Roooar!
The barbarians bellowed their battle cries at Zeke, their eyes unfocused.
Zeke realized that even the barbarians had been brainwashed.
"Crazy imperial bastards. I didnʼt expect them to mess with the Barbarians too." Just as he had done with the merfolk, Zeke pulled out Roland and cast Recovery.
Woooong!
The light of Recovery spread out widely as an Area Buff.
But unlike the merfolk, the barbarians didnʼt regain their senses even under the Recovery skill.
Groooar!
It was as if the barbariansʼ bodies, with their strong resistance to magic, were repelling even Zekeʼs Recovery.
"No choice. Iʼll have to subdue them first."
Zeke stored his sword in his inventory and drew the Giant-Slayer.
When dealing with large opponents like barbarians, blunt weapons like the Giant-Slayer were the way to go.
Zeke swung the Giant-Slayer, infused with metal power, at the charging barbarian who let out a monstrous roar.
Whoosh!
The Giant-Slayer pierced the air and struck the barbarianʼs body.
Boom!
The barbarian, who had tried to block the Giant-Slayer with his bare body, was sent flying.
Then, another barbarian leaped high into the air from the side, aiming to smash down on Zeke with both fists.
Boom boom!
But Zeke evaded the barbarianʼs attack with Illusionary Footwork. The ground cratered deeply from the sheer force packed into those fists.
Zeke clicked his tongue at the immense power and raised the Giant-Slayer high before slamming it down.
Crash!
The barbarian, struck squarely on the back of the head with the Giant-Slayer, collapsed unconscious on the spot.
It twitched as if its neck had snapped, but as long as it was still breathing, Zeke didnʼt pay it much mind.
The remaining barbarian, though berserk from brainwashing, seemed to instinctively fear Zeke holding the Giant-Slayer.
It hesitated, not charging in right away, and Zeke approached it.
"Where do you think youʼre going? You get a fair hit too." Zeke charged at the fleeing barbarian, Giant-Slayer in hand.
The heavy Giant-Slayer targeted the barbarianʼs lower body.
Whoooosh!
The barbarian dodged the attack by leaping into the air with its characteristic elastic movement.
But Zekeʼs assault didnʼt end there.
The Giant-Slayer, which had swung horizontally, suddenly changed direction and swept upward from below.
It connected perfectly with the jaw of the barbarian that had been lunging at Zeke.
Crack!
It was a devastating blow that felt like it could rip the neck clean off.
The barbarians collapsed, all sprawled out on the ground after taking the Giant-Slayer.
Zeke dragged the fallen barbarians over and cast Purification, Recovery, and healing together.
Golden aura and white light seeped into the barbariansʼ bodies.
Soon, the unconscious barbarians began to stir.
Unlike before, focus returned to their eyes.
"Urgh... my jaw hurts."
"Mineʼs my neck."
"Mineʼs my whole body."
As they shared their pains with each other, the barbarians spotted Zeke looking down at them and were startled. "A human?"
"Whyʼs a human here?"
Zeke looked at the barbarians and said,
"Thatʼs what I want to ask you guys."
The barbarians were shocked to see a human who could speak their language.
"You speak our tongue?" Zeke nodded.
"Yeah. Learned it from the Rock Tribe."
At the mention of the Rock Tribe, the barbarians lit up with excitement.
"How do you know the Rock Tribe?"
Zeke thought for a moment before saying,
"Big Fist is my little brother. I went to their village last time and took down the NineHeaded Dragon."
The barbariansʼ eyes widened at the mention of slaying the Nine-Headed Dragon, and they stared at Zeke.
"Nine-Headed Dragon? You donʼt mean Snip-Snip Big Bro Zeke?" Zeke was already famous among the barbarians.
It was an odd name, but Zeke decided to just roll with it.
"Yeah. Iʼm Snip-Snip Big Bro Zeke."
The barbarians rose in admiration and shook hands with Zeke.
"Ooh, Snip-Snip Big Bro Zeke. Nice to meet you."
"Weʼve heard a lot about you from the Rock Tribe."
"This is wild. Weʼre from the Mohakin Tribe. Weʼre gonna brag about meeting you back at the village."
Zeke learned that these were from the Mohakin Tribe, with whom he had ties in his previous life.
He asked the barbarians,
"Nice to meet you too. But what are you doing here?"
The barbarians clutched their heads and said,
"I donʼt remember."
"I do. We were hunting in the forest when a black guy did something to us."
Zeke approached the barbarian who remembered and asked,
"By black guy, you mean a mage?"
"Yeah, a mage. He had a staff."
It was clear that a Wizard of Narak had captured the barbarians for experiments.
"Barbarians repel not just aura but magic too. How did they catch them?" It was nearly impossible to harm barbarians with ordinary magic.
Zeke pondered briefly and decided to investigate in detail after escaping this place.
He cast a healing buff on the barbarians.
"Ooh, powerʼs surging."
"Snip-Snip Big Bro Zeke is the best."
"Amazing, amazing."
The barbarians reacted enthusiastically to the power flowing from Zeke.
Zeke said to them,
"If you come with me, Iʼll get you home."
The barbarians nodded at Zekeʼs words.
Zeke explained the situation in detail, and they agreed to help him take down the monsters.
"Groooar!"
The barbarians bellowed battle cries and punched toward the monsters.
Even high-risk-class monsters were just a meal to the barbarians once caught.
With the barbariansʼ help, Zeke could block the monsters from the side more easily.
He shouted to the barbarians,
"Donʼt go too deep! Follow me!"
At Zekeʼs words, the barbarians tossed aside the monsters whose necks they had twisted and followed behind him.
*
Up front, the Song of the Crouched Flame and Helen were sweeping through the monsters, carving a path.
"Haaah!"
As Helen swung her Dragon Buster, a monster struck by the sword strike split in half and tumbled to the ground.
Seeing Helenʼs sword strike, the tiger beastman assault captain who had been about to charge at her breathed a sigh of relief.
"Better not mess with her."
As he flinched, Helen raised her Dragon Buster and shouted,
"Over there! Ogres incoming!"
At her words, the assault captain led his beastmen to block the ogres.
"Haat! Die!"
The assault captain slashed at the ogres with his sharp claws.
As beastmen who submitted utterly to the strong, he was already obediently following Helenʼs orders.
Meanwhile, the Song of the Crouched Flame matched Helenʼs pace, smashing the heads of charging monsters with his iron club.
Thanks to Helen and the Song of the Crouched Flameʼs efforts, the unit broke through the monsters and entered the wasteland area.
Zeke, who had been holding the side with the barbarians, saw the unit advancing and drew the holy sword Roland to spread Recovery as an Area Buff.
The Recovery skill washed over the monsters.
Unlike the barbarians, the berserk monsters charging in immediately had their brainwashing lifted by Zekeʼs Recovery.
The monsters, freed from their awakened state by Zekeʼs Recovery, began scattering to hide according to their instincts.
Monsters that didnʼt form packs could be handled sufficiently by the Zoin Tribe in the ghetto district.
The barbarians, watching the monsters flee, asked Zeke,
"Snip-Snip Big Bro Zeke, we not chasing them?" Zeke shook his head.
"No need. More importantly, I have a question."
"Whatʼs up?"
"Any other comrades of yours captured?"
At Zekeʼs question, the barbarians looked at each other and tilted their heads.
"Uh, not sure."
After a moment, Zeke, deep in thought, said to the barbarians,
"Mind if I take a look at your memories?" The barbarians nodded readily.
Zeke immediately used his Dragonʼs Senses skill to probe the barbariansʼ memories.
"The memories arenʼt intact. Probably from the drugs."
Examining the fragmented memories with Dragonʼs Senses, it seemed there were a few more captured barbarians besides these.
With the knights properly deployed, subduing the monsters wouldnʼt be too hard.
But barbarians were different.
It took at least an Aura Blade to inflict a fatal wound on them.
Ordinary swords could barely scratch their tough bodies.
"They prepared heavy siege weapons for this. The empireʼs gone mad, capturing Barbarians too."
Zeke planned to inform the Rock Tribe of this and persuade them to borrow the barbariansʼ power.
With the barbarians joining the camp, theyʼd be a tremendous force.
Zeke roughly outlined the plan and followed the unit with the barbarians.
*
Even at a brisk pace, it would take three days to reach the ravine at the entrance to the Autonomous District.
Moreover, after dark, nocturnal monsters roamed, so pushing on recklessly would be dangerous.
The Song of the Crouched Flame found a suitable spot for camp.
The group set up camp in a secluded area shielded by rocks and cliffs, eating monster jerky while resting.
When Zeke first brought the barbarians, the Zoin Tribe and beastmen were startled, causing a small commotion, but they soon relaxed upon realizing they were allies.
Moreover, seeing Zeke pull even the barbarians—who never acknowledged other races —to his side increased their trust in him.
From the phoenix, a divine beast, to the unyielding barbarians, they realized he was no ordinary human.
The barbarians butchered and devoured several of the captured monsters whole.
Their sturdy bodies showed no ill effects from the monstersʼ tough, venomous meat.
Zeke offered them a chunk of purified meat, but they found it bland and didnʼt care for it.
After the meal, they decided to take turns standing watch to keep monsters at bay.
Zeke set up a separate spot in the rock crevice for Helen and the knights, pulling out camping gear to make a camp.
Helen appreciated Zekeʼs consideration.
Zeke and Helen shared a tent, and once inside, Helen, looking exhausted, immediately dismantled her armor. The pieces promptly attached to the Dragon Buster one by one.
Zeke, watching from the side, asked curiously,
"Should I consider that armor Hercion too?" Helen shook her head.
"Hercion requires a separate drive formula, but this is designed for those with the bloodline ability of magnetism like me, so itʼs different."
Helenʼs maternal family, the Millaris Family, was one of Thebeaʼs venerable knight houses.
Alongside the Solma Family, they had guarded the Thebea Kingdom, famous for their secret swordsmanship using magnetism.
They could hurl swords with magnetism or have shields float to block blades automatically—Zeke had heard of their bizarre techniques but never seen them.
As a pureblood direct descendant of Draker, Helen hadnʼt inherited the Millaris secrets, but she possessed the bloodline ability and had applied it to the Dragon Slaying Technique to create the applied form "Steel Technique."
If Helen became a red knight, her Steel Technique would become one of Drakerʼs special techniques.
But since Steel Technique required the bloodline ability of magnetism, it was likely to be passed to a child inheriting her traits.
Helen sat on the field bed and said to Zeke,
"Itʼs ironic that the first time we can talk leisurely is on a battlefield."
"As knights, itʼs unavoidable, isnʼt it?"
As Helen smiled wryly, the phoenix reappeared on Zekeʼs shoulder.
It flapped its wings and flew straight to Helenʼs bosom.
Zeke clicked his tongue at the phoenix, which seemed particularly fond of Helen.
"You little rascal. Sis needs to rest, so come over here."
The phoenix shook its head stubbornly and burrowed into Helenʼs embrace.
Helen stroked the phoenix and said,
"Itʼs amazing that this beautiful creature is a divine beast. Have you named it yet?"
Zeke shook his head.
"I tried a few names, but it didnʼt like any and pecked my head hard with its beak. For a bird, itʼs ridiculously picky."
The phoenix spread its wings as if to say it wasnʼt an ordinary bird, shaking its beautiful tail and feathers.
Zeke shook his head again at the sight.
Helen, stroking the phoenixʼs feathers, said,
"Itʼs a precious divine beast, so give it a wonderful name."
"Iʼll think about it based on what this one does." But then.
Grrrrr—
A monstrous roar echoed from outside.
It was a sound Zeke recognized.
"Thatʼs the cry of a magical beast."