Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Belated Arrival (3)
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-Shwaaaaa!
A quiet, lonely wind blew in.
There, Cyan quietly surveyed her surroundings.
A floating island swallowed by darkness, where only silence reigned.
Not only that, but an inexplicable dark energy of mana had settled over it.
Something was wrong.
Just a few days ago, it hadn't been hard to spot people around, and since this island served as a lighthouse, it shouldn't have been this dark even at night.
Most of the island's residents had complained about the good air, clean water, and how it stayed bright even at night. No matter how she thought about it, this situation was abnormal.
Something had happened to the island.
-Rustle!
The bushes shook in the darkness.
-Clank!
"...Huh?"
Soon after, golden chains sliced through the darkness, rising up.
Dozens or even hundreds of them—while not as powerful as the restraints forged by the dwarf king, they were practical mana restraints.
⚙ ITEM ⚙ Mana Restraints ▶ Consumable ※ Engraved with restraint magic. Strongly binds the target with magic to seal their mana. ※ Degraded version Sometimes quantity beats quality, and when considering cost-effectiveness, using multiple slightly inferior restraints could be the better choice.
'East: 17, West: 13, South: 11, North: 15.'
Cyan glanced at the directions from which the chains emerged, sighed, and shook her head.
"You lot haven't improved at all."
She clicked her tongue in pity, then quietly narrowed her eyes.
"High elves must always be countered with restraints... Is that it?"
-Crackle!
Crimson mana surged around Cyan.
Pure mana glowing blood-red shot out like lightning, wrapping around the chains.
"What the—?"
The bandits watching were stunned.
Even if these chains were inferior to the originals, they were inscribed with spells to dismantle mana.
Anything made of mana would weaken on contact, and spells would be nullified. Especially something like raw mana control, which wasn't even proper magic...
But the scene unfolding before them defied that logic.
"There are two reasons you're dying here."
-Crackle!
Cyan's red mana extended toward the bandits hiding in the bushes. It slithered along the chains like snakes, coiling around them.
"R-Run!"
"First, for throwing those filthy chains at me..."
The bandits scattered in panic at the sight.
They had been ordered by the 'demon' to retreat immediately if the high elf restraint failed.
He had said it himself.
Pathetic creatures like them couldn't defy fate. Their only hope was the slim chance that the high elf would let her guard down and get caught.
If that chance slipped away, the wheel of fate would point to death for them.
-Crack!
"Gah?!"
The red mana pursued the fleeing bandits. They were fast, thanks to their trained bodies, but Cyan's mana had long since spread like a spiderweb, binding them.
The captured bandits were dragged before her like insects trapped in a web. The mana binding them sparked with fierce red electricity, waiting for her signal—
"...And second, for failing to completely erase the scent of the villagers' blood before I arrived."
"S-Spare me...! We were just following the boss's orders! We didn't want to—"
-Crunch!
At her signal, the mana instantly killed them all.
-Shwaaaaa!
Blood as red as the mana rained from the sky.
The bandits died in an instant, just as Cyan fixed them with a cold gaze.
The mana binding them had simply intensified, bursting their bodies.
In a split second, without time to feel pain.
"I know. That's why I killed you painlessly. That should be mercy enough."
-Step, step.
Cyan said that to the severed heads rolling on the ground, then headed toward the village on the floating island.
The faint blood scent grew thicker.
It wasn't the stench of those vile bandits, but from people raised on land made from sky air and dragon flesh.
The island's residents.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 1.
Sometimes, the thought crossed her mind.
This world was a fantasy detached from reality, yet terrifyingly close to it in certain ways.
That closeness to reality referred to the instincts of the humans living here.
She had already shed the common sense from her Earth days long ago.
Back in the Exile Tower.
The sudden six months of solitude had driven her mad, gradually eroding her humanity.
Honestly, she'd even attempted suicide a few times.
She'd climbed to the top of the tower and jumped, made a sharp sword from guardian shards and slit her throat.
'Well... they all failed.'
After hours of falling, she'd just bruised her butt or head a bit—no real damage, and the pain faded quickly.
And the sword from guardian shards? It couldn't even scratch her skin before shattering, wasting hours of grinding stone.
In the end, she'd given up on ending her life.
'Can't even die on my terms, can't even leave...'
What a terrifying tale.
'Eternally suffering. That's the gist.'
Even scarier was that she'd be trapped there until a 'player' arrived in this world.
Not just a month, but a year, ten, a hundred, maybe thousands of years—she'd abandoned hope of escape so many times.
Eventually, she regained her sanity and made a pact with herself.
Creating an eternally repeatable routine, focusing solely on it without other thoughts, was better than dwelling on despair...
-Step.
"..."
Thanks to that, she avoided going insane, but after escaping, side effects lingered.
Aftereffects from repeating that tower routine.
Simply put, she felt no particular emotions.
She'd thought the same after burying those black market nobles alive—maybe because their deeds were cheap. But...
'All dead.'
Two corpses lay before her eyes.
The woman half-undressed, strangled. The man, likely her husband, eyes bleeding but throat slit.
And the corpses weren't just here.
In the floating island village she'd visited days ago, every house had at least one or two.
'Humans shouldn't do this—men, women, kids, all throats cut.'
...Yet even thinking that stirred no anger or emotion.
Innocent people slaughtered by brutal bandits, no reason they deserved it, but nothing.
-Splat!
Actually, the blood staining her clothes from the corpses bothered her more. Annoyed at the mess.
"Hm."
-Flash!
"Wha-what? What's going on? That blood..."
She teleported straight to the Miresho's engine room. The startled captain stared blankly, trying to figure it out.
"Head straight to Asral. Contact the escort ships too."
"What are you talking about? Per schedule, we rest here a day before moving. Otherwise, we might clash with other airships at the dock—"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Gasp, h-heck?!"
Ah, mistake.
His backtalk irked her, so she glared. No need to scare them too.
Now wasn't the time.
"...Sigh. You've noticed something's off too, right? No contact from the island, not even a light."
"Y-Yes... You're right."
"Bandits hit the island. Probably that Richard Plunder Gang from the papers. At least two thousand here, maybe more remnants nearby. Stay alert."
"Is that true?! The villagers...?"
"No survivors."
She explained calmly what happened on the island.
The captain clutched his forehead, muttering something. "Mother, no..." or whatever—even a grown man like that.
Easy to guess; photos in the engine room matched corpses she'd seen.
"Understood. Lifting off immediately."
Good, he snapped back to captain mode.
Overkill to call escorts just for Miresho, but ten-plus airships couldn't handle two thousand bandits.
Best for them to flee fast.
She'd killed the bandits on the way to the village, but wiping out that many without blowing up the island was a hassle.
They might target the airship anytime.
"Yes, that's it. Tell Stran I ordered it."
"But where are you going, High Elf?"
"Business."
"What busi—"
"Haven't I already decided?"
Besides, she had her own matters; couldn't babysit them forever.
"Wipe out every bandit on this island. Give them back what they did to the residents."
Not that their atrocities angered her.
Just imagining how her old self—pre-Cyan, Earth self—would act.
She rarely meddled, but wouldn't ignore crossed lines.
Idiotic to help without power, but she had plenty now. More than enough.
'And this isn't just the bandits.'
That strange mana over the island...
It resembled hers.
Mana varies by race. Cold, dark mana like this belonged only to demons among her demon race. First kin she might meet here.
'Probably those pureblood high demons or whatever.'
[...Soon, he'll come. The one who killed Skull. Those pureblood high demon geezer bastards from the demon realm!]
The Demon King had said that too.
[You don't know the Seven High Demons?! You're a high elf—elf tunnel vision or whatever, but you should know high demons!]
Seven High Demons.
Sounded like demon realm rulers, but demons were like high elves of the demon race—awakened through trials.
Far stronger than regular demons, born with immense power and amplified further.
And in the underworld, only one demon NPC she knew.
'Maybe they're classified like me.'
But that one had no such title in Novel Online.
Low chance of Seven High Demons as NPCs.
Assumptions: story-only appearances, or different names in-game.
Or...
'Possessor or reincarnator.'
Like her, pulled into this world. No guarantee she's the only one forced into their character.
'If like me, spare them.'
And players existed here, whatever they're doing now.
Just in case. Might meet a homesick compatriot, share feelings.
'...If not, kill them.'
Of course, all hypothetical.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -Flash!
Cyan teleported back to the village.
Corpses still littered it, black mana unchanged.
But one thing different...
"Now! Activate it!"
"Urk?"
As Cyan stepped into the village, a raspy male voice shouted, and a magic circle appeared underfoot.
"This—"
Black shadows from the circle bound her limbs, then choked her throat.
She frowned at the sudden magic ritual—absent moments ago.
Trying to break free by force, but these shadows showed no sign of snapping.
Not brute strength; curse-based shadows.
"Kekeke! Just as he said, the high elf bitch showed up."
"...Your doing?"
"You bitch...?"
A hulking man appeared with other bandits.
-Thwack!
"Guh—"
"Bitch? Who the hell are you calling bitch? You arrogant high elf slut... Call me Master!"
⚔ ENEMY ⚔ Plunder Gang Leader Richard (★) – Lv. 155 The giant, Richard, slapped Cyan's cheek and bellowed.
Smacking his lips with a drooling, filthy tongue.