Chapter 20: Chapter 15: Isabel’s Sword
Luh Yao looked at the cold, smooth eyeball in his hand.
As he stared into the green pupil, a view completely different from his room materialized before him.
Streetlights on either side of the road rushed backward.
Isabel was chasing the target at high speed.
She rounded a corner and entered a parking alley, stopping to observe.
Under the dim yellow light, the body of the stray dog from before rapidly swelled. It rose up on its hind legs, and its fur split down the middle, revealing a burly man wrapped in white pelts.
The man was a bloody mess; a thick layer of white animal fur was stitched to his skin. He had messy, greasy hair, and white vapor puffed from his heavily bearded mouth. His eyes were filled with blood, like some kind of twisted, humanoid beast.
’This look... isn’t this just an HD Plus version of a Barbarian Hero?’ Luh Yao suddenly thought.
So the pervert from the news who was stripping and tying people up really was Demon Jack, the one who commands the Barbarian Tribe.
The beast-skin man tore open the drunkard’s clothes, exposing his skin to the air. Then the beast-skin man vomited a pool of blood onto him. He dipped his claw-like fingers in the blood and began writing strange symbols on the drunkard’s body.
Isabel shot forward, a blur of black.
She produced a rusty steel pipe from thin air. With a CLANG, she brought it down squarely on the side of the beast-skin man’s head.
The beast-skin man was sent flying by the tremendous force, crashing into the windshield of an abandoned Alto and showering the ground with shattered glass.
Even after an impact of that magnitude, the beast-skin man’s head only caved in slightly as he struggled to sit up.
Isabel brought the steel pipe down hard again, landing another precise blow on his head.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Isabel expertly swung the steel pipe, driving the beast-skin man deeper into the car. Soon, its arms fell limp and its body went still.
Luh Yao was dumbfounded.
’What happened to her being a Summoning System Necromancer?’
’How is she a physical-damage Sword Saint?’
’This is wrong, all wrong. I’ve been tricked...’
"Sir, this is a Demon Believer. His rank should be Hero."
Isabel’s voice came from the eyeball.
Luh Yao realized, "Which means, the real Demon is still in the shadows."
"Yes, he must be watching from somewhere."
Isabel’s gaze swept around, searching for the mastermind hidden in the shadows.
"Sir, because of the restrictions of this World Dimension, I cannot identify Gods. I can only recognize the Faith Flame on a Demon Apostle, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the Demon’s location."
Luh Yao said, "Is that Demon Believer still alive?"
"He’s alive. However, he broke through the boundary from a Low Realm Dimension, so he’s mutated into a monster. He’s nothing more than a walking corpse controlled by the Demon God."
"Then what’s the usual procedure?"
"Execution."
Isabel’s gaze was still scanning the surroundings as she said, "After becoming monsters, they can’t recover even if they return to the Low Realm Dimension. Killing them is the final mercy we can show them."
"Then do it."
Isabel looked at the beast-skin man again. "Sir, he’s already dead."
On the dented car, only a pitch-black human silhouette remained, like the ashen shape left after a body is incinerated.
"..."
"My deepest apologies, Sir. I have not fought in a very long time. Although I did my best to restrain myself, he was simply too weak. Even that level of force was fatal to him. Please punish me."
"Forget it... The result would have been the same anyway."
Suddenly, Luh Yao felt the perspective shake violently for a moment, then it froze, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
He tried calling out, "Isabel? Isabel?"
There was no response.
Isabel’s body had fallen into some kind of strange, static state. The perspective became fixed, aimed toward a streetlight.
Luh Yao knew the demon player had most likely made their move.
He watched calmly, contemplating his next move.
A person wearing a face mask walked into view.
The newcomer wore a large black trench coat, its hood obscuring half of their face.
"Finally caught you."
"You made me search for quite a while. You’re pretty good at hiding."
It was a light, feminine voice.
"Well then, I’ll be taking that Fire of Faith of yours." The woman in the trench coat extended a hand. From her pockets, she produced a flute with her left hand and a handful of dog food with her right.
"From today on, you’re my dog."
"Good doggy, lick my hand nicely and you’ll get a treat. Come on, come on, stick out your cute little tongue."
The previously rigid Isabel suddenly sprang into action, grabbing the other woman’s wrist. "Got you."
The other woman looked as if she had seen a ghost, trembling all over as the dog food scattered on the ground.
"Impossible... Impossible! The Beastification Ceremony has already begun... How can you still be sane?"
"Who are you? Who are you?!"
Isabel asked through the eyeball, "Sir, should I execute the Demon? This is also standard procedure."
"Not so fast. Let me think."
Luh Yao said, "Pull off her hood."
Isabel yanked down the other woman’s hood, revealing pale golden hair and a young face.
The hairdresser, Lisa, stared at Isabel, dumbfounded. She still didn’t seem to understand, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Now, ask her..."
Faced with Isabel’s questioning, Lisa answered readily, either because she knew she had no room to bargain or because she simply didn’t care.
Luh Yao quickly understood the whole story.
Lisa had deliberately pretended to be a victim to hide her identity. She had summoned a Hero from the Barbarian Tribe to perform a Beastification Ceremony in the real world—which involved stripping people, painting them with a blood curse, and hanging them up.
The two targets of the Beastification Ceremony, a female university student and a delivery man, were not ordinary people but players of the God Simulator.
The key to the ritual was a small beastification bas-relief. As long as someone was stared at by the bas-relief for an extended period, the ritual would begin, and the target would gradually lose their sanity, cognition, and memory, leaving them completely at the caster’s mercy.
That bas-relief had been embedded in the Barbarian Hero’s forehead and had been staring at Isabel the entire time.
Lisa seemed to think of something, and an indignant expression appeared on her face. "...You’re a High-Class Player, so why are you still allowed in the safety zone? Those people from the Committee are such bullies, picking on us regular players while pretending not to see you guys. Is there no justice in the world?!"
Following Luh Yao’s instructions, Isabel remained silent, playing the part of a master.
Saying too much leads to mistakes.
Staying silent prevents revealing any weaknesses.
Lisa didn’t seem surprised by Isabel’s silence.
She pulled three items from her pocket. "Winner takes all, I get that. My luck was bad this time; I ran into a brick wall. I admit defeat."
Isabel took the loot from her, but she remained unmoved.
"This is all I have."
Lisa said, somewhat resignedly, "I made it to the Crawling Area once, but some bastard destroyed my Wonder, so I was demoted back to the safety zone. I just wanted to use the Beastification Ceremony to earn a little extra on the side so I could go back as soon as possible."
"Now I only have one Barbarian Tribe, and it collapsed because of a drought, so I have to migrate again..."
"Kill me or cut me up, do whatever you want. The Committee is already after me anyway, so there’s no difference between you catching me and them catching me."
Isabel spoke. "Turn yourself in, and this matter ends here."
Lisa immediately pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911.
"Hello? Police? I’m the pervert who was hanging people up. Yes, that’s the one. I’m turning myself in. I’m guilty. You can come and arrest me. My name is Lisa. I live at 701, Building 3 of the Nanpu Apartments in the Jiuyuann Community. You can check my personal information."
Isabel turned and left, disappearing into the darkness.
...
「Half an hour later.」
In a stark white, isolated room.
"I told you, that was a High-Class Player who shouldn’t be in the safety zone!"
"The [Skinner’s Statue] I got in the Crawling Area had no effect on her at all! She killed my level 7 Barbarian Hero in three hits with a steel pipe, and he was specialized in strength and defense..."
Lisa wore a pair of shackles woven from vines, an impatient look on her face.
"She was shrouded in black mist and didn’t look very old, but that might’ve just been a Disguise from an Artifact."
"Either she’s a High-Level player from the Crawling Area, or she’s a High-Level Apostle... Either way, she’s definitely way beyond the standard for the safety zone!"
Across from Lisa was a wall made of gray bricks.
The surface of the wall rippled slowly, like flowing water.
A voice emanated from within the wall. "Yuan Lisha, the Committee will now announce your punishment."
"...For harming regular players in the safety zone, illegally robbing Faith, and disrupting social order, you are hereby sentenced to 10 years of confinement, or until you enter the Crawling Area. The punishment is effective immediately."
The room was instantly plunged into darkness.
Only the faint glow of a monitor on the desk illuminated Lisa’s somewhat resentful face.
She sighed, sat down at the computer, and clicked the only icon on the desktop.
*God Simulator*.
But as soon as she opened the interface, Lisa slammed her fist on the desk in a rage.
"I can accept losing to a High-Class Player! But some rookie newbie dares to act all high and mighty with me, destroying my tribe and my portal! Yao God? More like little brat Yao!"
