Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Chiefs' Meeting (2)
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[You're out of your mind. Ha!]
I turn my head toward the voice saying that.
Barol Ge-rdo.
He's definitely harboring resentment toward me because of Krun, whom I crushed earlier.
He's been muttering nothing but nasty things at me from a while ago.
[Hand over the entire academy? What the hell do you mean? You want us to sell it to you? This cradle of the tribal alliance?]
It might sound like Barol's just being obstructive since it's him speaking, but even I have to understand that reaction on this point.
The tribal alliance is a place obsessed with raising every single member as an elite because their numbers are so few. That's not why Chief Hatan also serves as dean for nothing.
So, I don't actually want the entire academy handed over.
"Proxy authority to exercise full control would suffice. Permission to use the facilities, authority over personnel assignments, authority to remove equipment... whatever."
The academy in the Golden Triangle is one of the massive scenario triggers in itself. And to maximize its use, the 'owner' here is already decided.
Not me, though.
"Just for the next few hours. That should be plenty."
As I added that, silence filled the surroundings.
From their perspective, it's still an outrageous demand either way.
[...Even setting aside how absurd your demand is.]
You can tell just from the immediate follow-up.
One of the chiefs spoke up in a voice full of disbelief.
[What threat is supposedly coming in the first place? Without explaining that, this is nothing but empty bravado.]
"I can show you right away without needing to explain."
[...What?]
"Want to bet on it?"
I respond to the chief who said that.
"A disaster will strike soon that no one here can properly handle. So."
When saying something like this, confidence is key.
You have to lay it on thick, like even stabbing a knife in your face wouldn't draw a drop of blood, so that the other side at least starts wondering what makes this guy so sure.
"What I show you will be a 'crisis even the chiefs can't handle,' and if I wipe it out right here, you grant my request. How about it?"
[...So.]
Utad, who had been listening silently until now, spoke in a disbelieving tone.
[The unprecedented threat that even the Forge of Struggle's technology couldn't detect is coming soon. Only you know about it. And only you can stop it.]
"Yes."
[...And you claim you can erase it in an instant right here?]
"Yes."
In fact.
The faces of all the chiefs change in strange ways upon hearing me.
Some doubtful, some stunned, some scoffing.
Barol Ge-rdo, who had bad blood with me from the start, looks like his anger has boiled over completely.
[...Not even worth listening to.]
Barol spat out.
[Utter nonsense not worth reconsidering. Did getting the Grand Hunter title by luck make you blind?]
"Let's talk sense. How do you get a title like that by luck?"
[...]
"Have you ever even touched a single hair of a Demon Realm ruler? Always peddling drugs and committing crimes, so nothing's sacred to you?"
I throw his words right back at him.
It's deliberate, to rile him up.
Blood will tell, and Krun Ge-rdo's shallow personality is practically inherited straight from his father, Barol.
Just toss him one ridiculous provocation like this, and he'll bite for sure, I figured.
[...]
Like that.
Look at him turning dead serious from just that one line.
[...You said it was a bet, you bastard.]
Barol growled in a deeply sunken voice.
[If you fail, what are you putting up?]
His eyes gleam with sinister intent. He's probably scheming to pull some trick here and screw me over big time.
"My life or whatever, take it as you please."
What I want is exactly this situation where he picks a fight like that.
[...What?]
"I'll do whatever you want. If you don't believe me, we can go through a vow ritual or something."
As I answer like that.
Hatan, who had been silently observing, smirks, and Utad lets out a sigh—they're caught in the act.
By saying that just now, there's no room for the other chiefs to intervene and stop it; the bet is 'established.'
Irreversibly solid, no backing out later.
[...You must be awfully confident, you bastard.]
In truth, even Barol, who brought it up first, now looks flustered after I said that. He's trying not to show it, but.
He probably didn't expect me to outright declare he'd get whatever he wants.
"I'm confident. Anyway, let's wrap up the talk and get to the bet."
With that, I approach the console embedded in the center of the table and operate it.
This place doubles as a conference room and a command center. Using the nearby equipment lets you survey the academy's surroundings perfectly.
"It's almost time for what I mentioned to appear."
I check the time.
And scan all the available surveillance cameras nearby.
[...Is that right?]
Just then, Kaliban's voice came from the Soul Linker.
[Didn't that Tatiana woman say she'd give you one day? Isn't there still a long time left?]
'...If you were gonna warn me, why not earlier instead of now?'
[Because you're not the type to pull something like that without thinking.]
Good to know he gets it.
I inwardly sigh and respond to Kaliban.
'The wording was too vague.'
[What?]
'She said she'd give a one-day grace period. But that just means holding off on killing me for a day. Exactly that and nothing more.'
Considering how subordinate Tatiana is to that Foreseer guy, I'm a thorn in their side with all their attention on me.
Even if ordered to wait a day, they'd interpret it broadly to kill me however they can.
In that sense.
What I was looking for via the console appeared soon enough.
The spot on my screen was right in the middle of the sea near the Forge of Struggle.
[...Wait. What the hell is that?]
And there.
A massive 'hole' reminiscent of a giant sinkhole was forming.
One brimming with endless darkness.
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In truth, sinkholes deep and wide enough to swallow several buildings are common enough on land.
But one in the middle of the ocean?
It's blatantly unnatural.
It feels so alien it's like a 'path' is being drilled from one side to the other through the sea.
-...
And from inside it.
Something starts 'crawling out.'
A soft-bodied creature covered head to toe in pitch-black tentacles.
But its size is absurdly huge.
No joke—it's on par with a modern battleship.
[...Kraken? No, but...!]
"Not your average kraken."
One chief let out a gasp of alarm, and Hatan clutched his head, groaning in agreement.
"The fact that it's pitch black all over means it's a cursed beast. Not the usual ones around here."
A regular kraken is classified as a large-scale beast.
Insanely powerful, sure, but Hatan's hunted them solo before. With a hunting party, he'd handle it no problem.
But.
"...Beasts carrying that intense 'attribute' are usually from the sub-dimension, and those are monsters several times stronger than their rank suggests."
Hatan said that and ground his teeth.
"I probably couldn't take it down either."
[...]
[...]
At those words, the surrounding chiefs fell silent all at once.
A beast even Hatan—the greatest hunter of our time—couldn't handle.
If he can't, no one here can deal with it.
And it doesn't end there.
[...Damn it. Not just one?!]
As that cry erupted.
The second.
The third.
Several more crawled out from the sinkhole.
Over a dozen, easily.
And those inside...
'...This is phase 1.'
These guys are the 'vanguard,' so to speak.
The Inverted Tidal Apostle boss fight is basically a 'defense' format. Block the endless waves of beasts assaulting the seafront around the Forge of Struggle.
These are the first wave.
[...You really had something prepared.]
'Told you. "Hold off on killing me" for one day doesn't exclude attacking the Forge ahead of time and wiping out the "people around me" who keep me in the fight.'
As long as I don't die, it's fine.
They probably started the summoning ritual right after showing me Allan's condition.
That's why I figured it'd open right around now.
You build tolerance when the same crap keeps happening.
[Quest Info]
[ Main Quest ] 〖 Chapter 3 – Apostles of the Inverted Tide 〗
[ 15H until the 'Grand Duel' event! ]
[ The boss fight follows immediately after that event! ]
Before, I got burned once by the Foreseer for blindly trusting what's written here.
And the lesson from that?
Plans made strictly 'on schedule' according to the info here can go off the rails anytime.
"..."
But one thing I want to point out.
It's not just them who can create backstabbing variables.
With that thought, I switch the system window.
!!!!!!!!!!!Demon Alert!!!!!!!!!!!
[ 'Demon-related' emergency event triggered! ]
[ This is a top-priority event! ]
[ Fail to act correctly within the time limit, and you die! ]
[ Event related to target 'Lilu'! ]
[ Devise survival measures immediately! ]
Yeah.
Like this, for example.
-...! ...! ...?
The krakens screeching as they approached the Forge suddenly halted.
They'd sense something coming from behind them too.
Probably.
Even those beasts too strong for Hatan to handle.
Instinctively sensing the 'threat,' something overwhelmingly powerful was approaching, enough to freeze them mid-motion.
[Wait a second.]
One chief spoke in a dazed voice.
[...That's a person, right?]
In fact.
It's a person 'running' across the sea surface.
[...]
[...]
The utterly incomprehensible scene left everyone in the room speechless.
How to describe this?
It's beyond athletic prowess or skillful ability use.
It's like warping the laws of the world single-handedly.
Kicking off the water's surface like it's flat ground, charging at terrifying speed.
So fiercely that each step sends a tidal wave surging behind.
And as far as I know.
Only one being can pull off a scene like this.
The figure running across the sea is enveloped in a 'blue' aura exploding violently enough to blanket the entire screen.
"..."
Yeah.
That's the pissed-off Lilu.
The one dropped into the middle of the sea using the magic stone from Feynol.
I calculated precisely so these beasts would be on her 'path' straight to me.
"Alright."
As everyone stared in shock at the sight, my voice cut in.
"Watch me handle those beasts now."
"...What?"
Ignoring Hatan's baffled voice, I snap my fingers.
"Yap."
And at that exact moment.
-!!
--!!!!!!!!!
The nearby krakens gape their maws and charge at Lilu. Multiple house-sized beasts lunge at her simultaneously.
A desperate crisis, no doubt.
"..."
Uh, so.
To the beasts.
"Get looooost--!!!"
Lilu roars and charges straight in.
And every kraken that collides with her.
Is 'pulverized' on the spot.
Like eggs smashing against a rock.
The size difference defies belief—utterly beyond common sense.
[...!]
"...!"
Everyone in the room gawked in horror.
Even I, who knew it was coming, broke into a cold sweat at the sheer power.
Brutal.
That's the Blue Devil's authority [Pulverize].
While unleashing demonic power, she can shred anything touching her body like that.
Size, defense, durability—none of it matters.
Just touch it.
"..."
On the bright side.
Phase 1 is skipped.
The fight's not over, but no need to tangle with those monstrous beasts right away.
And the downside that optimism can't cover.
"Daaawood Cambellllll-----!!!"
As I thought that, Lilu bellowed my name in a thunderous roar from the screen.
In response, the blue aura around her exploded even more violently outward.
"Come out now—I'll kill yoooou-----!"
I shut off the screen before the sentence finished.
Then turn to the stunned chiefs staring at me.
"...I win the bet, right? I kept every word."
I eliminated a threat no one here could handle. Just standing in this room.
Plain fact.
[You did protect us.]
"Yes."
[But isn't that thing coming to kill you right now? Can we count that as your ability—]
"But I eliminated the threat."
[...]
"I'm the cause, yeah."
A deal's a deal—no take-backs.
Hand over full academy control, quick.
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