Ch.40Chapter 40. Clash, Sloth VS Patience

-Kuguugugugu.

The space trembles.

I feel vibrations strong enough to make even the pebbles on the ground shake between the cliffs where not a breath of wind blows.

It must be the music echoing from far away, affecting everyone present at this scene.

Demons consumed by desire are jumping with excitement, while humans, swayed by their desire to live, fidget with thoughts of escaping this place.

-Kugugu, gugugugu.

Yet no one moves, everyone continues to watch the scene because they cannot defy the pressure exerted by the one controlling this space even at this moment.

Hellcry.

By the aura emitted by the one who still sits with arms crossed, merely observing the situation.

‘I don’t care.’

The Demon of Indolence who shook off that pressure as mere annoyance.

Glared at the human who was overcoming that pressure with sheer tenacity.

Because that human who drove him, consumed by laziness, to feel a threat to his life, was irritating, far too irritating.

-Pung!

As that will stomped the ground, power burst forth, and the body propelled forward, becoming an afterimage.

A merciless charge with no aim or consideration for changing direction.

-Kwaaang!!

Though that violent attack burrowed into the rock wall and cracked its surface, there was no sign of blood smeared there.

It missed.

The opponent who hadn’t even noticed his attack was still standing there.

-Kugung!

Then twice, and if that doesn’t work, with the momentum to strike a hundred times beyond ten.

-Kwagagang, kwagagang!

With such merciless rampage going back and forth between the rock walls, the human’s breathing began to stiffen instantly, unable to even consider leaving his position.

“This crazy bastard…!”

“Even going crazy is bothersome.”

Such ferocity that just the shockwave from passing by was enough to tear clothing.

Sloth, who gradually tightened the encirclement with such rampage, soon collided his body with a boulder that had collapsed in front of him.

“Fighting is bothersome, talking is bothersome too…!”

Fragments exploding chaotically in all directions.

Toward the human who stopped in place, distracted by those fragments, Sloth’s charge began to surge precisely, at a speed that surpassed even the exploding fragments.

But in the process, with a “tung!” sound, brakes were applied and his vision staggered.

When he realized that his body was trembling, Sloth’s gaze reflexively turned to the place he had passed.

What he saw there was a single spear deeply rooted in the ground.

The result of someone who couldn’t read his movement but roughly predicted his trajectory and set a trap in advance.

-Kwadeuk!!

Taking advantage of the gap created by his slowed speed, the man who summoned the spear launched a wild attack, causing blood to burst from various parts of Sloth’s body.

He has no armor to protect his body.

With his only advantage, speed, cut off now, each precisely aimed attack is sufficiently threatening even to him.

“Ah, aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Nevertheless, Sloth doesn’t stop.

With that spear stuck in his shoulder, he takes one step, narrowing the distance, only preparing to release the magical power gathered in his mouth.

“This fu…!”

-Kwaaang!

As the red beam shoots out with enough force to melt everything in front, spreading.

Though he managed to barely avoid that attack, he ended up creating too much distance due to excessive defense.

“Bothersome, everything is bothersome!!”

A series of waves spewing from his mouth with a monstrous cry.

As those attacks indiscriminately saturate the surroundings, he felt the gaze of someone targeting him vigilantly.

That gaze is extremely irritating.

Even attacks that he would normally have to endure and bear now feel too annoying.

Because he feels that the performance heard from far away is intensifying his indolence at this moment.

“Aiming precisely is bothersome, taking aim is bothersome…”

Just feeling the tremor of power spreading from this, the opponent must feel it too.

That what will follow is an attack that’s not so much a technique as simply pouring overwhelming power.

“Then, I’ll sweep everything away!”

The body that moved quickly, even more quickly, finally stops and swings its fist.

-Kwarreung!!

As the attack released with maximum acceleration sweeps through the air, the entire front of the exposed rock wall begins to crack.

“Th-that crazy bastard, what the hell…!”

“Everyone run away!”

At that moment, spectators who feared the cliff would collapse from the impact hastily evacuated their positions.

But their screams don’t matter at all.

-Kwang!!

The only irritating thing is that one man.

To kill that one, he must pour everything out.

-Kwarreung, kwaaang!!

A leap through the air followed by collision with the cliff.

And as the rush of that power causes the upper part of the cliff to collapse, it begins to create incessant rockfalls targeting below.

-Kwang!

Not just on one side of the wall but on the opposite wall too.

With indiscriminate rampage extending in both directions after leaping, gradually widening the range and narrowing the area where one can escape.

-Tung!

Even that is blocked by something like a stake stuck in his path, causing his accelerating body to lose power and begin falling to the ground.

Once again, a spear was planted in his trajectory to block his path, just like before.

-Kwang!!

But even that is a shallow trick that can be ignored.

Soon the falling body moves, with legs stepping on the surface of the cliff, and the body propelled by that elasticity falls to the ground.

The body that should have been thrown down doesn’t stop but burrows inside, soon beginning to dig into the ground frantically.

And taking that moment to release the remaining magical power in his body.

-Kwaaaang!

The magical power that expanded in all directions fills the dug hole, and soon everything above it begins to surge upward again with a violent explosion.

Everything that exists collapses, and at the end, a scene reminiscent of a disaster with a huge hole created at the bottom of the valley.

At the end, the monster of indolence who escaped from underground raises his body and begins to open his mouth toward the sky.

“Ah, aah…”

For the desire that is intensifying even at this moment, having poured out everything that could be poured out.

The possibility of a human with only tenacity surviving such full power can be said to be non-existent.

Because human flesh, unlike that of the Demon Tribe, is far too weak to withstand such a disaster.

“Now, I can rest…”

-Kwadeuk!!

At that moment, a spear thrust from behind overturned that certainty, causing blood to spurt from his mouth.

When his trembling head turned backward, the figure of the human who had thrown the spear at him began to come into view.

“You……”

The lowered terrain level and the ruined footing.

The dust-covered body standing on it was bruised and bloodied, but still alive.

Leading his trembling body, he was sending a vicious gaze toward him.

“Human, you…!!”

“Yes, I’m human. And you’re a stupid monster bastard!!”

The man rushes at him and grips the spear stuck in his back tightly, applying force.

Despite clearly being born weaker than himself, he could feel his feet being pushed back by that violent charge.

“You seem to have poured all your strength to end the fight quickly, but what can you do…? I’m also giving my all to survive.”

Yes, large-scale bombardment is only effective against armies.

When facing an individual, it’s rather wasteful, making it an inefficient attack against someone who has the capacity to escape its range.

Just as his indolence is amplified by the music, the other’s desire to live is also intensified.

Through that desire, finding a place to minimize damage was itself seen as hope for the one facing the monster whose stamina had decreased.

“Even considering such things is bothersome, ah…!”

But indolence is called such because it doesn’t even think about such weaknesses.

-Jjeojuk!

The body swings while ignoring the spear stuck in its back.

As the spear is pulled out by that force, a charge follows with a body that hasn’t even regained balance, flying toward him.

“So, I don’t, understand…”

A test of strength taking place in front of the spear shaft.

In that state, Sloth grips the spear shaft and begins to pour power with the momentum to overwhelm his body.

“Despite suffering so much pain, why do you struggle so desperately.”

Ttuduk, duk!

Just from the test of strength, all the joints in his body scream, and at that moment he begins to step back.

Nevertheless, the viciousness drawn in the gaze facing him doesn’t disappear.

“What meaning is there in such a painful life, why do you struggle so desperately to protect that insignificant life!”

“…What reason is there for struggling? I’m just living because I can’t die.”

Even if his body breaks down, with enthusiasm to overwhelm himself who is gradually becoming lethargic to the point where even paving a path feels draining.

“Is such a petty life worth clinging to so desperately, using all your evil!?”

With that shout, he succeeded in pushing his body away, and began to support his collapsing body by planting the spear shaft in the ground.

Despite feeling his body shudder just from breathing, and feeling his muscles and joints breaking in real-time just from standing, he doesn’t give up.

“In the first place, you… If living is so bothersome, why not just go somewhere and commit suicide, why crawl all the way here and make a fuss?”

When such an angry scream was heard, Sloth momentarily stopped his body from rushing toward him and fell into thought.

Fighting is bothersome, talking is bothersome, even breathing is bothersome.

As he said, if everything is truly bothersome, perhaps the answer would be to simply end his life by his own hand, without any bothersome things.

Yet why is he fighting this man, following the leader’s orders, even going against the source of his own desire?

“…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know…!!”

“I don’t care about such things!!!!!”

Perhaps there was once a time.

There must have been a trigger that made him feel some sense of responsibility to carry out the leader’s orders that he now reluctantly follows.

-Kwarreung!

But in the end, it’s a story of the past.

Looking back at the past goes against indolence, which is the source of his desire.

He just wants to rest.

That longing eventually erases even reminiscence, and even that squeezed energy is converted into power to drive him.

“You are, indeed, a hindrance… human!”

“So die! Stop disturbing my rest any further with that pathetic life of yours!!!”

Indiscriminate attacks follow the spear shaft that blocks him.

Sloth, who succeeded in cornering the body that had been guarding against it with the spear, poured power again with the momentum to push away the spear shaft held in both his hands.

To press that neck with this spear shaft, to strangle and kill him.

“…If you want to rest so badly, I’ll let you rest.”

But he too is at his physical limit.

The smile drawn on his face vaguely showed what could be called an advantage.

He noticed the reason just before his arm lost strength, with one step remaining.

-Jjangang!

Yes, something he had thrown before colliding with him crashed on his head and shattered.

That too wasn’t a fatal impact, so he thought he could ignore it.

At least for now.

“So, don’t resist.”

-Chiik!

The liquid inside the shattered glass bottle spreads.

“Even if you resist, it will only be more bothersome for you.”

A healing potion.

As it penetrates beyond the skin into the blood vessels, it begins to burn even internal wounds, forcibly inducing regeneration.

“Ah, aah.”

Indolence.

At this moment when his mind was momentarily shaken by the words he uttered, forgetting even his own source.

“Aggh, urgh!! Aaah…!!!”

The pain that wedges through the cracks created in him eventually even disrupts the force pushing his body.

“Keu. Eu…”

The opponent too is affected by this painful phenomenon.

Even though the one aiming the spear tip, taking advantage of the gap when his body fell away, is also engulfed in pain, he still tries to endure it.

Overwhelming power, vitality, stamina.

Against a monster that overwhelms him in all these aspects, with only mental strength that surpasses.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Thus, sublimating the scream of pain into a battle cry, he pushes away the monster whose driving force has weakened.

And he swings.

-Kwadeuk!

In a situation where the one stabbing feels more pain than the one being stabbed.

Nevertheless, with a cry of pain, he mercilessly thrusts the spear blade into that body.

“Just die already, you monster bastard!!!”

With that fierce shout, the weapon responding to the burst of will.

The released magical power drives the enemy, laying the foundation to deliver the finishing blow.

-Kwang!

Flesh and blood droplets explode from the face.

The monster of indolence, realizing his defeat was determined, fell into thought as he watched the one approaching him.

‘For what, purpose…’

He couldn’t understand.

‘For what purpose does this human struggle so desperately.’

If he becomes such a wreck from this level of fight, his life after leaving this place will be full of only pain.

The Demon of Indolence couldn’t understand the human’s struggle before him, knowing that what comes after enduring such pain is meaninglessness.

‘Yes, everything is meaningless…’

The Demon of Indolence already knew that at the end of a desperate struggle, meaninglessness always awaits.

Because he still remembers the empty appearance of the one he admired and followed, the one he considered his future, who felt nothing despite achieving countless things he pursued…

‘Everything is meaningless. Everything achieved by living.’

As he looked back on that process, the frustration he had constantly suppressed began to be released and fill his mind.

Like a tangled skein unraveling and swelling, yet with too many corners that remain unresolved, making it burdensome even to think about.

“Ah, living is…”

Yes, the realization that he no longer needs to think about anything.

“Living is, something with so much to think about, was it”

The powerless being who took even that fact as comfort.

Feeling that the time he had longed for so much had arrived at this moment, he prepared to fall into sleep with a joyful heart.

-Kwang!!!

****

The head that couldn’t withstand the impact of the spear and finally burst.

With that on my back, only then did I take time to spit out the burden wrapped around my body.

-Pukak!!

Blood vomit pouring down from internal injuries sustained in the fierce battle.

But now there were no potions left in my possession.

Other adventurers might still have some, but with my mental strength already pushed to the limit, if I put more effort into recovery, I might die from shock.

“…You’ve won.”

So I need to move right now. As I moved my feet to the spot, an orc was waiting.

“Y-yeah. I won. I won…!”

At that moment, facing him, I felt the tension that had continued throughout the battle being tightened again.

Because it’s not over just because I won once.

Because I could feel that the performance coming from beyond at this moment was stimulating the desire I had.

-Ttiriring~♬

Merilyn Sutherland.

The connection I formed with her might never be continued if I continue like this.

“So, get out of the way. Right now…”

Therefore, at this moment, I impulsively aimed my spear at the one in front of me.

Who, like me, is being engulfed by the impulse from the performance being heard now.

Toward the vicious monster with incomparable power to what I faced before.