Chapter 162 – Elf (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The Shadow Mercenaries.

Their strength actually became widely known after the Cataclysm.

Whereas in the past the fame of the Shadow Mercenaries could only be guessed through rumors, now one could observe their abilities in reality.

Among them, Lockid was a celebrity.

“You know, one person fainted yesterday too.”

Yusra Kingdom.

At the Golden Calf Tavern, Lockid’s drunken frenzy was considered a specialty.

Occasionally, players who were overly nosy or couldn’t tolerate injustice picked fights with Lockid and ended up paying a heavy price for it.

“Did they say their eardrums burst or whatever?”

To make a player well over level 300 faint with just a shout!

The rumors surrounding Lockid did not end there.

Isn’t Lockid someone who enjoys receiving attention?

Lockid’s combat videos could easily be found on the internet.

– I thought he was just ignorantly strong ㄷㄷ

– He’s not affiliated with the Shadow Mercenaries for nothing;;

– Moving this fast with that body? Makes no sense real talk

With that being the case, it was natural for the mass media’s attention to pour onto Lockid.

As expected, because Lockid was hungry for attention.

Lockid proudly laid out his past in front of reporters.

– Real talk? The outlaw of the Colosseum was Lockid?

– That gladiator with 100 wins and 0 losses?

– No wait, the guy who’s muscle all the way to his brain is also Lockid?!

– What the what, the ogre wearing human skin was Lockid too?!!

Although they were nicknames that still felt damned even hearing them after a long time.

Lockid’s mood was not particularly bad.

Because it felt like his strength was finally becoming widely known to the world.

However.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

“What the crazy!!”

An unbelievable event unfolded.

Ka-ga-ga-gak!

Splattering sparks.

Lockid raised his two-handed axe and barely blocked the sword strike.

Even so, the shock transmitted.

Crunch!

Not merely stopping at the ground he was stepping on being crushed.

His own body was pushed back several steps.

The corners of Lockid’s mouth twisted.

“Elf, I don’t know what you are, but you have fucking zero manners. Right?”

To thrust a sword out of nowhere.

Regardless, if he had a drink and was even slightly drunk…….

His life could have truly been in danger.

Step

Lockid raised his axe and met eyes with the bastard.

Looking at it again, it’s a heterogeneous gaze.

In battlefields, and in life-and-death duels.

He had observed the gazes of countless individuals but.

A gaze like that was a first.

For example, to pick a subject of comparison…….

Should he use the commander, Kichi, who explicitly spewed killing intent at him.

‘……Could that thing even be considered killing intent?’

Unlike her, no killing intent was felt from the bastard.

As if there was no need to even exude killing intent toward a bug.

Because it was clearly a gaze of looking down.

“Starting from your pretty face, I don’t like you in many ways, you know?”

Fighting is absolutely forbidden.

It’s a sorry matter to the commander who repeatedly requested it, but it seemed he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise. Avoiding a fight that’s been picked? It was something that couldn’t exist in the dictionary of the great Lockid-nim.

Crunch!

Lockid’s muscles contracted in an instant.

Kwa-kwang!

He kicked off the ground just like that and leaped forward.

He realized with the first exchange.

There was no need to hide his strength in front of that elf bastard.

Lockid’s axe loomed over the elf’s head.

The gaze met once again.

Its eyes are still arrogant.

‘Let’s see just how far your arrogance can go!’

Lockid let out a war cry.

“My name is Lockid! The man who will take your neck!!”

The lowest seat of the Shadow Mercenaries.

However, that didn’t mean Lockid was the weakest in the Shadow Mercenaries.

The destructive power of a single strike coming from physical strength.

As far as that one attack went, Lockid was considered the best even within the mercenary group. And it was the moment such a strike loomed right before his nose. But there was no agitation in the bastard.

“Pathetic.”

Just spouting that.

Pathetic?

I don’t know what kind of bullshit he’s been spouting since earlier but.

If by any chance he’s planning to shake my mind with bullshit.

‘I’ll reply that it won’t even work!’

Swaaaaaak!

Lockid gritted his teeth and swung the axe down.

At that moment, the bastard’s sword moved sluggishly.

Are you saying you’ll block a strike that even decent magic couldn’t block with just a single passing sword?

‘You arrogant bastard.’

Kwang!!!

The moment the massive axe and sword collided.

Tremble tremble

The one whose body crumbled was rather Lockid.

……Blocked?

My strike?

With merely a single sword?

He couldn’t believe it even while clearly watching it with his two eyes.

Lockid unconsciously muttered.

“……How with a sword not even enveloped in sword qi?”

The arrogant gaze headed toward Lockid once again.

“This is exactly what the difference in origin means.”

“……Difference in origin?”

“The difference between the blessed and those who are not.”

The bullshit called ‘blessing’ popping out once again.

Blocking his attack was damn infuriating enough.

Yet, the bastard before him wasn’t even seriously engaging in the battle.

The pride of the great Lockid could not tolerate it.

It was when Lockid raised his brute strength once again.

“Well, it has become an old story now though.”

“……?”

“Hence, it means I have no time to waste on trivial things.”

Where is he?

He didn’t let his guard down for even a single moment.

But he lost sight of the bastard.

Fast, beyond being swift.

Was that truly the movement of a living creature?

‘A different dimension.’

The words that suddenly brushed past Lockid’s mind.

-“This is exactly what the difference in origin means.”

Was that what it meant?

That because he’s an elf and not a human, he can exude monstrous strength with such a weak body. And that he can produce speed transcending humans? Lockid gritted his teeth.

“As expected, the world is fucking unfa……!”

Puck!

“Keuk!”

A sword burrowing into his chest.

Was it thanks to a myriad of combat experiences.

His body reacted first.

Thanks to that, the sword strike narrowly missed the heart.

Gulp!

“……Crazy bastard. That bullshit was sincere.”

Blood surged from his throat.

With this, he could know for sure.

Elf, in that bastard’s attack, there was neither joy in taking a life, nor anguish, nor even awareness. He merely aimed for his heart as if trampling a small bug.

He could intuit it.

‘Monster.’

Elves, they were the true monsters.

Lockid forcibly propped up his tumbling body.

He drew dozens of battles in his head but.

Damn it, there wasn’t a single picture of victory.

Everything was defeat, damn it.

“Well I’m sorry about this, Commander.”

Lockid clumsily recalled numbers in his head.

Let’s see, just calculating the tab I ran up at the tavern is probably more than my share of the request fee……. The commander will have to suffer a bit scrambling during the holy war to fill my share.

The moment he finished his thoughts.

Lockid’s eyes changed.

Although sudden, breathing his last in a battle with a strong person.

Isn’t that the death he always hoped for?

And if possible…….

“Leaving a scar that will last a lifetime on that damned bastard.”

It’d be another story if it were the Commander or Wolf.

To think I’d be making this kind of resolve against an eared bastard like that.

If I have drawn my axe.

It means I will at least leave one decent scar.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!”

He raised his strength along with a spirited yell.

From his mouth, from his chest.

Blood spurted but Lockid paid no mind.

“Here I go. I’ll leave an unerasable scar on that unlucky face of yours.”

If it’s a fading life anyway, I will burn it short and brightly!

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The players looked at the battlefield.

“Yeah, this is exactly the smell of the battlefield!”

It’s a battlefield where quests and spoils exist.

Moreover, to think the one in the battlefield is an elf, an existence in legends.

It was natural for players to swarm in.

However, from the start, it was different from expectations.

──────

‘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 up to a maximum of level 900.

The moment they encountered the bastards in the battlefield.

The players were startled.

Beyond ‘big’.

Massive.

Excessively massive.

“N, no. How is a monster that big!!”

Up to tens of meters large.

Even the one appearing to be a cub was about the height of a 3-story building.

Moreover, their numbers were also excessively numerous.

It was fortunate that the battlefield region was generated on an open plain.

If one imagining them unluckily appearing in the middle of a downtown area…….

“It’s terrible. Really.”

Overwhelmed by the scale of the demons just briefly.

The players quickly surveyed the surroundings.

To match the numbers, the number of elves should also be just as many.

For some reason, what entered their vision was merely a single elf.

“No way, is that all?”

A single elf confronting a massive army of demons.

Even those who thought of jumping into the battlefield faster than anyone else couldn’t help but mind the situation.

“What, what should we do about this?”

Now that the [Unfinished Holy War] quest is in progress.

Because no matter how good the spoils were, there would be no player siding with the demons. Ultimately, the choice was one. Only joining the elf.

“……No, what will change if we add our strength?”

Jumping into a battlefield thick with the shadow of defeat?

It was natural to hesitate.

However, that was merely a groundless fear.

Swoosh

“Uh, huh?”

Long trailing golden hair.

Shak

“Wait a minute.”

Leaving only a golden afterimage behind.

The elf jumped amidst the demons.

Pucck

“……Eh?”

With that, the battle ended.

As if to prove they hadn’t seen an illusion.

A message popped up before the eyes of the players.

[‘Battlefield: Pain-Eating Wild Beast vs Elf’ has ended.]

Even as a result not just seen but also recorded on video.

They purely couldn’t believe it.

How could he dive among countless demons alone and seize victory? While everyone was astonished, a few players exchanged glances.

“……This, if we do well, couldn’t we build a relationship?”

“Because he was summoned into reality just now.”

“While kindly guiding him……!”

Elf, strong to a level one couldn’t even imagine.

To the extent of butchering level 900 demon monsters by barely swinging a sword a few times. If they build a friendship, it will definitely be helpful in any way.

It was the moment the players were about to head towards the elf.

“!”

They met with an extraordinary gaze.

The cold gaze of the elf was heading toward them.

A gaze not much different from when looking at demons.

Everyone couldn’t help but freeze under the pressure.

Except for a single person, Lockid.

“Do you know where our blessing is?”

“……Blessing? What sudden bullshit are you spouting.”

“Foolishly, it seems you don’t even know what a blessing is.”

To be able to spit out words like usual even under such pressure.

Indeed, it was a courage befitting a member of the Shadow Mercenaries.

However, the admiration did not last long.

Kwang!

Because the elf surged toward Lockid.

“As I thought, it wasn’t a misunderstanding!”

“Isn’t that guy completely crazy?”

“H, he was truly trying to kill us?!”

Everyone watching swallowed their dry saliva.

To think a day would come when they’d be cheering for Lockid in this world.

However, making the cheering pointless.

In mere two exchanges, the elf’s sword pierced Lockid’s chest.

“Keuk!”

Blood splattering on the floor.

“……Hey man, is it right to just watch this?”

“Right, shouldn’t we stop them?”

“No matter how I look at it, it seems like there’s some misunderstanding?”

Elf.

An entity of the unknown.

A strength of the unknown.

Due to the fear coming from the unknown, their bodies wouldn’t listen.

Kwa-deu-deu-deuk!

Along with a loud noise, Lockid’s movements gradually became sluggish.

The blood that was just a few drops had already made the surroundings drenched.

Everyone could intuit.

“A, at this rate he’ll really die!”

If Lockid falls, what’s next?

There was no rule saying the elf’s blade wouldn’t turn towards them.

Above all, there was no reason for the elf to do this.

After all, the conversation the elf had with Lockid was just…….

“Didn’t he just ask about a blessing or something, and that was all?”

Not knowing about the blessing was exactly the same for Lockid or themselves.

Should they run away?

Or should they join Lockid even now?

It was the moment the panicked players were hesitating.

“……Well, you’re damn fucking strong.”

Thud!

The blood-drenched Lockid collapsed just like that.

Does it mean he has no more interest in a life that will extinguish anyway.

The elf’s gaze shifted.

From Lockid toward the players.

Someone took courage and shouted.

“It’s too late to run away. And if we run away like this……!”

That blade will head toward the reporters, the civilians.

Actually, if it were the past.

They would have fled without even thinking.

However, the damned quest kept catching their eyes.

─Prove your value in the relevant area. (Success)

Whether it was because of that damn pride or whatever.

At least, their bodies refused to run away from a psycho elf like that.

Of course, not all players shared the same feeling.

“I, I don’t know! How are we supposed to stop a monster like that!!”

“……I will join. Although I don’t know if it will be of help.”

“No wonder the sponsorships were exploding! Damn it, bros, I’m going first!”

Amidst the commotion.

The elf took steps.

Gripping his sword properly.

Still with an arrogant gaze.

Approaching the players.

“……!!!”

……It was the moment he was about to.

Wooooo

Magic power wavered in midair.

High-level magic, Portal.

A voice was heard from beyond the undulating magic power.

Step

An entity of the unknown.

Even in front of the fear of the unknown.

The lofty voice continued as always.

“Stop.”

Even though he merely spat out a word.

An unbelievable event occurred even while looking at it.

“……?”

Stop.

As if obeying that word.

The elf stopped instantly.

“……!”

Agitation began to spread across the elf’s previously unchanging face.

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.

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[‘Hierarchy of Blessing’ occurs to the Elf, Elsidore.]