Free Web NovelIt was a blow with everything I had.
Considering that my physical ability had fallen short, I had taken the high ground.
And on top of that, I had even fed my opponent a dish that would have made an ordinary awakened being faint long ago.
“Kuhhk.......”
But even so.
“......Impressive.”
It seemed.
It was still a little short of taking the enemy down.
“The Maxim should certainly have activated, so what exactly is this strength?”
When he swung his sword and shook me off.
His strength was so overwhelming.
The impact of being flung away alone made my consciousness cut out for an instant.
“Could it be that you resisted the power of the Maxim as well, just as you resisted the power of the crown?”
“......Kup.”
“Or perhaps, because you are the one most beloved by Him...... even the Maxim did not take everything from you?”
I somehow tried to raise my body again.
But perhaps the impact had momentarily wrecked the signal system in my body.
I could not even move properly.
“Hoo...... My head is confused. I can hardly keep my thoughts connected.”
Meanwhile.
The bastard looking at me while rubbing his head.
His headache seemed fairly severe.
But his body still looked full of vitality.
He seemed to be staggering slightly.
But that, too, was mostly the effect of my cooking.
The burden from the blow just now barely seemed to exist.
Well, that made sense.
'......One of the Church’s officers.'
That man.
Was a high-level awakened being over level 30.
If I could use [Ingredient Appraisal], I would have noticed long ago.
But right now, I could not even use that trait, so I had failed to recognize him in advance.
Since I thought I had to subdue the enemy as quickly as possible without giving him time to recover his stance.
I had been forced to fight without even seeing his face.
'I did try to narrow the gap in my own way.'
But only now that I had seen his face could I understand.
This fight.
'There are some gaps...... that simply can’t be closed.'
If that man fought seriously.
This was a fight I could not win from the start.
“At any rate...... no matter how deeply beloved you are.”
My current physical ability was at the level of a warrior-type awakened being in the late level 10s.
In the case of the people I had encountered until now.
I had weakened enemies through cooking, made use of the value of surprise attacks, and somehow managed to take them down.
“Haha. I suppose that still was not enough for you to be a match for this body.”
But those who had passed level 30 were different.
Unlike ordinary awakened beings.
They were at the stage where they specialized in and studied their own field of expertise.
They were not merely using skills. They could freely handle those abilities as if they were their own hands and feet.
Even thinking back to what the officers of our unit had shown.
It was only natural to conclude that man was not an existence the current me could do anything about.
Tap.......
I moved my arm, trying somehow to raise my body.
But no strength entered it at all.
“Heh heh.......”
When I staggered and failed to get up.
He looked at me and gave a strange laugh.
“To think the one most beloved by the system is kneeling beneath my feet like this.”
“.......”
“Do not feel too wronged. This, too, must be what the system intended....... Perhaps it is a revelation from Him that, even if you are the one receiving His favor now, I will someday rise above you.”
The bastard kept spouting nonsense with a bizarre smile.
I looked up at him and said,
“......What are you planning to do with me?”
As I did.
I carefully watched his face.
More precisely.
I stared hard into his eyes.
“The order I received was to capture you alive as quickly as possible, then report.”
Those eyes.
Were still fixed on me.
“Then why don’t you report already?”
“Haha. That would not be bad either.”
And.
After coming right up in front of me, he stroked his chin and said,
“Well, what is there to rush?”
With those words.
Crunch!!!
The blade he held.
Pierced my thigh.
***
“Grrk......!”
Burning pain swept through my whole body.
“Haha, you seem to be in quite a bit of pain.”
Then.
The man looked at me and spoke with a refreshing laugh.
“But it is still not enough.”
However.
The eyes he directed at me seemed rather far removed from enjoyment.
“Do you know how much we lost because of you? Compared to that pain, the pain you are feeling now must be nothing.”
“What the hell kind of bullsh.......”
Crack......!
“I was not asking for an answer.”
“Grrk......!”
When I tried to talk back.
The bastard lightly twisted the knife lodged in my thigh.
“Truly, what exactly were you dissatisfied with?”
Crack.
“We intended to raise you, someone we had never even properly exchanged words with, as our leader.”
“Ghh, aaaaah.......”
“We even prepared a grand welcoming ceremony for that purpose, and showed sincerity enough to bring out a precious holy relic.”
After twisting the knife lodged in my thigh for a long while.
He pulled it out and said,
“And yet you did not even know gratitude.”
And then.
Crunch!!!
“You burned away the entire future of the Church.......”
The bastard continued saying things I could not even understand.
His face slowly began to distort.
“You worthless bastard who can do nothing if given this much pain.......”
Crunch, crunch!
“Despite being beloved by Him. You dare, without even knowing grace......!”
Like some pirate toy I had played with as a child.
The bastard played around, stabbing the knife here and there into my body.
“The system......!”
Enraged.
He soon threw even the knife aside and began kicking my body.
“Why would He favor an ungrateful worm like this......!”
Crunch, crunch, crunch!!!
Under those kicks.
My body burst like clay.
Even now that I could no longer use [Taste Bud Enhancement].
I could understand that man’s emotions.
“If only that favor had been bestowed upon me instead!”
That bastard.
Was extremely angry with me.
......And at the same time.
“If the favor you received had become mine!!!”
He.
Was terribly jealous of me.
“If I had received that power instead of an ungrateful piece of trash like you...... I would have led the Church and transformed the whole ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) world into abundance.”
Thump, thump, crunch.
“For a bastard like you to receive such excessive favor, and still not know satisfaction, running wild like this......!”
Holes had been opened all over my body.
On top of that, the serious beating of an awakened being over level 30 crushed my entire body.
It hurt.
It hurt so much I thought I would die, but.......
'He doesn’t intend to kill me, does he.......'
Cleverly.
The bastard’s kicks were avoiding only my vital points.
And also.
'He doesn’t intend to report, either.......'
His eyes.
Were still fixed only on me.
Thump, thump!!!
After confirming that fact.
I slightly twisted my body while pretending to curl up from pain.
“You insect, bastard......!”
Seeing that, he seemed pleased at the sight of me shrinking back.
And trampled my body even more excitedly, but.
'Pain is something.......'
Unfortunately.
'I’m used to.'
The reason I had turned my body.
Was not to avoid pain.
'My right hand.'
I twisted my body.
Protecting my ruined right hand as much as possible.
Then.
Srrrk.......
Ariella’s blood circulated through my body.
And slowly restored my right hand, which had been crushed so badly its shape was barely recognizable.
And.
The very moment I became able to move my body to some extent.
Paaak!
“!”
I stretched out that right hand.
And grabbed the bastard’s foot.
“......Ha!”
When my hand grabbed his foot.
The bastard, startled at first, soon gave a sneer.
“Are you trying to resist?”
It was understandable.
He must have been a little startled when he was actually grabbed.
But the strength contained in that hand was far too weak.
'The composure of the strong, huh.'
A powerful confidence that no matter what I did, I could not harm him.
That was something I knew well too.
'The reason I’m struggling underground like this...... is, in a way, because of that.'
The option of going to the Church was far too dangerous.
But I, too, had been drunk on confidence in my own strength.
I had been implicitly certain that most problems could be overcome with my strength and Ariella’s help.
The result was exactly this.
'I do regret it, but.......'
Ironically.
That very thing was.
'I’m counting on you.'
Crack......
'......Nepenthes.'
The last reason.
I had been able to endure until now.
“......Huh?”
The man’s body.
Began to collapse rapidly.
***
“......Huh?”
With those words.
The man’s posture collapsed all at once.
Paaak!
I watched him and raised my body.
I had been unable to move, as if my nervous system had been paralyzed by that man’s attack.
But that bastard had given me time to recover.
No matter how much he stabbed me with a knife and kicked me.
As long as he had the intention of “not killing the opponent.”
None of it would lead to a fatal wound.
The same was true of my nerves.
“Wh, at......!”
The flesh and muscles of my entire body had been crushed.
But.
It was not as if there was no way to treat them.
Crunch!
After raising my body.
I ran toward him as he fell and swallowed a piece of jerky.
Then.
Thump.......
I felt my heartbeat quicken.
A rapid pounding that would have immediately burst the heart of an ordinary human.
Along with it, the blood flow through my whole body began to accelerate.
'Berserk.'
As all the blood in my body began to circulate at tremendous speed.
Some blood spurted out through the damaged blood vessels, but.
The vampire power contained in that blood quickly repaired even the torn vessels.
Kwaang!!!
And at the same time my muscles recovered.
My body covered the bastard from above.
“......My foot......!”
Only then.
The bastard seemed to confirm the problem that had occurred in his body.
[Soul-Melting Poison - Nepenthes]
Not an ability as an awakened being.
But a kind of parasitic monster the Alraune had handed over to me.
According to what she said.
It was an existence difficult for even a powerful monster like the Alraune to properly make bloom.
And just as much.
Crackle......!
Its poison was absurdly powerful.
Powerful enough that even an awakened being in the level 30s could not resist it.
“Kuhk!”
The problem was.
While this poison was colorless and odorless, it still took the form of liquid.
If this had been a proper fight, there was no way a strong person of his level would have been hit by the Nepenthes poison I shot out.
Even so, the reason that man fell victim to this poison was simple.
'Because he let his guard down.'
Because he believed I no longer had any means of resistance.......
Because he was certain of his victory!
Squeeeeeze.......
“Kuh......!”
When I climbed on top of him.
He also resisted, trying to push my body away.
But.
[Berserk]
The power that had turned even small and weak beings into ferocious monsters.
Now that I had consumed that dish.
My brute strength was at least comparable to that of an awakened being in the mid-level 20s.
He, weakened by my cooking, could not push me away easily.
“N-no.......”
And.
As I placed my right hand on his body, I thought,
'When I lost my power as an awakened being...... normally, I thought there would be no way for me to hold out.'
Poison seeped from that right hand.
And flowed down his arm.
'Even if I had Ariella’s blood, Luca’s surgery...... and the power of my cooking. Normally, I should already have been captured long ago.'
Crackle.......
That poison.
Flowed as it melted his arm.
'Even so, the biggest reason I managed to hold out until now was one thing.'
Soon.
'Because these bastards let their guard down for me.'
With a light tap.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
It touched his head.
