even Sorrow, who rarely got angry, was genuinely chasing Dofang.

This was because Sorrow was a connoisseur of alcohol, second to none.

One of his wishes was to taste the 30-year-old Zilentyn before he died, which was why he had served in the suicide squad and done whatever Dofang told him to do without complaint.

To think that it was all a lie.

To think that Dofang, the leader of the suicide squad, was colluding with the captain behind their backs.

To think that he had been deceiving his comrades all this time and secretly sipping the 30-year-old Zilentyn.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hartz was, but Sorrow was probably genuinely trying to kill Dofang.

Trying to kill each other as soon as they met.

They were truly a friendly bunch.

"This is Sherwood."

[...]

As I was watching the heartwarming reunion of the members.

Another member, the perverted martial artist Schmidt, who disliked the feeling of cutting the flesh of magical beasts and preferred to beat them with his bare hands to enjoy the sensation, approached me and made a sign.

—Brother. Shouldn't we stop them? It looks like they're really trying to kill him.

I replied in a calm tone.

"Sorrow has never said he would kill someone as a joke. Of course, he's serious."

—...What are you going to do if he really kills Dofang?

"What do you mean, what am I going to do? It's just unfortunate."

—...

Of course, Dofang wouldn't die so easily.

He probably had the strongest will to live among all the people I knew.

Just by looking at how he had survived so far with that flapping mouth of his, one could easily guess.

"Heehee."

At the small laugh coming from behind me, I reached behind my back and pulled off the thing that was clinging to it.

"Devil!"

A grass-green puppy was dangling there.

Come to think of it, this little one's performance in the battle with the magical beasts was also quite outstanding.

Of course, it was only the first wave, but she had proudly proven her skills as a member of Sherwood.

The sight of the magical beasts collapsing as if by magic from Linda's poison was so shocking that the soldiers were whispering to each other as they looked at Linda.

"Indeed, Sherwood...!"

"A new member!"

"A deadly poison that can kill a magical beast in an instant! How terrifying!"

"This time, it's a poison demon...!"

...were the kinds of things they were saying.

'Killing magical beasts with poison...'

Wasn't this an idea that only Linda, a madwoman crazy about poison who thought of everything in relation to poison, could come up with?

The magical beast poison that Linda had developed seemed like it would be particularly effective in large-scale chaotic battles where magical beasts swarmed in groups.

I saw them firing magically inscribed cannonballs earlier.

It seemed like a good idea to inject Linda's magical beast poison into those cannonballs.

"Linda."

"Yeah?"

"Did you kill a lot of magical beasts?"

"Yeah! But the big ones didn't die easily. I think I need to make it more potent."

"Improving is good."

"Can I take some blood from those big magical beasts over there?"

"Of course. As much as you want."

"Hehe. The devil is so kind."

"I know, right."

I smiled back at the grinning Linda, then threw her at the approaching Schmidt.

Schmidt naturally caught Linda, and Linda went around to Schmidt's back and got a piggyback ride.

I stared blankly at the two who had naturally combined.

I had no idea how those two, who couldn't even communicate well, had gotten so close.

Linda, on Schmidt's back, pointed down.

"Oh? It's wriggling. It must still be alive!"

As she said, a magical beast with strong vitality, as if its life had not yet faded, was wriggling with its lower body missing.

Schmidt confirmed this and immediately placed his foot on the beast's head.

Squish!

"Ah, it's not wriggling anymore."

Linda, on Schmidt's back, patted his shoulder.

"Ah, over there too! Over there too!"

Squish! Squish!

I quietly watched the two who were going around confirming the kills.

They seemed to get along quite well.

As the captain of Sherwood, I watched the two who were happily smashing the heads of magical beasts with a pleased heart, as camaraderie among the members was also important.

"I can't just stand still either."

I looked around to see if there were any magical beasts with strong vitality that needed my kick.

Although it had been cleaned up once, magical beasts were praiseworthy creatures that always provided various surprises, so they could cause casualties in unexpected ways.

The most certain method was to cut off their breath for sure.

Just like how Schmidt was going around smashing their heads.

As I was looking around like that...

I witnessed a peculiar sight.

What could be peculiar in a place littered with the corpses of magical beasts?

But it really stood out.

[There's a strange one.]

There was a man who was fiddling with the corpses of magical beasts.

He wasn't just fiddling with them.

Look at that bright smile.

He looked as excited as a kid who had found a toy.

"What the. Is he crazy?"

A man who was grinning while touching the corpses of magical beasts.

For some reason, a sense of curiosity was piqued.

It was as if I felt a pull.

I quietly approached and squatted down next to him.

"Ooooh! This sturdy lower body! It looks relatively thin, but how is it so strong! It could surely support a heavy load!"

"..."

"Kyah! And what about these brutal claws! It looks like just a graze would shatter an arm, don't you think?"

"..."

"This jawbone! This strong jawbone looks like it could chew through stone. Don't you think so?"

"Ah, yes."

"Magical beasts are really amazing! How unruly they are! Always new and thrilling!"

"..."

As soon as I saw his eyes up close, I knew.

'Hmm. He's a madman.'

Because his eyes were faintly glazed over.

The Heavenly Demon laughed slowly.

[Does like recognize like?]

If I had to compare, he had a similar feeling to Linda.

It was as if he had gotten obsessed with something, researched it repeatedly, and then gone mad.

That bright smile also resembled Linda's.

I could tell at a glance that he was no ordinary person.

Because outstanding people are difficult to define by common sense.

They always stand out from the crowd.

Such people are bound to be seen as abnormal in the eyes of others.

Because they see the world with eyes that are far from common sense.

I observed the man in the black robe closely.

On the outside, he was a rather handsome and cool-looking man.

Meaning, he looked normal on the outside.

'Judging by the robe, he doesn't seem to be a soldier...'

"Excuse me for a moment."

I felt his arms and thighs.

So, he was feeling the corpse of a magical beast, and I was feeling him who was feeling the corpse of a magical beast.

A chain reaction of feeling, perhaps.

[...]

The Heavenly Demon seemed to not want to comment on this ironic situation.

"Hmm."

After feeling him, it was certain that his body was not trained.

That meant...

"Are you a mage?"

At that, the man, who had been fiddling with the magical beast regardless of whether I was feeling his body or not, answered without taking his eyes off the magical beast.

Anyone would think he was in love with the magical beast.

"Yes. I am Adrian, from the Red Mage Tower."

"The Red Mage Tower... are you on dispatch?"

"That's right. A battlefield full of the corpses of magical beasts like this is nothing short of a paradise for us black mages. We can't miss it."

"...A black mage?"

"This sturdy leg! This nimble body! This smelly, large mouth that looks like it could chew through stone! Haha! Isn't it cool? Ah, look at this. This one even has genitals."

"That's disgusting. Get that away from me."

I was about to blast it with a Meteor Bullet, but I stopped myself, thinking that the debris would splatter.

Damn it. To think I would see the balls of a magical beast this close in my life.

The Heavenly Demon spoke in a tone as if he had squeezed his eyes shut.

[...My disciple. Must I see such a thing?]

"I am ashamed, Master. Shall I blast it?"

[Just get it out of my sight.]

"Yes."

Anyway, a black mage.

Mages were rare.

And black mages were even rarer among them.

As I was looking at him with curiosity, the man named Adrian finally turned his head from the magical beast and looked at me.

"And you, aren't you Sir Ashuban of the Half-Sword, the new captain of the revived Sherwood Mercenary Corps?"

"You know me?"

"Of course, I do."

Adrian smiled brightly.

What a refreshing smile.

"I heard a rumor that you use black magic."

"Hmm?"

"Using black magic and mixing that power into your sword to wield it... isn't that a complete black magic swordsman?"

"A black magic swordsman?"

"Until now, there have been regular demonic swordsmen, but no black magic swordsmen. The first black magic swordsman! How cool is that?"

"..."

"From then on, I've kept my ears open for any news about you, Sir Ashuban. I know all about your exploits. It is an honor to meet you in person like this."

Adrian grabbed my hand with both of his.

"Such a connection on a battlefield full of death? It makes me wonder if Ketel himself orchestrated our meeting."

"...Didn't Ketel forbid black magic, calling it a wicked power?"

"Haha, what are you talking about! We are often misunderstood like that by the public. But Ketel is the supervisor of black magic! It's only those Dark Heaven Society guys who avoid Ketel's eyes. Not us. We are proud. Ketel turns a blind eye to the use of the power of death, the deathly energy, in the right place."

This was news to me.

Well, there was so little information about black magic, and because of the instinctive fear of it, many rumors had spread.

There were probably a lot of false information mixed in among them.

"Black mages can only exert their power when there are corpses imbued with death. Until now, I've just been playing around next to my seniors while they were busy enchanting cannonballs. But from now on, for Adrian the black mage, just as the sun sets and darkness stealthily approaches, my time has come!"

I stared blankly at the black mage, who was chattering away excitedly, as if he were happy to have a conversation partner, even though I hadn't asked any questions.

Then, as if he had taken that as a question, this talkative black mage started chattering on again.

"Ah, magic is more effective when cast up close. So, cannonballs are for closing the distance to the target. Of course, the kinetic energy also maximizes the effect of the magic. We deliberately enchant the cannonballs with such magic, taking that into account. It's a matter of efficiency, so to speak. Even if you pour out magic from that high wall, it won't feel very powerful by the time it reaches the bottom. Well, there are exceptional mages like the Red Witch, but that's only for mages who are outside the norm..."

My head started to spin.

Just then, a man who appeared to be a soldier approached and offered a hand of salvation.

"Sir Ashuban. Is that you?"

I slowly got up from my seat.

I staggered slightly from the black mage's mental attack, but fortunately, I didn't fall over disgracefully.

"That's right."

"His Grace the Duke has invited you to a meal."

"I see. Should I go right away?"

"Yes."

I looked around.

In the distance, the demonic swordsman and the thief were playing tag, shooting ice magic at each other.

Over there, the brutal martial artist and the poison demon on his back were going around smashing the heads of magical beasts.

And the black mage, who was grinning while fiddling with the corpse of a magical beast.

I decided to quickly escape this chaotic battlefield.

I left a parting word to the mad black mage in a polite tone.

"Then, Sir Adrian. I have urgent business, so I must be going."

"Ah, yes! See you again!"

The black mage Adrian bid me farewell while fiddling with the genitals of a magical beast.

Seeing that sight, I felt my mind go dizzy.

I felt an urge to get out of this place as soon as possible, so I hurried the soldier.

"Lead the way. Quickly."

"Ah, yes. Follow me."

I followed the soldier and hurried my steps toward the wall as if I were running away.

Why was it that only people like this were around me?

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