Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 274

Confusion and surprise. Regardless of those emotions, my mind analyzed the information conveyed through my sight. ‘A drake.’ First of all, drakes don’t come from this island. Then how could this be possible? The answer was in the conversation we had a little while ago. [Carmilla and Belverson. It must be those two bastards’ doing.] Two plunderers from Noark, who were likely to have betrayed Amelia because they coveted the treasure. Among them, a woman named Carmilla was said to use a drake as a summon. Well, then I know who the opponent is. Whoosh-! Looking at the flames the drake was spewing, it was clear that they had ill intentions towards us. Therefore, there is only one thing I need to do now. “Prepare for battle!!” I shouted, putting strength into the hand holding the mace. Perhaps because there had been several similar situations, this shout acted as a trigger once again. “E-Everyone, gather here!” Raven, who had been staring blankly at the sky, hurriedly cast a spell without even putting the test tube into his subspace. “Alerbes Wiar!” 7th-grade support magic, ‘Mana Barrier’. That non-attribute defense magic that mages favor the most. However, the translucent barrier that appeared in the air had a blue frost on it. ‘Did he even add a cold attribute in that short time?’ Whatever the case, his chanting has gotten really fast since becoming an explorer. Whoooosh-! In the short time I was admiring him, the flames spewed by the drake collided with the mana barrier and spread out like rainwater flowing down an umbrella. Anyway, we’ve bought ourselves some time to breathe. ‘Erwen is unable to fight. Ershina’s divine power is depleted, and Raven probably doesn’t have much mana left either. Even I’m running low on MP.’ I updated the information on my allies during the given moment. Things were not looking good in many ways. Due to the battle with the Guano Sea Serpent, most of us were running low on all biological resources, including stamina. ‘This isn’t going to be easy.’ I was thinking that to myself when it happened. Kwaaaang-! The flames stopped for a moment, and then the drake rammed into the mana barrier. It was a body slam. That skill that is the foundation of a tamer. Zzzzzzz-! That huge body slammed into it with the acceleration it gained from falling, so there was no way a 7th-grade defense magic could withstand it. 「Abman Urikfrit has cast [Hazardous Material].」 The moment they revealed themselves beyond the shattered mana barrier, Bear Uncle shot an explosive arrow at the drake’s forehead. But…… Kwaaaang-! The drake covered its body with its large wings and crouched down, blocking it without taking much damage. Well, it wasn’t important. I didn’t expect it to die from just one shot in the first place. “Behel—laaaaaaaa!!” I activated [Giant Form], which I had turned off, and kicked off the ground. Then, I rushed towards the drake, which was hovering in place to block Bear Uncle’s arrow. Thud. The distance rapidly closed in the air. “Carmilla, I’ll take care of that barbarian.” At that moment, the man riding on the drake’s back jumped and thrust his sword at me. A white aura surrounded the blade. It wasn’t the aura that knights use, but…… ‘Tch, that looks like it’ll hurt if it hits me.’ My instincts as a tank told me so. It seemed dangerous to just ignore it and charge forward. Therefore, I raised my shield to block the sword. Kwaaaang! The heaviness was transmitted through the shield. ‘I’m glad I blocked it.’ The barbarian’s body, which was flying like a cannonball, was stopped by a single sword. It looked like the shield was scratched too. If I had chosen to take it with my body, I would have had to endure considerable damage. “5th grade, an explorer, I heard.” Anyway, what is this bastard saying? I only have one thing to say to him. “Die.” Without further ado, I swung my mace, and the guy stepped on my shield, did a backflip, and landed on the ground, creating distance. Ha, does he think he’s a flying squirrel? Thud. After a brief exchange in the air, I landed on the ground and immediately dashed. At the same time, the drake gurgled its throat and spewed flames once more. It wasn’t something to worry about. I wasn’t alone either. “We’ll take care of that side!” Raven’s defense magic was deployed again, blocking the drake’s flames, and Bear Uncle quickly shot an arrow, keeping the drake in check. Therefore…… Thud. Dashing once more. Whoooosh. [Swing]. “……!” At first, the guy was going to block it without dodging, but he must have felt something ominous because he pulled back his sword and created distance. He has good instincts. ‘If he had blocked it, I would have smashed him to pieces.’ As I was licking my lips in disappointment, I heard Bear Uncle’s shout from behind. “Yandel, I’ll leave that side to you!” “Okay, I’ll leave that side to you guys.” That’s how the battle lines were naturally drawn. The summoner Carmilla was being attacked by Raven, Bear Uncle, Partsran, and Hans J working together. “Uoooh! Leave the monsters to me!” Ainar, not understanding the situation, was dealing with the mobs that were rushing in. And I…… “Why do you keep running away? You attacked first.” I was facing the swordsman named Belverson or whatever. Well, I had one thing to instruct before we started fighting properly. “Raven, turn on voice control magic!” I instructed Raven to use team voice magic as I closed the distance to the swordsman. Oh, and with one more condition. “Why do you want it to be just us? Why all of a sudden…….” “Never mind that, did you do it?” “Yes. Only we can hear our conversation now.” Okay, that’s what I wanted to hear. After confirming that the team voice was working well, I quickly conveyed the instructions. Everyone except Raven seemed to have doubts about my instructions, but…… “I don’t know why you said that, but I understand. When the time comes, I’ll do as you said.” I didn’t have to worry about them not following my instructions. In short, it meant that everyone just had to do their job well. Thud. With that in mind, I dashed once more, closing the distance with the swordsman. The female companion, who was the drake’s owner, tried to help a few times but was interrupted by Raven and Hans J and ended up starting a battle with them. “Ah, damn it, this is annoying. If I lose, I won’t let it slide!” From now on, it was a strict one-on-one match-up. However, it wasn’t as easy as when I was dealing with the archer guy earlier. There were several reasons for this. First of all, this guy wasn’t a fragile ranged type, and his overall level was higher than the archer guy. And most of all…… 「The character’s soul power is insufficient.」 「[Giant Form] will end.」 My MP was depleted from the previous battles with the monsters, so it was impossible to overwhelm him with skills. Ha, if my condition was perfect, I would have taken him down a long time ago. “You were quite good, but this is the end!” As soon as [Giant Form] was deactivated, the swordsman closed the distance and swung his sword at me. As expected of someone from Noark, he was well-versed in one-on-one combat, and the timing and path were difficult to block with a shield. But…… ‘He doesn’t know about [Iron Skin], does he?’ The ogre’s passive skill [Iron Skin] had the effect of increasing physical resistance by an additional 2x for slashing attacks. Clang! The sword pierced my forearm, but that was it. Now it was my turn. Whoosh! The moment I felt the foreign sensation on my skin, I struck the guy’s temple with my mace. Crack-! A satisfying sound of tearing flesh was heard. However…… “Kuh.” What was smashed by the mace was not the guy’s head, but his left arm, which he had raised in time. Well, it’s better for his arm to be smashed than his head. So you can make that kind of judgment. ‘With that in mind, one more time.’ I was about to continue the opportunity I had seized by swinging my mace without hesitation. [Kyaaaaaaak!] I had no choice but to retreat because of the monster that was rushing in from the side. Ha, I had finally seized an opportunity. “……It was the essence of an ogre.” It seemed that the guy had now recognized [Iron Skin]. In fact, from then on, he only used slashes as feints and focused on thrusting attacks. ‘It seems like a short-term battle is already out of the question.’ As the difficulty of the battle increased, the frequency of wounds on my body increased. And because he had applied poison to his sword, the wounds didn’t heal even when Raven threw me a potion in the middle of the fight. But the more it happened, the more I abandoned my impatience. ‘Let’s fill up my MP first.’ It was a change of strategy. First, I would move as defensively as possible and identify the essence of the guy. Then, I would make my move. I was maintaining my endurance mode with that in mind when it happened. “Hans Aulock!” A woman’s shout was heard from afar. The voice of the woman riding the drake, who was firing various powers. “Stop interfering and help us!” A sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind. Coincidentally, there were many similarities to what happened in the Doppelganger Forest. “W-W-What are you talking about!” “What? I’m the one who did the background check and gave it to that woman, do you think I wouldn’t know?” The fact that the enemy was from ‘Noark’. “D-Don’t listen to them! That evil woman is trying to sow discord with her cunning……!” “Oh, so you’re going to play it like that? Everyone listen! Hans Aulock is a piece of trash who murdered and covered up the murder of the young lady of the Montreina Count’s family 12 years ago!” The fact that the enemy was publicly revealing ‘Hans’s’ secret and urging betrayal. “That’s a cunning tongue! Do you really think we’d believe that?” Even if his companions denied the ‘betrayal’, Hans had no choice, which was all the same as back then. But…… “Iherno Kar Verdei…….” The result was completely different from that day. Thwack. Before Hans J could even finish his chant, a dagger pierced his chest and came out the other side. “Cough……!” A swift response that could never have been made unless it had been prepared a long time ago. Thud. As Hans J fell to the ground, the woman who had tried to persuade him widened her eyes. “H-How……?” What do you mean, how? I told them beforehand in case this happened. To stab him if he showed any signs of doing something stupid. *** It was Erwen who stabbed Hans J in the back with a dagger. Well, she was injured to the point where she couldn’t participate in the battle, but…… Still, killing a mage was an easy task. Especially if you were prepared and right behind him. “Y-You! Why did you do that to him……!” On the other hand, the priestess, who had not imagined this situation until just now, was gaping. She still couldn’t believe Hans J’s betrayal…… “Why? Because he’s a traitor.” “It’s a lie! It hasn’t even been properly confirmed yet……!” “But he suddenly started chanting a spell.” The priestess’s expression hardened at Erwen’s blunt words. “It’s possible that he wasn’t chanting it to target us……!” She wasn’t wrong. It was impossible to know if Hans J’s magic was actually aimed at us. But humans are rational animals. “What, do you really think that?” Hans J would have understood. That even if they thought it was a lie right now, they would have doubts if they returned to the city alive. And that they might even start an investigation, so…… The most certain thing was to kill everyone and silence them. ‘Anyway, so this bastard was a traitor after all.’ I had thought that he might not be since there was no evidence other than his name. Is Hans science after all? “Bjorn Yandel! You should say something too!” The priestess turned her attention to me at Erwen’s sarcasm. But I had already decided what to say. “Good job, Erwen.” “It’s nothing. I just did as you told me to.” That’s true, but it’s important that you did it well, you know? In fact, Bear Uncle and Raven also received instructions from me, but they didn’t act as quickly as Erwen. Because the moment you kill, there’s no turning back. No matter how much you prepare yourself, there’s a psychological barrier. ‘Maybe she’s the one I can trust the most in situations like this…….’ I raised my evaluation of Erwen by one more level and raised my shield. As if on cue, a pure white blade was embedded in it. Kwaang-! Tch, he’s not giving me any time to think. Well, I guess he’s a little rushed since one of his trump cards failed. “Partsran! Please say something too. That fairy hurt Aulock……!” “Ershina, let’s talk about that later. He might have really been trying to betray us.” Fortunately, Partsran wasn’t as naive as the priestess, and he postponed the topic. Judging by his tone, he was surprised at first, but he seemed to think that my actions were right. Yeah, that’s how it should be. That was obviously a betrayal, no matter who looked at it, right? ‘Okay, so we’ve successfully overcome the betrayal pattern…….’ And so, we returned to our original positions and continued the battle when it happened. “Mr. Yandel, Mr. Urikfrit……!” An accident happened.