The “Rank” of a Monster is a rough indicator of its strength.
A B-Rank Monster is considered an opponent that requires at least twenty to thirty soldiers or general adventurers of F-Rank to defeat.
However, standing alone before it, I had no sense of impending defeat.
Shouldering the Holy Axe Lombardia, I approached the B-Rank Monster Chimera without any particular apprehension.
The Chimera, noticing me, did not immediately attack.
It might have instinctively sensed that I was an opponent to be wary of.
When I approached within a certain distance—
—GWOOOOOH!
It spewed its scorching flames from its dragon’s maw.
With my current physical abilities, I thought evading it would be easy.
But I deliberately charged directly into the flames.
Intuitively, I felt the flames wouldn’t significantly harm me, and I wanted to gauge my current capabilities.
The Chimera’s flames engulfed my entire body.
This was different from the time I partially evaded and my left side was burned. This was my whole body.
The Fighting Spirit covering my entire body clashed with the Chimera’s flames.
Eventually, the flames subsided.
“I see. Is this all?”
As a result, I wasn’t entirely unscathed.
A considerable heat assaulted my body, and I sustained some burns.
But that was all.
I wasn’t critically injured to the point of life or death.
Furthermore, the damage I had taken was already beginning to heal thanks to the Holy Axe Lombardia’s Healing Ability.
After breaking through the flames, I sprinted towards the Chimera.
The Magical Beast seemed flustered.
“—GWOOOOOH!”
As I entered the Axe’s range, I raised the Holy Axe Lombardia in my hand and brought it down.
—ZUGON!
The Axe struck the Chimera’s dragon head, one of its three heads, with a roar like a battering ram against a castle gate.
Easily piercing through the defenses of Fighting Spirit and Dragon Scales, it split its head from the crown to more than halfway down.
“Ha, the Axe itself has incredible power!”
As I pulled the Axe out, the Chimera staggered unsteadily.
Compared to when the blade didn’t even penetrate a finger’s width, this was several times, no, far more than that, in terms of offensive power.
Not only was my physical ability improved, but the Axe’s own power was also tremendous.
The dragon’s head was completely dead.
However, the remaining two heads were intact, and it was not yet incapacitated.
“—GRROOOOOWL!”
“Whoa!”
Feigning hesitation, the Chimera attacked again, but I swiftly leaped to the side to evade.
And then—
“—Hyaa!”
I brought the Holy Axe Lombardia down with all my might onto the Chimera’s undefended flank.
A roar, signifying the clash of overwhelming force, rang out again.
The Holy Axe’s blade bit deep into the Chimera’s body, near the hilt.
When I pulled the Axe free, blood gushed out.
I leaped backward, avoiding the splatter.
The faltering Chimera eventually collapsed sideways.
It twitched convulsively for a moment, then finally succumbed and stopped moving.
“…Haa.”
Having finished the battle, I shouldered the Axe, my new partner.
The Holy Axe Lombardia sent a thought to me.
“Well done. As expected of the man I chose.”
“Thanks. But it was mostly your power, not my skill.”
“I don’t think so. If you were a lazy person who wasn’t diligent with training, or a man who hadn’t learned how to handle Fighting Spirit beforehand, this result wouldn’t have happened.”
“Well… that might be true, but…”
“Besides, your tirelessly developed physique is also the fruit of your efforts. Not squandering your talent and doing your utmost with what you can do is not something everyone can achieve. You have a tendency to underestimate yourself. You are the man I chose, so have more confidence.”
“O-oh.”
I was incredibly praised.
Being recognized that my efforts so far weren’t in vain, I didn’t feel bad.
“…By the way, Lombardia, you keep saying ‘I chose’ since earlier, but what would have happened if I hadn’t been the one to pick you up first?”
“Who knows? That would depend on them… But if you think of me as a promiscuous fool who opens my legs to anyone, even the gentle me would get angry. I devoted my entire being to you, and you alone. Don’t underestimate me.”
“R-right.”
Whether it was an ability to discern a person’s true nature, but Lombardia’s trust in me was heavier than I expected.
Hrmph…
“Also, my master, I have another good news.”
“Hm? Good news?”
“Indeed. By winning the battle against the Magical Beast just now, my Rank has improved by one level, and I have acquired the Charisma skill.”
“Charisma…? What is that?”
“It’s a minor affection-raising skill. Even if your appearance isn’t particularly good, people will come to like you as if you were handsome. It’s especially effective on the opposite sex. Since it’s a Passive skill, there’s nothing you particularly need to be conscious of.”
Hrmph… Even after hearing the explanation, there are many parts I don’t understand.
Fundamentally, I don’t even understand basic things like what Lombardia means by “skill.”
Well, I suppose “skill” is a special ability that I can be given by Lombardia.
Lombardia uses technical terms I don’t know as if it’s natural.
Also, words like Rank and Passive are vague, but I can roughly imagine them, so I’ll let it go.
So, the skill Charisma…
It also sounds like a suspicious ability that can manipulate people’s hearts, is that okay?
As always, Lombardia’s ethical standards, who calls itself a Holy Axe, are unclear.
“By the way, can’t the Charisma skill be turned off?”
“Indeed. As it is a Passive skill, it cannot be turned off (though that’s a lie). Also, you and I already have a magical connection, so even if you temporarily let go of me, the effect will continue as long as you don’t separate by too great a Distance or time.”
“Hm…? Didn’t a strange, noisy thought just mix in? What did you say?”
“Ah, well, it’s nothing. You must be imagining things.”
Lombardia sends thought conversations that seem to be trying to cover something up.
Suspicious… but, well, it’s fine.
If the effect can’t be turned off, then so be it.
Destroying Lombardia for that purpose is out of the question, of course.
Anyway.
“Now, it’s all well and good that I defeated the Chimera… but how should I open this door?”
The next challenge is how to escape from being trapped in this Room.
There must be a mechanism somewhere that the Thief Beast Miina used to open the door, but I haven’t seen where it is or what kind of mechanism it is.
Now that the Chimera is defeated, there’s no danger here, so I could search slowly, but if it’s something that can only be found with a Thief’s specialized skills, I’d be at a loss.
As I thought this, Lombardia spoke again, as if it were a trivial matter.
“You can’t open the door, so you can’t leave the Room? No problem. If the door won’t open, then simply smash through the stone wall next to it.”
“Ah, I see.”
Certainly, with the power of this Holy Axe, that would be effortless.
I slung my luggage, left in the Room, over my shoulder. After swinging Lombardia a few times, I chipped away at the stone wall and emerged from the Room.
Then, I headed towards the exit of the ruins.
“I’ve heard tales of smashing through the walls of ancient ruins with Magic, only to find them filled with poison gas between the walls, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.”
“…I hadn’t considered that either. What bizarre thoughts people have. By the way, what would you have done if that had happened?”
“I would have dealt with it then. There’s also the possibility that gunpowder or something else might be set up instead of poison gas. I can’t just decide on a course of action. —Moreover, if I were to hesitate at every slight possibility, I wouldn’t be able to be an Adventurer. I wouldn’t be able to move an inch in a dungeon like this.”
“I see. So, one must be somewhat reckless to engage in the Adventurer’s profession.”
“Please say ‘brave’ instead of ‘reckless’.”
“Indeed, then I shall say ‘audacious.’ I like manly masters, you know?”
“That’s an honor.”
Chatting lightly with the Intelligence Axe on the way back, I eventually emerged from the ruins.
However, upon exiting, I witnessed something terrible and had to hastily conceal myself.
“Fuguuu! Fuguguguguguguguguguguguuuu!”
“Fufufu… Miina, it’s your fault for defying us. Adventurers must get along with their comrades. Otherwise, they end up like this.”
The three figures were located not far from the exit of the ruins.
The Beast-girl Miina was tied to a tree with ropes, a gag in her mouth.
Before her stood a Priest and a Mage.
The Mage held a dagger, and Miina’s Clothes were torn apart, revealing her pale skin.
I could more or less guess what was happening.
“My master, isn’t that what they call evil? I find it extremely distasteful. Can you not cut down those two scoundrels?”
“Ah, I completely agree that it’s distasteful. But Lombardia, there’s no need to defile yourself with the blood of such wretches.”
I emerged from the ruins anew and strode towards the attempted rape in progress.
