Ch.947Did You Think I Wouldn’t Know?

The sound of a cigarette being crushed underfoot broke the silence.

“Well, they actually came.”

I had been waiting, expecting an attack, but without absolute certainty. I’d been wondering if I should just stay put or move elsewhere.

Fortunately, waiting turned out to be the right choice.

Even at a glance, I could count about ten Guardians. And with the World Tree’s blessing strengthened after Heaven’s Wall was destroyed, they all radiated a much more powerful aura than before.

If I had left only Demian behind and departed for the Holy State, I could clearly imagine what disaster would have unfolded in my absence.

“Ten Guardians… After all the ones I’ve killed, you still have ten more to throw at me? What are you doing, photocopying Guardians?”

Even I thought this was excessive. If I had left only Demian behind, he would have ended up as finely minced puzzle pieces, his resentful life cut tragically short.

Really, I’m glad I stayed. For many reasons.

“The World Tree truly has no standards. How many elves has it blessed anyway?”

I swept my left hand through the air, using air pressure to clear away the thick dust, while resting Durandal on my shoulder with my right hand. I spat out the cigarette I’d been smoking onto the ground.

“Why don’t you give your goddess a piece of advice? Tell her to have some dignity and stop spreading her branches for just anyone.”

As I taunted them about their whore-like tree goddess needing better management…

“Damn it, it was a trap!”

“Impossible. How, how did you know?”

Unfortunately, this provocation didn’t have much effect.

The two Guardians who appeared to be the commander and his deputy were too shocked by my presence to even register my taunts, while the remaining eight showed no reaction whatsoever.

Their faces revealed nothing. They were like carefully carved wax figures.

[What are these things? They all have mask-like faces. Are they relatives of that Demian fellow?]

‘Calling them pointy-eared relatives is too harsh.’

If Demian had heard that, he would have preferred you insult his parents instead.

I chuckled at Hersella’s outrageous slander and stepped forward to stamp out my cigarette.

*Hissss…*

Perhaps the death rattle of the crushed cigarette butt finally brought them to their senses.

“Kuk…!”

The lead Guardian who had been staring at me with a dumbfounded expression suddenly startled and drew the crescent blade from his waist.

As if this were a signal, the other Guardians also drew their weapons.

True to their elven nature, most carried bows, but besides the commander with his scimitar, there was one who wielded a different weapon.

A long spear emitting a faint purple light. Not an ordinary weapon—the spearhead was filled with mana.

“Now you’re even drawing weapons. Pointing blades at someone in their own home—you know that’s indefensible behavior, right?”

“The grand departure ceremony was to deceive us…! But how did you notice our approach? We were still at sea at that point.”

The commander of the attackers, an elf with long yellow hair tied back and green eyes, asked with a grave expression.

At sea, huh? So that’s how they approached. I hadn’t known that detail.

“How did I know? How stupid. Did you really think I wouldn’t?”

I sneered as I filled my entire body with the power of Karma I had built up.

“The moment stories about Gram’s new master spread across the world, you started a war, didn’t you? So suddenly, so abruptly. Your objective was obvious.”

As if I had already figured out your scheme the moment you started the war.

Of course, that was a lie.

I hadn’t figured out the elves’ scheme—I had already known it.

How? Well, thanks to my knowledge of the original story. It happened in the original too.

In the original story, once it became widely known that the protagonist had become the master of the holy sword, not long after, the elves would send assassins—that was an event.

The only certain element was that assassins would be sent, but the number, timing, and method of assassination varied with each playthrough, making it a troublesome event to deal with.

There were even times when you’d be ambushed while in the middle of an intimate scene with a heroine you’d conquered.

If you failed to respond and died, the assassin would subdue the heroine and take your place in what you were doing.

The scene where pure love suddenly turned into violation was quite memorable. It was a severe blow to the back of the head for players who were enjoying pure romance.

…Why was this game popular again? Looking back, it was such garbage that even calling it garbage seems too kind. It’s strange in retrospect.

Anyway, thanks to that, the moment I heard reports that Alvheim had started a war, I immediately understood their scheme.

Just as I was about to jump up shouting that I’d turn the World Tree into firewood, that scene where pure love turned into violation flashed through my mind.

It wasn’t a pleasant memory, but thanks to it, I realized.

The purpose of their war was to draw me to the battlefield. To assassinate Demian who would be left alone.

“So I prepared.”

So I set this trap.

“A body double to deceive you. A departure ceremony so grand it became the talk of the entire city.”

Creating my double was quite simple.

All I needed was a dark-skinned woman with blue eyes, dye her hair black, and dress her in armor that looked identical to mine from the outside.

It might be noticeable up close, but the common people watching from afar wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

As expected, except for the few who knew the truth, no one realized that woman wasn’t me but my double.

These fools didn’t notice either, which is why they attacked so boldly.

“How does it feel to enter the tiger’s den? Surely you’re not asking for mercy?”

I gripped the hilt of Frosting that was resting on my shoulder with both hands, mocking the ten Guardians who had fallen into my trap as planned.

“We’ve been had…! I heard the master of Durandal was strong but had the brain of a beast. To think even that was a disguise…”

…What the hell is this guy saying?

[Foolish pointy-ears until the end. That’s not a disguise but the truth.]

And what are you saying?

“Has your curiosity been satisfied? Then now… it’s time to die.”

Ignoring both the elf who insulted my intelligence as beast-like and my ungrateful daughter’s slander, I released the reins of Karma imprisoned within my body.

“Die without regrets. I’ll put your corpses to good use as fertilizer. Become compost and feed the trees you love so much.”

Karma and killing intent erupted violently like a volcanic explosion.

The palace floor, covered with debris, cracked with a groan, and marble and glass fragments scattered everywhere trembled and were pushed away like dust in the wind.

The strongest swordsman of the current era.

It was a title somewhat embarrassing to hear from others’ lips, but there wasn’t a shred of exaggeration in that praise.

I proved this by fully revealing the pressure I had been suppressing, and smiled.

“…So the rumors of your arrogance were true.”

The yellow-haired Guardian contorted his delicate face and shouted. As if to say that even though their ambush plan had been discovered, that didn’t mean their defeat.

His tone suggested that while he knew I was strong, I wasn’t strong enough to defeat ten Guardians—mature Hero-class forces—alone.

“Even the old Twelve Slayers couldn’t face ten Guardians alone!”

Oh, is that so? That’s a bit surprising…

But so what?

“I must be stronger then!”

I kicked off the ground and launched myself like lightning toward the elven Guardian commander.

Infusing my liberated Karma with my soul, dyeing the world monochrome.

[Defying Fate]

Time stop would be an excessive waste of Karma. So I lowered the output and deployed Defying Fate, which began to paint the world in shades of gray—

“Scatter! As far as possible!”

A step ahead of me, he summoned a high-level elemental and urgently ordered his subordinates.

“GROOAAAR—”

A roar that cut off abruptly.

A high-level rock elemental, summoned in an instant to block my path, silently extended its arms toward me in slow motion.

Hmm, quick reaction.

I had planned to kill him before he could even summon the elemental… As expected of a Guardian commander. Not so easy after all.

I leaped forward with my momentum, facing the rock elemental that was thrusting its palm toward me.

Had the Guardians grown stronger, making the elementals stronger too? Despite time being extremely slowed, it moved faster than I expected.

What should have been snail-like slowness was more at the level of a turtle.

My original target, the Guardian commander, was hiding behind the high-level elemental, making him unreachable for now.

I changed my target from him to the rock elemental and swung Durandal down in a diagonal slash, imbuing the blade with superhuman strength.

The next moment.

*KWAAAAAANG!*

With a thunderous sound that seemed impossible for a collision between rock and sword, the upper body of the rock elemental shattered into countless pieces.

It looked as if it had been struck by a dragon’s tail. Though it was my doing.

“Good heavens, what is that…!”

“Didn’t you know he was strong?! Everyone spread out further! Increase the distance!”

The commander, having instantly lost a high-level elemental, scolded the spear-wielding Guardian who was groaning in shock at the sight, and loudly ordered everyone to scatter as much as possible.

“Human heroes are powerful, but their strength depletes quickly! Spread out and make him waste his power!”

He hadn’t wasted his experience, it seems. It was a rational judgment.

The power of a hero based on Karma surpasses all similar races except Werebeasts of the same level, but the time such power can be exerted is relatively short.

If you overuse techniques like Tale of Heroes, Karma power would be rapidly depleted, leading to a swift weakening.

Of course, the depth of Karma I had accumulated far transcended that of an ordinary hero… but the Karma I consumed was also incomparably greater.

My ultimate technique, Sky Slash, would completely deplete my Karma after just two uses.

Even time stop had a limit of about 5 seconds of continuous use. Even if used efficiently, I could only manage four 2-second time stops before running out of Karma.

If I were facing three or four Guardians, it might be different, but with ten enemies, I couldn’t afford to waste power so lavishly.

“If we just endure, victory will be ours!”

Yes, that’s not wrong.

But… do you think those who died by my hand didn’t know that?

“The corpses of those who couldn’t endure pile up like mountains!”

If wasting Karma leads to defeat, then simply don’t waste it. It wasn’t such a difficult concept.