Sharp blow.
As soon as the barbarian fell, scattering dust in the air, Amelia gritted her teeth and crouched down.
Is this the price of being careless?
His ribs were broken. His skin, covered in blood, not only stung, but hurt. Apparently, his organs were also damaged.
I don't even know how long it had been since I was in a situation like this.
Her body would recover on its own soon enough, but the long-forgotten pain was all too clear now. If there was one thing she was used to, she had prided herself on it, it was pain. She didn't know why she found it amusing. Regardless of whether it was the result of her arrogance, it was absurd to think that a three-month-old barbarian had created this situation.
It's fascinating.
He wasn't just thinking about his skills, but about his situational judgment, his boldness and determination to put it into action, and above all, his will to live.
Suddenly he thought, "If we had met a little further on... the results could have been different."
Of course, in reality, that wasn't plausible. He grew up being told he had a special talent, and he'd been going in and out of the Maze for 20 years.
The fact that he's started thinking this way is a problem. It shows how dangerous he is.
Their first encounter was only a month ago. In that time, he would only have been able to enter the Labyrinth once. How had this barbarian transformed? The man who couldn't even touch her in the past had come so far.
Czzzzzz!
His body didn't die even with his head completely blown off, and it began to regenerate its own flesh. Amelia walked slowly toward him.
Passed.
As a Source of Darkness, he had several abilities that could overcome death, but that still didn't make him invincible. Just look at this barbarian.
Passed.
His head was completely destroyed, and now he was defenseless. He might have activated Eternal Life and was recovering quickly, but healing from such a wound took an incredibly long time, and even that became impossible when the soul's power was depleted. That meant she could kill him at any moment. But without hesitation, she sheathed her dagger and drew a potion.
It's clear they weren't sent by the royal family, so there's no need to kill.
No matter what they said, she wasn't a murderer.
***
There had been hints, voices coming from both the front and the back at the same time. If I had been smarter and calmer, I might have noticed the Self-Replication variable. If I had, Plans A and B would also have been slightly altered.
Even so, the results would have been the same.
Feeling a strange sensation similar to that of a fragmented mind reassembling itself, I slowly opened my eyes.
«What monstrous regenerative power you have». The first thing I saw was the psycho bitch. «A jar of potion and you will be like new».
«Potion...?» I asked with a broken voice and raised my upper body. That's when I realized that my neck area was very wet. It didn't all look like blood... Could it be that that woman had given me a potion? «Because?»
"¿No te mate?"
I nodded. Well, I was glad to still be alive, but to be honest, I was certain of death the moment I lost consciousness.
The woman looked at me with a look of annoyance in her eyes. «You... remain exactly the same as then».
"¿What?"
«Why do you always charge at me every time you see me? I never thought I'd say this, but don't people usually think about talking things over first?».
Well, I had nothing to say to that. It was all due to my habit of always assuming the worst. I responded in a calm voice: «Since you were thinking of killing me, I thought it was the only way». While there was even the slightest chance left, before the poison of paralysis spread further, I decided I had to see the end of the fight.
The woman only sighed sharply. «Because? I let you go last time, didn't I?» His voice was still blunt, but at the same time a little annoying.
But actually I was the one who must have been angry. «You said it yourself. As long as I know this place, you can't let me go». If she hadn't said that, Plan C of begging for my life would have remained Plan A.
Do you think I want to fight a monster like you?
«I think I said I can't 'just' let you go.»
it doesn't matter for some reason, I had been showing a strangely receptive attitude before, so I asked more boldly: «So what are you going to do with me now?».
«I have no intention of killing you. So for the hands».
I stopped moving the arm that was surreptitiously approaching the mass and said firmly: «It's a misunderstanding».
«A misunderstanding?»
«I didn't mean to attack you by surprise with this. It's just that...»
«Did you want to be prepared for when I change my mind?»
...Hmm, yes, that. The best defense was attack.
When I didn't affirm or deny it, the woman looked at me blankly, as if asking me what kind of lunatic I was. «You haven't really changed anything». Saying this, Amelia spat to the ground. For a moment, I wondered if she was a bully, but when I looked closely, it was blood, not saliva. It seemed like my active defense before I passed out had done some damage.
«... Didn't you have a potion?»
«It's my body type».
«I see.» A brief explanation wasn't enough, but I spared my words. Some essences inflicted a penalty when mixed with potions.
Anyway, back to the main point of the story. «Barbarian, take this». She took something resembling a magic ball out of her clothes. It was dark in color and looked like something a cat would vomit.
«What... is this?»
«It's a medicine made by an alchemist in Noark. If you take it, it will erase your memory of the last hour».
«Delete... my memory? So why didn't you give me this when we met in the land of the dead?»
«It is not something that can be obtained easily. If they hadn't given it to me just in case, I wouldn't have it with me either».
So it was a precious object. But that led me to another question. It wasn't something anyone in my situation should say right now, but... «It would be much easier for you to just kill me. Why would you choose such a problematic method?»
They say there is nothing more valuable than human life, but that only applied in my past world. Here, there were countless things more valuable than human life. For example, on the surface, many people continued to lose their lives just because they couldn't pay their taxes.
But in the midst of all that, would you use a consumable as valuable as this to keep us alive?
I said confidently: «There must be some reason».
«... What makes you think that?»
«If he kills all five of us, our team alone will be worth tens of millions of stones».
At my keen observation, Amelia was silent for a while. I thought it was because I had hit the target. However, the words that followed the silence were unexpected. «What exactly do you think of me?».
«That is...»
As I contemplated whether or not I should answer honestly, she cut off my words. «You don't need to say it. I think I already know». It seemed like she felt a little guilty too, but I guess she didn't want to make excuses. «Whatever. Whatever it is, think what you want. It doesn't change anything».
Amelia bent down and forcibly opened my mouth, then shoved the granule down my throat.
The medicine dissolved quickly, leaving nothing to vomit on afterwards.
¡Whoosh!
I felt like something was burning in my mind. It was a different sensation than pain. «...Hey, are you sure this just ends with erasing memories?»
«If not, do you have any other option?» I didn't really have much to say to that. Seeing me speechless, he smiled with satisfaction. «I haven't heard of any side effects. So sleep in peace, barbarian».
Well, in that case. To be honest, I wasn't relieved at all, but I closed my eyes.
Just then, Amelia opened her mouth as if remembering something. «Oh, and what was the other thing?»
«Hey? Another thing?»
«Two ways to make someone angry».
Ah, eye. «Es.
I passed out right after that.
[Lethe's blessing permeates your soul.]
[Your soul cannot be blessed. The blessing that permeates the soul is eliminated.]
***
When I woke up, I was in the sewers. My stripped equipment was scattered everywhere, and so was the others.
Hit.
Using my hands for support, I slowly raised my filthy body. As I put the gear back on, my teammates came to their senses one by one. Everyone seemed confused.
«Uh, is this the sewer...?»
«What is this? We should be chasing that evil villain right now!»
«Video recorder! If we check the video recorder... Damn, it's broken!»
The psychopathic bitch's words must have been true because the others didn't remember anything. It seemed that his last memory was following Hans to his hiding place.
... Why am I completely fine?
Even when I slowly remembered my memories, I could clearly remember what happened before I lost consciousness. Because?
Wait, so what happened to that bitch?
Late, Elisa came to my mind, and came to me.
... Could it be that Amelia revived and took her with her?
At least right now, I didn't see Elisa around. Damn, if I had known this was going to happen, I would have killed her right then and there.
«Everyone, look there!»
«Hey? Isn't that woman?»
That? I immediately turned my head to see a woman lying a little further away. Blonde hair covered in dirt, a pretty head that made me want to crush her: It had to be Elisa.
Hikurod hurriedly took his pulse. «She's dead!» This increased confusion.
«They have bewitched us. Why can't we remember anything and that woman is dead?».
«D-Dwalkie, maybe the monster you talked about really showed up!»
All kinds of speculation was made with bewildered voices. But Brown, who had managed to maintain his composure, came up with a plausible hypothesis. «...I think it was all the work of this woman».
"¿What? ¿Elisa? ⁇
«Maybe we found her at the end of the chase, and we probably won». Brown pointed to Elisa's limbs as the basis for his claim. If it wasn't my mace, he probably thought it wouldn't have been possible to crush his limbs so perfectly.
Soon, Dwalkie also found traces of Paralysis Poison on the corpse and hardened the hypothesis. «Come to think of it, I can feel traces of my magic in this woman».
Now, they had one question left. «So why can't we remember anything?».
«If my prediction is correct, we would have tried to get her back to the city alive. However... maybe he came to his senses and played tricks on us».
It was a pretty plausible story. If I had also lost my memory, I would have analyzed the situation in the same way.
«Definitely... if it were the little-known power of an evil god, it might be possible».
«Hahaha! But seeing her that dead, it looks like we did a good job!»
«...Bjorrrn, what do you think?»
«Well...» I reflected for a while. The conclusion they surmised and agreed upon was quite far from the truth I remembered, but there was no need to tell him. «I think Rotmiller is right». If it became known that I had not lost my memory, I did not know when that psychopathic bitch would visit me again.
«Let's get out of here and visit the temple. Something may have happened to our bodies besides memory loss».
Hearing Brown's worried words, everyone quickly prepared to leave. I finished my musings. Something hidden beneath the sewers, huh? A secret I didn't know existed in this world. I'd be lying if I said my curiosity wasn't piqued as a veteran player of this game, but…
Let's not step in the sewers again.
My life was more important than curiosity.