Chapter 521: Stealing the Spotlight
Several minutes earlier...
A group of adventurers rushed up the small hill, only to witness a scene that left them utterly dumbfounded.
The witch was beating the griffin to a pulp!
"Isn't that the cloaked person who was following that handsome guy earlier?"
"That monk woman is ridiculously strong!"
"I get it now—that hunk must be some noble's young master!"
Someone had a sudden epiphany, and their conclusion made perfect sense to everyone.
An expensive mage's robe, an overpowered monk attendant, yet being only a Level 1 adventurer himself—this clearly pointed to a young noble playing at being an adventurer, with the monk as his bodyguard!
"Oh no, the manticore's here!"
Just as the witch and griffin were locked in their earth-shaking battle, a sinister gust of wind announced the manticore's dramatic entrance.
"Who said those two monsters always fight to the death? They've clearly been in cahoots for ages!"
"How dare they try to backstab our hunk! Unforgivable! Sisters, charge!"
"I'll protect him!"
Before the words had fully left their mouths, Darkness had already charged forward without hesitation.
"I'm going to recruit him into the Axis Cult!"
Aqua quickly followed suit.
The two reacted so swiftly they immediately left everyone else in the dust.
"They're so enthusiastic!"
Megumin, who was a beat too slow to keep up, couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"Hey, Kazuma, let's join in too. I can't hold back my craving to taste griffin and manticore blood anymore... What are you doing?"
"Megumin, let's retreat!"
At some point, Kazuma had already positioned himself behind everyone else.
Gazing at the intense battle in the distance, he made his proposal to Megumin with complete seriousness.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you think this battlefield is way too dangerous?"
Kazuma spoke with utmost gravity.
He wasn't wrong.
Originally, his plan had been to create a dangerous situation for Eiji even if none existed, so Aqua and the others would rush to his rescue. That way, he could get rid of these troublesome party members and finally form a proper adventuring party.
But after arriving at this hill, he immediately regretted everything.
"These monsters are way too strong! Charging in recklessly would get us killed like disposable extras in some TV show! This is way beyond our current capabilities—let's escape while we can. I'm not ready to die yet!"
Before he even finished speaking, he had already turned tail and vanished.
In their current party—aside from Darkness who had just joined and whose capabilities remained unknown—he, Megumin, and Aqua were all complete newbies below Level 10. There was no way they could handle this situation!
"You're running away now after coming all this way?"
Startled, Megumin hurried after him.
"Wait, Kazuma! I know those two monsters are strong, but my Explosion magic isn't just for show! One shot from me could definitely finish them off! So don't be scared—let's go together!"
"No way!"
"Please! I'll take out one, and everyone can help that monk kill the other. Problem solved!"
"But I refuse! I'm being extremely cautious here! And I've got this bad feeling—if we stay with you guys, this fight definitely won't end easily!"
"Kazuma...!"
"No matter what you say, I'm not going back!"
"That's not it—your side—!"
"My side?
While running, Kazuma looked around with a puzzled expression.
"...Ah."
A massive monster flapped its wings as it flew toward them from the right front.
With a human head, lion's body, scorpion's tail, and bat wings—identical to the other manticore—its nearly ten-meter-long colossal frame seemed to blot out the sky.
Unlike the male manticore, this one had a woman's head, but it was still just as sanity-destroying.
"Nobody said there were two manticores!"
Kazuma wore a Buddha-like smile.
The female manticore tilted its head slightly and spotted the two insects on the ground.
"Kazuma, run! The female manticore is even stronger than the male one! If it catches you, we're done for!"
Megumin quickly hit the brakes, then turned and sprinted toward the distant main group.
"Hey, running off alone is so not cool!"
Kazuma panicked and immediately chased after Megumin.
"Kazuma has no right to say that!"
Megumin pressed down on her fluttering pointed hat and shouted without looking back.
"Hey, what's going on? Why is there another manticore?"
"Those two—Kazuma and Megumin—actually ran off without us noticing?"
"Everyone, be careful! Don't let your guard down! Although manticores are chimeras created by humans using creation magic and aren't as strong as griffins, they're still terrifying monsters! And because they've undergone extensive human experimentation, their personalities are often extremely twisted!"
Someone quickly stepped forward to warn the others.
"Eeek—!"
"Kazuma!!"
The monster's shadow suddenly loomed large before his eyes.
With a look of resigned fury—as if he'd expected this—Kazuma was overtaken from behind by the manticore, grabbed, and lifted into the air.
He was only Level 6!
Having been reincarnated into this world for less than a month, with the weakest adventurer class and barely any skills learned, why did he have to face such a terrifying enemy?
"Megumin! Darkness! Aqua! Anyone, please, save me!"
In the distance.
Darkness, whom he'd pinned his hopes on, was trembling at the monster's feet.
Aqua, looking terrified, hid behind Eiji while shamelessly spouting things like, "Don't you dare leave my sight—stay right there and be my shield!"
Airi Yasaka, growing more exhilarated by the minute, was busy beating up a griffin and paid no attention to the battle here.
"No helping it."
Eiji sighed.
He took a step forward, ignoring Aqua's cries of "Where are you going? What am I supposed to do if you leave?!" and approached the manticore.
"What do you want?"
The manticore let out a lewd chuckle.
The next moment.
Eiji's figure abruptly vanished from its sight.
Then, as if crossing dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, Eiji reappeared before it—his form flickering like a skipped frame—with his staff raised high.
"Swish!"
He brought the staff down.
The manticore couldn't react in time.
Before it could even process the shock of Eiji suddenly appearing in front of it, the wooden staff had already struck its forehead.
Thunk.
Its brain seemed to turn to mush in an instant.
The light in the manticore's eyes slowly faded as its body tilted and collapsed to the ground, devoid of any remaining life.
"Hey, get up. The monster's dead."
Eiji poked Darkness—who was lying motionless on the ground—with the tip of his staff.
Strange. Even though the heavy weight on her was gone, why was she still trembling?
"Huh? Huhhh? It's dead?"
As if suddenly waking from a dream, Darkness quickly stood up from the ground and let out a long sigh while looking at the manticore corpse beside her.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but this woman seemed somewhat... disappointed?
"So... so amazing!"
Aqua's eyes sparkled as she stared at him, her pupils darting about excitedly.