The Betrayal Beasts (1)

Even with 99 points in Strength, I hadn't been able to cut his skin. The sword simply couldn't hold the full weight of my power.

So what about raw Strength, then? Could he withstand that?

Here we go!

I hurled my sword at Gigaesingwan with everything I had and charged in after it.

Clang!

He swept his arm and casually batted the blade aside.

Dozens of wind arrows streaked toward his face. His hide might have been hard as steel, but his eyeballs wouldn't be. Whether it was a privilege of being a boss monster or not, Gigaesingwan's eyes were clear and clean — like a living man's, nothing like the other zombies.

Ting-ting-ting-ting!

His eyes clearly weren't as hard. Gigaesingwan threw an arm up to shield his face, and that was all the protection he needed; his skin was so dense the forearm alone stopped everything. The arrows died against it, leaving nothing but a faint stir of air.

Which was more than enough for me. I'd only fired them to blot out his vision for a second.

While his sight was blocked, I closed in from behind. The same way those acolyte zombies had done it — I sprang up, latched onto his back, grabbed a knot of muscle that jutted out like a handhold, and leaped again.

"Heh heh heh. My strength versus your skin. Which one's tougher?"

"Y-you...!"

From here the job was simple enough that I didn't even need to lean on instinct. I settled onto Gigaesingwan's shoulders like a kid riding piggyback, sneered down at him, and locked my arms around his neck.

Then I squeezed.

"Aaaaaaaagh!"

"Ghk... ghhk...!"

A hideous creaking came out of his throat. A pure-strength attack must have actually hurt — he groaned through it and groped for me in a panic, trying to tear me off.

Riiip! My clothes tore. I'd paid decent money for that leather armor, and it couldn't take Gigaesingwan's grip.

Damn. Just a little short?

I'd wrung out every last ounce I had — the same force I'd used sucking on Aquaril, Oralisa, and Kanisia's tits — and I still couldn't rip his head off. But the way he was clawing at me said the attack was working.

Then how about this!

If I didn't have enough strength, I'd make more. And this was a world where the System laughed at the laws of physics.

I burned the Potential I had in reserve and shoved it straight into Strength. A 4-Star's stat cap was 80, but of the 91 Strength I already had, 20 points had come from Molt — which meant I could still spend Potential up to another 9. Dumping that many points at once normally meant I wouldn't be able to control my own body. Right now I just needed raw power, so I didn't care.

And on top of that—

I was still under the Lust Release curse, which meant I could fire Molt (Lv.3 / Mythic). I used that too and pushed Strength as high as it would go.

With the bonus stacked on top, my Strength hit a staggering 109 points. A 4-Star, carrying Strength that blew past a 5-Star.

Creeeeeeeak—

"Ghk... GRAAAAGH...!"

The instant Strength jumped another ten points, something finally gave. Gigaesingwan's neck muscles compressed under the crush of my arms.

"Y-you bastard...!"

I straightened the back I'd bent over his throat and poured every last drop of power into my arms. That steel-hard skin began to tear.

"Die!"

"AAAAAAAAAGH!"

I screamed too. He'd used those long arms to seize my head, and I felt my skull starting to give. My head being crushed versus Gigaesingwan's head being ripped off — whichever happened first...

CRUNCH!

Ah... fuck.

It was mine.

His muscle was hard as steel. Mine — and my skull — were not. A brief, blinding spike of pain, and the world went dark.

The window floated in front of my eyes. Gigaesingwan would think he'd won. That was a massive, massive mistake.

The fight between us ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been decided before it even started. Me, who could come back at least 690 more times, versus Gigaesingwan, who was finished the moment he died. And I got stronger every time I returned. There was no scenario in which he won.

The brain matter that had spilled when my head caved in began flowing backward, as if time itself were rewinding. My shattered skull snapped into place. Scattered scraps of flesh crawled home and sealed over the bone.

Power boiled through my whole body. I felt like I'd become a giant.

"Wha—!"

I opened my eyes, sneered at Gigaesingwan, and squeezed again.

CRACK!

His head came off far too easily. The staggering body dropped to its knees.

"Oh my god... you killed the boss monster by yourself?"

"Good heavens... just what manner of man is Lord Alan..."

"Master! Are you unharmed?!"

"Kyaaah! Master did it! Yay, Master!"

Kanisia and Abraham couldn't hide their shock at watching me solo a boss. Aquaril rushed in to check me over for injuries, and Oralisa bounced in place, delighted.

"What, this? And I'm fine, so you don't need to fuss over me like that."

"But—"

"I said I'm fine."

"...Thank goodness, Master. You have endured much."

"Endure, nothing. This bastard's nothing once I get my hands on him."

I gave the severed head a couple of casual pats and swaggered like it had been easy. It hadn't been. I could drop him solo because I was me. Anyone who'd grown the orthodox way would never have taken Gigaesingwan down. The curse he threw turned one of your own people — the ace of the raid party, no less — into an enemy. I'd only pulled it off because I could strip the curse on the spot, and because I'd burned a mountain of Gems pumping my stats this high.

"You guys start cleaning up. I need a word with this asshole."

"What? What kind of word... Hmm. Alright. But be careful, just in case."

"Yeah. Thanks, Kanisia."

She caught the look in my eyes, nodded, and led the others into clearing the boss room. She'd figured out I wanted a private conversation with Gigaesingwan — and that I didn't want anyone else overhearing it. Kanisia was close to me, but she knew where the line was. She never crossed the one I'd drawn.

The others started looting from the entrance. Just in case, I walked to the far end of the chamber and sat down.

"Alright then. Let's have a chat, Mr. Gigaesingwan."

"....."

I tapped the head as I spoke. He kept his eyes shut and didn't so much as twitch. Anyone else would have sworn he was dead. To me it was a cheap little act.

"I know you're not dead, so drop the corpse routine."

"....."

He wasn't dead. If he were, the dungeon-clear notification would have already popped. It hadn't.

"Hmm. So that's how you want to play it. You know, priest, you've got beautiful eyes. I don't think there's a corpse anywhere with peepers this pretty and bright after death. So I'll just take them. You don't mind, right?"

"....."

Still nothing. Which reminded me of the old line — threats work better as actions than words. So I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠acted.

"...?! Ghk— w-wait...!"

The second I pressed down on his eyelid, Gigaesingwan finally reacted. If he'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still had a body, he would have grabbed my wrist and raised hell.

"Funny. A dead body shouldn't feel pain, so why the agony act?"

Zombie monsters had no nociception. They were already dead; they couldn't hurt. Gigaesingwan was performing like he could. I found that interesting.

"Or maybe the eyes just matter that much to you. Anyway, priest — they're open now, so how about we talk? You'll want to keep those pretty things a long, long time, even after you're gone."

"....."

"Clamming up again? Then—"

"W-wait... I'll... talk... so... the eyes... just the eyes..."

Even in a panic, the words still crawled out of him. Guess that was the default setting.

"Everything you know. All of it."

"About... what... the question is... too... broad..."

"Oh, fuck."

It was completely out of nowhere, but my heart started hammering. I felt like I was holding Snow White's magic mirror — the one that answered anything you asked. Still, if the question was too wide, I needed to narrow it. Hmm. What to lead with? Yeah. That.

"The Greedy Serpent. Tell me about that thing."

First up: Ouroboros. Right now I was forking over 3,000 Gems a month as tribute just to keep using the Avatar class. Once I got strong enough, I was going to kill her too. A monster that was nothing but walking experience points, daring to play lord over me — that sin was not a small one.

"You are... the Serpent's Avatar... and yet you ask me... about her...?"

"Don't editorialize. Answer the question. And for the record — one more comment and I really will pop those eyeballs out."

"...The Greedy Serpent is... a filthy beast... who bit her own master's... ankle... out of greed..."

He talked so slowly it made my blood pressure spike, but I crushed the irritation with superhuman patience. Cut someone like this off because you were sick of waiting, and you'd usually have to hear the whole thing from the top. Best play was to shut up and let him finish.

Bit her own master's ankle, huh. So who the hell is the master?

Ouroboros was no ordinary monster. She was 10-Star — the highest rank this world even had. The strongest Master I'd ever met was Montblanc, and even she was stuck at 9-Star. On rank alone, that meant Ouroboros was stronger than Montblanc. And a thing like that had a master.

Who?

I had an ask-me-anything mirror sitting in my hand. No reason to sit there wondering. I asked him.

"Ouroboros has a master? Who?"

"Why... naturally... the one who... gazes down upon the world... with light... the light of... this world... the salt... the brightly... shining..."

"Ah, for fuck's sake. I shouldn't have asked."

His eyes lit up as he launched into a hymn for Ouroboros's master. I hadn't heard a name yet, but I could already guess.

The Nameless God.

This world had one religion and one god. The strange part was that neither of them had a name. The god was called the Nameless God, and the faith that followed him was called the Nameless Religion. Gigaesingwan was a dungeon-tainted monster now, but originally he'd been a priest of that nameless faith. The only being a priest would pile honorifics on like that was the Nameless God.

So the Nameless God is Ouroboros's master? What the hell?

That lore had never shown up in Fairy Masters. Curiosity pricked at me — and this was information that would help when I killed her.

"The wicked... beasts who... betrayed their... master..."

Huh?

Malice had crept into the epithets. While I'd been woolgathering, the hymn to his god had apparently ended.

No — hang on. Beasts? Plural?

Then there were more of them. More things like Ouroboros.