Act Like a Boss, Mr. Swallow

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[Translator – Kie]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

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“Sir Devde, are you okay? I was worried! I thought you would be killed without any mercy!”

“Yeah, I managed to stay alive.”

Devourer turned his head towards Melje, who was exclaiming in relief. After giving a reassuring smile, Devourer stood there, holding his fist.

His fingers were numb. The regenerated right hand felt strange, as if it had become some kind of prosthetic. He clenched and opened his fist repeatedly. Although Melje jokingly said he survived with ease, it was undoubtedly a critical situation.

The impact of that blow surpassed Devourer’s expectations by several levels. It wasn’t the level of strength a human could possess. If he had taken that blow to his heart…

The polymorph might have been undone.

For Devourer, who utilized an ‘imperfect polymorph,’ it was like a protective shell. It imitated humans and mimicked their organs, but if the shell, the imitation of a human body, were to break due to external pressure, the core, the essence, would be revealed. If it manifested in its original form, it would pose a significant challenge not only to humans but also to Devourer.

Nevertheless, the ‘shell’ was quite sturdy.

Then what was the identity of that girl? A hybrid born between a human and a monster? It didn’t seem that way. Even if it were true, could she become so strong in the usual course of events?

No, rather…

“…She disappeared.”

Devourer sighed briefly as he scanned the auction house. In the seating area where hundreds of people should be engrossed in the auction, there was no one. Silence hung in the air.

Everything─────────── had been missed.

‘It seems there was more than one flying squirrel.’

Was the reason that the people in the auction house didn’t set up barriers or anti-teleportation spells because of this? If so, it would make sense that they blocked the use of teleportation hubs rather than reinforcing the defenses. Devourer marveled at the thought of taking them all out in one fell swoop.

The one who must have moved all those people in the auction house in such a short time was probably the girl with the pink hair.

When he threw the sky-blue girl away, Devourer had seen a pink-haired woman rushing from the corner of his eye. ─ At that time, there were only two people in the auction house.

Did she evacuate everyone and try to save the sky-blue girl? In that short time, the pink-haired woman cast several layers of protective spells on the sky-blue girl.

And there was no trace of casting after so many times.

‘Even so…’

Surely, the pink-haired woman was within the shockwave’s range, and if so, there should be traces.

There was blood around, but it was too little to be from a human body.

Did she use teleportation magic to escape in that short time?

“Interesting.”

Devourer laughed with a rather unpleasant expression. It was an obvious mockery. Although it was uncertain whether the other side was a skilled human, they were just a coward who ran away well.

What bothered him, however, was the sky-blue girl.

Did she die from that attack just now? It was hard to predict for such an unpredictable human. Especially considering the protective spell that the pink-haired girl casted.

…But she definitely took a direct hit, so even if she survived, she must be in a critical condition.

Devourer pondered with an expressionless face.

Should he leave the fleeing individuals and leave for Hastin?

Or should he pursue them to eliminate the potential threat?

‘In reality, chasing and killing them all is the right answer.’

In principle, avoiding being chased is the right thing to do. However, this is the capital of the Empire. Moreover, he safely recovered the Brachycephalic Tooth.

Above all, there was an objective that he must not forget.

“Melje, let’s clean up.”

Devourer, having made up his mind, spoke earnestly. Melje’s hesitant response of “Ah, I understand,” prompted Devourer to glance at her with a hint of hesitation. Melje seemed visibly uneasy, and her hand holding onto Devourer’s tattered garment trembled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, n-nothing. Really, it’s nothing at all.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing at all.”

After waiting in silence for a while, Melje cautiously opened her mouth.

“Sir Devde.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re… strong.”

“You, always throwing unexpected comments.”

“No, I mean it. You’re really strong. I thought you were strong from the beginning, but you’re even stronger than I anticipated. Yeah, you said you’re a colleague of Ms Renee, but…”

“…”

“You seem stronger than Ms Renee that I know. Is it just my misconception? Or is Ms Renee far stronger, unbelievably strong?”

─Sir Devde said he was a companion of Ms Renee.

He said companion, but he must have been a subordinate. Sir Devde couldn’t be the Master of Primordial Core. Since Ms Renee’s only superior was Devourer, there was no way he could be above her.

‘That’s right. Sir Devde is definitely Ms Renee’s subordinate’

─In that case, could Ms Renee also withstand the blow from earlier? Could she counterattack like Sir Devde did?

Melje couldn’t be sure.

─How many were there who were stronger than Ms Renee?

─What about Sir Devde’s existence?

“Who are you, Sir Devde?”

Melje asked a question that truly pierced the essence.

A bewildered Devourer scratched the back of his head. If Melje’s eyes had been admiration until now, they were now filled with awe. The more Devourer hesitated, the greater the proportion of fear grew.

Now, there was no room for lame excuses. Thinking so, Devourer answered in a low voice.

“Melje.”

Approaching her, Melje took a step back.

“I am.”

Devourer extended his hand. Melje, trembling, bowed her head and closed her eyes.

“…?”

Feeling the soft touch immediately, Melje, startled like a rabbit, blinked her eyes.

A vague expression, a mixture of annoyance and gentleness, adorned Devourer’s face as he caressed Melje’s head.

As if it were bothersome, he did it a few times before removing his hand.

“I am Sir Devde. For now.”

“…Ah?”

“When everything is settled, I’ll tell you the truth.”

“….”

“Well, if you’re dying to know, I can tell you now.”

“…No, um, no! I mean, um, I was hasty. Tell me later. Yeah, tell me later, please. If it’s something that really needs to be kept a secret, you don’t have to say it. It’s not that I doubted you, or, um… It’s just that I was curious. Does it not seem foolish to act without knowing anything? No. You don’t have to say it!”

“Well, whatever.”

It seemed too late to brush it off.

“Well, I’ll tell you when the job is done.”

“…Yeah, I got it.”

Lifting his head, Devourer realized that to smoothly conclude the impending ‘task,’ they needed to act quickly. A strong wind blew through the breached part of the building.

As Melje’s auburn hair fluttered in the wind, she finished casting and raised her staff.

“Let’s begin, Melje.”

“Understood, Sir Devde.”

Advanced magic, [Reconstruct].

In an instant, the ground trembled, and the building slowly sank into the chaos as if it were an anthill collapsing.

* * *

Reacting instinctively, the only thing I could manage was to reach out my arms.

My breath stopped for a moment. The violently shaking view made my stomach churn. Consciousness faltered. In the faint consciousness, I thought:

At least, that’s fortunate.

If I had even the slightest doubt about my momentary instinct and hadn’t reached out my arms, maybe what got pushed back wouldn’t have been my body but just my organs. There might have been holes in my body, and a gigantic blood fountain might have erupted from my back.

─ When I suddenly came to, I was lying on the ground.

As if my entire body had been shocked into paralysis, not even a single finger could move. In that state, my neck couldn’t move either. I forced myself to look up at the sky.

A cluster of clouds covered the purple sunset. Under the clouds, a flock of birds flew by. Their chirping was reminiscent of the scream of a small devil.

Amidst this, a peaceful melody reached my ears, and it seemed like I was lying in Survey Rose.

Consecutive cries of pain and the voices of people gathering to witness the tragedy echoed loudly.

‘Did I get knocked out in one hit?’

Wooin Historia, a hero, by an unknown monster.

Only then did my body react to the shock, and a strong pain spread throughout. Breathing was nearly impossible; an overwhelming amount of blood rose to my throat. Drenched to the point of dizziness, but I couldn’t even move my mouth to spit it out. I barely managed to inhale through my nose to keep breathing. A tingling shock, like electricity flowing, ran up from the tips of my fingers.

It hurts. It hurts so much that I feel like I’m going to die.

Barely enduring the intense pain, my consciousness, holding on, felt precarious, like hanging on the edge of a cliff. It felt like if I relaxed even a little, I would lose consciousness. At this point, I began to desire to faint. Maybe it would be better to faint, I thought. Even then, I persisted. As I endured the pain, things I had forgotten began to surface one by one.

‘Imperial citizens…’

Were the people in the auction house all safe?

The next image that came to mind was the last scene before losing consciousness. When my body floated─

No, before that. When my eyes met the monster in front─

No.

When Garrote shouted and ran towards me.

… Right. Garrote.

Where was Garrote?

“Ga…rrote…?”

Forcibly making a sound, bubbles rose in my mouth, filled with the blood that had been accumulating.

When that monster threw a punch, Garrote was quite close. She was running towards me. Surely, she must have been within the shockwave range.

“Garrote…”

Lying helplessly on the ground, I moaned again.

Damn it, was the ‘hero’s intuition’ something that only worked in useless situations? Especially, it seemed to be more accurate for ominous things rather than good ones.

The hero’s head, now that he thought about it, was suddenly filled with thoughts of Garrote’s death.

And

“How would I hear if you call me so softly, Wooin…”

A familiar voice responded.

The girl, with eyes half closed, slowly opened them at the sound. Her vision was blurry. Whether it was due to tears or pain, couldn’t be determined, but her sight was undeniably hazy.

Through that haze, the most worrisome figure revealed itself.

“Wake up. You should be thankful. If it weren’t for me, you’d probably be preparing for your funeral right now, considering the situation. You’re like a ghost, coming back to life.”

“Garrote…”

She was alive.

“Lady Wooin should be grateful to me. You see, I cast a protective spell earlier, otherwise, your funeral would already be underway.”

One of the citizens, who had been watching over Wooin, helped her sit up. Only then did she expel the blood that had filled her mouth. After vomiting out the mixture of sticky blood and slippery saliva, the control over her body slowly returned. Though she still trembled, she could move her arms and legs.

The pitiful warrior, seated on the streets, finally turned her head, cautiously, like handling a baby.

“Ah…”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a hallucination. Next to Wooin, Garrote sat, looking at her with a worried expression.

“Garrote…?”

Simultaneously, there was no need to ask how he managed to escape from that place.

“Garrote… Your arm… your right arm…”

The traces of a narrow escape were clearly visible on her body.

“Right arm… Why, Garrote…?”

“Stop fussing, Lady Wooin. I used protective magic. Without it, you would have been dead by now. Oh, don’t touch it so much. Even with anesthesia magic, it’s still quite painful, you know? Do you think I might suffer more than you? Do you know how much I struggled to stop the bleeding?”

“Me… because of me… right arm… why…?”

“Lady Wooin, please, snap out of it. Losing one arm doesn’t mean I’m dead, so please, just stop.”

“But why… Garrote, sorry. Sorry. Because of me, Garrote, I’m disqualified as a hero. Sorry. Aaah…”

“Ugh, so frustrating! Can’t you stop being like this, Lady Wooin Historia? Were you always this annoying? I’m not blaming you for my arm, so what are you crying about? Do you know how much I suffered to stop the bleeding?”

“I… because of me… Garrote, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I caused…”

“Lady Wooin.”

“I… I…”

“Wooin Historiaaa!”

Garrote’s shout, sounding like a scream, swallowed up all other sounds.

“Snap out of it, Wooin! You’re a hero! If the Empire’s hero is whining like an idiot, everyone will be delighted, won’t they? Even though it’s not your first time seeing someone injured or killed, why are you whining like this? And one arm is cheap, you know? Do you know? Despite everything, if I hadn’t escaped a little earlier, if you hadn’t reached out a little later, what do you think would have happened? Right now, Wooin, we should be grateful that we’re still in this human form. Okay? Right now, Wooin, do you even know who the opponent was? The monster that intruded into the auction house, It’s Devourer, the Master of the Primordial Core!”

“…What are you talking about, Garrote… Don’t joke. Such a monster wouldn’t come here, right…?”

“I don’t know the reason, but I’m sure.”

Garrote, being a ‘Tracker,’ could sense it.

The feeling she first sensed when she saw the male monster, the traces she saw. It was definitely not Garrote’s imagination.

“What you saw is the real Devourer. An ancient monster, the Black Calamity, Devourer.”

He had the outward appearance of a black-haired man, but the traces of Vern Hishutalt, ‘Hero,’ were heavily imprinted on that monster.

“It’s really Devourer. An ancient monster, the Black Calamity, Devourer.”

Traces of Vern Hishutalt, who should have died at the Primordial Core, were unmistakably present on that monster. Fresh traces, not even a month old.

“I don’t know why it’s here. I just know for sure.”

Garrote’s ominous thoughts were stirred up.

“The situation is much worse than I thought.”

Heavily influenced by the traces of Vern Hishutalt, Devourer, the monster, stood before them.

“It’s possible that the Empire is on the brink of destruction.”

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[Translator – Jjescus]

[Proofreader – Lucky]

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