Gwen Family's Hidden Secret (1)

The system message announcing the quest clear appeared.

It meant I could finally escape this basement packed with flesh lumps and fly corpses that had shocked and horrified me in every way possible.

"Oh, fuck, let's get the hell out of here quick."

I didn't want to spend even one more second in this place.

"Huh?"

I turned around—and an astonishing sight unfolded before my eyes.

"The flesh lumps... they're disappearing?"

The flesh covering the basement walls and ceiling was turning to black ash and vanishing. The scattered ash blew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away and disappeared too.

Stunned, I looked back. Beelzebub's corpse and the mountain of flies piled on the floor were all gone too.

Before long, the flesh-filled basement had returned to its ordinary state.

"Guess this space itself was sustained by Beelzebub's power."

So it vanished the moment Beelzebub died.

Thud!

"Huh? What's that?"

Right then, a black orb the size of my fist dropped onto the spot where Beelzebub's body had been.

"...No way?"

I stared blankly at the orb, then couldn't help but get excited.

Honestly, Beelzebub might be a total loser in this world, but in another world, he was a massive named boss. And he drops just a few tickets? That's no respect for my efforts.

Plus, they said if I didn't take him out, this world would turn into hell, right? I stopped hell from coming, so I deserve a reward worthy of that.

I hurriedly checked the orb Beelzebub left behind.

"....."

I stared blankly at the orb after checking its info.

"No, fuuuuck...! Am I supposed to be happy about this or hate it?!"

It's a special superpower. The kind you can't get with a selection ticket. Like White Knight's Superman's Return—stuff I can't choose. So yeah, it's good to get one.

But...

"Why the fuck does it have to be Fly Emperor?!"

Fuck, I hated the name so much. And even if they gave it a fancy title like Fly Emperor, it's still just fly control!

Of course, I knew it was an insanely powerful ability. Dark City alone had hundreds of millions of flies infesting slums and sewers!

Controlling all those flies was like installing surveillance cameras across the entire city!

But still, I hated it! Why? Because it's Fly Emperor!

"I'm Dark City's cleanest guy! The kind who gets itchy if I don't shower every day! And I have to play with flies?!"

No way. I just hate it. No, I really hate it. No, I FUUUUUUUUUUCKING HATE IT!!!!!"

"Not eating this shit."

I tossed Beelzebub's heart into my inventory.

Flies? I was sick of them. Didn't even want to look at one.

Grandma said the soup was too salty. I say,

"System, the reward sucks."

Is that all?! This is seriously all for saving the world from fly hell?!

"Wait, fuck, hold up. This came from killing that fly bastard too!"

So the system's basically just a few tickets.

"Grrrrr...! Rage, rage is boiling up!!!!!"

Unbearable fury surged. The kind that could turn the world to flames right now.

Right then, more system messages appeared.

"Right?! Fuck yeah, System, you play hard to get like a pro. Almost got offended there!"

Seeing the message washed away my rage like that.

Yeah, there was still this left. System was a master of push-pull.

"Alright! What reward is it?!"

"Ooooh! Chaos!"

Didn't know what it was, but the name sounded badass as fuck. Couldn't help but expect big things.

But—

"Hey, System bro?"

—No more messages after that.

1 minute, 5, 10, 20... Time dragged on, but no more system text.

"...That's it?"

Yeah, that was the end of the "special reward." No explanation of what power it gave either.

"Ha, hahaha! Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"

Laughter burst out involuntarily.

My echoing laughter in the basement made the three brothers tremble in fear.

*****

About 30 minutes later, I stopped laughing.

Folks. It's not happiness that makes you laugh—it's laughing that makes you happy.

The spot rage left filled with bliss.

"Fuck it. Who cares about that crap. I'm the strongest anyway. Top human Lü Bu, top monster Xiang Yu. Yeah! I went easy—call it a balance patch!"

Not getting that reward wouldn't inconvenience my life at all. I've been fine without them so far, and I'll keep being fine.

"No more quest clears from now on!"

Especially ones about hell coming or whatever!

No way I'm getting backstabbed once, let alone twice!

"Let's head up."

I missed fresh air. The flesh-packed space or the basement made it so stuffy.

"Heh heh heh. And my real reward is these guys."

Seeing the still-dazed Gwen family, a sinister grin crept up.

My eyes especially locked on Risanna Gwen, Elis's mother.

Holy shit! Even lying on the floor, those tits bulge out like that! How huge are they?! That's not tits—that's mountains.

I used Gravity Dominator to gather the fainted Gwen family and escaped the basement.

Smack!

"Kuhuhu. Handful's a work of art."

Of course, I handled Risanna personally. Squeezed her ass plenty.

All that remained in the empty basement was the wooden throne and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠massive split tree.

*****

"Ugh, uuum..."

"Where...?"

"Why am I...?"

The fainted ones started waking one by one as time passed. Wincing from pain, they sat up with confused faces, looking around.

"...Gasp!"

"Good morning?"

Risanna spotted me and jumped in shock.

"Steel Armor!"

"Yeah, Steel Armor. Did everyone have sweet dreams?"

"I won't let you get aw—huh?"

She looked ready to charge, but suddenly stopped and frantically patted her body.

'Fuck, did she notice?!'

I'd been groping her like crazy till moments ago. Couldn't resist that body.

I backed off quick when she showed signs of waking.

But luckily, it wasn't what I feared.

"...I can't feel it."

"Feel what?"

"It's gone! Gone!"

"Sigh... here we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go again."

Ignoring my question, seeing her thrilled made me sigh.

These guys are total insiders. That's why they ignore me like this.

Risanna grabbed her husband Saint Dunn's shoulder and yelled.

"Honey! Beelzebub's power—the Demon King's gone!"

"What?"

"The power's gone? Gasp! For real! It's really gone!"

"Ah, aah... We're free now! Liberated!"

Not just Saint Dunn—everyone looking at their bodies shed tears of joy.

Why the hell...?

'Ah.'

Suddenly recalled Beelzebub's final resistance. Flies burst from their mouths and merged with his main body.

Looked like they'd been under Beelzebub's control.

They hugged each other, shedding emotional tears.

I waited till they calmed. Talking now would just get ignored.

Soon, they composed themselves. Saint Dunn approached me on the stairs as representative.

"Benefactor who saved our Green Forest clan. Thanks to your dedication, we escaped a hellish life. We've received a grace too great to repay in a lifetime."

"...Huh?"

What the fuck? Totally different from first sight. Couldn't adapt to the gap.

This polite attitude froze my brain. No clue what to say.

"Truly, thank you, Benefactor."

"Thank you, Benefactor."

Saint Dunn bowed, and everyone behind followed suit.

"...Save the thanks for later. First, I wanna hear your story. And that fly monster in the basement too."

"Yes. We'll explain everything."

Saint Dunn nodded and began.

"Truth is, we're not from this world."

"Not from this world?"

"Yes. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠To be precise, we're from another world—or rather, Elves."

"...Elves?"

Elves out of nowhere?

"Th-those pointy-eared elves?"

"Correct."

"Uncle, your ears aren't pointy."

"Hidden with magic."

"Magic?"

Genre straight to fantasy now?

But that's not the point. Elves! The ones from novels, anime, movies! Pointy-eared elves!

"Can you show me?"

"Pardon? Oh, the ears?"

"Yeah."

"Not possible now."

"Why?!"

Saint Dunn's calm head-shake turned my elf ear excitement to disappointment.

"We've been under Beelzebub's domination too long. Most of our nature mana got corrupted. Can't use magic till it's fully purified."

"How long for full purification?"

"Well..."

He bit his lip.

"If our clan's sacred tree was intact, it'd purify in under a year. But now..."

Sacred tree? Wait, that one?

"The tree in the basement? The split one?"

"...Yes. Without the sacred tree's help, purifying nature mana takes at least 100 years."

"....."

1 year vs. 100. Fuck, that's a huge gap!

"Whatever, moving on. What's the deal between you guys and that fly bastard?"

"A deeply twisted grudge. Explaining everything will take time—is that alright?"

"Yeah. Got plenty of time. Sun's not even up. Spill it."

"Very well. We'll tell all. Our Green Forest clan was one of the elf tribes living in the Tilirin Mountains."

And so Saint Dunn began revealing the story between the Gwen family and Beelzebub.