Slaughter

Melina's voice echoed in his ear:

"Be careful. That is the Frenzied Flame, something that must never be touched—a chaos that devours all life, all will. It would be best not to be struck by the Frenzied Flame."

Lucian could hear the gravity in Melina's tone.

He knew how dangerous the Frenzied Flame was too. He had no desire to go mad for no reason, so he would have to be cautious in the coming battle.

This group of people infected by the Frenzied Flame had likely come from the Sick Village up the mountain. A number of enormous rats had come with them.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from above. Lucian looked up and saw several Misbegotten with huge wings.

Lucian's heart sank even further. So many enemies—the other side had truly gone all out.

These enemies possessed the power of the Frenzied Flame, making them an enormous threat to Lucian.

Lucian did not think it would be like in the game, where he would only go mad after some meter filled up.

If the Frenzied Flame touched him even once, it would likely affect his mind.

Logically, against enemies like these, Lucian should have mounted Torrent and used mobility to whittle them down bit by bit.

But mounted combat was too dangerous with Irina. He would have no spare attention to protect her, and she could easily get hurt.

Lucian remembered that the winged Misbegotten could shoot arrows, and there were also nimble creatures like the rats.

That meant leaving Irina here while he fought on Torrent was no longer an option. As long as the enemy stalled Lucian for a moment, they could bypass him and head straight for Irina.

In other words, just like before, Lucian could only have Torrent carry Irina away while he dealt with every enemy himself.

Lucian smiled. The other side had come prepared. They had counted on him giving the spirit steed to Irina.

They had weakened his mobility and forced him to face a large group of enemies possessed by the Frenzied Flame.

But so what?

Lucian blew the whistle, and Torrent came in response.

The commotion woke Irina. She jolted awake in panic, but when she realized she was leaning against a sturdy, warm chest, her fear gradually faded.

"Sorry for waking you. It'll be over soon."

"It's all right, Mr. Lucian. Please don't worry about me. Be careful yourself."

"Yeah. Just stay on the horse without worry, like before."

Irina nodded obediently and let Lucian lift her onto the saddle. Yet when his hands pulled away, she suddenly found herself reluctant to lose that warmth.

Leaning against the cold armor was not comfortable, nor was it warm. What truly made her feel safe was the person beneath it—the one who had saved her, like a hero from a story.

It had been a long time since Irina had felt so secure.

Then she could not help but begin to worry. She was a burden. Lucian had to look after her at every turn, and because of her shameless request, he had become entangled in something that had nothing to do with him. He might even get hurt because of it...

Irina did not dare think any further.

--

Lucian drew Lordsworn's Greatsword from Grace. It was a little heavy in one hand, but it felt just right held in both.

He had chosen this weapon because it was the only greatsword he had. He wanted its power. He wanted to tear apart his enemies' bodies with as few attacks as possible.

Lucian did not take a shield. Even if he blocked with one, the Frenzied Flame's attacks would still affect him.

Since that was the case, he might as well stop thinking about defense. He could not cling to the idea that a shield would let him take a little less damage.

Against the Frenzied Flame, which could drive a person mad, he either emerged unscathed or died!

Lucian shifted slightly to the side, avoiding several arrows fired by the winged Misbegotten.

The Misbegotten's aim was terrible. Many arrows flew off who knew where, which was good news for Lucian.

The enemies in the forest across from him began to advance as well.

Lucian counted them: five winged Misbegotten, eight or nine Frenzied Flame-infected villagers, and more than a dozen rats infected by the Frenzied Flame. One of them was especially huge, even larger than a human.

But they would still need some time to reach him.

With one swing, he cleaved a diving Misbegotten that had tried to attack him with its talons straight into the ground.

The blade sank deeply into its body, nearly splitting it diagonally from its right shoulder downward.

Lucian raised his sword, lifting the Misbegotten still impaled upon it, and stared into its eyes.

The Misbegotten howled continuously in pain, yet it still glared at Lucian viciously.

Seeing its ferocious expression, Lucian bared a bloodthirsty smile like a beast.

His left hand seized the Misbegotten's head, and his sword swept fiercely. Its body split apart completely, leaving Lucian holding only its head and left arm as blood poured out like a waterfall.

Its screams and struggles were brief. Within two or three seconds, the Misbegotten fell silent.

He casually tossed aside the severed remains and looked up at the Misbegotten in the sky. They had already been frightened out of their wits by that brutal execution.

He took Kukris from his pocket. He had looted them from corpses long ago, and he had four left.

"Now the numbers are just right."

He threw the Throwing Daggers at the Misbegotten one after another. They felt good in his hand. Two struck their targets in the torso, causing their flight to become unstable, while one dodged.

The unluckiest one was struck directly in the wing and crashed down in front of Lucian.

Seeing it scramble away in terror, Lucian pinned it to the ground with a sword, preventing it from escaping again.

He stepped on one of its talons and drew the greatsword upward, cleanly splitting it in two from belly to shoulder.

Misbegotten were remarkably tenacious. Even such a disemboweling wound did not kill it immediately, and it wailed miserably on the ground.

Lucian stopped paying attention to the Misbegotten because the huge rats carrying the Frenzied Flame were almost upon him.

Lucian swung his greatsword. A graze meant injury, a hit meant death. Like a meat grinder, it reaped the rats' lives.

The occasional rat slipped through, only to meet a massive foot.

With a smack, its head burst like a small watermelon.

But there were too many rats. He had already killed eight or nine, yet many more still surrounded him.

The rat larger than a human seemed to possess some intelligence. It kept squeaking as it directed the other rats, surrounding Lucian.

"Ah... ah!"

Amid cries of pain, Frenzied Flame gushed from an infected person's eyes, spraying toward Lucian in an irregular fan shape.

Rather than retreating, Lucian advanced. He lowered himself and charged toward the infected person unleashing the Frenzied Flame.

The Frenzied Flame brushed over Lucian's head, but there was not a trace of fear in his heart.

He swept his sword sideways with both hands, directly severing the corpse-like, shriveled legs. The stream of Frenzied Flame was interrupted, and the infected person's body toppled weakly to one side.

But before he could hit the ground, Lucian's greatsword had already come down, beheading him in midair.

As he watched the enemies continuously close in around him, Lucian tried to find even the slightest trace of fear within himself.

He clearly knew he faced enemies whose attacks he could not endure even once, yet his heart contained only excitement and satisfaction.

Lucian wore a dangerous grin.

"Looks like after coming to this land of madness, even I have gone mad."

The beast sleeping within his heart awakened.