Barbarian in a Failed Game

Thanks to his abysmal intelligence stat, the situation was turning in his favor. Khan had experienced similar situations before but chose to ignore them for now.

‘Well, maybe it’s a fox spirit concept or something.’

For now, the immediate situation was more important. Kurtank was a demonkin with a fox’s face and a human body. Her abilities seemed to be charm-related, with no apparent limit on the number of targets.

Once ensnared, it appeared that her victims couldn’t refuse her commands, and their reasoning seemed to dull.

“Heh…”

“Lord Kurtank…”

Considering that even Yoro had become dazed, Kurtank’s abilities were certainly dangerous. But they had no effect on Khan.

‘Which means there’s a way to use this to my advantage.’

Even at this moment, Khan was thinking of countless ways to utilize Kurtank’s abilities. He could have her gather useful demonkins and find the dimensional rift, saving a lot of time. Or he could enlist the demonkin generals to fend off Aecharis’s pursuers.

“First, let’s start with introductions. You there… the one with the gray skin. You seem the most useful of the lot.”

Kurtank commanded with a seductive smile, unaware of Khan’s inner machinations.

‘She noticed?’

Despite her arrogance, she had a keen eye. Most demonkins he had encountered gauged strength based on size and physical traits.

Like Yoro, Tulkan, and the other demonkins of Residence No. 17, who had dismissed Khan as a lesser demonkin due to his small stature and plain body.

But Kurtank was different. She had accurately identified Khan as the strongest among Yoro, Tulkan, and himself.

‘Sharp instincts. And useful abilities.’

He made a decision. Though the moment was brief, it was more than enough time for Khan to decide Kurtank’s fate. He resolved to keep the fox demonkin alive, and unknowingly, Kurtank’s life was spared.

“Where do you rank among the generals?”

“…Who are you?”

“I asked you a question.”

Step—

A demonkin completely enthralled would not move without Kurtank’s permission. But Khan took a step towards her carriage without any hesitation.

“Minions…!”

This highly alarmed Kurtank. Never before had she encountered a sentient being entirely unaffected by her abilities, and she immediately commanded the surrounding demonkins to subdue Khan.

Crash—!!

Even the demonkins as large as trolls were knocked down like leaves in the wind. Attempting to seize Khan, they were all felled by a mere punch.

‘What the…!’

Internally screaming, Kurtank kicked away from her carriage. With a single leap, she retreated dozens of steps, proving that her physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary demonkins, not just her mental powers.

“Stop him─!”

And then, the true extent of her abilities was revealed. Dozens of demonkins and beasts charged at Khan in unison, like a single organism. They did not rush at him chaotically; instead, they formed a meticulously trained formation.

Giant centipede-like beasts attacked first, supported by demonkins of various forms in a wedge formation.

‘Impressive.’

A faint smile formed at the corners of Khan’s mouth. On the other hand, Kurtank felt a chill from that smile. These were dozens of demonkin elites, each capable of ruling a residence, supported by five giant centipede beasts that could easily swallow ten such demonkins.

Even for a general of the same legion, this was a formidable force. Kurtank, certain of her victory as always, had expected to watch from afar with an arrogant smile, mocking her struggling opponent.

However—

Crash—!!

With the same loud sound as before, the giant centipede beast’s torso was severed. Green fluids splattered everywhere, momentarily obscuring Khan’s figure with the beast’s corpse.

In that instant, all the demonkins lost sight of Khan.

“Above!”

Kurtank, observing the battlefield from a distance, was the exception. Her voice, imbued with some kind of demonkinic influence, caused dozens of eyes to snap upward simultaneously.

Hovering above, a barbarian wielding an axe and a magic sword twisted his body mid-air.

『Too late─!』

Khan’s war cry caused a momentary paralysis among the demonkins as he reversed his body in the air. Stepping onto a wind spirit’s platform, he plunged towards the ground like a cannonball, swinging his axe just before hitting the earth.

Boom.

Crack, crack, crack—!!

The solid ground of the Blood Domain erupted, and shattered fragments shot up like daggers in every direction. It was akin to firing hundreds, thousands of projectiles in all directions. The sheer aftermath killed over a dozen demonkins who lacked solid skin.

The greatest impact, however, was the total annihilation of the centipede beasts that were supposed to act as a shield.

“No…!”

A scream burst from Kurtank’s lips. In an instant, she had lost all the centipede beasts she had painstakingly gathered over several decades in the Blood Domain. And the realization that they had failed to even scratch her opponent plunged her into deeper despair.

She had to abandon all pride and choose to flee.

“Stop him! Stop him at all costs!”

With a desperate scream that nearly tore her throat, Kurtank turned her back. It was clear she intended to escape while her minions died trying to stop Khan. Naturally, Khan wasn’t one to passively observe.

『Leap』

Stepping forward with his left foot as if stomping the ground with his toes, Khan’s form shot forward, breaking through the demonkin’s encirclement.

He needed no special techniques. He rammed with his shoulder, cleaved with Unyielding, and slashed with Draupnir.

Slash. Splatter!

Blood sprayed in the wake of Khan’s passage.

And once more.

Squelch. Boom!

With another leap, the demonkins were torn apart and scattered, and Khan caught up to Kurtank, grinning.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“No way…!”

A malevolent glint appeared in Kurtank’s eyes, and the ground beneath Khan’s feet began to writhe. Even before he could leap away from the ominous signs, something burst through the earth.

“If you thought I’d just run away, you underestimated me─!”

Khan’s downward glance met the sight of a circular maw filled with saw-like teeth, attached to a cylindrical body easily over ten meters long. One of the Blood Domain’ apex predators, a Bloodworm, sprang up from beneath and swallowed Khan whole.

“Hahaha…! Do you think I’d come here alone relying just on those?!”

The Bloodworm was a massive beast Kurtank had managed to tame over her lifetime wandering the Blood Domain. It was the true force that had earned her the rank of general. Only a slim few knew about her control over the Bloodworm.

‘Anyone who’s seen the Bloodworm has died…!’

Once unleashed, it was a do-or-die trump card.

That was the Bloodworm.

Inside its stomach, there was no escape. The moment one was swallowed, the corrosive acids inside would dissolve even demonkinic skin, leaving no trace behind.

“Huff. Huff!”

Only then did Kurtank cease her desperate flight, calming her ragged breaths. When was the last time she felt death so closely? At least several hundred years, she figured, making the experience all the more bewildering.

‘Why is such a monster in this remote area…?’

The outer regions of the Blood Domain were typically assigned to lesser demonkins, considered little more than slaves. While occasionally useful individuals emerged, most sought to join the legion at the heart of the Blood Domain for better prospects.

Naturally, few forces could threaten a general like Kurtank; any that could were routinely charmed or eliminated through her mental abilities. But now, such a monster had suddenly appeared.

‘And right after the legion issued reconnaissance orders….’

Coincidence? Hardly.

No matter how she thought about it, it wasn’t a coincidence. The legion had already exiled her to the outskirts, wary of her charm abilities.

‘Those cowards, did they decide to kill me now?’

With a sneer, Kurtank slowly walked back the way she had come. Unlike the gray demonkin who had almost killed her, the other two demonkins were left dazed under her charm. She intended to interrogate the two to uncover the mastermind behind this incident.

‘And if the legion really is behind this…’

She would then bring out the option of independence she had buried deep in her heart. Kurtank’s expression grew colder as she passed the Bloodworm.

Gurgle. Gurgle.

An unusual sound reached her ears.

“Bloodworm…?”

The Bloodworm’s body seemed to squirm as if trying to digest the prey it had swallowed. Kurtank stopped and reached out to check the Bloodworm’s condition.

Rip!

With a sound like tearing fabric, the famously tough skin of the Bloodworm split open. And from within, a red, cooked-looking Khan appeared, grabbing Kurtank’s hand.

“Got you.”

Kurtank was so shocked she forgot to breathe, unable to even swallow. She tried to pull away, but Khan’s grip was relentless. Instead, he dragged her close, wrapping his arm around her neck and starting to choke her.

“G-gagh…!”

The pressure was enough to burst a head. Khan was exerting precisely that much force. But Kurtank had no time to think about that. Her vision blurred, and strength drained from her limbs.

‘I must escape…!’

Kurtank frantically struggled. She wrapped her six tails around Khan’s legs, trying to throw him off balance, and scratched at his red-cooked arm with her nails to free herself from his grip.

“Sleep for now.”

But her efforts were in vain. Khan effortlessly added a bit more strength to nullify all resistance. In the rapidly fading consciousness, Kurtank realized something.

‘This strength… It’s the power of a Hell Monarch…!’

The man overpowering her contained a fragment of a Hell Monarch’s power within him. It wasn’t a hallucination. It couldn’t be. There was a being with similar power ruling the central Blood Domain.

The current true ruler of the Blood Domain in the absence of Esperus.

‘This gray demonkin is a descendant of that Hell Monarch…!’

As Kurtank reached this shocking revelation, her vision went dark.

Crunch.

Darkness engulfed her sight.