58 — Chapter 58

Thump—Thump—

The ground shook with each step of the minotaur. Not far now. I smothered my presence as much as possible and quickened my pace.

Thump! Thump!

The tremors grew stronger. It was close—just beyond the great tree ahead. Once I slipped past it, its massive body would come into view.

I shifted left with a push of my right foot.

There it is.

A hulking figure, towering six, maybe seven meters. Enormous. Two trunk-like legs of pure muscle rippled with each step. Above them, shoulders broad as a boulder, layered with cords of muscle like the legs.

In its hand was a battle axe—where it found such a weapon, who knew? The blade was chipped and battered, but the size alone rivaled my height. The bull-headed minotaur hadn’t noticed me. It lumbered forward slowly.

From where it moved, I caught a glimpse of John and the black mage far off, walking side by side, chatting. The distance told me how far I’d already run.

“Grrrhhk…”

A guttural rumble rolled from above, at least five meters high. The air itself vibrated with it.
Should I strike now? No. I needed proof. If I killed it hidden here, no one would know what I’d done. That would defeat the point of running all this way.

That wouldn’t do. So, how? I considered options. Countless methods, yet every one was brute force. In the end, I chose the least reckless among them—though still far from subtle.

First, I needed the beast to roar, to unleash its full bellow. That would draw every eye this way. Decision made, I killed my presence entirely and slipped behind its massive bulk. Then I leapt, not with inner energy, but with raw strength alone.

This Human Realm was lighter than the Demon Realm, and my body had been honed there. It was easy. The back of its thigh loomed before me, muscles twitching as if begging to be cut.

I slashed twice in a blur—once left with raw power, once right with inner energy flowing through the blade.

“Graaaah!!”

Its hamstrings split open, thin but deep, and it roared in agony. Not enough.

I turned as it turned, slipping again behind its broad back. Then I gathered energy in my legs and leapt high.

The nape of its neck came into view. I let the blade kiss across it, a shallow line glowing with inner energy. Blood didn’t spray—it streamed slowly down its throat.

“GRRRAAAAAAH!!”

The roar shook louder than before, its massive hand clutching its neck as it twisted wildly, searching. Perfect. I could feel all eyes shifting toward us.

I moved again, bounding high with inner energy. My empty left hand drew back, packed with force.

Legs. Hips. Back. As its back filled my sight, I thrust my palm forward, hard yet controlled.

My hand slammed against its back—

BOOOOOM!

Leaves shuddered in every direction from the impact wave.

“Guaaagh!”

The minotaur let out a short, clipped scream, then its colossal body hurtled forward, crashing through the trees.

Craaaack!

Boom!

Riiip-crash—

The minotaur’s massive frame actually lifted off the ground, smashing through trees headfirst as though hurled by some unseen giant. I glanced at my left hand and thought that next time, I should hold back more when striking. Then, unleashing Lightfoot, I chased after it through the forest.

Where it had flown, the destruction was clear—trees torn out at the roots, trunks snapped in half, the path littered with ruin.

Emerging from the trees onto the plain, I didn’t need to look back to know every eye was on me now. The minotaur I had struck lay sprawled far beyond the mountains. Beside it, John and the black mage crouched over another corpse, one already dead. It was a brutish method, yes—but it had made the proof undeniable.

“Whoa, did you do this, Kain?”

John turned from the corpse, his voice a mix of awe and excitement.

“Yeah.”

I gave a curt reply and walked toward the fallen beast. In the distance, the fools gawked at me. Altari, the long-faced one, said something that made them avert their eyes and start walking again. Whenever someone dared glance this way, he stepped in to hush them. I didn’t bother listening to what he said.

What was he even doing?

The black mage, meanwhile, examined the corpse with keen interest. After poking it a few times with his gray staff, he began drawing something into the dirt around it.

“How did you even kill it? Looking at the body, it only has a couple of cuts—on the thigh and the back of the neck. Wait… where’d you get that sword?”

John’s incredulous tone clashed with his smiling face, but I ignored it.

“I’ll tell you later.”

I brushed him off and stepped closer to the black mage, who was still at work around the body.

When I had struck the minotaur’s back, it wasn’t about strength—it was about timing.
Jump up, and of course you fall back down. At the peak of the leap—the very limit—there is a fleeting instant where the body pauses, suspended. That is the moment. Extend your hand at that precise point, and the line becomes perfect. Without that alignment, the beast wouldn’t have flown so far.

I pushed the thought away and watched the mage. He looked strained, etching symbols into the dirt. Then he planted his staff into the ground and began to chant in a strange, repetitive tongue.

“Corp Xen In. Corp Xen In. Corp Xen In.”

“What does that mean?”

John tilted his head, curiosity heavy in his voice.

An unknown tongue. The black mage’s lips spilled words that should’ve been forgotten, a language no one in this era ought to know. Ancient speech?

From his body and staff, other-dimensional mana seeped into the corpse of the minotaur. John stood nearby, unaffected, merely tilting his head as though hearing strange words for the first time. Wait—the meaning of that chant… to raise the dead? No way. Was this black mage actually…?

“Corp Xen In. …You caught on, did you?”

He wiped sweat from beneath his hood and spoke in that same eerie voice. Then his final whisper reached me by telepathy.

[As you suspect. A necromancer.]

So he said. But… a necromancer? No. The aura around him was unmistakably that of a black mage, saturated with other-dimensional mana. My knowledge told me as much.

True necromancers carried no mana of their own. They manipulated the wandering energies of the dead in the Human Realm, forcing corpses to rise and take flesh again. But this man—this so-called necromancer—contained mana within himself. A full 5th circle’s worth.

And yet he claimed to be a necromancer?

“Grghhh…”

The dead minotaur rumbled. The otherworldly mana that had filled the air vanished, leaving only the sound of the corpse stirring. Did he not care if the witnesses saw? Both were Paladin-level—surely they could see clearly what had happened here.

His mouth opened again.

“An.”

Return?

At that short word of ancient speech, the minotaur vanished. Not destroyed—sent away. To a resting place for corpses, or rather, the undead. A place from which it could be called back at any time.

“Graaaah!!”

“Stay calm!!”

Another roar rang out, followed by Altari’s booming command. Probably another fool panicking. Whatever.

“We’ll discuss this later,” I muttered to the mage.

“Indeed. Indeed.”

His voice carried the same refrain. A necromancer wielding a black mage’s mana, bound to that curious gray rod. Enough to stir my interest. And now, I was interested. Time was on my side. The others, still marching through the center, were far from the minotaurs. At their pace, I could down three more beasts before they even reached contact—assuming I used the same method as before.

I turned to John. Still smiling. Impossible to read.

“Yeah~ I don’t want to die,” he said brightly.

Good. Don’t make me repeat that line again. I nodded at his voice, then shot forward with Lightfoot, ignoring the black mage. He wasn’t running away. I’d be seeing him again—again and again, for a lifetime.

I cleared my head and spread inner energy through my body, feeling it grow lighter, swifter. The scenery blurred behind me, and soon the wooded mountain interior filled my vision. Cutting down obstacles with my blade, I heard the thump, thump of heavy steps. It told me I was close.

Would I use the same method again? After a moment’s thought, I decided. Then I tracked the beast’s presence.

It knew. Its kin had died, and rage twisted its features. If this were winter, steam would be billowing from that bull’s snout.

I slipped into its path. The minotaur spotted me, bellowing as it lowered its gaze, eyes burning.

“Graaaah!!”