章節 8: Steel Body, Glass Mind
The wind rushed past me and I could feel my hair whipping back. This speed was astonishing. Right now I could easily rival bullet trains, and I wasn't even at my maximum. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I've ever actually let loose and ran since I came to this world. It felt odd, but it also felt satisfying. It was liberating.
It didn't take me long to reach the Devil Hound horde. Just as RED said earlier, they were pursuing a small group of people on horseback. There were three humans in total. It looked to be a teenage girl and two bodyguards?
[Solution: The subject is the fourth princess of the Gransus Kingdom; Lily Grphyn Gransus and her two bodyguards.]
… What.
[Solution: The subject is the fourth princess of…]
No. No. Don't repeat yourself. I heard what you said the first time. I was just in shock. Of all the people to meet on on the way to the Royal Capital, we happened to run into a member of royalty. What were the odds…
[Solution: The statistical odds of this event transpiring are about…]
Stop. I didn't care what the actual odds were. It was a longshot. That was all that mattered. It was also terribly generic and tropey, if I have to say so myself. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to run into a potential classmate or something?
[Solution: The fourth princess is to be registered for the Royal Academy alongside the user.]
Of course. What level was the princess and her two cronies, anyway?
[Solution: Princess Lily Grphyn Gransus is currently level (18). Her two bodyguards are level (31) and (29) respectively.]
How come I didn't see the puppy? RED claimed they had a Devil Hound puppy.
[Solution: The puppy is currently in one of the bodyguard's bags.]
That sounded awful. I really shouldn't even save these people. I didn't know this Lily, but if she was going around abducting puppies from their families, (magical beasts or otherwise) I wasn't sure if I wanted to associate with her.
[Solution: The fourth princess does not know one of her bodyguards has kidnapped the Devil Hound puppy.]
… Why did a rugged looking bodyguard kidnap a Devil Hound puppy? Wait, why was the fourth princess so far out of the Royal Capital in the first place? 'RED, tell me what's actually going on.'
[Solution: The fourth princess was living outside the Royal Capital. After the Capital received Jack Evergreen's letter, the princess was tasked with meeting the user and James Evergreen along the way. Along the journey, one of the princess's guards discovered a Devil Hound nest. Seeing this as a unique opportunity, he snatched one of the pups. He was, most likely, planning on using the pack of Devil Hounds to assassinate the princess.]
Wait, why would the bodyguard want to assassinate the fourth princess?
[Solution: The bodyguard has been paid off by the sixth prince, Thomas Leore Gransus. The sixth prince is attempting to consolidate more power in order to gain the right of succession. The fourth princess is in control of a powerful political group. If she were to die then her group would fall into his hands.]
I see. So the girl was innocent in all this?
[Solution: Yes.]
Good. Then I didn't need to feel bad about saving her.
I ran towards the group. My momentum was steadily increasing, and I was now approaching my top speed. The outside world was terribly distorted to me. It was almost completely blurred out.
I began circulating mana through my body. I considered using Belial's Blade, but I ended up wimping out. There was no telling how powerful a Deity Class item would be. A simple Expert Class Skill like Mana Bomb was hard enough to control. I couldn't risk accidentally catching the princess in my attacks.
For now I decided on a simple course of action. Pouring my mana into my arms and legs, I activated the Normal Class Skill [Magic Imbue].
My limbs started to glow blue. I arrived in front of the first Devil Hound faster than my footsteps could be heard.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Expert Class Skill: Midnight Steps]
With a quick motion from my hand, I landed a palm strike on the beast. It's head vanished. There was no grotesque explosion or splash of blood. It was annihilated. It was gone.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Adept Class Skill: Heaven Breaking Palm]
Without stopping I made my way to the next animal in the group. This one I swatted at with a closed fist, striking the center of its body.
Upon contact with my hand, a gaping hole appeared, boring completely through the Devil Hound… But that wasn't all. Every Devil Hound lined up with the one I hit had been subsequently drilled through by the shockwave from my attack.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Journeyman Class Skill: Pressure Fist]
The pack was starting to thin out. I was starting to grow numb to the new skills appearing. I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to be dawdling.
I'm not certain if it was irritation or impatience that forced my hand, but I decided to use a wide area attack to finish off the rest of the beasts.
Loading my mana up, I used the skill [Blade Extension] on my right leg. Treating my foot as a sword, I leaned back and kicked forward in a sweeping arc. By pouring mana into the skill, an invisible blade of wind extended over five hundred meters from the tips of my toes.
All it took was a single swipe.
Countless Devil Hound bodies littered the ground in front of me. Their blood was soaking into the road, coloring it red.
It was a strange thing, but I didn't feel bad for having killed the Devil Hounds. I was an avid dog lover in my past life, too. I'm not sure why, but I didn't feel anything even after taking their lives.
[Solution: One of the racial traits the user possesses includes Combat State.]
I see. So my body was controlling my emotional state right now?
[Solution: Yes.]
That was good. I didn't think I could handle this kind of scene alone. I didn't want to slaughter the Devil Hounds. I originally planned on maybe beating back a few and scaring the rest away… There had to be at least 40 bodies piled up. They really looked just like dogs. Giant fluffy dogs.
[Solution: It is recommended that the user leaves before Combat State wears off. The current state of affairs could lead to trauma.]
No. RED, this was something I need to take in on my own. I couldn't ignore this.
"What just happened? D-did you kill them all?" asked Princess Lily.
The princess's voice called me out from the trance I was in. I turned around and faced the group of three that had slowly approached me. I could see the fear in the men's eyes. The princess didn't seem to be effected in that manner, though. She looked rather flushed, even. Perhaps she was exhausted from the whole ordeal.
"Yes. I killed the entire horde," I replied. Then, without saying another word, I approached the man who kidnapped the puppy and flicked him on the forehead. His body crumpled to the ground without warning. After hitting James earlier, I had a clear understanding on how much force I could flick someone with and not kill them.
"W-what are you doing!?" Cried the Princess as she started backing away from me. Her other, not-collapsed bodyguard jumped between us.
"Relax. I knocked this guy out because he tried to get you killed."
"Remus? Try to get me killed? Remus has been a member of my guard for over five years. He w-wouldn't do something like that!" said Lily.
I didn't give the girl a response. Instead I walked over to the guard's horse and opened his travel bag. Inside was the mangled body of a Devil Hound Pup. It was still alive, but barely so. Upon seeing the animal, the princess seemed to understand the situation as well. She immediately ordered her remaining bodyguard to tie the bastard 'Remus' up.
I looked down at the small Devil Hound. It really did resemble an ordinary puppy. The animal's breathing was laboured and it was covered in bruises. It had clearly suffered some serious abuse.
[Solution: The Devil Hound pup will die inside the hour if not treated. Recommended course of action is for the user to attempt the skill for Healing Magic.]
"Is… Is the puppy going to be okay?" asked Lily as she walked over to me.
"No. He's going to die inside the hour."
"Oh… I'm sorry… Th-thank you for saving me," she said.
"Don't worry about it. Listen, princess, can you stand back? I'm going to try to inject my mana into this puppy to heal him."
"Wait, you can use Healing Magic?"
"No. Well, not yet anyways. I can control my mana, though. Healing magic can't be that hard."
I held the puppy in my arms and started circulating my mana. I focused on trying to expel the mana from my hands in a gentle manner. The small dog's body soaked up the magical energy like a sponge. I thought it was going to work. Yes, all I needed to do was to control the mana and force it to repair…
The dog's body exploded. The turbulent mana was too much for its underdeveloped form. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering me from head to toe.
My vision blurred. I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I started sobbing uncontrollably as I hit my knees. Why did I fail?
[Solution: Data not found.]
In the end, I suppose, I'm just glad I didn't try to heal James.
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