Ch.172Awakened NPC. (5)

Would riding a roller coaster without any safety measures feel like this?

The water droplet shot by the Naiad skillfully navigated through the winding cave at tremendous speed, then launched straight up toward the sky. It streaked across the heavens as if running along invisible rails.

‘My life seems to involve a lot of strange flying incidents, doesn’t it?’

Nearly getting crushed in a collapsing cave before soaring into the sky, being chased by a slime and thrown, being chased by Miho and thrown, flying off worried about my sister and crashing into a barrier. Almost becoming ancestor tanghulu, throwing myself by my own power, and now being enclosed in a water droplet and ejected from a cave entrance.

Haha! Come to think of it, everywhere I go, something sends me flying into the sky?! Could this be related to the karma the Naiad mentioned earlier? I should think about that later too.

As I’m having these foolish thoughts while flying through the air—

-Pop!

“…Haha. So this is what she meant by ‘figure out the landing yourself’?”

The water droplet, which had risen to a considerable height, burst like a deflated balloon high in the sky, at an altitude where even the boundaries of Siltra’s vast forest region were visible.

Well, it’s not like I can fly anyway.

“But this isn’t landing—it’s falling.”

My body began plummeting toward the ground, following the planet’s gravity.

Should I consider this fortunate? Below, I can see quite a crowd of figures, and it seems I’m falling toward the battlefield where Miho and Chikuyo, my targets, should be…

‘…Hmm. Is that…?’

Siltra’s mid-boss. The Grand Elder?

[-Elf Grand Elder- : Level 896 (Status: Absorbing Seed of Wrath.)]

[HP: 319,268]

Has my eyesight improved too? Normally, people should still appear as dots from this height, but I can clearly see Green Stone, Miho, Chikuyo, and even the Beast-folk Elder.

And their opponent is the old man I saw in the game, who originally was possessed by the Demon of Wrath and only spewed “GUEEEK!” sounds.

Now that same figure stands dignified, fighting against the four while casually attacking nearby elves and beast-folk.

Wait a minute. He’s [Absorbing] the Seed of Wrath, not being [Possessed] by it? And what’s with that level? Nearly 900?!

Siltra is an ep.2 map.

I just finished the trial and decided to change my perspective, accepting that this world is different from the game, but isn’t this a bit much?!

Level 900 in a world where the tutorial hasn’t even started?! Honestly, forget the Seven Deadly Sins—if this guy alone had gone berserk early on, half the continent would have been destroyed?!!

And as I continued falling, what entered my vision was—

-WHAM!

Miho driving her fist into the old man’s face.

“Wait, wait, WAIT…!!!”

Miho’s level is barely reaching 150. But her opponent is 900. And his HP is enough to chew through any decent raid boss!! No, more precisely…

‘He’s on the same level as me before my class change—Miho’s punch shouldn’t even affect him!’

I’ve already experienced it myself. I’ve been hit by various opponents and felt it. There’s pain, but the opponent’s attacks never broke my bones or caused any real damage.

It’s just pain like being hit with a rubber band, short or long. And as I expected, the old man caught Miho’s fist without any trouble and—

“—AAAGH!!”

That was Miho’s voice—no, her scream.

I wish I could fall faster, but unfortunately, I only have 1 mana point. I just used it, and even if I had more, I couldn’t cast any spells with it.

So I could only continue falling helplessly, watching as Miho was caught in his grasp and toyed with alongside Chikuyo.

-Crack.

That must be the sound of stepping on a branch.

I landed on the ground as lightly as if I hadn’t fallen from a great height. More precisely, I curled my body like a cat before any shock wave could form and—

-THUD!

“…It would be good to show human behavior before your selection, you beasts and elves. Teaching you the disgustingness of humans here, solidifying your ideology will certainly be convenient for the future…”

“The one who needs ideological education is you, who sold your soul to a demon, you senile old bastard.”

“What…? GUAK?!!”

The moment I landed, I moved faster than the aftershock that should have occurred, instantly appearing behind him and without hesitation, I smashed my fist into his face. While the sonic boom from my impact—not from his being hit—shook the battlefield, I managed to catch Miho in my arms.

“Shit. What the hell did you smear on our baby’s lips? Don’t open your mouth. I’ll clean it right away.”

“J-Jack…!!!”

“Yes, thank you for holding on. I’ll end this quickly. Please hold on a little longer with Green Stone and your Elder.”

Her upper body, usually barely covered by bikini-like clothing, looked like it might be completely exposed at any moment. Black blood was smeared on her lips as if someone had applied saliva, and tears were streaming down her face. I…

-Crack.

I was certain now that the earlier sound wasn’t from stepping on a branch.

“Jack!”

“Chikuyo. Thank you. Please take Miho and the Elders and retreat.”

“Huh? Oh! Got it!! And! Don’t let his blood get into your mouth or wounds!”

“What?”

As Chikuyo hastily fixed Miho’s clothing (while firmly grabbing her breasts) and retied the strings, she explained to me.

There’s a demon’s flesh in the old man’s heart, and it has touched some elves, causing them to be controlled by him. Anyone who gets covered in his blood, drinks it, or gets it in their wounds attacks people around them like ghouls.

“Green Stone Elder too—blood entered through his severed arm. He’s being consumed by demonic energy now.”

“…Is that true? Green Stone.”

“Cough!! Cough!! Is that what you’re worried about now? Can’t you see my shoulder’s been cut? This is a fatal wound, by the way?”

“Ha! You’re still doing fine. Chikuyo.”

“H-huh?!”

I threw her potions from my bag pocket. The 10,000 gold ones I bought in Aigram a year ago, just in case. I tossed her three, and Miho quickly caught them.

“I’ll use them all on the Elders!”

“Please use some on Miho’s hands too.”

“Oh, y-yes!!”

After Chikuyo expressed amazement at my preparedness, the sisters took the two elders and began to retreat.

And then.

-BOOM!!!

“What is this…? Are you the human that Green Stone brought, the one who killed Er Jim?”

[HP: 302,520]

The old man, who had been sent flying by my hit and landed head-first into the ground, rises angrily, shattering the earth as he gets up and looks at me.

“That’s right. I’m the human who got stabbed by your kind and got fed up with your political games.”

I stride toward him purposefully. Up close, I can see his lip is split and his nose is bleeding.

However.

-Swish.

“As expected, humans are arrogant and disgusting. Ambushing an elderly elf, and speaking without any dignity…”

“As expected, a geezer who’s lived 10,000 years has a rotten brain and the stench of decay coming from his mouth. How are you even an elf? If you sold your soul to a demon, just call yourself a demon.”

At my words, his crimson eyes begin to fill with rage, and the flesh embedded near his heart responds by moving violently.

“Disgusting human, know the wrath of elves and die.”

With his low voice, he swings his blade at me with incredible speed.

“Damn it.”

I also swing my fist to match him.

Neither of us backing down, we direct our attacks at each other and—

“…KUHAK!!!”

The same shock wave and explosion that occurred when I fell earlier erupts from his chest, and black blood spews from his mouth.

I had blocked his swinging arm by grabbing it as it tried to penetrate my body, and one-sidedly drove my fist into his chest.

He couldn’t even fly back from my punch, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Hey. Just because you have the Demon of Wrath attached to your body, are you under the delusion that you’re the angriest person in the world?”

I didn’t ask because I wanted to hear his answer. I just wanted to let him know, that’s why I spoke.

-THUD! BOOM!!!

“?!!!”

I grabbed his muzzle and slammed his head into the ground. He reflexively tried to swing his sword arm again, but I didn’t miss it and stepped on his arm with my foot.

“You can’t even imagine how much anger I’m holding back right now.”

He made a pact with a demon to get revenge on humans?

His hatred for humans has persisted for nearly 10,000 years?

He remembers history from thousands of years ago when humans wronged them?

He’s so consumed by rage that he’s attacking his own kind, people of his own country??

‘Fuck, why should I care?’

-CRACK!!!

“…!!!”

As I apply pressure to crush his jaw in my grip, he seems surprised and tries to kick my back or bounce his body, but this level of resistance is nothing to me.

He’s nearly level 900? So what? Even if he has player-level specs at 900, I have player-level stats exceeding 1000.

The basic level of our specs is different.

“There’s something my brother has hated intensely since long ago.”

While casually handling his resistance, I bring my face close to his. Whether you’re angry or not, I’m going to show you my fury. You need to know it.

“Judging by Miho’s condition, you didn’t just crush her hands, but touched her chest and lips too, didn’t you? You moldy-crotched bastard. NTR is what I hate most, and you dare to touch ‘my woman’?”

-CRACK!!!

“MMMPHHH?!!!”

His jawbone finally shattered under the pressure of my grip.

Now that I’ve said it aloud, rage floods me until my vision turns red.

What I resolved in the past world was that I wouldn’t avoid or date people based on their ‘job’ anymore.

Miho clearly likes me and craves my affection—she’s ‘my woman.’ Yes, I no longer intend to view this world as the online game [Eight].

Just as I made that resolution and decided to finally respond to Miho’s feelings, to somehow explain why I’ve been keeping my distance until now!!!

“On top of that, you grabbed the ‘little sister’ to torment the ‘big sister.’ That truly infuriates me.”

-THUD!!

With the foot not stepping on his hand, I stomp on his solar plexus. Black blood overflows from his mouth in my grip, but even that isn’t enough to quell my current rage.

“So, I’ll give you two choices.”

Quietly, I whisper with my fury to the old ‘Seed of Wrath’ whose jaw is shattered and solar plexus is being crushed.

“One, never beg for forgiveness. Keep opposing me—humans—to the end with your wrath. And die that way.”

The old elf’s crimson eyes trembled slightly as if he couldn’t understand my words, but I continued without caring.

“Two, if the beating is too painful to bear, open that stinking mouth of yours and recite an apology. Then, I will forgive you. However.”

-Squeeze.

“Whether he will forgive you is something only Attorney Ju will know.”

“He, hehe huh…?!!”

As soon as my hand left his muzzle, he tried to move his mouth with his shattered jaw. However, since it clearly wasn’t an apology, I dropped Attorney Ju, which I had been holding in my left hand, onto his face.

-!!!

The land of Siltra bounced like a bowstring under the intense interrogation.