Chapter 112: Guild War — Glory (1)
Chapter 112: Guild War — Glory (1)
With a hand stained by the blood streaming down, I brushed my bangs back.
When I moved my body, the dagger lodged in my neck produced even more intense pain.
And that only made a deeper laugh escape my mouth.
“…That was an attack that would normally kill instantly, yet instead of dying you’re laughing.”
The Schemer, Kairas Selun, muttered in a voice filled with disgust.
“Even so, the fact that your life is hanging by a thread hasn’t changed. But it’s not too late yet. A single declaration of faith saying you’ll serve the Keeper will let you live.”
“Thank you for your warm consideration.”
To think that an enemy would treat me with such kindness.
I was deeply moved, so I decided to return the favor with equal enthusiasm.
Whoooosh—!
I turned only my left hand behind me and released a blast of flames.
Even if he had been freed from the suppressor known as Corruption Sprouts, the fact that fire was a vampire’s weakness had not changed.
Kairas leapt quickly and retreated far away.
Before he could close in again and stab this small and precious body of mine, I formed a barrier of crimson flames.
“Do you think such trivial fire can restrain me?”
“Not at all.”
Countermeasures against fire were basic preparation for a guild war.
Naturally, it would not pose a major threat.
Still, it could buy me enough time.
Fwoooosh!
With my left hand I continued emitting [Death · Flame · Flower], while with my right hand I created a small sphere of lightning and swallowed it.
A prickling pain burned down through my esophagus and stomach.
《Your body has gained properties similar to Sue’je’s Black Lightning!》
Right after [Sin: Gluttony] activated, five needle-shaped shuriken flew in, targeting only the vital points of the human body.
Of course, I could not dodge.
The shuriken, imbued with the ninja resource known as Nin Force, pierced through my body in an instant.
Crackle!
Black lightning crackled as it filled the holes in my body.
With my Vitality exceeding 20 and reaching the realm of transcendence, combined with the fluidity of lightning, ordinary attacks could no longer kill me.
“……”
Breaking through the flames with a fire-resistant muffler wrapped around him, the Schemer quickly formed hand seals.
Rumble!
The ground rose like a wave and crashed down toward me.
[Ninjutsu: Earth Surge].
At this point, there was no need to mention that a cultist with such miserable speed had no way to dodge.
Thud-thud-thud!
A wave of stone and earth buried my body.
It felt a little suffocating, but also fascinating.
So this was what being buried alive felt like?
I had always wanted to experience it at least once.
Crackle!
I transformed into a streak of black lightning and shot upward.
“I expected you wouldn’t go down from just that.”
The Schemer was waiting above.
Holding [Companion of the Lord], now engulfed in blue flames.
“Enough of this. Go rest outside the labyrinth.”
An invisible-speed slash tore across my entire body in an instant.
Wounds carved from head to toe.
Blue flames burning hot from each cut.
[Ninjutsu: Azure Flame Blade], a technique that allowed him to slash while burning enemies with high regeneration like myself.
Crackle!
Blood with lightning properties burst out and scattered everywhere.
When Kairas distanced himself briefly to avoid being electrocuted, I spread lightning through my body to extinguish the blue flames.
While doing so, every charred and melted part of my body regenerated.
Even my head, which had been half-blackened and crumbling.
“…An absurd recovery ability.”
“Your speed is even more absurd, Kairas.”
Vitality and Agility.
A head-on clash between two half-elves possessing different abilities that had both reached the realm of transcendence.
“So that’s why you dared to challenge me alone.”
Kairas quickly regained his composure and ignited blue flames around his body.
“Even so, it doesn’t matter. I admit your recovery ability, but eliminating an explorer at your level isn’t difficult.”
Clatter—!
The countless shuriken scattered across the ground began circling through the entire cavern.
An orderly movement with a clear structure.
[Ninjutsu: Sequential Shuriken Formation].
Then one shuriken shot toward me.
— Caw!
The Blind Crow waiting nearby immediately rushed out and deflected it with its wing.
Soon more shuriken followed.
Ting, tiiing!
Jinshili, whose combat strength as a crow had increased after reaching the 5th tier, deflected them all before they reached me.
“How long do you think you can keep that up?”
With a relaxed expression, Kairas fired blue flames.
While countering them with [Death · Flame · Flower], a wheel-shaped shuriken that Jinshili failed to block pierced into my calf.
My concentration faltered, and the crimson flames emitted from my left hand were pushed back helplessly by the blue fire.
Fwoosh!
I briefly turned into a rather stylish blue biological signal flare.
While extinguishing it again with lightning, Kairas suddenly approached, stabbed my neck, and withdrew.
Deep stab wounds and blue flames burning through the injuries.
My body healed quickly once again, appearing fine on the surface.
But inside, it was different.
“…I’m getting dizzy.”
My vitality recovered quickly, but my mental power was draining rapidly.
My vision began spinning.
The Schemer approached again and swung his dagger at astonishing speed.
Clang-clang-clang!
[Companion of the Lord] grazed my body dozens of times.
Predicting the impact points, I blocked them with minimal Earth Aura, and whenever blue flames ignited from the cuts, I extinguished them with black lightning.
Fwoosh!
Whenever brief openings appeared, I launched surprise attacks with [Death · Flame · Flower].
The Schemer twisted his body elegantly to evade and continued the assault.
“So that’s how it works.”
While continuing his relentless attack, Kairas smiled faintly.
“That mystery that transforms your body by swallowing something—surely it doesn’t only have advantages. At first glance it looks like a limitless healing method, but in reality it must place great strain on your body. Isn’t that right?”
“Who knows?”
I answered casually, but he was correct.
From the 5th tier onward, [Sin: Gluttony] gained a large increase in performance, but additional penalties appeared depending on the nature of the transformed body.
In the case of the black lightning containing the Exalted One’s power, every time my body repaired itself it consumed mental power.
There was a reason the ominous word “Sin” was used.
“In the end, time is on my side.”
Whoosh!
Even while speaking, shuriken continued to fly.
— Caw!
The Blind Crow was blocking them diligently, but shuriken kept lodging into my body.
“Either explorers or ghouls—no one will defeat the enhanced wyvern anyway. This year’s guild war will end in a dishonorable victory. All I have to do is hold out until the end. You should be eliminated before that.”
“But you are no longer an official participant, Kairas. Didn’t you lose Laenis’s skin?”
I already knew roughly how he would answer, but I continued the conversation to break his concentration even slightly.
“No matter how long you hold out here, it’s meaningless.”
“I’ll simply say that I hid my true form with a mystery all along. Half-elves disguised as pure elves are everywhere across the continent. No one will find it strange. Besides, even the name is similar enough.”
He had likely destroyed all the broadcasting crystal spheres in this cavern long ago.
And since Laenis’s genuine pure-magic mystery could be roughly imitated through ninjutsu, he made a perfect disguise target.
“You are truly meticulous.”
“Of course.”
Kairas nodded confidently, his hands constantly moving.
I also responded endlessly with various mysteries, focusing on defense.
An intense exchange continuing in exactly the same manner.
My body, which had become living lightning, recovered instantly from any damage—
“…It’s empty.”
At some point my mind began drifting endlessly.
My mental power had reached zero.
“Looks like you’ve reached your limit. Your eyes look wonderful now.”
Kairas, who had been swinging his dagger nonstop, suddenly spoke.
He must have been waiting for my mental power to run out.
“Now it’s over—”
His voice grew distant.
My sense of reality faded.
A floating sensation rose through my body, and my vision slowly blurred.
I could roughly guess what kind of insanity-type status effect I would encounter this time.
“…At least it’s not the worst.”
Soon the surrounding scenery changed abruptly.
“Another one died.”
A priest wearing bizarre ceremonial robes spoke irritably.
His subordinates dragged a boy who looked limp and threw him onto a nearby altar like trash.
On the luxurious metal altar, countless children lay scattered in incomplete conditions.
“Next, bring number 3849.”
The priest pointed at me.
And I—
I, who was still a child—
laughed.
Even as they dragged me away and tied my limbs.
Even as indescribable pain ravaged my entire body for three days.
I simply kept smiling.
Thump.
About a week passed by my senses when suddenly the world seemed to overturn, and blue flames ignited at my neck.
My vision changed again.
The next moment—
I saw the half-elf ninja stabbing my neck with [Companion of the Lord].
“…The more I learn about you, the more shocking it becomes.”
Kairas frowned deeply.
“Even with your mental power reduced and your senses distorted, you’re still blocking attacks? What exactly are you?”
‘Reality Distortion.’
A status effect that forced one into horrific memories, preventing movement for several dozen seconds.
Experiencing it myself was quite disorienting.
It felt like I had traveled to another world for several days.
Because of the side effect of [Fragment of the Colossus], which doubled the influence of mental-affecting status effects, it probably felt even longer.
“The body follows the control of the mind.”
However, if one already knew what phenomenon would occur, dealing with it was entirely possible.
Just like in the game, actions pressed before being afflicted with “Reality Distortion” would continue to execute—so I figured it might work in reality as well.
And it did.
“Even so, it’s over now!”
After knocking me down, Kairas reversed his grip on the dagger and thrust downward.
My body was already covered with cuts and burns, so I could no longer block it with my body.
Whoooom!
Just before the blade pierced my flesh, brown Earth Aura stopped the advance of [Companion of the Lord].
I had converted the massive amount of Earth Essence flowing from the ground into aura and wrapped it around my entire body.
[Avatar of Earth].
The innate mystery of Earth Elves was invincible in defense.
Especially since the aura consumption decreased drastically while remaining still, allowing it to last all day if the conditions were met.
“I have no idea why you can use the Earth Elf’s ‘Natural Blessing,’ but…”
The Schemer stepped back slightly and straightened his posture.
“It’s just a meaningless struggle. Earth essence isn’t infinite. You know that too, which is why you conserved it until now and only entered stationary defense at this point.”
The half-elf ninja formed hand seals with one hand.
Huge tree roots burst out from beneath the ground and began writhing violently.
[Ninjutsu: Moving Great Tree Roots].
An 8th-tier mystery that absorbed vitality upon contact.
“This ends it.”
It was basic knowledge that the earth element was weak to the plant element.
Aura generated by the 5th-tier [Avatar of Earth] would not last even a moment.
Rumble!
Giant roots surged forward.
Thrashing like living monsters.
The roots completely covered my body and began crushing the aura.
Just before the Earth Aura shattered completely—
Crunch!
A horrifying sound suddenly rang out.
“Ghk—aaagh…!”
Kairas groaned in pain.
At some point, he was clutching his right shoulder, where his arm had been torn off.
“Good work.”
To Kairas’s right.
A massive gray orc held a slender left arm dripping with blood.
“That pill you gave through Rai worked very well.”
Targon.
Ranked No. 2 among the Twelve Heroes.
The strongest warrior-class explorer in Pletika.
“I never expected it would hide my presence this perfectly.”
“…Targon!!”
Grinding his teeth, the Schemer leapt far backward.
“So we finally meet, spy.”
Targon watched the retreating ninja quietly before clenching both fists.
For the first time since arriving—
his face split into a crazed grin wide enough to tear his mouth.
“Please hold out for a long time. So I can enjoy tormenting you a little longer.”