Chapter 73 : Chapter 73

Chapter 73 - Tag (2)

Batan Gilius decided to think carefully about the current situation.

Considering his usual personality of not contemplating much, it could be said to be a very unusual event.

No matter how unknown and weak the Valhalla Guild was, as long as it had the label of a ‘guild’, it was certain that it was responsible for one axis of defense. The reason he had pushed himself to come inside here was because there was a clear reason.

‘...That bastard.’

Because of a certain someone who had dared to provoke him so audaciously.

In fact, Batan wasn't even that angry. Provocations were bound to make one angry only when received from an equal or superior being. There was no way he would get angry from being provoked by a small fry belonging to a guild even smaller than his own.

But, apart from that.

Batan was a man who was always on the lookout for an opportunity to inflict violence on someone.

In such a situation, someone picking a fight first was something to be welcomed with open arms.

So, no matter what others around him said, he had come into this Tower. To scalp that bastard's head.

So, such a refreshing leisure activity should have been waiting for him.

What on earth was this situation now?

The bloodstains and chunks of flesh scattered on the floor. It was one of his subordinates who had been standing next to him just a moment ago.

He had become like this after being hit by an attack from who knows where.

“A-Around us! There's something around us!”

“Everyone, calm down! We have a much larger number, so if we don't panic...!”

So what if the numbers were large.

Batan inwardly let out a dry laugh at the guild members around him.

He had never held any expectations for his guild members in the first place, but wasn't this a bit too stupid?

When they entered, the Tower had announced that this was a ‘Mana Vacuum Zone’. It meant that no matter how many of them were gathered, they were now just at the level of ordinary people who had exercised a bit.

From a Demonic Beast's perspective, they were just a mouthful of prey.

“-!”

And in the meantime, one more corpse, which had become a chunk of flesh without even being able to scream, was added.

At that sight, the guys who had been chattering on about something a moment ago instantly froze.

“...”

He put a cigarette in his mouth and was lost in thought.

The Demonic Beasts that had just launched the attack were probably still nearby, but Batan was a man with firm priorities.

After all, contrary to his nickname ‘Berserker’, he was a person who knew how to use his head.

The guys who had just made a sound weren't attacked. That meant it wasn't the ‘condition’.

And the common thing the guys who had become corpses did was...

“Hey. You.”

He pointed at Riman, who was trembling nearby, with his chin.

His gaze was kept as low as possible.

“Ye-Yes...?”

“Stand up.”

Hearing those words, Riman stood up hesitantly, looking puzzled.

And Batan, who approached him, grabbed Riman's chin and turned his head.

Towards the direction from which the beastly sounds were still coming.

“Wha-What...!”

And before he could finish his sentence, something rushed at him as if snatching a hanging piece of meat.

It was a terrifying speed, so fast that his reaction speed, dulled by the lack of mana, couldn't even catch an afterimage.

But, at least, it was true that the sensation remaining in his hand had become much lighter.

Because every part below the chin of Riman he had been holding had disappeared.

And, the sound of something crunching and chewing echoing around them.

“Hic...!”

“B-Boss...!”

The terrified guys cowered nearby, but Batan smirked and threw the head he was holding onto the ground.

“What are you so surprised about? He was a useless arm-cripple anyway. He should be used in this way at least, right?”

“...”

“...”

A sense of horrified terror spread nearby, but Batan didn't bat an eye.

The reason he had made the guild in the first place was to properly do the job of a Climber, where he could legally beat people up. What these riffraffs thought of him was not important at all.

Well, if any of them resisted, he could just feed them to the beasts like before.

“You become a target if you make eye contact. Think properly and move.”

It was his first time in the Tower, but it was a rather interesting gimmick.

At least, being thrown into a situation without any mana and told to survive like this was a situation he could never experience in a dungeon.

While Batan was thinking that and smirking.

“Wow, you actually figured that out?”

A familiar voice struck his ears.

***

“...”

I had only heard it once over the call, but this voice was reasonably familiar.

Batan kept his gaze down and scanned the ground.

At a certain distance, he saw clothes that were clearly not his guild members'.

“...Nice to see you. That.”

He replied, reaching for his back.

It was where his main weapon, a two-handed sword, was slung.

Even though there was no mana, Batan's own combat power, even without it, was more than enough to cut down a few shoddy Eastern Climbers.

Even before he had properly awakened his abilities, how many had been crippled by his hands inside the boot camp?

What differentiated him from other Climbers also stemmed from that. A ridiculously innate physical ability.

“Seeing as you've come all this way, I take it you have no complaints about being scalped, right?”

“I appreciate the warm welcome. But I'm not sure if you have the leisure to provoke me right now.”

“Huh?”

“Honestly, both sides are just staring at each other's feet right now, right? Can you even do anything in that situation?”

“Of course, I can.”

Batan replied, observing the other person's feet intently.

Because there was one more ability that made violence his calling, not just his physical prowess.

A genius talent for martial arts.

At least, when combined with his physical prowess, it became possible to slice down an opponent just by looking at their feet like this.

-!

And an attack to prove just that whipped through the air.

At least, according to Batan's calculations, someone's neck should have been sliced off at the end of it.

“You have no patience, no patience at all. Does anything drop if you just rush in without thinking?”

The smug voice showed no signs of stopping.

“...You're noisy. For a bug.”

He said that, but Batan couldn't help but be flustered inside.

This guy, did he just dodge that?

Such a clean dodge was a situation he had never anticipated.

The grade he had heard for this guy was only F-grade. But, the skill he showed in that simple exchange was a feat that definitely did not suit such a grade.

It meant that even in the current situation where most tricks were sealed, he possessed close-combat skills that were on a similar level.

“By the way, you seem to have figured out how to not get attacked if you don't make eye contact. But you don't seem to know about the other things yet, do you?”

…Other things?

Before Batan could feel something ominous at those words.

The sound of a beast's cry struck his ears.

“...!”

Why?

I never once turned my gaze that way!

“They may not be able to hear, but they are very good at detecting ‘violent movements’. So you should have dealt with that muscle-for-brains of yours that just hits when it sees an opponent first, right?”

At the same time as that taunting voice fell.

“...Tch!”

Numerous attacks began to pour in from nearby.

‘...That bastard...!’

Batan gritted his teeth as he heard the sound of footsteps moving away.

In short.

That guy had acquired information about the current situation much faster than him.

And based on that, he had the skill to come all the way here, provoke him into attacking like this, and then dodge it with ease.

And on top of that, he had the guts to formulate all this to screw him over.

And he was using all of that to provoke him and run away.

“...I will kill you, you bug...!”

He would have to retract his previous statement that he wouldn't get angry even if provoked because he was a guy who didn't match his level.

In a rage that felt like his head would split, Batan moved his body to dodge the Demonic Beasts rushing at him from nearby.

***

Oh.

He fought well.

I didn't look that way for fear of making eye contact, but I could hear the sound of Batan dodging the attacks of the rushing Demonic Beasts and running away from here.

‘Still, he won't die from this much...’

Batan in the original work was a guy who boasted a truly tenacious combat power.

It meant that even in a situation where all mana was gone and he was ambushed like that, he was a guy who would tenaciously survive.

However, because of the fire I had just set, it would be inevitable for his ‘team members’ to accumulate damage.

For now, I was satisfied with just that much of an achievement.

Batan was a guy who would unhesitatingly throw others as sacrifices if it meant his own survival... but there was definitely a ‘price’ to pay for committing such an act.

It just wasn't apparent right now.

“...How did you do it?”

“Hm?”

As I was walking forward saying that, Lee Si-yeong, who had been following my feet until now, asked a question.

“No, I have a lot of things to ask. First, how did you find that bunch?”

“Because I had two charms.”

The spawn location was random, but with a cheat key worth 1800 luck optimized for producing the results I wanted and the master of information analysis who was the original of the Observation skill, it wasn't very difficult to specify the location.

“...Right. Well, whatever. Let's say all that is fine. You said these Demonic Beasts detect violent movements, right? How did you not get caught just now?”

“Because I didn't make any violent movements.”

“...”

Yup. That was exactly it.

Batan, who drew his sword and swung it with a large motion, was perfect to get caught by that, but I just took a step back and dodged.

“So how do you do that?”

“Just... well?”

If you knew the timing, range, speed, and even the trajectory of the opponent's attack, it wasn't a very difficult thing to do.

You know how basketball players have thrown so many free throws that they can make them with their eyes closed?

The trajectory of an enemy's ‘normal attack’ in this game felt similar to that for me.

It meant that I wouldn't fail to dodge just because I was looking at the ground.

“He was provoking the other guy about having leisure, but he's the more vicious one, isn't he?”

Following Yoo Ho-jun's dumbfounded voice, Lee Si-yeong's voice, which had become even more dumbfounded than before, also flowed out.

“No, I mean, even if you know that, it doesn't mean... no, forget it. In the first place, you're walking around here like it's a stroll even while looking only at the ground...”

That wasn't actually that difficult either.

If you had memorized all the paths, forks, and object locations of the entire map, there was no fear of getting lost just by looking at the ground. In fact, I could walk around as comfortably as if it were my own front yard.

“...”

“...”

I felt a sense of Lee Si-yeong and Yoo Ho-jun exchanging a glance behind me.

“He's... always, that, a madman?”

“Always a bit of a madman.”

And they both nodded at the same time.

“...”

What were they doing right in front of me?

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