S-Rank Adventurer Betrayed by His Fiancée in the Hero’s Party Sets Off on a Journey to Heal His Broken Heart ~The Strongest Betrayed Adventurer Ends Up Forming a Harem Party~ - Chapter 46: The Progenitor’s Battle

Chapter 46: The Progenitor’s Battle

“Hmph. Guess it’s about time I turned things around. And hey, thanks for surrounding me so neatly—makes it easier to slice through.《Wire Blood》.”

Raynare raised both arms high above her head.

She brought her palms together, fingers twitching slightly—

Then with a sharp motion, she swung them down.

In that instant—

Every single one of the Kraken’s tentacles surrounding her was cleanly sliced into chunks.

“…Huh?”

“She cut them all! That’s insane… Abel, what was that!?”

“I… have no idea. She’s changed her fighting style since the last time I saw her.”

Back when I fought Raidlake a year ago, he was still using a sword.

He formed various weapons with Blood Magic—from greatswords to twin blades—and combined them with spells to launch high-speed, relentless attacks.

“…《Enhanced Vision》—!”

I channeled magic into my eyes, focusing it just like I would for Body Enhancement.

And once my vision sharpened—

I saw it. Sparkling red threads, glimmering faintly in the air around her.

“Powder…? No—threads!”

“Correct!” Raynare called back, somehow hearing my muttered guess from across the bay.

“Since I’ve got a female body now, I figured I should play to its strengths! Gotta match the tools to the form!”

Thin crimson threads extended from her fingers, twisting and coiling in the air.

Some of them wrapped loosely around her arms and torso, shimmering as they danced in all directions.

“A slicing technique using threads! Ultra-fine wires whipped around at high speed—cutting through with sheer friction! The flexibility of a female body can sometimes be even more useful than brute strength. Like this…!”

Raynare cracked her arm like a whip toward the Kraken—

And with just that, tentacles at a distance were sliced clean through, like a hot knife through butter.

“Not many can pull this off, you know?”

“Yeah, I can imagine…”

She made it look easy—

But this technique was anything but.

She was using the snap of her wrist, the curve of her body, every little movement to channel force into those threads.

Sometimes even looping the wires around her heels or legs to pull and whip them even faster.

The kind of speed those threads were reaching was insane.

One wrong move, and she could slice herself to pieces.

…Well, maybe not her. She was probably immune to that kind of thing.

“Hurry up and regenerate already. Kraken regenerates using their own magic, right? So I know you won’t go down that easily. Good—let me keep slicing those tentacles until you’ve got nothing left!”

Looks like she’s trying to secure as many of those tentacles as possible.

That’s a huge help.

The more Kraken meat we have to bring back as a souvenir, the better.

The moment its limbs were cut, the Kraken regenerated them—

Only for Raynare to slice them off again just as fast.

Aside from the raw physical power—centrifugal force and momentum on those wires—

There was definitely some kind of magic involved too.

When something is created with magic, it can be controlled to a certain extent.

She was probably using that control to speed up the tips of the threads even further.

Magic fueled by vampire blood could do a lot.

From ranged attack spells like blood spears, to weapon creation like she was doing now—

Even physical enhancement spells.

But Raynare’s magic—and her skills—were on a whole different level from normal vampires.

There had to be some kind of trick behind it.

“That thing’s an A-Rank monster, and it can’t even touch her… Is all of that just pure technique with the threads? I can’t even wrap my head around it…”

“It’s not just technique. Her mana control is insane. From casting to manipulating it, she’s moving those blood threads like they’re part of her own body—like an extra set of limbs!”

Frey, who specialized in pure technique, focused on Raynare’s skill with the threads—

While Maria, now practically a full-blown magic nerd, was completely fascinated by her spell control.

They were both stunned.

But that was what it meant to be a Progenitor.

Raynare had lived for over a thousand years.

Just imagine how much of that time she must’ve spent honing her craft.

Having fought her myself, I could say this with confidence—

That strength wasn’t talent. It was the result of relentless, dedicated effort piled up over centuries.

She’d mastered countless weapons through raw skill.

She’d pushed her magic to the limit.

Honestly, she probably had more mana than me—and people already called me a monster for how much I had.

Raynare might not age, but she wasn’t immortal.

The only reason she was still alive after all this time…

Was because she was just that strong.

—But while I watched her completely overwhelm the Kraken, something finally changed.

“Hmm? Out of mana already? Is that thing finally trying to run?”

The Kraken, which had been charging at her over and over again despite losing limbs each time—

Now looked absolutely wrecked.

Its regeneration had slowed.

Only two or three of its tentacles were even halfway grown back.

And now it was starting to swim away, retreating from the fight.

“Normally, I’d be fine letting it go at this point… But since this is an official adventurer request, I’ll need to make sure it’s properly taken down.”

Raynare extended a hand toward the fleeing Kraken.

It tried to dive back underwater—

But that effort… was completely pointless.

“《Blood Edge》.”

A streak of red light—so fast it looked like a flash—

Arced through the air like a blade, and multiple shots slammed right into the Kraken’s forehead.

In that instant, the strength vanished from its body.

Its entire form turned pale, its vibrant color fading into a murky white.

“Whoa… She just cleanly took out the Kraken with a spell.”

“She’s so smooth with it. Not even taking it seriously at this point… Not that I can blame her.”

The Kraken was a magical beast that had evolved from a regular octopus.

Its anatomy still reflected that, and just like with regular octopi—

If you severed the area around the brain, you could take it down instantly.

“Sigh… So this is what the legendary Progenitor looks like, huh? You’re S-Rank too, Abel, but watching that kinda makes me lose confidence.”

“You really don’t have to feel that way, Frey. Your raw strength is top-notch. Having even one area you excel in is more than enough.”

I offered a few words to comfort Frey, who looked a bit down.

Back in the day, I didn’t even have a strength to rely on.

I was stuck at C-Rank because of that.

Even now, most of my power and speed came from my magic swords.

My biggest strength—my massive mana pool—was kinda neutralized by my low output rate.

The real me?

Just a little sturdier and stronger than average. That’s it.

…Still, even as I said that, one thought quietly crossed my mind.

—She only used her race’s natural abilities and pure technique.

Not a single job-based skill.

“Hmm? Well then~ maybe big sis should train even harder. Maybe teach me~? Hands-on, nice and close—”

“Abel! What do we do with the Kraken now that it’s down!?”

Just as Frey reached out with a gentle smile and started to close the distance—

Raynare, still floating in the air, called out loudly.

“Mind doing the dismantling? Slice up the legs into rounds and separate the torso. I’ll handle the storage on my end!”

“You really know how to push people around! I’m only doing this because you asked!”

“…Ugh, seriously.”

Raynare swooped down and began dismantling and moving the Kraken’s body.

Meanwhile, on land, Frey puffed up her cheeks in an uncharacteristically cute pout, dropping her usual mature act—

―ZBAAAAAAAM!

That familiar sight—just like earlier—suddenly repeated itself at the entrance of the bay.

The sea exploded upward, a wall of water shooting high into the sky.

And emerging from the crashing spray—

“What the…!? That’s huge—is that a whale!?”

“A Fortress Whale. Kraken’s one of its favorite meals. It probably caught the scent and followed it here,” Raynare explained, having quickly returned nearby.

The enormous beast was, indeed, a whale—

An A-Rank magic beast known as Fortress Whale, with a body layered in thick armor like a battleship across its head.

It was thirty meters long, and yet… it had jumped over the icy barrier I’d set up.

Spotting the Kraken’s corpse, it didn’t slow down.

It used that same momentum to launch itself straight toward us.

“A sea creature shouldn’t be in the air that long! What is this!?”

“It uses wind magic. Its body is covered in tough, thick carapace—especially the head. Not even I can pierce that thing.”

“It’s huge, it’s tough, and it casts magic too!? Everyone, stay alert! I can sense—”

“Ooh, looks like we’re getting some bonus whale meat.”

SLASHHHH—

The massive whale split cleanly in half—

At the exact moment I drew the Azure Ice Sword, Granchario, from my left hip and swung upward.

“Does that old lady even like whale meat…? Well, whatever. She’ll figure something out. She does like cooking, after all.”

The whale, bisected from top to bottom by Lake Cleaver, crashed into the sea with a massive splash.

Nice—another souvenir secured!

“…Just when I think I’ve gotten used to this kind of madness, something even crazier happens right after.”

“That’s S-Rank for you. If people like Abel and the rest of his kind had limits that were easy to see, it wouldn’t be S-Rank, would it?”

“Raynare’s on the same level too, though.”

“…You really think so?”

Raynare had landed and was saying something to the three girls.

Couldn’t hear her. Not even trying.

Anyway, I really needed them to help with transport.

I’d handle the dismantling, freezing, and storage myself.

In the end, we didn’t just end up with Kraken meat—

We got whale meat too.

Which meant cleanup, cutting, and even repairs to the port took way longer than expected.

We had originally planned to visit the old lady who gave me the magic sword that day—

But now, that visit had to wait until tomorrow.

・　・　・　・　・

Meanwhile—

Far to the north of Estena, in a massive city near the center of the continent—

“Why… Why did it turn out like this…!?”

A single woman sat curled up on a bed, sniffling through her tears.

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Hey there, it’s Sora Akatsuki—currently neck-deep in a major turning point.

Sorry for the long gap between updates.

Things got a bit hectic, and the story’s direction got tricky, so it was hard to keep the writing momentum going.

That said, I should be able to settle down soon, and I’ll do my best to write something you all can enjoy.

Also, to those of you who’ve been sending gifts—I really want to give something back, even if just a little.

So, I’m planning to post a few short bonus stories (SS) for The Betrayed Adventurer exclusively for supporters.

They’ll be small extras, so please don’t expect too much—but I hope you look forward to them all the same.

I’m also thinking of posting The Betrayed Adventurer on “Narou” with the same content sometime soon.

Thanks for sticking with me—

And I hope you’ll continue to enjoy the story.

Oh, and by the way—

When Raynare first appeared and landed that opening hit, here’s what was packed into that moment:

“Why didn’t you notice me!? I was lonely, you know!”

“We finally reunited! I’m so happy I could scream!”

“It’s bad enough that you’re with a Sage… but why are there other girls with you too!?”