The Old Man Is So Good at Acting Like a Loser chapter 46

＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (8) ＞

Andrea felt her mind wander. The tinnitus lingered in my ears for a long time, but it didn’t seem to be the aftermath of the explosion.

I didn’t assume that the worst wouldn’t happen. However, the worst came in a more turbulent and terrifying way than he predicted.

‘The explosive potion was the last bastion. In the first place, unless it’s a special case, the usage is close to a suicide attack.’

Trisha insisted on taking the explosive potion herself before entering. He said that since there is a blink shot, he would be able to catch himself off guard and create an opportunity to attack.

‘Then what if you die?’

Tricia answered Andrea’s question calmly.

‘Then I’ll pay off everything I owe with my life, well.’

Andrea tried again and again but couldn’t overcome Trisha’s stubbornness. In the end, he offered to give him the explosive potion only if he promised to keep one thing.

‘Only use it when you can increase distance with blink shots no matter what. Otherwise, don’t use it no matter how emergency it is.’

Tricia didn’t keep her promise. And the results were so disastrous.

Trisha, who has become incapacitated, grabs an ax to heal all injuries and restores the Minotaur’s horns.

It wasn’t just an ax that healed wounds. Pasiphae, a treasure of the royal family of Helios, said to have been made by melting iron by collecting the essence of the sun. Those who hold the handle will have their blood boil like a furnace, heal wounds all over their body, and will be able to face hundreds of enemies.

Steam rose from the Minotaur’s entire body. A thick mist of steam washes away the scorched fur from the explosion.

The eyes that were wide open were glistening with a thirst for slaughter. However, I couldn’t fully accept the energy yet, so I couldn’t run right away.

It felt like someone was grabbing my ribs like an iron grate and shaking them. Andrea desperately suppressed the tension and gave instructions.

“Marco, evacuate with Tricia. I will stop the Minotaur.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I’ll make sure I block that bull monster…”

“If that guy is holding an axe, Marco-san won’t last long. When I’m in a state where I can’t stand it, I’ll call you with a summon card, so avoid it first.”

Marco looked reluctant, but reluctantly followed Andrea’s instructions. He hid himself in the woods with Trisha, who was no different from a living corpse.

Andrea took the white potion from her bosom and drew a card. Defense, Defense, Shadow Imprint. And preserve the mana left behind.

‘Now that this has happened, there is only one victory plan.’

After using the shadow imprint, Andrea drank the potion of extinction. Then, using Mana Conservation, I wiped all of my hands. It crumbled like dust, and the two defenses completely disappeared from the deck.

‘Compress the deck and turn the shadow imprint infinitely… to use the hidden function.’

A sharp pain pierced the back of his hand again. My stomach boils in the dark and my vision becomes cloudy, but my thinking and senses have become clearer and clearer. Next to the black hook pattern, another hook pattern appeared as if drawing a circle.

“I think I’ve prepared enough for this.”

A low voice of a beast. Pasiphae was blazing and burning.

The leisure time is over. The Minotaur is in action.

bang!

The bottom of the ground that had been raised spurred down. Looking up, it was a leap so high that it looked less than the size of a fist. The Minotaur extended its ax and fell towards Andrea.

aaang!!

Damn it!

A devastating blow that is far from powerful. At once the ground split in half and the ground sank. Andrea, who had calculated the landing point, had already avoided it, but felt her bones soften.

‘Do not panic. The more calm you are, the more calm you should be.’

The Minotaur swung his ax diagonally at Andrea. The remnants of the flames dizzyed his gaze. I narrowly avoided it, but the attack was too fast than I thought. The slashing continued without a chance to breathe.

Boo-huh!

Whoo – Whoops!

Obviously, the trajectory of the attack was not invisible. Andrea had a vague idea of how the Minotaur would attack next.

‘I’ll swing it downwards this time, but…’

Boo-ooh!

However, the attack was too fast. A slash that cuts in half faster than Andrea predicted. This time I turned backwards and leaped to avoid it, but I was not confident in avoiding it the next time.

said the Minotaur with a sneer.

“You don’t intend to fight? You just dodge like a rat.”

“I’m a bit better though. At least you’re not running away like everyone else.”

Suddenly, this grinding sound came all the way here.

“I’ll make sure you don’t make fun of that dirty snout.”

Andrea took advantage of the conversation and quickly used the card. Two hits this time. The deck was gradually getting thinner.

The perilous acrobatics continued. He ducked to avoid the huge ax blade aiming for his shoulder with a paper difference, jumped up to avoid it, and suffered a cut on his calf from a slashing attack, and broke his ribs in a punch while aiming for a gap and digging inside…

Although not fatally wounded, Andrea was already in a state of disrepair. My concentration is disrupted and my vision is getting darker, so I feel like I’ve already put one foot on the road to the underworld.

But even in the midst of that, I didn’t forget to use the card whenever I had a chance. When the effect of the annihilation potion ran out, Andrea finally succeeded in obtaining a deck of only five cards.

Defense, Shadow Imprint, Shadow Strike, Curse of the Necronomicon, Summon Marco.

Andrea held on to her fading consciousness and used ‘Summon Marco’. Above the green summoning circle, Marco with a hammer jumped out.

The Minotaur smiled contentedly.

“Ah, aren’t you the ‘real owner’ of the hammer? I was looking for where he went, but he came personally like this.”

“I’m sorry, Marco. Just a little bit, just a little bit more time, please…”

Marco didn’t leave much of an answer to Andrea. Instead, he was speaking with an honest back. Believe in yourself and go away.

“Don’t even think about running away this time, you f*cking little head!”

Leaving behind Marco’s shouts, Andrea quickly ran towards the forest.

It felt like I was suffering from a high fever for a long time. Gastric juices refluxed into the throat at times. His vision was blurred, as if something was stuck to his eyes.

The shadow god’s power, which gave him sharp reflexes and senses, left formidable side effects.

‘You can’t stop here. I have to continue to engrave the shadow imprint.’

The hidden effect of Shadow Imprint, Advent Possession (降臨 憑依).

Andrea discovered this effect when she encountered a card-destroying boss as a thief and lost all other cards. I used the shadow imprint one after another with the feeling of grabbing at least a straw…

When Shadow Imprint was used for the 7th time, a hidden effect was activated.

Black flames burned and wrapped around the character, and the character could not be controlled like when in a state of confusion. Behind the character, the shape of a beast with bright red eyes and sharp teeth swayed.

It was only later that we learned that the beast was one of the angels serving the Shadow God. The character possessed by the shadow beast cut off the boss monster’s throat with a single slash.

The objects possessed were not only shadow beasts. A mysterious knight in black armor, a monster with a lot of mucus dripping from his big eyes, and a monster wearing a crow mask…

If there is one thing in common, they are all beings related to the ‘shadow self’.

Even after that, I tried to build a deck that only used shadow imprints, but it was not easy to obtain shadow imprints and compress the deck. In addition, the ‘Advent Possession’ effect did not happen every time.

‘If I’m lucky enough to be able to use the same power as back then…’

The third imprint, followed by the fourth imprint. Andrea felt her consciousness gradually fade. The shadow god’s energy was gradually eating away at the mental realm.

“aaagh!”

When the fifth seal was engraved, a terrible scream was heard from the royal castle. It was not the Minotaur’s voice.

‘Mr. Marco…’

Andrea closed her eyes tightly and counted the time incessantly.

The sixth imprint, and finally the seventh imprint.

Andrea felt herself being sucked into a deep abyss. Something black and sticky was sucking him in, and instead, ‘another being’ was surging up.

‘It’s a success.’

At that thought, Andrea passed out.

And a completely unexpected existence opened its eyes.

“…”

Another being who examines the body with unfamiliar eyes. The clothes he was wearing, the weapon he was holding, and even all the senses of his body were unfamiliar.

However, the only voice that uttered beyond the vocal chords was undoubtedly her own voice.

“Three hundred years or so…”

Forgotten memories, broken memories, a stigma willingly put on the back, a promise to draw a cause, a breakup that never looked back, a terrible pain, now handed over to others… A life starting from the bottom.

The other being let out a candid breath. The memories of the body and the memories he originally had were mixed, causing confusion.

“Andrea… yes, I’ve used that name before. The fact that this body was given that name means that Archbishop Gregory is still alive…”

Eyes digging into the far-distant past with an empty heart. A bull monster appeared before him, holding a flaming axe.

“I was hiding here. Like a f*cking rat…”

“…Are you the son of King Minos?”

The Minotaur frowned in one corner of his eye. The atmosphere of the challenger in front of me was completely different from before. As if the previous personality was washed away and another personality was put on top.

Dangerous.

Beast instinct sent out a fierce warning. The Minotaur took a step back without even realizing it. Even though the body was the same, the feeling of intimidation that radiated was incomparable to before.

“You, who are you?”

“Like a pitiful monster. You will have to repeat countless deaths in the future.”

Andrea raised her hand.

Huge, blazing black hands shot through the ground following his touch. Numerous hands grabbed each other’s forearms and formed a wall, completely enclosing the space where Andrea and the Minotaur were.

“At least let me go without pain.”

A black flame moved to Andrea’s grip. The Minotaur instinctively threw its body sideways.

Tsujeojeok –

A dark afterimage shimmered, and the Minotaur’s left arm was completely ripped off.

“ooo!”

A Minotaur grabbing its shoulders and falling backwards. Andrea threw away the torn arm and tilted her head.

“It would be better not to avoid it. The more you struggle, the longer the pain.”

“aaagh!”

final outburst. The Minotaur stood up, grabbed an ax with one hand, and charged at Andrea. Gathering the strength of his whole body, contracting his back muscles as much as possible, he exploded his power like an erupting volcano and swung a huge axe.

Andrea raised her index finger. Then, he pointed his finger precisely toward the ax blade.

Took.

The blow with all his might was blocked without being able to cut even the tips of his fingers.

A view you won’t believe. The Minotaur’s pupils trembled slightly. But it was still early to be surprised.

As soon as it touched Andrea’s fingertips, Pasiphae’s flames quickly faded. Afterwards, black cracks spread across the ax blade like contaminated blood.

Pa-ching!

Without letting the enemy shed a single drop of blood, the ax forged with the essence of the sun shattered in vain.

At that moment, the Minotaur realized.

A power gap that can never be crossed.

I could tell without any animal instincts. Even if he made a pact with the devil and received God’s blessing, he wouldn’t be able to inflict a single scratch on him.

The Minotaur knelt down and bowed his head.

“…Name, just give me your name. At least I want to die knowing who will take my life.”

“It’s a name… I’ve been using too many names, so I don’t think they have any meaning.”

When Andrea raised the blade, the black flame followed suit and changed into the shape of a sharp dagger. The Minotaur closed its eyes and awaited death with a detached feeling.

“People usually call me ‘the thief who stole the country.’”

A black flame pierced the Minotaur’s heart. The bull monster, cursed by the devil, died without even dying.

The thief mourned the monster who did not even know what the true curse he had received was.

After a brief moment of silence, the thief waved his hand down. The hands that had been wrapped around them were released all at once, and they sank back to the ground.

“There is still an infinitely long way to go… To think that you can’t overcome this level of hardship and have to lend me my help.”

But it was unavoidable. It all started with the thorough destruction of his body, and ‘this man’ has not yet been able to bring out even the slightest bit of his body’s natural strength.

Consciousness was clouded now. It was a signal for the one who now controls this body to return.

‘When you come back, you will endlessly break, roll, and suffer as you climb this dungeon…’

The thief uttered one last word before completely losing consciousness. It was a complete monologue, with no one listening.

“Nevertheless, I hope you reach the ‘end of all journeys’…”

＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (8) ＞ End