Chapter 209: The Reason for His Anger
“I don’t get it… but you lot! Stop the boss with everything you’ve got! Attack him as if you’re going to kill him!”
“””O-Oooooh!”””
Although the reason was unknown, Antares was angry to the point that it seemed like he had lost all sense of himself. Tigar, judging the need to stop him, immediately instructed his men to intercept.
No one fully understood the current situation, yet it was clear to everyone that they had to stop Antares. With grave expressions, they quickly armed themselves with weapons and any nearby objects, like sticks, before immediately launching an attack.
“Killing him? Are you insane?! Isn’t he your friend?”
“It’s because I am sane! I don’t know why the boss is furious, but he’s extremely strong—strong enough to kill us all if he gets serious. We won’t even slow him down unless we fight to kill!”
“Argh!?”
“Ugh!?”
Hilda criticized Tigar’s words, but as she did, two warriors were hurled past her at arrow-like speed. Both collided with trees at the edge of the camp, groaning in pain on the ground. They were alive but seemed unable to move for some time.
Antares threw away those who were close to him and then slowly but directly advanced toward Tigar and the others. With each step he took, the oppressive force weighing down on them intensified. Lieselotte, who was not accustomed to battle, must have reached her limit as she lost consciousness and collapsed.
In a flurry, Hilda rushed to support Lieselotte and retreated after lifting her. Although Antares should have seen the two as they attempted to leave the scene, he did not quicken his pace.
From this, it seemed likely that Antares’ target was not Lieselotte. Hilda and Chris felt a slight sense of relief, yet the immediate danger in front of them had not diminished at all. Entrusting Lieselotte to Hilda, Chris stood up, bracing herself for what was to come.
“Here he comes!”
Perhaps triggered by Chris standing up, Antares began to run. His speed was like a gale, leaving no time even for a blink. Others attempted to stop him, but they were blown away as if they were mere twigs.
It seemed as though no one could stop Antares, who was like a living tempest. Just as this thought crossed their minds, Tigar, carrying a great sword on his shoulder, stood in Antares’ way.
“Cool your head, you fool!”
Tigar effortlessly hoisted his great sword, which was as tall as himself, preparing to swing it with enough force to cleave anything in two. As he did so, he enveloped his sword in a tremendous electrical surge; the lightning was so intense that even if the blow was blocked, the resulting shock could be deadly.
Seeing this, Chris recalled Tigar’s earlier words. He had said, “We must attack with the intent to kill.” Chris realized then that these words were not a joke or a metaphor but meant to be taken quite literally.
Tigar’s all-out attack seemed unavoidable even for Antares, who crossed his arms to block it. But neither the great sword nor the lightning could inflict a wound on Antares. The reason being…
“…Sand?”
“Damn it! You’re so angry yet still calm?!”
Antares had conjured sand through his spiritual arts and wrapped his arms with it. However, such hasty spiritual arts were not enough to fully block Tigar’s mighty blow. Still, the fact that Antares did not move an inch backward despite taking the blow head-on showcased his astounding physical strength.
Having his full-force strike blocked, Tigar clicked his tongue in frustration before he quickly repositioned his great sword and swung it horizontally in a sweeping motion. The strike was so powerful that it could have split a body in two, but Antares managed to duck under the great sword, skimming close to the ground.
Moreover, while dodging, he used his sand spiritual arts to create several tentacles, wrapping them around Tigar to restrain him. He meticulously targeted the joints. This was proof that even though he was driven by anger, he still had the presence of mind to ensure that obstacles were removed for his purpose.
“It’s hopeless; he won’t stop.”
“Hey!”
The boy who was with Julius quickly fled, realizing that restraining Antares was impossible. However, Lappy leaped toward him without hesitation. She closed the distance in one jump and delivered a dropkick straight into Antares’ abdomen.
Yet, this was insufficient to halt Antares’ advance. Indeed, Lappy was fast enough to bewilder Hilda and Chris, and her physical skills were exceptional. However, her youthful and petite body was naturally lighter in weight, lacking the heft of Tigar’s great sword, and thus failed to inflict any significant harm.
“Mmm. Big brother, calm down.”
“Stand back, Lappy.”
“Then stop.”
“I can’t. There are things… I must ask!”
“Gaah!?”
Unable to stop him, Lappy clung to his abdomen, trying to persuade him to stop. However, Antares was unyielding. It seemed like he was entirely a different person from the usual sweet and kind guy.
Right after that, Antares closed in on Chris at an astonishing speed and, in one swift motion, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into a nearby tree. His target was none other than Chris.
When she was suddenly thrown against the tree, Chris found herself unable to react in time, and the impact forced the air out of her lungs, leaving her in a state of mild suffocation. Just when it seemed Antares might continue to tighten his grip around her neck, to her surprise, he kept him pressed against the tree.
While Chris had been caught off guard when her neck was seized, she was also a skilled warrior. She immediately contemplated mounting a counterattack but realized that employing powerful spiritual arts or physical force might accidentally harm Lappy, who had clung to Antares’ abdomen. This approach had to be reserved as a last resort.
With that in mind, she initially attempted to pry Antares’ hand away from her neck. However, Antares’ arm remained immobile, as if it were cast in the shape of a statue. She already knew this, but the difference in their physical strength was glaring.
Nevertheless, the gauntlets she always wore could double as blunt weapons. She decided to strike Antares’ arm with her fist with all her might. Yet at that moment, Chris was taken aback. Even though there was no apparent indication of him wearing any gauntlets under his coat sleeves, it felt as if she had struck metal.
“It’s hard…!?”
“It’s tough, right? It’s all thanks to that damn old trainer; my bones and joints are specially reinforced.”
“Big brother, the illusion is fading.”
After punching his arm, Chris was in for another surprise. A mist appeared over Antares’s eyes and forehead, and his red eyeballs turned into black compound eyes that could appear reddish depending on the angle of the light, and multiple similar compound eyes also manifested on his forehead.
They were compound eyes rather than the usual human ones that were concealed by illusion spiritual arts. Chris had many questions on her mind, but despite being in a dangerous situation with her neck firmly gripped, she couldn’t help but mutter while peering into those compound eyes.
“Could it be… you are a demon?”
“Do you know of demons? Do we need to be cautious even in countries far from the battlefield?”
Demons. They were a kind of synthetic beast, a fusion of humans and other beings. Except for the western front, where the very existence of demons was abhorred for religious reasons, demons created from criminals and slaves had been actively utilized in battles against the Republic’s army in all parts of the battlefield.
Demons left a significant impact on people, to the extent that some referred to the war against the Republic as the “Demon War”. While it seemed surprising to Antares that Chris, who hailed from the Harlasia Kingdom, knew about demons, in reality, among those who made their living through combat, it was rare to find someone unaware of them.
“Right now, this is more important.”
“Ugh!”
Antares momentarily regained his composure after Chris pointed out that he was a demon. However, he extended his left hand towards Chris once more, his voice trembling with anger. His hand grabbed the distinctive bracelet she wore around her neck.
“Tell me. Where did you get this…”
“Don’t touch it!”
Chris, who cherished her bracelet dearly, was infuriated when it was so bluntly touched. In an instant, she conjured an ice spear and hurled it at Antares with all her might. She had been holding back because of Lappy, but her anger was so intense that it blew away any such consideration.
Fortunately, as soon as Lappy sensed the impending spiritual attack, she moved behind Antares, using him as a shield to protect herself from Chris’s spiritual art attack. Meanwhile, Antares was directly hit by the spiritual art at close range while shielding Lappy, but he still did not make the slightest movement.
However, while Antares was unharmed, the iron mask covering the lower half of his face was knocked off. He had claimed it hid unsightly scars beneath the mask, but there were none. Instead, there was a black exoskeleton covering his jaw and small pincers settled on his cheeks.
“That’s my treasure! It was given to me, a former slave! It is the first kind gesture I ever received, from my beloved Mr. Scorpion! Don’t touch it so casually!”
“What… did you say?”
Ignoring Antares’s unusual appearance, Chris exploded in anger. The fury emanating from Antares suddenly vanished. He loosened the force he had been applying to Chris, whom he had been pressing against a tree trunk, and slowly let her stand on the ground, releasing his hold on the bracelet.
The abrupt change in his behavior left everyone else bewildered. Only Chris, who had been nearly killed and had her precious treasure rudely touched, glared at him as if he were a sworn enemy. Then Antares staggered back with unsteady steps.
“Big brother?”
“You were… alive? Why…do you have… two arms…”
Antares, looking as if he might collapse at any moment, continued to mutter to himself in a voice only audible to Lappy and Chris, who were close by. Lappy got off his back and held his hand worriedly, while Chris wore a puzzled expression upon hearing his mutterings.
“Arms…? How do you know…?”
“Now’s our chance!”
“Uoooraaaahhh!!!”
In the midst of confusion, where no one fully grasped the situation, it was Leo and Zald who sprang into action. Hilda, who had moved away to ensure the safety of Lieselotte, encountered the two men at that moment. They seemed to have been training just before but had returned upon sensing the fury emitted by Antares.
Although Hilda had the duty to protect Lieselotte, she also regarded Chris as a dear companion and was like a younger sister to her. She implored the two men to hurry to the scene to help Chris. Unaware of the atmosphere at the scene, they attacked Antares without hesitation.
“Guuh!”
“Eh…?”
Antares, caught off guard, had failed to notice the assault by Zald and Leo until the last moment. He managed to block Zald’s strike with his arms crossed in a swift move, but he couldn’t react in time to Leo’s attack.
Just as Chris had this thought, something blocked Leo’s sword. It was a black scorpion tail that extended from around Antares’s waist, glistening with a unique luster.
At that moment, Chris felt as if an electric current ran through her entire body. The reason for Antares’s fury upon seeing her bracelet, his knowledge of her lack of one arm, and most importantly, the reason why she felt strangely comfortable around him—all these mysteries she couldn’t understand suddenly became clear to her.
“Are you… Mr. scorpion?”
“…!”
“Wait!”
Chris looked at Antares with a mix of emotions: a smile, confusion, and a pleading gaze. As if to escape her stare, Antares turned his back and started to run away. Chris, without hesitation, quickly chased after him.
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