Chapter 9 - I Didn't Know That (2)

CRASH!

The blade, leaking streams of pitch-black energy, was truly ominous and terrifying. But knowing that this was a Demon Knight's skill, there was no more fitting effect.

"Keugh!"

"Cowering behind your shield, you look just like a baby turtle...!"

"You bastard...!"

Grinding her teeth at my provocation, the priest soon raised her mace.

"The gods are with me!"

Suddenly, radiance scattered across the night-submerged forest. It was because the mace harbored a brilliant white light as if it had become a light source.

I couldn't remember the skill name, but was that roughly an ATK (Attack Increase) buff? Or not. Was it a DEF (Defense Increase) buff?

Anyway, how much it hurts when hit wouldn't be much different from before. Due to type matchups, the priest's attacks dealt 1.3 times more damage to me.

So I quickly stepped back. I didn't know what the level difference was, but one wrong move could result in seeing more than half my HP blown away. I was better off being careful from the start.

THUMP, THUMP.

Rather than attacking me, the priest lightly tapped her shield with the mace, spreading the light to it.

It was so broken. In the original game, you could at least only buff your weapon.

"Heup!"

Then, the opponent slammed down her rectangular greatshield and advanced, swinging her mace.

It wasn't a particularly hard attack to dodge. It was because the priest class focused on strength rather than agility, making her speed inherently slow.

However, just because the opponent couldn't hit me didn't necessarily mean I was at an advantage.

My attacks didn't land on her at all. It was all thanks to the greatshield she was holding.

"You cowardly bastard...!"

Wasn't it more cowardly of you to hide behind a greatshield with a 100% block rate? Unless I deflected the shield or landed a backstab, I couldn't even deal any damage...!

Even if I tried to go for a backstab, she would spin around to follow me with the shield raised. Despite having incredibly high defense from the plate armor she wore underneath, she wouldn't even allow a single backstab.

She was a truly disgusting priest.

'Should I try aiming for the head instead?'

I pondered while glaring at that culmination of disgust.

Since she wasn't wearing a helmet, thrusting at her head for a targeted strike would trigger a critical hit at the very least.

But how could I pierce that massive shield? I absolutely couldn't.

'If I crush it with overwhelming strength.'

A skill... would it work if I used a skill? Even with a 100% block rate, maxing out the stagger value would knock the shield aside.

"Tsk."

Ah, I don't know. It'll be exhausting if this standoff drags on too long.

So I might as well throw a gamble right now.

"I will definitely sever your head and offer it to the victims!"

"Huu..."

I gripped my sword tightly.

My aim was to jump over the shield and attack. An action I could only dream of attempting because this was virtual reality, not a PC game. Even if I needed the skills to back it up.

Still, from my perspective, I wasn't someone with poor skills, nor did I lack a desire for a challenge. Even reconsidering it, it was worth a shot.

Even if I failed anyway, since this was a game, I could just start over.

For that reason, I took a breath, then lightly kicked my two-hander, which I had rested at an angle against the ground. The blade bounced up, spinning smoothly before landing perfectly in my grip.

THUD!

Then I struck the upper part of the shield. The shield tilted slightly, and a groan leaked from between the opponent's teeth. My attack wouldn't have even gone through, but her reaction was sure great.

"Do you think I'll lose!"

The opponent rushed at me, holding her shield forward. It felt exactly like a bull charging at me, but since I was in a position where I could endure one death, I wasn't too scared.

Instead, I mechanically pulled back my two-hander, moved one of the hands holding the hilt up to the ricasso, and swung the sword over my head.

THUMP!

At the same time, I launched myself into the air with a jump. Like running up a wall, the soles of my feet stepped on the tilted surface of the shield.

"...!"

Catching onto the situation, the opponent tried to push me away with the shield, but I didn't go flying back like in a comic book.

Thus, in the split second my body was practically attached to the shield, I spun the blade I had raised over my head. Using the hand holding the ricasso as an axis, I rotated the sword and thrust the blade downwards.

By doing so, the blade's rotated position allowed it to target past the shield.

The white blade struck down beyond the shield.

"Keut!"

CRUNCH!

I aimed for the head, but the blade ultimately struck her shoulder. Due to the protective gear on her shoulder, I couldn't even scratch or cut her skin. It was a shame.

I wanted to attack more here, but gravity was starting to pull my body down. I thought to myself as I felt my body sliding down the shield.

Hmm. If I fall like this, I think I'll get hit by the mace popping out from the left.

Just in case, I activated the skill 'Survival Instinct'. A translucent arrow pointed to the right side of the shield. It was an area where I could avoid the mace even if it was swung.

So I shifted my weight to the side. It was a very wise decision. Thanks to falling to the side, I dodged the subsequent downward strike of the mace.

Wow, that scared me. I rolled once more as soon as I landed. My body completely escaped from the priest's range.

"You demon—."

Still, it was quite a worthwhile result. I couldn't deal damage, but wasn't it something that I got right to the brink of a successful attack?

At the very least, I pulled off one cool scene. I'm recording all my gameplay, so I should watch the video later.

"For a fanatic...!"

Barely suppressing my eyes from curving into a smile, I roared fiercely and rolled my body.

Thanks to that, the spot I secured was diagonally behind the priest.

Furthermore, the priest had planted her shield on the ground and thrust her mace forward over the shield, leaving her movements sluggish.

"Pay the price for running your mouth so freely!"

Such a good opportunity presented itself? Ah, I can't miss this. This time, I'll definitely land a solid hit—!

"Flames, burn away my enemy!"

I tried to strike down with my sword immediately while activating a skill. I would have, if not for the spell I heard from the other side of the forest.

"So there was another little rat!"

Wow. Another one is coming here. At this timing?

This progression really has no mercy. Is this an event you're even supposed to clear?

Not bothering to stop my expression from crumpling, I stepped back. A sphere of flame crashed into the spot where I had just been, temporarily sending a pillar of fire shooting up.

It was definitely a skill from the mage class.

How should I say this. At this point, even a casual gamer would be a little bewildered.

Throwing a healer-tank & ranged DPS combo as enemies all of a sudden just because it's a story or event? And ones that are a higher level than the player at that?

Isn't this... a bit unethical? I couldn't even say I came to a high-level area early, since the quest proceeding here was connected to the tutorial.

"Archmage!"

"Oh my, to think the Inquisitor would be suffering such hardship."

I narrowed my brow, but almost smoothed it out unconsciously at the words I heard. It was because Archmage and Inquisitor were the names of the 3rd class advancements for mages and priests, respectively.

"I'm late, but I shall help too."

Of course, since the game's genre changed, the concept of class advancements had disappeared—that much was certain, as it was mentioned in the trailer—so it was safe to see them as mere titles now.

"An Archmage? Hah, even sages are nothing special! Seeing as you hang around lunatics and attack passersby as you please!"

So I tossed any fear right out the window! Even if the meaning of class advancements had still existed, I would have done this anyway!

"Passerby? How dare trash who contracted with a demon pretend to be innocent!"

Meanwhile, the priest had been solely making remarks that poured gasoline on my roleplaying fire since earlier. I couldn't hold back at this.

"Contract? Did you say contract?"

Based purely on the dialogue, it was no different from being misunderstood as having made a contract with the bastard who murdered my family.

Being dedicated to hunting demons at the risk of my life because of that incident, facing such a misunderstanding would inevitably make anyone flip their lid.

"Hah! You must have devoted everything to the gods' radiance until you even went blind!"

To express those feelings, I let out a sharp laugh and rasped my voice as much as possible.

It might sound like self-praise, but the resentment erupting from the depths of my chest seemed to be expressed quite poignantly.

It would be great if my facial expression was perfect here too. I couldn't see that far myself, so I wasn't sure. It was too dark to see anyway.

"The gods have no need for a moron spouting such nonsense! I will tear you to shreds and toss you as food for wild dogs!"

"How dare a mere turncoat!"

"...? Wait..."

The Archmage tried to say something, but the two of us adjusting our grips on our weapons was faster.

「A hostile target exists within a 10m radius.」

HISSSSS!

Furthermore, a spine-chilling metallic hiss piercing my ears was a step faster than the priest and I moving our feet.

My steps instinctively halted at the popping system window. The priest seemed to be the same. The twinkling light stopped moving.

"Despicable bastard, you must have called your comrades!"

Ignoring the priest's words, I listened closely to my surroundings. Honing my senses with the awareness that there was an enemy, multiple presences entered my perception. From up in the trees and beneath the ground.

And those dozens of sounds gathered in one place. Not even the darkness could hide its presence.

"... I wondered what kind of demon it was to be so unseen, but it seems it was a Medusa."

The mage muttered. The volume was loud enough to reach my ears. Though it was a guy I already knew even without him telling me.

「Medusa │ A demon formed by hundreds of snakes gathering around a single red snake. It scatters when it feels danger.」

Just as the floating window explained, a Medusa was a colony of snakes. Thanks to that, its appearance was quite disgusting, and it had the troublesome trait of scattering when close to death, only to gather around the red snake and revive again.

"Hah."

But was that important? Not really. Since it was a mob meant to be hunted, a method to hunt it definitely existed.

So the thing to note was its appearance and the fact that it was a demon itself.

"A demon...!"

This really was a story event! Otherwise, there's no way an enemy would appear at this timing!

Then would the original scenario be using this guy as an excuse to cooperate with them?

"Perfect timing, you bugs!"

However, I refuse!

After all, the concept I interpreted and established was that of an incredibly antisocial and uncooperative figure. Let alone the fact that the person I'd be cooperating with was someone I'd been fighting tooth and nail with just now, making it even more impossible.

"I will grant you death!"

The reason I still turned my blade, despite that, was simply due to my character analysis that his hatred for demons would be greater than his anger toward those two.

To that end, I immersed myself as if diving into the role, feigning an expression filled with madness.

Naturally, I spun my body without hesitation, as if I had completely forgotten about the priest and the mage. They were now secondary! Mwahaha.

"Victory to my sword, glory to the heavens!"

Unlike the glowing priest, I wasn't confident in facing snakes in the darkness without any light.

I shouted thunderously and turned on my lantern. Light was essential for Medusa, especially since I had to distinguish colors.

"What..."

It sounded like a dumbfounded voice came from behind, but I couldn't care less. As long as they didn't backstab me right now, that was enough.

Honestly, even if they did backstab me... I was already prepared to die. My reaction would have just ended at, 'You sure know how to fight, Ms. Priest. Backstabbing is the golden rule of a fight, after all.'

But would they even attack me in the first place? That would derail the story. Honestly, even if I didn't mess up now, I felt like the me from a few minutes later would smash them anyway.

HISSSSS!

Setting that aside, the first thing I did was bury my two-hander into the Medusa's body. Dozens of snakes were sliced and split, falling away with a thud.

However, new snakes slithered in to fill their place. The snakes that didn't die even bared their tongues and fangs at me.

I ignored them. My pain reception setting was low, so it didn't even hurt. The displayed HP wasn't dropping significantly either.

My gauntleted hand dug through the colony of snakes.

HISS!

Ah, how much I had wished to do this when playing the original game.

Getting bitten by a snake only dealt 2 damage, 5 damage like that anyway, so it was better to just take some hits and grab the main body. In the original game, I had to chip away at its health and then find and attack the red one when the snakes scattered...

"Is it you...!"

With snakes dangling from my nape and limbs, I finally found the red snake. The red snake I yanked out thrashed around to escape my grip.

But like this, it was a bit difficult for me to attack as well.

I threw the pulled-out red snake in another direction as if slamming it down. Then I grabbed the two-hander I had left lodged in the colony of snakes.

As the long sword slid out from the pile of snakes, it dripped with crimson blood and a radiance reflecting the lantern hanging at my waist.

SLICE!

Before the red snake could even flee, the blade struck down on its body. The lengthy body split in two, spilling blood.

But I couldn't be sure. It might still be alive since it was cut a bit close to the tail.

THWACK!

I pulled the sword back and struck down again. Whether from rigor mortis or a will to survive, the wriggling snake's head was cleanly severed off.

SPLAT!

Following the horizontal cut, I sliced it vertically as well. But my hatred for demons wouldn't end with this.

I even stirred my sword around as if mincing it. Seeing the mashed head made me proud. You had to pay attention to such minor details for it to be true roleplaying.

「LEVEL UP!」

「❖ The Danger Lurking in the Northwest Forest

∎ Eliminate the Demon 1 / 1

∎ Recover Evidence of the Hunt 0 / 1」

In the meantime, the quest was updated.

With the core dead, the snakes that formed the Medusa's body were starting to scatter in all directions. The sensation of the snakes falling off my body felt cold and damp.

"Hah..."

I raised the corners of my mouth while looking at the dead Medusa. I couldn't tell since I didn't have a mirror, but it probably wasn't a very pretty smile. Since it would be closer to a mad cackle than a genuine laugh.

Besides, how could a smile look pretty when I was covered in blood. It'd be a relief if I didn't just look like a crazy bastard.

Ah, come to think of it, since I was indeed a crazy bastard when it came to demons, it might actually be a good thing if I looked like one.

Well, whatever the case. I finished the quest with this. Then all that's left now is the mage and the priest...

Since I'd just killed a demon, I'd be in an excited state, and since I had a grudge against those two for being mistaken as a demon, wouldn't a fiercer reaction than before be the right move?

Alright, over-immersion on!

CRACK, CRACK.

Rolling my stiff neck lightly, I bounced my sword up to rest it on my shoulder. Then, erasing my smile but leaving my thirst for demons and madness intact, I stared at the two of them.

"I commend you for not interfering while I killed those fucking little rats. It seems even a fanatic has some shred of tact."

Honestly, I knew this could get in the way of the story a bit.

But if me running my mouth right now ruined the story, wouldn't that be fun in its own way?

Though, if they gave this much freedom in the first place, it meant the game developers were confident they could handle it.

"Then now, as promised, I will tear that mouth of yours wide open."

So I'll do whatever I want. I'd never give up my concept, even if I died.