Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Inner Thoughts
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"Surround the building and form up! Don't let a single ant slip through!"
The commander's voice rang in my ears the moment I copied his ability.
"Don't leave a single one alive!"
They'd come in fully committed. Not leaving even one survivor, huh?
Thud, thud. As the approaching footsteps grew closer, the people swallowed dryly and turned their eyes to me. There was no hope in their terrified gazes.
"Everyone ready?"
Nods.
But even without hope, they wouldn't give up. They'd all learned on the way here that hope doesn't come easily to those who've already surrendered.
"Alright, let's start."
I ignited flames in both hands. Crimson primordial flames, the symbol of the Crimson Flame Witch, roared to life.
'Over a thousand soldiers plus a raid boss. Honestly, no one could survive against that many enemies.'
But the weak have their own ways to survive. Just as a lion isn't always the longest survivor in the plains, the Selection Process is the same.
'In my first run, I was the last one standing, after all—not anyone else.'
I wasn't great at fighting, but I had confidence in causing chaos and vanishing. Ten years of daily life had been all about fleeing from pursuit.
'Time to really cut loose.'
I hurled the flames gathered in my hands into the sky. At once, sparks the size of a finger joint scattered in all directions, responding to my will.
"Huh? What are you..."
The people blinked in unison.
They must have expected something massive from my confident expression. Not me tossing out a few hundred match-sized sparks everywhere.
But soon, their eyes widened.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the flames surged wildly. Crimson fire blazed around the wall behind us, rapidly growing in size.
"W-What? The wall's on fire?"
"Isn't that stone?"
Right. But Primordial Flame burns everything. Even stone. As long as the user doesn't cut off their mana.
And so, as I poured in mana, the sparks spread in an instant, uncontrollably ballooning.
"Uwaak! W-What is it?!"
"It's fire!"
"Fire!"
Shouts erupted from soldiers all around the building outside. In no time, the new blaze had completely enveloped our building's wall—and it didn't stop there, stretching upward over the city along the sea breeze.
"C-Captain! What do we do?! The fire won't go out!"
"U-Uwaaaak!"
Even thousands, no, tens of thousands of soldiers were powerless before fire.
Especially in a place like Haran, where houses were built purely of stone and fire was rare?
"Aaaak! Put out the fire on me!"
"F-Fire won't go out! Fuck, it won't go out!"
"W-What do we do?!"
There was no proper response. Panic spread everywhere, their flailing presences filling the air. Voices in full panic echoed through the city skies.
'Still not enough. A bit more.'
I bit my lip. Flames that never extinguish unless the user cuts mana. But this transcendent ability had a flaw.
Mana consumption. It was enormous.
'The bigger the blaze, the more mana it devours.'
Other fire abilities ignite once, burn materials on their own, and fizzle out eventually. Not Primordial Flame.
It burns and spreads endlessly, even without fuel.
The user controls its spread with mana, and cutting mana makes it vanish completely on the spot.
As if it had never existed.
In other words, with enough power, you could expand and destroy infinitely—but if lacking, the limits were clear.
Burning down the entire massive city was beyond my current capability.
'But I don't need to, anyway.'
I lifted my head, feeling my mana nearly depleted in under two minutes.
"......"
Haran's skies were thick with smoke. The air stung the nose, filled with soldiers' screams.
In short, visibility was zero.
'Escapes are best when senses are blocked like this.'
Alright, time to move.
Tat-tat-tat! I cut mana and bolted toward the opposite wall from the flying axes. The people, dazed from watching the fire, snapped to at my sudden move and hurried after.
"W-What."
"The fire... it's all out?"
The crimson flames that had scorched the city vanished in an instant, unbelievably. Soldiers' stunned cries reached my ears as we arrived at the charred wall.
"Now we just climb over?"
"If you want burns, go ahead."
Touching that wall now would cook your hand. So I formed fireballs in my grip and hurled them at the wall we were heading toward.
Kaboom!
With an explosion, the wall crumbled. Stepping into the alley outside, I spotted charred ground corpses and soldiers waiting at both alley ends, avoiding the fire.
"There!"
"The beasts are there!"
The people following me into the alley drew weapons at the sight of soldiers on both sides.
"W-What now?"
"Make another path."
"Huh?"
I formed new fireballs and threw them at the opposite alley wall. Kaboom! A fresh, steaming new path opened instantly with the blast.
I leaped into the broken wall.
"Uh...?"
Confused voices trailed behind. Especially the soldiers' incredulous tones.
"D-Did they just break that wall?"
"Impossible."
-Those city walls are incredibly sturdy. Not just the material, but they're eight arms thick. Punching holes to pass through? No way. Even strong destructive abilities struggle to breach in one hit.
But the transcendent Primordial Flame and my intellect stat of 119 turned the impossible possible.
Bang! Bang! Kaboom!
I sprinted forward, shattering every blocking wall.
"What are you waiting for?"
"F-Follow!"
"Run!"
"Tch! Stop right there!"
Players who snapped out of staring at my destruction chased after, with soldiers on their heels.
They hadn't expected us to break walls for a path, so from the third alley, no soldiers appeared.
'No more snipers either.'
The fireplay filled Haran's skies with smoke. As it thinned, my fireballs created new curtains. Dust from crumbling walls clouded the sky anew.
'Running like this reminds me of warring with in the city districts back then. Chased by thousands, starting fires and fleeing.'
One thing clear: no snipers, and escape was feasible.
Entering a new alley, I turned left without breaking the wall. A manhole cover sat at the corner.
"Everyone, run! Almost there! This way!"
People's faces lit up.
"Just a bit more! Survival zone's right ahead!"
"Waaaaah! Let's go!"
Despite exhaustion from near-death, their expressions were bright. Hope wriggled back into their eyes.
"You're amazing! Thanks to you, we..."
Thwack.
But then, a handaxe flew from somewhere, pulverizing two people before vanishing.
"Watch out! Sniper!"
"Take cover!"
Damn, the axe-thrower moved? Sea breeze pushed smoke inland, so he'd shifted sideways for visibility.
'Doesn't matter. We're here.'
I dashed to the alley corner and flung open the sewer lid.
"Don't cover— just run! Hesitate and soldiers grab you!"
"F-Fuck!"
People raced behind me. Handaxes flew to butcher them mercilessly. I swiftly drew my sword from inventory.
Clang!
'Tch. Still so heavy?'
My hands burned. At least 200 strength behind it. The Apprentice Knight's Longsword couldn't handle the force, crackling and shattering.
Ha, sword wrecked in two hits. Ridiculous weapon.
'But I've done enough.'
By deflecting axes, everyone reached the sewer entrance.
Couldn't block barehanded anymore, so I joined the line and jumped in.
Screeech—
Grabbing the ladder, I slid straight down and stepped aside. Others followed swiftly.
"Huff. Huff. Fuck."
"They won't follow us in here, right?"
"No worries. They hate coming in."
Soldiers avoid this place. Like avoiding palm forests.
"Thanks. You saved us."
"Thank you."
Grateful voices.
But after the chaos, only sixteen survivors. Thought I'd saved most, but half dead...
"Kinda low numbers. I only saw the last two die."
Even others noticed. Then someone raised a hand, steadying breath.
"I saw earlier. Some stayed in the house instead of following."
"Huh? Why?"
"No idea. Scared maybe..."
No way. Soon as we entered the alley and got spotted, they retreated inside.
Plan to stay quiet, wait for aggro-pulling soldiers to leave, then slip away.
In short, they ditched us.
Everyone wore bitter smiles, suspecting as much.
'Hope their choice works out.'
Sometimes, bolting when a clear path appears is best. Whatever. As I stood—
Thud.
"Wh-What?"
Something dropped from the ladder above. A human head. Then heads rained down, bouncing everywhere in the sewer.
Decapitated bodies followed, then diced meat chunks plummeted.
"......"
The clothes clinging to them looked familiar.
"These are the ones with us earlier... Urk."
People turned away, dry-heaving.
They'd dumped our companions' bodies like troublesome trash.
The relief from survival turned to gloom.
"......"
Today, they'd learn bone-deep: in this fucked world, only fellow Earthlings are trustworthy.
We're mere outsiders here.
Wandering drifters with nowhere to belong.
"...Let's go. Path's this way."
I stood expertly and led. Easy: follow downstream flow to the port.
Thus, we trudged silently through the sewers like unwelcome rats.
"Heard you stirred up quite the ruckus."
Back at Black Anchor Trading, Barkus Crow greeted me. I bowed apologetically.
"I'll be more careful next time."
"No, no. You did nothing wrong. When life's on the line, struggling to survive is natural. No casualties anyway, just pissed them off up top. Actually perfect."
Barkus Crow's affinity toward you has increased.
Thought he'd be upset, but affinity rose instead of dropping.
Asked why: my restraint in crisis impressed him.
"No real damage, so royal guards or city forces won't push into the port. Lacks justification. You did great."
Haran's mayor praised my non-lethal approach repeatedly.
Still, I couldn't smile. Many Earthlings died because of it.
'...Maybe killing locals aggressively could've saved everyone.'
Of course, that'd ruin all my Trials plans here.
'I'm no savior.'
Didn't regress for noble humanity-saving mission. Just didn't want to go to the Otherworld alone, so came back for companions.
'And honestly, they'd be alive if they hadn't come to kill me. They brought it on themselves.'
Regret? No. Pity at most, and a light condolence.
I pulled daytime-farmed items from inventory before Barkus.
Barkus Crow's affinity toward you has slightly increased.
"17,160 gold."
"Thank you."
"Your ability's unique. Today's fire, and using bombs stolen from alchemists by storing them in that invisible space?"
Hm, that's how it looked to locals. I nodded nonchalantly, drawing on ten years of honed acting.
"Fun ability. Stashing tons of items in unseen space. How much can you hold?"
"Dunno. Few hundred easily."
"I see."
"Why?"
Different vibe from usual Barkus. He smoked silently, then spoke.
"One question. Why not rob weapon shops?"
"Honestly? No value."
"Hm?"
"If you could only take ten weapons leaving here, you'd skip them too."
"Tsk tsk, true. You got sea charts anyway, so picking what to take. Then..."
Barkus leaned on desk, gesturing me closer. Through cigarette haze, he revealed hidden seriousness.
"...Want something better than weapon shops?"
He showed a map. Half the size of the last, marking new areas.
"Noble district map."
I sensed it. Built-up affinity about to pay off.
"Split profits half-half. Deal?"
Half-half. I explained.
"No."
"Hm?"
"I'll take a few good ones, give you the rest."
"...Serious?"
Barkus is picky. Harder to raise affinity with such types. Not with money or words.
How then?
The old man stared, then chuckled.
"Ah, so that's it. You greedy bastard, aiming higher!"
I smiled without denying.
"What a find! Heh heh! Hilarious!"
Barkus Crow's affinity toward you has greatly increased.
Way to win affinity: show sincerity. Your true intentions.
Barkus laughed long, face pleased.
"Fine. Show results, and I'll help you hit Haran's most valuable spot."
"Thank you."