7. Bang Bang and Flat
Thud.
With a sound of teeth grinding, the goddess Adikia swept her contractor, Malcolm, away.
Thud.
It was the same sound, but the location was a little different.
The sight of Malcolm’s side, touched by the goddess’s foot, twisted just the same.
“Hey, you… s-sob…!”
“What’s wrong with me being in that kind of state in front of that trash? Are you just going to stand there and watch?”
It was incredibly ironic for a woman who might barely reach 160cm to be overwhelming someone who stood at a towering 190cm, but considering the fact that Adikia’s power was binding Malcolm’s entire body, it wasn’t that difficult to comprehend.
With the focus of the power on his instep, Malcolm’s body was being destroyed with each strike.
His ribs were breaking, his liver bursting, and his lungs collapsing. Malcolm, writhing in agony, tried to escape into unconsciousness and death, but this was an arena where no one was allowed to die.
There was no escape.
Instead, Malcolm, whose revival had become the path to hell, flattened himself on the ground, trembling in fear.
“I was wrong. I’m sorry, Adikia. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong…”
“Damn it, brought in as an SR grade and can’t even last a second? Are you trying to cheat us with your grade?”
Adikia, irritated and muttering about reevaluating this trash’s grade after this fight, and if there was even a single lie, she would turn him into fertilizer. But Malcolm could do nothing.
Adikia’s power had completely dominated every inch of his body.
Adikia’s power was a tempting offer to enhance his abilities, a chance to betray his original deity, Deike, but this was not an opportunity. It was a cliff to plunge off of.
Gasp.
As Malcolm, with his neck twisted to the limit, revived once more, Adikia kicked him away.
“Get lost out of my sight!”
Watching him hastily gather his gear and flee only fueled her irritation.
“Deike… Deike… Deike… Deike…!”
He had thought everything was falling into place.
Snatching contracts from Deike, who was barely hanging on at 130 points, and manipulating his colleagues to sell off a worthless reincarnation truck for trashy profit.
A 250 million Aether reincarnation truck?
He was nothing more than trash among trash, barely worth 25 million, with faint hopes of a contract from the start.
While doing so, Ilyul tried to take in as much as possible, even trying to bury the possibility of a future resurgence, but for some reason, she really brought a monster.
At the time, it was ignored, but looking back after some time, it was undoubtedly an SSR-level.
From the movement of the body to the mindset, it was different from that of an ordinary human being.
Adikia looked at her reflection on the mirror wall.
Even by human standards, or rather by goddess standards, it was a quite beautiful face.
The body… if compared to Dike, it was a bit small…
Thud.
Still, whenever she manifested and walked on the street, it was a sight that no one could look away from, but the eyes of the contractor Yudahee showed no sign of wavering.
What she brought back was just Parash’s ax that tore the body apart.
At first, I thought it might be the strength of Parash, the dwarf who handed it over, but it couldn’t be.
It was undoubtedly Yudahee’s intact power.
Why did such a contractor stick to trash like Dike?
It happened just a few days after handing over the trash truck.
If only a few more days had passed, they could have stripped Dike of his participation qualification and completely removed him from the scene.
It was an opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of pretending to be just, merciful, considerate, but… the plan had already gone down the drain.
At this rate, there was a very high possibility that Dike’s contractor, Yudahee, would land in the top ranks or higher.
The only relief was that she could only use the main weapon once as a penalty… but Adikia’s heart wasn’t so good just to believe that.
The purpose was originally to prevent participation altogether, but that didn’t mean there was nothing prepared.
A hologram appeared in front of Adikia.
And a list of gatherings of divine beings connecting, among which there were some with slightly sinister purposes.
For example, it was entirely possible to snipe someone in the arena.
Ordinary believers were like corpses without pride, and it was unimaginable for them to unite with someone else or target a specific individual…
But with corresponding points, even such believers who wouldn’t hesitate to do such things were abundant in the arena.
– ADK: Placing a snipe request for this arena. Conditions: Eliminated before 50th place, final blow limited to one person, 20 points in the arena.
ㄴOh, 20 points is really strong, huh? It’s a free win in 20 rounds~
ㄴWho the hell is trying to snipe that our goddess got so mad… Oops…! My bad, my bad~
ㄴI’ll pass, I’m skipping this arena due to personal reasons.
ㄴMe me me me me! Order me!
The irresistible temptation of 20 points thrown to the demons crazy about the arena points.
ㄴSo who is it? If it’s a contractee within the top 10 of the arena, they’ll be in deep trouble.
ㄴFor real, I once took the wrong request and my contractor became chicken nuggets in just one second, ㅋㅋㅋ I regretted it and added more divine power to resurrect them, but the opponent didn’t leave their spot and just kept watching;; For real, it gave me the chills. I couldn’t even break even.
– ADK: Contractee of Dike Astraea, Yoo Da-hee.
ㄴWhat? I searched and found that she’s an unknown goddess… Oh, [Picture] Tube link: https://~
ㄴWow, she’s really killing it. Not even getting a response from the SR grade, just getting sliced up like that;;
ㄴWhile she’s tearing the goddess apart, she’s scanning the surroundings every moment, her eye movements are so fierce, so fierce;; Is she Madara?
ㄴI’m currently a martial arts expert, just by watching her simple technique, it’s already not SR level. She’s probably at the beginning to middle of the SSR level depending on what kind of goddess abilities she has. But her axing is really practical, right? It’s not a predetermined form, it’s a branching point each time.
ㄴShe’s definitely not a typical human… She seems like a returnee, but are there still such people around? With that level of perception, it would be difficult for even the usual assassination-type contractees to approach her.
ㄴBut her practical experience is not ordinary at all, it feels like she has experienced life-and-death battles dozens or hundreds of times, this is the combat sense unique to the usual death returnees.
ㄴStill, with her martial arts skills, it might be manageable this time, right? This arena’s theme is U.R.F, right? If she positions herself well and gets the items right, she can summon a meteor within the first 10 minutes, easy peasy.
ㄴIn U.R.F mode, AD’s full-scale idiots can block access through spatial distortion and even rape souls, for real, lol.
ㄴWhere did you hear that?
ㄴI almost said there’s an angel in the management office, hehehe…
And shortly after, the broadcast alert for the 221st Earth Cup Arena Tournament rang out.
[The 221st Earth Cup Arena Tournament is about to begin!]
[Theme of this Arena: Ultra Rapid Fire]
Knowing in advance the theme of the arena, which is usually unknown, was definitely not an ordinary gathering.
ADK: Only 2 minutes left until it starts. Ready?
ㄴYes yes yes! I’m ready!
ㄴDon’t trust this guy. He’ll just make you a punching bag, increasing the opponent’s experience points. It’s a sure way to get your wallet emptied.
ㄴInterested folks should poke around first, right? When I shared it in other rooms, a lot of people showed interest. They usually only get 2 or 3 points, but suddenly a big 20-pointer pops up, and everyone gets interested.
ADK: How many?
ㄴAt least 20 people. A lot of snipers gathered for this match. And checking the opponent’s penalties, even those who usually hate sniping seem to be watching with interest.
ㄴAh, you bastards, don’t take my food bowl! Order for me!
ㄴ20 points, gulp! Enjoy your meal~
At least 20 out of 100 are running for sniping.
Despite the immediate bleeding, he thought it was a good business if he could drop D.K.
Adikia smiled slyly, pointing out the points.
*****
U.R.F
Unlimited mana, a drastically reduced spell time that is almost instantaneous, a doubling of physical abilities, and an increase of over 500% in the quantity of items dropped in the field. It’s truly a cheat mode.
Shall we take a shot early on?
Even if there’s just a moment’s gap, the scene of the opponent who used to run away with a pistol now driving a tank unfolds every time.
Such situations were described in the manual as modes that take place across the entire field.
Originally, the plan was to somehow reduce the numbers and aim to be within the top 50 before others could grow, but this would mean that Yoo Da-hee’s plan wouldn’t even have a chance to materialize.
In the brief moment when even devising a strategy fell short, Di-ke’s face turned pale as he stared at the strange hologram.
“I-I-eeek!”
Even if we come up with a plan, it’s not enough. You might get shot while you’re lost in thought about that Dragon Slave popping up on the arena wall.
“I’ll grab the points in advance and go, whoop~”
“You’re mine, you’re mine, you’re mine, you’re mine.”
“They say this place is a 20-point gourmet spot?”
“Spirit Beam~ Looking at the points possessed by this goddess, this seems like almost the last chance lol”
The alarm window that shot up seemed ominous.
“B-Bounty…! There’s a bounty on us…!”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“It doesn’t matter in the arena… Teaming up is definitely a strategy too…”
“Is targeting and killing someone also considered a strategy?”
What the hell kind of situation is this?
If it were Earth, such behavior would have been wiped out with a collective ban wave long ago, so why do the gods seem even more pathetic.
It was obvious who had put a bounty on us.
There’s only one person who would harbor such malice toward us.
“Adidas or Akidia, what the hell is this.”
It was clearly within sight, but when did it disappear? Not even a single strand of hair was visible.
Yudahee vowed to give Akidia a piece of her mind, not just a piece, but a full-blown lecture, the next time they met.
“…But why is that goddess treating you so badly?”
Akidia’s actions were so full of malice, it was strange.
It seemed like she was determined to subdue her opponent, like meeting an enemy on a narrow bridge and trying to force them to surrender by any means necessary…
Dike scratched his cheek at that question.
“hehehe… Well, you see… I may have eaten the golden apple that was meant for Akidia…”
“Golden apple?”
It seemed like a big deal…
“It’s a valuable item that determines the growth of a divine body, like height or body shape… It’s a rare item that can only be eaten once!”
Upon hearing this, Yudahee’s gaze swept over Dike.
With her Western-style figure, tall for a woman at 175cm, and her overall impressive physique, it was clear there was no shortage of places to go, and nothing to hide. Meanwhile, the image of Akidia that came to mind was—
“Ah.”
Her face was quite something, but her body… compared to Dike, it was quite lacking.
160cm…
It was like a fight between an adult and a child, with one side looking down and not being able to see their own feet, while the other side’s ankles were visible.
From Noble mtl dot com
It seemed like an attempt to make up for it, but… a fight between curves and flatness.
“You deserve the bounty, Yudahee.”
Yudahee nodded in agreement.
Stealing a growth plate – even if you get shot in the head, there’s no excuse for it.
In truth, the culprit of all the problems was that woman.
“Should I go back now and redo the Dokeza that I couldn’t finish right away?”
He considered it, but it was too late.
It had already happened, and whether it was good or bad, Yudahee was on the deck with Dike.
Moreover, there was only 10 seconds left.
“I, I trust our contractor! Fi-fighting!”
Dike cheered Yudahee on, clenching his fist, but… his anxious eyes and expression did not seem supportive at all.
Yudahee sighed and looked at the light covering his body, closing and opening his eyes.
In an instant, the scene in front of him changed into a dense forest.
In the middle of a sunny clearing in the forest.
[00:00]
“The match starts now.”
“Haah…”
Yudahee let out a sigh.
Honestly, a damn awful match had become even more damn awful.
…..
[00:01]
And one second after entering, there was a dagger rushing menacingly towards Yudahee’s neck.
The opponent was a man whose entire body blended into the forest like a fairy tale, adorned in frog-patterned attire of green, brown, black, and khaki.
It was a silent strike that didn’t even reveal my presence… But then again,
“Sneaking in while basking in sunlight, what a complete idiot, huh?”
The looming shadow was clearly visible.
Faster than flying blades, a parasol was thrust into the assassin’s head.
“First one down.”
Thud.
The axe blade was soaked in blood.