Seeing Carrie's headless body on the ground with blood still dripping, was enough to shock Arthur to scream in panic and caused him to charge Eli with reverie.
"Backstab!"
But just like before Eli disappeared from sight, though the Hero took notice of this and directed his attack behind him.
[Hero Arthur Successful Saving throw]
Blood spurts, freshly released, and covers the stunned Eli with blotches of crimson cutting his chest.
Though he was not fast enough with his blow, Eli used his Quickstep as his one reaction per turn, avoiding a lethal blow.
Arthur recalled what happened to Carrie, before Eli could react again used his own bonus action Quickstep, and he launched himself with a powered-up sword strike towards Eli in the hope of striking the dangerous artifact. Judging it to be the most lethal thing in the fight.
The hero thundered into Eli's front and separated him into two scream-less halves, though his attack seemed to go through an ethereal being. It was too late for him to realize that Eli had cast an illusion of himself to distract him.
"Assassination!"
[Hero Arthur Failed Saving throw]
[Critical Hit Successful!]
Bang!
Arthur was only able to react just in time to see a smoking hole in his chest as Eli unloaded a 12-gauge buckshot on his back, before falling down. He never saw the attack coming and was now on the ground, snarling at Eli as his hand tried to clutch tight at the now massive hole in his chest.
He tried to scream out curses at Eli but everything he said was incoherent as he was gurgling in his own blood.
Drinking down a health potion to heal his injured chest, Eli, this time didn't fight his impulses and he let himself go loose, knowing that Arthur deserved everything that was coming to him. The only messed up part that he felt was that he enjoyed killing these wretched humans.
"That's where you belong insect, on the ground, in the presence of a superior species."
Eli laughed in an eerie sadistic tone and flung Arthur away like a ragdoll with a kick. After taking all their equipment like the typical murder hobo.
Bang! Bang! Bang!... Bang! Bang! Bang!
He next shot them both three times with his 44, just to make sure they were truly dead, he didn't want to deal with any protagonist bullshit. And lastly, to erase all evidence he traded their corpses with his system store.
[Secret Quest: Kill the Hero of Ottoman Kingdom] [Complete]
[Reward: Super rare Gold-tier item Cube of Teleportation]
Cube of Teleportation:
A Six-sided metallic cube with sides having different sigil sequences recorded onto them. You can place and hold one of the cube's flat sides against an area creating a teleportation circle. The cube has 3 charges and regains 1 expended charge daily.
Before giving Rusty a health potion, Eli received a system notification.
[Host can use Familiar Contract Scroll to make companion Rusty into a familiar where he will be stored in Host, to heal]
Without arguing with the system, he quickly used the scroll and gained the F Rank Skill Familiar Contract. When prompted to turn Rusty into a familiar, he accepted, and Rusty started to break away into articles transforming into a tattoo of a horse on Eli's arm.
Eli then became curious as to why he didn't receive a system alert about completing his quest. Using Detect, he found an individual near the cave entrance. Returning to the entrance, he discovered that the person was a member of the hero's party who had been left behind and had made her way out in a tattered condition.
He then became curious as to why he didn't receive a system alert about his quest being completed. Eli paid attention to his surroundings and used Detect and soon discovered an individual by the cave entrance.
Once back at the entrance, he learned who the straggler was. She was one of the hero's party members who was probably left behind by their leader and made her way back out in a tattered mess.
As he tried to help her up, he was surprised at what came next as she slapped him.
"How dare you kill a hero! After the church learns of this. They're going to crucify you."
"Missy. I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
"There are two theories to arguin' with a woman. Neither one works."
"And little lady. You made my choice."
In a quick draw, he pulled out his 44 magnum and put a bullet in her head. Blowing a hole in the back of her head before she could even respond.
"Okay, I can't be proven guilty of a crime if there are no witnesses and no bodies."
"Darn it! I used up a bit too much ammunition. I need to buy more .44 Magnum rounds. I'm running low. Also, let's use the silver gacha ticket."
Eli still hadn't received the alert for quest completion, so he bought around 500 rounds for each of his guns, just in case, and stored them in his ammo bag. All his guns were now fully loaded.
Using Detect, he noticed a significant number of life signs inside the cave. Coming to that conclusion, he entered the cave to investigate with his 12-gauge shotgun in hand.
As he went deeper inside, the cave grew darker. Thankfully, his night vision helped him out, so he didn't need a torch or flashlight that would give away his position. Soon, Eli approached a speck of light. After activating Detect, he caught sight that there were 3 goblins E- Rank and one large 6-foot D- Rank hobgoblin that looked to be three hundred pounds thick.
Switching from his shotgun to his lever-action rifle, he equipped a silencer on it and activated Snipe. With a 93% hit chance of a headshot, he took the shot without hesitation.
[Enemy Failed saving throw]
[Successful Critical Hit]
The hobgoblin's head exploded in a mess of gore, frightening the goblins and throwing them into disarray. Making them easy pickings. With three more Snipes, he cleared out the area in moments. Coming to the spot where they were, he noticed that there was a wall of vines covering an entrance that they were attacking.
Using Appraisal, he detected that it was a 2nd tier spell: Wall of Vines. Grabbing the hobgoblin's club that was being used to slam at the wall, he knocked on it three times.
"Howdy! Anybody alive in there?"
He shortly got a frightened reply back.
"What-the! Aren't these feral goblins? They shouldn't be able to talk."
came the response of a terrified girl.
"Who are you? Are you here to rescue us?"
Apparently, there was a second, more cautious girl with her.
"Petunia! Don't put the wall down. It might be a trick from them! We have to wait for the hero's return."
"Lily, don't you want to escape? It's already been quite some time. I don't think the hero is coming back."
Petunia said sarcastically.
"You know, this is starting to become a hassle. I think I should just leave you guys here and make my way through the cave."
Eli said, now irritated by both girls.
"Please don't leave us behind! I'm putting the wall down right now. So, please don't go."
Shouted Petunia in panic.
The Wall of Vines quickly disappeared, revealing two girls inside a small cavern in the cave.
The one wearing a purely green outfit with an antler crown spoke up.
"Hey! You're the guy who beat the hero last time with an artifact, right?"
"Petunia, shut up! We could also be in danger with this guy. Remember what the hero did."
The one in a witch's outfit, a mix of crimson and black, spoke back to the girl named Petunia.
"Lily, you worry too much! Sis, it's not like this guy is going to throw us at the goblins without notice. Just look at him, he's probably here to help the hero exterminate them."
Petunia said, completely believing in the hero's return.
"Why are you trying so hard to believe that the hero would return?"
Eli asked, nearly choking with laughter.
"He made us sign a magic contract with him, that he won't betray us."
Lily spat, still not trusting him.
"You signed a magical contract with the hero?"
Eli blinked at the sisters.
"As adventurers?"
"Yes!"
Lily ground out.
"Now stop questioning us and we'll make our way back to the hero's party."
He ignored her request and stared at her. He remembered what Bonnie informed him when they were in bed together.
"Ma'am, There can never be a contract between a client and an Adventurer that is bound by magic. It's against the Guild rules."
Eli said slowly, as though if pondering something.
"Otherwise, there would be very few of us left. The only magic that went into it is ink. And that is only when the client is particularly affluent."
That shocked Lily, as her mind worked hard to understand this revelation.
"But the Priestess said-"
"Probably wrote down the contract on regular parchment. No magic. Did any of you swear a magical-binding oath to each other?"
"No, but-"
"Then he would have suffered no penalties in abandoning any of you."
Lily couldn't contain the pain of betrayal she was feeling which soon turned to hatred.
RACE: Sun Elf
NAME: Eli Rivers
Job Level: 8
Health Points: 386
Mana Points: 321
Stamina Points: 506
Attunement: 13
Vitality: 13
Endurance: 17
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 19
Perception: 15
Skill: 16
Charisma: 16
Luck: 18
Skill Points: 3