Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 257: The Demon of Flowers (3)

The survivors moved far enough away from the battlefield.

The Mercenary King collapsed onto the ground.

"Ugh."

"Are you alright?"

"...I'm fine."

The Mercenary King groaned.

In just one strike, he was incapacitated with just a casual flick of the fingers.

If he hadn't instinctively protected himself, his neck would have snapped, and he would have died.

The difference in power was enough to make him feel ashamed of his own strength.

But there was no time to dwell on self-reproach.

A terrifying power reverberated, shaking the air and making their bodies tremble.

It was a force beyond their comprehension.

Ketal was fighting over there.

The Archbishop stammered,

"We, we must help him somehow..."

"If we go, we'll only get in the way."

The Mercenary King held back the Archbishop.

In a battle of heroes, those of lower ranks would be of no help.

They would only hold Ketal back.

The best they could do was stay here and watch.

The Archbishop clenched his fists in frustration.

Ketal was fighting for his life over there, and all they could do was watch.

A sense of helplessness engulfed his entire body.

The Mercenary King asked Cain,

"How is the mastery of the mystery?"

"It's at an adequate level. It should be usable in battle."

Ketal could enhance or protect his body using mystery.

Although there was a delay of a few seconds in using it, it was definitely helpful.

"But..."

It was uncertain whether it was enough to face an opponent of heroic class.

The Mercenary King bit his lip.

'...He fought a dragon and came out unscathed, so he has enough power. But the opponent is also a demon of that level.'

There was no telling what would happen.

The Archbishop knelt down and exclaimed in awe.

"Aaaah! Ketal is sacrificing himself for us!"

"Sacrifice?"

"Isn't that obvious? Ketal came running here in just a few minutes!"

Ketal had been driven beyond sight by Karvaraks.

He didn't have to come back, and even if he did, he could have chosen not to engage in the fight after recognizing the demon's presence.

That would have been the right decision.

Given the level of the demon, it would have been better to seek help from the outside and make sure to capture it.

There was no need to take such a risk.

But Ketal returned.

He sent them away and faced the demon himself.

He willingly exposed himself to danger.

The Mercenary King's face showed surprise.

"...Indeed."

"What a noble sacrifice."

The Archbishop prayed with a face full of emotion.

"O Great Earth Mother, please protect him, who sacrificed himself for us..."

"Aaaah..."

The other survivors quickly joined their hands in prayer.

They admired Ketal's noble sacrifice and prayed for his safety.

But only Cain had a strange expression.

'Sacrifice?'

He was someone who knew what Ketal truly was.

And so, he could guess.

'...No, he probably enjoys this.'

* * *

And Cain's guess was spot on.

Ketal, with a wide grin, swung his axe.

He clashed with a spear made of stems, and Floris's body was pushed back.

"Hahaha! Strong! Very strong! This is fun!"

"Crazy lunatic."

Floris gritted her teeth and steadied herself.

She narrowed her eyes, quickly analyzing Ketal's strength.

'...I have enough chances to win.'

It wasn't a level where she couldn't win.

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It was tough, but she could block the barbarian's attacks.

And the barbarian was also dodging or blocking her attacks.

This meant that if she landed a direct hit, she could cause damage.

He was monstrously strong, but there was definitely a chance to win.

However, there was one particularly tricky issue.

Taak.

Ketal rushed in.

He gripped his axe tightly and swung it with great force.

The strength to split a mountain was unleashed repeatedly.

Floris swung her spear to block it.

The air cracked with every collision.

Zzzrrtt!

Cracks spread across the spear, unable to withstand the force.

Ketal put more strength into his swing to break the spear.

Kaaang!

Finally, the spear shattered.

But that was part of Floris's plan.

She was already ducked down.

Ketal's strength passed over her head.

She placed her hands on the ground and muttered.

"Bloom and devour."

Whoosh!

Dozens of flowers bloomed simultaneously.

They tried to engulf Ketal's body and absorb him as nourishment.

In an instant, his body was buried in flowers.

Floris concentrated her power even more.

It was a level of pressure that even a dragon would struggle to escape.

But.

Zzrrtt.

The flowers began to crack.

Between the cracks, a mysterious energy could be seen.

Kaaaang!

The flowers exploded.

The force of the explosion alone pushed Floris's body back.

Floris clicked her tongue.

'That mystery is the problem.'

Ketal was using the mystery to enhance or protect his body.

He was breaking all of her attacks using that power.

Although there was still a delay of a few seconds, making it possible to respond, the strength was overwhelming.

'...Why can he wield the mystery?'

Ketal was one of the oldest beings.

He shouldn't be able to wield the mystery, but he clearly was.

And.

'Why is he only using the mystery to enhance his body?'

If he truly was one of the oldest beings, he could have destroyed her as an existence.

Floris was most wary of that.

But no matter how long she waited, there was no sign of such an intention.

'...Is he not suppressing it but choosing not to use it?'

If that was the case.

'It makes him easier to deal with.'

Floris's eyes cooled.

First, she would seal the mystery.

Floris lightly flicked her fingers.

At that moment, Ketal's expression changed.

Taak.

He widened the distance.

Floris muttered in disbelief.

"You can sense it without seeing or feeling it, huh?"

"......"

Ketal narrowed his eyes.

In the air, something unseen could be felt.

Something very small, like dandelion seeds.

Thousands of them were floating in the air.

'What is that?'

But there was no time to analyze it.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Floris charged at him, thrusting the newly formed spear towards Ketal.

Zziiiing!

He dodged the spear and swung his axe.

He leaped into the air and sent out a gust of wind, pushing back the invisible things.

But there were too many of them.

The invisible things had grown so much that they now filled the entire space.

Eventually, some of them touched Ketal's body.

And at that moment, flowers bloomed.

Ketal's eyes widened.

"Oh?"

The invisible things touched his body, and flowers began to bloom.

Ketal widened the distance and pulled out the flowers.

"...Seeds, huh."

“That’s right. You won’t be able to avoid all of them.”

Suddenly, flowers began to continuously bloom from Ketal's body.

Ketal quietly observed his body.

‘...It feels like they’re using my body as nutrients to bloom.’

They were a type of parasitic plant.

It felt similar to the test flowers he had seen at the sacred ground of the elves.

Ketal curiously plucked out the flowers blooming all over his body.

Floris was stunned by the sight.

‘...They can only penetrate the skin.’

The invisible seeds she scattered would bloom after devouring their target upon contact.

This was the method she used to instantly banish Piego and kill numerous people.

Though it was said that the power contained in each seed wasn’t that great, even heroes would have to deal with them seriously.

Yet, all Ketal did was casually pull them out, as if it was nothing more than a nuisance.

The seeds couldn’t even penetrate Ketal’s muscles.

‘...And even though they only pierced his skin, flowers are blooming.’

What kind of power was contained within that body?

Floris felt dizzy.

“This is annoying.”

Ketal stroked his chin.

Although it wasn’t a significant injury, the continuous blooming of flowers was bothersome.

There were too many of them to handle individually.

‘In that case…’

Ketal stirred up his mystery.

He then enveloped his entire body with it.

The invisible seeds touched Ketal’s body but couldn’t penetrate the mystery.

“This should do it.”

He spread the mystery thinly around his body to protect it.

Since the energy consumption wasn’t high, it should last until the end of the battle.

However, there was one problem—by doing this, he wouldn’t be able to use his mystery offensively.

“It’s done.”

Floris smiled.

She had sealed off the troublesome use of his mystery.

Of course, with his mystery enveloping his body, she could still hurt him, but that would only matter if her attacks landed.

“Then, it’s a contest of strength.”

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

“That sounds good.”

Boom!

Floris charged at him.

Flowers bloomed all around.

The scenery became as if they were in a vibrant garden, but the energy within was filled with an incredibly dense and terrifying darkness.

It was a power qualitatively different from what he had encountered before.

Ketal realized it too.

Floris was no longer holding back and was pouring all her power into trying to kill him.

Ketal’s expression turned eager.

Rumble!

Amid the blooming flowers, Ketal and Floris clashed.

“Bloom.”

Whoosh!

The flowers bloomed.

But Floris didn’t stop there.

“Bloom. Bloom. Bloom. Bloom.”

Dozens of gigantic flowers bloomed all around.

Ketal tried to break them all, but each one was an expression of Floris’ full power—an authority worthy of a hero.

Since he couldn’t use his mystery offensively, he couldn’t break them immediately.

Rumble.

The flowers began to dominate the space.

They pressed down and crushed Ketal's body.

“Huff!”

Ketal struck the flowers with brute force.

The flowers wobbled and cracked but didn’t break.

Finally, Ketal’s body was buried in the flowers.

Pinned down, he couldn’t move.

Ketal muttered in delight.

“I can’t move.”

Floris reached out her hand.

A flower bloomed on her palm.

Then, another flower bloomed atop that one.

Dozens of flowers stacked upon each other.

Floris clenched her fist.

The stacked flowers twisted violently, forming into a sharp arrow.

“Die.”

Floris spoke coldly as she fired the arrow.

It shot forward at high speed, colliding with Ketal’s body.

Boom!

Power exploded.

The ground shook, and the sky seemed to recoil.

Those who had been praying were flung away.

Floris didn’t stop there.

She clenched her fist and twisted it violently.

“Twist and bloom!”

Screeeeech!

The arrow-shaped flower that had flown twisted and bloomed.

A horribly distorted flower bloomed, its form grotesque.

It was large enough to be seen from the other side of the plains.

“Huff!”

Floris, who had been standing still with her fist clenched, exhaled heavily and collapsed.

Her breathing had become incredibly rough.

She had used all her strength.

She had literally pulled everything from the bottom of her reserves.

Her limbs were trembling.

But she had won.

Floris smiled.

That barbarian was dead.

Not even a dragon could survive such power.

And Ketal hadn’t used any defensive means other than a flimsy mystery shield.

She had blocked off all space to escape.

Surviving was impossible.

“I won!”

Floris’ voice was filled with joy.

“Mother! I’ve won! I’ve fulfilled your command!”

Ah!

Please, praise me!

Floris rejoiced like a child.

At that moment, an ominous sound echoed.

Crack.

Cracks spread across the twisted, blooming flower.

“...Huh?”

As she stood there, puzzled,

The flower shattered.

Boom!

Ketal revealed himself, his face full of laughter.

“Hahaha!”

He burst into wild laughter and clenched his fist.

He swung it towards Floris.

She tried to defend herself in shock.

Crunch.

But his fist broke through her defense and struck her chest.

Floris coughed up blood as she was sent flying.

“Cough, cough!”

“Oh! Finally, a hit that landed! So, it’s possible to deal damage even to a hero-class demon! That’s valuable information!”

“Wh-what…”

Floris stared at Ketal in disbelief.

She had attacked him with all her might.

No one in this world could withstand the twisted blooming of those flowers.

But Ketal’s body was unscathed.

His entire body was completely protected by mystery without a single gap.

“The attack just now was quite powerful! It was superb! You deserve praise! If I hadn’t reinforced my body with mystery, it could’ve been dangerous!”

Ketal looked at Floris with a face full of laughter.

“You suppressed my movements with blooming flowers, prepared a powerful attack, and even that wasn’t the end! You made the flowers bloom and amplify their power even further! I could barely move! I might’ve been crushed to death if I hadn’t been careful! Truly remarkable!”

Floris involuntarily took a step back.

“A-ah…”

For the first time, fear began to appear in her eyes.

Ketal grinned.

“But surely, this isn’t the end! Aren’t you a demon of great stature and power?”

It was not enough yet.

Please, entertain me some more.

Ketal laughed as he charged forward.

Floris’ eyes quickly filled with terror.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]