137. Value (2)
glare over the snow.
With him, his body floated as if gravity had disappeared, and Oliver fell to a place where a strong wind blew from all directions.
The first time I felt it, I was stunned.
“Are you okay? young friends. Open your eyes.”
Oliver regained his sight and opened his eyes carefully as Merlin had said.
A completely different place unfolded before my eyes.
An open plain with no hills, let alone mountains, a gloomy sky full of clouds, and thick snowflakes falling with blue light.
Even looking at it, I noticed that the land Oliver was treading wasn’t real land, but a huge piece of ice.
Oliver staggered up and asked, as the chill seeped into his bones.
“Old man. Where are you?”
“The land of ice at the end of the world. The United Kingdom that conquered the world, of course, that no one in the human race has conquered.”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but it seemed like he knew the reason for not conquering.
It was spacious, but all there was in all directions was ice and snow, and the sky and the icy land, and the pure magic that formed in the snow.
It was not a suitable place for people to live.
“Sorry, can I ask why you brought me here?”
Merlin, who covered his body with magical power, spoke plainly as if he was not cold.
“I didn’t tell you before. I brought you here to hang out. If you don’t want to cause any damage to the surroundings, this is the best place.”
Oliver replied blankly. I thought I was missing something.
“I’m sorry, old man. I don’t quite understand.”
“What do you not understand?”
“How am I supposed to fight the old man?”
“Because I want it.”
“Why do you want to fight me?”
“Well····. Maybe I need to tell you. First of all, I’m going to nail one thing down. I’m not a pervert looking for someone stronger than me. I just want to know.”
“What are you talking about?”
Merlin pointed politely at Oliver.
“Tell me your worth.”
“… is it worth it?”
“exactly. I’d like to know how much it’s worth the person I’ve worked so hard to save. It’s an emotion that everyone has.”
“Is that so?”
“exactly. If possible, you want to save someone of value. Please answer in that sense. Where do you think a person’s worth comes from?”
It was a sudden question, but it didn’t upset me.
It was not something he had concretely in his heart, but Oliver also subconsciously assigned and assigned a value to humans.
That’s why he respected the Blitz Wizard, Joseph, and Duncan even though they were enemies, and left Joe alive without finishing it.
Oliver was also valuing people. The question was how to say it.
“Well·······. Emotions.”
“emotion?”
“Yes, courage or willpower, hope, desire, ambition, perseverance.”
“I think that’s a very romantic answer for a warlock. But I don’t like it. My point of view is different.”
“Where do you put the value of people?”
“It is unquestionably strength.”
“strength····. Are you talking?”
“exactly. However, there is a caveat here. The power I’m talking about isn’t just about the magic of physical strength and more powerful firepower. It is, but it is a bit more comprehensive.”
“I don’t quite understand.”
“The powers I speak of vary. It could be the strength and magic mentioned earlier, but sometimes it can be money, and it can be worldly power, appearance, charm, wisdom, knowledge, ability, and connections. But the purpose of all of this is ultimately the same. The power that makes it possible when you want to do something. Something that will make things go smoothly.”
It sounded like something vague, but Oliver seemed to be able to understand the meaning, at least faintly.
With this Mattel gun, Oliver realized that he was an underdog.
Even though the people around him support him as a dark horse solver, he was objectively weak in this city.
If he had been a really strong being, he would have been able to negotiate with Mattel through conversation without having to use any force.
Just like the man in front of you.
Then, all of a sudden, Edith’s words came to mind. The words of Edith, one of the giants in Area R.
He called the fixer a being who lives on the street by picking up meat for blood.
At that time, Oliver agreed, too, but thinking about it, he didn’t quite understand.
Edith’s words were harsh and sharp, penetrating the essence of the solver.
With him, he also seemed to understand at least a little bit why Duncan was leaving Pink Man and risking his own office.
Leaving the mines, leaving the Joseph family and settling here on Landa, Oliver boasted that he had learned some things about the world, but that was not the case at all.
Oliver still didn’t really know.
“I think you roughly understood what I was saying. The face is the same though. Did I step on my back again?”
Oliver shook his head at Merlin’s question.
“no. understand.”
“Then I’m happy. Again, I use this power as a measure of human worth. Sometimes good people deny this, but when you look around the world, that’s not the case.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Well, it’s not difficult. A person with power should be treated more generously than a person who is not, unless the character is very dirty. Sometimes even considered a charm. ‘It’s like that because it’s a strong friend’… Actually, it’s just a dirty personality. Haven’t your young friends ever been like that? I’ve never been treated so generously by others.”
Oliver thought about it… It seemed like a lot more than I expected.
“It seems to be there…. I am also trying to fight you with the same reason. Your worth will be known through battle.”
Oliver nodded.
The story of the old man fighting is now quite understandable.
But I didn’t want to fight with him.
“Old man.”
“What is it? I want to start slowly, but if I stand for a long time, my knees get sore.”
“I don’t want to fight the old man. Thank you for helping me. I don’t want to fight.”
Merlin looked at Oliver and said.
“·····exactly? By the way, I didn’t specifically ask you to fight. to notify”
With those words, Merlin raised her hand.
Small pieces of paper the size of a fingernail flew from the air, gathered from Merlin’s hands, and merged into a book.
“I would rather ask for something else.”
“······?”
“Please don’t die if possible.”
With those words, Merlin ripped the book open and threw it straight at Oliver.
Shoot!
The paper flew towards Oliver as fast as a bullet, with a sharp crackling sound.
Oliver looked at the paper and thought to himself.
‘attack. how? should i stop it? Should I avoid it?’
For a moment, the illusion of time was passing slowly, and Oliver made a lot of calculations in his head.
In the end, Oliver’s emotions were extracted and wrapped around his body, and he managed to avoid it.
The concentration of magical power that went into the paper was unusual when I stopped it in front.
Shh-! Paper blown sideways in the wind.
Oliver looked back at the paper that had passed by.
The paper disappears over the horizon and bang! The ground overturned with the sound, causing snow dust. It looked like it had been hit by an bombardment.
“·······!!”
shocking power.
It’s just a piece of paper with magical powers on it.
But what was even more surprising was that when using it, Merlin’s movements weren’t too big and didn’t take too long.
“Do not stop and dodge. It was a good decision.”
Oliver snapped and turned his head forward.
Merlin, who had torn three pieces of paper, was waiting in a throwing posture.
“Five·····. this.”
Merlin sucks! and threw the three sheets of paper.
The fortunate thing was that the concentration of magic power was lower than the paper that had just been thrown as if the force had been adjusted.
It was a huge amount though.
Oliver extracted his emotions, extended his index finger forward, and focused his attention on his emotions and his eyes.
[Hat Bullet]
Oliver fired a bullet of hate.
I didn’t mean to attack. I knew right away that it wasn’t on that level.
‘But if it’s on orbit…’
Fortunately, the wind blew through, and the bullet of hatred hit the non-blade side of the flying paper and was able to orbit slightly.
Thanks to this, I was able to avoid all attacks without moving much.
Perhaps, if Oliver had made a big move to avoid it, Merlin would have attacked him at that moment and left him stunned.
“It was a good way.”
Merlin’s voice, which should be heard in the distance, passed right next to Oliver.
With him, he felt a warm sensation on one side of his leg.
Turning his head, he saw a neatly ripped black suit and his own thighs bleeding underneath.
“Ugh…!”
Oliver staggered and moaned.
The wound itself wasn’t that deep or painful, but the psychological impact was great.
This is the third time the black suit has been broken at once in this way.
The first was a puppet from the contaminated area, and the second was a blonde wizard I met at Mattel.
Even so, it wasn’t easy for them either.
But, surprisingly, Merlin did it so easily. Even though I could have decapitated my throat if I tried.
Merlin, who was standing on the other side of the seat before he knew it, said.
“Are you in a lot of pain? You didn’t look that deep, did you?”
ha. ha····. Oliver looked at Merlin, feeling the overwhelming power gap.
I didn’t think he was mocking or teasing me now. It was just that the difference in power was really huge.
“…you are very strong.”
“exactly. Have you ever been scared?”
“A little bit…. But I will still work.”
Simultaneously with those words, Oliver extracted a significant amount of emotion from the test tube with one hand and cast it into the shadows.
[Shadow Tentacle]
With him, Oliver’s shadow gained strength and rushed towards Merlin.
Much faster and stronger than I normally use.
just-
Merlin gathered the magic power at the tip of his finger and flicked his finger.
With him, the magic was activated, and a huge wall of ice rose and formed a huge barrier.
Defense like Mattel’s bald wizard. Twice didn’t work.
“·····Well!”
Oliver increased the output of the shadow and attacked the ice barrier.
Shadow tentacles, blades and stakes collided with a huge ice barrier, smashing ice cubes and snow into the air.
It wasn’t usually hard because it was ice imbued with magical power, but somehow I was able to shatter it and break it.
rumble rumble . . . . bang-! Kwagwang-!!
As the ice barrier broke, Merlin was visible from behind.
Oliver fired an attack at him.
A shadow that stretches forward.
Merlin panicked, and with him a shadow pierced Merlin’s body.
“······yes?”
“Why?”
“Old man…! ····huh? old man?”
Merlin walked over to me.
Oliver looked at him in surprise.
“It is a clone magic based on ice magic and golem making technology. Did you make it pretty well?”
“Yes, I do.”
At the same time as Oliver said those words, he raised his output to the maximum and swung the quarter staff.
He wasn’t the kind of person he could deal with.
Bang ━━━━━!!!
The quarterstaff wielded by Oliver was blocked by Merlin’s book.
It was a book only in its form, but it was nothing more than a mass of magic.
“I hope the reaction speed is good.”
Merlin raised his hand right in front of Oliver’s face.
With him, a shock wave exploded with a huge sound, and Oliver was blown away.
Oliver flew away, and scattered the ground covered with ice and snow.
The cold was vividly felt beyond the black suit, and the world spun around as the senses were turned upside down.
It wasn’t fatal, but it was painful and painful enough.
‘ね·······! You have to move…’
Merlin was relaxed, but attacked without a breath.
He opened the book and fired high-density magic bullets.
Oliver extracted magical energy, not emotions, and brought it to the ice.
[ice wall]
The soaring ice barrier prevented the bombardment of magical bombs.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Nevertheless, the power was so great that the ice barrier shook and fluctuated, so it could only hold on for a while.had to avoid wherever it is
As he was about to move with that thought, Oliver realized that his arms and legs were sealed.
Suddenly, the ice that contained Merlin’s magic wrapped around Oliver’s body.
Curl rumble-
The sky fluctuates with him.
Oliver shook his head.
As the sky rotates in one direction, the magic power is gradually concentrated. This·····.
“····Oh.”
In the midst of the tornado-like clouds, a blue flash shone and struck the ground.
aan