Scout 6

I once saw footage of a war on the news. It was a country in the midst of a civil war, and the video showed a missile attack.

The clip they showed was very short.

A solidly constructed building stood in a bright, clear setting with laundry hanging from a balcony, creating a peaceful scene.

And then…

One second was all it took.

A missile flew in from far away at tremendous speed and blew the building apart.
No more, no less. Just one second was enough. Watching that brief clip, I felt a sense of absolute helplessness.

It didn’t matter whether someone was a world-class athlete, a politician surrounded by bodyguards, or a veteran soldier hardened by decades of war. No one could do anything against that.

How could you possibly respond to something that fast, something that hurtles in and buries itself into a building?

Would you dodge it? Or block it?

The people inside that building in the video probably never even recognized the missile’s existence until it exploded. Well, maybe they heard an air-raid siren or something…

Anyway, that’s not what matters right now.

“Fuck…”

A missile was racing toward us at a speed that seemed to ignore physics itself. I stood frozen, gaping at it.

‘Get a grip.’

Unlike when I watched that video, I don’t feel helpless.

This was a world where explorers easily surpassed the physical abilities of even the finest athletes.

Well, that meant Thunder wouldn’t be easy to handle either.

“Everyone, get behind me!”

I called all the allies toward me. Of course, with over a thousand troops, I can’t cover everyone by myself. But for some reason, I can just feel it.

Whooooooooosh—!

That missile is heading exactly for me.

Right now, I have two choices.

The first was to link [Transcendence] and [Gigantification], enlarging my body as much as possible. With the effect of “Unity,” Aegis’s barrier would scale in proportion to my size. If I could pull off a proper guard, I might block it without taking any damage.

But…

“…No. That won’t work.”

 

As I watched “Thunder” rapidly close in, I quickly reconsidered.

It’s not even a nuclear bomb…

Why the hell is it so big?

Even if I stacked [Gigantification] multiple times, it wouldn’t be large enough to guard against that.

Which means…

There was only one option left.

「The character has cast [Transcendence].」
「The next skill used will be enhanced.」

First, I use [Transcendence], then applied its effect to my next skill.

「The character has cast [Iron Fortress]」

「By the authority of the transcendent, the inherent power of the skill is unlocked.」

Normally, it’s just an active skill that increases the effects of [Evolved Shell] by 1.5 times. However, I’ve almost never applied [Transcendence] to this skill in real combat. I’d only messed around with it a few times when I was bored.

The skill had a fatal flaw. Once activated, it couldn’t be turned off until all my soul power was drained.

「Temporarily, [Evolved Shell] changes to [Mutable Shell].」

And the results were entirely up to luck.

「Physical Resistance is 750 or higher. The character gains a total of three special effects.」

The moment the skill activated, a whirlwind swept over my entire body.

「Blessing of the Storm」

「Damage taken increases by 70%, but grants absolute immunity to all wind attributes.」

The first one was a dud. There’s no way that Thunder is a wind attribute. In fact, it only amplified the damage I took by an absurd amount, making it one of the worst possible outcomes.

The skin over my knuckles rippled, becoming sharper.

「Warrior’s Blood」
「When dealing damage with bare fists, damage increases by 15 times.」

Now this brought back good memories. Tossing aside my hammer and shield to beat monsters down with my fists had always been fun, and those watching from the sidelines enjoyed it too.

But…

“Ha… You’ve got to be kidding me…”

What am I supposed to do with that in this situation?

 

Still, it’s a hundred—no, a thousand—times better than the first effect, which had only downsides.

Anyway, time to check the last effect—

“Wha—? Jandel, your head… You’ve got horns!”

The moment I heard Rottmiller’s voice, I cursed.There was no need to check the effect anymore.

「Demon Devourer」
「When defeating a dark-attribute monster, temporarily absorbs its abilities.」

Another dud to finish things off.

We weren’t inside the Labyrinth; how was I supposed to use this in a city with no monsters?

How am I supposed to use that here?

“…Ha.”

This was exactly why I hadn’t used [Mutating Shell] until now.

The abilities themselves were solid, and under the right circumstances, they could be unbelievably strong. The problem was, I had no way of guaranteeing the effect I wanted.

‘I’m screwed.’

More than just frustrated, my mind went completely blank. The second and third effects were fine, but the first one was the problem.

‘Damage taken increases by 70%’

Deep down, I had harbored a faint hope that I could survive Thunder somehow, but now, even that wasn’t guaranteed.

But I had no choice.

Only Mutating Shell could have protected everyone around me.

Even so, this was a gamble I would never normally take.

‘Damn fate-playing bastards.’

The record said three of my allies would die. If I interpreted it optimistically, that meant no more than three would die.

Right.

I wanted to believe that fate might grant us a stroke of luck, because considering the power of the attack that had obliterated an entire palace, there was no way only three people would die here.

Clench—

But what else could I do? If I couldn’t run, I had to face it.

Swoosh—

 

After taking one last look at the incoming “Thunder,” I raised my shield above my head as if opening an umbrella. Beneath it, my allies, including Rotmiller, were tightly clustered together, while a few at the rear hadn’t even managed to reach me yet.

‘Please.’

With one final prayer, I braced my entire body for the impact that was about to come—

‘Huh…?’

Suddenly, a brilliant white light erupted from somewhere. When I checked, it was the armor I was wearing.

At first, I thought someone nearby might have cast a spell or used an ability on me, but it didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t the case.

BOOOOOOOOM—!

[Aegis’s Dragon Armor]

The passive ability—the one that was always active and that I still hadn’t been able to figure out, even after being bound to it.

「The Noble Guardian has judged that the wearer’s life is in danger.」

I still didn’t know the exact conditions.

「For 10 seconds, all of the character’s resistance stats increase tenfold.」

I also had no idea what its effect was.

But—

Shraaak—

Black wings sprouted from my back and spread wide. It was one of the hundreds of effects available through [Mutating Shell]…

「Character’s Physical Resistance is 1,500 or higher. Character gains a new special effect.」

And it was exactly what I had been praying for.

「The Hanged Man」

The effect was simple:

「Soul power consumption increases by 25 times.」

[The character shares all incoming damage]

[The character’s Health cannot drop below 1%]

With this special effect, no matter what injury I suffered, I would not die.

And—

「The character can cast [Domain Declaration].」

‘Domain Declaration.’

I gained access to a one-time active skill and immediately activated it.

The moment I recited the command inwardly, a black wave spread out from me in all directions, like ripples across a lake.

Shraaaaa—

Everything the wave touched lost its color, turning the world into a scene from a black-and-white movie.

 

「The Authority of the Great Victim dwells within this area. You will take all damage on behalf of every creature within sight.」

With a faint sense of relief, I tightened my grip on the shield.

And then, Thunder struck the ground.

***

I couldn’t see anything. The world simply turned into light. There was no sound, either.

A white universe.

Within it, I did not exist.

There was no pain, no anguish, no sorrow.

I couldn’t feel time, and so time itself did not exist.

「The soul of the Noble Guardian is losing strength.」

The white universe slowly dimmed, its pristine canvas gradually stained by darkness. Faint sounds began to filter through.

“…! …!”

“…!”

Someone was shouting.

Though the words were too faint to make out, the emotion within them was clear.

Blink.

I opened and closed my eyes. I’m not sure if I actually performed the physical action, but regardless—

“……”

“……!”

I felt something touch me. Someone was shaking me. It seemed like my body was being carried somewhere.

And—

「The character has taken damage.」
「Damage is accumulating.」
「The character has taken damage.」
「Damage is accumul—」

It wasn’t pain.

It was just the sensation of my heart bursting, lungs tearing, bones shattering, muscles twisting.

You know how when you go to the dentist and have a tooth pulled? It doesn’t hurt, but you clearly feel something wrong.

It was exactly like that.

「The character has taken damage.」
「Damage is accumulating.」
「The character has taken damage.」
「Damage is accumul—」

Of course, I wasn’t only breaking apart.

「Due to Recovery (Highest Grade), the body is regenerating very rapidly.」
「Due to Recovery (Highest Grade), the body is regenerating very rapidly.」
「Due to Recovery (Highest Grade), the body is regenerating very rapid—」

Even as my body was being destroyed inside and out, it was regenerating at the same time.

Broken bones snapped back into place. Torn fragments of my heart stitched themselves together. Blood expelled from my body was rapidly replenished.

「The character has taken damage.」
「Damage is accumulating.」
「Due to Recovery (Highest Grade), the body is regenerating very rapidly.」

It felt like plunging into boiling water and freezing water thousands of times per second.

「The character’s soul power is below 10%.」

As time passed, I slowly regained consciousness.

Who I was. What I had done. What I was going through.

The things I had once been able to grasp only with intense concentration now returned to me effortlessly, along with knowledge of the “outside world.”

“…Over here!!”

A desperate voice.

But… whose voice was that?

I wasn’t sure.

KWA-A-A-A-ANG—

An explosion roared.

For a moment, I felt my body float weightlessly in the air—

Then—

Thud, roll—

I hit the ground and tumbled.

I could feel it, but like a drunk person, I couldn’t control my body at all—

“…Damn it!”

“H-he’s not healing!”

“Potion! Pour more potions on him!! It doesn’t have to be the highest grade!”

They’re all working so hard.

Well… not really.

This happened because of me.

‘Amelia…’

How would she react if she found out what I did?

Yeah… she definitely wouldn’t praise me.

“…Better not tell her.”

Yeah. That’s probably for the best.

Even if I explained that there was a high chance of survival and that this was the only way to save everyone, I doubt she’d understand.

“…Jandel! Can you hear me? Are you awake?!”

……Huh? ‘Wait, why am I moving?’

I opened my eyes. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but when I looked up, only one person was in sight.

“Th-thank god.”

Brown Rotmiller.

The scout of Team Half-ling, my first party, and a former ally who shared some of my most precious days.

“How do you feel? Can you stand? We have to get out of here right now!”

He spoke with frantic urgency. I slowly pushed myself up. I didn’t know the details, but the situation looked dire. Besides, my body seemed to have recovered enough that moving didn’t feel like an impossible task.

Right, so…

“Don’t worry. I’m fine enough to mov—”

I was about to say ‘move’, but then…

「Character’s Soul Power is insufficient. Mutating Shell has ended.」

The temporary changes to my body disappeared all at once. The whirlwind. The horns on my forehead. The freakishly protruding knuckles. The black wings on my back.

Honestly, I didn’t care about the cosmetic changes. If there was a problem right now, it was only one thing:

「The effect of ‘The Hanged Man’ has been removed.」

[The accumulated damage is being processed.」

The ‘debt’ I had been paying off in installments was suddenly called in as a lump sum.

“Ah…”

I’m screwed.

Psssssh—!

I felt something seep out of every pore in my body, and then I face-planted right back into the dirt.

 

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