Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Irritating Attention
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I stretched and let out a groan, sensing Poise once more as she yawned lazily.
No matter how I looked at it, she wasn't in a state where she couldn't fight.
On the contrary, now that a moderate battle had sharpened my senses, she had to be far stronger than at the start of the fight.
But the woman in front of me—Poise—showed absolutely no will to fight me.
"Lucky your face didn't get scarred. Your regeneration is impressive."
"......"
As soon as the fight ended, Poise restored her face to normal and brushed the dust off her clothes.
"So, can I take that as you accepting my apology?"
"......"
Without a word, I reached out and gripped her throat.
Poise let out a choked gurgle of pain but made no move to pry my hand away.
"If you're unhappy, feel free to swat me away."
"I... urk... messed up, so... today, ngh... I gotta take it."
"Today?" Do you think you're walking away from this alive?"
"Who knows...? By your standards... cough... I might still be hanging on by a thread...?"
"......"
Even trying to read her emotions, I couldn't fathom her intentions.
I just let go of her throat.
"Thanks."
I fell silent for a moment before asking,
"User ranking third place... was it?"
"Looks like you heard about me from someone while you were at the palace. Yeah, that's right. I'm user ranking third. One of the transcendent beings from another world that the Elryunar call us."
She rubbed her throat, which couldn't possibly hurt, acting all pitiful.
Doesn't match her looks at all. What a drama queen.
"Why would someone like you pull a cheap ambush?"
I mocked her in a raspy, altered voice, and she looked genuinely troubled, like any other person would.
...Or so I thought. That was a mistake.
"Oh. Before I explain why I did this, full disclosure: please don't get mad."
"?"
Poise cleared her throat with a hem-hem and flashed a bright smile.
"It was me who put Nicholas up to it. Oops."
I socked her in the jaw.
This bitch. Maybe I should just kill her.
"You're a woman, but no mercy."
"Figured it wouldn't hurt much. Got a problem?"
"Nah, none."
Looking at her again, she was ridiculously tall.
I'm about 180 cm, and she's a full head taller than me.
Quite the giant.
"Let me ask again: why pull this crap? The ambush, turning a beautiful forest into a poison pit for no reason."
"Ah, the forest? I can fix that."
Swoooo.
As soon as Poise extended her hand, even the poison far off in the distance was completely absorbed into her palm without a trace left.
"I made sure only you got poisoned from the start, so no issues there."
"......"
"Don't glare like that. It's scary."
Like you'd glare at yourself any less.
She let out an exaggerated groan before speaking.
"You asked why I did this? What's the reason for using violence?"
"For the thrill of superiority."
"Thrill, huh. Fair enough, but not for me. I just wanted the upper hand in a deal."
"A deal?"
Throwing someone into a poison-infested world out of nowhere and calling it a deal?
That's called blackmail.
"Yeah. I wanted to make a deal with you, Dre."
"I'll hear the details later. Why go this far?"
"Ah."
It was a vague question, but Poise seemed to get it right away.
She had her guilty conscience, after all.
"Why'd I stop the fight? Even if I won, it'd be a Pyrrhic victory at best."
"You thought you could beat me, fine. But Pyrrhic?"
"You know, that 'win but it doesn't feel like one' kind of state. Like winning a war but taking so much damage that you're the victory in name only, full of losses? I'd be seriously hurt too, at minimum."
In other words, she sensed it.
Strange.
This woman was genuinely strong.
Strong enough to remind me of Prostia's 30%.
I wasn't unscathed at all.
The poison aside, I'd taken a beating holding off all those attacks and was pretty worn out.
Poise, meanwhile, had burned through some mana, but otherwise seemed perfectly fine.
Of course, if we'd gone all the way, I don't think I'd have lost.
But would even she judge it that way?
Objectively, nine out of ten would side with Poise.
She was so strong that I wondered if my confidence in victory was just delusion.
No reason to stop while taking hits.
"You still look like you've got an ace up your sleeve."
"Not sure if that's praise or a taunt, but even factoring everything in, my gut said it'd just be losses for me."
"That's reason enough to throw a winnable fight and bet your life?"
"Bet my life? Nah, nothing that dramatic. From what I dug up, you don't kill people."
I don't kill people?
Like I thought before, why do they all decide that on their own?
As I opened my mouth to snap back in anger, Poise continued.
"Seeing you up close, you're no saint, but by your standards, I'm probably not worth killing. Right?"
I couldn't answer right away.
And then I thought about it.
Do I want to kill this woman right now?
The answer came quick.
"...Yeah. Not quite."
"Phew, good."
She's right.
Right, but goddamn annoying.
She started it with a sucker punch, we scrapped, she apologizes, then giggles like it's nothing.
Should I just finish it...?
Honestly, that weird world from earlier... I kinda wanted to see more.
As I started gathering my fighting spirit, Poise blinked and spoke cautiously.
"...Um. I got a bit cocky, huh? Sorry."
Her timing is impeccable.
Looks like some admiral or lady general, but acts like a sycophant.
Haa. I sighed, feeling my battle lust fade.
"Oh, right. More importantly, how about going to save your friends?"
"Friends."
"You know, the pretty knight who looks at you all gooey-eyed, starting with the Hart family young master."
"You said your allies were attacking them. Was that true?"
"Yup. Hate to say it myself, but my crew's pretty tough."
Poise watched my reaction carefully.
She'd calmed me down, but figured this might set me off again.
"My acquaintances are strong too."
That said, I was a bit worried about Repelt.
She's no weak knight, but if it's multiple top-tier otherworlders...
"More importantly, don't you have a way to contact your allies separately?"
"Ah, sharp instincts. Yeah, but it got wrecked fighting you."
"......"
"Well, precisely, when you sliced through my attacks, something in my skill structure broke, I think. Wild stuff. Ruin attribute. I'm sending a clone quick now, so bear with me."
Didn't seem like a lie.
"Then let's head to where my acquaintances are first. We'll talk after confirming they're safe."
"Sure."
"Before that."
"Yeah?"
"Tell me roughly what you came to propose."
"You being a user, you can probably guess."
"......"
I have no idea.
She shrugged awkwardly at my silent glare and said,
"Obviously, it's about the main quest."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Krak!"
"Vik!"
The man in the beetle bug mask took a massive lightning spear to the gut and rolled across the ground.
"This...!"
Kakru, the deer-masked man, spun his body like a top and unleashed a kick.
A surge of blue wind energy wrapped around his leg and rushed toward Gold.
Shrieeeeeek!
Spotting the blade of wind, Repelt slammed her shield into the ground.
"Hup!"
Clang!
A massive energy shield blocked Kakru's wind kick.
"Raaagh!"
Tututututu.
Continuous kicks, continuous wind blades.
But Repelt's defense was rock-solid.
In that gap, Kakru dashed at unimaginable speed to circle behind them.
However, a lightning spear chased him relentlessly, and Repelt's shield blocked the front again, protecting Gold.
'Damn. Got careless.'
The Ten Great Families.
The core of the 'main quest' and inheritors of the artifacts of the Ten Heroes that otherworlders coveted—noble bloodlines of Elryunar.
But excluding the family heads, only the heirs could use the artifacts, and even that imperfectly.
Even the heads could only wield fragments of the Ten Heroes' power, or so I'd heard.
Still, they were strong enough to rival average otherworlders, but Poise's subordinates were elite users beyond the norm.
I thought this force would suffice, but here we were, struggling.
I'd misjudged Gold's power from the start.
From footage of the floating island and such, I'd underestimated how many lightning spears he could fire and their power, but the real Gold was several times stronger.
Look at him now.
Lightning spears so blinding you might think real thunderbolts were striking from the sky.
Those spears lit up the midday brighter, packing power equal to their brilliance.
The projectiles flew so fast that even firing openly made closing in tough.
I considered tanking with user-level durability, but even Vik—who could transform his body into other creatures—struggled with their might.
Vik had armored himself in the toughest shell from Elryunar's hardest bug, yet one hit left him shriveled like a sun-dried insect.
'Damn. The first spears were small, tolerable power...!'
That's why we kept fighting, but who knew the spears' size scaled with Ryunar input?
'But there's a limit to how much he can output at once.'
I had a plan mid-fight.
First, feign desperation to lure Gold into complacency.
Eventually, mana-drained and impatient, he'd fire a massive spear to take out at least one.
Kakru planned to exploit the longer cast time of the big one with his fastest unseen skill.
As his battle experience suggested, the chance came.
Gold, sensing the tide turning, gathered a huge attack in the sky.
'Now!'
Vroooom!
Seizing the gap, he closed in at top speed.
Bam!!
And bounced off that damn shield knight.
'Shit!'
Honestly, underestimated the knight.
On the floating island, those knights got pushed hard by the Murderers.
The Murderers were bottom-tier users overall.
Thought mid-to-high tiers like us would crush them.
Big mistake.
Direct retainers of the Ten Families. Their captain couldn't be weak.
She—Repelt—had no real offense, but pure defense for her lord let her hold off three top users effortlessly.
'But even that's nearing its limit.'
As the fight stalled, a comrade hidden somewhere prepped an ultra-large skill. Caitlin's would pierce that shield and take them down.
What worried me most was the distant battle.
'The booms stopped.'
From the start, their leader Poise unleashed absurd barrages.
Earth-shaking rumbles and blasts nonstop after.
Powerful mana flows and massive Ryunar surges constantly felt.
That cut off abruptly ten minutes ago.
The huge mana wave then...
'No way. Did she use Mind Realm Declaration?'
The skill that made Poise a special ranker, third place.
Something beyond that, for Dre?
'...Well, he beat that monster rabbit kid.'
Too complacent all around.
Beating Almiras meant Dre had a trump or two.
Problem: two mana flows.
Meant Poise used Mind Realm Declaration twice.
If so, she'd have won and joined us by now.
But faint Ryunar after, then nothing.
'Battle's over for sure... no way.'
The grim possibility crept in.
I shook my head to dismiss it.
No way in a million years Poise would lose.
If she did, softie Dre—who didn't kill even during the floating island mess—would've come already.
So, just needs time to regroup, whatever the situation.
'Even if Caitlin's skill fails, Poise'll come.'
No victory for them.
"Hey! Young master!"
"Hm?"
Gold raised an eyebrow at Kakru's call.
"Your precious big bro's probably beaten and suffering by now. Not worried?"
"......"
"What pathetic brotherhood."
The Hart heir calling Dre 'brother' was common knowledge in communities.
Info's for using, right?
Shake him emotionally, create an opening.
But.
"Pathetic? You should worry about your boss."
"Huh?"
Kakru snapped back honestly in irritation, and Gold replied matter-of-factly, no smile.
"Think my brother would lose?"
"Heh. Overconfident? On what basis?"
"Half-assed or not, he subdued the Apocalypse Dragon. Even without that, hard to imagine him losing."
"......"
Kakru was speechless.
Not confidence—huge intel drop stunned him.
The truth of Prostia, Apocalypse Dragon, suspected but unproven.
The nameless user who halted the comet-like dragon descent.
Rumors it was Dre.
'He really subdued it? A dragon? The pinnacle monster?'
Kakru forced a grin over rising unease. Then.
"Ready."
Caitlin's voice echoed through the forest.
"Good. Start on my signal, Caitlin!"
Kakru's legs glowed blue, fallen Vik rose transforming hands to mantis claws.
And Gold...
"...This won't do."
"My lord."
"Repelt, protect yourself."
Gold's eyes flashed golden irises as he spoke.
"I unlock the artifact."
"...!"
Gold's eyes seemed to glow yellow for a split second.
As Kakru's eyes widened in unknown chill.
"Yoo hoo. You lot."
That voice came.
'Knew it!' Kakru grinned toward it, then tilted his head.
Poise was there, but wooden.
Obviously a clone.
'Or main body pretending to be clone?'
She'd bluffed that way before.
Maybe to make Gold drop guard.
But their leader said,
"We stopped fighting. This'll ruin us all, so apologize and quit."
"......?"
Couldn't comprehend.
Apologize and quit?
Why?
"I lost to Dre."
"...Huh?!"
As shock hit at the unbelievable words, Poise added,
"Hey Caitlin. Cancel the skill. Fire that, and we all might die."
Casual tone for admitting defeat.
Demoralized Kakru and Vik dropped stances, hidden Caitlin emerged looking dazed.
Repelt, tense thinking bluff, groaned 'eh...', Gold encircled them with lightning spears.
"Just in case, pointing at you is fine, right? Poise."
"Yeah, of course."
"Boss?!"
Kakru and Vik screamed at the threatening close-range sparks.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"You kids okay?"
"......"
This was her own suggestion for stopping the fight effectively, so I grabbed Poise by the nape and dragged her along like a sack.
With her nape in my grip, I must've looked pissed as hell.
The woman in the weird bug mask glanced between Poise and me, tried closing her gaping mouth, and failed.
Shocked-faced, she asked,
"Boss... for real?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Lost."
On the way to affirmation, the deer-masked man who ambushed me first stared wide-eyed at me.
"What're you staring at?"
"...!"
The deer mask bristled at the insult but swallowed it meeting my eyes.
"What? Got something to say?"
Deer mask gulped hard.
Dozy bastard?
I shifted from him to the still-gaping bug woman.
"You watching me from the floating island?"
"Uh? Y-yeah."
I roughly tossed Poise at her unwitting nod.
She tumbled but landed gracefully, brushing off her clothes.
"Boss, you hurt?!"
Deer mask panicked.
Can't you see how chill her face is...?
"Mm. We stopped mid-fight, so no major wounds."
"But you lost..."
"Draw."
Everyone stared at my curt remark.
"We both stopped at full strength. Not a loss just 'cause she suggested it first."
"Boss?"
Poise shrugged at deer mask's probing gaze.
"If we'd kept going, win or lose, we'd both end up dead together nicely."
"......"
No one looked badly hurt at a glance.
Good. No major casualties means minimal grudges.
Conversation possible.
Time to talk.
"You came for the main quest."
"Yeah."
Poise clapped, wooden chairs sprouted from the ground.
Gold stomped, earthen chairs rose similarly.
Poise tilted her head curiously; Gold snorted.
"?"
"We sit here, brother."
He's bold usually, but competitive in weird ways.
"Sure."
I sat on the earthen chair as Gold said.
Surprisingly comfy.
"Not planning anything now, right?"
"How can we trust you?"
"Fair. Heh. Fitting for a great family's heir, proper caution."
Poise sat on her wooden chair, gestured for her subordinates to sit.
The users eyed each other awkwardly before sitting.
Moment of silence.
I spoke first.
"Bottom line: if you're using the veil as an excuse for something else..."
"Veil? Why that punk?"
Poise cut in, puzzled.
Don't interrupt.
I shelved my annoyance and said,
"Same Murderer, right?"
"So what if we are? Do Murderers gotta avenge every one who gets hit?"
"Hm..."
Thinking about it, Murderers in the game scrapped among themselves plenty, never buddy-buddy.
Even if they played nice, it'd end in backstabs for fun.
No.
Game was tame; reality's worse.
Those idiots backstab but don't help without gain.
Poise grinned.
"Murderers that buddy-buddy?"
"Veil at least trusted you."
Poise scoffed.
"That cocky brat trusts me? News to me. Recently told him low-tier Murderers should stick together. Thinks we're allies? Troublesome kid."
"......"
"Or desperate straits."
Poise smirked mischievously, implying maybe Veil sold my name after something horrific.
"As long as it's not about Veil, fine."
I glared at Poise.
"State your purpose."
"Want your cooperation on the main quest."
"More specific."
Poise grinned.
"You know the main quest has three paths."
No clue, damn it.
Lovehart, you bitch...!!
"One's excavating the Forgotten Fragments. That's mine."
Forgotten Fragments excavation?
Needed explanation, but she assumed I knew basics and continued.
Curious, but no way I'd show ignorance to potential enemy.
"Straight up, I want info from you."
"Info?"
"Yeah. High-grade or above."
High-grade.
What the hell even is that?
I smiled and said,
"Hate to say it myself, but I got nothing, not even basic info."
"Why play dumb? Our intel says otherwise."
"Says what?"
Poise laughed.
How's she grinning so smugly after admitting defeat?
But her next words left me stunned.
"You told Kang Sword about the Abyss Demon Palace and the Five Divine Beasts."
"......"
"Thought there were only four Divine Beasts so far. Where'd you learn about the fifth?"
Ah.
Why's that coming up here?
Pissed at my own loose lips then.
Ziiing.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Kuhuhuhu] My arm turned slightly transparent.
"Huh?"
Poise noticed and tilted her head, then text appeared before my eyes.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ [Disintegration Rate 84%] "......"
Why the hell now?
I felt Poise's eyes gleam dangerously.
Hah. Damn bitch.
Yeah. Come at me.
I'll kill you.