Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 727

Traitor (1)

“Why are you here?”

That was the look he was giving me with his eyes

On one hand, I thought he might actually have a talent for acting; on the other, I could understand his feelings.

After all, I had spent the past few days confined by the king, so no one had seen me anywhere nearby during that time.

This was completely unexpected for him.

Well, it was possible he’d gotten word that I’d appeared in District 5 before coming here, but…

If that were true, wouldn’t he have been far more surprised?

Yeah. Probably.

Yeah, probably. He’d be wondering why the hell a guy who’s supposed to be in Sector 5 is suddenly standing right here.

“Ah, long time no see.” I said with a smirk.

My smirk reply seemed to snap him out of his daze, as he barely managed to move his facial muscles to reply.

“…Psssit. I’ve been receiving a lot of support lately, you see.”

He replied with his usual nonchalance, but it was obvious he was rattled inside. After all, Summons that reach a certain level don’t need explicit orders—they react and act according to their summoner’s will.

And right now…

“Pssit…”

The moment the Corpse Collector let out his awkward laugh, the chimera he had been riding so confidently began to back away from me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

As I smashed the surrounding corpse soldiers with a single swing of my hammer, he replied in a stutter.

“Well… I just thought that launching a surprise attack at night is a bit cowardly…you see… Pssit. I-I’ll see you next time!”

Does he even know what he’s saying right now?

No idea, but I seized the opportunity and trusted my warrior’s intuition.

The ‘Necromancer’, who should be in the very rear, had revealed himself at the front lines.

To be honest, I didn’t know why. Maybe he just wanted to show off?

But that wasn’t important right now.

Thump—

If I could smash this bastard’s skull right here—

“Yeah. That wouldn’t be bad at all.”

No, let me correct that.

It wouldn’t just be “not bad”—it’d be the best possible outcome.

After all, this guy’s name was already on my kill list.

“Don’t just leave. Come over here for a second.”

I beckoned to him, tilting my raised hammer, but the chimera turned its back and ran off.

“No, wait, it’ll only take a moment! Come here! I just want to talk—”

Despite my repeated attempts at persuasion, the four-legged chimera only accelerated in the opposite direction.

“I-I have urgent business, so I’ll be going now…!”

Man, I’m just trying to have a chat. He’s way too quick on the uptake.

“Bethel—raaaaaaaa!!”

‘They’ll manage. I’ve bought them enough time to prepare.’

I activated Giantization and enlarged my body before charging at him.

Well, since I’d run outside the castle gates, there was no one left to hold back the corpse army, but…

‘They’ll manage. I’ve bought them enough time to prepare.’

Besides, it wasn’t like I wasn’t contributing. While I used [Gigantification] mainly to increase my stride, it had an unintended side benefit.

Boom! Boom!

Just by running with my heavy footsteps, the corpses beneath my feet were crushed and bursting apart.

Like this.

Crunch!

Even so, the distance between us didn’t close easily.

It would have been far easier if I had a movement skill like Leap; unfortunately, I had not yet picked up a mobility option for my shield barbarian build.

Boom—! Boom—!

So I trudged forward with my massive body, while he did everything he could to shake me off.

[Abet Necrafeto has cast [Corpse Explosion]

Blowing up modified corpses to spray poison.

[Abet Necrafeto has cast [Curse of Stone]

Throwing out crowd control.

Summoning giant corpse monsters to block my path.

Releasing strange smokescreens to mess with my vision.

He tried everything he could think of, but stopping a Shield Barbarian who was almost 70% complete in terms of their combat build was impossible.

“Eek…! This is cheating!!”

At this point, such praise was to be expected. For a ranged fighter like him, an unstoppable tank was nothing short of a nightmare.

“Just give up and stop! If you stop now, we can settle this with a conversation! I swear on my honor as a warrior—”

“Don’t lie! You’re planning to ‘talk’ with your fists!”

…Tch. How’d he know?

Boom—! Boom—!

In the end, I gave up on persuasion and continued forward in silence.

I wasn’t in a hurry anyway.

Just running like this, the distance between us was steadily shrinking. It seemed his mobility was lacking as much as mine.

“This is kind of funny.”

He used to have way more presence back in the day.

Now just seeing my face makes him turn tail and run.

A lot of time has passed since then, huh.

Time really has passed since then.

Boom—! Boom—!

In any case, as I silently closed the distance between us, he started voicing his complaints.

“Argh! Bjorn Jandel…! Why are you even here in the first place!”

“…Huh?”

What’s he talking about now?

It doesn’t seem like something he’s saying just out of panic.

“Everyone, do something! Are you just going to let that monster run wild?!” The Corpse Collector shouted as if signaling his allies, but no one cast support magic or leapt in to save him.

“Why are you all ignoring me?! This is your fault! You’re the ones who said Bjorn Yandel was in District 5, so we should hit District 9 to divert his attention!”

“Are you just going to keep ignoring me?! This is your fault! You were the ones who said since Bjorn Jandel is in Sector 5, we should hit Sector 9 to distract them!”

Oh, so that was the situation?

It was a total fluke, but as it turned out, my appearance in Sector 5 had completely spoiled their plans—

“Oppa, why is that our fault? If you’re going to blame someone, go blame the Vice-Captain.”

A voice suddenly rang out.

I looked up to see a familiar woman flying low through the air on a broom.

The Screaming Witch, Liranne Vivian.

“And we told you from the start: don’t get cocky and stay in the back. If I remember right, you were the one who insisted on leading the charge.”

“…Is that really important right now?! And why are you only showing up now?! I don’t care what kind of spell it is—just hurry up and stop him—!”

“Eek…? No thanks.”

Vivian refused with a look of pure disgust.

“…What?”

“Don’t you remember last time? How am I supposed to stop a monster that keeps reflecting every spell I use?”

She seemed to be referring to the essence of Gachabone that I had already disposed of, but that was beside the point. I had a much stronger defensive skill now.

「Character has cast [Scales of Greed].」

I activated Dragon Mode just to be safe. The skill itself did not include any reflection, but that was irrelevant. With Aegis Dragon Armor active, every hit I took would stack power that would later be converted into an explosive attack.

“What a shame.”

She could’ve helped me build stacks by attacking me a few times. Of course, to my enemies, that thought would be terrifying.

But so what? That’s just the truth—

“So, take my hand, Oppa.”

Huh?

“Take your hand?”

“It’s a bit tight with two people, but… this isn’t the time to be picky, right?”

As a barbarian, that was not something I could let pass.

Damn it.

These are supposed to be Orcules elites, and they’re already planning to run?

If things continued like this, I would have no choice but to watch them fly off.

So—

“Ah. Right. That.”

I pulled a hand axe from subspace and hurled it forward with all my strength.

I rarely used it in actual combat, so it didn’t come to mind immediately, but I’d practiced often enough that it flew exactly where I wanted.

“Kyaa!”

Vivian hurriedly twisted her broom to dodge the axe.

Then—

“Hurry!”

At the Corpse Collector’s urging, Vivian approached again, reaching out her hand.

I threw another hand axe at her, and this time she reacted with a barrier.

Of course, it didn’t mean much. Even though it was a plain throw without the help of a skill…

Whoosh—!

My overdeveloped strength made it indistinguishable from a skill anyway.

Crack—!

Just as expected, the barrier shattered the moment the axe hit it.

“Kyaa!”

The axe handle broke through the shield and struck Vivian on the temple. She screamed as she fell from her broom and rolled across the ground.

And then…

“Damn it!”

The Corpse Collector let out a curse, but instead of helping his fallen ally who had tried to save him, he kept moving forward.

“Wh-where are you going?!”

“……I-it can’t be helped! A mage can be replaced—but I can’t!”

“Don’t bullshit me! Come back and pick me up, you bastard!!”

“Those who live, live… pssit…!”

Such a despicable line that even I felt my head go blank while chasing him.

“Hey! You fucking son of a bitch!!!”

Vivian kept shouting furious obscenities at him, but the corpse collector never turned his chimera around.

***

Should I keep chasing the corpse collector? Or should I make sure to secure at least this one?

After a brief moment of contemplation, I stopped in front of Vivian, who was sitting down with a broken ankle.

“Ha. This is ridiculous.”

I nearly stumbled myself after witnessing such an absurd scene.

“…I surrender.”

That’s not surrender. That’s defeat.

Step.

Vivian ground her teeth as she watched me approach in silence. Surprisingly, her anger was not directed at me.

“…Oppa, can’t you just let me go? I’ll kill that bastard myself. I swear.”

Her eyes were filled with pure, unfiltered sincerity.

For a moment, I wondered if letting her go might actually benefit me.

But—

“Nope.”

I rejected her firmly and raised my hammer.

“No, seriously—! I’ll do anything you want, oppa… anything…!”

She tried to use her looks and gender as a weapon.

Unfortunately for her, she picked the wrong opponent.

I was born and raised in South Korea. I know what true gender equality is. If I lowered my hammer now, it would be a unfair to all the men I had killed up to this point.

Men and women were equal. After all, strike either on the head with a hammer and the result would be the same.

“Your allies!! You’re trying to go to where your allies are, right?!”

Huh?

I paused with my hammer raised.

“…A-am I wrong?”

Man, even in this situation, she’s testing me.

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. I don’t have much time.”

“I-I can take you to where your allies are! A-and I can do it safely and comfortably!”

Hmm…

“And I can help you in many other ways too! D-don’t you need a mage?”

I already have a mage, though.

“E-especially if it’s about catching that fucking bastard—I-I’ll even offer up my soul…!”

Now, what should I do with this…

If I crush her head right now and sprint after the Corpse Collector, I might still be able to catch up to him.

It was while I was weighing my options.

“……Tra-traitor!”

The word Vivian suddenly blurted out made me tilt my head.

“…What?”

“I can tell you which one of your allies is the traitor!”

……Okay, I guess I have to hear this out first.

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