Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Cropped Elf
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Unleashing my dominant presence, the two lackeys dropped to their knees.
"…?!"
"What the… Are you a warlock…!"
In contrast, the female leader seemed completely unaffected; it looked like she wasn't that weak. Well, the world's lore did say that each and every elf was a member of a powerful race. The ones with their knees slammed to the floor were weaker than me, sure, but in adventurer terms, they'd be around A-rank. That meant the woman before me was a skilled fighter, likely one of the stronger A-ranks.
As I carefully observed the woman, the two elves on their knees struggled to get up. Their legs trembled as they tried to stand, but the more they fought, the more they seemed to be pressed down.
"Don't get so cocky… over something like this…!"
"Right. Arrogance is a bad habit."
I drew my sword. Wasting time with pointless banter only to get stabbed in the back is a privilege reserved for protagonists. I swung the sword I held. I swung with the intent to sever the elf's head, but.
-Clang!
The female elf, who had been standing by, had drawn her sword at some point and blocked mine. Looks like she was protecting her subordinates, for what it's worth.
"I have a position to uphold. I can't just stand by and watch my subordinates die."
"Such tear-jerking camaraderie."
"We have our own urgent circumstances, so I hope you'll understand even if we resort to slightly forceful measures."
She talks as if she's already won. It's because you're all so arrogant that you're stuck hiding in the forest. If your average martial prowess was the highest of all races, the elves would naturally have become the rulers of this continent. But the reason that didn't happen is all because of that arrogance. They're naturally strong, so few elves train. They live long, so they don't reproduce much, resulting in a smaller population compared to other races.
"After taking that blow, I see why Lord Yggdrasil wants us to bring you. Still, at that level, you won't be able to defeat me."
The female elf's sword slid to the side, then glided up the blade of my own. As expected of an elf, she infused her sword with wind for an upward slash. It seemed she wasn't lying about crippling one of my limbs. Though aiming for my neck would have been easier from that angle, she deliberately changed direction to target my arm.
I pulled my arm back slightly, but she was faster than me, so I couldn't avoid being cut. Drip. Blood trickled from the wound the elf had inflicted.
'It's been a while since I've bled.'
It might sound arrogant, but I've actually rarely bled, except for that time I let Luna slash me with all her might to test a skill. Considering that even the skilled professors couldn't inflict any significant wounds on me with magic during the competitive exhibition, it was clear this elf was stronger than I thought.
"Okay. Strategy complete."
"Strategy…?"
"I've finished figuring out how to crush you."
From what I just saw, she's more of a speed type than a power type. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to deflect my sword like that. If she had parried my downward strike, her abdomen would have been left wide open. The reason she didn't was likely because she's weaker than me in terms of strength. And as for her speed, I know from just being cut that she's definitely faster than me.
"…That's quite an arrogant statement."
"Take a look in the mirror, you goblin bastard."
"G-Goblin?"
In some fictional worlds, people call dragons lizards and humans monkeys. If that's the case, aren't elves just goblins? Their skin color is different, but they have the same pointy ears. We don't say people aren't human just because their skin color is different, do we? Similarly, I predict that elves are just a subspecies of goblin with a different skin tone.
Anyway, for flippant punks like her, one solid hit is all it takes. I happen to have the perfect skill for it, so why not give it a test run?
◈ Skill Information
Name: Charge Attack
Rank: B+
Description: By taking a certain stance, you can gather power for up to 5 seconds. The longer you gather power, the stronger the subsequent attack becomes.
I twisted my waist, taking a stance for a horizontal slash.
"…What are you doing now?"
"Preparing to kill you."
Thankfully, she spoke to me while I was gathering power, and three seconds passed.
"Do you really think I'll just let you hit me?"
"That's not for you to decide."
I decide.
For the record, the skill description never said I couldn't move while gathering power. These days, people in stories jump and teleport while charging up energy blasts, so I figured I could too. With one second still left on my internal timer, I kicked off the ground and launched myself forward. My trajectory wasn't toward the woman, but toward the two male elves still on their knees.
"What the…?!"
"This is how you use hostages, you bastard!"
If I just charged straight at her, I probably wouldn't land a hit. So what if I create a situation where she has no choice but to take the hit? She said earlier that she couldn't let her kin die, so she'd do whatever it takes to protect them. To do that, she'll have to block my attack. And for the record, she won't be able to deflect it like before. This attack is much stronger than the last one. If she tries to recklessly deflect it, she might end up slicing the hostages' necks herself. Our righteous elf wouldn't gamble with the lives of her kin, would she?
"You coward…!"
What's cowardly in a life-or-death battle? Go tell your ancestors after you die. Tell them you were killed by a villain's cowardly attack. She had no choice but to position herself between me and her lackeys. She raised her sword and cast a protective barrier, bracing for the impending attack.
In that time, the seconds ticked by.
"Five seconds up! WRYYYYYYYYY!!! Get crushed!!!"
-CRASH!!!
My full-powered swing sent her and the subordinates she was protecting flying through the wall of the Adventurer's Guild. I hadn't known how much stronger the charge made my attack, but seeing them crash through several more walls before finally stopping gave me a pretty good idea.
As I watched the elves fly off into the distance, I heard a sigh from behind me, followed by Adela's voice.
"…Should I bill you for the damages, Mr. Luke?"
"Why? I'm the victim here. You should bill them."
I'm the victim who was provoked, you know? They drew their swords first and threatened me first. I just dealt with them before they could kill me. And you're asking me to pay for the damages? If you do, I'll just pass the bill on to the elves.
"Luke. Is your arm okay?"
After the battle ended, Liche came over and gently touched my wound. It was still bleeding, but Yui could stop that, and my arm wasn't dangling or severed, so I was fine.
"Yeah."
Truthfully, it wouldn't have mattered even if my arm had been cut off. As long as I'm alive, our premium-grade tool, the Saintess, can reattach it. It would hurt so much I'd be blinded by tears, though.
"First, let's deal with them."
I was planning to beat their faces into a pulp that would violate broadcasting standards, but the woman blocked better than I expected, so they just got sent flying with all their limbs intact. Her lackeys seemed to be unconscious, but they were alive, so it was time for the finishing touches.
I walked over to the female elf, who was embedded in the wall of a corner building far away, catching her breath.
"Hah… hah…"
"You guys are really something. You must have known this could become a diplomatic incident, yet you went ahead and did it without a second thought."
Even if you were fighting me, this is the Empire, a nation of humans. Swinging your swords around like this could start a war. And yet you pulled this crap without thinking. I admit, I would probably do the same to achieve my goals, but that's something only the powerful can get away with. It doesn't work when weaklings try to act tough.
"If it is the will of Lord Yggdrasil. We will do so gladly."
Wow… This is why fanatics are a problem. Listening to them, you'd think the World Tree itself ordered them to bring me back with my limbs cut off. According to the lore, the World Tree is supposed to have a benevolent nature.
Cough. The female elf coughed up blood, her insides likely a mess.
"Hah… Fine. You win. Kill me."
"No, thanks."
"What…?"
Just a moment ago, I was fully intending to kill her, but when she told me to do it so nonchalantly, the desire vanished completely. Besides, considering what they were trying to do to me, a simple death would be a luxury.
"You were going to cut off all my limbs, weren't you? It's only fair you pay a fitting price."
To be honest, I don't know what elves consider important. In the novel, Arthur was completely swayed by the talk of saving the world and just helped them out. There weren't any scenes of him fighting elves like this. Until a moment ago, I was contemplating burning down the World Tree they worship so much, but that wouldn't make *them* suffer, so it's not a great idea.
I want to inflict not just mental, but also physical, pain on the elves before me. Then, the elves' ears suddenly caught my eye. On a whim, I reached for the female elf's ear. Seeing my hand, she shook her head, avoiding my touch.
Seeing that, a light bulb went off in my head. What makes elves different from humans? There's their long lifespan and their high average martial prowess, but you can't tell that just by looking. The way an elf proves their identity is their ears. They must take so much pride in their ears that they probably think others call them 'knife-ears' out of jealousy. From now on, I'm going to trample on that pride.
I grabbed the two unconscious elves by the hair and dragged them back to the Adventurer's Guild. The woman was still conscious, so if she wanted to save them, she'd follow on her own. Back at the guild, the first person I sought out was Adela.
"Adela. Do you happen to have any spare goblin ears?"
"We do, but… what do you plan to use them for?"
"What do you think?"
To make cropped elves, of course. Since one of the requirements to join the guild is killing a goblin, and they're easy monsters to hunt, there should always be goblin ears on hand. I took the goblin ears from Adela and approached the still-unconscious elf. Then I called over the three who were waiting behind me.
"Guys. Come here."
Luna and Liche stood beside me, asking what was going on, while Yui asked if she should stop the bleeding on my arm. I put my bleeding arm aside for now. I needed the help of all three for what I was about to do.
"Luna. Cut off this elf's ears."
"W-Wait…!"
The female elf, who had been listening from a short distance away, spoke urgently. But the loser's fate is in the hands of the victor. I told Luna to ignore her and cut off both ears. Luna grabbed the elf's ear and sliced it off without a moment's hesitation. The elf's eyes shot open, and he let out a scream from the sudden pain.
"Kh, Hnghaaa?! Aaaaaaaargh!!!!"
I paid him no mind. I ordered Yui to stop the bleeding from his ears. It would defeat the purpose if he died from blood loss. Yui did something, and the blood gushing from the elf's ears stopped abruptly, as if from a turned-off faucet.
The elf, who had been clutching the stumps of his ears, stared blankly as the bleeding suddenly stopped. Then, he saw his own severed ears on the floor and shrieked in despair.
"My, my ears… My ears, my eaaaaaaars…!!!!"
He was going to cripple someone, yet he's making a huge fuss over having his ears cut off. I kicked the wailing elf in the stomach, and as he fell back with a gasp—*Keok*—I climbed on top of him and pressed the goblin ears I'd gotten from Adela to the severed stumps.
"Liche. Cauterize it."
"W-What…? Wait a minute…! Please, anything but that…!"
Please what? If I had begged, would you have let me go? Liche, now accustomed to this sort of thing, cauterized the point of contact without a hint of guilt. *Tsssss*— With a sound that could have been flesh burning or cooking, the elf writhed in agony.
"Aaargh!! Stop!! Please, stooooooop!!!"