Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The World Devourer's Interrogation
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‘Is there some way?’
I sank into thought as I watched the World Devourer’s eyes flood black once more. If things kept going like this, my memories really would get read.
And then we’d all die together, nice and friendly.
Even more grim was the fact that even if we triggered the forced defeat event like in the game, there was no guarantee the bastard would back off.
In our first encounter, the World Devourer had gone right up to killing the protagonist but retreated willingly—only after reading the protagonist’s memories and realizing its own misunderstanding.
But now? The moment it read my memories, it was already over. It would try to kill anyone who knew the secret, no exceptions.
‘At least it probably won’t just blast me with its breath out of nowhere…’
At first, I’d been most worried about the breath pattern. But as my panic subsided and I analyzed the situation coolly, my thinking shifted. It wouldn’t kill me outright with a breath attack.
Having lived for eons and amassed a ridiculous store of knowledge, the thing had even admitted—straight from its own mouth—how starved it was for new information.
In fact, during the first encounter when it read the protagonist’s memories, if the protagonist had visited the Hell region from the DLC, the cutscene would change: it would remark on the intriguing place the protagonist had been and take a bit longer to read the memories.
It was the same now. Some random human had slain a god-forsaken creature, and it had flown its massive bulk all the way to the imperial capital just to meet that human in person.
That personality hadn’t changed here either. Until it figured out how I’d killed the god-forsaken creature, the odds were high it wouldn’t just unleash a breath attack on me.
It knew full well how devastating its own breath was—how an ordinary human would vaporize on impact, not even leaving ashes behind.
No matter how overwhelming the World Devourer’s power, it couldn’t read the memories of a human burned to dust without a single bone fragment left.
It wouldn’t kick away a chance to gain new knowledge with its own foot.
“Why did you attack? Obviously because you were trying something shady.”
For now, I had to buy time until some decent plan came to mind. With that in thought, I opened my mouth.
At my words, the World Devourer’s body hesitated for a moment.
The mana construct humanoid made for conversation reverted to normal. The severed head reattached, and the eyes and mouth sprouting from the back of its skull vanished. The created form staggered forward.
Still room to resolve this with words—a good sign.
“What were you just about to do to me?”
“Read your… memories…”
“My memories? Why?”
Unlike its earlier momentum, ready to lunge at any second, it was answering my questions honestly. A fleeting thought crossed my mind: maybe we could talk this out without fighting.
“To learn how… you killed the god-forsaken… creature…”
“Then you should’ve just asked me first. You lit up your eyes right away, so I thought you were up to no good and went for your neck.”
“Asked…?”
The mana construct’s mouth stopped.
And then the main body began to move.
Its head slowly lowered toward the ground. Its body crouched, neck aligning horizontally with the floor as it descended. The distance between us shrank in an instant.
One eye, level with my height, and teeth far larger than I was tall—an enormous head loomed just a few steps from me.
—Insolent drivel… human…
A tearing noise assaulted me.
Even knowing it was futile—telepathy shoving thoughts straight into my mind—I reflexively clamped my hands over my ears. A piercing ring screamed in them. My legs buckled on their own.
I gritted my teeth. Just its voice echoing in my head made my body feel on the verge of collapse. Forcing strength into my weakening legs, I held my ground.
It was only a single exchange, yet the aftershocks ravaged my mind without mercy. How much power had it packed into those words? My whole body throbbed.
Or maybe that was just normal conversation for it.
—If you fail to grasp it… I shall make you understand…
Hearing that snapped me alert.
It was the exact line the World Devourer spat right before initiating battle in its first encounter with the protagonist.
I caught sight of the mana construct dispersing into the air. Shattering it meant no more talk. The faint hope I’d harbored scattered with it.
Clutching my pounding head with one hand, I staggered to steady myself. After that line and destroying the mana construct, battle was inevitable.
In that case, no matter the outcome, I had to at least fulfill the conditions for the forced defeat event.
I wasn’t hoping for things to play out exactly like the game anymore, but this was a chance right in front of me—better than doing nothing.
The dragon still kept its head low to the ground, relentlessly shoving thoughts into my mind. My whole body was on the brink of going limp, but I dragged my limbs forward by force.
There’d be no other opportunity like this.
I gripped the bloodied sword with both hands. I didn’t know why it insisted on shoving thoughts into my head by bringing its skull this close, but it worked in my favor.
I reversed my grip on the weapon, pointing it at my abdomen. I plunged the blade in deep. Puzzled by my actions, perhaps, the voice in my head cut off abruptly.
I felt blood draining from my body, and when that sensation hit its limit, I yanked the bloodied sword free. A few droplets it hadn’t absorbed splattered to the ground.
Holding the sword now stained crimson, I closed the distance. Whether it meant to watch a mere human’s desperate struggle as entertainment or what, it didn’t budge even as I swung.
—Clang!
The instant the blade met its head, the bloodied sword shattered in two with a sharp metallic screech.
“Kyihit… hihihit… It hurts like hell, doesn’t it?”
In a back alley of the capital. In a place where everyone had evacuated because of the World Devourer, a woman covered head to toe in wounds leaned against a wall and limped out.
There wasn’t a healthy spot on her. Her already messy, disheveled hair was matted with blood, wounds everywhere on her body, and her limping gait showed her legs were injured too.
Her outrageously revealing outfit left her skin fully exposed, covered only in injuries. Most were gashes like sword slashes, but patches of skin were badly bruised, discolored blue.
She was in no way normal.
“His Majesty the Emperor went too far. I bragged a little right in his face, and he comes at me to kill me? Is teasing him a crime? Hihit. These wounds from the holy sword won’t even heal right now.”
Breasts far larger than her head. A waist so slender it looked thinner than her thighs. Thighs plump and soft-looking like her chest. Clothing that barely qualified as such.
Every limping step made her massive breasts bounce up and down violently, and the shirt barely covering her nipples looked ready to give way at any moment.
The woman was Nix.
“I told you to run! His Majesty even said he’d let us go unharmed if we fled right then, but you kept teasing him to the end! Look at the mess I’m in because of you!”
“Heh, without me, you’d be dead. What’re you whining about?”
“Without you, this never would’ve happened in the first place!”
“Who was it that insisted on going to the palace first? You really thought we’d just chat with Minerva and leave? You know how things stand between us and her?”
But something was off.
From the conversation, they were clearly talking about two people, yet both voices were identical. And the only person in the alley was Nix.
Everyone else had evacuated long ago, as expected. Even without knights herding them, no one would stand their ground with a dragon flying overhead.
Yet Nix’s voice kept up a lively two-person dialogue all by itself.
“Hihit… hihihit…”
“What’s so funny that you’re laughing like a freak? Huh? I ended up like this because of you, and you’re amused?”
“Of course I am. Strutting around all high and mighty, then one dragon roar and they all drop like flies. His Majesty—who left us like this—is no different. Wonder how embarrassed he’ll be when he wakes up.”
“…Really? How do you even know that?”
“You could sense it too if you focused, idiot. Why can’t you do what I do?”
At the scolding voice, Nix sullenly closed her eyes. Her wounds throbbed, her legs shook, but she expanded her detection range to check near the dragon.
“Listen close… Feel it?”
“Y-Yeah, but… Isn’t this dangerous? You’re right up against the dragon. They say dragons can dominate minds too—what if it takes over your head?”
“Dominate his mind?”
Nix snorted. At the response, Nix’s body flinched involuntarily.
“Forgot the magic we cast on his head?”
“Oh, right… Yeah.”
Nix sheepishly started walking again. Muttering under her breath,
“Mental domination? As if that’s possible.”
Without permission, even peeking at memories was impossible.