Capítulo 5: Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Right or wrong, humane or inhumane
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Some minutes prior to saving Enri and her sister, Nazarick 9th floor
Momonga was busy using the Mirror of Remote Viewing, I was behind him looking at the mirror and Sebas was standing to the side, looking at Momonga learning how to use the mirror. It was only showing some grassy fields, meaning Momonga probably doesn't have a clue on how to make it work. It's been quite some time that I've been standing here, and I was about to be bored out of my skull when Momonga had some progress at moving the magic 'POV camera'. It's probably better to go outside and see for yourself what's happening, but due to Momonga's cautious nature, I can only go out after he confirmed the surroundings were safe using the mirror. I already told Lust to fetch Sloth to talk about this information network, but she probably won't be back for a while.
"Is there something wrong, Momonga-sama? I stand ready to heed your every command."
Cheeky guy probably knows how to use the Mirror. Look at him, he's even smiling.
"No, there's nothing, Sebas."
Meanwhile, he just waved off probably his only hope of properly using that mirror.
"Ah, this is boring. Inform me if Momonga can finally use the mirror properly. Its gonna be important for gathering information if we know how the mirror works. You can find me in my room trying to figure out how vampires sleep."
"If you think it's so easy using this mirror, why don't you try to do it yourself?"
"I know it's not easy because you're struggling to use it properly. Just let me know when you see something interesting."
"You're lazy."
"I know."
After that, Momonga sighed as if he was tired and waved his hand as if dismissing the mirror. This accidental gesture caused the viewing angle to ascend, giving us a larger view of the land. I felt like pinching the bridge of my nose. It was that simple? I can feel irritation building up within me, but I also felt grateful because after hours of trial and error, it finally bore fruit. I also have no right to complain because I wasn't doing all the work, Momonga is, but still.
Sebas, on the other hand, clapped and praised him for finally making the mirror work.
"Congratulations, Momonga-sama. Your servant stands in awe of your prowess."
Somehow, even though I'm sure he means it, it sounds sarcastic because of the amount of time Momonga put into the work.
"Thank you, Sebas. Although I apologize for making you accompany me for so long, unlike a certain armored vampire over here."
"Your words wound me Momonga."
"What are you saying? Staying by your side and obeying your orders is the reason for a butler's existence, Momonga-sama. There is no need to thank or apologize to me. Although it's true that the process took quite a long time, perhaps a break is needed?"
Touch Me is definitely his maker. It shows on his caring attitude.
"No. Undead like Mercury and me are not affected by negative statuses like fatigue." Both of us can get affected by mental fatigue, you bonehead. "If you're tired, you may go and rest."
"Thank you for your kindness, but it would be unthinkable for a butler to rest while his master worked. With the aid of magic items, I am not affected by fatigue either." There are things like that? I feel cheated. "Please allow me to stay by your side until the end, Momonga-sama."
I feel like all these NPCs have a death wish or something. Serving your masters is good, but if he doesn't need you to die, then don't. Is that not clear with them?
After relenting to Sebas' request, he continued to use the mirror. He's still a beginner, but he's getting the hang of it. After experimenting for quite some time, he began to look for something. Curious of what he's looking for, I stayed behind. After stumbling upon a village, he stopped his search. Looks like he's finding intelligent beings like humans.
Speaking of humans, I wondered what blood will taste like. Will it taste the same way as it did on Earth; coppery and bitter? Or will it taste different? As a vampire with the class 'Blood Drinker', I am naturally curious of how my body would react to being splattered with blood. I bought a cash item that lets me toggle my transformation to my true form. I set it to off because I like the aesthetic look that a human could have. And besides, your armor is moved back into the inventory when you go berserk, so buying that item lets me keep my items and adds the power of the True Form without the grotesque transformation.
"Are they holding a festival?"
"...No. That's not a festival."
And speaking of blood, a village was busy spilling it all over. Soldiers on horseback kill every villager they could find, it was a gruesome sight. But to Momonga and I, we were not perturbed in the slightest. I was rather excited because of seeing that much blood. Seems like my humanity has faded away and left in its place was the common sense of the monster vampire that is Mercury. I want to save the village, but I couldn't find any merits in doing so, and Momonga probably doesn't too. I just hung my head, disappointed in myself that I was only letting this happen.
"Cheh!"
My eyes snapped to Momonga, looking at his skull. Murderous rage flowed out of me, thinking on how cruelly logical Momonga is and how I should take out my anger. It seems that Momonga and Sebas noticed the change in the air and looked at me. Momonga probably noticed the rage in my eyes and recoiled a little bit.
"To disregard innocent people, how disappointing, Momonga."
There was enough venom in my voice to kill a Level 100 NPC. I haven't felt this much anger in my life before, and I don't know how to control it. He probably didn't even think twice on abandoning them, what an asshole.
"Those humans are useless to us, Mercury. To use Nazarick's resources on a whim is foolish. You know that."
"Saving someone who you don't know is foolish? Maybe so, but that's funnily ironic coming from you."
That remark at the end must've been a sensitive spot for him.
"Then what do you suggest we should do?! We don't know how powerful those knights are, and risking Nazarick's forces to save a village is an idiotic trade!"
"I suggest you take Albedo and scout the place with me and Sloth. Us four are enough to deal with them if they happen to be equal in strength to us."
"That's dangerous and foolish! Are you serious about risking the leader of our Guardians and the leader of your Sins just to 'scout' the village?! Stop joking around!"
It was then that I realized that he had a point. We were sacrificing two of our most powerful NPCs if this operation managed to be a fuck-up. I sagged my shoulders as if a terrible weight was placed down on me. I feel like I played for 24 hours straight just PvPing Touch Me and losing all the time.
"...You're right. I'm sorry for not thinking about Nazarick's wellfare. I'll be outside if you need me." I walked towards the door, "I can't even sleep this incident away, goddammit."
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Momonga looked at the vampire's slumped form walking to the doors. To be frank, he felt no mercy for the humans, and he's sure Mercury doesn't as well. They're both undead, so he was quite sure on what Mercury felt about the village, yet he still voiced his own opinions.
He looked at his bony hands, clenching and un-clenching it. We're not even human anymore, yet he still wants to do the most humane thing that I didn't even want to do. He even wonders if his friend really has changed mentally. He still does what humans would think is right.
"What do you intend to do?"
"...Nothing. There is no reason, benefit, or value in rescuing them."
"...Understood."
He looked at Sebas who was the creation of his friend Touch Me. He remembered what he said one day.
"Saving someone in danger is common sense."
When Momonga was just starting out in YGGDRASIL, he got PKed relentlessly because killing non-humans was something players always do. Just before he wanted to quit the game, he appeared and saved him from a PK group. He asked the reason why he saved him, and he only answered with that.
Now that he remembered that, he had no choice but to save the villagers. He realized that Mercury was doing what Touch Me would do if he was here instead of him. He sighed softly, vowing mentally to apologize later.
"I will repay my debt, Touch Me-san," he murmured, "And besides, sooner or later, we would have to test our fighting strength in this world."
After saying those words, he enlarged the view to pick out survivors.
"Sebas, put Nazarick on maximum alert. I will go first, and you will tell Mercury, Albedo and Sloth to follow me after fully equipping themselves. However, I forbid Albedo from bringing Ginnungagap. After that, prepare support units. Something might happen which results in our inability to retreat. Therefore the units sent to the village should be adept at stealth or have the ability to go invisible."
"I understand."
"Good. Now then..."
As Sebas opened the door, Momonga looked at the mirror once again, showing a village girl who was leading another girl, presumably her sister, trip and fall down. Even when doing so, she still prioritized the safety of her sister than her and shielded her with her body. A slash from the broadsword hit the girl's back, and Momonga realized that there was no time to waste.
"'Gate'."
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I wanted to just sit down leaning on the wall and hug myself, but that's not a view fitting of a Supreme Being, so I made do with standing beside the door. I thought about things from Momonga's perspective, and realized that I was only said what I said to satisfy my conscience, even though mentally, I want to let the villagers die and look for something more worthwhile.
I was still feeling quite shit when the door suddenly opened. I wasn't surprised when Sebas stepped out.
"Ah, Sebas. Pardon me for letting you hear our argument. It was very rude of me."
"I'm not worthy of receiving an apology." Do you mean I should apologize to Momonga? "Also, Momonga-sama also ordered has ordered me to tell you to fully equip yourself. It seems that you will be going to the village after all."
That's... weird. He defended his point by shutting me down with a good point, and now he's going to save the village? What's on this guy's mind?
"Did he say why?"
"No, he did not."
"That's curious... Okay then, best not to keep him waiting."
I used requip magic and summoned my bastard sword. It was not slung to my back this time, it appeared on my hand. It looked exactly like it did before. wider at the guard, and narrows at the tip. I got this from killing a Dark Paladin and using the data crystal to make it like this. It's not fancy, I admit, but it gets the job done with a +100% bonus on defense.
I experimentally swung it left and right, feeling for the balance. It was lightweight, but it felt wrong to use with one hand. I gripped it with both hands and swung. It felt much faster and I could feel the shockwave slicing through the air. Was it that good?
"Well then, I still have to call Albedo and Sloth. Please pardon me."
"Ah. Go along then."
After dismissing Sebas, I walked into the room, looking at the gate standing right in front of me. It appears that he already engaged in battle from what I can see in the mirror. It was more like an experiment, since he used 9th tier magic on a human. Looks like his fears were unfounded because the soldier dropped instantly. Well, since he's experimenting with humans as test subjects, I might as well experiment using them as well.
Present Time, Carne Village, soon to be killing grounds for summoned monsters
A load roar emanated from the horizon. The soldiers that unhesitatingly killed defenseless people are now going to be unhesitatingly killed by these two monsters. One was a large, black skeleton with a tower shield and a wavy flamberge that weighed like nothing. The other was a zombie in knight's armor, with red glowing eyes and peppered in embers wielding a greatsword in his right hand and a curved dagger on his left. They ran in line with each other, before they launched an attack. The Death Knight swung his sword and a body flew through the air before laying still after crashing. The Abyss Watcher swung his greatsword and it cleaved through the body before he went on and slipped his curved dagger through the gaps in the armor and through his target's throat. A gargling sound was heard, before the soldier fell down as well.
A squeal was heard. It belonged to a soldier who was so utterly terrified he tried to run away. But nobody joined him, for they knew that if they ran, they would be mowed down by these two monsters. The Death Knight, even though it was large, didn't let the man run away and bisected the man from head to toe. His internal organs spilled out, but the Death Knight only released a roar. The monsters toyed with them, and the soldiers knew this. They can't even raise their swords against them. They tried to attack once, but the Death Knight's armor deflected it, and they were killed. Attacks on the Abyss Watcher were parried by his dagger, and their limbs were chopped off by his greatsword. Anyone who tried to run away was brutally killed by either the Abyss Watcher or the Death Knight.
"Y-You guys! Hold them back! I'm not someone who should die here! All of you, hurry up and protect me! Shield me!"
That desperate plea came from the leader of the soldiers who attacked the village. Nobody wanted him to be a leader, and he only reached this position because his family was rich, meaning, he had not done anything to deserve being the captain of this group.
The Death Knight stopped what he was doing and looked at the Abyss Watcher. There was a silent conversation between them, and the Death Knight nodded before going back to killing the soldiers. The Abyss Watcher, however, looked at the captain who was still screeching and squealing like a pig that he is.
"Money, I'll give you money! 200 gold pieces! No, 500 gold pieces!"
That was a considerable amount of money, one that most people won't give away, but it seems that he resorted to bribery to save his skin. Nobody talked, but a zombie who was supposed to be a soldier crawled his half body towards him and grabbed one of his ankles.
It was a Squire Zombie, one that was created from the Death Knight killing the soldiers. It was a passive ability in YGGDRASIL that said if someone got killed by the Death Knight with his blade, they would haunt the place that they died, slaves to the Death Knight for all eternity.
His scream was heard, and the captain fell like a sack of potatoes. The Abyss Watcher, however, drew closer and closer to his victim. He stabbed his greatsword into the ground, but anyone knew that even losing his primary weapon, he was still an insurmountable threat. He enchanted his dagger with fire, and it looked like it had cracks of lava on its surface, yet it did not glow brightly with heat. It was the enchantment 'Lord of Cinder's Weapon', exclusive to the summoned monsters Abyss Watchers and the Pale Elder Prince and Pale Younger Prince. The Soul of Cinder and the Profaned City Giant, two of the bosses in Muspelheim, Devourer of Gods and Scythe Sister, two of the bosses from Niflheim, also used this enchantment.
The Abyss Watcher knelt, as if sacrificing the body before him to his dark gods, before stabbing him in the gut. The captain woke up from the pain, and screamed. He raised the hands gripping the dagger, and stabbed down again. And again. And again. And again. He repeated this action with the captain begging for his life, but he paid no heed to that. Either he was someone who had the focus of a doctor in operation, or he was deaf, and he's definitely not deaf.
After stabbing him one final time, he left the dagger in the body. He took the greatsword and also enchanted it with 'Lord of Cinder's Weapon', causing molten lava cracks to appear all over the weapon. He manifested another curved dagger with magic, before enchanting that one as well. The body of the captain that was supposed to be dead rose up slowly, as if waking from a sleep. Dark molten lava flowed through the gaps in the armor, wrapping around him and turning him into another Abyss Watcher. His body was also peppered with embers, burning yet not, and manifested the same greatsword and dagger as the first one.
"N-No way!"
"He can replicate himself?!"
"Oh god please help us!"
Their screams of despair repeated itself over and over until one voice drowned all of them out.
"Get a grip on yourselves!"
They all looked towards the source of the voice. It seems like this one commanded the respect of his fellow comrades.
"Fall back! Sound the horn for the horsemen and archers to come here! The rest of you, do your best to buy some time for the hornblower! Now move!"
The soldiers snapped out of their panicked states and moved. They were all still despaired, but with orders to do, they broke out of that and did what they were commanded to do. The hornblower took out his horn, which caused the Death Knight to roar and the Abyss Watchers to look at him. It would seem like they didn't want them to escape, but they stood their ground and tried to block the three of them, even though it was all for naught.
The Death Knight would bisect one with his flamberge, or bash someone into the air with his tower shield.
The Abyss Watchers would stab them in their vitals with the dagger or cleave them with the greatsword.
"Behead the fallen! Hurry, before they come back as zombies!"
Some soldiers moved to do so, but the Abyss Watchers cut them off, decapitating them with grace betraying their equipment. Four soldiers died in the blink of an eye, and the person-in-charge who was gripped with fear readied his sword against the oncoming storm of black and blue. He swung at one of the Abyss Watchers, leaving his back open to an attack. The attack missed because the Abyss Watcher parried it. The other did not waste this opportunity, and stabbed him in the back of his neck with a dagger. He left it there and manifested another one, enchanting it as well.
The person-in-charge was about to fall down, but regained his balance and righted himself. Lava also flowed from the gaps in his armor and made him into another Abyss Watcher and manifested his greatsword and dagger.
It was at that moment that the horn blew
Status de energia semanal
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