NOVEL WEB Chapter 113 - Compliment
There was a certain charm to the greatsword. For example…yes, like overpowering an opponent who was getting cocky because they thought they had the advantage, and knocking them out with a single strike.
The thrill of landing that one calculated blow after holding back and waiting for the perfect moment was akin to a dramatic comeback victory.
Considering I was often on the receiving end, it was a great way to relieve stress every now and then.
…Not that I intended to finish by severing PadaPada’s head. Yet, seeing his head fly off into the distance with my final attack left me with a slight sense of satisfaction. It probably meant I had accumulated a fair amount of stress over time, unbeknownst to myself.
At times like these, I felt grateful it wasn’t real life but VR. Although KoK’s representation wasn’t gory, it was quite realistic.
As someone who didn’t particularly enjoy scenes from horror movies, it wasn’t an image I wanted to look at closely. Not out of fear, but perhaps more…reluctance.
Anyway. As I was about to move to join the bot while lost in thought, the head still rolling on the ground caught my eye.
Hmm…
Taking back the enemy leader’s head…naturally, I only meant it figuratively.
… But I guess I could really take it?
While passing by the severed head, an interaction button activated. Without thinking much, I pressed it.
Was this originally possible? If there had been such a function, I would have surely used it. The game would have been filled with people setting profile pictures holding the heads of annoying foes.
I suddenly remembered my friends with whom I shared grievances in the forum during late nights. We used to wonder out loud how the game, which had worldwide popularity until season 3, could be ruined like this, and if Faraday Games in a parallel universe managed their boom properly.
It seemed they indeed did well in this parallel universe. Looking down, I saw hair clenched in my hand. Come to think of it, it would be hard to hold onto a whole head with just a hand.
Nicely implemented. A true masterpiece of a game is revealed in such details. It looked a bit off-putting… but as long as I didn’t lower my gaze, it wouldn’t bother me.
Perhaps, for the first time, I felt a sense of joy at these various changes…and maybe I was getting slightly used to it. Or maybe I’d just given up and was cheering myself up.
Before the various thoughts crawling up from my chest could engulf my mind, the clashing of weapons brought me back to my senses.
The battlefield where the bases of each faction were fighting was closer than I had thought. It seemed our side, despite the numbers advantage, didn’t rush in blindly. They must have learned their lesson from the previous match.
Well, it hardly mattered to me. Throwing the trophy that would hinder my two-handed sword play into an Ark, I slowly stepped into the middle of the battlefield.
…… It felt a bit strange.
But one couldn’t fight with their head down.
* * * *
In medieval siege warfare, it was said that corpses were often thrown into the enemy’s camp to spread disease and break their morale. Thinking along those lines, using the enemy commander’s head, which had already been obtained, to demoralize them seemed reasonable.
Of course, this was something one would do in an actual war. A flying object cutting through the air bizarrely drew everyone’s attention.
-Thud. Roll.
Even after hitting the ground, the round object rolled like a rough ball. All ten eyes in the area, as if glued to a magnet, were drawn to it, forgetting the intense battle that had taken place just moments earlier.
A head, abandoned by its owner, had fallen like a bomb. As soon as that motion ceased, all ten pairs of eyes simultaneously traced back to the starting point, Ark from which the head had been thrown.
A knight, with a huge two-handed sword slung over one shoulder.
The blood-soaked armor was unsettling. One had to wonder how much of that blood was his own. Could it be the life remnants of the recent battle owner of the head he had just thrown?
Even the red cloak draped over his body to denote his allegiance seemed questionably ominous. With a clanking sound, the knight took one step closer, slowly raising his left hand to grip the sword, which had been loosely hanging over his right shoulder, with both hands.
Those observing finally noticed that the shield, an emblem of the Holy Knight, was missing from his hold. One couldn’t help but wonder where he had sold off the shield, an essential part of any Holy Knight’s equipment.
The oppressive aura silenced any questions. But even if asked, it wouldn’t have made any difference. The knight’s only answer to any query was through his sword.
-Kabang!
A thunderous roar that shook the battlefield signaled the resumption of combat. A charging swing followed by a downward strike. The Holy Knight, who took the brunt of the blow with his shield, found his knee involuntarily buckling under the force.
Though he had run ahead to shield the targeted mage, barely managing to put up his shield in time—the mere act of shield clashing with the weapon was not enough to say he had defended successfully. It was simply an endurance of the blow.
The mage, with their life momentarily spared, hurriedly chanted a spell to slow down the savage knight’s movements, but…
“It’s late.”
-Thunk!
A kick with the force to pierce through the chest of the Holy Knight, who had not yet recovered from the impact of the clash, landed squarely in the center of his torso.
It was inevitable that the heavy body fell backward. The thick armor that protected its owner from blades was nothing more than a dead weight when being pushed through a kick.
Thus, as the Holy Knight desperately tried to regain posture while sprawled on the ground, a blood-stained knight approached, gradually enlarging in his vision.
And then,
-Squelch.
A chilling sound accompanied the planting of a 1.7-meter-tall cross-shaped gravestone into the Holy Knight’s neck. It was more an execution than an attack. Until the Holy Knight, momentarily struggling, ceased his movements, the Red Knight calmly pushed in the greatsword held in reverse grip.
Could this even be called a battle?
The fight ended so briefly that those watching couldn’t help but question. The knight, who had reaped a life, slowly looked around. The movement was akin to that of a predator searching for its prey. Even in that moment, the blood-stained hand was making the sign of the cross.
Was there ever a more mismatched sight?
At the end of it, the knight drew the hefty sword once more. Had a target been decided? The sight of the knight slowly walking out with clanking sounds was rather majestic.
* * *
《I’m back.》
《Are you out of your mind? How can you come back with the head? Who the hell does teabagging in a tournament? I can’t even begin to imagine the chaos in the chat right now. You need to explain yourself right after the match.》
《… Isn’t it better than bringing the head along? I thought you’d praise me. Are you worried you’ll lose the bet? Be honest now.》
《No—》
The previously noisy voice chat was now filled with just two voices. One was soft and lethargic, the other heavy as if holding something back.
Before viewers could raise an issue, Revan preemptively scolded and forced an apology, attempting to put out the fire early. Of course, whether Lee Yena would take it was another matter entirely.
While Revan and Lee Yena shared a conversation that wasn’t quite a conversation, Ark, who had been shouting and raising a fuss while commanding the chaotic battlefield, kept silent.
What on earth had they witnessed?
They knew it. Behind that languid voice and alluring appearance, what ferocious skills lay hidden. They knew, but—
That was something.
The warrior wielding a sword of unimaginable size dominated the battlefield the moment he appeared. Only corpses remained in the wake of his storm-like movements.
The scene, where all the enemies who had been fiercely fighting until just a moment ago were now all lifeless bodies scattered around, seemed a bit unrealistic. But, upon reflection, it was natural. After all, who could stop someone who beheaded PadaPada?
Moreover, she had disrupted the enemy formation by killing the tank immediately upon arrival. Although the enemy rogue momentarily hesitated, Revan, whose movements suddenly became rougher, quickly finished him off, leaving no room for any uncertainties.
– Buzzing
Seconds after the last enemy fell, a strong light began to emanate from the central stronghold. It was the moment the spire was erected.
Gray bricks summoned in the air hovered for a brief moment before they clunked firmly into place with a thud. The sight of the spire rising instantly was always a spectacle. Yet…
Even that tower, a symbol that almost confirmed victory, failed to draw people’s attention away. Ark turned her gaze to the knight standing firmly at the front.
The knight stood still, firmly planting his sword into the bloody path beneath him. As the yet-to-be-wiped blood dripped slowly from the blade reaching up to his chest, seeping into the earth, the knight remained gazing straight ahead.
“Let’s push through one more time after engaging the spire.”, came the order in a soft voice. The face resembling the one that recently raised a toast with a coffee cup—
“No, it was a whiskey cocktail. Who calls that coffee?”
Reflecting upon such trivial thoughts, Ark came to a sudden realization. Ah, we’re going to win. Of course, the match wasn’t over yet. Ark was preparing spells that could be pre-cast in anticipation of the next offensive.
However, even the spectators who had been watching the battlefield already sensed what the participants on the ground surely knew.
This battle was over. Meanwhile, the observer, sensing that the recent skirmish would be the tournament’s highlight, was readjusting the camera angles.
From a broadcast angle that covered the battlefield and the tower situation, he switched to an angle looking up at Lee Yena, who was gripping the pommel of her greatsword with both hands.
Soon, it would be a scene used as the thumbnail of numerous G-tube videos.
TL’s Corner:
Brutal.