“Haah... haah...”
Heavy breaths echoed through the air.
Dantalion, having exited the forest, spoke.
“This expedition has failed.”
Though a smile still hung on his face, the atmosphere was anything but pleasant.
Blood was still pouring from the ear he had lost. Even a demon could feel pain, as I could see the corners of his eyes twitching.
It seemed that every time I met that human, the demons’ bodies ended up suffering.
At least it was a relief that it was just his ear that was cut off, unlike the other cases.
While it might be uncomfortable, it wouldn't hinder his combat abilities.
“There are truly many strong humans in the human world. I never expected to find someone like that in such a forest.”
“... Indeed.”
Harold nodded slightly, agreeing. He then briefly imagined the last image of Yor he had seen—the fierce killing intent he had exuded along with that glowing red spear.
The sight of an opponent serious about life and death was akin to that of a wild beast.
Even someone as proud of having lived a tough life as him flinched slightly in the face of such pressure.
To begin with, the very fact that he could inflict wounds on a demon proved his strength.
Of course, he could confront them.
“What shall we do? Should we gather our forces again? If it’s related to the altar, other division leaders will surely lend their strength as well.”
“No need. Given the situation, let’s temporarily hold off on searching for the altar in the forest.”
There were too many variables. Thanks to Andromalius’s arm, they had a rough idea of the direction, but that was it.
They had no clue whether it was inside the cave or beyond it.
It was better to search later. There was no way to deploy excessive forces in such an uncertain situation.
If they lost anyone, it would become quite a headache.
What was intriguing was that it wasn’t Harold who was contemplating this but Dantalion himself.
A demon, clearly, was now worrying about his losses.
Harold had several questions in mind.
“Dantalion, I apologize for my presumptuous question, but may I ask why you allowed the broadcast?”
“Ah, it’s for publicity.”
His face transformed, shifting subtly. Even though one of his ears had been severed, the distortion of his face didn’t stop.
Though, of course, his ear wouldn’t regenerate.
“Although it diverged from my original plan... my intention was to showcase your group and gather even more followers.”
“I see... However, you already have quite a few followers. There’s no need for you to go to such lengths to gather more.”
“No, I need even more. Much more than I have now.”
Harold glanced at Dantalion. There was a peculiar longing in his eyes.
Carefully, Harold asked him.
“What do you intend to do...?”
“I plan to establish a kingdom.”
Dantalion’s dark eyes lost their focus, as if he were gazing beyond what was in front of him.
“One day, when my king descends, I want him to easily take control of the world—a kingdom that humans can hardly covet.”
“.........”
Harold silently nodded. It was an ambitious dream, but it wasn’t impossible.
It was a reasonable thought for someone seeking immense power.
“Let’s go. Other altars will appear soon anyway. We have a lot to do in the meantime.”
Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.
With that, they casually returned to their hideout.
As I mentioned before, Yor, the NPC, was quite a famous figure on the internet.
His outstanding appearance, the fact that he was a ‘man,’ and his considerable combat skills made him a being that could draw interest in various ways.
However, that alone didn’t fully explain his recognition.
The reason he attracted so much attention was remarkably simple.
It was because a fully functional ‘man’ lived in that dangerous forbidden forest.
Why was there an NPC here? Why didn’t he enter the city?
Why didn’t he live comfortably in the city and instead chose to survive in the perilous, uncomfortable woods?
From the moment he appeared in the game, people had generated numerous questions and speculations. Some were quite plausible.
However, unless the person involved spoke up, those speculations would remain just that—hypotheses.
While those questions piled up, unexpectedly, an answer emerged from a broadcast.
It was revealed that he was an aspiring demon with demon blood.
The broadcast had initially sparked interest in seeing Dantalion.
The viewer count was rapidly increasing. In fact, the increase became even steeper when Dantalion and Yor faced off.
When the battle began, the viewership peaked.
By the time the broadcast was about to end, the viewer count was nearing 30,000.
That was a figure only possible for a large-scale collaboration among many broadcasters.
Even though her broadcast was forcibly terminated by her superior, it was still a remarkable success.
Of course, considering her affiliation with Lemegeton, more than half of the viewers were trolls, but still, she had garnered significant views.
Given the enormous viewership, it was natural that the community was abuzz with discussions about Yor. Not only was there talk of his ‘demon blood,’ but the various displays he had shown in the broadcast added to the conversation.
Without exaggeration, it felt like the entire ‘Akgal’ community was talking about him.
[I knew he was high-level.]
He was truly incredibly strong.
What on earth would it take for someone to contend with that demon?
[In fact, in the end, he was even pushing back ㄷㄷ]
[At that level, wouldn’t he seriously be at the commander level?]
[Does a commander look like garbage? lol]
[So you think Yor is garbage?]
[Well, he is a bit... hehe.]
[What was that technique of coating the spear with blood?]
I feel like I’ve never seen that in this game before. What on earth was that?
How could he pierce a shield that dozens of players couldn’t break through?
[I’m a mage, but it seems like some kind of dark magic.]
[If I learn that magic, could I become like that?]
[But that only allows you to move blood; I don’t know how to enhance and wrap it like that.]
[Hey, don’t raise my hopes.]
[By the way, that gif looks really cool.]
(A picture)
It’s clear the magic ripped his flesh, but he’s countering ㄷㄷ.
Does he not feel pain...?
[Wow, he’s so tough, he’s so cool.]
[He passes as a man.]
[It’s a bit brutal, making it hard to watch, but his toughness is insane. How does he even think about going further?]
[I’ve fallen for him again today..]
The first things that stood out were posts about the battle scenes.
They were the most direct and dazzling.
As time went on, players' levels became comparable to NPCs.
However, they still weren’t at the level to compete with superhumans. That level was still far out of reach.
Given that, the battles between strong individuals made for great content on their own. Not only were they awe-inspiring, but there were also many lessons to be learned from diving deep into them.
[Isn’t the strategy to defeat Dantalion practically out now?]
The magic is annoying, but if you can break through that, it means nothing.
If that’s the case, it’s really doable.
[You can break through it, right?]
[The important thing is that we now have a way to capture him, right?]
[I won’t be the one to break through. Others will take him down.]
These were the types of posts that were prevalent.
However, if you were to look for the most frequently discussed topic, it was definitely about ‘demon blood.’
The users were now aware of ‘demon blood.’ There had been plenty of events and damage related to it.
They understood their danger and were aware of how regular NPCs perceived them.
To Gaia inhabitants, a Manifestation Bearer was a sinner who deserved to die on the spot. They were ticking time bombs waiting to explode.
There was no way to cure them.
For the safety of humanity, it was considered natural to eliminate Manifestation Bearers on sight.
Those with a strong prejudice didn’t even see them as humans. They viewed them simply as the offspring of demons or as minions.
I understood.
For them, it was a matter of life and death. The narrow-minded perspective of medieval folks likely contributed as well.
However, unlike them, there were those who could view the world from a distance.
Those who could see various perspectives through the internet could feel somewhat differently.
[So does that mean Yor has been hiding in that forest all his life?]
Not living in the city is ultimately because he could die if he meets someone.
So he was just hiding away in the forest, trying to survive?
Wow... that’s quite something.
It was sympathy.
It was already the third goblin house I was burning.
I could feel that the goblins’ intelligence had risen quite a bit. Who would have thought they would coat their wooden houses with mud to prevent fires?
Thanks to that, I found myself momentarily flustered the first time I saw it. Their determination to not get burned for the third time was evident.
But just because they had some rudimentary intelligence didn’t mean they could escape the hands of an experienced arsonist like me.
If mud was applied to make it hard to catch fire, all I had to do was strip it away and ignite the fire.
Fortunately, the goblins with their half-baked intelligence didn’t have the skill to build a proper earthen house.
Though it took a bit of time to work under the cover of night, I managed to set their house ablaze once more.
Seeing the enraged goblins was just a bonus.
I felt a bit sorry for them, but... this way, I would be able to detect danger more easily.
“Haah...”
And so, I reinforced my defenses.
After that, what I did was prepare thoroughly.
I still hadn’t left the house.
It was true that I needed to go out soon, but there was just too much to prepare for.
I hadn’t finished organizing all the items in the storage, and finding a new dwelling would also take time.
Of course, if a hunting squad were to come in, I’d have to escape immediately... but that wasn’t the case right now.
After all, there were only a few days left until the end of the month; I couldn’t just recklessly move my residence.
So, two days passed.
Suddenly, I remembered when Im Ha-neul first discovered my identity.
At that time, I had also raised my vigilance significantly. Now, it wasn’t much different.
It had been a nerve-wracking couple of days.
Even when I tried to sleep at night, I had to worry about someone potentially breaking in. Thankfully, I had the hearing gifted to me by the unicorn.
As time went on, someone finally came to the forest.
It was the first visitor since Dantalion had left.
Step, step.
Hearing the footsteps of the approaching person, I heightened my vigilance.
Fortunately, it seemed there were only a couple of them—two at most.
I followed them to find out what brought them here.
I then encountered two otherworldly women.
They were unfamiliar faces to me. However, I didn’t feel any hostility directed at me.
“... Who are you?”
What was a bit strange was that as soon as they saw me, they made a pitiful expression.
It was as if they were looking at something unfortunate. If I added a bit of exaggeration, it felt like they might tear up at the slightest provocation.
Then the two women handed me something.
“Here, please take this.”
It was bread. A delicious-looking sausage bread that looked quite modern. Along with it were various types of bread stuffed into a paper bag.
“I thought you might like bread, so I brought some. Please continue to live strongly.”
With those words, they turned back and left the way they came.
They didn’t ask anything or try to harm me. It felt like giving me bread was the sole purpose of their visit.
“... What was that?”
I stared blankly in the direction they had disappeared.
For some reason, I felt oddly unsettled.