Ranked Adventurers

The guild’s rank system was designed to optimize the assignment of requests and did not necessarily reflect an adventurer’s actual abilities.

The Adventurers’ Guild Rankings were an evaluation system established to address the problem of capable adventurers being overlooked at lower ranks, such as those who possessed the ability to track elusive monsters or Magical Beasts but couldn’t fulfill the Rank C promotion requirement of defeating a Magical Beast.

The rankings listed the top fifty adventurers, whether individuals or parties, based on a comprehensive assessment of their abilities, including contributions to the guild, combat prowess, enemy detection, tracking, and scouting.

Among them, Red Thunder, ranked seventeenth, held the highest position of any Rank B adventurer and had achieved that standing solely through his combat abilities despite operating alone.

Wenz felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

The Chain War Ring danced through the air. Controlled by Tōru’s minimal arm movements, the weapon writhed like a dragon, scattering crimson lightning as it moved.

The Chain War Ring that had swept aside Demon Centipede’s underlings moved too quickly for anyone without Body-Enhancement Magic to react. Wenz and his Rank B party could follow it with their eyes, but his greatsword was inherently slow to swing, making even defending against it a considerable challenge.

More importantly, Wenz thought as he exchanged glances with his companions, there was an even greater problem.

Tōru’s attack range was so enormous that none of them could get close enough to launch an attack.

“…We’ll use a charging formation.”

At Wenz’s command, the two shield bearers moved diagonally behind him to defend his flanks, while the two spearmen positioned themselves behind Wenz and leveled their spears forward, using him as a shield. Wenz himself held his greatsword in front of his body to provide frontal protection.

They didn’t need to defeat Tōru. Their objective was simply to capture the twins.

As Wenz broke into a run, all five men moved together. Whatever else could be said about them, they were still a Rank B party, and their movements were perfectly coordinated.

Although some distance separated them from Tōru, they could cover it at full speed. With Body-Enhancement Magic activated, Wenz and his companions could run alongside horses for short periods.

“—Raaaaagh!”

Wenz let out a battle cry to rally his companions.

The two men positioned behind him hurled their spears at Tōru with all their strength, then drew the daggers they carried as secondary weapons.

They had already closed half the distance between them. Accounting for the time Tōru would need to deal with the thrown spears, they should be able to enter striking range.

—Or so they thought.

Tōru casually swung his arm.

Thunder roared.

Crimson lightning scattered through the air.

The hurled spears were knocked aside by the Chain War Ring.

By the time Wenz had registered those events, his body was already flying through the air.

“…Huh?”

Unable to comprehend what had happened, he involuntarily let out a bewildered sound.

Wenz landed on his back, instinctively broke his fall, and immediately raised his greatsword in front of him while quickly scanning his surroundings to assess the situation.

Both spearmen lay on the ground. Deep lacerations covered their limbs, and they could do nothing but groan, unable even to stand.

The two shield bearers stared dumbfounded at their shattered shields.

Apparently, the Chain War Ring had been whipped around at the speed of sound, scattering Wenz and his companions.

Wenz shuddered at the realization that he hadn’t even seen the Chain War Ring move.

Not only could he not get within striking distance, but he couldn’t even see the attacks coming.

There was no way he could win like this…

The two shield bearers finally recovered their senses, regrouped, and raised their short swords.

Tōru pulled his arm back, and both shield bearers simultaneously suffered slashes across their backs, dropping to their knees.

The Chain War Ring had curved around behind them like a whip and cut them down.

Wenz suddenly noticed something.

Tōru hadn’t moved a single step from where he had stood at the beginning of the battle.

Wenz took a deep breath, rested his greatsword on his shoulder, and lowered his stance.

“…Ah, damn it. How long has it been since I last fought someone stronger than me?”

Smiling bitterly at a sensation he had long since forgotten, Wenz fixed his sights on Tōru.

Four years earlier, he had discovered a strange metal in a dungeon. It melted in hot water, and everything had begun when they used it to smuggle materials for magical machinery.

Being an adventurer meant risking one’s life. Yet the profession was expensive, with weapons, traveling equipment, accommodation, and countless other expenses to consider. Low-ranking adventurers would finally scrape together enough money for a set of shabby equipment, only to encounter powerful monsters or Magical Beasts on their expeditions and lose their lives. Such deaths were all too common.

They had reached Rank B, so surely there was nothing wrong with enjoying a few advantages. That fleeting temptation had been what first led them into smuggling.

They had gathered low-ranking adventurers who had lost limbs and consequently needed Magical Prosthetic Arms or Legs, forming a clan to make smuggling easier. However, Wenz couldn’t deny that sympathy and a sense of shared experience had also played a part.

After all, the only reason he and his companions still had all four limbs was that they had been fortunate.

Whenever they encountered an opponent stronger than themselves, they ran. That was the secret to surviving as an adventurer, and it was undoubtedly why Wenz and his companions had managed to keep their bodies intact.

Yet now, after getting involved in smuggling and supposedly reaching a point where they no longer needed to risk their lives in battle, fate had somehow placed them in a situation where they couldn’t retreat from a superior opponent.

“I brought this on myself, huh?”

With a bitter smile, Wenz steeled his resolve and broke into a run.

He enveloped his beloved greatsword in mana and activated a spell using the weapon as its focal point.

A powerful gust of wind enveloped the greatsword. The blade resting on his shoulder generated a torrent of wind, accelerating Wenz even further.

The instant Tōru swung his arm, Wenz brought his greatsword down with tremendous force.

A violent gale erupted around him, slowing the Chain War Ring until it was moving at a speed Wenz could follow with his eyes.

“Take thiiiis!”

Relying on his impressive physique and the raging wind, Wenz immediately swung his greatsword upward after the downward strike, intercepting the Chain War Ring.

The deflected Chain War Ring shot high into the sky.

He didn’t believe he could win. But he wanted to land at least one blow. Whatever else he had become, he was still an adventurer.

Before Tōru could retrieve the Chain War Ring and launch another attack, Wenz intended to bring him within range of his greatsword and strike.

But just as Wenz prepared to carry out his plan, he heard an unpleasant metallic scraping sound and instinctively glanced at his greatsword.

The Chain War Ring had wrapped itself around the blade.

Considering the difference in their physiques, Wenz didn’t believe he would lose a contest of raw strength against Tōru. Nevertheless, the combat instincts he had developed on his way to Rank B sounded an alarm.

‘—He’s going to take my greatsword!’

The instant Wenz poured every ounce of strength into both hands gripping the hilt, he found himself flying through the air like a fish being hauled out of the water.

He looked toward Tōru.

Tōru wasn’t moving his arms.

Yet the Chain War Ring was flying freely through the air in every direction, as though it possessed a will of its own.

“…Magnetism!?”

The enchantment applied to the Chain War Ring generated magnetic forces, manipulating the magnetic fields of the chain and bladed ring to adjust their attraction and repulsion. This allowed Tōru to control the weapon’s intricate movements without moving his arms. The arm swings preceding his attacks had been nothing more than bluffs.

Even though Wenz had figured out the trick, the outcome of the battle was already decided.

The Chain War Ring swung violently toward the ground. The greatsword ensnared within it was dragged along, hurtling toward the pavement.

Forced to make a painful decision, Wenz released his greatsword.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Wenz charged toward Tōru. Even empty-handed, he refused to give up.

Tōru smiled.

“Well, look at that. You actually know how to act like an adventurer. Too late now, though.”

‘You’re absolutely right,’ Wenz agreed inwardly.

A moment later, the greatsword, now thoroughly entangled in the Chain War Ring and transformed into a massive blunt weapon, came flying in from the side and struck Wenz directly. The impact knocked him unconscious and sent him hurtling through the air.