Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 117

Hippomenes had scattered vast amounts of gold during the Groom Tournament.Anagin had thought Hippomenes was simply flaunting his wealth.

I mean, wasn’t that the case?

Who would ever expect gifted gold to devour its owner?

A bizarre phenomenon that was hard to explain, even as magic.

And yet, that very phenomenon was unfolding before their eyes.

Everyone who had received gold from Hippomenes was being swallowed by it.

Powerless slaves and attendants, wealthy merchants, noble aristocrats, and noblewomen, even practitioners wielding great strength.

Gold coins, earrings, hair ornaments, golden daggers, golden belts…… Those who had failed to resist their greed and accepted the gold were devoured by that very gold.

Then the gold crawled of its own accord back into the gaping maw of its original owner—Hippomenes.

Gulp! Gulp!

The snout jutting out between the swollen masses of flesh greedily swallowed the gold, and with each gulp, the flesh shuddered and began to swell like rising bread dough.

‘Eating gold seems to have the same effect as eating people…… No, is it basically the same thing? The gold ate the people, after all.’

It seemed that gifting gold had been insurance for emergencies, or perhaps a hidden trump card.

Still, there was something that bothered him.

No matter how he looked at it, Hippomenes controlling gold felt strangely off.

The feeding, the flesh and bones, the parasites—those were all clearly tied to pigs, so using them felt natural. But controlling gold, no matter how generously one tried to interpret it, didn’t fit.

Overreaching, perhaps?

Of course, Anagin didn’t voice these doubts.

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

‘Wow, this is basically a wipeout, isn’t it?’

Watching countless people being swallowed by gold, Anagin concluded that the situation was far from ordinary.

When he’d said things had gone to hell, he’d meant it.

Those who hadn’t been devoured by gold were Anagin himself, Atalanta, Irida, Tramachus, Thyreos, and Lynceus.

Aside from them, only the royal guard commander and a handful of his subordinates, some Groom Tournament participants, a few spectators, attendants, and slaves remained.

Everyone else—

Most of the royal guards, most of the Groom Tournament participants, most of the spectators, and the majority of palace attendants were being swallowed into Hippomenes’s maw.

Some resisted the gold, but they were few, and even that looked like only a matter of time.

After all, Hippomenes had scattered vast amounts of gold during the Groom Tournament and continued to hand out gold coins afterward.

Really, not many people would refuse free gold.

And judging by the ominous sounds coming from beyond the palace walls, it seemed he had scattered gold outside the palace as well.

Considering Hippomenes’s nature, devouring people to turn them into his own sustenance, this was not something that could be taken lightly. Something had to be done.

“What’s a totem!?”

Anagin shouted the question at Atalanta as she fired a massive arrow that struck Hippomenes’s snout.

Even though her arrow had lodged deep and torn open a huge wound, Hippomenes’s recovery was so fast that it amounted to little more than buying time.

“A means for followers of barbarian gods to exert power effectively in Hellas. Anyone below a bishop needs one.”

Atalanta answered immediately, loosing arrows without pause.

As soon as he heard that, Anagin thought of the Boar Statue that was said to grant the birth of a son. Nothing else fit.

Atalanta added,

“I already ordered the soldiers inside the palace to destroy it.”

The instant Atalanta realized Hippomenes’s true nature, she had considered the possibility of a totem and ordered it destroyed in advance.

Under normal circumstances, such an order wouldn’t have been obeyed, but once Hippomenes’s identity was revealed, the soldiers finally complied.

More precisely, they compromised: inspect the boar statue, and if it looked suspicious, destroy it.

Either way, the order to break the boar statue had already been given.

‘And still no word…… Either the soldiers here are slow, or someone’s interfering…….’

Given the likelihood that the boar statue was being guarded, the latter seemed more probable. Whoever it was, they were quite capable.

Just as Anagin was considering going to destroy the boar statue himself—

The flesh that had been swelling like dough convulsed, and from all sides it spewed forth countless pigs.

Kweeeeeeeek!!

Kkuwak!! Kkurrurur!!

Oink—Kkuaang!

Far larger and more ferocious than the previously summoned pigs—easily several hundred of them.

The suffocating numbers made even the small group fighting desperately hesitate for a moment.

Kweeeeeeeeeeeek—!!!

As if sensing that hesitation, the pig horde charged with shrill screams, and the fire pen maintained by Tramachus, already weakened by Hippomenes’s swollen flesh, collapsed.

“Regroup!”

Atalanta shouted as she fired an arrow imbued with Energy (Γι) into the sky.

With their numbers at a disadvantage, they needed to form up first.

Everyone followed the order. Anagin included.

Swishhhhhh—!

The arrow Atalanta fired skyward split in proportion to the Energy (Γι) within it, then rained straight down upon the earth.

A volley like that of hundreds of archers poured down, piercing the charging pigs.

The pigs let out short, sharp screams.

Even so, the pigs surged forward like waves, and Anagin, Tramachus, Lynceus, and Thyreos engaged them head-on.

Irida, Atalanta, and the royal guard commander with his subordinates fired arrows, steadily thinning the herd.

In the meantime, Hippomenes continued to devour gold without interruption.

In that brief span, he consumed so much that he had grown beyond comparison with his earlier size, and it wasn’t just his bulk. Something could be felt stirring within the mass of flesh.

Not merely gathering energy, but consolidating it, restructuring it……

An ominous sensation.

Anagin made his decision.

“Tramachus!”

Amid the chaos, Tramachus answered in an irritated voice.

“What!?”

“Can you still use fire?”

* * *

After a brief exchange—

Atalanta fired a gigantic arrow, blasting a path open.

Through that opening, Anagin sprinted forward and leapt in a single bound onto the swollen mass of flesh.

He then swung the Beast Devourer with all his might, carving into the bloated flesh.

Pshhk!

The flesh was tough, so the wound wasn’t very deep, but……

Kweeeeeek—!!

The snout that had been devouring gold let out a scream of pain.

Astonishingly, even while screaming, the snout kept swallowing gold.

And the more gold it consumed, the stronger the presence felt deep inside grew.

Anagin used his Eul (εὐ) to pour Energy (Γι) into the Beast Devourer, not sparingly, but to excess.

When he swung it again in that state, it finally tore a fairly large wound.

Shraaaak!

If he kept swinging like this, he might even reach the deepest core.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

If it were that simple, he would’ve done it long ago.

No matter how large a wound he carved out, the flesh regenerated faster and there was another dangerous nuisance as well.

Parasites.

Whenever Hippomenes was hurt, parasites burst out endlessly, as if in retaliation.

Fast and countless, they made close combat nearly impossible, and just as before, they were about to spill out again.

Blurk! Blurk! Blurk! Blurk!

But then again, there was a way to deal with them.

[Burst, and incinerate.]

Tramachus hurled a spear packed with flames right beside Anagin.

Fwhaak—!!

The moment the spear lodged into the flesh next to him, the flames within detonated, engulfing not just Anagin but the entire surrounding area.

Naturally, the parasites that had been targeting Anagin were cooked by the heat before they could even attempt an attack.

Freed from the grotesque parasites, Anagin swung the Beast Devourer again, widening the wound, and the blazing red flames burrowed into the gap.

As a result, the parasites that tried to emerge were scorched, and at the same time, the flesh’s regeneration noticeably slowed.

Just as expected, it was an excellent tactic.

Aside from the fact that Anagin had to endure excruciating burning pain.

‘Damn it, I never thought I’d be grateful to that bastard of a master!’

Swinging the Beast Devourer amid the flames, Anagin recalled his past training with his master.

Even after so long, it was still far from a pleasant memory.

Much like the pain now—burning his eyes, scorching his lungs, melting his flesh, twisting his body.

Even so, relying on a Gigant’s regeneration, Anagin kept swinging the Beast Devourer without pause, as if chopping endless logs.

Kweek—! Kweek!! Kwieeeeeek—!!

The snout of Hippomenes, still gulping down gold, screamed in indignation, as if to say, what kind of lunatic is this?

Well, it wasn’t as if he’d expected someone to charge in swinging a blade inside the flames. And others, seeing Anagin, were just as shocked.

They’d seen him do something similar before, but hadn’t thought he could do it again.

Ah, but they weren’t just standing around in shock. Work still had to be done.

Atalanta’s massive arrows, Irida’s wind-charged arrows, the royal guards’ concentrated fire, and the slashing attacks of the Groom Tournament participants all poured relentlessly into the wounds Anagin created.

Thyreos boosted the arrows’ power with a blessing of reinforcement.

Feeling a serious threat from the accumulating damage and from Anagin pushing ever deeper, Hippomenes summoned pigs once more.

There were fewer than before, but their quality was far higher.

Each one was a monster worthy of renown.

The rear line, which had been providing ranged support, temporarily halted their fire to deal with the newly born pigs, and Anagin too was forced to pause his advance to handle the pigs emerging from within.

Even while engulfed in flames, Hippomenes had summoned pigs to grab at Anagin’s ankles.

The massive pigs swung weapons at Anagin within the fire or tried to grapple him. Anagin responded by slicing their weapons apart with the Beast Devourer, smashing jaws with his fists, then again severing necks and cracking skulls with the blade.

Perhaps because of the flames, dispatching the pigs wasn’t too difficult, but in the meantime, the wounds Anagin had carved began to slowly regenerate, even as they burned.

‘Damn it, if only the firepower were stronger.’

That was when it happened.

A small fwoosh! sounded, and a condensed spear of flame flew in and slammed into the wound in the mass of flesh.

Fwoooooooosh——!

At the same time, numerous spears flew through the air, skewering the pigs that were charging Atalanta’s group.

“B-brother!”

Meleager had arrived with reinforcements.

In the middle of all this, there was plenty to complain about regarding his timing, but everyone was still glad to see him.

“Lynceus.”

The moment he appeared, Meleager called out to Lynceus.

A nod was enough.

Knowing exactly why he was being called, Lynceus pointed with his finger toward the direction of the totem.

Meleager drew back his spear, compressing with all his might the flames bestowed by Ares together with his own Energy (Γι), then hurled it in the direction Lynceus indicated.

Whiz...!

A thin red line cut through the night sky as a small sound rang out—

Kwa-ga-ga-gak──!

—and obliterated the entire treasure vault where the totem was stored.

Feeling a long-standing pressure lift from his chest, Meleager checked,

“Is the totem destroyed?”

“It’s broken! However, the one guarding the totem appears to have escaped!”

Lynceus reported exactly what he saw with his farsight.

There had clearly been one guard stationed there, but the moment Meleager threw his spear, the figure moved swiftly and fled, as if satisfied that this much was enough. Judging by the movement, they were no ordinary opponent.

Lynceus didn’t bother reporting that detail.

What mattered was that the totem was destroyed and that Hippomenes, who had been drawing power from it, was now at a disadvantage.

Indeed, once the totem was destroyed, the flesh that had blocked Anagin with such density and resilience rapidly weakened.

Its defense and regeneration dropped, and even its resistance diminished.

Seizing the moment, Anagin swung the Beast Devourer and pushed deeper inside, eventually reaching the core where all the power converged.

Amazingly, at the center lay Hippomenes, not with a pig’s face, but in human form, curled up and connected to the flesh, like a fetus.

‘That bracelet?’

Anagin spotted a golden bracelet on one wrist of the curled-up Hippomenes.

A strange golden light seeped from within the flesh—it seemed to be coming from that bracelet. It was likely the device controlling the gold.

He briefly wondered where Hippomenes had obtained such a magical tool, but Anagin immediately swung the Beast Devourer to strike Hippomenes’s neck.

The instant the blade was about to touch—

The flesh around Hippomenes exploded outward, and Anagin’s body was flung into the air, his vision spinning.

All he could see was the sky beyond the flesh.

When he lifted his head, a gigantic, twisted bipedal pig stood there.

A pig giant radiating overwhelming pressure, its body covered in horrific burns and gashes.

Meleager and Atalanta, both hailed as great heroes.

And all the members of the New Argonaut Expedition who sought to follow in their footsteps—every one of them had their eyes locked onto the pig giant.

“A bishop……”

Meleager muttered as he stared at the pig giant, and a cold, leaden silence followed.

Amid the swelling tension—

Meleager and Atalanta moved first, trying to seize the initiative.

But Hippomenes, now transformed into the pig giant, roared first.

That monstrous shriek, the same one that had frozen Anagin’s body, spread in all directions.

Kweee—

“—AAAAAAAAGH!!!”

Just as Hippomenes’s roar was about to echo everywhere, Anagin sprang up and screamed, swallowing the roar whole.

After the clash of roars, silence fell—and the fixed gazes on Hippomenes shifted to Anagin.

Seeing those looks, Anagin said what he’d been wanting to say.

“Don’t panic. Don’t panic. That thing is nothing special.”