192 – The Story of How I First Met That Man -7-
I’m scared right now.
“You?”
‘Dammit.’
“This little girl is looking for you.”
There was an insurmountable wall in front of me.
It was my first time seeing an archbishop.
No, to be exact, it was my first time seeing an evil man who would become an archbishop.
Name: Yong Lv. 48
Occupation: Apprentice Priest
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Favorite Conversation Topics: Isolation/Revenge/Memory/Murder at the Hands of a Loved One/Disconnection/Life Threat/Unrequited Love/Exhaustion/Hardship.
Even topics as bizarre as those.
The wickedness he exuded.
Everything was new to me.
Up until now, I believed I had met many wicked people as I wallowed in the slums, but they were nothing compared to the man in front of me.
They had motives like money, but this guy was a wicked person who killed people purely for his own amusement. His wickedness was so profound that it made the thugs roaming the slums seem like jokes. My shoulders trembled.
It feels so distant.
I couldn’t think of a way to escape. I couldn’t think of a way to resolve this situation. No matter how much of an apprentice priest he was, my powerlessness in front of this man who would become an archbishop was nothing more than a cute little game.
It was ridiculous that a snot-nosed little kid like me could face an archbishop who could easily laugh off a knight. Of course, I was physically and mentally superior to other children, but I was still just a child by any standard.
I knew I was too weak to do anything, and that nothing would change even if I did something. To be honest, I thought running away was the answer.
Otherwise, I’ll die.
The Archbishop of Oblivion was the worst villain to appear in the novel.
He used the fragmentary power to manipulate memories, and with that ability, he had the twisted hobby of making people kill their own family members. He was someone that Mikhail hated the most, and I would have ranked him as someone I never wanted to meet.
It was a scale that didn’t need to be weighed.
I had to run away immediately. It was an urgent situation where I had to survive.
I yelled at myself that it wasn’t time to just stand there in a daze. Mikhail had to be abandoned and I had to run away.
‘Run away.’
‘Mikhail is the main character, so he’ll survive anyway….’
‘Dammit, you’re just an extra. You’re nothing.’
‘So move, dammit….’
The risk I had to take to protect Mikhail was too great.
But you know what?
My damn legs wouldn’t move. It was like my feet were glued to the floor. My mind was screaming at me to run away, but my damn legs were screaming at me to stay put.
I let out a deep sigh and said,
“Let go.”
I said it as calmly as I could, mustering all the pathetic courage in my chest.
“Let him go.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I felt like a sucker. I couldn’t figure out what Mikhail saw in him, even after asking myself the answer.
Like a sucker.
Even though I had heard hurtful words, I didn’t think it was the right thing for an adult to do to just leave me like this and act like they didn’t know me.
Isn’t it a waste, after feeding and housing him up until now? It’s a shame to just send him away when there’s a future where he could gain a lot of wealth with great connections.
I stayed put, giving myself a reason to be convinced. If I didn’t do this much, I felt like I would run away right now.
It couldn’t be helped, even if it made me look materialistic. This was my way of finding courage and comfort.
I slowly approached the dragon while holding back my trembling heart.
“You hate it. Let him go.”
All I had in my hand was a thin wooden stick.
It wasn’t a holy sword or a sharp blade, just a wooden stick that seemed like it would break at any moment, but that was fine. It wasn’t a fight I intended to win anyway.
I held back my trembling breath and gave Mikhail a gentle smile.
It’s okay now.
Mikhail’s pupils, which met mine, began to tremble greatly.
“…”
Was it a sense of relief? I hope so.
I don’t know Mikhail’s feelings right now, but I think it’s fortunate that they’re not negative.
Fortunately.
He’s not mad at me.
I thought he would be mad at me for saying those harsh words, like ‘Do whatever you want’, but I’m glad those feelings didn’t last long.
The dragon was staring at me blankly.
He just smiled interestingly as he watched me slowly approach, as if thinking about how he was going to play with me.
It seemed like he was interested in the fact that I approached without being scared. Most ordinary children would be terrified or run away at the sight of their friend being harassed.
I calmly looked at the man in front of me and said,
“What are you looking at?”
“…hahahaha.”
“Is it because I’m handsome? Is this the first time you’ve seen someone handsome?”
“How strange.”
“Your face is stranger. No matter how I look at it, you look like you’re in your 50s.”
“You’re scared to death, but your mouth is still alive.”
“So I should be dead?”
‘He’s quick-witted.’
It seemed like there was no bright and lively future where he would spare my life in that bastard’s mind already. Judging from the way he was fiddling with the dagger at his waist, it seemed like he was planning to cut me down.
Since I was going to be skinned anyway, I felt better if I could at least talk, so I spoke to him with my sharp tongue.
“Let that kid go.”
“What if I don’t?”
-BAM…
The dragon began to strangle Mikhail’s neck. Mikhail, writhing on the floor in pain, struggled to free himself from the man’s hands.
Mikhail looked at me and shouted.
“Run away…!”
I replied, pricking up my ears.
“What are you saying? Where would I go without you?”
“Run away…!”
“No way. You can’t run away.”
I let out a small laugh as I looked at the man emanating an eerie aura.
“It’s already too late.”
If I was going to run away, I should have done so long ago. If he was going to tell me, he should have done so sooner, without embarrassing me.
I slowly raised the end of the wooden stick towards the man. Now, I had to do my best.
I knew the results without even seeing them, but it would be better than doing nothing. And who am I? I am Bing-Yi, the one who makes the impossible possible. As someone who creates many variables, I had already devised a way to overcome this situation in my head.
Of course, there will be sacrifices in those variables.
I clenched the wooden stick in my hand and gathered my strength.
[Limit Break tests the limits of ‘Strength’.]
[Limit Break tests the limits of ‘Weaponry Genius’.]
[Limit Break…]
·
·
·
Perhaps the author known as God created me as a consumable for this very moment.
I mouthed the words silently towards Mikhail.
‘It’s okay.’
I will find a way somehow.
From Noble mtl dot com
I will find a way, just as I always have.
I spoke briefly to the man.
“Let go of him. This is your last chance.”
“No, I don’t want to.”
“Then I have no choice.”
I kicked off the ground and charged.
I prayed that I could tip the scales of the predetermined outcome even slightly in my favor, with my life as the weight.
*
Archbishop of Greed, Yong, smiled with interest as he watched the boy throwing punches.
He held his fists out in a strange stance.
The boy would dart in whenever a small gap appeared, trying to grab his lapels.
He seemed to have learned martial arts since he was young, and he was using some rather sophisticated techniques.
-Clang.
Yong couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the boy, wondering how such a small body could possess such strength.
‘This is fun.’
The wooden stick the boy was holding had broken long ago. He had struck his own wrist with a single attack.
‘I didn’t think he would aim for the wrist.’
The boy had struck his stick towards the wrist that was restraining the brat called Mikhail. He had thought that he could easily withstand the attack of a urchin who had been wallowing in the slums, but his judgment had been greatly mistaken.
-That’s it…!
-?!
-Thud…!
The boy didn’t seem like he wanted to use the stick as a weapon from the beginning. It seemed like he intended to use it as a means to get Mikhail away from me.
Yung smiled slightly as he looked at Mikhail, who was breathing heavily.
“Huff… huff…”
It seemed like he still needed more time to regain his senses. It was a good sign. It was better for that brat to be in the scenario he had planned.
He wanted to feel extreme despair.
“Where are you looking? Like a flirt.”
-Thud…!
Yung received the boy’s fist and smiled bitterly.
His wrist, which had been hit by the brat, stung. It seemed like his bones had cracked from the first attack, and Yung gritted his teeth from the rising pain as he struggled to put strength into his right hand.
‘This is fun.’
He wanted to make the boy who was fighting him with a burning passion despair.
More stimulation.
He wanted to create future troubles for himself.
Yung had always liked the stimulation of revenge. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was because he had grown up in a place full of betrayal since he was young, but Yung liked it when someone hated him.
It was a medium that made him stronger, a means to fill his dark magic, and something to look forward to. Yung thought that there would be nothing more fun than if someone came looking for him someday and said, ‘The enemy of my friend…’ and ended up dying miserably at his hands.
Yung began to imagine a scenario in his head while smiling slightly.
To get more despair.
Yung continued to fight the boy while picturing how he could make the dish tastier by instilling more despair.
“Don’t think strange things…!”
First. Let’s finish this.
-Stab.
Yung pulled out a small dagger from the back of his waist and stabbed the boy’s shoulder with the blade. He didn’t stab deeply because it would be troublesome if he died.
He hadn’t decided on the main course yet.
Should he make it that boy?
Or should he make it that guy, Mikhail?
Yung smiled slightly and covered the boy’s mouth while saying,
“Let’s see your dish for now.”
The moment black magic tried to penetrate Ricardo’s head.
-Snap.
Extreme pain washed over Yung.