I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 107: In the Land of the Dead (3)

Becoming a Demon Doesn’t Eliminate Reproductive Abilities.

In fact, it almost seems like their reproductive capabilities increase. Once they turn into demons, even creatures of different species can breed and produce offspring.

Daeun’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she listened to me.

“That’s fascinating. How is that even possible when they’re from different species?”

How would I know?

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not a demonologist or a biologist.”

“Oh, right...”

Of course, having lived in this world, I naturally know more than Daeun, but knowledge is a separate matter altogether.

It’s probably no different on Earth.

The reason I brought it up was that while dealing with the demons charging at us, the thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“This place must have been nice to live in once.”

Judging by how overrun it is with demons now.

They charged at us incessantly, as if delighted to find prey that wasn’t tainted with miasma.

Like this...

Slash.

A light slicing sound echoed as I cut down a demon that lunged at me, its head flying through the air.

The demon that had been rushing with its maw wide open died with its greed-filled eyes still open.

Its body would serve as food for the other hungry demons.

An ironic end for a creature that lunged to feed and ended up being food itself.

“What a nuisance.”

It’s wasteful to keep leaking mana, and taking down each one is a chore.

It would be nice if they would just avoid us on their own, but can’t they sense their place?

If wild animals are supposed to have a strong instinct to sense danger, it seems that’s not always the case.

“Maybe they just see you as easy prey, Kana, because you’re small and cute!”

“Makes sense.”

“W-What?!”

Daeun’s eyes widened.

“Does that mean you’re finally admitting you’re cute, Kana?”

“...Are you talking nonsense again?”

“Nonsense? You just agreed it makes sense...”

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

Daeun seemed to have a huge misunderstanding, so I kindly cleared it up for her.

“I was talking about the ‘easy prey’ part. Isn’t that why Journey can say I’m small so confidently?”

“...”

Daeun clamped her mouth shut.

Seeing her eyes darting around, she seemed to be searching for a way to escape the situation.

Then, she closed her eyes tightly.

“If telling the truth is a crime...!! I’ll accept the punishment!”

“...Alright, sure.”

Her determined tone, as if she were a knight stepping into a battlefield, made me feel deflated.

I knew the proper response was to ignore her obvious joking, but ideals and reality are always different.

“Hmm...”

I started measuring, inch by inch.

“What are you doing?”

“Measuring.”

“Measuring what?”

“How much I need to cut to match your height.”

I figured about this much?

As I held my fingers apart and tilted my head, a weight clung to my waist.

“Spare me!”

“A small cut won’t kill you. Plenty of people live without a leg.”

“There’s also something called shock that kills people! Lots of people die from leg amputations!”

“Is that so? I didn’t know. How about the upper part, then? It doesn’t matter as long as your overall height is reduced.”

“That would kill me for sure! No chance of revival!”

“But Journey always revives, right?”

“Oh... I didn’t think about that.”

“Caught me off guard,” Daeun muttered.

Usually, when we had conversations like this, Selene would intervene, and this time was no exception.

“Both of you, that’s enough playing around.”

“Playing?”

“...It was just playing, right? Please, tell me it was.”

“Uh-huh... Yeah, it was just playing around.”

Even though I said what she wanted, Daeun still looked uncertain.

But it wasn’t my job to alleviate all her worries, so I drew my sword, not to perform a height-reducing surgery on Daeun, but to deal with the incoming creatures drooling as they charged.

It was only natural that the monsters’ heads soon went flying.

A new day dawned, and we continued our journey toward the center.

We’d walked quite a distance, and the miasma pressing down on us was much denser than it had been by the shore.

Not to mention, the creatures attacking us were significantly stronger.

Shhhk!

A massive shadow loomed over us.

It was moving fast enough to leave an afterimage, but my eyes didn’t miss its true form.

A huge claw, saturated with miasma.

If it even grazed me, I might succumb to miasma poisoning.

Though most would likely die from being split in two before that even became a concern.

As I thought about it, I didn’t attempt to block or evade the incoming claw.

The moment it was about to touch me...

Boom!

A golden light flashed, and the claw that had been rushing toward me came to an abrupt halt.

-Grargh?

The monster’s face twisted in confusion as it stared at the golden barrier that had appeared out of nowhere.

The transition from a menacing look to bewilderment was quite amusing.

“You don’t get it? It’s okay; you don’t need to.”

I’m not the type to explain things to the dead.

And while some people have a fixation with corpses, I’m definitely not one of them.

Clang.

Thud!

As I sheathed my sword and turned away from the demon, I heard a heavy thud behind me, but I didn’t bother to look back.

Daeun burst into applause.

“Did I do it right?”

“Yes! True strength is shown by not looking back at explosions.”

“...Is that so?”

I followed her request, but I still didn’t understand what was significant about it.

Romantic notions are hard to grasp.

“That’s what makes them romantic, right?”

“Hmm... I suppose so.”

If Daeun said so, then that must be it.

As long as the client was satisfied, it was fine, wasn’t it?

I dismissed the unsolvable question and turned to Selene.

“Thanks to you, that was easy. I appreciate it.”

“No need to thank me. I just did what I was supposed to.”

Initially, I intended to handle the demons charging at us alone.

But after a series of attacks, Selene had made a proposal.

“It may not be much help... but would it be alright if I assisted you during battles, Kana?”

At first, I refused Selene’s offer.

Whether they attacked in groups or didn’t give us a moment’s rest, they weren’t a threat, just an annoyance.

In such a situation, enlisting Selene’s help felt excessive and inefficient.

“Wouldn’t it be more of an efficient investment than an excessive one? Tasks that require three units of strength when done alone can often be completed with just one each when done by two people. Also, it makes me feel guilty to just watch you fight.”

I wanted to keep her power in reserve just in case, but I couldn’t argue when she said, “Wouldn’t the same apply to you, Kana?”

With Daeun also supporting her, I eventually allowed Selene to join in.

It was two against one; I couldn’t argue with that.

Since I knew firsthand how valuable a healer’s support was in battle, I didn’t have much reason to insist otherwise.

In practice, being able to attack without worrying about injuries made dealing with the monsters a lot easier.

I could focus all my energy on offense without needing to spare any for evasion or defense.

“You certainly live up to the title of apprentice saintess.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Kana. You’re quite the fighter yourself.”

“Fighting’s all I’ve ever done, so of course I’d be good at it.”

“Well, I’ve trained my body for years to serve Edel, so naturally, I excel too.”

“...You really don’t let anything slide.”

Our exchange was essentially mutual praise, yet somehow, Selene’s words were annoyingly unyielding.

She smiled softly, hiding her mouth with her hand, her trademark laugh escaping.

I shook my head and recalled our original goal, which I’d temporarily forgotten due to the recent attack.

A house standing a short distance from the road.

We were planning to check it out.

“Still empty, I see.”

I peeked inside and confirmed it.

There was no need to feel guilty about peeking into someone else’s house without permission.

There was no door to knock on, nor was there a homeowner to grant permission.

Beyond where the door once stood, there were no signs of life or habitation.

“Cough, cough! Ugh, so dusty... Selene, do you have a spell to clear out dust?”

“I-I could try creating one...”

“Oh, no! No need to go that far...”

After surveying the furniture covered in layers of dust, I stepped outside.

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Even though I left a dirty place for a clean one, the thick miasma made it hard to feel refreshed.

The closer we got to the center, the more frequently we saw abandoned homes, a stark contrast to the outskirts of the continent.

It confirmed we were heading in the right direction, but it also added to the eerie atmosphere.

Every house we came across was deserted, without even a single rat in sight.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for people to live in the outskirts if the miasma is stronger at the center?”

That’s what I thought, yet the sight before us contradicted that notion.

While I wondered if I was mistaken, fortunately, the others didn’t seem to think much differently.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Once we reach the center, all these questions should be answered.

I cast my gaze towards the horizon, where ominous clusters of miasma swirled violently.