The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

63 – EP5. Wind Memory

As if realizing that its enemy had appeared, the Titan let out a roar.

When the noise that shook the heavens and earth reached her ears, Angel covered them.

“…It’s astonishing.”

“Yes, it is a formidable being.”

Seeing its size, Angel had initially thought that it was on par with an ogre, but just by listening to its roar, she was completely astounded.

Her whole body trembled, just like when facing the Demon King or Grandis. Yes, it was that overwhelming power that felt as if she would be crushed just by getting closer.

Attempting to subdue such a monster conventionally? It was an absurd idea.

They were fortunate to have captured the Demon King through a miracle, but now it seemed unlikely that they could perform such a miracle again.

“…To be honest, I am not placing great expectations on you, hero. Honestly speaking, to capture such a monster… it will probably require many sacrifices. If only there was a way to isolate it from our forces, but unfortunately, it has a very high intelligence. That’s why it is known as one of the three disasters of the continent… Until it is completely convinced, it will never separate from its subordinates.”

“If we can convince it…”

“To be convinced that it can slaughter people. Even if its forces diminish slightly, it will be satisfied as long as it can massacre more people.”

“People… Did you say people?”

“Yes. Some of the enemy forces are still moving to slaughter civilians,” Einzel said, watching the Titan approach him.

“…Shouldn’t we do something?” he asked.

“Yes, we should make a move,” Ricardo replied calmly, drawing his bow, and Einzel did the same.

Einzel shot an arrow towards the Titan.

Ting. The sound of the arrow hitting what seemed like solid metal echoed as the arrow bounced off.

“Unfortunately, our attacks don’t work on him. I think it’s better to focus on attacking other monsters for now,” Ricardo said, shooting and killing orcs and goblins.

Einzel called his comrades, warning them of the enemy’s numbers. He especially emphasized to Sein, as someone who wielded a sword, the vulnerability to being surrounded by enemies.

Einzel and his comrades attacked from a distance, while Sein, who couldn’t attack from afar, blocked the enemies’ entry.

But with one roar from the Titan, the monsters rapidly replenished their forces.

And Einzel saw something strange among the enemy’s forces.

A flag with a peculiar pattern drawn on a red cloth.

“…What is that flag?” Einzel asked, and Ricardo replied, shooting an arrow.

“It’s a symbol of the clan.”

“A clan?”

“Yes. The Titan places intermediate managers between himself and the lower-level monsters. Among these intermediate managers, who can be considered as subordinates to the Titan… let’s say they lead their own groups. And those groups are called clans.”

“That seems quite complex.”

“Yes, the monsters we encountered earlier were just a group, but fighting a proper clan is no different from waging war with an army.”

Einzel looked at the group of goblins in front of him.

“…Even goblins?” he asked.

“In certain situations, goblins can be more formidable than orcs in a direct confrontation. They are incredibly agile and their small stature makes it difficult to eliminate them from a distance.”

“No matter what, though…”

“Well, you haven’t experienced being struck by their poisonous stingers, so you don’t understand.”

Einzel frowned. Poisonous stingers?

“Poisonous stingers? Are you saying goblins use long-range weapons?”

“Yes, because they are being controlled by the Titan. Honestly, the current nickname that’s attached to the Titan doesn’t suit him at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The nickname of the Titan is the King of Savages, like the King of Death, Ricci, and the King of Darkness, Black Ossi. But… look at that. Who would call that the King of Savages?”

“…The true power of the Titan was not his impenetrable body or his tremendous strength.”

“Yes, the true power of the Titan is turning subordinates into soldiers, not beasts.”

Ainzel bit her lip.

The Titan exhaled and began to prepare for a charge.

“…Here he comes again.”

As Ricardo muttered and grabbed Ainzel’s face, the elven commander shouted.

“The Titan is charging!”

“…Hero, quickly get out of the way.”

Ainzel obediently followed Ricardo’s words, and the Titan rolled his feet twice and then charged at an incredible speed.

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Bang!

Ainzel was knocked off her feet just from the shockwave.

“What… is this…?”

Ricardo held her hand and helped her up.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier… Titan considers even his own body a weapon to be used in war. In other words, he has assigned not only the role of a leader but also that of a siege weapon to himself.”

“…There’s not many fortresses that can stop that.”

Ainzel bit her lip.

The Titan raised an enormous cloud of dust as he pummeled people with his fists, and many of them burst like balloons from his attacks.

“…Insane.”

And behind the Titan, goblins began to rush forward, making growling sounds.

Ainzel thought. If these goblins were allowed to advance as they were in a completely broken rear, it would be all over.

Ainzel made her decision and leaped into the goblins.

And in that moment, Ainzel felt something pierce her arm.

“…Huh?”

It was a poisoned stinger. The goblins were cackling and mocking her.

“Ugh!”

Ainzel quickly stepped away from the spot and detoxified the venom in her body.

“…Insane.”

Judging from the spreading sensation, it seemed to be a nerve poison. Getting hit once meant a high chance of it being all over.

After spitting out phlegm once, Einzel created a protective barrier around his body.

He once again prepared to charge at the goblins, and the goblins, without fail, shot their poison stingers at him.

And yet, the barrier didn’t deflect the stingers like a shield, but instead dramatically reduced their kinetic energy. As a result, the stingers simply dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

Yes, right into Einzel’s hands.

Einzel threw the stingers back at the goblins. Then, he used wind magic to increase the speed of the stingers to an extreme level.

The stingers pierced through the goblins’ bodies in an instant, and the goblins soon fell down, writhing in pain.

“You fools.”

The barrier displayed a nearly invincible power against the stingers. This was because the stingers, with their very little mass, lacked the necessary momentum to deplete the barrier’s strength even if they appeared to be very fast.

Einzel delved deeper and began to engage with the goblins using his sword.

He had to keep himself in the rear position like this so that his allies could face the enemies without anxiety regarding the goblins suddenly appearing.

And just then,

With a loud bang, the barrier started depleting rapidly.

“What, what!?”

An ogre was crushing him. Though he wasn’t killed thanks to the barrier, it was being depleted rapidly.

“Well, damn it.”

He thought to himself.

“I went in too deep.”

He avoided the ogre’s movements and saw the goblins, who were mocking him.

And in that moment, he realized.

He had been lured.

“hahahaha, damn it. It’s the first time I’ve been lured by a monster and died.”

Einzel grimaced and swung his sword wildly.

Of course, it wasn’t like he could defeat the ogre by doing that. The ogre was already a formidable opponent to face with just one life, and it made no sense to fight the ogre while being surrounded by the enemy.

“Kuwaah!”

When the ogre swung its fist towards him, Einzel felt the barrier shatter.

He sensed death, but he couldn’t give up easily and die.

He tried to cover his body with magic.

And in that moment,

Crash.

Crash, crash.

Countless venomous stingers flew towards him and struck.

“Kirrk!”

A goblin adorned with vibrant decorations sneered at him. Looking at the goblin perched on the ogre’s shoulder, Ainz realized that it was the direct subordinate of the Titan.

His vision began to blur, and his body refused to obey him. Ainz couldn’t even twitch a finger before he collapsed.

“Damn… it.”

He managed to mutter through a twisted tongue.

And then the ogre unmistakably trampled him.

He was dead.