I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 51

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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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[051] The Descent of the Archdevil #3
Two days had passed since the Dimensional Rift opened.
We remained committed to gathering portal materials.
“Cut off their escape route! The Light Boar is nimble—don’t give it a chance to flee!!”
“Drive it toward the Cliff! Move faster!!”
While commanding from the front and crushing monsters, I glanced around and noticed exhaustion etched plainly across the Adventurers’ faces.
‘It’s time we headed back.’
We had hunted every monster worth catching in This Region.
Considering the time needed to activate the Gate, we should be returning to the Stone Plaza by now.
Safe zones had dwindled considerably, so we needed to hurry to avoid becoming isolated.
But as we finished combat and were gathering the corpses, Radi tugged at my robe and whispered.
“Something feels wrong.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a strange scent I’ve never encountered before. And… a metallic, bloody smell too.”
“You’re saying you smell metal?”
In a place like this, there were only two explanations for a metallic scent.
Either monster blood, or careless Adventurers lurking about with poorly maintained weapons.
I reflexively lifted my head and peered toward the source of the smell, but the dense Thicket obscured everything from view.
I placed my hand on a nearby Archer’s shoulder and gave an order.
“You—fire an arrow into that Thicket.”
“Sir? Ah, understood.”
The moment the arrow embedded itself in the brush, a sharp scream erupted.
“Ambush!! Battle stations!!”
The instant the Adventurers drew their weapons, masked figures burst from behind the Thicket.
They immediately unleashed a barrage of arrows at us.
“Damn, a surprise attack!!”
“Shield bearers! Step forward and block!!”
Under the hail of arrows, the Adventurers scrambled behind rocks and shields for cover.
Radi used his own massive backpack as cover while loading his crossbow.
“Are they a Thief Gang?! Could they be the ones from two days ago!?”
“I don’t know.”
What mattered was that they were our enemies now.
“I’ll clear a path!”
Radi opened a cork stopper with his teeth, then hurled the bottle with all his strength toward the center of the battlefield.
The glass shattered with a sharp crack, and acrid smoke billowed forth, obscuring our vision.
Malton and I exchanged a glance, then charged into the smoke screen under Radi’s covering fire.
“Grrk… W-what kind of…?!”
“Someone’s getting close… Krrgh!!”
Seizing the moment as the confused assailants panicked, I used the smoke as a shield and ruthlessly severed their necks.
The terrified men flailed with daggers in desperation, but they were already within my grasp.
I sidestepped the blade with a fluid twist, wrenching my opponent’s wrist as I drove my knee into his abdomen.
But something unexpected happened.
‘I know it connected properly…?’
I felt his ribs crack beneath the impact, yet he didn’t even flinch—he counterattacked without hesitation.
I severed his arm and kicked him away, but the assailant rose like a mindless zombie, oblivious to pain, and came at me again.
Only then did I look into his eyes and understand.
‘Demonic possession….’
Black tendrils writhed like serpents across the whites of his eyes, trembling with madness.
Were these creatures under the command of demons?
If so, I had no reason to show restraint.
As I methodically severed limbs and slaughtered them, a thunderous boom—boom!—shook the ground, and a colossal shadow emerged through the smoke.
A massive figure clad in full plate armor.
“Get out of my way, you rats.”
As he approached, the Adventurers began to panic.
“W-wait…! Full armor with a red skull mark. I’ve seen that somewhere before….”
“Damn it, isn’t that the Red Pig from the Valten Guild?”
“He’s a powerhouse in his fifties! Notorious as a thug… Even if Doran is our captain, this one won’t be easy…!”
‘So he’s famous in this region.’
Just looking at his equipment, he’s clearly seen plenty of action.
When he swung his chain flail menacingly, the sharp whistle of its passage cut through the air.
I immediately dove to the side, seeking an opening—
“Not a chance, kid.”
Despite his massive frame, he pivoted with surprising agility to block.
The heavy iron ball then came hurtling toward my temple.
I instinctively ducked, but he was waiting—his steel-plated boot shot up toward my chest.
“Ugh…!”
The blow to my solar plexus knocked the wind from my lungs.
As I staggered backward, he seized the moment and brought his flail down vertically.
I desperately twisted my body and drove my longsword into his exposed flank with all my might, but the blade merely sparked against his armor and skidded away.
Clang—!
“Damn it!!”
The matchup was terrible.
My weapon was a longsword, designed for slashing.
Without sword aura or similar techniques, I couldn’t even scratch full plate armor.
“Die!!”
As he brought the flail down, the stone beneath shattered into fragments.
I threw myself aside at the last instant, but the centrifugal force accelerated the flail further, giving me no room to breathe.
‘There’s no opening to exploit…!’
Even grazing that iron ball would mean serious injury; the terrifying rotational force made approach nearly impossible.
Then I would turn that power against him.
The moment that bastard closed the distance, I hurled my wooden scabbard at him without warning—thunk.
The wooden sheath shattered the instant it tangled in his chain, but it was enough to halt his iron mace for a brief moment.
“Choke on this, you tin-plated dog!!”
I seized the opening and charged forward, driving the pommel of my longsword into the creature’s helmet, right at the face.
Clang! As a dull metallic ring echoed and his head snapped back, I immediately swept his shin with all my strength.
If cutting attacks wouldn’t work, I’d have to knock him down and drag this into a brawl.
But in that instant, something unbelievable happened.
“Ugh….”
“…?”
The mountain of a man groaned and collapsed pathetically.
‘I only kicked his greaves?’
On a whim, I spun and drove another kick into his abdomen—and the massive brute flew through the air, crashing hard into the stone.
In that instant, silence fell over the fierce battlefield.
As everyone stared at me in shock, a crystalline chime shattered the quiet.
Ding—!
「Your body has been greatly enhanced due to the chaos that descended upon the Surface!」
「A demon’s descent draws near! Antagon’s Rune devours the people’s anxiety and turmoil!」
「Your stats have surged dramatically from leading the Adventurer Party for an extended period!」
「Current Strength Enhancement: +58」
‘…When did my stats climb this high?’
Fifty-eight points—if I’d dumped everything into a single stat, that would be nearly twenty levels worth of growth.
At this level, I’d be unmatched against adventurers of comparable rank.
“Well, I suppose I let my guard down.”
The hulking man staggered to his feet, pulling himself from the rubble.
I immediately leaped forward and caught him.
Crack! Seizing his joints and pouring strength into my grip, the steel armor bent like taffy.
Watching the man’s face contort in agony, I felt the explosive surge of my own power viscerally.
“This… this monster…!”
He thrashed desperately, but I paid no heed—I seized the back of his skull and slammed him brutally into the ground.
Boom—!
Once, twice, thrice.
With each impact, his helmet crumpled further, and shattered teeth and blood sprayed from the gaps in his face guard.
One of his lackeys desperately drew his bowstring, but my agility was enhanced just as much as my strength.
I closed the distance in a flash, severed the arm holding the bow clean off, and kicked him away—he flew off with a broken neck.
Even corrupted by demonic influence, some retained their basic reason, and the thugs began backing away hesitantly.
「The Thief Gang has been seized by fear. They tremble at your mercilessness!」
「Strength increases by an additional 8!」
I wiped the blood from my blade and turned to the adventurers.
“Round them all up.”
* * *
Subduing the Thief Gang, now leaderless and broken in spirit, proved effortless.
I stood before the bound thugs and declared coldly.
“I’ll interrogate them myself.”
I stepped forward willingly, but the information I extracted fell far short of expectations.
The thieves corrupted by demonic essence spouted only incoherent rambling and nonsense.
The only one whose mind seemed remotely intact was this hulking leader, but….
“….”
He kept his mouth sealed shut, making conversation impossible.
I sighed and drew a dagger from his thigh when one of the Adventurers cried out.
“Captain Doran! We’ve searched their belongings thoroughly—there’s not a single coin, let alone plunder!”
“No portal materials in their packs either! What the hell are these bastards….”
“….”
I exchanged a meaningful glance with Radi.
This confirmed beyond doubt that these wretches had been acting under a demon’s command.
But there was still far more to uncover.
Which demon had given the orders, and what were its specific objectives.
“Hm?”
As I stripped away the massive armor and searched his body, something peculiar caught my eye.
A brand, recently inflicted, marked his shoulder.
‘This pattern…? I’ve definitely seen it before, but what was it?’
A demon’s tail curved and symmetrical like a scale.
As I leaned closer to examine the brand, the wretch’s flesh convulsed grotesquely, swelling and discoloring.
“Danger!!”
In an instant, Radi threw herself over me while Malton kicked the hulking figure away with lightning speed.
Kwaaaang──!!
After the deafening roar subsided, I clutched my head as tinnitus screamed through it, barely managing to focus.
Radi’s shredded pack and scattered materials lay scattered, with Abos’s shimmering scales wedged among them.
Those scales must have absorbed the impact and saved us.
“Thank you. How did you know? It went off almost instantly.”
“A horrible stench suddenly intensified. Like rotting eggs….”
“Sulfur… The demon must have intervened directly.”
Where the massive man had stood, only a vast crater remained, as if a meteor had struck.
The other bound wretches vanished without a trace, yet oddly, there were no scorch marks or flames to be found.
‘…Flesh Detonation.’
One of the higher dark magics.
“What, what is this….”
As the Adventurers murmured in agitation, I clicked my tongue and spoke.
“Someone acting under a demon’s orders. No doubt they were promised they’d be spared or safely released if they killed other Adventurers.”
“Is, is that even possible?”
“No, of course it’s sophistry.”
Leaving them clinging to life by a thread before banishing them to the Wasteland, or severing their limbs and abandoning them in the Monster Pit.
Common tactics among demons.
Seducing with honeyed words, concealing the truth with cunning precision.
Demons do not lie, but neither do they promise salvation.
“Still, at least I’ve uncovered the identity of the demon lurking above our heads.”
“W-what manner of demon is it…?”
“Andras.”
The sixty-third demon among the Demons of Solomon.
Proficient in dark magic, fond of sowing discord, bringing madness and frenzy in his wake.
His epithet is the Marquis of Discord.
Radi whispered softly, posing a question.
“Then the traces of cannibalism we witnessed yesterday….”
“Yes, likely the result of madness consuming them. His objective would be to incite strife among the people, preventing as many as possible from escaping… wait.”
Now that I think about it, something doesn’t add up.
We need to activate the portal and escape the Dungeon now.
If I were the demon and wanted to obstruct us most efficiently, what would I do?
“Could it be….”
The answer is to strike the moment all the Adventurers gather together.
Right now, the Adventurers are converging at the Plaza for material settlement.
In a few hours, when night falls and the Dimensional Rift reaches its apex, a catastrophe will unfold.
“…I need to hurry back.”
I must warn them immediately and thwart the demon’s conspiracy.
* * *
｢You have reached the Stone Plaza!｣
｢Thanks to the Adventurers’ close cooperation in gathering the essential materials, the conditions for portal activation have been barely satisfied!｣
｢Current Dimensional Rift erosion level: 67%｣
A restless atmosphere still hung around the Gate.
As the safe zone continued to shrink, countless people had gathered, and Adventurers were squabbling everywhere, desperately trying to secure positions as close to the portal as possible.
If the demon manifested his power in such a place, a horrific tragedy would unfold.
I immediately led my companions toward the Lodging where the Mages were staying.
As we approached the luxurious Tents, Guard Knights stepped forward with spears, blocking our path.
“Are you Adventurers who’ve brought the portal materials? We’ll handle the settlement ourselves—leave them here and go.”
“Would it be possible to have an audience with the Mage? I have urgent news to convey.”
“Get lost. A rabble like you isn’t fit to meet him. I won’t repeat myself.”
The Knights leveled their spears at my throat.
Ready to pierce through my skin at any moment.
As they issued their ultimatum with no intention of backing down, I stared desperately beyond the Tent.
Surely the Mage was hearing this commotion.
How could I draw out that arrogant Court Wizard?
I quickly dropped to one knee and shouted the demon’s name three times with all the strength in my voice.
“Andras!! Andras!! Andras!!”
“….”
“Behold the arrival of Lord Andras!!”
In that instant, a chilling silence descended, and all sound around us ceased.
The Knight, who had frozen momentarily, snapped back to awareness and was about to thrust his spear forward when an Old Man emerged from within the Tent.
“Your liver’s grown bold, venturing outside the Ship. Let me hear what you have to say.”

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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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