arc4 · 072-ch72

Episode 72: Ravaging

Note: Contains graphic violence with large amounts of blood. Please proceed with caution.

In the collapsing world, Suzuka circulated mana through his fully healed body, performing body reinforcement.

The body reinforcement circulation felt good. All the wounds he'd received getting here were completely healed, without even a single scar remaining. It felt as if he'd never been injured at all, but the blood that had soaked into his tracksuit told him that wasn't a lie.

By defeating the identity unknown, one skill had manifested in Suzuka. That skill was "Holy ■'s ■■." This skill, with its garbled text, was apparently a skill that inherited the power of a certain man.

That man—according to the clergyman, the reason the skill was garbled was that it hadn't assimilated with Suzuka yet.

This skill had originally been a skill that enabled using holy magic. However, something happened and the skill's contents changed, and as a result, the essential holy magic became unusable. The clergyman said it would be fixed once it assimilated, so it would probably become usable before long.

If that were all—a new skill that he couldn't use—it would have been fine. But unfortunately, the abilities of this skill weren't limited to just that.

Because the skill's contents changed, Suzuka could no longer equip weapons. If he tried to hold something with the intention of using it as a weapon, it would be repelled from his hand.

This was a dire situation. As a result of recklessly chasing after the identity unknown, Suzuka had ended up in District 5, the depths of Floor 1. He was already in a desperate pinch just for setting foot in District 5 while being significantly underleveled, and on top of that, being unable to hold weapons and being completely unarmed—it was enough to make him laugh.

In exchange for not being able to hold weapons, there was apparently some kind of automatic recovery ability, but since the skill was garbled, he couldn't see the details. The clergyman had told him about it, but his voice had noise in it and he couldn't catch what was said, and he was too scared to ask again, so the details were unknown.

Does it heal from the moment he gets injured? Is there a cooldown after it activates? Is there a limit on usage? Up to what degree of injury can it heal? Since he had absolutely no understanding of any of this, relying on the automatic recovery was dangerous. He should proceed with the mindset of keeping damage to a minimum and getting through this.

Cracks spread through the world that the identity unknown had brought. From the fissures, an enormous number of monsters could be seen, and their sharp cries reached here too.

Amidst all this, Suzuka made up his mind. If he had no choice but to do it, then he had no choice but to do it.

"It's bare-knuckle."

With those words, the world shattered, and he returned to the depths of Tokyo Dungeon Floor 1, District 5—a sea of trees stretched out.

He was surrounded by monsters on all sides.

He could hear their sounds and had seen their state through the fissures, so he knew he was surrounded by monsters. But seeing it for himself made him understand again that it was a situation so hopeless his legs almost gave out.

All the monsters were higher level than Suzuka. There were probably monsters with nearly double the level difference. And this was District 5. An area where powerful, individual monsters ran rampant. Even with his high stats, Suzuka's appropriate monster level was the same as his own level. For a level 52 Suzuka, the ones around him were higher-level monsters, and Suzuka's strength wasn't absolute enough to handle a majority that numbered several times beyond that.

Even so, to survive, Suzuka clenched his fists. He didn't need to defeat them. If he could get out of here alive, that would be Suzuka's victory.

He checked his current location on the skill's map.

"Ahh, this is... really far again..."

As a result of chasing the identity unknown without thinking, Suzuka had ended up in the deepest parts, even within District 5 of Floor 1. Even if he tried to go straight to District 4, it seemed it would take quite a long time.

But the monsters wouldn't simply make way that easily.

"VVVVVVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

A bear as enormous as a mountain roared with a volume great enough to shake the very atmosphere. Taking that as a signal, the monsters began to move.

A boar covered in metallic armor like black iron charged with a speed that was just barely visible to the eye. He managed to dodge by rolling to the side, but when he looked up, he was surrounded by monkeys. Big for monkeys—larger than a gorilla, perhaps.

Monkeys with hideous faces as if smiling had been forcibly pasted on, possessing horrifying yellow coats, were sneering down at him. He immediately stood up and struck at the monkey in front of him, but with Body Arts level 1, Suzuka's attack didn't even graze it and was evaded.

Immediately after, his brain was dominated by pleasure.

"A... Aghya. Is... heheheeeeiii"

(Oh no. I'm in trouble.)

That thought that was ringing warning bells was effortlessly swept away by the muddy torrent of brain juices.

Even though he was in the dimly lit sea of trees, it felt as if stars were exploding before his eyes, glittering and sparkling. Overflowing euphoria. Pouring-down omnipotence. Welling-up all-powerfulness. A feeling as if floating lightly, fluffy. Before his eyes, the world distorted and he was released from gravity, feeling as comfortable as if he were floating in the sky. Pleasure pierced through his brain, as if his entire body was being caressed.

I pray this time will continue forever. With pure feelings, I can pray.

"KYAKYAKYAKYAKYAKYIKIKIKIKIIIII!!"

Before he knew it, his family, Yasu, and everyone from zoo were around him.

What is this, everyone. You want to see me fight? Well, I can't help it. Alright, watch closely, okay? Drunken Sheep and such are one-punch. One-punch.

Matching the Drunken Sheep that kept charging like a fool with one trick up its sleeve, Suzuka swung his hand down.

DONNNN

A heavy, heavy sound, as if a human had been struck by a truck, echoed through the sea of trees.

The black iron-covered boar that had just passed by Suzuka's side had charged aiming for Suzuka's stomach, weaving through the monkeys. Suzuka, flying with tremendous force while corkscrew spinning, broke numerous trees and finally stopped moving when he collided with a rock.

"BOOOOOOOGHHH!! Haa haa"

His internal organs were destroyed, and a large amount of blood flowed backward, causing him to vomit blood. Perhaps his body's toxins had been expelled along with the blood, but he woke from the dream he'd been immersed in until just now.

Horrifying yet hard to resist. Sweet yet his body rejected it. Fake yet his heart sought it.

It was a drug. And a special-grade one. A potent drug that even worked on Suzuka, who had completed human species strengthening after exceeding level 50.

Massive sweating as if he'd been in a sauna. Narrow field of vision, unable to focus. A headache as if a stick had been thrust into his brain directly and was being mixed around. So addictive that to escape from all of that, his body automatically turned his feet toward the monkey.

Self-control or having a strong will—such things were irrelevant. His body was seeking it on its own. Suzuka's will wasn't involved, and there was no way to stop his body from heading toward destruction.

However, the withdrawal symptoms suddenly stopped. His vision cleared, and his thoughts became sharp. With thought acceleration, he immediately grasped the current situation.

Despite having been blown away with terrifying force, he realized the pain in his body had subsided. With an attack of that magnitude, he should have received injuries that would make it questionable whether he could even get up, with his bones and internal organs all tattered. But aside from the unpleasant taste of blood remaining in his mouth, his body moved without any problems.

Automatic recovery. Thanks to this, not only his body but even the mental pollution from the drug had apparently been removed.

This is bad. That monkey was way too bad.

Faced for the first time with what could be called intense mental pollution, an attack, and realizing he should immediately leave this place, he started running. His goal was the boundary with District 4. He needed to escape from here as quickly as possible.

He had understood that District 5's monsters were higher level, but that attack had really cut to the bone. He absolutely shouldn't fight at his current level. This was a place he should challenge after leveling up in District 4 and proceeding in stages.

Suzuka ran. But District 5's monsters weren't sweet enough to simply let him escape. A storm blew down as if to pin down the running Suzuka, nailing him to that spot.

"Damn it! I can't move!!"

No matter how much mana he poured into body reinforcement, he couldn't escape from a storm that caused the surrounding terrain to collapse. After taking one step, two steps, wind blades rained down.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUGHHH!!"

His body was deeply slashed, but it was instantly healed. Though it was healed, his arms and legs were deeply slashed and he couldn't even stand, being pinned by the wind and left to crawl helplessly on the ground.

One-sided attacks. In a state where he couldn't even evade, lightning was added to the wind, and he was slashed and healed, electrocuted and healed, with pain that seemed eternal continuing to erode Suzuka.

When the wind stopped, puddles of blood had formed on the ground from what had flowed out. Such a large amount had come out that dying from blood loss wouldn't have been strange, but Suzuka wasn't dead. It was a mystery how the lost blood was being replenished, but if he wasn't even anemic and could stand up, he didn't need to think about it right now.

Despite having received attacks that felt like he'd certainly died countless times, there was no physical discomfort. Only pain remained dulled, but even that pain remained only as an aftereffect and soon receded.

His brain couldn't keep up with this phenomenon, which was completely detached from his common sense regarding injuries. That's probably why he felt pain even though he had no injuries, like phantom limb pain. However, Suzuka didn't even have time to leisurely think about such things.

After the storm stopped, Suzuka couldn't move immediately. His body was supposed to be fully healed, but his spirit was worn down.

There was no time to rest. He had to go to District 4, even a little.

Thinking that and looking up, a wall was closing in.

—DOOOOON

He couldn't even defend or anything, and he was blown away with tremendous force. His consciousness flew from the excessive shock and pain, but he woke from the pain of colliding with trees.

Looking toward where he'd been blown away, a bear as big as a mountain was finishing a swing. Despite having taken a blow from a monster with that much physical strength without defending, Suzuka was still alive. With the level difference, instant death wouldn't have been strange, but Suzuka's body had returned to normal after just spitting out the blood pooling in his mouth.

'Auto recovery? It's not something that cheap!'

That was what the clergyman had said. Certainly, even if there were an auto recovery skill, it wouldn't have performance this good. It was repaired the moment he was injured. Such an extraordinary ability—he was anxious about how long it would continue to activate. He needed to get to District 4 quickly before this effect wore off.

However, the fact that he could recover didn't mean he could prevent the monsters' fierce attacks. Rather, because he wouldn't die easily, the monsters' gears turned up and their attacks increased.

A giant monkey grabbed the fleeing Suzuka and slammed him against the ground as if a child throwing a tantrum were pounding a doll. His vision shook and he couldn't even take a proper defensive fall as he was slammed against the ground, but Suzuka didn't die. Each time he was slammed, his face was crushed, his brain was reset, and he scattered blood all around like a smashed water balloon. Even so, Suzuka didn't die.

He didn't know how many times—no, how many dozens of times he'd been slammed, but the monkey slammed Suzuka against the ground with all its might and let go.

Suzuka rolled while bouncing on the ground. From the ground, numerous rock spears thrust upward, skewering Suzuka. Having charged into the spears face-first, Suzuka was skewered through his face, stomach, chest, and legs, but he healed as if pushing out the spears.

The black iron boar that had created the rock spears performed a follow-up attack with magic. Suzuka, who perceived with mana perception that mana was gathering beneath his feet, hurriedly jumped back, but the ground moved faster than he did, and he was caught between rocks rising up from both sides.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

In a state as if he'd become the filling of a sandwich, but hundreds of thorns grew on the walls of both sides like an Iron Maiden, and power was continuously applied to crush Suzuka. The thorns dug into his body and were healed, pushing back the thorns, then the thorns dug into his body again and were healed.

Because he healed, the pain continued infinitely.

His eyes opened so wide they almost flipped, and he continued screaming until his throat was dry, but even that was being healed. The infinitely continuing pain given by the monsters was, however, ended by the monsters.

The giant bear destroyed the rocks that were crushing Suzuka and brought further pain.

The giant bear slashed the blown-away Suzuka with its claws, and even though there was the sensation of cutting, Suzuka remained uninjured and fell to the ground. No matter how many times it struck him, he wobbledly got up.

Having lost patience, the giant bear lifted Suzuka up and carried him to its mouth where fangs had fully grown.

"Stop it!! You're gross!!! Die!!"

Ignoring the flailing, it bit down. Even with its proud mouth that had crushed everything, to its surprise, it couldn't bite through him.

"AGAGAGAGAGAGAGHAAAAAAAGAGAGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

No matter how much force it applied, it couldn't bite through. A strange sensation of not being able to bite through even though it wasn't hard. Only his screams echoed, and no matter how many times it bit, it couldn't bite through.

As the bear wondered what to do, it felt an unpleasant presence. The bear, understanding what that presence was, immediately threw the Suzuka it was holding toward where the unpleasant presence was and fled.

"Damn... gross. This is the worst."

The thrown Suzuka stood up unsteadily. Since his injuries were fully healed, he could move, but he felt like he was going mad from the pain that was repeated over and over.

"...Haa, haa. The monsters disappeared?"

When he looked around, the monsters that had been swarming until just now were gone.

He didn't know why they had disappeared. Perhaps they'd gotten fed up with Suzuka who wouldn't die. The reason was unknown, but if he was going to escape, now was the only time.

When he took a step forward to escape, he understood the reason the monsters around him had disappeared.

From behind, tremendous pressure stopped Suzuka's feet. A presence of a different caliber from the monsters until now. The moment he realized that monster's interest was drawn, the pressure was so great he couldn't even breathe properly.

He wasn't attacked immediately. Suzuka stopped trying to escape and faced that existence.

Cunning Demon Ape Monkey: Level 120

An area boss. What was there was the strongest existence in Floor 1, District 5.