Overlord (LN)

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that scene again.

He saw that scene from the martial tournament, that beautiful battle with Gazef. He had evaded that strike of his which nobody had been able to avoid, and responded with four simultaneous slashes.

With no way to imagine himself in defeat, all he could see was the noble form of the man who had beaten him, branded into his mind.

♦ ♦ ♦

Brain walked to the entrance of the cave, and the faint smell of blood greeted his nose. The screams had stopped. That meant that all his comrades near the entrance had been slaughtered. Only about two or three minutes had passed.

There should have been at least ten sellswords at the entrance. Their orders were to hold fast, to buy time for the others to gird themselves for war. But to think someone had killed all these mercenaries in so short a time—

“If there’s only two intruders, that means their abilities must be around the same level as mine.”

Brain smiled coldly.

As he walked easily forward, he downed a potion from the pouch on his waist. The incredibly bitter liquid flowed down his throat and into his belly. He quaffed another bottle, and—

A wave of heat expanded from his guts, flowing into every corner of his body. In response to that heat, he could hear his muscles bulging and tightening.

This rapid muscle augmentation was the result of the magic contained within the potion.

The first magic potion he had drunk contained had the effect of a 「Lesser Strength」 spell, followed by one which bestowed 「Lesser Dexterity」 upon him.

There was no need to ingest the potions. They would work as long as a certain amount of the liquid made contact with his body. However, Brain felt that they would be more effective when drunk, rather than applied. Of course, that might have just been a whim of his, but whims like that sometimes gave rise to surprising power.

After that, he anointed his katana with an oil. Said oil left a faint bluish-white glow on his blade, before vanishing as it was absorbed into the metal. That oil bestowed the effects of a 「Magic Weapon」 spell upon his weapon, temporarily enchanting his sword with magic and increasing its sharpness.

“Activate 1, Activate 2.”

In response to those command words, a subtle wave of magical power spread out from Brain’s necklace and ring to envelop his body.

The Necklace of Eye was a necklace which protected one’s ability to see, granting blindness resistance, darkvision, flare compensation, and other effects. There was no point in a warrior having the best weapon if he could not hit with it, after all. A common adventurer tactic was to rob a foe of their vision and finish them off with ranged weapons from a distance. The fact was that Brain had suffered that sort of treatment at the hands of adventurers before obtaining this necklace.

After that, he activated an item which could both store and release low tier spells, the Ring of Magic Bind. The spell it released was one reduced energy damage, 「Lesser Protection Energy」.

If there were really only two attackers, then it was worth fully preparing himself to face them. It would be too late to regret not having made the proper preparations afterwards.

With that, he was ready.

He took several deep breaths, expelling the intense heat brewing within his body.

As he was now, Brain — his body enhanced by various effects — was a swordsman who stood at the peak of humanity. He was absolutely confident in his fighting ability, and a savage grin bloomed on his face.

Now that I’ve prepared myself, I hope you’ll show me a good time.

♦ ♦ ♦

The further he advanced, the stronger the scent of blood became—

Two shapes appeared before him.

“Oi oi, it looks like the two of you had a lot of fun.”

“Hardly. I don’t know if it’s because these people are too weak, but they’re not filling up the Blood Pool.”

The response to Brain’s unhurried entrance was that casual line. It might have been because the opposition knew Brain would come at them directly. On his part, Brain had no intention of hiding himself, so perhaps that reaction was only to be expected.

As he looked on the intruders before him, Brain slightly wrinkled his brow.

I was told there were two women, but one’s little more than a little girl, and they’re in dresses...?

Still, Brain cast aside those thoughts, because above the head of that unimaginably beautiful girl hovered an orb that seemed to be made of fresh blood.

“Don’t think I’ve seen that spell before... are you two magic casters?”