[But... do you actually have a set direction in mind or something?][What do you mean, direction?]

Hrung-ga pointed ahead as he spoke.

[You're walking forward as if you know the way.]

For a moment, the two men stared blankly at each other. Erich retraced Hrung-ga's words.

What is he even talking about?

Until now, hadn't they simply been following the path visible ahead of them, that is, going in the direction where the stream of light continued? Why was he asking about this now?

[Wait, don't you see it?][See what?]

Hrung-ga looked genuinely clueless. Seeing this, Erich realized something.

'So it's only visible to me.'

A stream of light visible only to a specific person was indeed a confounding situation. But Erich just smirked as he swirled his hand through the stream.

'Nothing to be surprised about. If you think about it, coming to the past in the first place wasn't exactly normal either, was it?'

Being surprised about something impossible was pointless, considering the beginning of this life itself was inexplicable. Compared to that, whether he could see something or not hardly mattered.

Moreover, his last memory before coming here was of an overwhelmingly strong light.

This strange glow felt similar to that light. It was a sensation he felt in his chest, not something that came from logic or conjecture.

As he was thinking this, Hrung-ga suddenly threw out a question beside him.

[So, are you not going to tell me what's going on?]

Erich hesitated for a moment. Should he keep this a secret? But then he reconsidered.

Even if Hrung-ga owed him his life, Hrung-ga had followed his path without complaint until now.

In other words, he'd already demonstrated his faith in Erich.

Would it really be right to keep silent about something just because of the uncertain consequences?

Erich finally spoke.

[Would you believe me if I said there's a mysterious light that only I can see?][A mysterious light, you say?]

Hrung-ga's eyes widened into circles, blinking several times. Of course, it would be hard to just accept this at face value.

But Hrung-ga's reaction was completely different from what Erich expected.

[Praise the Goddess! It seems the Goddess has marked your path!][... You people have it easy, I see.]

A faint smile lingered at the corner of Erich's lips. These barbarian idiots could explain anything by tying it to the Goddess.

But in this situation, it was actually a relief. Without invoking a divine being, nothing about this could be explained.

'Yeah, maybe it's better this way.'

Of course, Erich had little faith not only in the Goddess but even in the Empire's own Incensus religion...

Just as he reached this conclusion and started to take another step—

[Wait a second. Something's weird.]

The stream of light that had been leading them without pause suddenly splintered intensely. At the same time, it seemed Hrung-ga noticed something as well, pinching his nose.

[There's a stench in the air.][Looks like there's something dangerous up ahead.]

Right then, Hrung-ga suddenly knelt and pressed his hand to the ground.

[What are you doing?][Hold on.]

Erich noticed the flow of energy around Hrung-ga change. Then he opened his eyes wide at him.

'... That's unique.'

Aura fluttered around Hrung-ga's massive body, stirring up a wild current. Of course, to Erich's eyes, it seemed a bit too clumsy to actually use as an attack.

—Woooom.

A subtle vibration coursed through the ground. Sweat beaded on Hrung-ga's brow as he squeezed his eyes shut.

[... They say great warriors who channel energy into their swords are called swordmasters, right?][Yeah, that's what they're usually called.]

Erich 'opened his eyes' to observe Hrung-ga's actions in detail. In his scarlet-lit vision, Hrung-ga's aura swiftly flowed into the earth.

'That's novel. It's a method I never considered.'

They say technique is influenced by environment. It seemed the barbarians had discovered their own way of utilizing aura.

Instead of channeling it into weapons, they infused it into their bodies to enhance their senses? To Erich's eyes, it looked impressively innovative.

Concluding his concentration, Hrung-ga lifted his hand with a satisfied smile.

[It's a different style, but I've got a few tricks myself.][Not bad. So, what did you learn?]

Erich watched Hrung-ga, who was deep in thought. He didn't know what exactly Hrung-ga had done, but he at least understood why. He pressed him further.

[Weren't you trying to figure out what's up ahead?][Hold on, I'm still interpreting.]

Hrung-ga was deep in thought, gears audibly turning in his head. Soon, he nodded a couple of times and spoke.

[There are a number of regular skeletons and the ones we saw earlier. But there's a problem.][A problem?]

Hrung-ga drew his greatsword as he replied.

[There's one that's outright impossible. A downright terrifying one.][... Outright impossible, huh.]

Suddenly, possible candidates for "terrifying" flickered through Erich's mind. The most likely candidate: a Death Knight—he'd encountered one before.

But if this was unlike the incomplete one he had met before, this one would, by all indications, be a monster hundreds of years old. Would a Death Knight strengthened over centuries be that much stronger, or, being undead, would it simply have rotted away to nothing?

[Sounds like you're expecting something specific?][I can think of a few things. But for your sake, let's hope my guess is wrong.]

Facing a complete Death Knight would be a tough challenge for Erich as he was now.

'Considering how hard I struggled with an incomplete one...'

Even if he had reinforced his aura since coming here, compared to his power before the regression, he was still as soft as fluff.

Facing a fully-fledged Death Knight with this strength... A shadow crossed Erich's expression.

[So what are we going to do?][There's nothing for it... for now, we have to try and fight.]

Turning back wasn't an option. The cavern was almost a single path, and the path of light was leading him forward.

But it wasn't completely hopeless. There was that strange barrier he'd found when he first arrived.

If that worked on the enemy, it would make things a lot easier.

Erich and Hrung-ga moved cautiously deeper in, settling as far from the monsters as they could without being noticed.

[... Aren't we too far? I can't see anything from here.][This is enough.]

In the darkness, Erich's eyes flashed red. His gaze reached toward the distant chamber.

The horde of dead wandering and the bright light emanating from somewhere. Seeing that, Erich was convinced.

'The stream of light is shining brighter. That must mean we have to go through there.'

Then, while studying the dead, Erich muttered in a low voice.

[Hrung-ga, there's good news and bad news.][What's the good news?][At least, this isn't the overpowered monster I was expecting. We can deal with it.][That's not bad. And the bad news?][... The thing has 'frost' around it.][What's that?]

Hrung-ga gave him a guilelessly innocent look, making Erich rack his brain for the best way to explain it to this ignorant barbarian.

Well, he supposed he couldn't fault him for being uneducated. There were probably only a handful of people who would even know what frost was at this point in time.

[What I was expecting was a monster at 100%. This thing, though, is a defective product—isn't even at 20%.]

Erich recalled the last Death Knight he had encountered, a high-level dead who wasn't complete and couldn't fully unleash its power. The one up ahead was on par in terms of completion.

But that white energy—frost—that enveloped its form was unexpected.

[But as long as that is there, it'll be hard for you to face it. Of course, I can't just deal with all of them by myself either, so this is a headache.]

Back during the great invasion of the dead, the rare dead bearing that frost had been nothing short of a nightmare.

That thin white aura surrounding a select few among the dead—for which the Watch had coined the name 'frost.'

[Put simply, anything that touches that frost gets shattered to pieces, no exceptions.][So as long as we don't touch it, we're fine?][If we can defeat it without touching it, sure.]

At Erich's answer, Hrung-ga hesitated for a moment, stroking his chin. Then, as if he'd come to a decision, he spoke again.

[... So, you mean we can't even get near it?][If you get close enough to swing a sword, you'll freeze instantly. Once you're frozen, you'll turn into a statue that shatters with a tap.][But you have some way to face it?][Well, I do.][Can you teach me how?][If it was something you could just pick up in a minute, I wouldn't call it bad news.][So, I can't help, and if I try, I'll freeze to death immediately.]

At that, Hrung-ga paused to think, before suddenly grinning mischievously.

[Heh, sounds good.][What?]

Eyes gleaming, Hrung-ga drew his greatsword.

[At last—I, Hrung-ga, the son of Batongga, have found the place to die with honor...!]

But just then, Erich forced Hrung-ga, who was about to stand, back down by pressing on his shoulder.

[Idiot... If you want to die, go alone. I still have reasons to live.][But, aren't we going to have to fight them anyway to get through here?][You're impatient... Hold on a second.]

Erich dragged Hrung-ga a bit further back, out of observation range from the dead.

[What are you planning?][Normally, you couldn't just learn this stuff on the spot—but you're no regular human, are you? You're a barbarian who already knows how to use something almost like aura.][And what about it?]

Erich, looking at Hrung-ga, pulled out a flint and lit a fire. After a moment with his eyes closed, he placed his hand over the flame.

Hrung-ga, watching, flinched in surprise. Was Erich really putting his hand in the fire?

[What are you thinking? Are you planning to sear your flesh ahead of time so you can finish things before you freeze—]

Hrung-ga stopped talking, his eyes growing round.

[Just thinking about it, my courage is boiling over. A clever idea. I'll do it too.][What is wrong with you people? Don't be ridiculous, Hrung-ga. Instead, enfold your hand in aura.][Wrap my hand in aura?]

Hrung-ga stared intently at Erich. Then Erich spoke.

[Usually, I'd teach this to proper swordmasters, but you'll have to learn fast.]

Saying that, Erich overlapped his hand with Hrung-ga's and guided his energy. Hrung-ga's rough aura slowly began to rotate, forming a thin film.

'That's a lot of talent.'

Hrung-ga probably hadn't awakened to aura that long ago. Anyone in his tribe who recognized his strength would have realized he could use aura, and so surely someone would have given at least a basic lesson by now.

But even accounting for all that, Hrung-ga picked this up surprisingly quickly.

[Oh...! What is this?][Now, try what I just did.]

Hrung-ga, with a surprising innocence for his size, wrapped his hand in aura. Erich carefully guided his hand into the fire.

[Kmm! Hmm! ...? It's not even hot.]

Say what you will, but Hrung-ga was a perceptive warrior. Even if he'd already learned aura, and even if Erich, who could see aura, guided him directly—this speed of learning was only possible because Hrung-ga had genuine talent.

[So this is how the power's supposed to be used. You not only saved my life, you've shared with me a warrior's wisdom. Thank you, Erich.]

Erich smiled faintly. It reminded him of the days when countless Watchmen had perished challenging the dead cloaked in frost.

'If not for those experiences, I would never have become so skilled at little tricks like these.'

After repeating the process of forming and dispelling a barrier a few more times, Hrung-ga grew more confident and gripped his greatsword with even more vigor.

[At any rate, now we can clear these things out...!][No, not yet.][Do I have to learn more?][No. What you've learned is enough. However...]

Erich looked at the scattered remains of the dead and the corpses of the barbarians littering the ground.

[They say a tree gives without holding back. We're not just going to take them on empty-handed, are we?][What do you mean...?]

Erich crouched and yanked off a dead man's arm.

—Crack.

[We're going to use this.][...!?]

Hrung-ga's eyes twisted as if he'd seen something disgusting.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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