novelraw Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Hello, this is Akagi Hideo.
I am currently plummeting at high speed.
The EXP King is getting farther and farther away.
Ahhh, my EXP—wait for me, I'll catch up soon!
The ground got close, so I landed with a thud.
Debris was falling from above, so I tried to dodge, but it's pitch black everywhere and I can't see a thing.
I have no idea what's going on, so for now I hold onto Gii-san to protect him.
Gii-san has soft, smooth, sensitive skin, so it'd be terrible if he got crushed.
"Gii"
Also, although I don't really want to, I protect Naked Man too. Just in case.
Everything finally settles down.
I got bonked on the top of my head by debris like six times.
That's probably going to contribute to future hair-loss. Oof.
"Where are we, I wonder?"
Even so, it's dark.
So dark I'm turning into Kurasugi Hideo (?)
"I'll light the lighter to secure visibility."
"Gii......"
"What? Shimaenaga-san won't find out... I mean, I have no choice but to do this for visibility. Yes, no choice."
I light the 'EXP Lighter Lv3'.
A burst of orange flame flares up.
Pale-blue particles spray out from the fire.
The air trembling from the flame's heat reminds me of stars in the night sky.
It feels like I'm peering into a cutout of the universe. It's mysterious. And incredibly beautiful.
I bring the particles close to my nose and inhale deeply.
"UOOOOHHHH IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S HEEEEEERE!! NNNNNGH UUUUHHH IT FEEEELS SO GOOOOOD!!!"
Ascension achieved.
Not suitable for young children.
The pleasure surging through my body makes me arch so hard my head touches the ground.
Oh no, at this rate Finger Man's dignity is going to be lost.
"Ahh, no, no, nnn, noooo~"
"Gii (Translation: I'm really glad no one else is around.)"
The spasms subside, and I manage to stand up properly again.
"Alrighty then, we've secured light (take two)"
"Gii (Translation: He's pretending it never happened.)"
I shine the lighter on Naked Man.
Blood is leaking from every hole, and some yellow fluid too.
I want to heal him, but when I used 'Blue Blood Lv5' earlier, it said, 'If it's used again, I'll die. Definitely.' He really hated it...
If injections are no good, maybe I can fix him with my healing skill?
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'Blue Pulsation Lv4'
Proof you've accepted the blood of something inhuman.
A new life circulates within you.
Restores 2 HP per second.
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'Black Swamp's Severer'
Proof of resistance against the invasion from the Black Swamp.
You became a wedge that maintains the world.
Instantly restores HP and MP to their maximum.
Usable once every 720 hours. 2 in stock.
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'Blue Pulsation Lv4' is self-healing.
'Black Swamp's Severer' is also self-healing.
Hm.
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'Until the Very End Together'
Underlings serve their master.
The master must answer their underlings.
Revives an underling.
MP Cost: 100
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"Naked Man, if you become my underling, I might be able to save you."
I show Naked Man the detailed screen of the skill.
If Naked Man becomes my underling, and I deliver the final blow, I should be able to revive him from death.
"No way... a revival skill...?"
Naked Man opens his bloodshot eyes wide.
"Finger Man... so you're also a descendant of the divine blood... You really did revive me back then, at that place...?"
"What'll it be? If you don't act, you're going to die."
"Hah... hah..."
"......"
"Hah, hah............"
"......"
"......"
"Gah, cough—don't screw with me... There's no way I'll become your underling... I refuse."
"I see."
He looked straight at me with eyes full of resolve and said it.
————
That man fought for the sake of a little sister who no longer existed.
She had been his beloved family, but one day she lost her life to a despicable atrocity.
The man delivered vigilante justice to the vile criminal who had defiled and murdered his sister.
In the depths of devastating loss, he fell into darkness.
He came to worship an ancient god and learned the miracles of its skills.
From then on, as a faithful silver follower, he fought against the foundation, committing great sins while remaining sane, sacrificing many lives for what he believed was his purpose and ideal world.
That was all he had.
He didn't believe salvation existed in this world.
But in his final moment, he was betrayed by his god.
He always knew it.
He had leaked information to intruders entering the dungeon.
Even if he had been brainwashed, that failure could not be forgiven.
As a result, the silver mystery he had built up over twenty years of training exploded, cruelly destroying him from the inside.
Why didn't the god answer his prayers?
Even as he felt despair again, the follower kept praising the god to the end so as not to let those twenty years go to waste.
When Finger Man gave him life, he rejected reality.
He told himself he was just a little confused.
At the same time, he was being forced to choose.
Did he really still owe loyalty to a god that had betrayed him?
Maybe he should side with Finger Man, who wanted to kill that god.
The man didn't have the courage to decide.
But through battle, he came to know the supernatural nature of Finger Man.
There, he felt a new kind of divinity.
Learning that even the Knight of the God-Eater (Systeri Noteria) had been repelled and that Finger Man possessed a miracle called a revival skill, his doubt turned into conviction.
"Naked Man, if you become one of my underlings, I might just save you."
It was a sweet temptation.
If he accepted it, he could live.
He was at death's door.
Even if he ended up betraying the silver, it would feel natural. He could make excuses.
Besides, it was the silver who betrayed him first.
What was there to hesitate about?
The man thought, and thought, and thought—and then refused the offer.
The heretic had conviction.
The path he had believed in, the time he had spent, the dreams he had held. He would not defile them.
The miracle he believed in truly existed.
No one had the right to betray or deny the self that had believed in it.
Not even he himself could betray his past.
That's exactly why he rejected it.
But that didn't mean he was rejecting humanity.
The man affirmed his past self—and his present self too.
All to end his life with no regrets about that choice.
He would not surrender as a silver follower.
Finger Man, for saving my life—I'll repay you with the heretic's malice.
————
——From the perspective of Akagi Hideo
"Finger Man, the light—bring it over here..."
He brought the lighter close to Naked Man.
He opened the grimoire and, with one barely opened eye, traced the pages.
"Maybe... that's what this is."
"Did you figure something out?"
"A vast underground space located beneath the ritual chamber... Yeah, no mistake... This is a storage vault for military forces meant to awaken alongside Lady Silver Priestess (Lusas Osas) after her awakening..."
"Military forces..."
"Take me... farther in."
Carrying Naked Man, he moved deeper in.
Deeper inside, the walls were lined with stone coffins.
An absurd number of them.
Even I understood what that meant.
Seventy... eighty, ninety—no, maybe around a hundred. Or maybe a hundred of them exist.
"I... am your enemy."
"Yeah. You're my enemy."
"Hahaha... ah—hahahahaha! *cough cough*... I rememb—! (massive coughing of blood)"
That wasn't a proper evil laugh.
Still choking, Naked Man rolled himself to the ground.
Crawling, he stood by leaning against a stone slab that sat at the center of the mass of stone coffins.
Blood smeared thickly onto the slab.
"Originally, only Lady Silver Priestess was allowed to activate the altar... But hahaha, if it's to kill you, to bury the intruder... then so be it!"
The stone coffins began to rumble open.
From within emerged armored warriors clad in silver sheen.
As soon as they saw me, they raised their weapons, cloaked themselves in silver light, and rushed me as one.
"Haha, this number, this military force... But you're going to defeat them, aren't you..."
"Of course."
"Still running your mouth... In that case—show me what you've got, my enemy."
"So you're sticking to your convictions after all. Then I'll stick to mine too. ——And with that, hey everyone, it's Finger Man from the Finger Man Channel! Today we're doing a 'Let's turn 100 divine war machines into charred remains' video!"
Alriiight, charred remains~ charred remains~!
Let's keep turning them all into charcoal~!
The largest EXP-farming party in history begins.
Huh? Shimaenaga-san? Never heard of that bird...