43 – Cleaning the Dark Street (3)
Even if she tells me to be quiet, how can I be quiet when I see this?
I looked at Clara, wondering if I was reacting strangely, but she didn’t have any particular reaction as if this scene was familiar to her.
…I must have been weird, yeah.
“It looks like some sort of tribunal….”
The skill name that the message clearly communicated was [List Judgement]. So, if this place that resembles a tribunal had appeared…
“It must be some kind of sacred boundary….”
For a sacred boundary, it had a remarkably eerie atmosphere.
While looking around, I spotted another person. The men beside the scales were at least ten times larger than an average human, resembling scales themselves. However, this man, who emitted an indifferent aura, was twice as large as the scale right in front of him.
I could only see his face when I lifted my head, but for some reason, it was obscured by shadows, preventing me from clearly identifying his features.
【The verdict is given】
The voice doesn’t reach my ears, but resonates directly in my head.
“….”
Upon hearing that, I knew. His true identity.
[Because many have died unable to fulfill their names due to the sinners’ evil deeds]
By connecting the clues of who Fley is, the sentences of the prayer she murmured, the phenomena I am experiencing now, and the actions I hear, it wasn’t difficult to deduce.
[I retrieve that much prestige from sinners]
The divine spirit, Vita.
He was a god who represented one of the eight gods of this land, known as the Eight Great Divinities (八大神). He held the important role of determining the lifespan of living beings, perhaps the most important role of all. I never could have imagined that I would see such a god with my own two eyes…
“Even if it’s her own summoning, the fact that she can directly respond…”
Freid, who called him forth, was impressive, but the god who answered seemed surprisingly kind-hearted.
Looking to the side, Frey was quietly lowering his head, and Clara was also maintaining silence. There are certainly many questions I want to ask, but for now, it seems better for me to remain quiet.
Immediately after the divine Vita recited the verdict, the two men beside the scale moved. Holding golden spears, they approached the bewildered Minotaur on the scale.
“Wuooo!!”
The creature, startled by the men’s approach, let out a roar, but unlike before, it didn’t suffer from any debuffs. Instead, a different message appeared.
– This is a domain governed by a great being. All buffs and debuffs are nullified.
All the buffs and debuffs nullified, this is such a fraudulent…
“Anubite, the Judge of the Underworld.”
“Oshiria, the Magistrate of the Underworld.”
The two men murmured slightly modified names they had heard somewhere. Then, they aimed their golden spears at the chest of the Minotaur.
“The judgment bestowed by the divine shall be executed.”
With a thud, the golden spear pierced deeply. However, strangely enough, no blood flowed from the Minotaur’s chest.
“What’s going on?”
Instead, peculiar gray smoke of unknown origin emanated from the point of the pierced spear. At that moment, the Minotaur let out a howl of agony.
“ROOOOOOOAR!!!!”
“It’s useless to struggle, mortal.”
The man introduced himself as Anubis and spoke.
“The judgment imposed by the divine is absolute.”
The Minotaur truly could only howl in pain, unable to rebel against it. Smoke continued to escape from its body.
“Could that be…?”
Remembering the verdict uttered by the divine VITA earlier, it seemed that was indeed the Minotaur’s ‘fate’. To take away one’s name from a sinner, so that’s what it meant…
Soon, the Minotaur’s muscular arms began to wither, and its entire body started shrivelling up. When the Minotaur became a pitiful sight to behold, the two men withdrew their golden spears.
And, taking the heart that was placed on one side of the scale, I inserted it directly into the Minotaur’s chest.
“That was this guy’s heart?”
I didn’t know that either…
From Noble mtl dot com
But even when I returned the heart to the Minotaur, placing it on the other side of the scale, the scale did not tilt. It seemed like the weight balance between that heart and the Minotaur had been right earlier.
“…Is it because he lost weight?”
I can’t help but think that if he has become so emaciated, it might be possible.
The men who witnessed the scale not tilting slightly bowed their heads to the divine priest Vitha and spoke.
“The execution has ended.”
【Finish the ruling】
Myeongsin slightly lifted his head to look at Frey. Although his face couldn’t be seen clearly, I could tell from the direction of his head that he was facing Frey.
Frey, who had his eyes closed, thanked Myeongsin with folded hands, how did he know? He expressed his gratitude while still holding both of his hands.
“Thank you, great Myeongsin, for granting this insignificant servant’s request.”
With that expression of gratitude, the scenery changed back again.
We returned to the labyrinth, and Frey finally got up from her seat and opened her eyes. I asked her.
“… Can you talk now?”
“Yes, it’s over.”
I felt like I had become mute.
I looked ahead. There, the Minotaur lay completely dried up and collapsed.
＜Monster Information＞
◈Name: Minotauros
◈Species: Half-human, half-beast
◈Stats
The stats are as follows:
Strength: 100 (▼300)
Agility: 25 (▼100)
Stamina: 52 (▼700)
Intelligence: 10
Magic Power: 9 (▼250)
Divine Power: 0
Owned Abilities:
– Feral Roar Lv.5
– Self-Recovery Lv.7
– Mana Regeneration Lv.4
Current Status:
– Feeble: Unable to activate any abilities
– Poisoned
– Bound by a contract [Contractor: Barman]
These stats are not to be taken lightly. The powerful boss from earlier has disappeared, leaving me with my pathetic stats… I mean, my humble stats that pale in comparison.
Even though my strength is 100, my low stamina and agility make me practically useless… But the crucial issue is that I’m in a “feeble” state.
It is said that he became unable to activate all his abilities. As a result, he ended up in a state worse than an ordinary mob.
“…Even if I hit him, he’ll die.”
“Then, shall Allen finish it?”
“Huh?”
Can I really do a finishing blow like that?
“…I also need the experience of killing monsters.”
“Is it okay?”
“…Yes.”
It was just a joking remark, but I feel a little nervous when pushed like this. Well, it doesn’t matter who delivers the finishing blow since this place doesn’t have levels or experience points.
Clara handed me a dagger and said.
“If I were in that state, I would cleanly die just by piercing the carotid artery.”
“The carotid artery….”
“…Here.”
Clara pointed to the side of her neck.
“…It’s not too difficult.”
“Uh….
I approached the Minotaur with the short sword Clara gave me.
Although he still had some strength left, he seemed to be mentally unstable due to the weakened state and toxin injected by Clara, and even when I approached, he didn’t notice it.
Weakness and poisoning. It was natural that it was impossible to remain in a normal state just by hearing these two conditions.
I raised a dagger. The guy was quite tall, but it was a height that I could stab by climbing up the wall. I was also agile enough.
“…Yes, monster.”
It’s not something I think is damaging to life. The judgment of the spirits a while ago also said that they could not survive with their name due to this evil act.
I lightly jumped and kicked the wall. Then I stabbed the dagger towards the Minotaur’s neck, the place Clara had taught me.
At the same time, I invoked magic. There were some concerns that simply stabbing the dagger wouldn’t penetrate the Minotaur’s skin, and I wanted to practice the basic magic of putting magic in my weapon.
“Oh, Alan…?”
Frei tilted her head slightly.
“…Now that I think about it, Clara knows, but Frei doesn’t.”
I wondered what the point was in gradually hiding it. After all, since everyone else already knew… Frei was the only one who didn’t.
So, it wouldn’t matter if I got caught now. Whether or not there was one person left who knew.
In any case, my magic was manifested properly, and with a flick of my dagger, I added its power.
Thunk!!
Thanks to the magic infused, the dagger sank much deeper than I expected. Since I pierced an artery, naturally the blood squirted out, splattering all over my hands and face.
“Gahhh… Ugghhh…!”
The Minotaur, bellowing a low cry soaked in agony, staggered with its arms. I quickly dropped my dagger and stepped back, and it stumbled a couple more times before collapsing to the ground.
At the same time, a message appeared.
– Boss monster, Minotaur has been subjugated!
Along with the subjugation message, even the slightest movement of the Minotaur disappeared, and it became silent. I approached the corpse and pulled out the dagger lodged in its neck.
As I pulled it out, blood splattered, staining my chest and legs. I gazed at it for a moment and then stood up from my spot.
“It’s done.”
“…Yeah, well done.”
“Allen, your clothes are covered in blood.”
“Ah…”
I couldn’t help it. Since I pierced the artery, of course blood splurted out.
“Well, I should go out and wash up. But before that, let’s go find Yong-ok or Bari.”
“That’s right. But leather and horns seem useful, so let’s just take these.”
Ah, loot.
Freya skillfully created a sword with her divine power and began peeling off the Minotaur’s leather and cutting its horns.
…She was a noble saint until a while ago, but now she just looked like a mere slaughterer.
“…Allen, clean this for now.”
“Uh, thanks.”
Clara wiped away the blood on her face and hands with the handkerchief that was handed to her. Thanks to that, she felt a bit relieved, but the handkerchief had turned red.
“I’ll wash this later and give it back to you.”
“…Sure.”
Clara looked at me. Then she reached out and gently tied my loosened sleeve while saying,
“…It’s okay, Allen.”
“Huh?”
“…It’s all like this at first.”
When I heard those words, I noticed that my hand was slightly trembling.
It wasn’t guilt for killing the Minotaur. This… seemed more like surprise at the blood I had drawn from stabbing a living creature. It must have been my first experience of that kind.
Clara had noticed it and comforted me.
“I’ll try to think of it as no big deal. Thank you.”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
I returned the dagger to her, and Clara took it, keeping it close.
“By the way, Allen.”
While we were talking, Frey, who had somehow stripped the Minotaur’s hide, asked me, looking at me.
“What kind of magic is that?”
In response to Frey’s question, I smiled slightly, trying to be cool.
Finally, we got caught.
“I’ll explain as we go.”