Gaius’s return to the riverbed was quickly interrupted by some adventurers. They had surrounded him with archers and sorcerers to avoid close-quarters combat, and now that their target was heading in a single direction, they were moving to tighten their encirclement.
“There’s... over a hundred.” Gaius muttered as adventurers closed in around him, seeing them armed with all sorts of weapons: swords, spears, axes, clubs, and others. He likely didn’t have to worry about the ranged fighters, as the approaching adventurers meant that they were just as likely to hit their own if they tried to attack, but a wall of bodies had soon formed all around him, closing off any avenue of escape. This formation sent a clear message: their aim was to gradually wear down his strength and finish the Black Rose of Igris off once and for all.
Once he had been completely surrounded, six adventurers emerged from the group and began walking forward towards Gaius. ...To be more fair, it seemed more like the rest of the adventurers were purposefully hanging back, as if allowing this group to make the first move. The six had the rest of their force wait behind them and gathered into a smaller ring around Gaius.
One of them addressed Gaius, breath hissing out through the bucket-shaped great helm that covered his face. “So you’re the Black Rose of Igris.”
A stir went through the other adventurers. “That’s Homer...”
“It’s Homer the Mad Bull!”
The man certainly had a presence that seemed to deserve the nickname. He wore thick, heavy armor all over his body, and it was likely that he was being supported by several sorcerers at once in order to carry it, but from his stature alone he was clearly a man with more than a little muscle on him. The giant warhammer he wielded made his strength obvious as well.
Gaius nodded. “People have called me that. It’s not a good nickname for an old man, is it?”
“Hmph. My name is Homer. Homer the Mad Bull. I’m the man who’s gonna flatten you now.” The great bullock of a man declared, his voice muffled by his massive helm, and raised the warhammer with its head angled downward in a stance Gaius recognized as the “bulwark.” Contrary to his name, he wasn’t just some berserker. “Now face my hammer, Bull Stomp—”
“I’m Dionysius, the knave with the raging spear! The strongest man in the guild!” The interruption came from a slender man with red hair knotted at the back of his head. He wielded a spear with a large blade that brought to mind the tongue of an ox, aptly named an ox-tongue spear.
“Death Scythe Spike here! Spike Fire!” Next was a man with long, dark blond hair, a rare scythe wielder. It probably wasn’t his real name. He faced Gaius in a low stance sometimes called the “ladder” stance.
“When they say ‘Meteor Melinda,’ they mean me!” The dark-skinned woman wielded another rare sight, a pair of flails. A flail was a bludgeoning weapon, with the striking portion attached to the handle by chain. It had originated from a farming tool used for threshing. The weapons she carried were horseman’s flails, made especially short for use by cavalry.
Melinda swung a flail, creating a whoosh of wind and then skillfully stopped the movement by catching the ball on one of her pauldrons, striking a pose with the weapon. She looked to be a capable fighter, one with good control of her weapons.
“Uhh... I’m Chas... Sorry... Just Chas.” The man who named himself with some embarrassment was the one who had parried Gaius’s blow on the riverbed. He was a plain-looking, middle-aged adventurer with unkempt black hair and heavy stubble, but his defensive ability proved his overall fighting skills. He wielded an ordinary longsword, likely borrowed from someone else. Gaius took one look at his sword and his eyes and knew that this man had cut down countless people before.
“Matthew.” The last man to speak was perhaps the most conspicuous of the six. Besides a pair of gauntlets, he wore no armor, just pants without even a shirt. “Everybody at the guild calls me Massacre Matthew.” He was almost ten feet tall, all bulging muscle, possibly making him stronger than Gaius. He had red skin and a robust physique, and from his rugged, sandstone-like forehead grew two horns. It was clear at a glance that he was not human. He held a two-handed sword that was seventy inches in length, but he handled it like a short sword.
“You’re a pure ogre... That’s a rare sight.” Gaius was impressed by the ferocious man’s very presence. His guess was correct; Matthew belonged to a race called ogres, and sometimes oni. Their strong builds and valor gave them a reputation all across the continent for being a race of fighters.
“When I was traveling in the western countries as an attendant to the princess, I met a military officer from the ogre country. He was a fine warrior, both in skill and demeanor.”
“I was born in Muirfield and raised in Grenwyk. I’m a citizen of the Kingdom of Igris. Ain’t never been to the so-called ogre country and I don’t know who my parents were.” Matthew spat out, aggravated. The words revealed the complex, bitter path he’d walked in life. “‘Black Rose of Igris,’ I hear you’re a quarter troll. You must have suffered too, but I’ll end your suffering here.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve always had very kind people around me.”
“Oh yeah? Ain’t none of ’em around you now. Get ready to die.” Matthew raised his two-handed sword high in the “roof” stance. The destructive power of the blade when swung down by this man would be immense.
“Kind of a strange bunch you’re facing off against, dunderhead,” came a voice from behind Gaius.
“Yes, they do look like a handful, don’t they? I’d say four of the six are real threats.” Gaius answered, then took a deep breath and turned to face his enemies with a proper fighting stance.
“I suppose I should introduce myself as well. I am Gaius. Gaius Beldarus, King of the Kobold Kingdom.” His deep, solemn voice resounded. The adventurers behind the skilled six backed up and groaned, intimidated by his threatening presence.
“P—Pfffhahaha?! Kingdom?! Of kobolds? The dogs? You’re ‘king of the dogs’? Woof, woof! Ruff, awooo!” Spike Fire came out of his battle stance and pointed at Gaius, laughing. “Are you seriously telling me this old man calls himself ‘the Black Rose of Igris’ and he’s out here in the middle of the woods playing king of the hill?!”
That was enough of an opening. Right when he finished talking, Spike’s head was suddenly flying away, rustling in some branches and leaves in the distance. Nobody saw it hit the ground before it was out of sight. Survivors would later remark that it was like a great gust of wind going past them.
“Wh—”
“Hrmm.”
“Hey now...”
Those who remained could only reevaluate their understanding of the Black Rose of Igris’s strength after he’d instantly closed the distance between himself and Spike to put down the latter. It wasn’t that they hadn’t reacted at all. They were moving. They were moving, but Gaius wasn’t giving them any opportunity to attack.
Grrh. Gaius let out a low huff of breath, and the adventurers saw it: the Black Rose of Igris baring his teeth in a smile.
“Now that we’re all acquainted, let’s get started.”
...No, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t smiling. This was a lion baring its fangs.
＊
“Don’t think I’ll be a pushover like that loser!” The first to charge at him was the man who’d called himself Dionysius, “the knave with the raging spear.”
The blade of the ox-tongue spear was long and heavy to increase the weapon’s might. Dionysius’s favored spear had a blade length of almost twenty-four inches, making it plenty effective at slashing as well as thrusting. Dionysius utilized his weapon well; his specialty was a thrust that transformed into a slash. If his opponent moved in the way that he predicted, they would get a lashing from his ox tongue.
However, Gaius neither jumped back nor dodged to the side. Instead, he took a great step forward, closing into where the spear’s long reach was unable to touch him with the deadly blade, and grabbed the weapon’s shaft with his left hand. Before Dionysius could draw the weapon back, Gaius yanked it forward, causing the lancer to lose his balance and topple toward Gaius.