Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 255: The Demon of Flowers (1)

The headless body of Karvaraks wobbled and fell. Ketal quietly looked down at it.

"Is it dead?"

As soon as Ketal leaned in to check, the headless body suddenly raised its hand.

A dark light poured toward Ketal, but it didn't hit him.

Anticipating the attack, he effortlessly dodged and then stomped on the body.

A hole was pierced through the upper torso.

The body trembled violently as if in a seizure, and then disappeared.

Ketal turned his gaze.

"I've had a similar experience before. I don't get caught twice."

"Huff, huff."

A little distance away, Karvaraks reappeared.

Outwardly, there were no visible injuries.

Ketal stroked his chin.

"Indeed, I can't kill you with a single strike."

Ketal couldn’t fully manifest the mystical power.

At best, he could only enhance his body with it.

It seemed it still wasn’t enough to kill a demon.

However...

"Ugh!"

Karvaraks coughed up blood.

His body staggered significantly.

It was clear he was injured.

Ketal chuckled with satisfaction.

"At least I can still inflict damage."

Using his mystical power, he had inflicted a wound on the demon.

It was a satisfactory outcome.

Ketal laughed cheerfully, while Karvaraks struggled to steady his trembling body.

Though he used magic to restore his crushed head, he couldn't deny the damage.

It felt like his head had been smashed with a hammer.

"Youuu!"

Karvaraks unleashed his power in a fit of rage.

A dark light spiraled toward Ketal.

Ketal smiled and stepped forward.

All of Karvaraks's power shattered and was crushed.

The body held by Ketal was slammed into the ground and crushed.

Karvaraks spat blood.

Ketal wasn't even using the mystical power to strengthen his body right now.

He was merely surrounding himself with it for offensive purposes.

Even so, Karvaraks was being helplessly toyed with.

And that was the expected result.

Ketal had fought against many demons before.

Among them were top-tier demons on the same level as Karvaraks.

They put up a decent fight against Ketal.

The reason for this was simply because Ketal didn’t fully understand the mystical power.

No matter how much he tore or crushed them apart, they would regenerate without any damage, making it seem like they were putting up a good fight.

In other words, it was only because Ketal was lacking.

But now that lack had been resolved.

No longer could even top-tier demons stand in Ketal's way.

Crunch.

He crushed Karvaraks's arm and burst his head.

Karvaraks let out a desperate scream, regenerating again, but Ketal tore his body in half before he could unleash his power.

"Kaaargh!"

Karvaraks was barely holding on, but he was reaching his limit.

The accumulated damage was piling up inside him.

"Kaaah…"

Finally, Karvaraks couldn't endure anymore and fell to his knees.

"Thank you. You've given me confidence."

Now he could even harm demons.

"I owe you my gratitude."

Ketal walked past the collapsed Karvaraks.

He slowly approached a pink flower bud.

'What is this?'

Now that he could wield the mystical power, he understood clearly.

Inside this flower, there was a power that could even dismiss Karvaraks.

"I'd like to observe it, but..."

He was intrigued. But Ketal suppressed his curiosity.

"That won’t do. I'm here to defeat you, after all."

Ketal raised his fist, starting to channel the mystical power into it.

Just as he was about to smash the flower, Karvaraks hurled himself forward.

With the determination that the flower must never be touched, he charged at Ketal.

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Ketal swung his fist as if annoyed.

Crunch.

His fist pierced Karvaraks's body.

Karvaraks spat blood.

The burden on his body was reaching its limit.

But he didn't fall.

"If I grit my teeth and bear it... I can endure it."

Karvaraks gathered all his remaining strength.

Literally, everything he had left.

"Fly away."

His finger touched Ketal's body.

Then, an explosion of power occurred.

Boom!

Ketal's body was sent flying across the continent.

In an instant, he became a dot in the distance. Ketal's eyes widened as he flew.

"Oh. So, there was a method like this."

Ketal hadn’t yet mastered the mystical power completely.

He had a weakness.

It was that gathering the mystical power took a few seconds.

During those few seconds, he was vulnerable to even ordinary physical force.

Karvaraks had realized this and gathered all his power to send Ketal flying far away. Karvaraks chuckled.

"It only sends him flying for a few seconds... but it will take some time for him to come back."

A few seconds were enough for a demon of Karvaraks's level to send someone flying hundreds of kilometers.

Unless he used teleportation, it would take a while to return.

Thunk.

And at that moment, a blade pierced Karvaraks's chest.

The mystical power imbued in the sword exploded, burning his body.

Karvaraks's body collapsed.

"Such a petty trick."

The Mercenary King clicked his tongue and sheathed his sword.

He had finally arrived, breaking through all defenses.

Following him, the Archbishop and other superhumans appeared.

"What happened?"

"This demon sent Ketal flying far away. It seems it will take him some time to return."

"Ah... I see."

The Archbishop was puzzled.

'But why?'

The battle was practically over.

Their victory was assured.

Karvaraks had exhausted all his power and was on the verge of being forcefully summoned back.

Sending Ketal flying wouldn’t hurt him, so it was a meaningless act.

But Karvaraks laughed.

"Hahaha... It was close, but it worked."

His body was slowly disintegrating.

It meant he was being forcefully summoned back.

But Karvaraks had achieved his goal.

"Now. Bloom, oh sin. Consume all nutrients and let the great flower bloom. Thus, on this earth, let the wicked flower blossom."

With those words, Karvaraks vanished.

And then.

Whoooosh.

The pink flower bloomed.

* * *

They hadn’t realized until the end what the flower bud was.

It hadn't changed at all during the attack, so they had unconsciously dismissed it.

They thought it was just a device to amplify Karvaraks's power.

Now that very thing had bloomed.

The flower bud blossomed, and the latent power within it erupted.

The Archbishop and Piego's expressions changed.

"Oh, Mother Earth!"

[Gasp!]

Flames and holy energy rose violently, forming a barrier.

It collided with the force unleashed by the blooming flower bud.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Rumble!

"Ugh!"

[Ugh!]

The Archbishop and Piego groaned.

The barrier wavered precariously, as if it might shatter at any moment.

But with all their might, they barely held on.

"...Wait."

The Archbishop's face hardened.

The force that just exploded was only a tiny fraction of the latent power.

It was just a fragment, and yet they had to use all their strength to defend against it.

In the ensuing silence, the sound of someone swallowing echoed.

The power gradually subsided, revealing the scene.

"Oh no..."

And from within the blooming bud, a woman appeared.

She was a demon with long pink hair that covered her entire body and goat-like horns on both sides of her head.

Her expression was rather vacant.

She tilted her head slowly and then opened her mouth.

“Hello?”

A chill ran down their spines the moment they heard those words.

Death enveloped them.

The weak-willed collapsed to the ground, their legs giving out.

The only one who moved was Piego.

[What the hell!]

Piego cursed and unleashed a burst of flames, creating a storm surrounding the woman.

It was Piego's full power, the strength of a high-level spirit that even someone like Karvaraks couldn’t easily counter.

But against this, the woman lightly snapped her fingers.

BOOM!

The storm vanished without a trace.

The superhuman, top-tier power was obliterated with a mere flick of her fingers.

Piego gritted his teeth.

[Everyone, run now!]

Piego was a spirit with the ancient flame, living for a very long time.

As such, he knew who that demon was.

[How are you even on this earth!]

In hell, there existed demons with names.

These demons, granted a name, could wield great power.

Karvaraks was one of them, a top-tier demon with strength on par with the highest of superhumans by earthly standards.

But among the demons, there were those who stood above even them.

Demons who not only had names but also held titles—demons permitted to tread the land of hell.

Demons with hierarchy.

Hero-class demons.

Piego, filled with shock, uttered her name.

[The Demon of Flowers, Floris!]

“…Oh my, Piego. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Floris smiled pleasantly.

“It’s the first time we’ve met since the Great War between gods and demons. I’m glad to see you’re still in good health.”

[…Just seeing your face feels like having a nightmare.]

The Demon of Flowers, Floris.

Long ago, she was a demon who played a significant role in the Great War between gods and demons.

However, there were no records of her on earth.

The reason was simple: no one who met Floris survived.

She was a demon who spread death across the continent until the gods themselves finally defeated her.

[How in the world…]

Even though a rift had appeared on earth, it shouldn’t have been enough to summon a demon like Floris.

As Piego pondered, he realized something.

[…So that bud was the key.]

He finally understood why Karvaraks had consumed the holy sanctuary.

It was to forcefully bloom a demon that otherwise couldn’t manifest on earth.

By devouring all the energy of the sacred land, they made it possible for Floris to appear in her complete form on earth.

Floris smiled gently.

“Correct. Now, I must follow my lord’s will and defile this world. So, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere and just went back.”

[That’s not going to happen. I will stop you…]

“In that case, disappear.”

Floris lightly waved her hand.

And pink flowers bloomed from Piego’s body.

The flowers quickly grew, feeding off Piego.

Piego was shocked.

[When did you plant the seeds…]

“From the moment we started talking. Goodbye.”

BOOM!

Piego’s body was engulfed by the pink flowers and exploded.

He was forcibly sent back to the spirit world.

“……”

A highest-ranking spirit with superhuman strength was banished with a single blow.

A hero-class demon.

An existence they could never hope to defeat.

A superhuman magician involuntarily let out a groan.

“Ah…”

“Silence.”

And in that instant, flowers bloomed from the mage’s body.

His eyes filled with horror.

“W-wait, s-save…”

CRACK.

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

His body was completely drained and became a withered corpse, absorbed by the pink flowers that bloomed on the ground.

A superhuman, highly respected wherever they went, had died without doing anything.

“I’m currently enjoying this rare chance to be on earth. I’d appreciate it if you all kept quiet.”

Floris closed her eyes and murmured softly.

No one could resist her.

Except for one—the Mercenary King.

The Mercenary King silently leapt forward, closing in on Floris incredibly quickly and swung his sword.

“Oh my.”

Floris opened her eyes.

“You’re a brave one.”

She casually reached out and grabbed the tip of the Mercenary King’s sword.

Flowers began to bloom from the sword.

The Mercenary King, startled, released the sword and retreated.

“That was the right decision. If you’d held onto the sword, your body would have become food for the flowers.”

“…Everyone! Run!”

The Mercenary King shouted.

A hero-class demon.

They couldn’t deal with her.

Someone had to survive and inform the outside world.

The Mercenary King was determined to sacrifice himself to save at least one person.

Floris understood his intentions.

“That’s a noble sentiment.”

And so, Floris lightly snapped her fingers.

“Ahhh!”

“Argh! Save me!”

At the same time, flowers bloomed from the bodies of those far away.

They died instantly, consumed by the flowers as their nutrients.

“Damn it!”

The Mercenary King attacked Floris, desperate to stop her.

Floris calmly placed a finger on the Mercenary King’s forehead.

And with that, his body was flung to the ground.

“Ugh…”

He was incapacitated with a single blow.

The Mercenary King was horrified.

‘An ancient dragon…’

It felt the same as when he had faced the ancient dragon Ignisia.

Floris smiled warmly.

“Just stay there and watch. Watch as all the people you tried to protect die.”

“Noooo!”

“Please, stop!”

In an instant, dozens of flowers bloomed.

The elite warriors who were outside died one by one in mere seconds.

“Next is you, isn’t it?”

Floris turned her gaze to Cain and the group of archbishop.

Flowers began to bloom, starting with the magicians.

They died without even being able to scream.

Cain let out a bitter laugh and dropped his sword.

“To die in such a way… How meaningless.”

Cain realized that he would die here. But.

‘I won’t go down without a fight.’

Even if it was futile, he would make one last desperate stand.

He gripped his sword with renewed resolve.

Floris, about to bloom a flower, suddenly paused.

“Hm?”

Her expression changed.

She stretched out her arm in the direction of the disturbance, and flower petals rose to protect her body.

And then there was a collision.

BOOOOM!

The powerful impact caused cracks to spread across the petals.

Floris groaned and took a step back, but she withstood it and turned to face the source.

She launched the petals like arrows.

The strike was strong enough to pierce a mountain.

“Oh?”

BANG!

And that strike was shattered.

The petals scattered in all directions.

“This is the first time someone has blocked and even countered my attack.”

The opponent murmured, sounding intrigued.

Floris narrowed her eyes.

“…A barbarian.”

Cain’s eyes widened in shock.

“K-Ketal!”

Ketal, who had been thrown away, had returned, swinging his axe once more.

“You’re quite strong, aren’t you?”

Ketal grinned, his expression like that of someone who had found an exciting new toy.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]