Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 101 – Nano (3)

The castle slowly disintegrated.

A testament to civilization, built by countless human hands centuries ago.

Adorned with luxurious decorations worth hundreds of gold coins, and filled with masterpieces crafted by skilled artisans with all their passion and dedication.

All of it began to turn into something meaningless.

And it wasn not just the castle.

The people who once lived and breathed within its walls were the same.

The identities of the bustling servants vanished without a trace.

The urgent voice of the king issuing commands faded into nothingness.

The determination of the knights, who steeled themselves and armed for battle, disappeared before it can even solidify.

Even the cat, cherished by the people as it lounged in the castle fields, vanished.

Everything that life and humanity built turned to grayscale.

[You shall regret this.]

And then, the source of all this calamity speaks, with a voice filled with rage.

[We did not intend to reveal ourselves. We planned to respect your will and grant you freedom.]

“So that’s why you tried not to show yourselves.”

Ketal murmured.

Until now, Nano had concealed itself as much as possible.

The only times they had revealed themselves were when Ketal had forcibly drawn them out.

[We bestowed mercy, allowing you to live as you wished, only for you to obstruct us in this manner.]

Astonishingly, Nano was acting out of pure goodwill.

It sought to make humans, who feared death, forget about it, and grant them everything they desired.

It was akin to the Philosopher’s Stone.

But so what?

Ketal chuckled.

“What meaning does that hold when you’ve already replaced everything?”

In the end, all the previous humans were dead.

What remained was a heterogeneous collective that believed itself to be human.

Unless they, like Elene, questioned their own identity and sought answers, they were nothing but puppets, unaware of their strings.

“Is it enjoyable to pretend to show mercy while imitating those who have already perished?”

Ketal spoke lightly.

Though his voice wasn’t loud, Nano clearly heard it.

The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive as evidence.

[Human.]

A voice filled with clear hostility echoed.

[Of all beings, you are the one I will never replace. I will erase you from this world.]

“That’s a kind sentiment.”

Ketal smiled brightly.

Nano moved with malicious intent.

Tiny entities, too small to be seen with the naked eye, swarmed towards Ketal.

They occupied the space, constricting him as if to bind him.

Each Nano was an entity too small to be seen, capable of taking over the space and engulfing the opponent.

That must have been how they devoured the Lutein Kingdom.

They likely covered the entire castle, immobilizing everyone before slowly replacing them.

The space around Ketal grew increasingly heavy.

These entities began to hinder and restrain his movements.

“Certainly a simple yet powerful method.”

Ketal leisurely raised his hands.

He clenched his hands, then clapped.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted as his hands collided.

A storm burst forth.

In an instant, the Nanos occupying the space were blown away.

With a single clap, all of Nano’s movements that dominated the space were shattered.

Ketal lightly dusted off his hands.

“You can’t kill me with methods like that. You’ll need to find another way.”

[…]

Nano contemplated.

How could it kill this human?

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Replacement was impossible.

Their replacement was not free.

They needed to subdue the opponent and gather information beforehand.

Then.

Nano made a decision.

It would crush Ketal with sheer force.

The dispersed Nanos began to gather in the air under a unified will.

The entire mass of Nanos that had replaced the castle assembled and clustered together.

As they gathered, they became visible to the naked eye and continued to grow.

Boom.

Finally, all the Nanos converged.

The resulting mass was about the size of a warehouse.

“That much, huh.”

The aggregate of what had replaced the entire castle and its interior amounted to the size of a warehouse.

“Is it a lot or a little?”

[Die.]

With a calm statement, Nano moved.

Part of the amassed sphere shot out in the form of a spike.

A sound of air breaking echoed.

Ketal stomped his foot to evade.

The spike continued its trajectory and collided with the barrier erected by the Tower Master.

BOOM!

A thunderous noise erupted.

The Tower Master’s absolute barrier trembled.

Ketal whistled.

“Impressive.”

The Nano aggregate was roughly the size of a warehouse.

In other words, that amount could replace the entire mass of the castle.

The material, condensed to its extreme, accelerated and shot forth.

It was akin to a railgun.

Naturally, it was immensely powerful.

Nano did not stop.

In an instant, dozens of spikes were unleashed simultaneously.

Ketal laughed as he leapt away.

BOOM!

The spikes collided with everything around them, causing destruction.

They shattered the ground and tore through the air.

The earth impaled by the spikes was deeply gouged.

Their power was immense.

The demonic might of Ashetiar was contained within each spike.

Ketal continued to move.

He twisted his body to dodge a spike aimed at his upper body.

He then sprang off his foot, spinning through the gaps between the incoming spikes.

Nano couldn’t believe it.

He had gained extensive knowledge and information while living among humans.

His current attacks should have been unavoidable even for the strongest superhumans, yet this man was evading them perfectly.

‘He doesn’t seem to be using any mystic arts.’

At least, Nano’s knowledge couldn’t explain Ketal.

But.

[How long do you think you can keep dodging?]

BOOM!

The trajectories of the spikes became erratic.

They took control of the space itself, pressuring Ketal’s movements.

Ketal was surprised.

“You can guide them? Smarter than I thought.”

[Stop pretending to be so calm.]

WHOOOOSH!

A spike shot forward. Ketal twisted his waist and swung his arm to evade, but he was cornered.

Got him.

Nano muttered with euphoric certainty.

[Die.]

And then, the sphere launched its attack.

This time, it was much larger than before.

It was more like a ballista than a spike.

The Nanos inside accelerated and accelerated, shattering the air as they sped.

Contained within it was absolute mass at high speed.

The physical force to pierce mountains and split seas.

In the face of such enormous power, Ketal didn’t dodge.

Instead, he clenched his fist.

Seeing this, Nano sneered.

The man who had been busy dodging now thought he could counterattack.

Nano was certain Ketal’s body would be pierced and skewered.

Ketal swung his fist.

It collided with the ballista.

Crack.

At that moment, Nano felt something was wrong.

Ketal’s fist did not shatter.

No. Not just that.

The Nano aggregate he had launched was slowly deforming under the force.

Ketal stepped forward.

He lifted his shoulder and put more strength into his arm.

CRUNCH.

And the ballista shattered.

BOOM!

The condensed Nano scattered in all directions.

Iridescent particles fluttered around.

It meant some of Nano’s components couldn’t withstand the force and had died.

[…How?]

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t block it, but rather, I didn’t need to.”

He had dodged to understand how the opponent attacked.

“So it’s just simple physical force. A bit boring, actually.”

[You!]

Nano shouted in rage.

Hundreds of spikes were unleashed simultaneously.

Ketal laughed heartily as he stepped forward.

He swung his fist.

He shouldered through.

The spikes shattered into fragments and scattered.

Ketal accelerated and charged towards Nano.

* * *

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

The battle between Nano and Ketal continued.

The impact of their fight reverberated through the barrier.

Watching from outside, the Tower Master chuckled wryly.

When Nano had revealed its true form, he had prepared to intervene.

He planned to join the battle with prepared magic as soon as Ketal bought some time.

But now he had abandoned that thought entirely.

He had also canceled the magic he had been preparing.

[What is that?]

Nano had replaced the entire castle and its inhabitants.

Now it had compressed itself into the size of a warehouse and wielded immense physical force.

Ketal was breaking, crushing, and advancing against such a force with his bare body.

Of course, the Tower Master thought he could manage that as well.

From his battle with Ketal, he had gleaned information about Nano.

‘Weaker than I thought.’

Nano had the unique ability to replace anything, but its inherent strength wasn’t that remarkable.

Although its physical force was significant, as long as it was handled simply, it wasn’t impossible to counter.

A hero-class individual could handle Nano, albeit with some difficulty.

However, the Tower Master was now doubting his eyes.

For a simple reason.

[How can he do that without using any mystic arts?]

Their strength was ultimately built on the miracle of mystic arts.

No strong individual could reach a high level without them.

Countering Nano’s physical force was possible only through the unique properties of mystic arts, not by pure strength alone.

But Ketal was different.

Ketal did not use mystic arts at all.

He was fighting against Nano purely with the strength of his body.

[What is this?]

Was this not the kind of strength found only in myths?

Could such power truly be contained within the body of a mere human?

An entity capable of replacing anything.

And Ketal, able to counter it with nothing but the strength of his human body.

‘…Who is the real monster here?’

The Tower Master couldn’t come up with an answer.

* * *

BOOM!

The battle continued. Unlike before, Ketal actively countered Nano’s attacks.

WHOOSH!

Spikes rained down.

Ketal lightly flicked his fingers.

A spike was deflected, and he moved his foot.

The spike that struck his sole was crushed.

CRUNCH.

He stomped down.

Iridescent particles scattered with a burst.

[HUMAN!]

Nano raged.

More spikes shot out furiously, but it made no difference.

Ketal swung his hand.

The incoming spikes were deflected and shattered against the barrier, turning into iridescent particles.

Ketal contentedly observed the scattered particles.

There were quite a few, even at a glance.

‘This amount should be sufficient.’

He planned to collect and process them all later.

It was a surprisingly laid-back thought for someone in the midst of battle, and Nano noticed this.

Although Nano felt a surge of anger, it quickly suppressed its emotions and assessed the situation calmly.

This method wouldn’t work.

Attacking with its parts like this wouldn’t kill this human.

Only Nano would slowly be destroyed.

In that case…

[You are strong.]

Nano acknowledged.

This human was strong.

It couldn’t kill him by merely launching parts of itself.

So, it would move as a whole.

The human’s strength was purely physical.

Therefore, it needed to kill him with an even stronger physical form.

Having made its decision, Nano acted immediately.

The cluster of Nano began to compress even further.

Creeeak.

It compressed to the limit, to the very edge of breaking.

The entities twisted together, pushed to the brink of destruction.

“Can it compress that much?”

Ketal looked surprised.

The compressed Nano began to take on a human form.

Finally, Nano completed its transformation and landed on the ground.

BOOM!

The ground shook.

Now, all the Nano had compressed into the shape of a human.

It was like a mirage in the shape of a person had gathered into one.

[Die.]

The human-shaped Nano launched itself.

The mirage-like figure swung its fist at Ketal.

Ketal met it with his own fist.

BOOM!

The shockwave spread.

The barrier set up by the Tower Master wobbled precariously.

“Oh?”

Ketal’s expression changed.

He could definitely feel the difference in pressure from before.

Thus, Ketal put in a bit more strength than he had so far.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]