◈ Episode 162. Elf (2)
The Shadow Mercenary Corps.
Their strength became widely known, rather, only after the Great Cataclysm.
In the past, one could only guess at the Shadow Mercenary Corps’ fame through rumors, but now people could witness their abilities in reality.
Among them, Rockid was a celebrity.
“Why, even yesterday someone passed out.”
The Yusra Kingdom.
At the Golden Calf Tavern, Rockid’s drunken antics were considered a specialty.
Every now and then, players who were too meddlesome or unable to tolerate injustice would pick a fight with Rockid and pay dearly for it.
“They say his eardrums burst or something?”
To think he could knock out a player well over level 300 with nothing but a shout!
The rumors surrounding Rockid did not end there.
Was Rockid not someone who enjoyed attention?
Videos of Rockid’s battles could be found on the internet without much difficulty.
-I thought he was just stupidly strong, but damn-There’s a reason he’s in the Shadow Mercenary Corps;;-That body can move that fast? That makes no sense frNaturally, the media’s attention poured onto Rockid.
And as expected, Rockid was starved for attention.
Rockid proudly laid out his past before the reporters.-Fr? The Outlaw of the Colosseum was Rockid?
-The gladiator with 100 wins and no losses?
-No, wait, they say the Man Whose Brain Is Muscle was Rockid too?!
-What the hell, the Ogre Wearing Human Skin was Rockid too?!!
They were shitty nicknames even after hearing them for the first time in ages.
But Rockid was not in a bad mood.
Because it felt as though his strength was finally becoming known throughout the world.
However.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
“This crazy bastard!!”
Something unbelievable unfolded.
Ka-ga-ga-gak!
Sparks flew.
Rockid raised his two-handed axe and barely blocked the sword strike.
Even so, the shock carried through.
Kwaduk!
Not only did the ground beneath his feet crumble.
His body was pushed back several steps.
The corners of Rockid’s mouth twisted.
“Elf, I don’t know what you are, but you’re damn rude. Huh?”
To think he would thrust a blade at him out of nowhere.
Still, if he had happened to be drunk after a drink or two…
His life might truly have been in danger.
Thud—
Rockid lifted his axe and met the bastard’s eyes.
Even looking again, it was an alien gaze.
On battlefields, and in duels where life and death were decided.
He had seen the eyes of countless people.
But this kind of gaze was a first.
If he had to pick a comparison…
Perhaps he could use his captain, Kichi, who had openly poured killing intent toward him, as an example.‘……
Can that sort of thing even be called killing intent?’Unlike her, he could not feel any killing intent from the bastard.
As if there was not even any need to emit killing intent toward an insect.
It was clearly a look of contempt.
“Starting with that pretty-boy face of yours, I don’t like you in a whole lot of ways.”
Fighting was absolutely forbidden.
He felt sorry toward the captain, who had urged him again and again, but it seemed he would not be able to keep that promise. Avoiding a fight brought to him? That was impossible in the dictionary of the great Rockid.
Kwaduk—!
Rockid’s muscles contracted in an instant.
Kwa-kwang!
He kicked off the ground and shot forward.
He had realized it from the first exchange.
There was no need to hide his strength before that elf bastard.
Rockid’s axe loomed over the elf’s head.
Their eyes met once more.
His gaze was still arrogant.‘Let’s see just how far that insolence can go!’Rockid roared.
“My name is Rockid! The man who will take your head!!”
The lowest seat of the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
However, that did not mean Rockid was the weakest in the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
The destructive power of a blow born from muscular strength.
When it came to that single attack, Rockid was considered the best even within the mercenary corps. And yet, the moment such a blow loomed right before him. There was no agitation in the bastard.
“How pitiable.”
He merely spoke those words.
Pitiable?
He did not know what sort of bullshit the bastard had been spouting since earlier.
But if he thought he could shake Rockid’s mind with nonsense.‘I’ll answer that he’s got another thing coming!’Swaaaaaak!
Rockid clenched his teeth and brought his axe down.
At that moment, the bastard’s sword moved slowly.
Did he intend to block a blow that even most magic could not withstand with only a single sword?‘Insolent bastard.’Kwaaang!!!
The instant the massive axe and sword collided.
Tremble, tremble—It was Rockid’s body that collapsed instead.……
It was blocked?
My blow?
By a single sword?
Even as he watched it clearly with his own two eyes, he could not believe it.
Rockid muttered without realizing it.
“……
How, with a sword that isn’t even clad in sword aura?”
The arrogant gaze turned toward Rockid once again.
“This is what is called the difference of birth.”
“……
The difference of birth?”
“The difference between those who are blessed and those who are not.”
Again came that bullshit about “blessing.”
It was damned infuriating enough that his attack had been blocked.
But the bastard before him was not even taking the battle seriously.
The pride of the great Rockid could not accept it.
It was when Rockid raised his strength once more.
“Well, it has become an old story now.”
“……?”
“That is why I have no time to waste on lowly things.”
Where is he?
He had not let his guard down for even a single moment.
Yet he had lost sight of him.
Beyond fast, beyond swift.
Was that truly the movement of a living being?‘He’s on a different dimension.’Words abruptly flashed through Rockid’s mind.
-“This is what is called the difference of birth.”
Was that what he meant?
Because he was an elf, not a human, he could unleash monstrous strength with such a frail body. Was he able to move at a speed that surpassed humans? Rockid clenched his teeth.
“As expected, the world is damn unfair—!”
Puk!
“Guh!”
A sword dug into his chest.
Was it thanks to his countless battle experiences?
His body reacted first.
Thanks to that, the sword strike narrowly missed his heart.
Gurgle!
“……
You crazy bastard. You were serious about that bullshit.”
Blood surged up his throat.
With this, he knew for certain.
Elf. That bastard’s attack held no exhilaration at taking a life, no anguish, not even awareness. He had merely aimed for Rockid’s heart as if stepping on a tiny insect.
He could feel it instinctively.‘Monster.’The elves. They were the true monsters.
Rockid forced his collapsing body upright.
He pictured dozens of battles in his head.
Damn it, there was not a single image of victory.
Every last one was defeat, goddamn it.
“Well, sorry about this, Captain.”
Rockid fumbled through numbers in his head.
Let’s see, just the tab I’ve run up at the tavern should be more than my share of the commission fee… If the captain wants to make up my share too, she’ll have to hustle like hell in the Holy War.
The instant he finished thinking.
Rockid’s eyes changed completely.
It was sudden, but to die in battle against a strong opponent.
Was that not the death he had always wished for?
And if possible…
“To leave a scar on that damned bastard that’ll last his whole life.”
If it were the captain or that Wolf bastard, fine.
He had never thought he would make this sort of vow against some big-eared bastard like that.
But if he had drawn his axe.
It meant he would leave at least one decent scar.
“Uaaaaaah!”
With a battle cry, he pulled up his strength.
From his mouth, from his chest.
Blood surged, but Rockid paid it no mind.
“I’m coming. I’ll leave an unforgettable scar on that unlucky face of yours.”
If his life was going out anyway, then he would burn it short and bright!...
The players watched the battlefield.
“Yeah, this is the smell of a battlefield!”
It was a battlefield where quests and spoils existed.
And on top of that, what was on the battlefield was an elf, a being of legend.
It was only natural that players would flock there.
But from the start, things were different from what they had expected.──────‘Pain-Eating Wild Beast Leader’ : Lv.900‘Pain-Eating Wild Beast Adult’ : Lv.700‘Pain-Eating Wild Beast Cub’ : Lv.500──────From a minimum of level 500 to a maximum of level 900.
The moment they encountered them on the battlefield.
The players were horrified.‘Big’ did not even cover it.
They were enormous.
Absurdly enormous.
“W-wait. What kind of monster is that huge!!”
The larger ones were dozens of meters tall.
Even the ones that seemed to be cubs were as tall as a three-story building.
On top of that, there were far too many of them.
It was fortunate that the battlefield area had formed in an open plain.
If they imagined it appearing, by bad luck, in the middle of a city…
“Terrifying. Seriously.”
They were overwhelmed by the scale of the demons, but only for a moment.
The players quickly looked around.
To match those numbers, there would have to be just as many elves.
For some reason, however, only a single elf entered their sight.
“Don’t tell me, that’s all?”
A single elf facing a massive army of demons.
Even those who had thought to leap into the battlefield faster than anyone else could not help but read the room.
“What are we supposed to do about this?”With the [Unending Holy War] quest currently in progress.
No matter how good the spoils were, there was no player who would side with the demons. In the end, there was only one choice. Joining the elf.
“……
No, what would change if we helped?”
Jump into a battlefield where defeat was all but certain?
It was only natural to hesitate.
But that was needless worry.
Swoosh—“H-huh?”
Long golden hair.
Shak—“Wait a second.”
Leaving only a golden afterimage behind.
The elf charged into the demons.
Puk—“……
Eh?”
With that, the battle ended.
As if to prove that they had not seen things.
A message appeared before the players’ eyes.[‘Battlefield: Pain-Eating Wild Beasts vs Elf’ has ended.]
They had not merely seen it; the result had even been recorded on video.
Yet they simply could not believe it.
How could he have charged alone into countless demons and seized victory? While everyone was stunned, several players exchanged glances.
“……
If we do this right, couldn’t we build a relationship with him?”
“He’s just been summoned into reality, after all.”
“If we kindly guide him…!”
An elf. Strong to a level they could not even have imagined.
Strong enough to slaughter a level 900 demon monster with only a few swings of a sword. If they built a friendship with him, it would help them in some way.
It was the moment the players were about to head toward the elf.
“!”
They met an extraordinary gaze.
The elf’s cold stare was directed at them.
A gaze not much different from when he had looked at the demons.
Everyone could not help but freeze under the pressure.
Everyone except one person, Rockid.
“Do you know where our blessing is?”
“……
Blessing? What bullshit is this all of a sudden?”
“Foolishly enough, it seems you do not even know what a blessing is.”
To be able to speak as usual even under that pressure.
As expected, it was courage befitting a member of the Shadow Mercenary Corps.
But the admiration did not last long.
Kwaang!
Because the elf rushed at Rockid.
“So it wasn’t our imagination!”
“That guy’s completely insane, isn’t he?”
“H-he was really trying to kill us?!”
Everyone watching swallowed dryly.
To think the day would come when they would cheer for Rockid.
But as if to make their cheering meaningless.
In only two exchanges, the elf’s sword pierced Rockid’s chest.
“Guh!”
Blood scattered across the ground.
“……
Hey, is it really right to just watch this?”
“No, shouldn’t we stop him?”
“No matter how I look at it, it seems like there’s some kind of misunderstanding?”
Elf.
An unknown being.
Unknown strength.
Their bodies would not listen to them under the fear that came from the unknown.
Kwadududuk!
With a roar, Rockid’s movements gradually became sluggish.
The blood that had been only a few drops before soon soaked the surrounding area.
Everyone could sense it instinctively.
“H-he’s really going to die at this rate!”
If Rockid fell, then what would be next?
There was no guarantee the elf’s blade would not turn toward them.
Above all, the elf had no reason.
After all, the only conversation the elf had had with Rockid was…
“He only asked about some blessing or whatever, didn’t he?”
Not knowing about the blessing was the same for Rockid and for them.
Should they run?
Or should they join Rockid even now?
It was the moment the panicked players hesitated.
“……
Damn, you’re ridiculously strong.”
Thud!
The blood-soaked Rockid toppled over.
Was it because he had no more interest in a breath that would be snuffed out anyway?
The elf’s gaze shifted.
From Rockid to the players.
Someone mustered their courage and shouted.
“It’s too late to run. And if we run like this…!”
That blade would turn toward the reporters and ordinary people.
To be honest, if this had been before.
They probably would have run away without even thinking about it.
But that damned quest kept catching their eye.─Prove your worth in the relevant area. (Success)
Whether it was because of that damned pride or whatever, they did not know.
At the very least, their bodies refused to run away from that psycho elf.
Of course, not every player felt the same.
“I-I don’t know! How are we supposed to stop a monster like that!!”
“……
I’ll join you. I don’t know if I’ll be of any help, though.”
“No wonder the sponsorships were exploding! Damn it, hyungs, I’m going first!”
Amid the commotion.
The elf moved.
Holding his sword properly.
With that same arrogant gaze.
Approaching the players.
“……!!!”……
It was the moment he was about to.
Whoooong—Mana rippled in the air.
High-level magic, a portal.
From beyond the surging mana came a sound.
Click-clack—Before an unknown being.
Before an unknown terror.
As always, a voice filled with pride continued.
“Stop.”
He had merely spoken a word.
And yet, something happened that they could not believe even as they watched.
“……?”
Stop.
As if obeying that command.
The elf stopped in an instant.
“……!”
Agitation began to spread across the elf’s previously unchanged face....[The ‘Hierarchy of Blessing’ occurs for the elf, Elsidore.]