Chapter 178 – 178 – Getting Stabbed in a Sensitive Area
“Don’t step on my face, bastard! Do you want to die!”
“Wow, did you just say that, not Eshen, but Eshen’s younger brother? He pretended to be blunt and serious, but then the mask came off and it was the same.”
“Same? Just wait and see. If he was worse, it was worse. More than that, what is this disgusting squirming thing? It’s dark so I can’t see it. Adamantone guy, did you change into that monster snail back then?”
“There is no end to hearing it. Stop swearing at your sister in front of her! Adamantone, cover your ears! Don’t listen!”
“Thank you, sister. But is there any need for you to get angry for me?”
“Everyone, calm down. That’s my mother’s tongue, probably.”
“…If I touch it by mistake, it gets wrapped up and goes straight into the esophagus? Like the saliva I just swallowed after hearing you say that?”
“···I’m not sure because this is the first time since I had an egg in my mother’s mouth. I guess it’ll be okay as long as it doesn’t get on my tongue.”
“There are so many things that are dismissed as ‘maybe’! If that’s the case, why did you tell me to jump into your mother’s mouth!”
“What? Maw?!”
That is the strength of my colleagues.
Not only the sealing of the Demon God, but also the fear that Mitra, the Demon King, the invasion of the Demon World, the King of Elan, and even his aptitude might be taken away. Even though we are tightly entangled in keywords that would make an ordinary person jump in shock, no one looks scared or shaken. Even in the dark mouth of a huge dragon, the tension is so full that it does not close its mouth.
The downside is that it doesn’t close. I almost want to get Danar’s Hero aptitude and hit him with honey chestnuts.
“Guys, everyone be quiet! Let’s check the number of people first. Check to see if anyone was able to escape, then start bickering!”
“Tan is right. Everyone, shut up!”
Call the name as it comes to mind. Nenya, Florica, and Erina answered from the left. It seems that the place where he was lying was between his lower teeth, so he got scared and rolled away.
Morgan and her sisters are nestled next to me. Even as the floor shook, they managed to help each other sit upright.
Lenny, Isilun, and Adamantone report in slightly urgent voices. Nidrogar, Garam, and Eshen are pulling each other’s hair because of their conversation earlier.
“You don’t think I can say anything worse? Your mother’s mouth is such a mess. Did you eat a piece of cattle this morning?”
“I’ll give you one last chance to take back what you said before I take them all out. Three, two…”
“···How old are you, you idiots?”
Fighting has become a routine now and I don’t even care. Something much more important filled my mind.
Thena didn’t answer. My voice trembles a lot in the damp darkness.
“···There are no people, guys. There are people who are missing.”
“Villena escaped with her father first. She has an artifact that can take her to the demon world if she is in a hurry like me, so even if the worst happens, she won’t be captured by the elf army.”
“Don’t worry about my father and the Black Wind Team. They are good at finding their own way out! The problem is those hostage takers who suddenly appeared. Aren’t they your colleagues, Lenny Astala?”
Garam asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed, as if he was being defeated in a power struggle for the safety of his hair. Lennie answered at some interval.
“You’re right.”
“I don’t know why they showed up there, but are they strong enough to defeat the Archmage? It’s bothering me that they seem to have been left behind.”
“You took me hostage and you’re worried about me? Huh? Shouldn’t you be worried about me first?”
Nenya shouts sharply. Lennie’s expression is unknown.
“Lenny? Say something!”
“···What would you like me to answer?”
“At least you could have told me to prepare for something happening. I almost died!”
“If you had heard what I said, wouldn’t you have informed the king in advance?”
“Do you… Think I’m a snitch? Is that how much faith you have in me?”
“I may have compromised to prevent a bigger situation from happening. I thought it was impossible for us to get equal recognition in any way, and if the order between the two Elan collapsed, both sides would only suffer. You didn’t tell me that already. “Really? Accept it. It’s better now than before.”
“… I have to admit that it’s unrealistic. It’s impossible to get rid of that feeling unless you kill all the elves who despise humans. Even if you do that, something bigger and more powerful than the contempt will only arise. Let’s ask it the other way around, Lenny. What did you do earlier? “Why did you look so calm? I was looking at you and screaming for help, but you didn’t even look at me?”
Lennie didn’t answer. She said, Nenya’s voice was watery.
“If it were for the long-cherished wish you had in your heart, would you be able to get rid of me without hesitation?”
Lennie didn’t answer again. Nenya was also silent.
I was the only one who was loud. I lost my temper for a moment and didn’t even know what I said.
After giving a speech at the top of my lungs, I could barely guess the content thanks to the answer I received.
From the first answer, shame filled my head.
“Isn’t Tena there? She was grabbed by Tan and jumped, right?”
“He’s really worried about Tena. I guess he still doesn’t know that he’s not worried about Tena… No. Considering what happened today and his condition, it’s worth worrying about.”
“I know you’re angry, but calm down, Tan. Could it be that my mother just picked and left out Tena?”
“Maybe it’s just something you can’t see. It could be lying there under your tongue.
“···Hey, then we should take it out! Now that I think about it, it’s not the time to start a fight between us. Search everywhere and find it!”
I was carrying Tena. If something goes wrong with my personal life, I am the one to blame.
As I quickly rummage through her backpack looking for tools to light up the inside, Florica must have heard me and shouts for me not to do that.
And then he proudly unties and lifts the lighthouse of Uja, sparkling with a pale blue light. Her proud face caught my eye for a moment.
It was definitely much better than a torch or lamp. Because the full view of Lord’s huge mouth was revealed so clearly that it was bloody.
Thanks to this, I learned that Nidroga and Garam had not yet given up on each other’s hair, and that the sister who I thought had made her sit up straight was left standing on her head. I apologized profusely for being crushed by her breasts, which I had mistaken for her thighs, and helped her up.
And in the meantime, a tragedy occurred. The moment Rod’s body tilted, Florica placed her hands on the ground to avoid falling.
At the tip of her sword. Wuja’s lighthouse was gently embedded into the dragon’s flesh.
Florica looked at Nidroga, her complexion turning white. Nidrogar looked like he wanted to grab Florica’s hair.
[Geueueuugh···.]
“Rod, are you listening? We really…”
[Ohhh…]
“···Sorry···.”
When a party is attacked by a carnivorous beast or monster, non-combatants are often told to ‘hold on to their daggers’.
Even if you can’t swing it, it helps. This is because a strong shock to the respiratory or digestive organs increases the chance of surviving a biting attack. Predators that are stabbed in the roof of their mouths gag and run away without knowing why.
···It seems like something like that just happened to the Dragon Lord. It may be the first disaster he has experienced in his hundreds of years of life.
The huge tongue pushed us out of the mouth in an instant.
“···Oh wow!”
“Hold on to each other tightly! Jeezraaaaal-!”
At some transcontinental train stops, inscriptions left by certain novelists are engraved. What exactly was it? It was like, ‘Once I got out of the tunnel, everything was empty.’
Anyway, the scenery unfolded just as the sentence said. The moment you step out of the rod’s huge mouth, all you see is the snowy landscape unique to the north. The whiteness of the coniferous forest is so dreamy that it is lovely.
Even as the wind beat against my body, drenched in dragon spit, I could not suppress my admiration for the view from this altitude.
···Altitude?
I looked up while trying to control the fluttering ball, and saw Lord flying staggering around, spitting out our party members one by one. The ice on his body is still so thick that he can’t even spread his wings properly.
And before we knew it, the huge amethyst tree that was so far away had a huge hole, presumed to have been made by Lord headbutting its trunk. It seems they escaped after completely destroying the palace.
It’s scary that a powerful person who can do something like that chose to run away. Was Evenna strong enough to need to run away, or did they consider the damage everyone would suffer if the whole thing was taken down?
First of all, the important thing is that the altitude we were staying at was as great as its destructive power. It seems like it will take a few minutes until my body hits the floor and turns into a piece of meat.
“···Guys, is there no way…?”
“Tan? Tan! Hold on!”
Erina, passing by her, screams and extends her hand towards me. The wing-shaped object seen in Linden is spread out on its back.
And the rest of the party members are clinging to that bridge like ants hanging on an anteater’s tongue. After counting quickly, it seems like everyone caught Erina in time.
Except two people. Where is Thena? Was she not in her mouth after all?
And what about Nanya? Where did she go again?
They all scream and desperately reach out to me.
But luck deserted me. Just then, a strong wind blew down the side of her mountain and blew Erina away as she desperately tried to get closer to me. Erina pulled away with the rest of her group, using all her strength to keep her balance.
“Aaaaah-! Taaan-!”
“Damn it, Mom! We fell! Can’t you hear-!”
Even when he abandons me and leaves, it makes a lot of noise. I feel jealous because I feel like the team colors are so clear.
Lying down with my arms and legs spread out in the wind, I looked at them blankly and muttered.
“···It would be better if only I got crushed.”
“···You’re not the only one getting crushed, right?”
When I turned around again, out of nowhere, Nenya was hanging on my back like a cicada. It was so light I didn’t even notice.
“I lived.”
While I smiled, Nenya asked in a shaky voice.
“Woah, what should we do now? Is there no way?!”
“Is there no way? You are the wizard. Use any magic!”
“···That is···.”
“You were a plant wizard, right? Could you make us grow plants that would support us like the beanstalk in the fairy tale? How about a parachute made of leaves?”
“···I can’t use it.”
“What do you mean you can’t use it?”
“My aptitude suddenly disappeared…”
“···What are you talking about? We’re getting close to the bottom and now you’re saying that? Ask yourself. Are you really not able to use any magic?”
Nenya cried and looked down. My expression wouldn’t have been that different.
We screamed and each took action. I quickly took out the marten cage and blanket from my backpack, and Nenya began to recite all kinds of spells with her cold mouth.
However, the snow field was getting closer and closer. At the last moment, I just hoped the snow would be thick and soft.
···Ishtar, please help me…!
————
At that time, Elan.
Amethyst Palace Basement
“I left it behind…”
‘I left it behind.’
Thena, panting for breath, lowered her head. The blurred focus was not seeing reality.
‘I’m alone. It seems like I let it go. It’s not surprising.’
“Why?”
‘Didn’t you tell me a little while ago? ‘You’re the only one who didn’t get on his ship.’
The loud noise that echoed through the basement was also not registered by TENA. The sound of Eternal Queen Evenna gliding towards her, freezing the air with an enormous amount of energy, and the sound of Soelan’s death squad clashing her swords in horror. Also the screams of the embarrassed hostage.
“Didn’t you say you promised important positions to these people? Are you saying it’s okay for us to cut these people to death? What, what! What is this!”
“Your Majesty! It’s us! How can you point your sword at a loyalist? Please save us…!”
“It’s a pity, but I never for a moment had the intention of making squires like you the leading figures of my era. Basseldenan and Quendarin. I tried to get rid of them by inciting their petty greed and establishing a system of checks and balances between the families, but they didn’t dare. If you use this as a shield, there is nothing you can do. The only way is to move forward a little.”
Quendarin looked back and forth between the split-headed Basseldenan and the blood-stained sword of the king, screaming and struggling like a newborn child despite the hundreds of years that had passed. The King of Thorn Crown laughed weakly.
“Don’t bother me. Just stay still. I’ll make you comfortable by suffocating you all at once.”
Despite the pleas made by wiping out the snot from his eyes, Quendarin was used as a shield in the very next moment. The knights, covered in precious blood, attacked the king with evil intent.
“Damn it, kill the crazy king!”
Although he shamelessly hid that fact from the world, the king of Great Elan is a porter. The knights of Soelan, who had already learned of this fact through espionage, were naturally confident. No matter how much you train, your non-combat aptitude has clear limits.
However, the king’s sword skills, which took eight hundred years to sharpen, greatly embarrassed the knight who hit him first. The king easily defeated the combat aptitude fighter through a struggle of strength. After half a breath, he lowered his posture in an instant and cut off the ankle. And instead of delivering the final blow to the shouting knight, he laughed and retreated.
In the blink of an eye, the ‘Guardians of the Royal Capital’ rushed in. Seeing their comrades being torn to pieces in an instant, the knights swallowed their shock and took a few steps back.
“What are those strange warriors, Danar?”
“···The first hero who received the power to extract and contain the spirit from the body from the Creator Demon God came to visit the blood relative who had dared to help defile his treasure. And made him pay for selling my mother to a porter for a low price. “
The implications of those words were creepy. The knights couldn’t even swallow their saliva.
“So, let me introduce you to my family who died and came back to life.”
“Participated in the hunt for the demon god and died while fighting the demon lord. A clan member of the legendary Evenna?”
“The reason I have to reveal such deep family history is, first, because there is no way for you to survive and spread the story.”
The king grabbed his dead relative by his collar and wiped his sword. The guardian of the royal capital, whose eyes were lifeless, showed no reaction.
“The second reason is because I want you to give up trying to survive as quickly as possible so that I don’t add any more to my already miserable heart.”
The leading knight, who suddenly struck down the king’s sword, reflexively counterattacked. And at the moment of counterattack, it was torn to pieces by the spears and bows of the royal capital’s defenders.
If you attack the king, they will move. The experienced veterans of Soelan’s knights quickly learned the rule. Seeing the knights retreating to avoid combat, the king let out an irritated laugh. And he ran like a madman. The shaking of the tip of his sword contained pathological aggression.
Even as a one-sided slaughter was taking place in the corner of his eye, Thena did not move. Normally, he would have stood up in righteous anger and tore the two sides apart, but now he refused to listen, as if his body did not belong to him.
Before I knew it, Evenna had arrived. He is a great wizard who, after a mythical battle, drove out a creature said to be the strongest in the world. Now was the time to stand up to protect his own life, not his righteous indignation.
I had a determination to meet someone alive. Just like she did in front of the Demon King, Thena desperately tried to get up from her despair.
But that someone just disappeared. With all of Tena’s new friends. Her grip on her despair slipped.
‘How peaceful of an idea is this to prepare a nest for him to lie down after you die? The direction of service must be reversed to make sense.’
‘No.’
‘I took full advantage of your mercy and kindness. And at this very moment, I repaid that favor with vengeance. Accept it.’
My breathing stopped. The shaking stopped.
The black blood that her colleagues were unable to completely wipe away seeped into Thena’s skin.
‘The warrior is on the throne, the porter is on the floor. It’s the law.’
‘Stop.’
‘There is only you.’
“Stop.”
The fighting between the two elan suddenly stopped. Danar, who was rampaging like a madman at the forefront, chopping down human knights, distorted his face when the guardians of the capital suddenly lost their hostility and retreated.
The bloodied knights who were cornered looked behind the king with wide eyes. The king withdrew, keeping an eye on them, not ruling out the possibility that it was a trick. And when he was out of reach of the sword, he looked behind him.
The guardians of the royal capital, who quickly grabbed their weapons, were prostrating themselves on the floor of the railing, as if they were worshiping. Even Evena, the greatest among them, did the same.
These days, King Danar frowned and looked at Evenna’s bowed head. And he found a foot resting on the back of his head.
“···Mother?”
“Is speaking to your mother’s corpse because you expect an answer you cannot return, Danar? You are still a child.”
Danar turned his gaze to the owner of the foot that had trampled on his mother. The woman whose hair and collar are still covered in the blood of the devil who covered her…
He put his despair on her shoulders and smiled an unfamiliar and twisted smile.
“I had a strange and childish dream. Being the ‘master of aptitude’… I am very disappointed.”
For a moment, sunlight hit this deep underground. Through the shattered outer wall destroyed by the Dragon Lord.
The light touched Thena Everlight’s eyes and made them shine. The blue eyes suddenly took on a golden glow that matched the light.
Eight hundred years of insight folded Danar’s knees. It was not until the king prostrated himself and revealed her submission that Thena lifted her foot from Evenna’s head and placed it down.
For an instant, Thena’s face trembled. And her body flinched sharply, as if the inside of her ribs were throbbing. Thena held her breasts, closed her eyes and smiled.
“Okay, I understand. Do you want to punish me?”
Her eyes became clearer and looked towards the world beyond the hole in the palace. All he could do was tremble like an aspen and keep his mouth shut.
The grip of her despair sizzled and burned little by little, but Thena did not let go of her sword. She said, just staring straight at the sun.
“How do you think we should deal with Ishtar’s bastard, daughter of the law?”
————
At that time, Elan’s Gray Mountains.
Nameless Natural Cave
“···No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange. There’s no way I missed it. It’s not like I lost strength in my arms or lost my mind.”
“Huh? What?”
“It’s no big deal. I was very fortunate that the snow was soft.”
“Don’t keep saying you’re lucky. I get it. It seems like you’re trying to force yourself to look at the situation positively.”
Nenya grumbled. I chuckled and continued what I was doing.
Even the tinder was frozen and unusable, so I somehow started a fire by striking a piece of iron buckle with the blade of my dagger.
After gathering all the things that could be used as firewood in my backpack and finally starting a fire, the silver-haired marten, seeing my face for the first time in a while, quickly ran to the fire and crouched down.
Warmth immediately filled the narrow cave.
“I’m glad I found a place to get out of the wind.”
“Aha, are you glad again?”
“Constantly looking for the positive side is very important when you are in trouble.”
“It’s noisy. Make a proper fire.”
“You smoked it, right?”
“It’s not enough! Even candlelight is warmer than this!”
It is not unreasonable to shout harshly. Few people can remain calm while hypothermia takes over their bodies.
Neña, her robe sopping wet and rattling, sniffled her snot. I finally decided to bring up the proposal I was hesitant about.
“I’m sorry for being annoying, Tan. I guess I was distracted for a moment due to the situation. Let’s survive together and join the kids.”
“So, Nenya. But I have something to tell you. Really, really, don’t misunderstand and just listen.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s take off our clothes first.”
“Corre me this, you cunning human bastard. I will kill you and live alone!”
