[27 April 2023, 08:00 PM]
[House]
Tina was sitting at the dining table rather restlessly as Chloe stared dagger at her.
She had told Chloe about Vincent being away for a while, but when she was faced with the question of 'Where?' she could only think of something rather silly.
'Why did I say he's going to a party earlier?!'
For some reason, Tina felt like Chloe's gaze hurts. She had been staring at her since dinner without saying anything.
"So Tina… Do you know where Vincent is? Please don't lie to me again." Chloe said, looking rather disappointed at Tina.
"Umm, well… Sorry. But my brother didn't say where he was going to go. I swear that's the case!" Tina raised her hands as she answered.
She knew where he roughly went, but he didn't know his exact location. So, she technically wasn't lying by saying that she didn't know Vincent's location.
However, Tina underestimated Chloe's Trait. Unless someone was as proficient as Vincent in lying and twisting their words, Chloe would definitely catch them.
Vincent was able to take advantage of his Trait and his knowledge of the novel to twist the truth, so he could make a real lie, unlike other people.
"Tina…" Chloe said shortly to make Tina know she was aware of her lying.
"Ugh…" Tina let out a low grunt. "Fine… But please don't go to where he is. He left some messages for you." She finally gave up and shrugged my shoulders, looking down at the floor.
'My bad, brother. But, lying against a Hero is not as easy as you think. I am amazed he could lie to her many times before.' She thought as she glanced at Chloe.
"Hmm, message? What is his message?" Chloe asked. She sounded interested in the message that Tina talked about.
Knowing that Chloe bit the bite, Tina's lips curled into a small smile as she raised her head.
"It's like this. He said he needs you to reach A-Rank as soon as you can. That's his message!"
'I didn't lie! I really didn't tell a single lie, Chloe.' Tina hoped that Chloe would believe her.
"He said that?" Chloe asked seriously. "I see. So it began sooner than he thought?" She muttered.
Tina's ear perked when she heard what Chloe had said.
'Begun? What has begun? Is that shitty brother keeping some secrets from me again?'
She was curious as she was looking at Chloe intensely. Chloe looked back at her and smiled.
"Thank you for relaying the message. I think I will start to prepare for tomorrow too." Chloe said as she stood up.
"Prepare?" Tina asked curiously.
"Yes. Vincent said the evil of the world begins to move, so… As a Hero, I need to become stronger. I still have the duty to defeat the Demon King." Chloe said as she smiled wryly.
"Well then, I will go to the underground training room." She then left while leaving those words.
Seeing Chloe like this made Tina feel weird. She had always seen Chloe as a cheerful girl who was passionate about cooking and fashion.
But now, looking at her again, she knew that Chloe was a Hero through and through. She was the only one. No one could replace her.
So, why did her brother and Chloe act strange? They acted as if the Demon King wasn't a threat.
From the time her brother asked her to investigate the Demon in the Academy, it was as if he was trying to find something else.
He acted strange when she told her that someone might be involved with the Demon.
'What actually happened, shitty brother?'
***
[28 April 2023, 05:30 AM]
[Bernanto Mountain Peak]
Last night, I managed to get Zaiden to cooperate with me in dealing with the monster outbreak.
I didn't mention anything about Witch and Demons yesterday, but he surely knew about the Demon's existence in San Diego.
After our short conversation yesterday, I gave him a roundabout of my plan. And currently, Zaiden was in the inn near Lake Hodges to join the other Awakeners to push the Mermen back.
I also told him when the monster outbreak would begin, so he would be fine.
My job was to thin out monsters and kill any girls who had Witch Factor even though it was still in its seed form. Those would give me a good amount of Mana and lessen the Witch's numbers.
I remembered all the important Witches that would be essential for my survival in the future, so I wouldn't kill them. However, I was confident that those Witches wouldn't enter any girls in this area, so I could kill all girls who had Witch Factor.
This was my reason for getting [Horus' Sunglasses] first before anything else. I could find the Witch Factor by looking at their statuses.
'It will take a while, but well, I need to work hard for my survival.'
This way, I wouldn't take Zaiden's original bonus of defeating the Demons while still being able to get stronger by defeating the Witches.
At least three Demons were present this time, unlike the original, which only had one Demon attacking San Diego.
The Mana gained from defeating two Demons would make Zaiden stronger than the original one. It would make him a step closer to being able to save the world.
However, the amount of suffering to get that strength was also twice bigger as he needed to defeat three Demons instead of one.
If he followed my instructions quietly, he would be able to survive as I would cover his ass, but knowing him, he wouldn't follow all my instructions quietly. Why was I so sure? Because I knew he would try to save the people in danger.
I looked up at the horizon in the east. The sun had slowly made its appearance, giving the dark world a shine of its light. It was my first time watching the sunrise in this world.
I have always woken up at six or eight after the sun had fully made its appearance, but this time, I managed to be awake at the perfect time.
"It's beautiful," I muttered, putting my hands on my hips.
The light from the sun slowly hit my face and gradually lit the dungeon that was surrounded by around 30 Awakeners, working together to push the Mermen back to the dungeon since last night.
The Association had made their move and dispatched ten B-Rank Awakeners to this area, so the process of killing the Mermen became easier. The other twenty C-Rank Awakeners also helped them kill the Mermen.
However…
"The numbers of the Mermen that came out of the dungeon never decreased," I muttered as I turned my eyes to the dungeon.
The Association must've thought it was a normal monster 'Breeding' that made the number of the Mermen explode. But they were wrong.
Indeed, monsters' numbers could suddenly increase if the dungeon was in a Breeding session. But, it could also be artificially created by Demons.
Of course, the Association didn't know about it as Demons didn't even make their appearance for a few years, so they just thought of it as normal Breeding instead of a monster outbreak caused by Demons inside the dungeon.
Their decision to send ten B-Rank Awakeners was praiseworthy enough. That meant they took the situation rather seriously.
"It's also perfect for me." I grinned under my mask as I took out my [Arash Bow].
According to Richard, the Darkest Secret, the monster outbreak would happen around 6 to 7 AM.
So it would happen in either 30 minutes or an hour. I surveyed the area around the dungeon and found Zaiden standing on the roof of a building around 200 meters from the dungeon.
'He's ready, huh?'
From my position, I couldn't see his face clearly, but he had a complete set of equipment. His sword was strapped into his was, and he put his left hand on its hilt, ready to storm in anytime.
Around his right wrist, he wore a party bracelet that I gave him yesterday.
Did you think I would let him get all the Mana from killing the monster? Of course not. It would be better if he shared the Mana of the monster he killed with me.
By killing three Demons, he would still get stronger than the original Zaiden. It was still enough for him. I also wanted to get part of this. I was not an idiot who just gave Zaiden all things needed for him to get stronger.
I would've worked him to the ground and let me get the benefit too. But, I didn't wear my party bracelet yet. I needed to do something before that.
He would be riding my bus too, but it couldn't be helped, no? If he got stronger, I would be able to ride his bus when I acted with him as Vincent. Though I would still let him get hit a few times and see me killing the girls who had Witch Factors.
"I will invest in you this time. Suffer as you watch me kill the girls and get stronger from being part of this, Zaiden."
As I said that, I noticed that the numbers of Mermen that exited the dungeons began to increase.
The Awakeners who guarded the dungeon were confused, but they quickly arranged their ranks with ten B-Rank Awakeners in the front to kill the Mermen as fast as they could.
Even Frank joined the rank to drive the Mermen away.
Seeing that, I pulled out my phone that I used as Rai and called Zaiden. A second later, Zaiden picked up the phone, and I said, "It's being. Get ready. Just focus on dealing a killing blow to some low-ranked monsters that came out of the dungeon."
[I know. There will be an E-Rank River Goblin, E-Rank Sahuagin, and D-Rank Swordfish, right?]
"Hoh, you know it? As expected of a Hijacker." I snickered in a low tone.
[Please stop calling me that.] Zaiden said in an angry tone. [Anyway, I will go to the dungeon now to join their ranks. I hope they will believe what I said.]
"They won't" I quickly shot him down. As I had expected, he wanted to tell the other Awakener about the monster outbreak.
But it would be better if he didn't tell them.
"They will think of you as crazy and handcuff you. So don't do what you think of going unless you just want to watch the monster outbreak happening without being able to do anything." I warned him clearly.
[…]
Zaiden paused for a while before saying, [Alright.]
After saying that, he ended the call, and I noticed him running toward the dungeon at full speed.
As Zaiden ran toward the dungeon, the other kind of monster Zaiden talked about earlier began to exit from the dungeon.
The Awakeners who were in front of the dungeons were confused, but Frank quickly ordered his subordinates with a hand signal to retreat.
He knew that something was weird and pulled out a telecommunication device from his pocket and contacted someone.
Using this chance amidst their confusion, I aimed my bow at the monsters that began to pour out of the dungeon.
I used a Mana Arrow with Fire Attribute as well as activated the exploding effect, Small Meteor, of my [Arash Bow].
I was around 1 to 2KM away from the dungeon, but I thought it would be doable with Mana Arrow. I even trained hard for this time.
The Mana I used to make this Mana Arrow was around 10% of what I had. The blazing red Mana Arrow became big as I pulled the bowstring, around 1 meter long and 30cm in diameter.
After I pulled the bowstring to the limit and was ready, I released it directly, and the arrow flew toward the dungeon at a fast speed.
Swoosh!
It flew faster than a sniper rifle bullet that I saw on a video streaming site on Earth. As it flew in the sky, it left a blazing red trail of flame. Anyone who saw this arrow would think it was shot by the best Archer in the world, Atalanta, as a blazing red arrow was her specialty.
However, I didn't plan to make her take my glory. So I created another arrow right away. This time, the attribute that I infused to the Mana Arrow was Ice. It was smaller than before, as it only used 1% of my Mana, but it was enough to do what I wanted to do.
Swish!
The second arrow flew following the trail created by the first arrow. A few seconds later, the first arrow landed right in the middle of the monsters that began to pour out of the dungeons and created a big explosion, burning all the monsters.
E and D-Rank monsters died immediately, but some of the C-Rank Mermen managed to survive the blast.
The burning effect didn't do much as the dungeon was half-submerged into the lake. But, the effect of the explosion was clear. It got the attention of the Awakeners.
They immediately turned in my direction by following the flame trail. However, as they turned, my second arrow arrived and pierced the ground in front of the dungeon, freezing the water in the diameter of 20 meters with the arrow in the center.
It created a foothold made from ice, connecting the ground to the dungeon as well as freezing the legs of the monsters around it.
Looking at the spectacle, Frank turned in my direction and nodded. I took that as a gesture of thanks.
He immediately turned around and began approaching the dungeon with the other Awakeners.
I lowered my bow, put on my party bracelet, and sighed, "Now, my job is half-done. My game of Hide and Seek with the Witch has just begun."
***
Special note for someone.
I write this trash novel of mine seriously. So, appreciate my work please.
That's it.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l