Chapter 3

Return (2)

I had returned to the past?

Of course that was impossible. The idea was mine, but it was utterly ridiculous.

But what if I really had returned to the past? That would explain everything.

The missing battle scars. My hands, pale and pristine like a young nobleman's. My level being 1. Every last one of my stats sitting at rock-bottom zero.

If I was no longer the allied army's Predator but the wastrel son of a count, every piece of the puzzle fit.

“Even so, how could that possibly—”

ROOOAAR!!!

The ice troll's roar shattered my thoughts. Perhaps it thought I was standing there frozen in fear, because it approached with a leer, as though its prey were already caught.

I still had no idea what had happened, but...

'Questions can wait.'

The ice troll before me came first.

An ice troll was no easy opponent. Its regeneration was bad enough, but the strength of that massive body was devastating. A wastrel who had spent years immersed in gambling and pleasure could never defeat it.

But...

TAP!

I kicked off the snowy ground and lunged forward. Had it never expected me to charge when it thought I was merely terrified?

GRAWH?!

The ice troll faltered in confusion. The distance between us closed rapidly.

Even if I had returned to the past, my memories were intact. The experience of countless battlefields and brushes with death remained with me.

Whenever anyone asked who my teacher was, this was my answer:

The battlefield.

I stiffened my fingers into a blade. The creature was still flustered. Ice trolls reigned as predators in these snowy mountains. It would never have readily imagined itself becoming prey.

I drove my rigid fingers straight into its chest.

THWACK!

But they hadn't pierced its hide?

'Shit!'

A mistake. I wasn't the allied army's Predator now. All the abilities I had gained through Predation were gone.

Nor did I have the trained body I had possessed in the allied army. The steel-hard physique forged on countless battlefields was gone. This was the body of a count's wastrel son, steeped in gambling and pleasure.

With a body this weak, I couldn't even scratch an ice troll's hide, let alone tear out its heart.

'Goddammit.'

I swiftly pulled back my hand and felt along my waist.

My past self had at least carried a slender rapier at his hip, supposedly for self-defense. It was the typical sword a young nobleman wore to look impressive. It wasn't worth a damn in actual combat, but a blade was still a blade.

ROOOAAR!!

The ice troll's roar battered my eardrums. Having finally recovered from its confusion, it tracked me with both eyes.

My mind raced. Survival instinct stabbed through my brain. I couldn't retreat now. I had to settle this.

I reversed my backward step and moved forward again.

Among monsters that walked on two legs, ogres were indisputably the apex predators. Ice trolls couldn't compare to them, but they were still ferocious monsters that fully deserved the name “predator.”

And one of those monsters was baring its hunger at me. That savage bloodlust. Its very gaze seethed with violence.

I read the violence and murderous intent in its eyes.

'Now!'

WHOOSH!

The ice troll's brutal fist barely grazed my side.

Yes, it had most definitely grazed me.

“!!”

Agony like my whole body was being torn apart sent my mind reeling. My mouth gaped open on its own in a soundless scream.

Incredible destructive power.

... But I endured it. I had to.

I ground my teeth, forced myself to cling to my fading consciousness, and stubbornly held my eyes wide open.

Now it was my turn.

Honing my senses to a razor's edge, I thrust my sword toward the troll's chest.

SHUNK!

The rapier pierced the ice troll's hide. Flashy though the sword was, my past self had brought one of fairly decent quality.

GRAAARGH!

The creature shrieked in pain and swiped at me again. I kept my eyes wide, concentrating on its movements. If it caught me, I was dead.

But I didn't retreat.

I ducked low to evade its swinging hand. Slipping inside its reach, I put even more strength into the hand holding my rapier.

SHUUNK!

The rapier sank deeper into the ice troll's chest. But it didn't fall. What could I expect from a sword made to show off? I hadn't expected to bring it down in one strike anyway.

'Found it!'

Through the sword's tip, I could feel the ice troll's heart beating.

Regeneration, a troll's unmatched ability, had its source in its blood. Destroy the heart, and it could no longer circulate that blood, drastically weakening its regeneration.

In other words, the heart was a troll's weak point.

GRAAAH!!

The ice troll cried out in alarm. It swung its hand again to stop me, but I pierced its heart first.

SPLURT!!!

Blood spouted like a fountain from its pierced heart. I quickly pulled back, and the ice troll's flailing hand lost its strength in an instant, swishing through empty air.

Its massive body swayed and collapsed, sending a faint tremor through the ground.

THUD!

◆You have defeated an ice troll!

◆You have gained 120 combat experience!

◆You have leveled up!

◆You have leveled up!

◆You have leveled up!

Messages filled my vision. My head tilted before I realized it.

“That killed it?”

Honestly, I was baffled. Of course, the heart was a troll's weak point. But a mere puncture from a rapier shouldn't have killed it. You had to hack its heart apart with a bastard sword brimming with aura to kill one.

And this was an ice troll, no less. A mutant troll with regeneration pushed to its utmost limits. The very creatures the Emperor had rounded up en masse to turn into potions.

To an ice troll, this flashy rapier was less than a toothpick. Even after dozens of stabs with this thing, killing it would have been a close call. What the hell?

“Was this one weakened?”

That seemed to be the case. Looking at it now, it was quite emaciated. It seemed to have gone hungry for nearly a month.

Since blood was the key to its regeneration, that ability varied with its nutritional state. Hunger was far more fatal to ice trolls than to other monsters.

“No wonder.”

I'd thought the glancing blow had been fairly bearable. Had I encountered a healthy one, I would have been in serious trouble. Most likely, I would have been the one to die. All I could say was that I'd been very lucky.

“Come to think of it, my past self encountered this ice troll too.”

And survived. More precisely, I'd managed to escape. If I had been able to outrun this ice troll with my pathetic stamina, it certainly hadn't been healthy.

Still, an ice troll was an ice troll. Once the tension eased, the spot where it had grazed me began to hurt terribly.

“I think a few ribs are broken—argh!”

When I probed with my fingertips, pain shot through me as though my bones were being crushed. Just a glancing blow had left me in this state.

It would have been unthinkable with the hardened body I'd possessed as the allied army's Predator. But the body of the count's wastrel son was far too weak. In this state, even moving or breathing was difficult.

◆You have cleared the tutorial quest [What on Earth Is Going On?!]!

◆[Inventory] will be unlocked as your reward!

◆You have gained 200 quest experience!

◆You have leveled up!

◆You have leveled up!

◆Rather than fleeing from the ice troll, you stood your ground and claimed victory!

◆Amazing! Truly amazing!!

◆You receive [Stats +1] as an additional reward!

Messages streamed across my vision. Judging by all the talk of levels and stats, something had apparently changed in the [Player Information] I'd seen earlier.

But I would check later. Right now, tending to my body came first.

“I think I need treatment right away...”

No matter how I looked at these snowy mountains, this was no place to receive medical treatment. That left exactly one option.

“I never managed to devour an ice troll's ability before, either.”

Predation.

Ice trolls were native to my homeland, yet I had never actually devoured their ability. Partly because I'd discovered my Predation ability late, and partly because the Emperor had already driven ice trolls to extinction by the time I did.

“An ice troll's regeneration, huh...”

I carefully removed the heart from the fallen ice troll. Befitting its hulking body, the heart was nearly as large as my head. It still radiated warmth, proof that the creature had only just died.

“Whew...!”

I took a deep breath and brought the heart to my mouth.

CRUNCH.

As I crushed the tough heart muscle between my teeth—

THUMP!

My own heart pounded violently.

My breath caught as though someone were strangling me, and the whole world turned red. As if my reason had been stained crimson, my consciousness began to flicker.

... Predation's side effect.

My Predation ability came with several restrictions and side effects. The first restriction was that I couldn't gain an ability from a heart that had completely lost its life force.

In other words, I had to personally eat a living heart to acquire its ability. Taking a shortcut by eating hearts from corpses didn't work.

But that was only a restriction. It could hardly be called a drawback of Predation. Its most fatal drawback was its side effect.

Using Predation engulfed me in madness. Even if only for a moment, I lost all reason and became no different from a monster. Unfortunately, not even the Saintess's miracles could remove that side effect.

Ultimately, that was why I couldn't use Predation carelessly. Later, Ian's help had given me some degree of control, but growing stronger without limit had been impossible.

And sure enough, returning to the past hadn't changed the side effect. That was only natural. I was younger, not a different person. I knew that perfectly well.

But I had no choice now. In a place with no proper means of treatment, this was the only way to heal my shattered ribs. Above all, it would be foolish to have an ice troll's regenerative ability right before my eyes and not devour it.

HSSSS!

A dark crimson fog spread through my mind, consuming it. Soon, I would lose my reason and become no different from a monster. I could only be thankful there was no one nearby.

It happened just then.

“—The footprints continue this way!”

A loud shout rang out without warning. I turned toward it to see armed soldiers running toward me through the snow.

“Over here! We've found Lord Adrian!”

One soldier's words set the whole area bustling. Then someone behind the soldiers hurriedly rushed forward.

Ethereal silver hair, as though steeped in moonlight. It reached below her shoulders, fluttering in the snowy wind before settling gracefully.

Her skin was as white and clear as the snow blanketing the mountains. Large, sparkling eyes that looked exactly like rubies and the soft shadows defining her face accentuated her beauty.

Slightly upturned lashes. Lips as red as a ripe apple. This woman, her beauty as delicate and pure as a thin flower petal—

“Brother!”

Was my younger sister, Seraphia.

“You're safe!”

Seraphia cried out, her face a mixture of relief and joy.

But I didn't feel the same. I wasn't glad to see her at all.

Seraphia. The Sovereign of Bitter Cold. The allied army's greatest enemy. The witch who had taken the left arm of Ian, the Hero.

THUMP!

My heart lurched violently, and the madness of Predation surged explosively.