Ch.247Three Monstrosities (5)

“…Oppa?”

A single word that felt like acceptance, though it might not have been intended.

Llewellyn nodded, and the Emperor, who bore a striking resemblance to his sister, frowned with displeasure.

Llewellyn didn’t stop there and opened his mouth.

“I can understand trying to show off at your young age. When I was younger, I also thought about demonstrating some awesome skills at training camps to receive everyone’s praise.”

A story so sudden it made one doubt their ears. Even as Lorian and Elimul turned to look, Llewellyn boldly pointed his finger.

“But embarrassing behavior is still embarrassing. No matter how much you want to make such an entrance, it doesn’t mean you actually should.”

“What are you saying, blood bag?”

“Shut your mouth, old geezer.”

“What—”

Llewellyn cut him off with a scoff. He thought that if the other had made a normal entrance, he would have been nervous.

But with such an attempt at psychological dominance, accompanied by massive terrain changes and a showy ‘entrance’…

He could be certain that human psychology existed in his opponent’s mind.

He instinctively knew that his opponent could be reasoned with and was susceptible to human-level psychological tactics.

Although the energy in the voice was unsettling, and the opponent was equal to or greater than Llewellyn…

If communication was possible, the psychological burden would be reduced. Knowing this, Llewellyn acted confidently.

“I came here to negotiate. I assume you did too. Am I wrong?”

The suddenly serious tone. The Emperor and the Prophet looked down at the man standing before them and thought.

A powerful individual who had developed the ability to face the warriors of the ‘Three Tribes’ just a month after jumping down.

At the same time, the key to saving the world that his mother desperately wanted—someone who could now match the Emperor or Prophet standing before him.

In terms of unpredictability and growth potential, he was incomparable to anyone else in the world. The Emperor knew this well, and so did the Prophet.

That’s why they didn’t rush to act despite his overwhelming rudeness.

Even if they seemed to have the advantage, this was an opponent who had repeatedly defeated the forces they had sent to secure a more favorable position.

And that wasn’t all.

“At least your spirit is strong enough to cut off the hand that grasps the night.”

The Prophet said this. “The hand that grasps the night” was clearly a nickname.

Llewellyn reflexively thought of the God of Night. The sight of the entire night sky becoming a blade and raging.

Would they really not know about that?

‘They must know. It was so chaotic.’

When he later returned to the Pantheon, he heard that even ordinary people had seen the night descend and become day.

There must have been chaos in ordinary cities with talk of the end of the world.

It wasn’t wrong. If Llewellyn hadn’t stopped it there, and if Netel hadn’t closed it in time, the world could have been destroyed.

Even the Sword Saint could barely endure, and despite striking with a technique powerful enough to kill even gods, all that happened was an arm being cut off.

The transcendent ones were called such precisely because they were truly transcendent.

Llewellyn put his hands on his waist and raised his head.

“It’s not just spirit. As you can see.”

“So it seems. Blood bag.”

The Prophet consistently called Llewellyn “blood bag.” It meant that in his perception, Llewellyn was still just that.

Llewellyn didn’t care. Partly because he’d grown used to it after hearing it for a year, and partly because he had never lived for the approval of someone like the Prophet.

Instead, he looked at the Prophet with an indifferent expression and said:

“So, what do you want from this blood bag that made you request negotiations?”

Llewellyn raised his hand to stop the Prophet who was about to answer. He smiled slightly.

This too was a lowly tactic, but it was a way to take control of the conversation. A trick he had learned from Melody at some point.

“Let me say in advance, I didn’t come here to accept your proposal. I’m merely allowing you to speak before I present my own proposal.”

A truly base battle of wills. But the proud Prophet could neither ignore it nor get upset.

Ignoring it would mean acknowledging Llewellyn’s authority to “allow” him to speak, and getting upset would only diminish his own authority.

And from Llewellyn’s perspective, the Prophet was the type of being who greatly disliked losing authority. He silently clasped his hands behind his back, and the muscles on his robust body momentarily twitched.

He seemed to be struggling to suppress his killing intent. Llewellyn, confident that surprise attacks wouldn’t work on a Mourner, calmly opened his status window in the corner of his vision.

[Coffining]

[When mourning is activated, it automatically attacks. In this case, it attacks the nearest enemy with the weapon you possess.]

[Adds 2 points to Health.]

[Dragon Slaying]

[“And this, shall be my question.”

-Dragon King, upon the remains of the Necromancer.]

[This is a form of martial art that improves upon Dragon Dropping, a harmonious blend of martial arts and grappling techniques. Most techniques can be applied even against non-dragons.

Finally reaching the sky, tearing wings and bringing to the ground. A technique that defies heaven by forcing creatures that were once like gods to walk the same earth as humans.]

[Running the Sky: Grants slash, impact, and penetration resistance to all airborne actions, and allows consecutive use of leaping techniques.

Dragon Dropping: Grants advantage and slash properties to all unarmed attacks and grappling actions.

Wing Tearing: Nullifies movement when attacking a restrained large creature.

Breaking Scales and Heart: Ignores damage reduction and defense of the opponent, and treats all damage from martial arts as weapon attacks with a minimum of 2 points and a maximum of 12 points. All attack rolls and damage rolls that cause this damage are unarmed attacks and add proficiency bonus.]

Growth up to level 16 that he had postponed. In case of a fight, he claimed his rewards and chose the Mourner trait and a new talent, briefly feeling a sense of omnipotence flow through his body.

“…That aura.”

And that sense of omnipotence wasn’t felt by Llewellyn alone. The expression of the Prophet, who had been looking down on Llewellyn, momentarily hardened.

“Is Mother truly extending her hand to you?”

Words difficult for Llewellyn to understand. He blinked, but the Prophet interpreted that expression as he pleased.

“How annoying.”

From Llewellyn’s perspective, that wasn’t a statement with multiple interpretations.

‘Is the status window… given by Netel?’

Llewellyn considered that there might be such a possibility.

Of course, the Prophet could also be mistaken. Since it was related to divinity, he might have sensed that divinity and mistakenly attributed it to Netel.

But whether it was Netel or not, Llewellyn didn’t care.

After all, it was right to use what could be used. Even if it could completely twist him.

The fact that nothing was being forced on Llewellyn at this negotiation table confirmed that either it wasn’t from Netel, or that Netel didn’t desire such a thing.

If she had wanted to, she would have done it long ago. When Selma tried to corrupt Llewellyn, when he broke free from her influence.

If she had harmed him through the status window then, it would have been certain. The fact that she didn’t do it when she had the opportunity meant she couldn’t.

Llewellyn became as confident as he could possibly be.

The Prophet, looking at such a Llewellyn, clearly showed his displeasure and said:

“As you already know, Mother wishes to use you, blood bag, to save the world.”

Although it was information he already knew, Llewellyn waited without interrupting.

“She will use your body to completely close the world. I… have come to take you for that purpose.”

All known content. But hearing it directly from his mouth gave it a different impact.

While Llewellyn thought that this might be right for the public good, he didn’t nod.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have escaped in the first place.

The fortunate thing was that even if Llewellyn hadn’t escaped, the world would have somehow received salvation.

Although it was just a hypothetical, it gave him a sense of peace.

But that didn’t mean he could simply hand over his body.

Llewellyn recalled the plan he had hastily formulated in front of the Empress—a plan she had found very interesting.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I’ll take you by force.”

“Do you think that would be easy?”

“Alone, it might not be. But with two of us, we’ll manage somehow.”

The vertically slit pupils, reminiscent of Ortemilia, gleamed with malice.

Right beside him stood the Emperor who resembled his sister, and Llewellyn was alone.

Though Lorian and Elimul were there, if Lorian used his Origin Manifestation, it would essentially be a solo fight, and Elimul would be better off not helping but going to call the Empress.

Looking at the two of them, Llewellyn felt the need to persuade them before speaking to Netel.

At the very least, he needed to make them feel that this wasn’t a matter to be handled at his level.

So Llewellyn let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

The words that came out were simple.

So simple that, given his previous childish behavior, the Prophet thought he was just playing around.

But he wasn’t.

“Why must I be the one to sacrifice myself?”

He was serious.

“Because, blood bag, no one else…”

“No.”

There’s one more, isn’t there?

The Prophet didn’t immediately understand the additional implication.

Even Lorian, who had heard this before, let out a hollow laugh, and Elimul was confused, unable to follow the conversation.

But the Emperor understood. She looked at Llewellyn with her gray pupils and said:

“You—”

“You should call me oppa.”

The Emperor seemed reluctant to say it and closed her mouth, and Llewellyn shrugged.

If she didn’t want to say it, there was nothing he could do.

Llewellyn voiced what the Emperor found sinful even to think about.

“Mother Netel. She has the same level of qualification as I do, and even greater power.”

But she doesn’t understand humans and is harmful to them.

Llewellyn felt this while fighting Selma.

That both his father and mother were terrible beings who didn’t properly understand humans and only caused pain.

So he thought.

That it would be better if no one was above.

That’s why he had said it.

If that’s how it was going to be, they should just vacate their positions and disappear.

“Before, I thought the idea of me taking that position was… nonsense, but not anymore.”

Llewellyn declared boldly.

“I will take Netel’s place.”

It was a statement that could even be called a declaration.

Arrogant words that would hardly be well-received at a negotiation table.

“Tell Netel this.”

However, they were also words that no one else in this land could say but him.

“If you truly want to protect and care for this world, then you should be the one to sacrifice.”

He kept to the words he had once uttered in his mind.

“From now on, I will manage this world.”