Chap 29-The Saintess Running a No-Death Game Speedrun

 

-Thump, thump.

A woman with youthful traces on her face walked through the dense bushes and gloomy vegetation.

“Hmm… it’s really dark here.

Is stage 1 just a forest?”

– Yeah, nothing particularly strong comes out.

– Just annoying mobs.

– If you get swarmed by bugs… ehehehe…

And then, as she brushed aside the leaves blocking her path

-KIEEEEEEK!!!

Suddenly, a hideous caterpillar the size of her face screamed and flew at Ellia’s face.

-Swish!

“Oh my… what a surprise.”

But she wasn’t flustered. She quickly drew her dagger and cut the caterpillar in two, splattering purple blood on the ground.

– You son of a bitch!

– Use your blinker!

– How can there be jump scares in a night game, seriously?

And Ellia, as if nothing had happened, wiped the bug’s blood off her dagger and glanced at the chat.

“Were you surprised, everyone?”

– Yes, very.

– A bug with a terrifying face flew at her, and she sliced it without changing her expression. Crazy.

– Why is Ellia so calm???

“Really? Is that so?”

Hmm… people are so dramatic. It did appear suddenly, but its flying speed was surprisingly slow, so it was manageable if you timed it right…

And after staring blankly at the caterpillar’s corpse, she slowly moved forward.

“Let’s see… after this forest… there’s a village… and I have to go all the way up to that fortress up there. It’s so far away.”

As she looked up, the fortress far in the distance came into view.

The ramparts were illuminated by the full moon. Once a bulwark to defend against invaders and protect the city, it had now fallen into a den of evil where wicked things roamed.

As she gazed at it, she slowly moved her feet, and the subtle sound of rustling leaves echoed.

-Kroaaaaargh!!

Soon, a corpse with a rotting face screamed and thrust its bony arm at the girl before it.

“Too slow?”

– Pow!

– Thwack!

However,

The ambush was meaningless from the moment it screamed.

She punched the zombie in the mouth, grabbed the arm of the staggering corpse, drew the dagger from her waist, and began to slash.

– Sizzle… crackle…

– Crunch!!

Once she had made enough cuts, she used her strength to rip off the arm, revealing rotten muscle and bone, and swung it, embedding it in the zombie’s head.

-Squish!

The sound of flesh being crushed echoed, and the corpse staggered for a moment before collapsing backward, lifeless.

To give death to the dead again… it felt strange.

“Its strength is weak and its speed is slow… I could probably handle five or more at the same time.”

– ??

– Ellia… I’m scared…

– She’s not playing a night game, she’s playing a Soulslike.

“Then I’ll keep moving forward.”

After offering a brief prayer for the fallen corpse, she pushed through the bushes for a while, and soon a river came into view.

She could see a small village slightly beyond, so it seemed that passing through here would take her to stage 2.

-Splish, splash!

Although she didn’t really want to, she slowly dipped her feet into the water towards the riverbank.

The current wasn’t strong, and the water was only knee-deep, so moving wasn’t too difficult.

But… something felt strange.

There was no way the first stage would end with just a few bugs and zombies.

-Whoosh!

As expected.

She could see a long shadow swimming quickly beneath the surface of the water.

Its speed wasn’t that fast, but its erratic movements made it seem dangerous if you let your guard down for even a moment.

-Sring!

Having come this far, she was likely to be attacked, so she drew her longsword, gripped it tightly with both hands, and carefully observed its movements, never taking her eyes off it.

And then

-KIEEEEEEK!!!

A leech-like monster with disgusting tentacles dangling from it emerged from the water.

It was about 3-4 meters in size.

It screamed, and its tentacles twitched as they faced her, so those must be its sensory organs.

Neutralizing those areas might be more effective than attacking its skin and body.

– Ugh, ew…

– That’s really disgusting.

– If Ellia gets caught by that, it’s tentacle play time.

“Haaaah!”

As the underwater Hydrotentacle monster slammed its face into the water and swam furiously towards her, she pointed her longsword below the surface and violently thrust it when the shadow was almost right in front of her.

– Thwack!

– Kweeeeeeeek!!!!

Hit.

It definitely felt good. The tip of the longsword sliced off a bunch of the monster’s tentacles, and it thrashed and writhed in pain.

Then, green blood began to spread in the water.

Now it would be even harder for it to approach silently.

– What? How is she so good?

– That thing is so fast, and its pattern is so annoying. It’s hard for newbies.

– Seeing the refund machine get destroyed like that, I bet she’ll one-shot it?

She had struck the monster, but she couldn’t let her guard down.

Although she had inflicted a significant blow, its sensory organs were still intact, and if it rammed her with its massive body or grabbed her and dragged her underwater, she would be in danger of suffocating.

-Whoosh!

Unlike before, the monster was wary and slowly circling around her.

It looked like it would pounce in an instant if she lost her balance even slightly.

Then she would have to lure it out.

-Stagger!

She pretended to lose her balance in the water and paused…

-Kweeeeeeeek!!!!

As if it had been waiting for this, it charged straight at her, cutting through the water.

It would be foolish to fight such a monster head-on.

“Hmph… hah!”

-Taat!!

She used the strength in her flexible legs to leap into the air and thrust her longsword deep into the water.

-Whoosh!

It worked.

The blade accurately cut through the center of the monster’s face, and thanks to the speed at which it was charging, the sharp silver blade tore through its internal organs, bisecting its body.

Finally, it even split its tail.

-KIEEEEEEK!!!!

And then, a desperate, pain-filled death cry.

I landed back on the riverbank.

-Splash!

“Phew… I was lucky it fell for that.”

She didn’t have the strength to cut through its torso in one go.

But if she planted her sword in the riverbed and it ran into the blade and split itself in half, that was a different story.

– What did I just watch?

– What’s with her jumping power…

– I’ve never seen anyone split a Hydrotentacle in half before.

And she indifferently watched as the Hydrotentacle monster’s corpse split in two and the river water became polluted with green fluid before slowly leaving the riverbank.

“Arrived at stage 2.”

– Sigh… this isn’t what I expected…

– I was about to fap, but now I’m in hardcore gaming appreciation mode…

– She’s really good at fighting.

Is that considered good at fighting? Because she had memories of dueling the four heavenly dragons, she could clearly see the enemies’ movements and attack patterns, and she had a sense of when to counterattack and when to swing her sword.

But this was only stage 2.

She didn’t know how strong the enemies ahead would be.

She would slowly survey her surroundings and move forward.

-Sring!

And the saintess didn’t put her longsword back in its sheath, but held it with both hands, raised it, and advanced while guarding her surroundings.

The main tactic of the enemies in this game was ambush.

She judged that being armed like this would make it easier to respond in terrain where trees were densely packed or where there were buildings here and there, rather than in open areas.

She passed a dilapidated wooden fence and followed a path with sparse grass, where a withered human figure was curled up on the ground.

Its skin was pale and bluish.

She wanted to just pass by, but there was no telling if it would suddenly get up and ambush her.

She slowly held her sword to its neck, and…

-Kuwooooargh!!!

As if sensing her killing intent, the mummy suddenly stood up, screamed, and began to charge at her.

– Thwack!!

– Crunch!

But it was too late.

If it wanted to kill her, it should have attacked before the blade was pointed at it.

The longsword pierced the mummy’s neck, and the blade came out on the other side.

She twisted the sword 90 degrees to make sure it wouldn’t thrash around.

– Sring!

– Thud.

She slowly pulled out the sword, and it collapsed, scattering dust without a drop of blood, leaving only a dry feeling.

“Phew… so it’s the type that stays still until a living thing gets close, then attacks?”

– Saintess, you’re so cool.

– I’ll never mess with you again.

– But for someone with such a voluptuous body, her movements are extraordinary.

– Does that mean she’ll no-death the final boss?

“Hmm… I don’t know? I think I’ll get hit at least once…”

She flicked off the debris on the blade and lightly cleaned it.

Her equipment consisted of two daggers and one longsword. The daggers were useful for throwing in a pinch, for close combat… or for working on something…

The longsword had a good center of gravity and was tailored to her female physique, so she could handle it easily.

But if she had to fight powerful monsters with it… well… something was missing.

It would be a problem if it broke or the blade was damaged, so she would have to use a better weapon if she found one while moving.

-Thump, thump…

She continued to move towards the inside of the village.

At first, there were only dark, dilapidated houses, but as she approached the center, she began to see a few intact buildings…

“Kyaaaak?! D-don’t!”

“Huh? A girl?”

A high-pitched scream echoed around her. It was definitely human.

It was clearly different from the monsters’ roars and the beasts’ cries.

– Oh, it’s a party member rescue.

– Let’s go save her quickly?

– Lol, yeah.

“Hmm… well, if it’s a person, I’ll rescue them, and if it’s a monster, I’ll cut them down. It might be a trap, but I have to go check it out.”

-Tatatat!!

And she lowered her sword and moved her feet towards the source of the sound with speed and caution.

– Grrrr…

– Hehehehe… a delicious virgin…

A hunchback with a small frame and a robe and a giant with a dull expression and a crude build surrounded a girl, grabbed her delicate arms, and snickered.

…She had to save her.

If she could rescue her safely without any information, she might be able to get useful knowledge about the current situation from the girl.

And she didn’t like the idea of a frail girl being handled roughly.

-Sring!

She slowly drew her sword and approached them with bated breath and stealthy steps.

– Ellia’s expression is almost like a professional assassin right now.

– Hardcore mode.

– Look at her fierce face…

However, the viewers trembled at her serious appearance, but they were starting to look forward to what kind of fight she would show this time…