Volume 6 Chapter 9 Melting Silver, The Indomitable Battle-Fiend
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Hiss-crack-crack-CRACK!
A shrill, unnatural scream tore through the air, sharp enough to make ears ring. It was not the sound of steel cutting flesh. Instead, it was the roar of extreme heat boiling the moisture from living tissue, accompanied by the tortured shriek of metal grinding against muscle dense enough to defy reason.
Sylvia’s white-hot longsword sank deep into Gauz’s thick neck.
Yet his head remained firmly attached.
The blade scorched through skin and carved several centimeters into muscle before it slammed into something that felt immovable. The difference in mass between them was so overwhelming that the sword’s heat bled away almost instantly. As the blade cooled, it began to tremble in Sylvia’s grip, releasing a high, piercing whine.
”It’s… it’s so damn hard!”
She clenched her teeth so tightly that pain shot through her jaw.
A dense Spirit Shroud wrapped her body in a dark-red aura that clung to her like heavy armor, but even with all her strength behind the strike, she could not force the sword any deeper. The moment the blade bit into Gauz’s flesh, the surrounding muscle tightened and swelled like shifting bedrock, trapping the weapon inside a wall of living steel.
The smell alone was enough to make her stomach turn. Greasy beast musk mixed with the sulfurous stench of burned flesh, filling her lungs with every breath. No blood flowed from the wound. The superheated blade had already sealed the vessels shut, leaving only blackened, charred flesh behind.
”Hah. It smells good.”
At point-blank range, Gauz grinned.
His own flesh was burning, yet his golden eyes gleamed with twisted amusement. Whether he could not feel pain or simply enjoyed it was impossible to tell. Ignoring the sword buried in his neck, he swung one massive arm.
”Urgh!”
There was no technique behind it, no warning and no preparation. It was nothing more than a casual backhand, yet the sheer mass behind the strike compressed the air into a violent shockwave.
Sylvia ripped her sword free and snapped into a defensive stance, gathering her Spirit Shroud into a concentrated barrier.
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire square.
She was hurled away like a discarded doll. The force that crashed through her guard rattled her bones, pounded her organs, and washed her vision in white.
KREEE-SHHH!
The moment she hit the ground, the earth screamed beneath her.
She had landed on the vitrified waterway Ryuichi had devoted himself to perfecting. The reinforced ceramic channel shattered beneath her boots, its carefully crafted patterns exploding into rubble as it absorbed the force of Gauz’s blow. In an instant, a symbol of progress became nothing more than dust and broken stone.
”Nngh…!”
Sylvia pushed through the pain without hesitation.
Exploding from the debris, she shot forward once more like a crimson bullet.
She moved at the speed of sound, diving inside Gauz’s reach while crimson lotus-shaped trails bloomed in her wake. Her sword flashed three times in rapid succession, striking his flank, inner thigh, and solar plexus with precise, practiced accuracy.
Each hit produced a burst of white steam and the sickening crackle of flesh burning under extreme heat. Blackened scars spread across Gauz’s body wherever the blade touched, but every attack met the same result. The sword cut through skin, scorched muscle, and then stopped, trapped before it could ever reach bone.
Gauz did not defend.
He did not even flinch.
As charred layers of skin peeled away from his body and drifted to the ground in black flakes, fresh dark-red muscle was revealed beneath. The sight made him resemble a broken monster stitched together from raw flesh. Even so, he continued to move forward, casually swatting and kicking as though dealing with an annoying insect.
THUD!
One of those casual kicks brushed Sylvia’s side.
Agony exploded through her body.
The pressure felt as though it had torn through both her Spirit Shroud and her very soul. She spun through the air and slammed into a giant tree more than a meter thick.
CRACK-SNAP-THOOM!
The trunk split apart and collapsed with a deafening roar.
”Heh. That was light.”
Gauz rubbed a thumb across the charred wound on his chest, scraping away blackened flesh and exposing raw gore beneath. Blood and damaged tissue remained openly visible, yet he paid them no attention. He simply kept advancing.
White dust from pulverized buildings drifted through the battlefield, mixing with the acrid smell of scorched beast flesh.
Thud.
Sylvia landed atop a mound of rubble and dropped to one knee. Her lungs burned as she struggled for air, each ragged breath painfully loud in the settling silence.
Then the atmosphere above began to crackle with gathering Spirit Power.
”FIRE! Do not let that muscle-bound oaf get any closer!”
Elara’s voice rang across the battlefield with enough desperation to tear at her throat.
Behind her stood the women whose spirit circuits had expanded after receiving Ryuichi’s essence. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their shoulders rose and fell with exhaustion, but they raised their staffs anyway. Nearly thirty sources of Spirit Power surged together, filling the air with the sharp scent of ozone.
BOOM! BOOM!
A barrage of Stone Blasts streaked downward.
Boulders the size of basketballs tore through the air with a low, menacing hum, each carrying enough force to crush a human body into paste. They rained into the cloud of dust surrounding Gauz in an unbroken torrent.
At the same time, Erland leaned over the Manor balcony.
Ignoring the glasses slipping down her sweat-soaked nose, she gripped her staff so tightly that veins bulged at her temples.
”Stop! Bind him to the depths of the earth… Earth Bind!”
GRRRRRRRRR—!
The ground erupted with a roar like grinding tectonic plates.
Compressed bedrock surged upward and clamped around Gauz’s ankles and knees with crushing force.
Restraint and bombardment struck together in perfect coordination. Trapped by stone and buried beneath a relentless barrage, Gauz vanished inside a cage of dust and ruin.
CRUNCH! SNAP! SQUELCH!
Violent impacts echoed across the square.
Stone shattered. Dust billowed skyward. The earth trembled beneath the bombardment.
For a brief moment, everyone held their breath.
Then they heard it.
Thump… Thump…
A slow, heavy rhythm emerged from within the dust cloud.
Gauz was still walking.
He had not raised a guard. He had not even brushed aside the debris. He simply continued forward with the same vacant stride.
CRACK!
An enormous boulder slammed directly into his face.
The rock exploded.
Gauz did not move.
His head remained perfectly still as fragments of shattered stone scattered in every direction. The skin on his forehead split open, and thick blood ran down across one eye, but his expression never changed. Even as crimson stained his vision, he made no effort to wipe it away. He simply continued staring at his prey through that veil of blood.
”That… that’s impossible…”
Elara’s staff slipped from her fingers and struck the ground.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably, drained of Spirit Power. It was not that the magic had failed. The attacks had landed exactly as intended. They simply lacked the force needed to overcome the monstrous durability standing before them.
At Gauz’s feet, the earth groaned.
CRACK-POP… BOOM!
The stone restraints fractured and collapsed.
Erland had poured everything she had into the spell, yet the bedrock shattered like brittle twigs. Gauz had not strained against it. He had not even slowed down. The simple act of walking generated more force than the earth itself could withstand.
Broken fragments tumbled harmlessly around his feet.
”What’s this? Some pebbles?”
Gauz licked the blood running to his lips before spitting it out along with grit and dust.
He looked utterly bored.
Without changing his pace, he continued forward with all the carelessness of a man taking a leisurely stroll and all the terrifying arrogance of a god.
—
Summary:
Sylvia engages Gauz in a high-speed, lethal exchange of blows, but her attacks are rendered ineffective by his overwhelming physical density. Despite coordinated magical bombardment and containment attempts by Elara and Erland, Gauz remains completely unfazed and continues his advance. The scene ends with Gauz dismissively shrugging off the attacks, leaving the defenders in a state of absolute terror and futility.
—
Trivia:
The vitrified waterway was a construction project previously completed by Ryuichi.
Gauz’s skin flakes off in black, charred chunks, revealing raw muscle beneath, suggesting a regenerative or at least inhuman physiology.
Elara and the other women had their spirit circuits expanded using Ryuichi’s essence.
Notes:
• Sylvia – A voluptuous, white-blonde elf with porcelain skin, Crimson Lotus is a Silver-rank vanguard, lethal shield, and mentor. Encased in a dense, dark-red Spirit Shroud, she wields a bow and a white-hot longsword with immense strength and reflexes. Now heavily scarred, exhausted, and sporting a scorched hand from a desperate battle against Gauz, she remains a devoted confidante to Ryuichi and highly regards her leader, John, Nier, and her King.
• Gauz – A golden-eyed, steel-furred lion beast-man with a massive mane, dense muscle armor, and a bored, arrogant confidence. Now a charred, runaway-tank figure with log-like limbs, he undergoes a forced transformation. As leader of a 30,000-strong beastmen force, he wields the battle-axe Agito, crushing structures and treating elite foes as mere monster meat to consume with brutal strength.
• Ryuichi – A 40-year-old, plain-looking Spirit King with black hair, a beard, and Japanese past-life memories. Ruler of Grimm mansion and an elf village, this weary, analytical protector commands god-like mana, interdimensional magic, gravity manipulation, and regeneration. He exerts crushing invisible pressure and treats enemies as tools with cold, clinical pragmatism. He provided the essence for the women and built the vitrified waterway, though his current absence has spurred an intimacy between Nier and Helga.
• Ryu – A man with Interdimensional Magic who leads a growing household. He acts as a provider and protector for his slaves, while maintaining a pragmatic and blunt personality.
• Elara – A 120-year-old Elf unit commander and Gael’s wife, this voluptuous, silver-haired magic user coordinates earth spells from the high ground with other women. Rejuvenated by the King, she hides deep insecurities over past infertility while fighting his manipulative sexual influence. Despite her power, the battlefield strain drives her to intense emotional outbursts and desperate shouting.
• Erland – This 320-year-old elven Village Elder and living grimoire guides her deity, the Spirit King. She has sharp features, glasses, and long hair. Merging analytical authority and aristocratic speech with a submissive, intimate devotion to the King, she also uses earth-based defense and binding magic, maintaining intense focus during chaotic battles while torn between village order and his demands.
• 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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