Ch.108Deviation (3)

Eshatherna.

I know her. After all, she was a companion of the first Grim Darker I encountered.

The reason I remember her so vividly is because she was stronger than even the Blazing Void, which was still incomplete at the time, and even stronger than the player character.

And she was a character with a fitting background setting and story to match.

Assassin Eshatherna.

She was created by the elven community to execute elven criminals abroad.

In other words, she’s the executioner of elves.

Given that elves are immortal beings blessed with magical power, it required someone exceptionally powerful to apprehend or execute those who went astray.

Eshatherna was such a being.

The greatest martial artist among elves, outstanding assassination abilities, and stat totals even more broken than Melody’s.

Despite this, Eshatherna wasn’t a frequently used companion, precisely because of her disposition.

Eshatherna.

She has an evil alignment.

And it’s an evil alignment so severe that you’d hesitate to travel with her even considering her capabilities.

Since Grim Darker 1 was fundamentally a linear story-based game, it wasn’t immediately obvious, but Eshatherna’s infamy could be encountered multiple times throughout the game.

It was evident from the very first meeting.

An extremely wicked criminal sharing the same cell as the player, who starts the game imprisoned under various false accusations.

A being who follows the player out of curiosity when an opportunity to escape presents itself.

Usually, players would expel her from the party when given the chance, hand her over to the elves, or even kill her.

Even I only traveled with her twice.

Once with a male character, and once with a female character.

That’s when I learned Eshatherna was only capable of same-sex relationships.

I still vividly remember how she frowned when I flirted with her as a male character. But when I flirted with her as a female character, she clung to me seductively.

Considering my perfect companion relationship scores, it made no sense unless that was her preference.

Because of this, I could recall everything about Eshatherna.

Her combat style, her usual weapons and accessories, her armor.

Her skills and even her unique ability.

I grimaced when I saw my extended leg being precisely blocked.

An explosive leap with my 24 points of strength, plus 22 points of health from Mourning adding to damage and accuracy.

It’s an attack that couldn’t be blocked even in the game, and now in reality, it should be something unstoppable.

Yet it was blocked. That could only mean one thing:

Eshatherna’s unique ability.

Mental Image Manifestation, House of Tilted Peace.

The effect is simple. Everyone gains the same physical capabilities as Eshatherna, the master of the mental image.

Thus, she becomes invincible.

As I recalled this, crimson eyes filled with clear killing intent turned toward me.

Here she comes. A chill ran down my spine, causing me to quickly jerk my head back.

With a whistling sound, she charged. A flash of light cutting through the air.

A dagger drawn like lightning from her shoulder sheath and thrown.

Its trajectory was barely visible. The assassin is unmatched in throwing weapons. I was only able to dodge thanks to my instinct.

The matchup should favor me. A Mourner immune to surprise attacks should have an advantage against an assassin.

Yet strangely, I see no path to victory. I leaned back and retreated, only to see Eshatherna immediately closing in on me.

A woman with another dagger in one hand and a clenched fist in the other. A tall woman, slightly taller than my sister.

With a seductive expression, she approaches and throws a punch.

Bang!

A downward strike with her clenched fist followed by a straight punch.

The consecutive impacts briefly throw off my posture, but I quickly cross my arms when I see the dagger accelerating.

“Oh my.”

Clack, the dagger is blocked. I thought I’d stopped it, but in the moment after crossing my arms, the dagger falls.

And beneath it, Eshatherna’s other hand was waiting.

Too late—

Thunk, thunk, thunk, slash!

“Kuh…!”

I thought I’d blocked it, but I was led into a trap. Her dagger pierced my stomach three times.

Then, to counter my sister who was accelerating with the power of Inversion, Eshatherna kicked me away. The elf let out her characteristic “Ahah” laugh as she faced my sister who was diving in with perfect timing.

She and my sister tumbled across the beach stained dark with shadows.

Their entanglement lasted only a moment. But when they stood up, my sister was bleeding from one eye.

Her regeneration is slow. So is mine. Yet Eshatherna unhurriedly assumes her stance.

Low center of gravity, elbows close to the sides—the elven martial art. A wide stance.

Exactly the same stance as my sister. My sister begins to take the stance but interrupts herself to leap in and swing her leg.

Whoosh, my sister’s leg traces a black trajectory. A blindingly fast and powerful strike that would normally be imperceptible. However.

Eshatherna smiles brightly, deflects my sister’s kick with her palms, and extends her own leg in return.

Her longer leg drives into a single point. Crack, my sister’s chin is kicked, and her body flies backward.

[Explosive Leap]

That’s when I dove in. An Explosive Leap used through gritted teeth.

The speed and distance were nothing compared to before entering this mental image. But it was enough to close the gap.

I brought my leg down from above with all my momentum.

It was the Dragon’s Descent kick that had cleaved even the monster minions of the Mother in a single strike, but.

Eshatherna reacted without even looking at me. She slightly tilted her head to avoid my kick aimed at her head, and rotated around the shoulder that took the impact.

My posture faltered. Despite not using much force, a large opening appeared.

And as if targeting that opening, a kick extended toward my head.

A pushing kick that could kill a human in one blow. With a slashing sound, my consciousness began to fade.

Pain that made my mind hazy despite the Mourner’s debuff immunity. I gritted my teeth and endured, but it was a mistake.

Eshatherna was already within striking distance.

Moving forward, into my range, she drove her fist that had been at her side into my chest.

Thud!

Nausea rose in my throat. I bit down hard and endured, swinging my right arm back like a dragon’s claw.

‘Hmm, the Dragon King’s…’

I was in her mental image. Her words reached me as thoughts rather than language.

Her crimson eyes scanned me, and as she dodged the claw by leaning back, she simultaneously thrust out her leg.

‘How fun.’

Crack, my ribs broke as my body was thrown backward.

As I stopped myself by planting my feet firmly on the ground, I saw Eshatherna’s leg.

A kick aimed at my face. This one would be dangerous if I didn’t block it.

Swish!

As I tilted my head to dodge.

The extended leg wrapped around my neck. My body tilted. My head was headed straight for the ground.

I couldn’t even insert my arms in time to reduce the impact.

I’m fucked—

CRASH!

Kuh, blood spewed from my mouth. Clear pain despite debuff immunity. I nearly broke my neck.

But I couldn’t afford to be relieved that my neck wasn’t broken.

I was now fixed between her legs, my forearm that I’d extended to cushion the fall was broken, and Eshatherna was straddling me with a dagger raised high.

“Shit…!”

As I extended my intact left forearm, daggers fell on it repeatedly.

Flesh flew, bones broke, and blood gushed out, covering my face.

Beyond that was Eshatherna. An elven murderer with a face contorted in ecstasy, laughing joyfully.

“Get off!”

[Explosive Leap]

But I wasn’t just going to take it. It’s in my nature to return what I receive.

I planted my raised leg on the ground and used Leap, and my body sprung like a coil, sending Eshatherna flying.

And there was someone flying up to target Eshatherna in mid-air.

With a humming sound, my sister scattered flame-like magical power as she rammed into Eshatherna.

A flying knee strike in a straight trajectory.

Normally, it would fold someone’s waist and kill them, but Eshatherna was different.

She twisted her body in mid-air and landed safely.

There was no trace of blood on her lips, and the black leather clothes wrapped around her body had not a single blemish.

She smiled with an immaculate appearance.

“This is enjoyable, my lady.”

“…It’s been a while, Esha.”

My sister’s cold voice contrasted with the sticky, honey-dripping voice.

Esha found that voice strange and didn’t show her usual impulsiveness.

She was a madwoman, true, but a cold, calculating madwoman.

Instead, she spoke with delight:

“You still call me Esha? Even after such an ending?”

Grinning, she extended her hand. Two daggers returned to that hand.

She returned the two daggers to the sheath on her shoulder and tilted her head.

“How kind of you.”

Of course, such an expression didn’t last long.

“Though the presence of this uninvited guest is unpleasant.”

Eshatherna looked at me with a cold expression.

Clear killing intent could be felt in the eyes that glared at me. Excessive killing intent, even considering that she was presumed to be one of the Mother’s limbs.

Is it separate from the Mother’s will? I thought as I examined my wounds.

My broken ribs still hadn’t mended, and the wounds from the dagger piercing my forearm and stomach were still bleeding.

Regeneration was slow.

My strength had also weakened. Previously, I could have stopped the bleeding with muscle strength alone.

That wasn’t possible now.

It was because of Eshatherna’s mental image, “House of Tilted Peace.”

A mental image that adjusts the abilities of all beings within its radius to the same level as Eshatherna.

The effect might not seem that powerful, but in reality, it was extremely potent.

This was true regardless of whether one pursued mental image, ideal, or origin.

While ideals aim for the magical ideals and desires of the user,

And origins focus on recreating the source of power flowing through the soul,

Mental images are the embodiment of a warrior’s history, training, and experience.

The recreation of a landscape where they believe they will certainly win.

Among these, it was manifestation.

Not simply projection that creates in the world, nor inversion that reverses and applies it, but manifestation.

The art of one who can perform both inversion and projection. A finishing move that overlays one’s mental image or hope onto the world.

For Eshatherna, this space was nothing less than a space of certain victory.

She believed that if all beings had the same abilities as herself, there was no way she could lose.

And that was true.

After all, Eshatherna was the greatest martial arts master in the world setting.

“Sis.”

“Yes.”

“Get ready.”

Still acting as siblings. That’s why we can communicate without saying everything.

Both my sister and I know the weakness of this mental image. If I weren’t in this space, my sister’s ideal, Death of Stars, could erase this entire mental image.

That’s the only way to win.

So I lowered my stance. There are almost no variables, but if I can just escape…

“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but it won’t be of much use, my lady.”

That’s when it happened. Eshatherna took something from the pouch at her waist and held it in her hand.

A mineral dyed blue. A familiar mineral that enables transition.

As if on cue, blue light flowed from the wounds in my stomach and forearm.

“As much as I’d like to talk more, shall we continue later?”

Leisurely, somewhere without interference.

As Eshatherna’s bloodless lips curved into a smile.

Crunch!

The blue mineral in her hand shattered into pieces.

My vision distorted wildly.

A sensation like falling from above while also feeling the speed of a fast swing, dominating my entire body.

As my vision gradually returned amid the jolting sensation, what I saw was:

“…Oh shit.”

An unfamiliar place I’d never seen before.

“You should watch your language, Mr. Uninvited Guest.”

And Eshatherna, left alone with me in this strange place.

“You’ve been kidnapped by a madwoman, after all.”

I broke into a cold sweat at her concluding words: “It would be a shame if you upset me.”