Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 065: Periphetes the Clubber (2)

The moment the tree roots burst up—

Anagin drew the Beast Cleaver and cut them down.

True, they weren’t beasts but tree roots; still, in the end, they were being handled by a two-legged beast, so it hardly mattered.

Just as Anagin thought, the roots were severed easily, and using the opening, he scanned the surroundings.

Bounty hunters and vigilantes—those without giant blood or a god’s blessing—failed to respond properly and were injured, while only the practitioners managed some semblance of resistance.

Even then, it was barely enough for each to protect themselves.

In contrast, Sphinx, who had until moments ago been accused of being a monster, moved with catlike agility to evade the roots and rescue the siblings Kori and Pais.

Just before a root slammed down on the two, it swiftly scooped them up and ran toward Anagin.

“.......”

“What?”

“Good job.”

“...?!”

At Anagin’s casually tossed remark, Sphinx looked startled, the cat ears hidden beneath her robe twitching upright.

Kori and Pais stared up at her with confused eyes.

The children’s eyes held many emotions.

The joy and relief of being protected by someone familiar, gratitude—yet also confusion, doubt, and fear.

At the thought that the sister-like figure they trusted might be a monster....

And yet, they were puzzled. Was Sphinx really a monster? If she was, why had she saved them?

They looked as though they wanted to ask and hear the answer immediately.

Anagin read the children’s unspoken thoughts—but did not explain.

Wanting everything explained easily was a bad habit, and more importantly, this was still a fight.

Well, a fight that would soon be over.

“Did you really think this much was enough to deal with us?!!”

Whether the New Argonaut Expedition Team or the Western Alliance—as if to prove their proudly raised banners weren’t empty boasts, both forces responded to the ambush.

The tree roots were annoying, but not as threatening as expected.

There were many, and they were tough—but that was all. Their numbers and patterns were limited, and any reasonably trained practitioner could handle them.

The bandits were even less worth mentioning. They were numerous, sure, but head-on, they were manageable enough.

Just as the fight seemed about to end against this underwhelming force, Longbald appeared.

The long-legged bald man Anagin had seen by chance in the Ruin Village.

Tramachus of Flame, Irida of the Wind, Thyreos of Reinforcement, Lynceus of Farsight—and the other practitioners of the Western Alliance.

The practitioners gathered to bring down the Forest Brotherhood were shaken, yet their fighting spirit burned.

The appearance of a notorious villain was startling, but they seemed to believe that if they joined forces, they could win.

However, as if mocking their resolve, Longbald subdued the New Argonaut Expedition Team in an instant.

He extinguished the wall of flame with his bronze club, overwhelmed Tramachus with his bare fists, shattered Thyreos’s shield, and subdued Lynceus and Irida.

As the once-confident New Argonaut Expedition Team was crushed, the morale of the Anti-Forest Brotherhood and the Western Alliance plummeted—while the bandits’ morale soared without limit.

Two opposite emotions in the same place.

Yet they shared one thing in common.

So engrossed in what was right before them, they neglected their surroundings.

Suppressing his presence, lowering his body, Anagin leapt in a single bound toward Longbald and brought down the Beast Cleaver.

KAANG!

Just before the cleaver’s teeth could reach Longbald’s neck, the bronze club blocked it.

By a hair’s breadth!

“Shame. I could’ve ended it cleanly.”

“Anagin!”

The Long-legged Baldy, nearly killed in vain, bared a savage grin and shouted Anagin’s name.

Then, delicately maneuvering the crude bronze club, he guided Anagin’s blade aside.

Kagagagak—!

The Beast Cleaver slid along the surface of the bronze club, sparks flying, and then Longbald tried to kick Anagin with his long legs.

Anagin swung the Beast Cleaver in response.

SWOOSH!

Just before Longbald’s foot would have been chopped apart, he withdrew his leg and brought the bronze club—laden with Energy (Γι)—down over Anagin’s head.

Anagin pulled back to evade, and the bronze club struck the ground, raising a pillar of earth.

The pillar exploded into dust, clouding the surroundings, and tree roots lunged at Anagin from all sides.

“Dieee—!!”

As Anagin cut down the roots, the bandits joined in.

Their crude sword swings and axe chops were nothing special, but the numbers themselves were powerful. There was nowhere easy to dodge.

Not that Anagin had intended to dodge in the first place.

“Kh—! Hold on—”

Instead of evading the bandits rushing from all sides, Anagin grabbed them by the neck, using them as human shields—human obstacles.

Whenever a bandit swung a weapon at Anagin, he pulled another bandit into the way, and once a bandit had served its purpose, he tossed them aside as an obstacle to block the next wave.

There was nothing difficult about it. Ordinary bandits were numerous, but compared to Anagin, they were all weak and painfully slow.

At best, they could only stall him for a brief moment.

But—

For Longbald, that was enough.

“I’m disappointed!”

As Anagin was cutting down the surging bandits and tree roots—

Longbald leapt, appearing from above.

Imbuing his bronze club with Energy, it flashed as he brought it down once more, and Anagin dodged—just a little more narrowly than before.

KUAANG—!

Longbald’s own weight.

The weight of the bronze club.

The Yul (εὐ) that imbued it with Energy.

The three elements interlocked, unleashing power incomparable to before.

No longer just kicking up dust, it shook the ground itself.

With only slight exaggeration, it was as if an earthquake had struck.

“Gaaah—!!”

Even without a direct hit, the bronze club that caused the quake inflicted severe damage on those nearby through sheer shockwave alone.

Naturally, they were all the bandit underlings who, on Longbald’s orders, had risked their lives to pin Anagin down.

They fought with their lives on the line to obey, but were swept up by Longbald’s attack regardless.

Still, it wasn’t meaningless.

Thanks to the bandits binding his movements, Anagin’s evasion slowed just slightly, and because of that, the shockwave inflicted indirect damage on him.

Seizing the momentum, Longbald swung the bronze club again.

Anagin pulled his body back, reducing the impact.

“Didn’t you say you’d smash my head the next time we met? But all you’re doing is running!”

Whoosh—! Whoosh—!

Instead of chasing after Anagin as he widened the distance, Longbald stayed where he was, swinging the bronze club as if loosening up, and Anagin spoke.

“Strictly speaking, I said it’d be better if you didn’t run into me again. Had a feeling you wouldn’t live long if you did.”

“Ha…! It’s the same thing. You remember pointless things so well. The type whose memory sharpens when things turn against him? Disappointing.”

“I’m disappointed too. You were talking big, so I thought you were the type to fight fair and square, but you bring out the small fry.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit embarrassing, sure. So what, did you think I’d say, ‘Alright then, let’s do an honorable one-on-one from here on’?”

Rather than doing anything unnecessary, Longbald simply plastered his face with shamelessness.

Anagin didn’t criticize him further. It had only been a provocation anyway, and in a fight, there was no such thing as honorable or dishonorable. If you wanted to talk about cowardice, you did it after winning.

The bandits charged again, trying to pin Anagin down.

“U-uwaaagh!”

Anagin looked at the faces of the bandits rushing him. Every single one of them was pale with terror.

They had just seen their comrades crushed in Longbald’s attack—it was only natural.

It wasn’t just one or two; a large number had been slaughtered en masse. You could tell just by the visibly reduced headcount.

But they had nowhere to retreat. Disobeying orders meant death anyway. In fact, refusing an order was a one-hundred-percent chance of dying, whereas fighting still offered a chance to live.

A pitiful fate for self-proclaimed free folk who lived in the forest.

Anagin paid no heed to their circumstances. He reached into his Interspatial Bag and pulled out the magical tool [Infinite-Length Magic Rope].

Dodging bandits and tree roots, he imbued the rope with Energy, then snapped it like a whip.

Whooong—!

The rope, infused with Energy, didn’t just cut through the air—it crushed it, flying out with a pulverizing sound and skillfully lashing the bandits within its range.

Stretched long, the rope struck down all the bandits surging in with its widened reach. Then Anagin swung it toward Longbald.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Using his sharp reflexes, Longbald snatched the flying rope and yanked it hard.

Anagin didn’t resist—he jumped, letting himself be pulled.

The distance between Anagin and Longbald closed rapidly.

Longbald swung the bronze club, heavily imbued with Energy (Γι), at the flying Anagin with all his might—

KRAAANG—!!

At the same time, Anagin swung his Interspatial Bag, also imbued with Energy (Γι).

A bronze club meant to smash enemies and send them flying collided with a terrifyingly heavy and durable interspatial bag.

An absurd clash.

But if Anagin had cared about things like that, he never would have swung it at a Monster Merchant in the first place.

The interspatial bag did not betray his expectations.

True, it couldn’t overcome the inherent limitation of being a bag rather than a weapon, and it was blown away by the impact—

Titik—!

—but a tiny crack appeared in Longbald’s bronze club.

“...!”

Anagin didn’t miss that fleeting instant. Still suspended in midair, he swung the Beast Cleaver, striking down precisely into the gap in the bronze club.

Kkagak—!

A metal-scraping sound that clawed at the ears rang out.

The situation resembled when Anagin had first taunted Longbald.

The difference was that this time, Longbald couldn’t deflect the attack.

Anagin drove the blade deep into the cracked section of the bronze club, focused the Energy into the blade, then pressed down on the spine of the Beast Cleaver with his free hand, loading his entire body weight onto a single point.

Thrown off by the delicate shift in balance, Longbald dropped to one knee.

“...!!”

Cracks spread across the inscription carved into the bronze club—「My club smashes the enemy’s head, and sends it flying.」—and then.......

The bronze club split cleanly in two.

Stripped of his prized weapon and of the very tool that defined his epithet, Longbald was left barehanded.

He barely managed to rise and retreat, but Anagin didn’t miss the opening created by his weakness, moving in to cut him down on the spot.

At that moment, Longbald smiled.

“Fine. I admit it. I’ll acknowledge you.”

Then an intense Energy (Γι) erupted from Longbald’s body, concentrating into one arm and forming a distinct shape.

‘Plássein?’

Anagin thought. Plássein, shortened to Pl (pl).

He had never seen it himself, but he had heard of this method of Energy (Γι) manipulation.

A technique that casts externally released Energy into a specific form, creating it as a tool.

‘.......’

Yet instinctively, Anagin realized this wasn’t a simple Pl (pl).

He couldn’t explain it clearly, but he knew.

And then—

“Now I’ll face you properly.”

Very soon, Anagin learned with his own body that the club Longbald had created was not a mere lump of Energy (Γι).

The club shattered the Beast Cleaver that Anagin thrust forward and struck Anagin with enough force to break his bones.

Longbald’s epithet, the Clubber, was born of that club.