5. Bread and dagger (44)
‘Mine’ was a synonym for fear.
He could not help but be afraid of the monsters who led the surrounding demons and spearheaded Delphirem’s army. Moreover, each of them was a terrifying force.
They were the ones who contracted with the evil spirits for power in the first place.
Without a suitable price, there was no way that a demon would be born. For example, isn’t there Guilford, whom I dealt with at the orphanage?
He was strong as a human, but even stronger as a demon.
Even if they matched me now, I doubted if they would be equal.
Even so, Gilford was the easiest opponent for me.
It was because he had already mastered his skills and fighting methods by conducting sparring with Gilford for several days before that. Even if he became a demon, the fundamentals of master swordsmanship did not change.
However, the Snow Leopard Mine he was dealing with was not like that.
It was the first time in my life that I had met him. It was natural to not know how he would come to fight me.
In the silence, my swordplay and the snow leopard demon’s bloody eyes sparkled. The snow leopard demon’s breathing was already rough.
He seems to be looking forward to the blood he will soon taste.
It was then that the snow leopard demon’s muscles contracted.
The rugged body instantly curled into a ball. It was an amazing sight to see the muscles that looked as hard as stone curl so softly.
Of course, I had no room left to admire.
It was then that a bang and an explosion erupted.
A sudden heat wave blew through the snowfield. Even though the snow leopard hit my whole body, and I only received the impact with my sword face, it was like this.
It was power beyond imagination.
As I stumbled back, the snow leopard immediately swung its front paws ferociously. A sharp solid line was drawn between the intersecting trajectories.
It was a response close to the standard.
I narrowed the senses that I had kept open just in case.
The moment when the vision charts space, and the shining threads enter the eye.
My staggering hand raggedly tore the thread of light. Then, with a sigh, the two arms of the snow leopard flowed down the curved space.
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Just before the snow leopard cried out in panic, my hand pulled out the hatchet like lightning.
Pak, and blood spattered into the air.
The hatchet with an aura easily penetrated the hide of the beast. It couldn’t even cut through the bone, but it was clear that it had hit.
Whoa!
The snow leopard demon howled like a beast as if it had lost its sense. And roll your body backwards, until you fall far away using your unique elastic muscles.
I have heard that an animal called ‘Snow Leopard’ does not die even if it falls from a high place. I learned that this is due to the developed flexibility, but it seems that he inherited that characteristic as it was when he became a demon.
Could it be that he has no special abilities other than that?
It was worth doing at this point, I thought.
“Kuhh, keuhh… … .”
Suddenly, the snow leopard’s mouth murmured, and soon the length of its snout shortened slightly.
Only then did human language begin to flow from the Mine’s mouth.
“It’s hard to deal with even with a body that has been blessed. After all, humans are strong… That’s why we ended up in such a miserable situation.”
“I guess I was out of luck.”
I said that as I hung the hatchet back from my waist.
“Today, Yurdina-kun has a lot of special guests. I don’t know if it’s normal, but it’s not at the level you guys can aim for… Is it like this?”
It was sincere advice.
Facing the snow leopard, my face didn’t even waver at all. I don’t know if it’s a devil of Guilford’s level, but I wouldn’t be beaten by a devil with only slightly superior physical abilities.
Of course, you should be wary of over-confidence.
“You’ve already seen enough blood. Go back and tell your boss… Don’t even dare to go out into the coniferous forest for a while.”
“Then, are we elves going to live endlessly being taken away?”
At the question that came out of my rough breath, I fell silent for a moment.
The Snow Leopard Mine smiled miserably.
It was a look that didn’t match the ferocious appearance in the slightest.
“Since we were imprisoned in this cold, dry coniferous forest, we have never attacked mankind first… But isn’t it you, mankind, who took our food and drove us to the brink of death?”
“gibberish.”
With a laugh, I cut off the snow leopard demon’s words with a single knife.
“Why should we, the human race, first touch the elves who live quietly in the coniferous forest? Even without that, in the yard where the morale of the soldiers staying on the front line is severe… … .”
“The sound we need to ask!”
“Cheong,” and in an instant, sound waves bursting out that were enough to choke the eardrums.
The Snow Leopard Mine was so excited that saliva flowed from her mouth.
“Why did you bother us?! We didn’t even intend to resist any longer! Either die quietly in the coniferous forest, or whatever, I don’t want to suffer anymore!”
bullshit, say
I was about to go to work again, but I stopped at the cry of mortal resentment.
Are those the eyes of a liar?
It would have been nice if the princess had been here. It felt like only then would you know the elf’s true heart.
So far, the survival strategy of the elves has been simple.
To live, to kill, to steal. This was testified by numerous private houses that were looted in the process of moving to the north.
However, if I suddenly insisted that this was not the case any more, it was inevitable that I would be suspicious first.
The Snow Leopard Mine growled and let out a hateful tone.
“And there is something wrong… You’ve seen enough blood already?”
Khehehehe, a sad laugh escaped from Mine’s mouth.
He took a step forward and looked up at the sky. The northern night sky, with no lights on the ground, was so brilliant.
To the extent that a person standing alone would feel shabby.
And in the eyes of the snow leopard, which was once again looking at me, thread veins were standing.
“Don’t get me wrong. We are not here to live.”
Then I felt a strange presence.
A few elves were staggering behind Mine’s back. All of them had faces that were stained with blood, and only deep despair could be seen in their eyes.
I shuddered at the gloomy atmosphere they created. It was an instinctive rejection.
They were not living, but close to the dead.
“… … I came to be ‘liberated’.”
You can’t leave it like this.
It was shortly thereafter that my intuition set off an alarm. My hand stuttered and grasped the hatchet.
A hand ax that creates punctures and draws a long trajectory.
However, the actions of the Snow Leopard Mine were more immediate than that.
The devil’s paws grabbed the two elves by the collar. Its purpose was clear.
It was for throwing.
My eyes widened as I did not expect to throw my own people. At most, I was expected to do multiple chanting together.
Even more terrifying was the fact that even that was too early to be surprised.
One of the thrown elves was apparently piercing the hatchet’s trajectory.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the elf’s dismembered body splattered the entrails.
The words that flowed down the ground were empty. It was to the extent that cognitive dissonance occurred for a moment.
Can someone’s life end in such a futile way?
The answer to that question came shortly after.
The moment I was about to slash the flying elf with my black face, I was able to make eye contact with him for a moment.
He looked sad and happy.
And when the man’s mouth opened, I finally understood the snow leopard demon’s intentions.
Hideous eyes rolling over the tongue.
Around it, the space around it was being distorted.
Instead of swinging my sword, I instinctively crouched down as much as I could.
It was a bonus to have the mana that was supposed to be directed to the sword wrapped around the body.
It wasn’t long before my choice proved correct.
Kwak-gwang, and thunder-like explosions hit the ears one after another. Even that soon turned into a beeping noise.
My body was already flying through the air.
The flight distance was quite long. The sound of crackling trees being smashed was heard over and over again.
Every time that happened, a dull shock ran through my body.
Even the feeling of being in pain was vague.
When I came to my senses, I was rolling on a snowy field.
Even though magic was wrapped around his body, his vision was blurry for a moment.
Cool, I vomited a handful of blood and staggered to my feet.
A faint heat created a haze at the place I had flown from. There were burn marks all over my clothes.
It was a spark.
The smoky smell that was creating an updraft over there proved this.
Elves set the forest on fire? Even sacrificing your own people?
He wasn’t the elf we knew.
I had a hard time believing this reality.
But at the same time, it was also an undeniable truth.
With its back to the shadow of the fire, the shaggy figure was trudging along. Several elves were already on his shoulders and hands.
I hurriedly looked around.
Even if I pushed back, I was pushed back for a long time. Not only was the flight time long, but it was also because the ground was slippery because it was snowy.
Even after falling to the ground, it seemed to roll over a long distance.
The sound of metal crashing behind my back made that fact real. Before I knew it, I had been pushed to the borderline where disease met disease.
It was the power of cold sweat.
It was an impossible power unless a whole life was sacrificed.
As I stared at Mine for a long time, there was a figure approaching me.
It was Yuren.
He hurriedly stood beside me, staring blankly at the burning coniferous forest.
“… … What is that?”
“monster.”
It was a word I picked and picked out of my meager vocabulary.
Other than that, I couldn’t think of anything else to define a man who brutally murdered his own people.
I said to Yuren.
“You have to run away right now. First of all, I’ll have to get into the back row, and then I’ll take care of the support of my comrades waiting in the rear.”
“That much?”
There was a hint of disbelief in Yuren’s voice.
I didn’t bother explaining.
It was because before that, another elf was flying in from far away.
The flexible muscles of the snow leopard were also useful for throwing. Using that elasticity, the range that could be thrown was wider than expected.
I shouted hastily.
“Yuren, avoid!”
However, Yuren did not back down.
As if he was worried about me, who was already injured, he took a step forward and spread his aura thinly.
It was a sword.
I still didn’t know how to deal with Auras as elaborately as I did. It was a great choice for defense.
Anyway, the power of ‘Elf Sacrifice’ far exceeded that threshold.
After that, it was a repeat.
The only difference was that I hid behind Yuren’s back and flew a shorter distance. Thanks to this, additional injuries could be prevented to some extent.
Yuren, who had fallen down next to me, had to cough up blood.
It was a similar look to me who allowed the first blow.
The only difference was that unlike the first explosion, which caused flames, the second explosion created an electrical charge.
A faint current was still flowing through Yuren’s limbs.
The conclusion he drew was clear.
“Okay, let’s run away.”
My friend had a fighting spirit, but was not a suicidal person.
It was fortunate that I couldn’t.
Far away, flames roared and engulfed hell.