ICS - Chapter 106: Wraiths

Staring at the shadows constantly emerging from the mist and drifting in the air, Roland recognized them at once.

Ghosts. Or rather, wraiths.

Roland had learned a little about such creatures from Adventurer's Guild commissions before.

Their forms were blurred and unstable, and they radiated biting cold.

Most importantly...

ordinary blades could not cause them any substantial damage.

That was also why, back when he was clearing out monsters to change occupation to [Knight Apprentice], Roland had deliberately avoided every commission involving them.

After all, compared to spirit-type creatures like these, monsters such as Serpentfolk and Lizardfolk were obviously easier to handle.

"These villagers... are as hospitable as ever..."

After laboriously recognizing several familiar faces within the deep shadows, Roland sighed softly, then stretched his hand forward without hesitation, spreading his fingers.

"Tracy!"

That call dispelled the fear in the Pixie's heart.

Understanding Roland's intention, Tracy immediately responded.

In the next instant, a faint glow spread outward from her tiny body.

Feeling the stagnant Mana Elements around him begin to flow again, Roland mobilized his own power without reservation.

In the cold air, scorching energy gathered abruptly in his open palm.

A blazing orange-red flame condensed out of thin air, radiating an astonishing wave of heat. It drove away the surrounding chill, dyed the mist crimson, and startled the drifting wraiths into silent shrieks.

Roland locked onto the nearest pale shadow pouncing at him.

The blacksmith Barton's once honest face had now twisted into a venomous phantom.

Without hesitation, Roland snapped his wrist.

"Go!"

The fireball compressed to its limit transformed into a dazzling stream of light. It tore through the mist and erupted violently in front of the cluster of wraiths.

There was no muffled sound of physical collision, only the hissing burn of flame clashing fiercely with spirit bodies.

Boom!

Dazzling light swallowed the pale phantoms. Before they could even let out a proper wail, they twisted and decomposed beneath the burning of pure Fire Elements, turning into wisps of green smoke and scattered sparks before dispersing into the cold air.

The entire process was clean and decisive.

In an instant, only scattered sparks drifted down through the air, briefly illuminating a small area within the heavy fog and revealing Roland's calm face.

As the cold sea wind swept past, the air where the wraiths had been annihilated began to distort violently.

Immediately afterward, clusters of bright ghostly-blue light gathered.

It was not a single form, but an aggregation of more than a dozen extremely tiny, flickering motes of fluorescence.

As his mental power extended, Roland discovered that each of these ghostly-blue lights carried the most intense emotional imprint from the depths of those ghosts' souls.

A tiny phantom of an anvil being struck again and again.

A strand of soft threadlike light winding around itself.

A simple grass ring that glimmered with stubborn persistence.

The outline of a curled infant, radiating a warm yet sorrowful will to protect.

"This is..."

Staring at the ghostly-blue halo woven from countless emotional fragments and hovering in midair, Roland frowned.

"The effect of the [Plunder] Trait?"

In that brief moment, the halo had already condensed into form, becoming a solid cluster of light.

A clearly discernible energy fluctuation spread from within it.

This fluctuation...

Roland's perception was stirred at once.

"Energy fluctuations from the same source as the Mind Flayer's blood?"

Before Roland could sort out his confusion, a sudden change occurred.

That hovering, solid cluster of light seemed to be summoned by an irresistible call. It abruptly transformed into a ghostly-blue stream and shot straight toward the pouch at his waist at a speed far beyond Roland's ability to react.

"What?"

Roland's eyes sharpened. His hand instinctively pressed toward his pouch, but he only felt it tremble.

That stream of light had already passed through the pouch without obstruction and entered precisely into the bottle holding the Mind Flayer's blood.

The entire process happened in the blink of an eye.

Roland did not hesitate. He immediately reached back into the pouch, drew out the alchemy bottle, and lifted it before his eyes to examine it.

He saw that the originally viscous, almost stagnant purple-black blood was now like a living thing awakening from slumber, beginning to writhe and churn.

That cold, slick fluctuation of psionic corruption also became more active and clear, like a silent tide surging inside the bottle.

This change filled Roland with doubts, but he knew this was absolutely not the time to investigate.

The malice hidden within the village's heavy fog had grown increasingly restless because of the battle just now. Cold killing intent came from every direction like tangible needles.

Staying here would only drag him into a deeper mire.

Without hesitation, Roland returned the bottle containing the Mind Flayer's blood to his pouch. Then he decisively turned and retreated toward the coastline he had come from, his steps steady yet swift.

Tracy gripped his shoulder guard tightly, her little wings trembling uneasily.

The cold, damp sea wind rushed toward them, carrying the familiar smell of salt and fish.

The outline of the small boat he had moored on arrival appeared and disappeared in the thinning mist.

Just as he was only a dozen steps from the shore, and just as his feet stepped onto the edge of the damp beach, [Hydrological Intuition] abruptly activated.

It was not the gentle ripple that usually marked fishing spots.

In the depths of the seemingly calm, dark seawater before him, dense crimson points of light appeared at once, enough to make one's scalp crawl.

Countless ripple markers representing "fishlike creatures" covered several dozen yards of sea around them like boiling blood bubbles, layer upon layer, in an astonishing number.

They remained still, carrying a cold, frenzied hunting aura, like a giant net that had been waiting here for a long time.

"Ambush under the water!"

Alarm bells blared in Roland's heart. His steps stopped, and every muscle in his body tightened.

The next moment...

Splash!

The calm sea surface exploded violently, like a boulder had been dropped into it.

More than a dozen tall, savage figures covered in dark-green scales burst through the waves. Carrying a nauseating stench of fish mixed with blood, they crashed heavily onto the shallows, splashing muddy water and gravel, and instantly surrounded Roland.

"Sahuagin?"

Seeing this, Roland decisively drew the mithril longsword at his waist and narrowed his eyes.

These Sahuagin hunched their strong upper bodies. Webbed claws gripped rusty tridents or bone blades, and mucus-covered scales reflected greasy light in the gloom.

Yet the most alarming thing was their eyes.

They were not the cloudy yellow or cunning green commonly seen in fishfolk.

Every pair of eyes burned with pure, mad, completely irrational crimson light.

Their pupils had shrunk to pinpoints, and their whites were completely stained red. Within them churned only the most primal desire for slaughter and destruction.

They were identical to the Sahuagin Roland had encountered on the sea when he left Far Harbor and rushed toward the River Kingdoms.

Facing dozens of roaring Sahuagin lunging at him, there was no fear in Roland's eyes.

No chant was needed. Flame rose between his fingers. With a swing of his hand, a compressed orange-red fireball shot out.

Boom!

Blinding firelight exploded with a nauseating burned stench and the hiss of water vapor.

The upper bodies of the leading fishfolk, along with the bone blades they held, were instantly vaporized, leaving only charred bone fragments and splattered mucus.

The explosion's shockwave sent the nearby fishfolk flying hard, scales shattering as they fell into the rolling waves.

Shing!

A clear metallic tremor rang out as the mithril longsword left its sheath.

"Tracy! Close your eyes!"

Although the Pixie did not quite understand why, these days together had already built deep trust in Roland, so she closed her eyes without hesitation.

The next instant, as Mana Elements flowed toward the Consciousness Shoal, a dazzling ball of light appeared out of thin air and began circling and dancing around Roland.

With no teammates to worry about, Roland could finally use the Trait [Dazzling Charm] granted by the [Juggler] occupation without reservation to realize his original tactical concept.

The instant the ball of light appeared, the blood-red color in the Sahuagin's eyes began to fade. But in only a moment, it was once again filled by the mad desire for slaughter.

Their bodies merely suffered a brief delay.

But while that instant of pause might be difficult for ordinary people to catch, to Roland...

His figure shifted sideways like a ghost, easily avoiding three rusted fish spears thrusting at him at the same time.

Sword light arrived in a flash. There was no ornate technique, only precision pushed to the extreme of speed.

The savage head of the fishfolk charging at the very front, together with the bone blade it had raised high, flew silently into the air.

Stinking blood gushed like a fountain from the severed neck.

The headless corpse even staggered two more steps forward before crashing down.

Roland's footwork did not stop, and his sword moved with his body.

One fishfolk tried to smash him with a bone hammer. Roland flicked his wrist, and the sword tip accurately touched the joint of the hammer handle.

The heavy bone hammer flew from its hand. The longsword followed the motion and cut upward, easily severing its thick hammer-wielding arm.

But the fishfolk whose arm had been cut off seemed completely unable to feel pain. Its remaining claw still carried a fanatical obsession as it viciously grabbed toward Roland's calf.

"Hmph!"

Roland snorted coldly, and his left foot stomped down like a battle axe.

Crack!

Amid a sickening sound of bone breaking, that fishfolk's head and neck bones were crushed underfoot, and it went utterly still.

But this death-defying madness was by no means an exception.

On the other side, a fishfolk whose shoulder Roland had sliced half away, exposing faintly visible organs, dragged its ruined body forward and opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth, pouncing toward his back.

With a flash of silver light, it lost all sound.

Flame and sword light interwove and flickered across the beachhead.

Efficient combat technique, a tyrannical physique, and the powerful [Fire Bolt] combined to make this encirclement look more like a precise and brutal slaughter.

Yet Roland's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

The problem was not the individual strength of the fishfolk before him, but their enormous numbers, their utterly frenzied momentum, and their absolute indifference to pain and death.

Seeing this, Roland no longer held anything back.

Every occupation Trait activated in an instant, and his breathing method abruptly began to circulate.

As scorching battle aura flowed through his whole body, his sword moves became increasingly fierce.

With Tracy's support, [Fire Bolt] also poured out almost without restraint.

Yet just as he cleared a small open space within the frenzied green tide, the sea surface ahead exploded violently again.

More crimson eyes lit beneath the turbid waves, and dark-green figures roared as they leaped onto the shallows.

They stepped over the shattered corpses of their companions and the still-burning scorch marks, rushing forward one after another like an endless tide.

The entire coastline seemed to be drowned by that frenzied green and glaring crimson.

"I can't get entangled here!"

Seeing this, Roland immediately made his decision.

After the previous drift across the sea, neither his mental power nor his stamina had recovered to their peak state.

If he continued to hold out on this beachhead, it was only a matter of time before the numerous fishfolk completely surrounded him from every side.

At this thought, Roland remembered the scenes of Transcendent Professionals like Gundar and Beckham slaughtering monsters.

"If I had that kind of strength too..."

The thought passed and did not affect his movements.

In the next instant, Roland's sword force became even sharper and faster.

He no longer tried to force his way toward the small boat. Instead, using the wide explosion and smoke created in front of him by a [Fire Bolt], he retreated backward.

These Sahuagin had only been able to block his path because of the enormous numbers continuously surging from the deep sea, so naturally they could not stop his retreat.

Scorching battle aura gathered toward his legs. In only a few breaths, Roland had already crossed the fishing village from earlier and was sprinting toward the depths of the Misty Lands.

"Hah..."

After letting out a long breath, Roland dispersed the [Light] spell circling around him. Seeing the Pixie still clutching his clothing tightly on his shoulder, he chuckled.

"All right, Tracy. You can open your eyes now."

"Mm..."

Tracy answered softly, opened her eyes, and looked around warily.

Only after confirming there were no traces of those berserk fishfolk did she let out a breath of relief and begin beating the butterfly wings on her back again, floating lightly in the air.

"Gods above, Roland! You're too strong! You actually cut your way out from those monsters' encirclement!"

Her voice carried the lightness of surviving a disaster.

"I knew my choice was right! Only you can save my home..."

Halfway through her words, the Pixie suddenly remembered that her companions had already scattered and gone missing. Her little head drooped, and her voice sank.

"All right, don't think too much..."

Tracy's emotions were almost written across her face. Roland understood her state of mind at once and comforted her gently.

"Your companions will be fine."

"Mm, I know, Roland. It's just... never mind..."

She shook her head weakly and decisively changed the subject.

"What do we do next?"

Hearing the question, Roland looked around.

They were currently in a sparsely vegetated woodland.

The fog was so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve, obscuring their vision. He could only barely make out swamp terrain emerging at the edge of the woods.

"Do you know what this place is?"

"Um..."

Tracy floated higher. After carefully looking around for a moment, she said with some uncertainty, "This place... seems to be Moss Swamp. When I left, as long as you kept heading north, it did not take long to leave the Misty Lands. But now..."

"Moss Swamp?"

The name felt familiar to Roland.

After thinking for a moment, he remembered where he had heard it.

Back when he had first learned of the Bugbear at the Adventurer's Guild in the Royal Capital of the River Kingdoms, the destination of that commission had been Moss Swamp.

"In other words... Bugbears may very well be active here?"

Thinking of this, Roland frowned.

Although the beach was sealed off by fishfolk, when he first arrived, there had been no trace of them there.

Clearly, they did not live there. They had only been drawn over by the commotion from his battle with the ghosts.

Therefore, as long as he left the fishfolk's line of sight, the monsters would likely leave the shallows before long.

At that point, he could turn back and sail away in the small boat.

He told Tracy his plan.

The Pixie did not object.

The two exchanged a few brief words and were just about to find a place to rest and recover their strength when...

Rustle...

From the depths of the heavy fog, a faint sound suddenly came, like wet branches and leaves being stepped on.