As soon as he heard from Jun about the existence of the Butcher Monk, Aiden’s heart began to pound violently.
The Butcher Monk…!
How could he ever forget?
He had never felt so powerless in his life.
Even when he threw everything he had at the enemy, he couldn’t even come close to taking him down… he couldn’t think of a single way to dodge even one of the monster’s casual punches.
And now, that very monster had appeared once more.
And this time, he had become a level 8 abomination.
I can’t just go in like before.
So, Aiden decided to use a method he hadn’t used back then. Something uniquely his.
He raced through the forest with the wind at his back, cutting down every monster in sight as he ran.
As he did, the wind swirling around his body grew fiercer and more violent.
He was pushing his equipment, Destroyer’s Leather, to its absolute limit.
Charging all the way from the opposite side of the island, he restored his stamina along the way, maximizing the efficiency of his Balrog Leather Greaves.
And when he finally arrived—
He saw Jun being hurled through the air by the Butcher Monk’s punch.
In that instant, Aiden’s mana surged to life.
[Master, angry!]
Sensing the wave of Aiden’s intensifying emotions, his spirit stirred up a destructive wind.
The wind that began to rage around him now shattered everything it touched as he simply moved closer.
And Aiden, pouring all that energy into his sword, charged at the Butcher Monk who was still restrained by Jun.
[Charge]
[Wind Storm]!
The level gap between 5 and 8 was normally insurmountable.
But a series of coincidences and inevitabilities had narrowed that gap to the barest thread.
And his blade cut clean through the Butcher Monk’s chest.
“Gahk…!”
His chest split open, and the monk’s body was blown backward by the violent wind.
“Jun!”
“Ghh…”
Without sparing a glance to check how far the Butcher Monk had been flung, Aiden rushed to Jun.
He immediately pulled a potion from his coat and poured it into Jun’s mouth, using the rest to soak his torn and twisted arms and legs.
“Khak… Hah… That was… close.”
Fortunately, the potion was potent, and Jun quickly caught his breath.
It was only possible because the refined mana of the [Mana Body] barely managed to hold back the Butcher Monk’s aura from invading his body.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah… Not enough to die. But what about the Butcher Monk?”
“He…”
Aiden’s gaze turned in the direction the Butcher Monk had been blasted.
The blow had been so destructive that the monk had crashed into the sand, leaving a deep trail in his wake.
“Is he… dead?”
“…No. He’s probably still alive.”
Just as he said—
Despite the injury exposing even his ribs, the Butcher Monk twisted his broken neck to look their way.
“Hehehe… That was close, benefactor.”
Even the Butcher himself had felt a chill down his spine from that last strike.
And when he saw who had struck him, his surprise only deepened.
That blond-haired, blue-eyed man….he was the same rookie warrior he’d seen back in the Red Castle basement with that mage.
Back then, the kid hadn’t even dared to step into the fight.
And now, he’d grown strong enough to deal the Butcher Monk a critical wound.
How was that possible?
It had only been a year.
Even if the man possessed aura, the Butcher’s mental construct should’ve been enough to block a level 5 fighter’s aura with a simple punch.
Yet he had been overwhelmed this easily.
“You’ve… grown quite strong, benefactor…”
“That last strike….how did you block it?”
“Kuhuhu! It was nothing. I just used a bit of my strength.”
He had unleashed a portion of the killing karma accumulated through [Blood Mountain Reincarnation] to block Aiden’s [Wind Storm].
But the attack had been so powerful—
He had burned through enough killing karma to wipe out an entire village.
“Hoo… Still, it certainly cleared my head.”
Crack. Crack.
The Butcher Monk rotated his neck and rose to his feet.
The strike had destroyed his will-infused weapon, [Blood Mountain Execution], but in exchange, his mind had become sharper.
“How is he still standing…”
Even with an injury so severe that his bones were exposed, the Butcher Monk casually dusted himself off and got up.
“What, did you think I’ve never faced a crisis like this in my life?”
“Don’t act tough, you lunatic. You’re only holding on because you’re burning more of that killing karma.”
“Hehe… Benefactor. You know, when I talk with you, it feels like I’m standing naked. How do you know me so well?”
Lunatic. That’s one creepy thing to say.
Still, Jun wasn’t entirely wrong in his assessment.
You think I haven’t been wrecked by you enough times?
He had been a major villain who even appeared in the latter half of the game.
Which meant Jun had fought and lost to him plenty of times.
If I didn’t know this much, I’d have to give up my veteran status.
He could more or less guess the monk’s current condition.
“At this point… probably level 7. Maybe even lower.”
“…And still so strong.”
“Exactly.”
In martial arts terms, the guy was fighting by even drawing upon his internal energy.
He must fully understand that this could leave him with permanent damage.
And yet, he was still going this far just to kill him.
“Tough bastard. Just like my damn master.”
Jun shook off the bad memories trying to surface and turned to Aiden.
“I think I’ll be able to summon the golem again soon.”
“How long do I need to buy you?”
“One minute’s enough. You got it from Eleanor, right?”
“Yes.”
As he spoke, Aiden pulled a golden book from his coat and handed it to Jun.
“Phew…”
Jun wasn’t the only one who had prepared for the rematch with the Butcher Monk.
Eleanor too had experienced that helplessness back then. She’d nearly lost someone like family: Bern.
On top of that, the power of the Outer God still lay dormant within Eleanor’s body. The Heavenly Church would no doubt try to use her as a vessel again, given the chance.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
“Understood.”
Jun immediately summoned the golem and cast a reinforcement spell.
The fight was now much more manageable than before.
The Butcher Monk had taken serious injuries. On top of that, he’d burned through his [Blood Mountain Reincarnation] killing karma just to block Aiden’s last strike.
In contrast, their side had Aiden in peak condition and a golem being supported by various spells.
Vmmm―!
After a brief standoff, it was the golem that charged first.
Trusting in its sturdy exoskeleton, it launched a direct assault. The Butcher Monk, now down to one arm, stomped forward, shaking the earth with every step.
Seizing a narrow opening, he ignored the golem and rapidly closed the distance with Aiden.
I can’t see him!
Even Aiden missed the timing, thrown off by the sheer speed.
However, that didn’t mean he missed the trajectory of the incoming attack.
He read the movement of his opponent’s muscles, predicted the strike, and had already put up his guard in that exact spot.
It was a reaction speed almost beast-like in nature.
The response was so sharp, it was hard to believe this guy was only level 5. Just as the Butcher Monk was about to adjust his stance—
Vmmm―!
The golem, which had been momentarily bypassed, swung a massive fist straight at him.
Damn it.
Having mainly fought against humans, this was a slip-up on the Monk’s part.
The opponent wasn’t human. It was a golem, and its torso could rotate 180 degrees.
He couldn’t change his stance in time.
Caught in a split-second crossroads.
In the end, he chose to retreat rather than force an attack.
Seeing that, Jun clenched his fist tightly.
He’s holding out better than I expected.
Having confirmed that much, Jun turned his focus back to the spell.
Eleanor’s magic is divine magic.
After studying magic with Eleanor for a long time, Jun naturally came to learn about the mechanisms behind the divine magic she used.
As the name implies, divine magic is not manifested through mana but through divine power.
It may seem obvious, but in truth, this distinction made a significant difference. Divine power came not from the caster, but from the gods.
Therefore, even if one were to exhaust all of their divine power, there would be no notable penalties.
Still, there’s the drawback that it can only be used in ways that align with the will of the god. But on the flip side, within that god’s domain, its power is absolute.
And the god Eleanor believed in was Ariklotus, the god of healing.
At first glance, it might seem strange that a god of healing would grant power capable of harming others.
But healing, by nature, has a wide range of applications.
For example, curses fell under this category.
Curses harmed the human body, and removing them could be seen as a form of healing.
And the Butcher Monk’s [Blood Mountain Reincarnation] operates under a similar mechanism as a curse.
Even that creature seemed somewhat shaken by Eleanor’s divine power.
Noticing this, Eleanor devised a method to counter those who had grown through unclean or corrupted power, like the Butcher Monk.
And to some extent, she succeeded.
However, it wasn’t a finished product yet, and there was a reason for that.
– But I can’t use this alone.
– Why not?
– Come on, look at the scale. This thing doesn’t run on ordinary divine power. The things we’re up against aren’t just some small fry. I’m talking about bastards like that bald monk or the snake-headed hag, remember? My divine power alone isn’t enough to handle it.
– So what should we do, then?
– What else? You’re the leader, so you’ve gotta step in. You’ve got plenty of mana, don’t you?
That’s right.
This divine magic was unusual in that it could also be powered by mana.
And the golden book now in Jun’s hand was an enchanted book, created by Eleanor using enchantment magic she had learned from Jun.
If this works out well, Eleanor’s going to be insufferably smug about it.
And from the perspective of a mage like Jun, this divine magic was incredibly complex and high-level.
[Divine Magic – Shangrili of Silence]
A spell built on Eleanor’s divine magic patterns and brought to life using Jun’s mana. A painstakingly difficult magic to pull off.
Under normal circumstances, the two energies of divine power and mana should have been as incompatible as water and oil.
But Jun’s pure mana, derived from the [Mana Body], made their union possible.
Fwoooosh—!
A holy, golden banner descended from the heavens and pierced the earth.
Immediately afterward, divine light radiated outward from the banner, rapidly flooding the surroundings.
This magic held no function for physical healing of the human body.
On the contrary, it was almost violently intense, burning away all that was impure.
“Kuhak—?”
And its effect was immediate.
“What… what have you done…?!”
All it took was a brush with the light….yet the killing karma he had built up was ripped away in chunks.
Like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
“Kuhaha… So? What do you think of our priestess’s custom-made divine spell?”
“Divine magic…?! How could a mage…?!”
From the Butcher Monk’s perspective, it was a scene beyond comprehension.
In his understanding of the world, there was simply no way for a mage to wield divine magic.
“If this was all it did, that’d be disappointing. But with this in play, you won’t be going berserk.”
“Shiiiiiiit!!”
Just as Jun had said.
What made the Butcher Monk such a terrifying boss in the game was his absurd physical strength.
But even more terrifying was the fact that once his HP dropped below a certain threshold, he would go berserk.
If his stamina and sanity dropped too low to maintain [Blood Mountain Reincarnation], it would devour him whole, turning him into a literal madman.
But within this domain, that wouldn’t happen.
The divine power, fueled by Jun’s overwhelming mana, would burn it all away indiscriminately.
[Iron Rampart]
Steel walls erupted in all directions, scattering sand as they rose high.
Within a scene resembling a coliseum, Jun smirked and said,
“Now then… who’s the prey now?”
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