Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Rotmiller’s navigation ability was excellent. That’s because ‘sixth sense’ tends to be more sensitive to misfortune than to luck. In fact, not long after we dashed in the direction Rotmiller had sensed as dangerous, enemies appeared. ‘About 70…’ The enemy force numbered around 70. Their numbers were overwhelmingly smaller than ours. And the one to be especially wary of…

“Red Axe Jack! A notorious criminal known to have joined Orkulis over ten years ago—be caref—”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t there.

「Elwen Fornaci di Tersia has cast [Rupture].」

KWAANG—!

Judging from what Rotmiller said, he must’ve had some notoriety, but his head was blown off by a single arrow from Elwen.

“Did I do good?”

“Yeah, you did well.”

“Wh-Why was it so easy…”

Rotmiller muttered in a hollow voice. Well, it’s not something I can’t understand. After all, the very battle that made Rotmiller retire was the Dragon Slayer War. We fought to the death there and barely survived by stepping over sacrifices. But…

‘That was already years ago.’

There’s no reason to cower at the name ‘Orkulis’ now. Especially when you consider that the Corpse Collector and the Dragon Slayer are among the upper ranks even within Orkulis. So some nobody called Red Axe, whose name I’ve barely even heard, isn’t even worth mentioning.

“I’ve only heard about it before… but you’ve really gotten strong.”

Well, we’ve been fighting for our lives ever since. Screaming the name of our ancestor god.

“Behell—RAAAAAAAA!!!”

As I charged like a tank, the enemy, having lost their commander, couldn’t even put up proper resistance.

“…Jack! Jack’s down!”

“…Run!”

As I smashed in the skulls of anyone I saw head-on, the enemy broke down and fled in panic to save their own skins. Chasing them down and killing every last one of them would probably be difficult anyway…

“Hey.”

So I decided to capture a few of the ones who looked like they had rank and interrogate them.

“What were you guys doing here? With such a vague-sized force.”

“Th-That is…”

“You refusing to talk?!”

Crunch—!

After splitting one guy’s head as an example and turning to look at the one next to him, information started pouring out before I could even ask again.

“W-We’re a reconnaissance unit!”

“Reconnaissance?”

“Yes! Our mission was to move around the battlefield in small numbers and gather information to report to command!”

Put simply, these guys were human radar. Spread out in the surroundings, and if anything hostile or dangerous approached, they’d quickly report it to the main force.

“Oh, so you must know the current battle situation well, then?”

“…Yes! Of course!”

The guy answered briskly and, true to his confidence, knew a lot. Thanks to that, I could understand at a glance what was going on right now.

The Royal Army that had been in District 5 had entered District 7, and the main force in District 7 was engaged in a full-on battle with them. Of course, this info wasn’t surprising. I was the one who asked them to mobilize the army in the morning in the first place.

The most important piece of information was this:

“The commander is still in District ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) 7?”

“Yes! I don’t know exactly what he’s doing—someone like me wouldn’t—but the fact that he’s in District 7 is certain!”

“Then have you ever heard anything about Arua Raven?”

“Arua Raven… you mean the Golden Mage?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know…”

Tch, so that’s how it is… Where the hell did Raven and Astarotta disappear to? Afterward, I asked the same question to other interrogation candidates, but only got similar responses.

So the interrogation was over. Time to deal with them and move on—

“Um…”

Just then, the guy cautiously opened his mouth.

“If it’s not too rude to ask… could you possibly spare me?”

What the hell is he saying? For a second, I thought he was sharp, but it’s kind of funny too.

“If you just let me go, I’ll stay holed up in the sewers breathing quietly until everything’s over. I really will. Please believe me.”

Should I say this is a new type? I’ve had plenty of guys beg for their lives, but no one’s ever said it this politely before.

Still…

“No.”

What’s not allowed is not allowed.

When I drew a firm line, the guy smiled awkwardly even as his eyes filled with fear.

“…Ahaha, I-I see? Just kill me without pain, please!”

Well, he told us a lot, so I can at least…

‘…Wait a second. Something’s off.’

Feeling a vague sense of discomfort, I lowered the hammer I’d been holding. Sssht. It wasn’t so much instinct as it was experience. The kind of experience gained from being backstabbed countless times—was telling me something was wrong, even if I couldn’t put it into words.

“Versil, use verification magic.”

“At this level, it probably won’t work, you know?”

“Just try it anyway.”

Soon Versil silently followed the order and cast the spell.

And…

“Yeah, it didn’t work.”

The magic didn’t work, but that didn’t matter. I’d already expected it to fail.

Tap, tap…

I quietly tapped my thigh with my index finger. Because I’d been watching him the whole time. What kind of expression he made when we brought up verification magic, and what face he showed when the spell was actually cast.

“…You’re an interesting one.”

“W-What do you mean? I swear, I haven’t told a single lie!”

Well. We’ll find out soon.

I took out [Broken Trust] from my subspace. There was only one use left, but the unease was too strong to just let it go.

‘Yeah, I can always find another later…’

Right. No need to save it—might as well use it.

The moment I decided that and went to activate it—

“Kuhuhuhuhuh…”

Suddenly the guy doubled over laughing, like everything up to now had been an act.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Khehehe, Bjorn Yandel…”

“I said, what the hell are you doing?”

“This is going to be your grave!”

He spat out those cursed words with eerie gleaming eyes.

Then his body suddenly collapsed forward.

Thud.

Misha, startled, rushed over and checked his pulse.

“Bjorn…? This guy’s dead…”

Damn it, what the hell is this now. Making people feel all anxious like that.

***

A wide stone chamber bathed in bright light. Beneath it lay a mountain of corpses.

One, two, three, four……

Too many to count.

Just by looking, the number clearly exceeded several thousand. And all of the corpses shared one thing in common. They were shriveled like vegetables completely drained of moisture……

Clunk—!

Just then, the ceiling opened, and dozens more corpses tumbled down.

Bang!

The ceiling that had dumped them promptly closed again, and a strange stillness settled over the chamber.

And then……

“…….”

The man standing at the entrance did not avert his eyes from the scene. Though his expression twisted as if in pain, he stared firmly, with resolve in his eyes.

And after who knows how long—

“Ah, there you are! Another charge has just been completed, Lord Terserion.”

“So it has…… Let us go up.”

Lord Terserion left the underground stone chamber and ascended to the surface.

A walled courtyard. At its center stood a colossal magic weapon, connected to dozens of pipes. Its official name: Urae—one of the three ancient magic weapons owned by the royal family. Well, technically just a part of Urae—but still.

“It’s truly an incredible thing, isn’t it? Just by grinding up a few useless humans, it can generate enough power to blow up an entire palace.”

Lord Terserion turned his head to the man standing beside him.

“It’s all thanks to you, Lord. If this had remained in the royal family’s hands, this war wouldn’t have even started.”

Despite his age, the man had a sturdy build and eyes more passionate than any young man’s. He was the Lord of Noark.

“It’s a bit late to ask this now, but… why did you decide to rebel against the royal family, Lord?”

“…….”

“Since we’re in the same boat now, let’s speak plainly. Out of nowhere, you contacted us, said you’d help us seize Urae first, said you’d join our side when war broke out. But then you say you don’t even want the throne. Of course we were worried—about your true intentions.”

“Hatred……”

“……What?”

“Let’s just call it hatred.”

When Lord Terserion ended his short answer, the Lord of Noark looked awkward for a moment but forced a laugh.

“…Ahaha! Did the Dawn King really do something to earn your deep grudge?”

Lord Terserion responded with nothing but a bitter smile.

And then…

“…….”

“…….”

A strange silence formed. Uncomfortable with the stillness, the Lord of Noark opened his mouth again and posed a new question.

“Then why do you keep charging it? Urae’s authority is in your hands, and I assumed you had your reasons, so I never asked… but if you’d fired this thing earlier, we could’ve already taken more than half of Lafdonia.”

At that question, Lord Terserion let out a long breath.

“I’m waiting for the right moment. A moment when it will matter more.”

“You’re saying there’s something more important than conquering half of Lafdonia?”

“At least, that’s what I believe.”

“Fair enough……”

The Lord of Noark, seemingly bored, lingered by Lord Terserion for a while, making small talk before leaving on other business.

And after who knows how much time passed—

Step, step.

A man in knightly attire entered the building and bowed respectfully to Lord Terserion. Lord Terserion didn’t speak at length.

“You found him?”

He simply asked quietly, and the man nodded.

“Yes, Lord. We have finally confirmed Bjorn Yandel’s location.”

It was time.

***

Every event has a signal. For example, if your hair suddenly starts standing on end, it could mean lightning is about to strike, and if rats, insects, or birds all flee in droves, it probably means an earthquake is coming. Then what about this current situation?

“Their position?”

“They’re still following and watching us.”

Ever since that guy we interrogated started grinning with madness and killed himself, the stalking had begun. It was a very cunning and extremely nasty kind of stalking.

“Can we catch them?”

“That might be difficult. They’re far enough that even Elwen’s sniping failed.”

Of course, they hadn’t actually harmed us yet. They were simply following us from a distance, maintaining space. The real problem was……

Thump.

That’s what made me feel even more uneasy. That bastard who said something ominous and died, and these guys who followed us immediately afterward—it all felt like some kind of warning.

“We’re increasing speed.”

So we quickened our pace as much as possible, but for some reason, no enemies appeared at all.

“Rotmiller.”

“…I don’t really know where we should go either. I just have a bad feeling that something’s going to happen……”

Even Rotmiller’s navigation, which had been working relatively well, suddenly went silent.

Ah, and the final blow—

“……Bjorn? They suddenly stopped following us.”

The watchers had vanished.

No—more precisely…

“They’re not just not following us.”

“……”

“They’re actively pulling away from us.”

The ones who had been following us this whole time were now suddenly turning their backs and widening the distance. What the hell could that mean?

A random phrase came to mind. If you ever see the water rapidly recede from the shore, you need to get away from there as fast as you can……

Pshhhwwwooooo—!

At that moment, a thunderous roar burst from afar like a jet passing overhead, and everyone instinctively crouched low in surprise.

Well, except for me.

‘What is it?’

As the one responsible for everyone’s safety, I deliberately raised my head and scanned all directions.

And then—

“……?”

For a brief moment, I doubted my own eyes.

From the direction of District 4, reportedly occupied by Noark, something enormous was flying at us in a steep arc.

For an instant, I had no idea what it was supposed to be, but—

“Urae… it’s Urae!!”

Unlike me, who had been underground when it first fired, my comrades instantly recognized it.

As soon as I heard the name, I cursed.

“Son of a bitch……”

Missile bombardment?

That’s just cheating.