Chapter 189: Why Are We…. (2)
Chapter 189: Why Are We…. (2)
The Day of Patrick’s Great Rampage.
It was an event passed down like a legend within the Academy’s Knight Department, occurring back when Patrick was a sophomore.
Before the new freshmen arrived, the Academy professors had pleaded with him.
[You’re going to be a senior now, aren’t you?]
[You should set an example for your juniors.]
[Shouldn’t you show a good side of yourself to the underclassmen who look up to you as an idol?]
They coaxed and wheedled him with such words. Though they danced around the subject, their message was clear: Please, go easy on the freshmen.
‘Tsk, kids are supposed to be raised tough.’
Patrick wasn’t pleased, but since the professors were practically begging him on their hands and knees, he reluctantly agreed to do so.
And Patrick truly kept his word.
Once the freshmen arrived, he didn’t touch them at all. In fact, he didn’t even try to associate with them.
The problem, however, arose afterward.
[Are you Senior Patrick Schneider? Please accept my challenge.]
[This is a letter of duel. If I win, please set Princess Isabella free.]
[The only reason you achieved such great results at Arcana was because I didn’t participate.]
Because Patrick didn’t mess with the kids, the kids started poking at Patrick.
You know how it is, right? It’s human nature to want to take a poke at a prize you can’t have.
If they beat Patrick, it would be a jackpot. Even if they didn’t win, if they could just create a "good look" for themselves, their future could change drastically.
[Urgh, I lost.]
[You have talent.]
[Really?]
[A freshman with skill and talent like yours is exactly who can become the protagonist of the next Arcana.]
[Senior Schneider!]
[How about it? Would you like to receive my tutelage from now on?]
[Yes, of course!]
Most of them came with a picture like that painted in their heads.
The first-years began to annoy Patrick like flies in the summer. Patrick remembered the professors’ request and tried his best to endure it.
But here’s the thing.
Human patience is by no means infinite. There is always a breaking point.
* * *
“The incident occurred exactly forty-three days after the freshmen entered.”
“…….”
“A group of freshmen with more nerve than brains found the alcohol Patrick had stashed away and threw a drinking party among themselves. As a result….”
Matthew, speaking as he ran, trailed off as if he couldn’t bear to say more—as if merely recalling the horrific carnage of that day was terrifying.
It wasn’t just Matthew; Isabella felt the same way. She shuddered as she spoke.
“Even all the professors mobilized together couldn’t stop him.”
“Three academy buildings were leveled, after all.”
“In the end, even the Royal Knight Order was deployed.”
“Though they weren’t much help.”
“That’s true.”
Listening to their conversation, Riman spoke with a look of utter incomprehension.
“No matter if he’s a Double Dragon, isn’t he just an academy student? Does it make sense for him to do something so insane?”
“He does it.”
“He really does.”
Ah, I see. When they answer so firmly, there’s really nothing left to say.
And in fact….
“DIEEEEE, ALL OF YOU!”
Wasn’t Patrick’s enraged voice echoing from the distance proving that very fact?
‘I give up.’
Riman followed the others and fled diligently.
* * *
“D-Die!”
The spear Kilios thrust desperately was imbued with a powerful Aura.
However, Patrick didn’t even bother to dodge; he simply swung his sword and parried it away.
K-Boom!
A casual parry with one hand. Yet, the intense impact was so immense that Kilios nearly dropped his spear instantly.
“Urgh….”
Kilios managed to hold onto the spear, but the price was the ruptured ligaments in both his wrists.
Snap, crackle.
‘W-What is this?’
Before the horrified Kilios, Patrick approached, radiating a murderous energy.
“You little brat, where do you think you’re pointing that spear? Huh?”
CRACK!
He swung his fist and sent Kilios’s jaw spinning. Kilios felt his head reel and was about to collapse to the ground….
THWACK.
Patrick wouldn’t even allow that. Patrick’s kick surged from below, striking Kilios’s handsome face upward.
As a result, the falling Kilios was launched back into the air.
Patrick then slammed both his swords into the ground, clenched his fists, and looked at Kilios with eyes full of madness.
“Hehehe, you’re dead meat.”
Infinite Hell Chain Fist
Adaptive Style —Die! Die! Die! Die! Dieeeee!—
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Terrifying punches meticulously tenderized Kilios’s entire body. Amidst the horrific pain that felt like every bone in his body was being ground into powder, Kilios realized something.
‘Ah…. When you’re in true agony, you can’t even scream.’
“Hryaaaaaaa!”
BAM!
With a final blow, Kilios was cleanly finished off. He could no longer lift a single finger.
As he collapsed in agonizing pain, the other Elven warriors watching the scene grew furious.
“Human! Do you think you’ll get away with this?”
“How dare you act like this here?”
“You think you’ll leave here ali—Guh?!”
The Elf who was speaking was sent flying by a single blow from Patrick, who had closed the distance before anyone noticed.
Crash! Boom! Ka-pow!
The Elf flew far back, smashing through two obstructing trees before getting embedded into a boulder behind them.
Seeing that nonsensical sight, the other Elves swallowed hard.
‘What did I just see?’
‘With just one kick….’
Receiving the Elves’ gazes mixed with awe and terror, Patrick spoke with a bright smile.
“Don’t worry.”
“…….”
“I’m a big fan of collective responsibility. So…”
With eyes gleaming wildly and a chilling smile that seemed to have crawled out of hell, Patrick said, “It’s your turn to get beaten, you bastards!”
Reading the absolute sincerity in those words, the Elves gritted their teeth and shouted.
“Attack!”
“Kill him!”
The Elves’ decision to choose attack as the best defense for survival was correct. The problem, however, was that their opponent was Patrick Schneider.
“You guys….”
Boom!
“Invite a person….”
Bang!
“As a guest….”
Crack!
“And treat them like thiiiiiiis!”
Thwack! Thud! Bam!
The Elves truly did their best to attack Patrick. But their resistance only served to piss him off even more.
There were dozens of Elven warriors. Among them were those who could use Aura, and their strength was comparable to a human knight order.
But would Patrick be Patrick if that mattered? He was a monster who had gone toe-to-toe with the elite forces of the Caesar Kingdom; the strength of a single knight order wasn’t even worth mentioning.
“Die, you shaaaaades!”
No one could stop Patrick’s wrath. Eventually, realizing the gravity of the situation, they resorted to their next move.
“C-Call for reinforcements!”
“Aaaah! This isn’t right! This is all wrong!”
“Quickly, reinfor—Gah!”
One of the Elves pulled out a unique arrow and fired it into the sky. Then….
Screeeeeeeeeee!
With a long, low whistle, the arrow flew far away.
* * *
The moment they heard the signal, Elven warriors patrolling the nearby areas rushed to the scene.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. But the emergency alarm sounded, so we must get to the site immediately.”
“Hurry! The sound came from this way.”
The Elves sprinted through the forest, leaping across branches. Though they couldn’t use spirits as they once had, their light movements through the woods were still a marvel to behold.
Moving through the forest faster than humans riding horses on flat ground, they arrived at the scene in no time.
And what they saw was….
“Hahaha! Die! Die! All of you, just die!”
It was the sight of an unidentified, crazy human beating the Elven warriors like they were stray dogs. Dozens of Elven warriors lay fallen, unable to handle a single human.
Deciding that words were no longer necessary, the Elves quickly took up battle positions.
“It’s an enemy! Subdue—no, kill that human!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Elven warriors gathered at the scene drew their bows in unison. And then….
“Fire!”
Twang-twang-twang-twang!
With clear, crisp sounds, hundreds of arrows flew straight toward Patrick. The Elven arrows, far more powerful than those used by humans, flew in a perfectly straight line at this distance.
Those arrows were powerful enough to pierce through plate mail. However….
Whir-whir-whir-whir-whirl!
Patrick coated himself in Aura and spun at high speed. A cyclone formed around him, and the incoming arrows were sucked in as if caught in a vortex. Then….
“If you receive a peck….”
Patrick shouted from the center of the whirlpool.
“It’s only polite to return a bushel!”
Isn’t the saying usually about a pound for a penny? Regardless, Patrick’s philosophy seemed different.
The moment Patrick unleashed his sword, the arrows that had been sucked in were flung back in all directions—far more powerfully than when they were first fired.
“Ugh… Whoa!”
“Dodge!”
The Elves scrambled in total chaos. They never imagined the arrows they fired would be returned like this.
Boom! Crash! Bang! Thud!
The arrows Patrick sent back were destructive enough to embed themselves deeply into boulders and the ground.
And that wasn’t the end.
The moment the Elves’ formation broke as they dodged, Patrick’s body flashed like a bolt of lightning. He targeted an Elf who hadn’t yet regained his stance.
WHAM!
“Gah….”
Using his momentum, Patrick slammed his fist into the Elf’s face. The Elf spun through the air and was about to hit the ground, but Patrick reached out, grabbed the unconscious Elf by the collar, and pulled him back.
He stood the Elf up in front of him and roared.
“Shoot! Go ahead, shoot!”
“Urgh….”
“Khahaha! You can’t shoot, can you? You can’t shoot me, nya-nya-nya!”
This guy is a Righteous Hero?
The Elven warriors found Patrick maddeningly detestable, but they couldn’t bring themselves to attack their own comrade.
One of them shouted in frustration.
“C-Cowardly! You cowardly human!”
“Thanks for the compliment, you Elven brat!”
Then, Patrick flashed forward again, sprinting ahead.
“Huh?!”
The Elves were thrown into a panic. It was already difficult to attack because of the hostage, but with him moving at that speed, they couldn’t even dream of aiming their arrows.
Effectively using the hostage to close the distance, Patrick slammed his fist into the next opponent’s face. And then….
“Hahaha! A fresh one.”
He tossed aside his old shield and took the new Elven warrior as his shield. Then, sprinting toward his next target, he shouted:
“You’re the next shield!”
“E-Eeeek!”
“Don’t come any closer, you crazy human!”
“Fire! No, don’t fire!”
Sprinting through the Elves who had fallen into utter bedlam, Patrick shouted with all his heart.
“Hahahahaha! This is fun!”
I ask again. Why? Why was this guy a Righteous Hero?
* * *
By the time the number of Elven warriors defeated by Patrick surpassed double digits and reached triple digits.
The Elves, being one-sidedly slaughtered, trembled with rage.
“Damn it, if only we could use spirits….”
“No! Endure it!”
“But….”
“Endure! We must not place a burden on the World Tree.”
“Dammit….”
The Elves gnashed their teeth as they watched Patrick brutally trample their kin. An Elf who couldn’t use spirits was, frankly, unable to use even half of their strength.
In such a situation, they were expected to stop that monster?
It was impossible. Although warriors of the tribe continued to join the fray, they couldn’t even buy time against that monster.
To even stand a chance of stalling him, they would either have to use spirits at the risk of harming the World Tree or deploy the Elven Knights. Just then….
“It’s the Elven Knights!”
“Oh! Finally!”
“Now we’re saved.”
The Elves let out cheers of joy. Finally, the strongest warriors of the tribe, the Elven Knights, had arrived.
Clad in platinum circlets and armed with bows made from the branches of the World Tree, their appearance brought great hope to the Elves. No matter how monstrous that human was, he wouldn’t stand a chance now that the Elven Knights were out in force.
One of the Elven Knights quickly darted forward, sprinting toward Patrick.
Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
The footwork, which seemed to skim across the ground like a stone skipping on water, was several times lighter and faster than that of the previous Elves.
The Elven Knight instantly bypassed her fallen kin and began to match Patrick’s movements in a single bound.
“Ooooh….”
“As expected.”
Seeing this, the other Elves harbored hope. To think someone could keep up with that monster of a human whom they couldn’t even react to.
“Truly an Elven Knight.”
“Yes. If it’s her…?”
“There’s a chance.”
“Go!”
Carrying their hopes, the Elven Knight who had caught up to Patrick spread her arms wide.
And then….
“Patrick Schneideeeeer!”
She threw herself into Patrick’s arms and hugged him tight.
“Grrr…. Huh? Who are you?”
Patrick, who had been in the middle of his frenzy, snapped back to his senses slightly when someone embraced him.
Why was a woman of peerless beauty coming to hug him? The reason was revealed the moment the beauty lifted her head.
“You came! You really came, just as you promised!”
“Oh. You’re…. Elione.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Uh…. Yeah. If I said I’d come, I have to come.”
“Thank you. I’m truly grateful.”
“It’s nothing to be that grateful for.”
“Would you like to eat first? Ah, you must be tired after such a long journey. You should rest first. I’ll lead you to my home.”
“Rather than resting….”
“I’ve prepared the Elven Liquor you enjoyed before and have been waiting for you, Lord Patrick.”
“Oh, that sounds good.”
“Then, let’s go to my house first. I’ll show you the way.”
“Shall we, then?”
Elione linked her arm with Patrick’s and led him away with a bright smile. Patrick allowed himself to be led by Elione as if he had no choice, entering the Elven village.
And the Elven warriors lying scattered all over the place could only stare blankly at the two of them, tears streaming down their faces.
“Why are we….”