C99
Terence and Vinetta listened to me. The essence of my operation was quite simple.
"I will be the bait. You two, please attack the Divine Beast while I keep its attention."
Both of them opposed unanimously.
"It's not possible!"
"It's dangerous!"
I raised my hand to calm them.
"First, listen to the details of the plan, and then decide."
The two, especially Terence, seemed dissatisfied, but for now, they listened to me in silence.
"The key to this operation is to use the characteristics of the divine beast. In reality, the Divine Beast..."
I explained the plan that had occurred to me in the calmest and briefest way possible.
They remained silent for a moment even after the explanation ended. It seemed like they were predicting the viability and probability of success of the operation.
"I can't agree either."
But Terence quickly shook his head.
"I admit it's a clever idea. But it's too dangerous. If even something doesn't go as expected, you..."
He couldn't continue speaking as if he didn't want to even imagine such a future, and finally managed to let it out.
"You'll die."
I'll die. What a heavy and eerie word.
But sometimes, you have to carry it with you and move forward.
"Terence, I hope we can defeat the Divine Beast and get everyone out of here safe and sound."
"That's right. Then, another plan maybe..."
"But I think if any of us has to die, it should be me."
"Ethel!"
"Anyway, I'm the one who dragged both of you here. Do you think I'll just watch from a safe place while you two engage in a dangerous battle?"
"...!"
"I can't do that. If that happens, even if I somehow get out of here unharmed, I won't be able to forgive myself."
If I had nothing to do or if I was sure that Terence and Vinetta could easily defeat the Divine Beast, I would happily have stayed in the corner and cheered them on.
"There's something I can do too. I can help both of you with this."
Vinetta also stepped forward to offer me support.
"If Ethel-nim says so, I'm in."
She scratched her cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. I always thought of you as someone who needed protection, so I opposed the plan even before hearing it."
"Well. It's true that Vinetta always protected me."
"From now on, let's fight together."
When the situation reached this point, Terence silently bit his lip.
He has been with me for the past few months and has understood well who I am.
"No matter how much I try to stop you, it won't work."
After a time that was neither long nor short, he let out a sigh full of resignation.
I chuckled and said, "If Terence thought my plan was absurd, he would have opposed it to the end, right?"
In the end, he also decided that my strategy was the best course of action we could take in the current situation.
I really liked the way he respected my opinions no matter what.
"But, Ethel."
Terence took off the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist.
It was a magical barrier artifact that I gave to the two before entering the mine.
It has the effect of temporarily forming a protective shield when the user is attacked.
"If you face a crisis that I think you can't avoid."
He lightly squeezed my wrist and brought it closer to me. Then, he began putting the bracelet on me.
This may be the first time he's done something like this, and he did it cautiously and with somewhat clumsy hands.
"I'll run towards you. Even if it means abandoning the role assigned to me."
It was a polite but piercing look.
The hand that managed to put the bracelet on me slowly moved away from my wrist, as if regretful.
I toyed with my wrist, feeling the lingering warmth it left.
"I have one too. I brought two more identical bracelets as a spare. Terence should use this."
"This cloak is enough for me. It's more necessary for Ethel, who will be the bait, than for me."
"Still..."
"If you keep refusing, I'll keep opposing your plan."
The man threatened her with a sweet smile. It felt like dirty play, but I couldn't just stick to my opinion.
"I'll give you one too."
Vinetta even handed me her bracelet. With this, I became a person rich with five identical bracelets.
"Then let's go now."
It would be better not to delay any longer. But Vinetta, standing in front of the crossroads, asked,
"There are two paths. Which one should we take?"
I answered that question.
"It's the same no matter which path you take."
----------------------------
While walking through the tunnel, at some point, I found a relatively large area.
In the center of the place, there was a rock floating in the air that emitted a soft light in all directions.
"You're a foolish and miserable human."
It was a voice that seemed to come from very far away.
The light from the rock floating in the air became stronger and finally turned into a piece of light.
"Finally, you're here. If you had quietly sunk into despair, you would have survived a more insignificant life."
The ball of light gradually grew and transformed into the shape of a four-legged animal with large horns.
If we were talking about an animal, it resembled a deer. That is, if there were a deer the size of a house.
"But why are you alone? Where is the guy who disturbed my sweet sleep with his disturbing magic?"
Yes. Currently, I was facing the Divine Beast alone. That was the first step of my operation.
I took a deep breath.
The voice of the divine beast shook my mind, and my heart beat violently due to the pressure, but I could endure it.
"It's nothing compared to when I met Miella in my dream."
In the end, the Divine Beast was just a servant of God. I spoke firmly.
"My name is Ethel. A person who has received the blessings of the Goddess Miella. And also, the one who will become the owner of this mine and of you."
At that moment, there was no significant change, but I felt that the Divine Beast was surprised.
"Messenger of God, assist me according to the will of the Great God."
The image of the Divine Beast, which had not responded for a moment, stirred. There was a laugh.
"This is so amusing! How dare you call yourself my mistress with so little power?! Did you really think I would obey if you said that?"
"What's so amusing?"
"What does it matter if there's a blessing? Don't be so proud of having caught the goddess's attention for just a moment. There are plenty of people in the world who can replace you!"
The Divine Beast laughed for a moment and then suddenly turned its face.
"I can feel human greed. You act nobly, but your heart shines with desire."
"Greed?"
"You want these stones, don't you? You're not interested in God; all you're thinking about is filling your pockets with these, right?"
It was the perfect response. From the beginning, my goal was to own the magical stone mine.
"Even so, I had some expectations because of the blessing, but I was disappointed. It's not worth discussing anymore."
The body of the Divine Beast was dyed in a dangerous-looking red. My instincts warned me to flee from here.
"Disappear."
Several beams of light fell upon me.
Boom! The sound of an explosion nearby hit my eardrums.
But I felt no pain.
"After all, you weren't so foolish as to come without any preparation."
One of the bracelets I wore buzzed dangerously. A tattered magical barrier surrounded me.
"As expected, it's much stronger than what I read in the book!"
In the novel, Liena possessed a similar artifact that successfully protected its owner from more than five or six attacks from a Divine Beast.
Mine, on the other hand, was on the verge of being destroyed with a single blow. No matter how much I thought about it, it was clear that the Divine Beast had become more powerful than in the novel.
"...Damn Miella."
I let out my sincere resentment from the depths of my heart.
Then the eyes of the Divine Beast became sharp.
"Now, even blasphemy?"
I shouted like a desperate person.
"That damn god, god! What do I know?! It's just a nuisance to me!"
Crack! The next attack followed immediately. The second bracelet broke, and the third one cried.
"You don't even know grace..."
The Divine Beast was extremely angry. It seemed furious at hearing the messenger of God insult God over and over again.
It made my body tremble, but in reality, that was my intention. Now all I had to do was endure a little longer. However.
"I tried to negotiate with you first, but I couldn't."
The beam of light I thought would fall on me went exactly in the opposite direction. A large rock that was directly hit by a beam of light shattered.
"...Oh?"
The Divine Beast laughed at me while looking at the spot blankly.
"Did you think I wouldn't know that you were hiding a comrade there? It was quite worthy to see. You desperately tried to attract my attention so that I wouldn't notice."
"Well..."
"Well, your surprise attack failed. I'll send you to your comrade."
Countless beams of light appeared behind the Divine Beast. The number and mass were so overwhelming that they couldn't be compared to the previous attacks.
Perhaps ten times more, maybe even more.
"Disappear."
Instead of destroying my remaining defenses one by one, the Divine Beast decided to eliminate them all at once.
Somehow, I could tell. That this attack would break all the barriers and envelop me.
I simply took off the three remaining bracelets and dropped them to the ground. Then, I obediently surrendered to the beam of light.
The next moment, a terrible scream echoed from inside the mine. The scream that came from the Divine Beast, not from me.
Seeing the Divine Beast writhing in unbearable pain, I spat out the object in my mouth.
The jewel, the size of a miniature, which a moment ago had a polygonal shape, had shattered into small pieces.
"Thank you, Elliot."
I secretly thanked the former owner of the jewel I had in my mouth.
It was the artifact that Elliot kept in his body and entrusted to me when he could no longer hold onto it due to his status as a criminal.
It has the effect of returning the blow received by the owner to the opponent.
This was in exchange for delivering cornbread to the security guard through Terence.
Terence said that as he handed me the artifact he had extracted from Elliot's body.
"Aaaargh! How dare a mere human...?!"
The Divine Beast, having received its powerful blow, rolled on the ground with its body crushed.
I picked up the bracelet that had fallen to the ground and ran.
"Now!"
Even with the ferocious screams, I felt no fear at all. Because I am not the one the Divine Beast needs to worry about at this moment.
A dark red energy rose behind the Divine Beast.
Terence leaped into the air and swung his sword toward the Divine Beast. Aiming precisely at the symbol on its head.
"......!"
The Divine Beast tried desperately to distance itself by spinning its body, but its desperate attempts were in vain.
This was because Vinetta suddenly appeared from there and attacked the Divine Beast.
It was when the movements of the Divine Beast stopped for a moment as it defended itself.
Terence's sword cut the body of the Divine Beast exactly in half from head to toe.
---
'Ko-fi o 'Buy Me A Coffe' for Advanc3 Ch4pt3rs
(Up to '20' more ch4pt3rs)
Publication of up to 3 to 4 chapters per week, thank you.
