Volume 5 Chapter 3 The Guardian’s Baptism
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Captain Pharrell… This person is a guest of our village. He has clearance from the Gate Guard!”
”The Gate Guard is not qualified to make that call. Humans are cunning. He likely tricked Sylvia with nothing but sweet talk.”
The man called Pharrell—the captain of the guard—spat the words out while glaring at me.
”Leave at once, human. Or I shall have you skewered right here.”
”…That’s a rather harsh welcome.”
I shrugged. Well, it was a village that had been closed off for hundreds of years. It was only natural for them to be wary of a sudden intruder. But I couldn’t afford to back down now.
”I have business with the Chief. Let me through.”
”I refuse. The Elder would never meet with a filthy human like you.”
”Pharrell! Mind your tongue!”
Sylvia snapped, her brow furrowed in rage.
”To think of this person as a mere human is regrettable. This person is… the most important person to me, and the ‘Spirit King’ who descended to save us Elves!”
The soldiers around us erupted in murmurs.
”The Spirit King…?”
”Ridiculous, that’s just a fairytale…”
”But the mana I feel from that man…”
As the unrest spread, only Pharrell wore a cold, mocking smirk.
”Spirit King? Don’t make me laugh. Sylvia, you’ve been deceived. A human cannot be the Spirit King. The Spirit King is… not a name to be claimed by a creature with a filthy flesh body like yours!”
Pharrell reached for his sword hilt. His killing intent surged. A faint green aura rippled over his entire body. Spirit Shroud1. He was reinforcing his physical abilities, just like Sylvia. Was his proficiency roughly the same as hers?
”I will peel off your mask myself. Taste the sword style of the Elves!”
Clink.
Metal rang out as Pharrell drew his blade. He was fast. Empowered by the Spirit Shroud, he moved like a blur. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance, a sharp thrust aimed straight for my throat.
”Die!”
A lethal strike. Any average adventurer would have been dead before they could even react. But I didn’t move an inch. I didn’t need to.
CLANG!
A dry sound echoed, and Pharrell’s sword stopped dead at my throat. Just before the blade could touch my skin, it was blocked by an invisible, golden-shimmering veil.
”Wha…!?”
Pharrell’s eyes widened in shock. I looked down at him with a cool expression, my hands still in my pockets.
(It’s deployed. Mana Shell.)
My own absolute domain, which rejects any attack, even the laws of physics.
I was glad I’d asked Sylvia to perform a strength test when I developed it in the forest earlier. Since even her full-force attack couldn’t leave a scratch, there was no way Pharrell’s sword would pass through. I don’t do stupid things like relying on luck in a real fight. That’s my style.
”…Hard, isn’t it? You’re using a good sword.”
”Im-impossible! There’s no way a sword of Mithril could be stopped by bare flesh…!”
…A Mithril sword? I thought Sylvia’s sword was a standard longsword. My heart started racing.
Flustered, Pharrell launched a flurry of follow-up attacks. A diagonal cut, a rising cut, a horizontal sweep. His god-speed barrage struck my entire body, but every single one was repelled by the Mana Shell. Sparks flew, but not even a fiber of my leather armor was cut.
”Damn it! Then, with magic! O Wind, become a blade and shred him! Wind Slasher!”
As he swung his sword, vacuum blades like kamaitachi2 were unleashed at point-blank range. His judgment was sound—if physical attacks failed, use magic. But this Mana Shell was a layer of high-density mana. My magical defense also seemed to be on another level.
Whoosh.
The moment the wind blades touched my body, they scattered. Like water breaking against a rock, they were swallowed by the torrent of mana and ceased to exist.
”Wha… even magic doesn’t work…!?”
Sweating a bit on the inside from the sudden variety of attacks, I stood tall, arms crossed.
Watching me, Pharrell stepped back. The confidence on his face was gone, replaced by deep despair and terror.
”Now, it’s my turn.”
I took a single step forward. That alone made Pharrell flinch violently.
”Damn it! Everyone, fire!”
At Pharrell’s near-screaming command, the surrounding soldiers leveled their bows to fire.
Whoosh!
Before the sound of wind cutting could even register, a series of dull thuds followed.
”Gah!”
”Ugh!”
The Elves preparing to shoot collapsed one after another, eyes rolled back in their heads. Standing in the center was Sylvia. She had used Spirit Shroud to accelerate to her limit, diving into their guard to knock them out with the blunt of her blade.
”I’m sorry! But I couldn’t forgive you for drawing bows at the Spirit King!”
An elegant display of skill, neutralizing several enemies in an instant. As expected of Sylvia. But a few who had been in her blind spot had already loosed their arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several magic-infused arrows flew from my blind spot, aimed precisely at my vital points.
”Oh, Spirit King-sama!”
Sylvia screamed, but it was too late. The arrows struck my brow and heart directly—
Clang! Clang!
They bounced off with a light sound and clattered to the ground. Even the magic arrows that were supposed to explode ended up as duds when they interfered with my mana. Truly an absolute defense. Having become a walking fortress, the remaining Elves lost their fighting spirit and dropped their bows.
”No way…”
”The arrows… they don’t work…”
I walked over to where Pharrell had collapsed and looked down at him.
”If I were serious, this beautiful village would be leveled to the ground. Can’t you tell I’m holding back so that doesn’t happen?”
”Gu, ugh… A-are you a monster…?”
Seeing that Pharrell still wasn’t convinced, I let out a small sigh. If words didn’t work, I had no choice but to show him the difference in our stature. I snapped my fingers lightly and deployed magic.
”Vacuum Slash—Multi-Deployment.”
Shhh. A faint sound of air trembling.
The next instant, invisible “vacuum blades” extended from me, fixed right in front of the carotid arteries of Pharrell and every single soldier surrounding us. The Elves went pale. Their keen senses seemed to detect the premonition of death.
A single line of blood trickled down Pharrell’s cheek. He hadn’t even touched the blade, but the sheer difference in pressure had caused his skin to split.
”Wha…!? When did you…”
”Don’t move. If I move my finger one millimeter right now, all your heads will roll on the ground at the same time. Physical barriers and Spirit Shroud defenses won’t matter. It’s a ‘spatial severance’ caused by a simple pressure difference. You understand that there’s no way to block this, right?”
As I announced this coldly, Pharrell couldn’t even speak; his whole body began to tremble violently.
”…Now. The time for chatter is over. Since I’m a ‘monster’ anyway, I’ll show you my true form.”
I released the limiters inside my body and unleashed the mana I had been suppressing all at once.
ROOOOOAAAAAAR…!!
Golden light erupted from my entire body. It wasn’t just light. It was a torrential flow of ‘Mana’ with overwhelming mass, making them feel the golden spiritual power. The atmosphere shook, and the leaves of the World Tree rustled in resonance. It was what you might call a King’s Presence—pressure that weighed on everything around me just by standing there.
”Ah, ahhh…”
”W-what a… divine…”
Every Elf present, including Pharrell, trembled from the depths of their souls. It wasn’t fear, but an instinctive awe and worship for an overwhelmingly superior being. They all prostrated themselves on the spot in unison.
”…The match is decided, isn’t it?”
Sylvia said quietly, yet proudly. Pharrell squeezed out a voice trembling with defeat.
”…My loss. You may pass.”
I withdrew my mana, looked at Sylvia, and nodded slightly. We had passed the rough “baptism.” After showing this much power, I doubted anyone would question my abilities again. We walked through the prostrating Elves and stepped into the mansion at the roots of the World Tree.
—
Summary:
The protagonist arrives at the Elven village and is met with immediate hostility from the guard captain, Pharrell. Despite Sylvia’s intervention, Pharrell challenges him to a duel, believing the protagonist is a deceitful human. The protagonist demonstrates his absolute power through impenetrable magical defenses and a display of overwhelming mana, forcing the Elves into submission. They now proceed toward the Elder’s mansion.
—
Trivia:
The protagonist’s ‘Mana Shell’ was stress-tested by Sylvia’s full power prior to this encounter.
The village has been isolated by a self-imposed period of seclusion for several centuries.
The protagonist’s display of power was specifically meant to avoid accidental destruction of the village.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Pharrell – Captain of the Elven guard. Skeptical of humans and fiercely protective of his village.
• Sylvia – Sylvia is a voluptuous, platinum-haired elf adventurer known as “Crimson Lotus.” Wielding a longsword and bow in a hooded green coat, this loyal Silver-rank warrior serves the Spirit King. Reverent toward the protagonist—from whom she received essence—she proudly guides them to her declining home village. She travels as Ryu’s servant, tutors John, and works with Nier as a protective companion.
• Man – A roughneck wearing a hat who participated in a group assault. He suffers the loss of his right arm and later his left arm during an experiment by the protagonist before being stored.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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