Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World - Chapter 53

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 53: Tyrant of the Forest (3)

──────

'Damn it...'

Gerik raised his head and looked toward Ilvern, who should have had healing potions.

But the badly wounded Grizzly Owl was rampaging fiercely as though squeezing out its last strength, and Ilvern was too busy blocking its assault to even think of coming over.

'I can't leave him like this...!'

Gerik swallowed as he looked at Minos's face, which was growing paler by the second. The memory of Wilber, the companion who had died miserably before his eyes, overlapped with the scene before him and tore at his heart.

'Again... because I don't have any way to heal him...'

The moment the thought of healing crossed his mind, something flashed through Gerik's head.

Skyler's Quintet's Cure Serious Wounds spell!

Gerik removed his bloodstained gauntlet and brought the ring toward Minos's wound, then hesitated.

The moment it became known that he possessed an artifact, part of the secret he had built up until now would crumble.

Yet for some reason, none of it seemed important anymore.

With a calmer expression, Gerik held the ring over Minos's wound.

A brilliant green light flowed from the ring.

A faint glow seeped into the area around the wound, and the blood flowing from it noticeably began to slow. It had not stopped completely, but it was clearly different from before, when death had seemed so close.

Silence fell.

Katrin stopped firing arrows. The sound of Ilvern's mace also ceased for a moment.

When Gerik raised his head, everyone's eyes were on him. Even in the middle of the battlefield, they could not hide their surprise.

In truth, everyone had noticed to some extent that Gerik was hiding something. But they had clearly never imagined that he possessed an artifact.

Even seeing their reactions, Gerik said nothing. This was not the time.

Minos's bleeding gradually slowed. But perhaps because he had already lost too much blood, his eyelids slowly fell shut, and he lost consciousness.

"Katrin!!"

Gerik raised his head from Minos's side and shouted toward Katrin.

"Take Minos and get out of here!!"

At Gerik's shout, Katrin hesitated for a moment.

But she knew well how limited her role had been in this battle. So she silently nodded and ran over to Minos.

"Do you have any healing potions?"

"Two spares. We'll use them somewhere safe, so don't worry."

Fortunately, Katrin seemed to have healing potions as well. Gerik felt a small wave of relief.

His mind eased a little. The moment he confirmed that Katrin was helping Minos up, he turned around.

'Not much longer now.'

Gerik raised his longsword and watched for a chance to use Charge as he assessed the Grizzly Owl's condition. Up close, it looked miserable.

There was the wound across its back from Slash, its burned fur and scorch marks from the Fire Arrows scattered over it, and the brutal bruises left by Ash Strike.

On top of that, while the Grizzly Owl had lost its reason and ignored defense, Ilvern had struck its vital spots several times. Its body was a complete wreck.

'I can kill it...!!'

After carefully watching it, Gerik felt certain. If he joined in, they could kill it.

He waited briefly for Charge's cooldown to finish. Then, when the sensation returned, he used Charge once again and slipped behind the Grizzly Owl.

Slash!!

A sharp sword strike landed on the creature's exposed back as it focused on blocking Ilvern's attacks.

"Rooooar!!!!!"

A miserable roar burst from the Grizzly Owl's mouth. It was completely different from before, when even Slash had barely drawn a reaction.

"Rooaargh!!"

The pain must have been unbearable. It hunched over, wrapped both arms around itself, and slowly backed away while watching Ilvern and Gerik.

In the end, it pressed its back against the wall and desperately covered the wound behind it. It was completely unlike the savage creature it had been at first, clearly trying not to get hit again.

'A direct fight... is still dangerous...'

Even wounded, the monster was still too dangerous for Gerik to face head-on. Keeping his distance, he asked Ilvern,

"What do we do with that thing...?"

"Phew..."

Ilvern, who had been driving it back relentlessly, pulled two small potions from his belt and tossed them to Gerik.

"Leave it."

"What?"

They could kill it if they pressed it a little further, yet Ilvern casually told him to leave it alone. Gerik stared blankly and asked again.

Ilvern gave a light snort, then continued.

"It's bleeding from its back. Leave it alone, and it'll collapse on its own. If it wants to drag things out, let it. Time is on our side."

After saying that, Ilvern took another small potion from his belt and poured it into his mouth.

"You should worry about yourself. The excitement of battle is keeping you from feeling it now, but you've probably built up a lot of strain in your body from using your skills too much."

Ilvern told Gerik to drink one potion and keep the other as a spare.

Gulp.

As Gerik swallowed a potion for the first time, an indescribably strange power spread throughout his body.

At the same time, the muscle pain that had built up throughout the battle began to fade. His breathing grew smoother, and his stamina slowly returned.

'Didn't they say one of these cost dozens of silver coins?'

Once his ragged breathing settled, Gerik regained his composure and looked at the potion bottle with slight regret.

Meanwhile, the Grizzly Owl remained against the wall, growling low as it glared at the two of them.

But when the two humans did not attack and merely faced it down, an unfamiliar emotion began to appear in its eyes.

Anxiety.

The humans were neither attacking nor fleeing, only watching it quietly. That seemed to make it even more uneasy.

A predator that had spent its life tearing through everything with overwhelming strength now seemed to shrink back as prey for the first time.

As they calmly faced it down and pressured it, familiar footsteps began to echo through the underground ruins.

"...?"

At the unexpected presence, Gerik and Ilvern turned their heads at the same time. There, they saw Katrin, who had returned.

"...What happened to the young lord? Why are you back here?!"

Ilvern narrowed his brow and shouted.

Katrin answered with a pale face.

"There's another Grizzly Owl at the entrance."

For a moment, the air inside the ruins turned cold.

"For some reason, one has been wandering around nearby... I think it might be that one's mate."

Katrin said there seemed to be a Grizzly Owl nest nearby.

She also said that perhaps because the male before them had been away for too long, the one that appeared to be female was patrolling the area anxiously.

"There has to be a nest nearby. It's only wandering around because it can't leave the nest right now, but if more time passes..."

Ilvern's face slowly twisted as he listened to Katrin's explanation.

His calculation that the creature would collapse on its own if they left it alone had been completely overturned by the news that it had a mate outside.

Time was no longer on their side.

"...Gerik."

Ilvern spoke in a low, heavy voice.

"We need to finish this. Right now."

Gerik silently nodded.

Once he was done speaking, Ilvern slowly began to move. It was completely different from the defensive stance he had maintained throughout the battle.

Holding up his ash-gray mace and shield, he charged straight at the Grizzly Owl.

"Rooaargh!!"

The Grizzly Owl seemed intimidated by Ilvern's approach. It hunched over further and raised its forepaws to block him. It looked terrified to anyone watching.

Boom!!!

Ilvern's ash-gray mace crashed into the creature's thick arms. A thunderous sound spread in every direction.

Yet for some reason, the Grizzly Owl only endured the strike with both arms and showed little willingness to counterattack.

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!

The attacks came again and again. Before long, wounds began to appear on the Grizzly Owl's once-sturdy arms, and it let out pained groans.

'Now...!!'

As the creature hunched over, seemingly unable to come to its senses, Gerik, who had been waiting for an opportunity nearby, spotted an opening and rushed toward its side.

"...!!"

The Grizzly Owl's gaze, which had always been fixed on Ilvern, suddenly turned toward Gerik.

As though it had been waiting for this exact moment.

'No way...!!'

The Grizzly Owl ignored the fact that one of its arms was being destroyed by Ilvern's attacks. It raised its left arm and extended its claws.

Precisely along Charge's path.

'Damn it...!!'

Gerik was sure of it. The creature had been watching him closely and waiting for an opportunity.

But there was nothing he could do.

Charge had already built up speed, and Gerik was not skilled enough to twist its trajectory while using it.

No matter what he did, death seemed inevitable.

"How dare you!!"

It lasted only an instant, but Ilvern, a veteran of countless battles, understood what was happening. His expression hardened as he roared.

He attacked with all his strength, trying somehow to lessen the fatal blow aimed at Gerik.

Boom!! Boom!!

Along with Ilvern's roar, Ash Strike slammed hard into the Grizzly Owl's right forearm.

At the same time, a horrific scream burst from its mouth.

But the Grizzly Owl glared at Gerik with hatred in its eyes and stubbornly swung its left arm at him.

Whoosh!!

A terrifying sound tore through the air. The Grizzly Owl's massive claws ripped through the air toward Gerik's torso.

Hummm...!!

At that moment, a fierce wave spread from Gerik's ring, Skyler's Quintet, and began to envelop him.

The wave distorted the space around Gerik, trying to deflect the Grizzly Owl's incoming attack.

Clang...!!

The dependable magic that had always protected Gerik in moments of crisis.

But for the first time, the magical barrier failed to block an attack, beginning to tear apart with a strange metallic sound.

Slash...!!

Thankfully, the magic was not completely pierced. But the Grizzly Owl's claws still reached Gerik's armor, sending a chilling sound through the area as they cut across his brigandine.

"Urk...!!"

Amazingly, the fine armor Grimdal had made with all his strength succeeded in keeping the Tyrant of the Forest's strike from reaching its owner's body.

But even so, the Grizzly Owl's attack, which had broken through the barrier, delivered an enormous impact to Gerik.

He was sent flying backward, as though he had been hit by a truck in his previous life.

"...Huh?!"

As he flew through the air, Gerik was grateful that he had avoided a fatal wound. Then he suddenly sensed that the air around him had changed and looked around.

To his horror, there was no ground beneath him.

It was a cliff within the ruins.

Gerik instinctively reached out and twisted his body, trying to grab onto anything.

But nothing touched his hands.

The air from the cliff rushed past his ears, as though whispering that death was about to come.

'I have to do something...!!'

If this continued, he would definitely die.

Gerik gritted his teeth and turned his head toward the cliff in front of him.

'If I can just reach over there...!!'

In that brief moment, as Gerik searched for a way to survive, the skill Charge came to mind.

'Maybe... if I use Charge, I can reach the cliff?'

It was physically absurd, but for some reason, Gerik felt that it might be possible.