Is My Main God Miyazaki Hidetaka?
Lynn's breathing sounded exceptionally clear in the empty courtyard. He didn't rush to move; instead, he habitually scanned his surroundings.
To be honest, this place wasn't exactly like the Raya Lucaria Academy from the Lands Between—it was entirely different. Aside from the architectural style, the terrain and layout had been completely overhauled. The corners he remembered using for cover and the high ground for ambushing enemies were nowhere to be found.
"Fine. I wasn't expecting to breeze through this on past experience anyway."
He set off, cautiously crossing the plaza paved with white stone slabs. The towering buildings stood in silence, each window resembling a cold, indifferent eye watching the intruder. It was eerily quiet, without even the sound of the wind.
Just as Lynn's toe was about to touch the stone steps near the central fountain, a piercing whistle cut through the air!
"Hmm?"
Instinctively, Lynn twisted his body to the left, performing a textbook side-roll. As he landed, his legs were slightly coiled, and the Bloodhound's Fang was already unsheathed, held in a reverse grip with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
Bang!
A fist-sized blue Glintstone magic bolt slammed into the spot where he had just been standing, exploding into a ring of blinding blue light and kicking up stone shards.
His gaze was like lightning as Lynn instantly locked onto the source of the attack. Behind a thick stone pillar at the edge of the plaza, a figure wearing a black robe and a bizarre stone mask was slowly peeping out. The stone head looked ridiculous, but the Glintstone Staff in its hand radiated an ominous magical ripple.
"An ambush? No martial virtue at all!" Lynn huffed.
He knew the nature of these apprentices all too well. If he let them lock onto him and start firing, he'd be facing a literal bullet hell. Without hesitation, Lynn kicked off the ground, lunging toward the apprentice like an arrow released from a bow.
The opponent clearly hadn't expected Lynn's reaction to be so swift—or perhaps, it simply lacked the high-level function of "thought." It mechanically raised its staff, preparing to fire a second spell.
"Too late."
Lynn's movement was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he reached the pillar. The Bloodhound's Fang traced a perfect arc through the air, carrying the force of the wind as it accurately sliced through the apprentice's neck.
Squeltch!
The apprentice's body fell like a cut puppet. Its head flew high, and the torso beneath the blue robe collapsed powerlessly. There was no blood, only a cluster of pale blue light that drifted from the corpse and quickly merged into Lynn's body.
[Runes Acquired: 200]
"As expected, these apprentices are as squishy as ever." Lynn sheathed his blade, flicking the residual glow from the steel, his face unmoved.
However, this strike thoroughly alerted the "apprentices" hidden throughout the courtyard.
Shhh-shhh...
Faint friction sounds echoed from all directions. Soon, more blue light points ignited across the courtyard. Lynn looked around to see six figures, identical to the first, emerging from stone pillars, building shadows, and even from behind the fountain's base.
Their Glintstone Staves were all pointed at Lynn, the tips gathering increasingly blinding blue light. The next second, all six apprentices fired simultaneously!
Vroom—shoo! Shoo! Shoo!
A dense barrage of blue Glintstone magic bolts poured down like a rainstorm, piercing the air with sharp whistles as they converged on Lynn. Every single one was aimed precisely at his vitals.
"Damn it!"
Lynn moved like a ghost, weaving and dodging through the barrage. His toes tapped the ground lightly as he leaned back, letting a magic bolt graze the tip of his nose.
However, the apprentices' assault was relentless, showing no signs of stopping. Their casting speed wasn't fast, but with six of them attacking in shifts, they created a seamless web of fire. Lynn's maneuverable space was being constantly compressed. A few bolts even grazed the hem of his clothes, leaving a burning sting.
"I can't let this drag on, or I'll be ground down to nothing," Lynn realized.
It wasn't that he lacked the means to counterattack, but charging directly into the barrage was too risky, even with the invincibility frames of his rolls. Moreover, this was just the first wave of trash mobs; there was no telling what other nonsense waited further in.
He came to a sudden halt, ducking behind a massive stone pillar on his right, narrowly avoiding the next volley.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The magic bolts slammed into the pillar, sending sparks and stone fragments flying. Leaning against the stone and listening to the continuous firing outside, Lynn furrowed his brows. These apprentices wouldn't give up once they locked onto a target—unless that target vanished from their sight entirely.
"Need to find a way to make them stop," he thought, various strategies flashing through his mind.
Combat experience from the Lands Between told him that in a stalemate like this, he either had to create an opening or draw their attention elsewhere. He quickly purchased a Kukri from the system. It was a light throwing weapon with a curved blade similar to a Gurkha knife. Back in the Lands Between, he often used these to distract enemies or deal with tricky traps.
Lynn let out a low chuckle, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes. He didn't peek his head out. Instead, he weighed the Kukri in his hand and threw it backward with a sudden jerk!
The blade whistled through the air, accurately striking the wall of a distant building.
Clang!
The crisp sound was jarringly loud in the silent courtyard. As expected, the firing from the six apprentices paused for a split second. They seemed distracted by the sudden noise, and almost simultaneously, the tips of their staves turned toward the sound.
In that very instant!
"Now!"
Lynn roared, bursting out from behind the pillar! He was as fast as lightning. By the time the apprentices had turned around and before their staves could re-lock onto him, he had already crashed into their formation.
The Bloodhound's Fang traced a crescent moon in the air, carrying a sharp blade-aura as it slashed into the nearest apprentice.
Squelch!
The apprentice was sliced in two, and blue light merged into Lynn once more.
[Runes Acquired: 200]
But that was only the beginning. The remaining apprentices finally reacted, raising their staves, but Lynn was already within point-blank range. Their proud magic barrage had now become a massive liability. In close-quarters combat, the physical durability of these sorcerer apprentices was thinner than paper.
"Bloodhound's Finesse!"
Lynn whispered, his body becoming a blurred phantom as he traversed between the six apprentices at high speed. His Level 2 attributes made him even swifter now. Every time his silhouette flickered past an apprentice, the Bloodhound's Fang accurately severed a neck or a waist.
He showed no mercy. Every strike was concise, efficient, and lethal. The apprentices didn't even have time to make a sound before falling one by one, turning into clusters of blue light.
Five seconds. It took a mere five seconds.
When Lynn sheathed his blade and stood still, there wasn't a single apprentice left standing in the courtyard. All that remained were a few fading blue orbs and the shattered remnants of Glintstone Staves.
[Runes Acquired: 200] [Runes Acquired: 200] [Runes Acquired: 200] [Runes Acquired: 200] [Runes Acquired: 200]
"Phew..." Lynn let out a soft breath, sliding the Bloodhound's Fang back into its scabbard. Though the process had been a bit tense, the result was within his expectations. These apprentices weren't smart enough; they still had that "Lands Between" flavor, acting only according to fixed patterns.
Suddenly, his attention was caught by a wooden stick on the ground with a small blue crystal at the tip.
A staff. A staff that hadn't turned to ash with the apprentice's death.
Lynn stepped forward to pick it up, and a system prompt immediately appeared.
[Obtained: Glintstone Staff x1]
He raised the staff with interest, pointing it at a wall ahead as he recalled his memories.
"Pew!" He even added his own sound effect.
However, nothing happened. Not even a spark emerged from the tip. He had been a "Mage Lord" in one of the cycles of the Age of Stars, but right now, no matter what he did, he couldn't remember how to manifest Glintstone Sorceries.
"What's the Glint-deal here?"
No wonder Ranni said she needed to analyze how the magic of the Lands Between worked here. It seemed that until he found that "medium," he could forget about using magic.
Lynn casually tossed the Glintstone Staff—currently less useful than a fire poker—into his storage space, muttering grumpily, "Not enough Intelligence, so I have to rely on gear... and now I can't even get the gear to work."
He looked around the empty, dead courtyard. Aside from himself, there wasn't a single living thing. The slain apprentices hadn't even left corpses, only fading blue light as proof of their existence. The silence was unnerving.
Lynn shrugged, shouldered the Bloodhound's Fang again, and walked toward the tallest building at the front of the courtyard. The entrance was a heavy double door, almost identical to the one he had entered through, only a size smaller and without the eerie cuckoo bird carvings.
He reached out and gave it a hard push.
Creeeeeak—
The hinges let out a piercing screech that echoed far into the silence.
Behind the door was not the grand hall or classroom he expected, but an excessively long corridor. On both sides of the hallway, there were no walls; instead, there were rows of floor-to-ceiling windows. The dull gray sky light filtered through the stained glass, casting mottled, kaleidoscopic shadows on the polished stone floor.
Lynn's footsteps were the only sound—tap, tap, tap—each step carrying a clear echo. As he walked, he observed the stained glass with great interest.
"Oh, if it isn't Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon... quite a good likeness."
On one window, he saw a woman wearing a crown, cradling an amber egg while gazing sadly into the distance.
"And this is... Radagon? Tsk, that red hair. Quite the show-off."
On another window, a red-haired powerhouse held a stone hammer, posing with world-conquering strength. These were members of the Carian Royal Family, faces he had grown tired of seeing in the Lands Between. Yet, seeing them here felt strangely like meeting old friends in a foreign land.
As Lynn's gaze swept across the windows, he suddenly stopped. He noticed that on one window depicting an anonymous sorcerer, there was a visible, spiderweb-like crack. The center of the crack looked like it had been struck by something from the outside.
He didn't linger, continuing forward as if he didn't care about the crack at all.
The corridor was long, and he reached about the halfway point. Just as he passed the cracked stained-glass window—
Bang! Crash!
The massive window exploded inward without warning! Countless glass shards, accompanied by a frigid wind, shot toward Lynn's face! A ragged figure with bluish-purple skin and stiff movements lunged straight through the window, spreading rotten hands to grab Lynn's neck!
"I knew it."
Facing the sudden attack, he didn't even blink. Physical instinct had already responded before his brain. Using his left foot as an axis, he retreated with his right, his upper body swaying back like a willow branch in the wind. At an inconceivable angle, he narrowly avoided the zombie's pounce and the flying glass shards.
The zombie missed and stumbled forward from its momentum. The cold air radiating from it dropped the surrounding temperature by several degrees.
"A Frozen Zombie? An old friend."
Lynn chuckled. The moment he and the zombie crossed paths, his right hand was already on the hilt of his blade.
"Ha!"
The Bloodhound's Fang left its sheath, tracing a cold arc in the air. He didn't even turn around, executing a perfectly fluid backhand slash.
Squelch!
The blade accurately sliced through the zombie's neck. The zombie froze; its rotten head separated from its body and rolled across the floor. The headless corpse took two more steps before collapsing with a thud, turning into a faint blue light.
[Runes Acquired: 150]
Lynn sheathed his blade with flowing movements, as if he had just swatted a mosquito. He glanced at the broken glass on the floor and the head rolled into the corner, curling his lip. He brushed off non-existent dust and continued toward the closed wooden door at the end of the corridor.
After the crisis was resolved, he didn't relax; instead, he became more vigilant. Only one trash mob? That doesn't make sense.
There's definitely a setup ahead!
At the end of the corridor was a heavy oak door with no decorations, only an old iron ring for a handle. Lynn stood before it but didn't reach out to open it immediately. He stood silently, ears twitching.
It was too quiet. Quiet in a wrong way.
The combat instincts he'd honed in the Lands Between were buzzing in his head like an alarm. He slowly, very slowly, turned around.
Not far behind him, in the empty corridor he had just walked through, three dark shadows had appeared silently.
They were three dogs.
They weren't large, but their fur stood up like steel needles. Drool leaked from their muzzles as low, threatening growls rumbled in their throats. Pairs of crimson eyes were locked onto him. They were in a perfect triangle formation, completely sealing off Lynn's retreat.
The moment he saw this classic formation, Lynn's eye twitched violently.
"The Three-Dog Lord-Slaying Formation!"
He hissed through gritted teeth, already mentally cursing a certain designer named Miyazaki and his entire family tree.
"Did you get cornered in an alley by three dogs spawning behind you on your way home from elementary school?!"
The sheer annoyance of this encounter was a fear engraved into the DNA of any Tarnished. A single dog wasn't scary, but three together? Their erratic attack frequency and bizarre pouncing trajectories were enough to make any expert's blood pressure skyrocket.
Worse yet, this was a narrow corridor! There wasn't even room to kite them!
"Grrr—Woof!"
They didn't give him any more time to complain. The dog at the front of the formation roared, its limbs tensing as it turned into a black bolt of lightning, lunging at Lynn! Simultaneously, the two dogs on the flanks moved. They didn't charge in a straight line but used weird, rapid steps to flank him, attempting to compress his dodging space.
A textbook three-dimensional pincer attack!
Lynn's pupils constricted. He didn't retreat or counter; instead, he pushed off the ground toward the left wall in a lightning-fast side-roll!
Whoosh!
He rolled nearly flat against the floor, narrowly avoiding the fatal bite of the lead dog. Its claws grazed his back, bringing a gust of wind.
However, the danger wasn't over. The moment he stabilized his stance, the two flanking dogs were already upon him. One from the left, one from the right, both opening their bloody maws!
"Bloodhound's Step!"
Lynn roared in his mind.
His body instantly turned into a nearly uncatchable blur, leaving a faint afterimage behind. In a posture that defied the laws of physics, he shifted backward several meters in a flash!
"Awoof?"
The teeth of the two dogs slammed together with a crisp clack, but they only bit air. A moment of bewilderment appeared in those crimson beastly eyes.
"Now!"
Lynn's silhouette solidified not far away. Without a pause, the moment he appeared, his body recoiled like a tensed bowstring! His chosen target was the lone dog that had just missed its pounce and was still adjusting its stance.
Strike while the enemy is vulnerable!
The Bloodhound's Fang let out a sharp whistle as it tore through the air, tracing a lethal red arc from the bottom up!
Squelch—!
The blade pierced accurately through the beast's jaw, impaling its entire skull. The dog didn't even have time to whimper; its body stiffened in mid-air before crashing heavily to the floor, twitching twice before going still.
[Runes Acquired: 200]
With the kill confirmed, Lynn didn't stay. He tapped the ground heavily, activating Bloodhound's Step again to zip away and create distance from the remaining two dogs. He retreated to the middle of the corridor, right next to the floor-to-ceiling window he had shattered earlier.
Seeing their companion killed, the remaining two dogs grew even more rabid. They roared and charged at Lynn again, one after the other.
Lynn's eyes were terrifyingly calm. He looked at the dog in the lead, neither dodging nor parrying. Just as the dog leaped high, about to pounce on his face, Lynn suddenly ducked low to the left, clearing the path in front of him.
The dog whistled past him, and its landing point was exactly the broken window frame!
Snap!
One of the dog's hind legs was caught squarely by the sharp edge of the window frame, followed by the crisp sound of a bone dislocating.
"Awooooo—!" A wretched howl echoed through the corridor.
"Goodbye."
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Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (Simulpub – Ongoing)
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