* Standing in the ruined goblin lair, the armored man was about to set off in search of the goblins who managed to flee when
- No, it's no longer necessary.
- Pardon? If he is no longer there it is because he is still alive. I could not ignore such an existence, especially an error on my part. He will die like all those like him.
- Of course he will die. No one survives after losing that much blood. The wound is very deep so there is no point in pursuing him again...
- Of course it is! The goblins must be exterminated.
- What I mean is that it is better to let him die alone in pain than to waste our time. I don't care what happens to this goblin. It's the destruction of the horde that was important to me and it's done. Mission complete.
* After a tense visual exchange, the two agreed to leave the cave together. They found everyone outside waiting for them. A few minutes later, Arcadia remained very worried, standing on a rock towards the mountain. The others looked at her back, thinking that she must be contemplating the death of her little sister, but was that the case? Looking into space rather blearily, Arcadia thought
- It's strange, the vent was canceled. I thought that by destroying the goblins' lair, I would have taken it away, but I received nothing. WOQ, what happened?
"Information: The event was canceled because it did not meet the deity's expectations."
- I see. I admit it was crappy. A real waste of time. But then, what did she expect by organizing such an uninteresting event? We will have to make up for all this time and experience wasted unnecessarily. I should have slain that demon. At least it would have paid off. However, I'm not disappointed because I killed all the shit that touched my sister. Not that I have any real emotion towards her but still, it's sad to lose a sister even if we're not really sisters.
* She thought when the thief from her team approached and said
- I know it's not the time but we should leave. Don't forget that our post on the battlefield has been empty for a while. Also, I got this back.
* He gave the sword to Arcadia before saying while scratching the back of his head to show his gene
- Really sorry.
- Did you get the sword back?! And the goblin who had it?
- I killed him too.
- Really?
* Pronounced Arcadia with a doubtful look while caressing his face but above all, the place where Sham had cut him with a distant look while thinking back to the scene when
- You do not believe me? This is indeed the goblin who managed to wound your cheek with this same sword, right? Although you can't call it an injury. But I assure you he is dead.
- No, I'll take your word for it. Just that...
- Hmm?
- No nothing! Let's go back.
* After this exchange, they joined the others before hitting the road again. The night was becoming more and more illuminated by the light of a gentle rising sun on the mountain and its surroundings. Somewhere, far from the mountain, after having endured the current of the river, the two scarlet goblins were fleeing into a forest. Sham, our hero, lent a shoulder to his leader to help him stand up and walked to escape. After a while of running away, they were both physically and mentally tired.
I was exhausted, tired not only because of the river but also because of the poisonous water that we took head-on. I was running away when I received a notification
"The event quest has been canceled. Compensation will be paid to all participants."
"You have received 1000 experience points."
"You received 500 bonus points for surviving"
"You received 500 bonus points for damage inflicted."
"You have received a divine gift. Will you accept it or refuse it?"
She asks this weird AI some stupid questions. Who would refuse such a gift? Well if I tell her that, I risk alienating her so
- I accept.
I whispered so as not to be heard by this dirty old man I'm carrying.
" Displaying the gift of the gods: One of the 10 amulets of commandment. The amulet of charity. Effect: Everything you give will be multiplied by 10 and everything you receive will be rewarded by 10. Level: 55. It there are no particular conditions for its use."
While WOQ was displaying the effects and such, a thought was already crossing my mind. Especially after realizing this artifact I just received.
- Why am I helping this old man exactly? I was fleeing, I took the wrong route and I thought that the rescued one would help me quickly climb the ladder, but does he have the slightest chance of surviving? Dead, he will no longer be of any use to me then
I then thought of a plan and WOQ confirmed my thoughts
"It is possible to recover what a deceased person leaves behind, but the only way to recover what is in their inventory and also their title and gain points is to kill them yourself."
That is what I thought. If he dies then I will gain almost nothing from his corpse. He was injured, weakened and dying without any protection. While walking in this forest poorly lit by the sun, I hit my paw on a small rock and we were both falling forward. So I took the opportunity to quickly take out my knife and put it in front of the leader of the horde, on the ground. He fell straight on it, puncturing his chest. He vomited blood in excruciating pain before calming down. As for me, I landed well on the ground before quickly moving away from him.
- Do not be mad with me. It's the law of survival that dictates that.
After waiting for a while, I noticed that he was no longer moving so I moved a little closer to see and verify his death. He didn't move as I touched him with the tip of my toe. So I concluded that he was indeed dead.
- I don't really like this idea but I'll happily use it hahaha
I was going to take off his clothes when the leader of the horde got up before throwing a gust of wind at me which sent me flying and smashed against a tree. He was indeed alive and he got up, removing the dagger.
- Traitor! Traitor! Traitor! You, die.
He said as I stood up too, before creating a wind spell to combine it with a fire spell while aiming it.
- Uh oh he wasn't supposed to be a dying person? Where does something come from...
Before I finished my sentence, he launched his attack on me. I ran sideways to avoid him at the last minute. The attack fell on the tree destroying the bottom with the wind before setting it on fire. It was like a gust of wind in the form of small scattered whirlwinds combined with a fire spell. And before I even had time to collect myself, he did it again.
I ran at full speed between the trees to escape its increasingly frequent attacks. I ran in a circle around him and his attacks narrowly missed me each time and caused serious damage in the forest. Despite his injuries, while clutching his chest which was very touching and bleeding profusely, he continued to shoot me with his attack.
- His fate is already sealed. He's going to die so if I hold on until then then...I have a chance of beating him. No. Like that, at this rate, I will die before him. I also need to take action.
I then brought up my inventory before using the gift of the gods. An amulet then came out and appeared directly on my wrist. While running around him, I uttered
- O wind, take away my sins and bless me with your grace: Not light.
During my magic exercises, I took the opportunity to learn some magic spells and this was one of them. The light step allows you to move more lightly and it showed when I started to become much faster for my opponent. And to destabilize him even more, I started jumping on the trees to gain support before propelling myself towards another. By jumping from tree to tree, sometimes I gave him the impression of moving away by fleeing before retracing my steps in other directions to destabilize him.
I appear at a nearby location, before jumping back to avoid his attack and disappear from sight and so on. By repeating this, I made it seem like it was disappearing when it was just speed.
- He is too injured to follow my movement. Can I see her. To me, the blue flame of hell: ball of fire.
This spell allowed me to throw blue fireballs and I threw them in large numbers on all sides indiscriminately.
- There is a problem there. When tested, they were nowhere near as powerful, these fireballs. They were even ridiculous.
I was surprised by the power of my fireballs. My opponent was overwhelmed and almost invisible in the fiery flames which exploded continuously around him. Very quickly, he found himself trapped in a prison of flame but thanks to his barrier, he resisted my attacks. I didn't have long to understand what was happening with my fate.
"Using the amulet to alter the power of your magic spells. All your attacks will have a base power multiplied by 10."
The shock of this information. I could not believe my eyes. This amulet is too cheaty and when I think I have thrown away one of my divine gifts. I'm really stupid. I might have already managed to lead the horde. Whatever, I'll fix it.
The entire surrounding forest was on fire. The large trees collapsed, making a loud noise, spreading the flames even further.
-If I want to beat him, I have to force him to lower his guard to get me close enough. In this case...
I put more fire but this time, aiming at the trees around my enemy. These trees were already weakened and on fire so as soon as one was about to collapse, I jumped on it to help it fall on my opponent. The first one that I brought down crashed with incredible violence on my enemy who was forced to avoid it by running.
But he was having a lot of trouble with the flames spreading towards him. It was even more unsettling so I jumped on another one to do it again and again until three more times. He took the second with his barrier and avoided the other before taking one head-on. But it wasn't enough to beat him and he got up despite his wounds and burns. But it was clear that he was dying in addition to being suffocated by the flames and heat as well as the smoke. Seeing him standing in the flames defenseless, I took action again and this time in the flesh.
* The leader of the horde was confused by the strength of this unknown goblin in his troop. Although he understood that another could desire his position, he could not understand that one of the members of his horde could surpass him to this extent even if he was very injured. He was very confused but sure of his victory. After enduring all his opponent's attacks, he decides to set a trap for him. He pretends to be suffocating and in agony with the hope that his opponent will deal him the fatal blow. And he was right when he felt Sham burst out of the flames behind him with his large scimitar to try to cut him down.
* The horde leader mice while turning while raising his right arm to create a wind shield to stop Sham's sword. The sword collides violently against the wind spell of the leader of the horde under the stunned eyes of the latter who had just discovered that the sword had been thrown. Before he understood what was happening to him, Sham emerged from the flames from behind before summoning the commander's club that he had recovered earlier and crushing the head of the leader of the horde with it.
I didn't have any mace skills but it didn't matter because I just had to knock him down with all my strength and let my amulets take care of the rest. The power of my attack increased tenfold and the goblin's head was crushed. But just to be sure, I hit him on the head four more times to beat him to a pulp and finish it off once and for all.
- This time, you won't wake up. I won.
Although I had just won, I felt nothing but joy even after killing another of my kind. In the end maybe WOQ was right, I was reincarnated as the worst creature on earth. Speaking of WOQ, she had already started counting my winning bonuses.
- Come on, I'll take all that. Too bad I can't get the magic stick back too but hey, who cares. I better get out of here quickly before someone dangerous comes upon me.
Tired, alone in the fires, I looked up to the sky and she was very beautiful.
* I remember that at the beginning of this story, WOQ said that our dear hero could not go against his nature, even if he was a human. Our hero doubted it and so did I, but in view of recent events, can we still doubt it? Without realizing it, as if responding in a natural instant for him, Sham was sinking little by little into the abysses of his race.
* The sun rose over a very beautiful human city. The buildings were made mainly of wood and concrete. The city was very big and from a distance, you could see four large buildings. The first was the castle of the city governor, it was well guarded and few people were moving around. The second was a tall building with a dragon bone on it. It was the headquarters of the guild where adventurers gathered. It was full of people and the shop all around was also crowded with all kinds of artifact shops, potions and armor, weapons etc...
* Inside this building, our group of goblin exterminators had just received their dues after the quest. Being the one who had requested a quest, it was Aracadia herself who settled the bill at one of the four receptions at the headquarters. After which, the others who had accepted the quest received their pay from the guild. Everyone was happy.
- Wow, that's a lot. What if we had a little party?
- Are you the one who invites you?
- Don't talk nonsense. I'm a girl so you should be the one to ask me out.
* Chatted with the companions of the armored man who was near Arcadia. She thanked him by shaking his hand under the surprised and jealous gaze of the other members of the guild.
- I would try to invite you to my team but...
- I will have to refuse.
- Of course! It is necessary that some people, despite their strength, take care of this type of mission.
- Goblins are not to be taken lightly. Many young people often fall into this mistake. So I make it my duty to protect them from this evil and...sorry.
- Why are you apologizing?
- Here I am, bragging when I couldn't save your sister...
- Ah, so that's the reason why you wanted to massacre them so much. Do you feel guilty about what happened to my sister?
- Originally, it was me who was refused this mission for someone else and also, I met your sister before her mission but...I didn't...
- Um, don't torture yourself with that. What is done is done. There's nothing we can do about it. Okay, I'm going home. In the future, if I run into goblins, I'll know who to contact. You do not mind?
* Asked Arcadia, taking the road alone to leave the guild.
- Count on me.
*Replied the man, watching her leave before turning to his team who were still in discussion. So, the group splits up and everyone goes about their business. A moment later, in another of the city's large buildings, Arcadia sat reading a book. The large building was actually a hospital linked to the Arcadia family. Young Arcadia was there, wearing an outfit that could be compared to a very white and clean shirt with the top buttons undone, revealing a little of her chest, in addition to pants that looked more like black tights and a white closed shoe that goes well with the ensemble.
* This beautiful white hair went down to her back and her green irises were immersed in her book while the rest of her body was immersed in a bath of sunlight coming in through the window. She was sitting in a chair next to the window, next to a hospital bed. On this bed, there was a young girl who soon opened her eyes. When she saw Arcadia, she was struck by an emotion that was difficult to describe. Was it fear, joy, sadness, or a sweet mix of all three. I can't say, but in any case, she said in a soft voice.
- Miss Arcadia Orpheus?
* This person was none other than little violet, the second survivor of the group wiped out by the goblins. Looking up at her, Arcadia looked at her from head to toe with all her bandage on her body.
- You are feeling better?
- Y-y-yes!
- GOOD! So much the better! I brought you my sister's blade. I'm giving it to you. Know that she is indeed dead and also that it is me who avenged her. Rest well and goodbye.
*After which, Arcadia put down the book before getting up and heading towards the door when
- Miss...I...I...I am...I...
* Having failed to articulate, she began to cry tears.
- Do not worry. You can stay here until you heal...
- Miss!!!
- The fate of the shadow family is not up to me. It's up to your family to judge you, not me...
* A minute of silence reigned between the two girls and finally, without turning, Arcadia left the room before leaving without another word. The young girl remained sitting on her bed with the sword of her deceased mistress in her hand, crying as much as she could. We could hear his cry of pain and sorrow even in the hospital courtyard. She cried from the time the sun was high in the sky until it reached dusk.
* Her big eyes were all swollen and she didn't even have a voice from crying so much. She felt totally empty as if her reason for living had been taken away. She had become an empty shell. His gaze lost in space, the thief of the hero's group, the man who was with Arcadia Orpheus, appeared in the room before speaking to the girl
- You look dead. Whatever you really are. When we are incapable of carrying out our mission and we are of no use to our mistress, then yes, we are already dead. Remind me, the first rule of our family?
- Our life belongs to the masters
-And you can tell me who owns your life now?
-...I'm already dead.
- The elders have made a decision. Never bear the Shadow name again. You are banned forever. Don't think you've been saved...well, you already know that. I wish you to find the most honorable death for a useless one.
* Immediately, the girl started to cry again
- I would have liked to die with her.
* She uttered as the man left. The latter stopped shouting
- You should have died before her. It's your duty to die before her and you ran away. You ran away...
* Then he calmed down seeing the girl's condition. He remained silent for two minutes before saying
- I returned to the location after Lady Arcadia cleaned the dungeon. During our attack, their leader had fled after being mortally wounded but I wanted to finish it to ease Lady Arcadia's conscience and that's when I saw her...
- Hmm?
- Two goblins fought and one of them killed the leader of the horde before taking all his possessions. I watched the duel from afar and by the time I got there, this goblin had already escaped from me. During his assault on the dungeon, a goblin managed to wound Lady Arcadia on the cheek...
* Information that shocked the girl
-And I doubt this Goblin is the one I killed so easily. You see what I mean? Honestly, you're a real idiot, little sister.
* The man said before leaving. At the same time, Arcadia stood in front of a mirror looking at the setting sun. She put her hand on his cheek before stroking the cut there. At the same time, in the hospital room, we no longer heard cries of grief or sadness but rather laughter. A full-hearted and totally forced laugh. She was laughing out loud but by the sound of her laughter, people felt more uncomfortable than anything else. It was the most evil laugh. Walking down the hall, his brother uttered
- So this is the road you chose, the road to dementia?! Either! Die with dignity. That's all you're allowed. May this road lead you to hell with everyone on your way.
* Thus twilight fades into the shadows of night, half lowering the curtain on everyone's feelings of love, hatred, envy, curiosity.