Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

Chapter 110: The Invasion of Evil (3)

“A revelation? Have you suddenly found faith in a god?”

Arkamis scoffed.

Butler smiled without any particular reaction, lifting his sword.

“Tsk.”

Arkamis clicked her tongue.

Though she feigned calm, the situation was dire.

Arkamis stomped her foot.

Boom!

The domain began to move.

The defensive spells and catalysts she had prearranged activated, launching an attack on the enemy.

This was the power wielded by an alchemist of her caliber within her domain.

Even for someone like Maximus, it was a highly dangerous assault.

But Butler casually swung his greatsword.

Slash!

The domain was cleaved.

The overwhelming force noticeably weakened.

Butler extended his sword, and a wind imbued with darkness swept through the domain, completely neutralizing her attack.

Butler then stomped his foot, and his body instantly moved to Arkamis’ side, at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

Yet, Arkamis reacted.

She quickly waved her hand, scattering a few glittering particles into the air.

“Push him back!”

Boom!

The space itself pushed against Butler, trying to expel him from the domain.

However, Butler did not budge.

He gripped his sword tighter, and darkness began to envelop it.

Slash!

The space started to be sliced apart.

The sword slowly approached.

Arkamis had no choice but to leap away to evade.

“Damn severance,”

She cursed through gritted teeth.

Each demon had its own unique power.

Ashetiar, the Demon of Gravitas, could imbue his darkness with weight.

Butler’s power was simple: severance.

He could sever all substances in this world.

Now, Butler was cutting the connections within her domain.

The organic linkages were breaking, gradually weakening her influence.

For someone like her, who exerted control over a domain, he was the worst possible opponent.

Arkamis’ eyes darkened.

If this dragged on, she would lose.

Her entire domain would be severed and exposed defenseless.

She needed to decide the outcome before that happened.

Making up her mind, she hesitated momentarily and glanced at the house behind her.

“Damn it.”

She took a deep breath, seemingly making a firm decision, and gathered all her mana.

[Move.]

Then she began issuing commands.

These were the orders of the domain’s master.

The earth, the air, the grass—all within her domain moved according to her will.

[I am your master. Gain consciousness. Acquire self-awareness and emotions. Become my power.]

Arkamis shouted fiercely.

[Tear and kill the enemy!]

Everything within her domain moved according to the master’s will.

The weeds growing haphazardly in the yard, the fence she had constructed and left unattended, the wind blowing within the domain—everything except the house gained will and moved.

They lunged to tear and kill the demon, her enemy.

“Wow!”

Ketal, who was watching, exclaimed in admiration.

It was because this spectacle was reminiscent of Nano’s attack.

Whereas Nano had replaced everything within a range and then returned them to attack, Arkamis was imbuing everything within her domain with will to attack the enemy.

One elf was mimicking the heterogeneity of the Forbidden Lands to a degree.

‘This is the power of an alchemist at their peak.’

Ketal was impressed.

“Hmm.”

Butler’s expression turned serious, perhaps indicating that this attack would not be easily thwarted.

Crunch.

Butler drove his sword into the ground and murmured softly,

“Sever.”

The power moved according to his command.

Thousands of blades manifested in an instant, cutting down everything that approached.

A storm of blades shredded the entire approaching domain.

Arkamis mustered mana to its limits.

She exerted all her strength to break through Butler’s defense.

Slash!

Not all the surging attacks could be severed.

Butler’s defense began to slowly give way.

“Hup.”

Butler gripped his greatsword and put all his strength into it.

He swung it, and the blade of darkness condensed into a single point before bursting out.

The two forces, reaching their limits, exploded against each other, sending shockwaves throughout the forest.

Boom…

The power subsided.

Arkamis, exhausted, collapsed to her knees.

She had literally used every last bit of her mana, leaving her with no energy to spare.

She raised her trembling head.

“Ah….”

A sigh escaped her lips.

Butler was still standing there.

Of course, he was not unscathed.

Half of his head was blown off, and his upper body was riddled with holes.

Both arms were missing.

But Butler was a demon.

He was not a being of this world.

Even without territorialization, he wouldn’t fall easily.

His body slowly began to regenerate to its original form.

Butler approached Arkamis with a sadistic smile on his face.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die until you are offered as a sacrifice. But I can cut off your limbs to ensure you can’t resist.”

“Go to hell,”

Arkamis retorted sarcastically.

Despite the hopeless situation, her attitude remained unchanged.

Butler raised his greatsword.

Arkamis did not look away.

At that moment, a voice echoed.

“Would you mind waiting a moment?”

* * *

The door opened, and Ketal emerged.

He started to walk.

Butler hesitated at the sudden appearance of Ketal, allowing Ketal to approach Arkamis without interference.

“Are you alright?”

“….”

Arkamis stared blankly up at Ketal.

She then grimaced.

“Ke-Ketal! What are you doing? Why did you come out suddenly?”

She was bewildered, unable to understand Ketal’s actions.

“I didn’t use the house because of you!”

When she attacked Butler using her entire domain, the house where Ketal was staying didn’t move an inch.

The house was the structure she had paid the most attention to within the domain.

It had been treated with all sorts of alchemical processes, making it capable of stronger attacks if utilized.

But she excluded the house when exerting all her power for a simple reason: Ketal was inside.

If she had used the house, Ketal inside wouldn’t have remained unharmed.

The house would have shattered, decomposed, and compressed, killing him instantly.

Even if she lost, she had planned to escape somehow.

Thus, she had excluded the house while controlling the entire domain.

But now he had come out on his own, exposing himself to danger!

“Ah, is that why?”

He had wondered why the house remained intact while she manipulated the entire domain.

He hadn’t realized that was the reason.

‘I feel a bit guilty now.’

He had been enjoying watching Arkamis fight, not realizing her consideration for him.

“…Thank you. Well, don’t worry. From now on, leave it to me.”

Ketal smiled warmly.

“A disciple shouldn’t abandon their master and run away.”

“What are you talking about…?”

Arkamis muttered in a weakened voice.

Butler, who had been silently watching Ketal, spoke.

“You seem to have just discovered the mystery.”

“Oh, can you sense that?”

Ketal brightened up.

Everyone he had met so far had said they couldn’t sense the mystery.

But Butler had recognized that he had discovered the mystery.

It meant that his recent attainment of the mystery was significant.

Ketal was pleased.

‘Why is he so happy?’

Butler, seeing Ketal’s attitude, was puzzled.

The barbarian who had suddenly appeared didn’t seem strong at all.

Judging by the mystery he sensed, Ketal seemed to be at best a third-rate.

Although Ketal possessed a significant amount of mystery, Butler could only perceive him as such due to his unique physicality.

But his attitude was far too carefree.

Despite facing a demon, he showed no sign of fear.

It was as if he was detached from this world.

Butler’s eyes darkened as he watched Ketal for a moment.

He didn’t know what kind of being this barbarian was.

However, his revelation didn’t mention anything about a barbarian.

It meant that he was less significant than dust, unable to become a variable.

In that case, there was nothing to worry about.

He would simply kill the meddler.

‘A simpleton who doesn’t even grasp the situation.’

Butler raised his greatsword.

“Die.”

He swung the greatsword at a very fast speed.

Unless one was a superhuman, it was impossible to respond.

“No, don’t…”

Arkamis muttered weakly, helpless to do anything.

In her mind, she saw Ketal falling to the ground.

“Hmm.”

But Ketal calmly extended his hand.

The greatsword stopped in Ketal’s grasp.

Butler’s eyes widened.

“Wha—”

He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Ketal’s fist struck his chest, punching a hole through Butler’s body.

Boom!

Butler’s body rolled on the ground.

The impact shook the forest, causing leaves to fall as the wind burst through.

“Hmm.”

Ketal nodded.

“Tougher than Ashetiar.”

“…What?”

Arkamis gaped in astonishment.

* * *

‘W-Wait a second.’

What did I just see?

The demon she couldn’t defeat even with all her might was sent flying with a single punch from Ketal.

“W-What?”

She couldn’t keep up with the sudden turn of events.

At that moment, evil arose.

Butler, having rapidly regained his original form, struck down at Ketal from above with his sword.

“Oops.”

Ketal easily dodged by turning his body to the side and moved his foot.

Crack.

Butler’s upper and lower body separated.

But it was meaningless as his body rapidly regenerated.

Butler reached out to grab Ketal’s neck, intending to snap it with all his strength.

But then Butler’s eyes wavered.

His hand was brimming with enough power to crush even powerful defensive magic.

But Ketal’s neck remained unchanged.

Ketal grabbed Butler’s hand and crushed it.

He then slammed Butler into the ground and swung his fist.

Boom boom boom!

The ground shook.

Butler’s body was pulverized into dust.

“You…”

Butler regenerated a short distance away.

Ketal whistled.

“You really don’t die, do you.”

Evil beings couldn’t be killed unless one wielded mystic power.

While Ketal had obtained mystic power, it seemed he couldn’t utilize it.

“…”

Butler was bewildered.

He was being overwhelmed.

By a barbarian who couldn’t even wield mystic power, purely through brute strength.

‘Why did such a being appear out of nowhere?’

There was no mention of this in the prophecy.

Butler’s expression suddenly changed as if he understood something.

He opened his mouth.

“You. You’re the barbarian Ashetiar mentioned.”

“Oh? You know me?”

“I heard about you directly from her. I thought it was nonsense… but to think it was true.”

A human who could defeat demons without wielding mystic power.

He thought such a being couldn’t exist, but here he was, standing right before him.

Butler let out a hollow laugh.

“You are indeed strong. Unusual.”

Butler picked up his greatsword.

“But even so, you are just someone who can’t wield mystic power. You cannot defeat me.”

Ketal had defeated Ashetiar.

But that was merely a matter of compatibility.

Ashetiar’s power was pure physical strength.

Even without knowledge of mystic power, it could be broken with greater physical strength.

In contrast, Butler’s power was severance.

No matter how tough the steel, if it was a mere substance, he could sever anything.

If one could wield mystic power, they could counter it, but without that, it was meaningless.

Butler’s greatsword was imbued with the power to sever all things.

Step.

Butler charged at Ketal.

As the greatsword swung towards him, Ketal clenched his fist.

Butler believed without a doubt that the fist would be split in two.

The power of severance met an ordinary, powerless fist.

Crack.

The greatsword shattered.

Ketal’s fist slammed into Butler’s face.