I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[043] Wetland Battle #1
KRAAAAAASH―!!!
A single sweep of the colossal anaconda’s tail sent enemies scattering in all directions.
The Cococura Tribe warriors exploded like beasts struck by a tank, swept up in the shockwave generated by that massive tail.
Splatter―! Crimson flesh rained down upon the water’s surface like a downpour, and the death cries of monsters that never reached completion pierced my ears.
As I stared through my thin hood at the deluge of blood and meat chunks pouring from above, an otherworldly notification chimed.
「Anaconda Lord Abos has eliminated forty Cococura Warriors in a single strike!」
「Anaconda Lord Abos has eliminated thirty-eight Cococura Warriors in a single strike!」
「Anaconda Lord Abos has eliminated twenty-nine Cococura Warriors in a single strike!」
「The Wetland Serpent snorts dismissively. To her, the master of this wetland, such matters are nothing if she merely wills it!」
‘I… I had no idea it would be this overwhelming….’
I realized that even the overwhelming pressure I’d felt when we first met had been her showing restraint for our sake.
─Hissssss∼!
Pleased by my reaction, the anaconda hissed with delight and surged forward with terrifying speed across the wetland.
The Cococura Warriors froze like stone where the serpent’s sinister form touched them, and with each sweep of her tail, countless bodies burst apart helplessly.
Waves carved by her passage overturned the wetland, and each strike against the banks crumbled the sandy shores, reshaping the very terrain.
The Cococura spearmen desperately pressed forward, thrusting their spear points at her, but only shallow scratches appeared on her hardened scales.
One-sided domination with no cunning tactics or clever stratagems in sight!
Merciless slaughter born from overwhelming physical superiority!
「Due to your allied status, a portion of the experience points defeated by the Wetland Serpent transfers to you!」
「Your stats surge dramatically due to the terror permeating the battlefield!」
As I stood transfixed by the spectacle, the shockwave of destruction came rushing toward us as a tsunami.
“W-waves incoming!! Everyone hold on tight!!”
“Aaaaagh! Damn it! Just thrashing about a little and it’s already this catastrophic…!”
Sending Abos separately to crush our enemies had been a wise decision.
Had we fought alongside her, we would have drowned in this wetland together with the Cococura Warriors before the battle even truly began.
However, the commotion had alerted the Kokokurah Horde hiding nearby, and they glared at us with weapons drawn.
「The Cococura Tribe has discovered you hiding between the Mangrove Roots!」
「They regard you with eyes full of hatred!」
「They will never allow you, the one who brought this calamity upon them, to escape this wetland unscathed.」
“They’re coming…!”
As the adventurers who’d been swept away by the waves crawled back onto the raft, I drew my longsword and shouted.
“Everyone focus! We cannot let those monsters surround us! Malton!”
“Got it! I’ll hold the front line and block their assault!”
“Radi! Snipe from a distance! We don’t know what equipment effects they possess, so keep them from closing in as much as possible!”
“Leave it to me!!”
Radi nimbly climbed the mast and raised her crossbow.
As she began sniping through the mechanical sight, I piloted the raft forward, riding the current.
‘I need to draw them away from the main group…!’
In our previous battle, the Cococura Tribe had identified me and Malton as the leaders of the humans.
Rather than face such overwhelming numbers all at once, volunteering to lead a separate force and dispersing their strength gave me a better chance of survival.
While the Layer Lord rampaged and thinned their ranks, this became a race against time—how long could I endure?
─Kurrrrgh! Cococura!!
Screech―!
The Cococura Warriors crawled onto the broad raft, but as I accelerated with [Dash] and thrust my blade, a severed head flew spinning through the air.
When my stats, amplified by [Chaos] through my equipment technique, combined, an explosive burst of speed erupted in that instant.
「Your body has been substantially strengthened due to battlefield terror!」
‘This is manageable…!’
A massive battlefield—the perfect stage to extract maximum efficiency from the [Antagon Rune].
I didn’t know what equipment these creatures possessed, but with the knowledge I’d accumulated and the elevated stats from the Layer Lord’s rampage, I could adapt and respond to anything.
For instance, the ones surging toward me now─.
‘Strength enhancement type!’
The moment our blades met, I felt tremendous mass radiating from the sword’s tip—a grotesque frog with bulging muscles beneath its armor.
Like receiving a solid steel beam head-on.
In my previous self, I would have lost balance and been sent flying, but I quickly twisted my blade to deflect the strike, then severed its neck.
“…Next!”
Screeeech―!!
Before I could even finish speaking, a heavy metal mass plummeted from above.
I swiftly twisted my body to slip out of its diagonal path.
As the Cococura Warrior spun the iron sphere at the end of its flail toward me, a chilling wind tore through my hood—but.
‘An opening…!’
I overcame my fear and drove inward instead.
I caught the chain with the crossguard of my longsword, twisted to momentarily break their control, then struck vital points in rapid succession.
Throat, armpit, face. Relentless strikes.
As my blade’s edge tore through flesh, crimson blood gushed forth, drenching my robes.
I wiped the blood from my eyes as a massive halberd bore down, but I caught it by the shaft and barely dodged, then kicked the pole to rob them of balance.
─Ku, kurak?!
“Clumsy.”
Large weapons create larger openings when they miss.
I drove my pommel down into their face, and the Cococura Warrior slid beneath the water surface with a caved-in visage.
Watching them sink, I was certain.
‘Just as I thought… they don’t know how to use weapons properly…!’
Simply grasping a powerful weapon doesn’t grant mastery.
Having wielded countless polearms during my game days, my understanding of weapons far surpassed theirs.
Their mana reserves could barely trigger equipment effects once or twice.
Yet amid my desperate defense, one peculiar Cococura caught my eye.
Unlike the others desperately trying to crawl onto the raft and strike me, this one crouched slowly at a distance.
What is this?
Suddenly, strange mana flowed from my boots.
“Damn it!!!”
In the blink of an eye, the creature was already upon me, accelerating with a skill and driving its dagger straight at my chest.
‘There’s no time to dodge…!’
In that brief moment, I drove my knee upward into my opponent’s elbow, twisting the blade’s trajectory.
I barely avoided the dagger piercing my heart, but a searing pain—like a heated razor blade—tore through my forearm.
But this was no time to concern myself with pain.
‘Please, anything but poison…!’
Yet the purple liquid dripping from the dagger’s tip mocked my desperate hope.
Beyond the grinning frog, certain of its victory, I glimpsed the visage of a god flickering in the air—or was it merely my imagination?
In that fleeting moment, I answered with a savage grin and steeled my resolve.
“Go to hell.”
You won’t have things your way.
Schwick—!
｢You have bitten away the wound to prevent the poison from spreading!!｣
｢The Kokokuran Horde recoils in horror! The Adventurers scream in terror!｣
｢The Master of the Volcano gasps in astonishment and drops the hammer from his grip!｣
｢Your Strength increases by 12! The blade feels remarkably lighter in your hands!｣
“Ugh… tastes foul….”
As I spat out the flesh from my mouth, a crimson stain bloomed across the raft.
A metallic, acrid liquid clawed down my throat, and a scorching sensation cascaded across my forearm, drenching it in blood.
From somewhere in the Wetland came a faint voice—’He’s… insane…’—but I laughed it away with a sneer.
“Seems you’re quite desperate yourself.”
As the poison coursed through my veins, my vision warped and my steps faltered slightly.
Explosive adrenaline surged through my blood, and a cascade of natural opioids flooded my brain, drowning out the pain beneath waves of euphoria.
I ignored the ringing in my ears that pulsed with my heartbeat and raised my blade to center, my lips curling into a savage snarl.
“I made peace with this long ago.”
Whoosh—!
I charged forward with ferocity, swinging my longsword, and the creature’s severed arm soared through the air.
With each slash, blood sprayed, and the screams of the Kokokuran Warriors filled the wetland.
Dismembered flesh scattered, and the silver arc traced by the blade cleaved through the Wetland’s mist.
When the longsword reflected the Wetland’s hues with an ethereal radiance, a thunderous roar echoed, and cold steel pressed in from all sides.
The more the surroundings became stained with blood and resistance, the more ferociously the Kokokuran Horde surged forward.
Though they lunged at me with veins bulging in their necks, I desperately evaded their attacks and countered with slashing strikes.
Some of them dove beneath the water surface to overturn the raft, but I drove my blade through the log gaps to punish them.
“Come at me, all of you!!”
｢The Kokokuran Warriors charge forward in fury!｣
｢Your Agility and Intelligence each increase by 6! Your processing speed accelerates!｣
Crack—!
My blade, aimed at the creature’s temple, savagely pierced through its skull and severed its head.
The gushing arterial spray traced an arc through the air, leaving a crimson mark, while fragments of bone tumbled away.
The more slick brain matter and blood drenched my body, the more I accelerated, driving forward with renewed ferocity.
In that instant, my blade struck against their weapon—but.
“You’re weak.”
With a sickening crunch, I drove my sword through the Cococura Swordsman’s throat, and he convulsed before falling silent.
I kicked the corpse impaled on my blade with brutal force, sending the pursuing Cococura Warriors stumbling off balance.
Sweeping my sword across their flank, I severed heads cleanly—bodies crumpled across the raft.
One warrior approached from behind, seeking an opening, but I flung the blood pooled in my palm to blind him, then drove my blade into his abdomen.
As his body fell slowly, another emerged from beyond, wielding a flaming club.
“My apologies, but this body has already burned to death once before.”
Such parlor tricks were beneath contempt.
I seized the pole and thrust it through the Cococura Warrior’s neck.
My palm would blister, but such pain was trivial.
Ignoring the agony, I cut down the enemies before me as corpses accumulated in widening circles.
Amidst the cacophony of screams, as I was driven ever deeper into the fray, wounds both large and small bloomed across my robes, and a thrill coursed through me.
Time flowed sluggishly, as though someone had forcibly seized the second hand of a clock.
I perceived each droplet of water defying gravity as it rose, felt each warrior’s murderous intent pierce my skin with crystalline clarity.
Yet I could not maintain this tightrope walk forever—.
A blinding crack split the air.
My vision inverted in an instant of pure white light.
Searing pain tore through my exhilaration, and a dull impact struck the back of my skull.
“Ugh…!”
The acrid stench of burnt flesh rose from my skin, and a piercing wail filled my ears.
I groaned in confusion, but glimpsing the sparks dancing along a spear point through my blurred vision, I understood.
‘…Did I just get struck by lightning?’
Before I could fully regain my senses, a massive hammer flew toward me and crashed across my abdomen.
I instinctively rolled across the raft to mitigate the impact, but such a measure could hardly leave me unscathed.
I drove my blade into the raft and pushed myself upright, only to feel a suffocating pain bloom from deep within my body.
‘…My ribs are fractured.’
Perhaps I should be grateful it was only this.
I rose unsteadily on trembling legs, swaying.
“It’s… not over yet…!”
I wiped the blood from my brow and leveled my sword as the Cococura Tribe slowly tightened their encirclement.
“The Cococura Tribe beholds your tenacity—rising again and again—with reverence!”
“A demon warrior recognizes a warrior of pride! Yet that does not mean we shall spare you!”
“Hack!”
A Cococura Warrior struck my back with a blunt weapon from behind, driving all the air from my lungs in a torrent of agony.
I stifled my scream and, even as I endured, desperately twisted my body to drive my blade into his heart—but.
“Legendary Equipment [Breastplate of Twisted Causality] reflects the attack!”
“What—?!”
Instead, an invisible blade of mana erupted forth, piercing through my shin.
The demon’s relentless assault continued.
A spear blade piercing my flank, dark magic coiling around me like chains, ice thorns raining down from the sky.
I thrashed against the raft, desperately dodging the killing blows.
A strike to the shoulder. Another to the temple. Yet another to the abdomen.
As wounds accumulated relentlessly, my body groaned and creaked, my knees buckling beneath me.
Even sheer willpower had its limits—I could sense the end approaching.
The shadow of death, which had loomed over me countless times since arriving in this world, was strangling me once more.
Now, I didn’t even have the strength left to transform into an undead.
‘…So this is where it ends.’
Desperate as the situation was, I found myself smirking instead.
Because I had just sensed a familiar presence approaching from behind me.
“You’ve done well, Doran. Thanks to the time you bought us, I could make it here. That resolve of yours—quite impressive.”
As laughter rang out, the heads of the monsters surrounding me exploded.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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