Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Villainess
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Villainess.
The black heart clutched in my hand.
The thing called the Seed of Evil throbbed quietly, pulsing with life.
Numerous gazes pierced toward me.
Gazes filled with shock, bewilderment, disbelief, and uneasy trembling.
And then.
There was also an intensely intrigued look.
I felt eyes staring straight at me.
Golden pupils.
Reptilian eyes gleaming toward me.
[How... how...]
The one called a wight stared at me with trembling eyes. Pupils that couldn't possibly believe it.
[How dare you possess that! How dare a mere human trespass into the realm of the gods!!]
The leisure it had shown until now vanished.
It charged at me with a furious roar.
However.
Bam!
A sword larger than my body.
Volkan smashed it into the wight, bringing it crashing down.
[Kuhk!]
"What an onion of a guy. Just what method did you use to create that thing?"
"I'm curious about that too."
The Guild Master looked at me and spoke.
Intense curiosity gleamed in his eyes.
"Care to share?"
The Guild Master flashed a faint smile as he stared at me intensely.
It was an utterly unreasonable gaze that would make most people spill everything.
"Afraid that's not possible."
I wasn't most people.
Besides, this was my livelihood.
-With skills like that, it's more than just a livelihood.
The holy sword chuckled heartily.
I agreed with the holy sword.
The others were all useful too.
But the most useful was Steal Strike.
'This one's on a whole different level from other S-ranks.'
The other S-ranks were incredibly useful.
Or rather.
'It just pops out on its own.'
It was different from Thief's Divine Realm.
And yet, it synergized best with Thief's Divine Realm.
Well, nothing I had didn't synergize with Thief's Divine Realm.
If Steal Strike was a gift that popped out solo.
Thief's Divine Realm was the gift that encompassed everything.
As those thoughts ran through my mind.
Volkan and Heukmanggong were beating the wight to death with their swords.
'That guy's pretty strong, but he's getting stomped.'
-If you fought him, your win rate would be under 10%.
'...Monsters everywhere.'
-That's the world you'll soon enter. You're not there yet, though.
...Once I become a hero, that's the baseline from now on?
I really hated that.
A wave of despair crashed over me endlessly.
Was there no way to avoid becoming a hero?
'Committing a crime is a bit much.'
But short of that, there was no avoiding it.
Besides, it wouldn't be a regular crime that'd do it.
If anything.
'...I'd have to end up like that guy.'
Which I absolutely refused.
-No, you're not forgiving that, but you're thinking that far?
The holy sword sounded exasperated.
As I conversed inwardly with the holy sword.
Soyeonhwa hopped over to me.
"I'm curious."
"Still no."
"I'm curious too."
"......No."
"Huh? You just hesitated?"
Lucia grinned, satisfied with my reaction.
In contrast.
"......"
Soyeonhwa was puffing her cheeks, looking displeased.
"You kids confirming your feelings is fine, but mind the time and place."
Volkan spoke with a mix of warmth and sternness.
Beside him, Heukmanggong glared at me like he wanted to kill me.
"...You make Yeonhwa cry, and I won't let you off."
"I'm just asking because I'm really curious, why shut me down?"
Some kind of bond, I suppose.
We hadn't had much time to build it.
I grabbed the nape of Chloe, who was passed out in the corner.
"I did the heaviest lifting, so handle the rewards yourselves."
"...You're thinking about that right now?"
Volkan looked incredulous.
I nodded.
"I'll help with the casualties. Us fragile types aren't pros at heavy lifting."
"...Fragile? You? If you're fragile, 99% of Cradle is dead."
I shrugged and slung Chloe over my shoulder.
Then I pushed off with my feet.
"Gotta go save those people, so I'm off first."
"Go ahead."
Volkan waved me off dismissively.
*
"I'm gonna die."
I flopped onto the sofa at home.
Not figuratively—I was genuinely exhausted.
It hadn't shown right after using Steal Strike.
But after helping rescue citizens, my head throbbed fiercely.
-The merit outweighs it, and that's the demerit?
The holy sword muttered in disbelief.
The fact that the holy sword said that meant the Seed of Evil or whatever was that threatening.
'Honestly, I've only heard about it, so I don't know how dangerous it really is.'
But if even Volkan, Heukmanggong, and the Guild Master—Cradle's top forces—ended up with one death.
'...Yeah, it's legitimately dangerous.'
The thought suddenly struck me.
What rank was that, exactly?
Demon King's elite soldier, apparently.
'That's Four Heavenly Kings level, honestly.'
-Four Heavenly Kings? Hmm... yeah, about right. The scale fits for the right-hand man of the Prince of Corruption.
'Still bleak.'
In other words.
A subordinate of the Demon King—not the man himself—was that strong.
As I lay on the sofa, Cheongju hopped over.
[Welcome back, Master.]
"Yeah."
[This unit guarded the shop and house in your absence. Praise is requested.]
"Good job......"
No wonder the front yard was a bit dirtier.
[Such lip service is rejected. Compensation is requested.]
"......"
-Puhahaha! Already demanding rewards like its master.
'I'm not that bad.'
-No, you're worse?
Stunned by the holy sword's bombshell, I pondered deeply about Cheongju.
Rewards were proper after a job well done.
So I racked my brain over what would be good.
"Want me to make you a friend?"
[Rejected. A friend not made with elven alchemy is undesired.]
Sharp one.
I pondered Cheongju some more. In other words, one made with elven alchemy could be a friend.
I recalled the extra retinal metal I'd bought just in case.
'Maybe infuse a gift into this and make it a weapon.'
I voiced the thought to Cheongju, and it visibly perked up.
[Extreme Thunder God is desired.]
"There's Thief's Divine Realm too."
[Thief's Divine Realm? Gift, presumed evolved form of Thief's Extremity. Unappealing. More precisely, incompatible with this unit.]
"If you want Extreme Thunder God, fine."
I pulled out the remaining retinal metal.
'Speaking of, time to synthesize the other swords too.'
Mix in other metals perhaps.
Combining the swords and metals I'd gathered so far should yield something on par with or better than the Thunder Dragon Sword.
Then fuse the Thunder Dragon Sword in, and it'd make a pretty decent blade.
As I thought that, I pulled swords from my subspace.
Thief's Divine Realm.
With extreme dexterity, I plucked out just the blade parts.
-No, what kind of skill lets you extract just the blade from a sword?
'It just... worked.'
Since evolving to Divine Realm.
I felt my skills enhanced across every human category.
I might not starve even as a blacksmith.
If I added a blacksmith gift.
'I'd rank among the masters.'
Viola's relative.
The master blacksmith Ermé introduced me to upon first arriving in Cradle came to mind.
I recalled his face and pulled out a piece of retinal metal.
'Add my Extreme Thunder God · Purple to this.'
Crackle.
Purple lightning crackled. A form infused with blue within the purple. And to this.
'The extracted blades and retinal metal.'
⚔ ITEM ⚔ Memory Blade · Purple (B) A sword made by absorbing purple lightning into retinal alloy. ◇ Lightning attribute attack bonus on hit. ◇ Purple Thunder Qi usable.
Then synthesize the retinal sword and the blood-soaked dagger.
Fwoosh!
For an instant, blue, purple, and red lights tangled.
Soon, they morphed into a single color. Purple and red mixed.
Blue blended in.
Eventually, one color remained.
A pitch-dark blue blade.
⚔ ITEM ⚔ Awakening Blade (A) A sword combining the blood-soaked dagger and alloy metal retinal. ◇ Lightning attribute and blood slash attack bonus on hit. Unlike the others, the status window popped up in a single line.
This only built anticipation.
I touched the Awakening Blade.
Sharp enough to cut just by brushing it.
'...It really doesn't hurt?'
Divine Realm's full dexterity protected my hand.
Then I recalled Thief's Divine Realm's description.
Stepping into the divine realm beyond human limits.
'...In that case.'
If S-rank was superhuman.
The next was full divine realm.
Maybe that's why.
The sword I made looked incredibly cool.
Temptingly so.
'The Thunder Dragon Sword from the crown prince is great.'
But this felt custom-tailored to me.
I glanced at Cheongju.
[Denial. The worst thing in the world is giving then taking back.]
Cheongju reacted strongly against it.
...Quick on the uptake.
Still.
'I could synthesize this with the Thunder Dragon Sword using retinal metal and keep it.'
I wanted other stuff besides retinal metal too.
As I mulled over the next weapon in my head.
"Here, your reward."
[Satisfactory.]
But soon I looked troubled.
Cheongju had no hands to wield the Awakening Blade.
"Guess I'll keep it then, shame."
[Proposal. Synthesize with one of this unit's arms.]
This is why I hate quick-witted ones.